Pay-to-Win Soul Game

Pay-to-Win Soul Game

"Siyu, how much Sacrificial Power do you have on hand?"

"Give me a moment, I'll check... We have 86 Sacrificial Power altogether. Grandpa, do you need it?"

"Send it to me through Guidance. It'll be a big help."

A short while later, Li Tie, who was in Emperor's Tomb Village, received the 86 Sacrificial Power his granddaughter had sent him. Added to the 17 points he'd earned from killing Cursed Soldiers, his total came to 103.

He summoned the function panel, opened the shop, and selected the weapons category.

A dazzling variety of weapons appeared before his eyes.

Iron Sword:

Quality: Level 1

Description: A sword-shaped weapon made from ordinary metal.

Price: 5 Sacrificial Power

Iron Axe:

Quality: Level 1

Description: An axe-shaped weapon made from ordinary metal.

Price: 5 Sacrificial Power.

The first few pages were full of ordinary weapons. They clearly weren't powerful enough to take on the Spirit Artifacts.

After flipping through several more pages, Li Tie's eyes settled on a blue weapon.

[Hanyue Axe]:

Quality: Level 8.

Description: Made from ice iron, with beast patterns carved into the handle. The sound of a beast's roar follows its swings.

Price: 100 Sacrificial Power.

It was the best weapon Li Tie could afford.

He tapped the purchase option with his mind. A blue battle axe materialized out of thin air in front of him, gradually solidifying from a phantom.

As the axe finished taking shape and dropped, Li Tie reached out and gripped it firmly.

With the purchase complete, Li Tie left the village at once and headed toward Spirit Artifact Valley.

After an hour on the road, during which he killed several Cursed Soldiers, Li Tie's Stone Gargoyle reached Level 5. Once he'd crossed the hill ahead, he arrived at the entrance to Spirit Artifact Valley again. Five Spirit Artifacts surrounded him.

All five were First Generation Origins: Li Man (battle axe), Shatter (blade), Sweep (sword), Li Hun (spear), and Nether Ghost (staff).

The other four Spirit Artifacts withdrew. Li Man Axe remained hovering in front of him, issuing a challenge.

The battle began in an instant.

The Level 8 Hanyue Axe whistled through the air, striking straight at the hovering Li Man Axe. The two weapons collided with a clang of metal.

After more than ten clashes, Li Tie's hands had gone numb. He looked down and saw that his webbing had split, green blood trickling from the wound in his Stone Gargoyle form.

He glanced at the Hanyue Axe in his hand. More than a dozen chips of different sizes marred its blade, and the feedback showed that the weapon was lightly damaged.

"Again!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Li Tie swung the Hanyue Axe once more to meet Li Man Axe's strike.

As the weapons continued to collide, green blood soaked Li Tie's right arm, and his loose white hair danced in the wind. He looked like a madman.

Before long, the battle axe in Li Tie's hands could take no more and shattered. The other four Spirit Artifacts shot toward him and pierced his body, bringing the battle to a crushing end.

But this fight proved Guidance's theory: only someone holding a weapon would be recognized as a challenger by the Spirit Artifacts.

An hour later.

Li Tie's figure reappeared at the resurrection point in Emperor's Tomb Village.

Though his fight with Li Man Axe had involved no technique, the pure clash of strength had left him exhilarated and eased the pent-up rage in his heart.

A prompt appeared in his mind.

[Challenger Notice: Resurrection cost 10 Sacrificial Power. Your balance is insufficient to pay the resurrection fee. Remaining Sacrificial Power: -7]

[Challenger Notice: Your Sacrificial Power is negative. Shop and other functions, including Astral Vein enhancement, are temporarily unavailable.]

The system's rules left Li Tie somewhat helpless.

He brought up his contacts, found his granddaughter's portrait, and selected the call option.

Before long, a video window appeared in front of him. His granddaughter had chosen the Eagle Head Demon form.

"Grandpa, what's up?"

As soon as she asked, a commotion filled the video. A gigantic black worm burst out of the ground behind her and swung its head violently, knocking a player flying. It flashed across the screen, followed by a startled cry.

"How much Sacrificial Power do you have left?"

"You've run out again?"

Li Siyu looked surprised, but quickly nodded.

"Wait a moment, Grandpa. Let's talk after we finish off this worm."

With that, Li Siyu flapped her little wings and bared her teeth as she flew toward the black worm. Its lower half was buried in a pile of bones, while its upper body thrashed wildly.

The fight lasted five minutes. After killing the worm, Li Siyu looked toward the video window created by Guidance, panting.

"Grandpa, what do you need so much Sacrificial Power for?"

"I ran into a powerful monster. I need a weapon to fight it."

"Okay. I'll ask how much Sacrificial Power everyone has left to spare."

The view shifted with Li Siyu's perspective to the other members of the Fan Zui Group.

In response to her question, the members of the Fan Zui Group honestly reported how much Sacrificial Power they had left.

The team members had no objection to pooling their money to buy Iron Master equipment.

To them, Iron Master was unquestionably the heart of the team, and far stronger than anyone else in it. In their previous games, they'd also invested their resources in Iron Master first, helping him grow stronger.

When Iron Master asked, they handed over the Sacrificial Power they'd earned from killing monsters without hesitation and sent it to Li Siyu.

Li Siyu then transferred it through Guidance to Li Tie, who was still in Emperor's Tomb Village.

After receiving 82 points of Sacrificial Power, Li Tie's debt of 7 points was automatically deducted. He set off toward Spirit Artifact Valley once more.

He hunted down Cursed Soldiers along the way, reaching Level 6 and gathering the 100 Sacrificial Power he needed to buy another weapon.

As the blue battle axe appeared in his hands again, Li Tie's presence changed.

"Again!"

He looked toward the hill in the distance and set off without hesitation.

An hour and a half later.

Li Siyu received another call from Li Tie.

She was already in Gloomy Cave, discussing with the Ban Zhuan Group how much they'd charge for Sacrificial Power. By now, she was completely exasperated.

A few minutes later, she sent the Sacrificial Power she'd bought to Li Tie.

"Grandpa, I've sent you the 100 points I just bought. But don't turn off the video. Leave it on—I want to see what monster you're challenging."

Li Tie heard her out and didn't refuse.

After buying the battle axe, he left the village and headed toward Spirit Artifact Valley.

This time, the members of the Fan Zui Group gathered around the video window to watch. Even members of the Ban Zhuan Group, curious about what was going on, joined them.

When they saw the Spirit Artifacts, the players watching all cried out in surprise.

Li Tie was challenging a Primal Monster.

Even more astonishing, the Primal Spirit Artifact had chosen to duel Li Tie fairly instead of ganging up on him.

The battle was soon decided. Li Tie was killed again, but the red light radiating from the repeatedly challenged Li Man Axe had dimmed somewhat.

An hour later, a group of players who'd been mining gathered around the video window once more.

Faced with her grandfather, who was asking for Sacrificial Power again, Li Siyu looked helpless but didn't try to talk him out of it. She knew her grandfather was stubborn to the core.

Other people turned back after hitting a wall. Her grandfather kept ramming into it until he broke—or broke himself.

Fortunately, this time the Ban Zhuan Group bought 500 points of Sacrificial Power for 25,000, leaving them enough to support her grandfather's challenge.

Once the transfer was complete, a new challenge began.

But the livestream ended half an hour later.

Li Tie had once again been killed by the Spirit Artifact, "Li Man Axe."

When the video window went dark, the onlookers' expressions turned complicated.

Stay Up Late and Supper: Big Sis, please talk Iron Master out of this. There's no cash shop in this game, and we can't afford to let him burn through all our Sacrificial Power like this.

Is This Okay: Iron Master's a real man. I can't even imagine fighting with the pain feedback turned all the way up, but those fights with the Spirit Artifact are costing way too much Sacrificial Power. I say he should give it a rest for now and challenge it again once he's stronger.

Word Duck: Big Sis, your short-term goal of unlocking your second Star Vein Slot and socketing Bone Fire seems to be getting further and further away. (sad face)

Just then, Li Zheng came over and blurted out a question that left every member of the Fan Zui Group speechless:

"You rich folks are funny. Are you paying to help an old man play a souls game?"

The members of the Fan Zui Group all turned to look at Li Zheng, who stood behind them holding a Pickaxe, his expression puzzled.

When nobody answered, Li Zheng scratched his head.

"Spending money to help an old man challenge a high-difficulty boss—isn't that paying to help an old man play a souls game?"

The members of the Fan Zui Group: ...

For a moment, they couldn't think of how to argue with Li Zheng's description.