Azure Cloud Association

Azure Cloud Association

A day later, inside an alchemy workshop in Cloud Frost City, Jin Shankao was giving an eighteen-year-old youngster a pep talk:

"Xiao Zhuang, work hard! Once you become a Second Grade Alchemist, I'll treat you to clubbing, karaoke, facial cleanser, drainage ditch—the full package! A bonus of eighteen thousand!"

Xiao Zhuang had clearly stayed up too many nights; the dark circles around his eyes were as black as a panda's.

But upon hearing Jin Shankao's promise, Xiao Zhuang trembled with excitement.

He was an adult now. It was time to see the world! "Boss, don't worry. Just give me a few more days."

After Jin Shankao left, Xiao Zhuang stared at the cauldron and gritted his teeth. "Fuck this stupid game. One tiny slip and it fails. Why the hell am I even playing this?"

When Xiao Zhuang created his character, he went with the standard alchemist build of 9 Fire Spirit Root and 1 Wood Spirit Root. He was also fairly lucky, obtaining a basic formula not long after the server opened.

Xiao Zhuang had always intended to focus on a secondary profession, so he decided to gamble on it. He took out all the New Year's money he had saved since childhood and went on a frenzy buying medicinal ingredients.

In the end, Xiao Zhuang successfully advanced from an Apprentice Alchemist to a First Grade Alchemist. He also joined Hero King Manor's guild player recruitment and caught Jin Shankao's eye.

However, after reaching First Grade, ordinary pills provided comparatively little experience.

And First Grade pill formulas were not normal drops in this version.

Still, with Hero King Manor's resources supporting him and Xiao Zhuang working hard every day, his experience bar was already more than half full.

"Once I become a Second Grade Alchemist, I'll definitely rank across the entire server! Zhuang Youqian, you can do it! For the full package!"

While Xiao Zhuang was working himself to the bone for the sake of becoming a Second Grade Alchemist, Yang Shan had it much easier.

After eating and drinking his fill, he went to the nearby upscale club, Golden Splendor, and called over two young, beautiful massage therapists.

The massage was perfectly proper! Don't ask why he ordered two.

The answer was simple: he had money! Fifty years ago, a big shot who had once topped China's Forbes rich list said something that clearly did not match ordinary people's actual livelihoods:

"If you want to make big money, it's best to first set yourself a small, achievable goal. For example, I'll first earn myself a hundred million!"

Never mind fifty years ago—even now, with China comprehensively well-off and an average annual income of over eighty thousand per person, one hundred million was still fucking fantasy! (In 2022, the average annual income was 36,883 yuan.)

Yang Shan did not demand much of himself either.

He only had to achieve "one small goal."

The server had only been open for twenty days, yet Yang Shan had already completed 2% of it.

That was worth celebrating!

Once you made money, shouldn't you enjoy it?

Yang Shan slapped ten thousand into Golden Splendor's account.

The eyes of the two beautiful massage therapists working on Yang Shan practically glowed green.

Young and rich! When he was leaving the club, one of them hinted that she had recently taken a fancy to a handbag and was still five thousand short. If Yang Shan paid for it, she could keep him company until dawn tonight! Yang Shan stubbornly believed it was his handsome face that had drawn the therapist to him.

Still, Yang Shan righteously refused her proposal! Positive energy was important!

As he left the club, Yang Shan muttered, "Is that keyhole lined with gold or something? It costs five thousand? When is the Guan Zhong and Bao Shuya's Friendship System getting implemented? Tianyao, put some effort into it and bring the damn price down!"

It was not that he could not afford five thousand, but the NPCs in Battle Through the Heavens offered better value for money. Back in the game room, Yang Shan took his notebook out of the safe again.

Only after reviewing it once more did Yang Shan enter the Game Pod.

"Battle Through the Heavens, activate!"

The moment he logged in, Yang Shan received a message from Chao Bafang.

"Great God, I'm waiting for you at the East Gate!"

The message had been sent fifteen minutes ago.

It seemed Chao Bafang had a habit of arriving early.

Unlike Yang Shan, who fucking loved showing up right on time! After casually buying a few trinkets from the Marketplace under the Cloud Frost Branch, Yang Shan hurried toward the East Gate as well.

By the time Yang Shan arrived at the East Gate, Chao Bafang was standing by the city gate like a statue.

Players surrounded him three layers deep, inside and out.

"Damn, that spear is so cool!"

"Did you fail middle school history or something? Is that a spear? That's a halberd!"

"You know Lü Bu, right? You know the Sky Piercing Halberd, right?"

A Fine Weapon with a Purple Word Seal truly was a "divine weapon" in the version available at launch.

Even Yang Shan, the "number one Player in Battle Through the Heavens," had only possessed a weapon of the same grade two days ago.

That long halberd, whose design was obviously far more imposing than standard-issue weapons, deeply stirred the ordinary players' yearning for power.

Some female players who thought themselves fairly pretty even pressed close to him:

"Handsome, you're so cool."

Chao Bafang gave a cold smile. "You have good taste."

But Chao Bafang's constantly trembling legs betrayed the excitement and shyness in his heart.

The female Player had practically pressed herself against Chao Bafang, speaking softly in the cutesy voice she was best at:

"Handsome, I just turned eighteen. I've never seen such a handsome weapon before. Could you let me have a closer look?"

"Fuck!"

That throat-clenching "just turned eighteen" instantly snapped Chao Bafang awake from the embrace of beauty.

Chao Bafang cautiously pulled away. "The drunkard's real interest isn't in the wine. You want to steal my halberd, don't you?"

The female Player was bold and uninhibited. "Oh my, why talk about a halberd? If you're interested, handsome—"

"Not interested. Throwing yourself at me the moment you show up? I'm afraid you're some kind of biohazard mother!"

The surrounding Players immediately burst into absurd laughter.

Chao Bafang caught sight of Yang Shan out of the corner of his eye and promptly slipped away amid the chaos.

"Great God!"

Yang Shan looked at Chao Bafang with amused interest. "How did showing off feel?"

Chao Bafang said excitedly:

"Awesome! Too bad that girl wasn't much to look at. She wasn't even as pretty as the Maidservant at the Mercenary Guild."

Yang Shan said, "Once the Guan Zhong and Bao Shuya's Friendship System opens up later, you won't have to worry about running into biohazard mothers."

Chao Bafang said, "Then I'd better save up more Spirit Stones!"

Yang Shan said, "You won't just need Spirit Stones. You'll also have to pay Tian Yao an experience fee."

Chao Bafang said, "Damn, Tian Yao Company really does think of ways to rake in money everywhere."

Yang Shan said, "What kind of game company doesn't make money? Tian Yao Company is already doing a pretty good job—they mostly get Players to spend voluntarily. Enough of that. We need to pick up the pace; the grinding spot is a little far away!"

Chao Bafang asked curiously, "Great God, what are we farming this time? Don't tell me we're farming Tier 3 magical beasts?"

Yang Shan glanced at Chao Bafang. "You're only a two-star Dou Master and you want to kill Tier 3 magical beasts above your level? What the hell are you dreaming about?"

Chao Bafang said, "Then are we farming Tier 2 Elite magical beasts? But they don't give much experience..."

Yang Shan said, "We're not farming magical beasts. We're farming NPCs."

Chao Bafang nearly thought he had misheard.

"What? Farming NPCs?"

Yang Shan said, "You don't think NPCs give no experience when you kill them, do you? This is top-secret information I got from Ya Fei!"

Yang Shan also roughly explained the grinding spot the two of them were about to head to.

As for having heard it from Ya Fei... that was naturally just something he made up to fool Chao Bafang.

In his previous life, although the Jia Ma Empire's factions had been tangled and complicated, the strongest one was undoubtedly the Misty Cloud Sect, which had played a major role throughout the early and middle parts of the original story!

Within the sect was Yun Yun, the Misty Cloud Sect's sect leader, who had once shared a romantic encounter with Xiao Yan.

There was also Nalan Yanran, who had personally gone to the Xiao Family to break off the engagement, only to have Xiao Yan write her a divorce letter instead and establish the Three-Year Agreement.

And there was Yun Leng, the narrow-minded chief Great Elder who had relentlessly targeted Xiao Yan before ultimately forcing the Misty Cloud Sect into opposition against him.

Yet the grinding spot Yang Shan intended to visit was actually connected to Yun Shan, the former sect leader of the Misty Cloud Sect! In the original story, Yun Shan received help from the Soul Hall Vulture Protector, broke through his shackles, and successfully became a Dou Zong.

In the game, Yun Shan had also secretly established the Azure Cloud Association, which specialized in capturing Alchemists and people with powerful souls for the Vulture Protector.

The Azure Cloud Association had established branch halls throughout the Jia Ma Empire.

In later versions, the Azure Cloud Association would become an existence that made Jia Ma Empire Players grit their teeth in hatred! However, at present, Players knew nothing about the Azure Cloud Association.

When Players killed magical beasts, they could obtain magic cores and all sorts of related materials.

Many magical beasts even guarded rare heavenly treasures.

NPCs could also be killed, and their drops were even more plentiful.

Cultivation methods, combat techniques, equipment, and Spirit Stones were all among the possible drops.

Theoretically speaking—

If any Player were capable of killing Xiao Xun'er, there was a good chance they could obtain the Golden Emperor Burning Flame within her body, ranked fourth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking! Of course, killing magical beasts would provoke attacks from others of their kind, while killing NPCs would also result in being hunted down by the relevant factions.

But as a hidden faction, the Azure Cloud Association absolutely did not dare reveal itself at this stage, so there was no need to fear being hunted down.

Besides, the experience awarded for killing NPCs was even higher than that from magical beasts!