Jiang Liu had spent over half an hour fighting his way from ten-thousandth place in the Arena to first place. He'd practically hacked his paper-doll character to pieces before finally making it to the top.
Fortunately, the system hadn't arranged for some powerful NPC to stop him from reaching the summit. The NPC in first place had only been at Qi Refining Layer 9, so Jiang Liu had cut him down with ease.
If they'd sent a Foundation Establishment Stage NPC to make things difficult for him, he'd have been in a real bind.
[Congratulations on reaching first place in this district's Arena! You have earned the achievement 'Ascend to the Peak'.]
"Wait, I got an achievement?"
Jiang Liu was a little surprised. He'd been playing for so many days, and this was his first time earning an achievement. First place in the Arena only gave him one achievement? Were achievements in this game really that hard to get?
And where was the achievement system, anyway?
He left the Arena and looked around the game interface. Only then did he notice a red dot glowing on his profile picture in the upper-left corner.
After tapping his profile picture, he found the achievement system tucked away in a corner. It was obvious that the game didn't consider it particularly important.
He tapped the [Achievements] tab. All the achievements listed there were grayed out, and neither their names nor their requirements were displayed.
"Is this achievement system some kind of collectible Easter egg?"
Jiang Liu wondered as he scrolled down. At last, he found the one achievement that had been unlocked.
[Ascend to the Peak]: Earned by reaching first place in this district's Arena. +5% All Attribute Increase.
"Holy shit!"
When he saw the bonus this achievement granted, his eyes widened, and he blurted out a curse without thinking.
This, this, this... This achievement system was way too good!
An increase to all attributes—that was the kind of content that actually mattered! Couldn't the programmers put the achievement system on the main screen already? They'd stuffed it into a secondary page under the profile picture. Who did they think they were looking down on?
"Wait, isn't being first on the Level Leaderboard more impressive than being first in the Arena? Why doesn't first place on the Level Leaderboard earn an achievement?"
Jiang Liu muttered to himself. Seeing the bonus from even a single achievement made him itch for more. Starting today, he was a collector. He had a collecting bug, and he wanted a complete achievement collection!
After closing the achievement screen, he returned to the Arena. Now that he'd reached first place, his paper-doll character had taken the top spot among the three challenge slots in the middle of the Arena screen.
Below his paper doll, the daily reward was displayed: first place earned 2,000 Arena Coins a day.
What could you buy with Arena Coins?
Jiang Liu opened the Arena Shop in the lower-left corner. After glancing through it, he wore an expression of utter disdain.
Random Supreme Spiritual Root Fragment: 10,000 Arena Coins, limit of 1 per week.
Permanent Gacha Ticket: 1,000 Arena Coins, limit of 3 per week.
Limited Gacha Ticket: 1,200 Arena Coins, limit of 3 per week.
Celestial Mystic Stone: Earth-grade Artifact Refining material, 50 Arena Coins, limit of 100 per week.
Thousand-year Spirit Grass: Earth-grade Alchemy material, 50 Arena Coins, limit of 100 per week.
Celestial Blackstone, Hundred-year Spirit Grass... There was a whole bunch of other miscellaneous materials after that. Everything could be bought with money.
The most expensive prize was a Supreme Spiritual Root Fragment, and even that was random!
Damn, they could break Spirit Roots into pieces and sell them?
The people running this game really were geniuses.
"The Arena Shop is just there so free-to-play players can trade for Supreme Spiritual Roots. It's not much use to pay-to-win players like me."
Jiang Liu sighed. The satisfaction of reaching first place had faded considerably. Most games' free shops were full of junk, sure, but they could at least stock a few items that pay-to-win players might want!
They'd filled the place with a pile of trash. What was the point of me playing in the Arena?
To show off?
Well, actually, wasn't that what the Arena was for?
"Fine. From now on, I don't need to collect materials for alchemy or Artifact Refining. I can just sweep them all up from the Arena Shop."
Jiang Liu shook his head. He could earn 14,000 Arena Coins a week. Earth-grade Artifact Refining and alchemy materials cost 10 Arena Coins each, while Mystic-grade materials cost 50. That was plenty for him to spend.
After reaching first place in the Arena and glancing through the shop, he suddenly felt an empty, listless boredom. Looking at the NPCs in the challenge slots, he felt like a swordsman who had drawn his blade and found no one to fight.
He'd run out of game content unlocked at Qi Refining Layer 9.
One Leaderboard and one Arena? That wasn't much to play with.
Send me some opponents to cut down!
Where were the God-Tier Players? Hurry up and spend Spirit Stones to level up! Were all the players in District Four unable to support you pay-to-win types?
And the free-to-play players? Hurry up and sell your Spirit Stones to improve your lives! You only earned five or six Spirit Stones a day. Why bother cultivating? You might as well eat, drink, and enjoy yourselves for a few decades!
"Bah, bah, bah! I can't be thinking like that. That's way too pay-to-win! Jiang Liu, don't let success go to your head!"
Jiang Liu shook his head, closed the Arena, and opened the social menu.
Might as well do some gacha pulls instead of letting his mind run wild. Was Second Uncle around? The Parkour King had arrived.
[Jiang Liu]: Principal, I've completed the mission, just as promised. The Parkour King made it through safely!
[Zheng Weiguo]: Excellent! I knew I could count on you!
[Zheng Weiguo]: Jiang, you're a credit to Third Middle School! I'll present you with an award at Monday's school assembly. Prepare a speech.
[Jiang Liu]: Emmm... I don't think that's necessary. Let's keep a low profile. I'm not the type who likes to show off.
[Jiang Liu]: Anyway, what about the fifty pulls?
A speech at the whole school assembly?
Just imagining it gave Jiang Liu goosebumps. Second Uncle, please don't go overboard. I get stage fright. You wouldn't want me to be nowhere to be found at the assembly, would you?
Two seconds later, a trade request arrived. Now that was more like it.
Jiang Liu accepted the trade. The dazzling sight of 600 Spirit Stones nearly blinded him.
600 Spirit Stones! A spending allowance of 60,000!
I'm going to crack the Permanent Pool wide open!
[Jiang Liu]: Thank you, Principal. I ran into Edward, First Middle School's star student, during the parkour event and took him out. I didn't let our school down.
[Zheng Weiguo]: Really?
[Jiang Liu]: Really. You can check.
A second later, another trade request arrived. The principal had traded him another 120 Spirit Stones.
[Zheng Weiguo]: Well done! I'm sponsoring you for ten more pulls on behalf of the school.
[Jiang Liu]: My grandpa's over seventy this year, and he has a Supreme Wood Spirit Root. Do you think you could admit him as a special student? Personally, I think the school could promote him, too.
[Zheng Weiguo]: ?????
[Jiang Liu]: It's fine if you don't want to promote him. How about you two become sworn brothers? Otherwise, I'll feel bad taking all these Spirit Stones.
[Zheng Weiguo]: Born with a Supreme Wood Spirit Root? Have him add me as a friend. His age would make him a difficult student to admit, but he could come to the school and hold an honorary director position. He'd get a salary.
Jiang Liu had wrangled over seven hundred Spirit Stones from the principal and even found his grandpa a job. His relationship with the school had grown closer, too. Feeling like he'd made a killing, Jiang Liu happily rushed into the gacha screen.
With over seven hundred Spirit Stones in hand—a spending allowance of more than 70,000—he was going to crack the Permanent Pool wide open today!
The Five Elements Top-grade Spirit Root, with all five elements complete—he'd get it today!
Jiang Liu stared at the five multicolored pillars on the Permanent Pool screen and took a deep breath. He silently chanted, Amitabha, may the reincarnated European emperor, the golden cicada, bless me.
A golden glow appeared!
Everyone, please help out with reads and votes today! This is the most crucial day! Please, I'm begging you—take pity on your little brother!
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