Nan Xuan opened his eyes and looked at Tang Hao approaching him slowly, somewhat confused.
"Hello, I'm Tang Hao, the blacksmith who just moved here a few days ago. Since I've only just moved in, I'm still missing quite a few things, especially rice. I bought a little from the village chief a few days ago, but there's barely any left now. It's too far to go to the village chief's place, and it's inconvenient with a child in tow, so I was wondering if you could..." Tang Hao said with a smile to Nan Xuan, who was reclining in his lounge chair.
In truth, Tang Hao had not come merely to buy rice. His main purpose was to assess whether this neighbor of his was safe.
If his character is questionable, I'll find a way to drive him away. I can't let him lead Xiao San astray.
If he's a Soul Master who threatens Xiao San's safety, I'll hammer him to death directly. Tang Hao thought as he watched Nan Xuan.
"Oh, so you're the one living across from me. I thought the sound of a baby crying came from somewhere else last night. Raising a child alone can't be easy. Since we're neighbors, of course I'll help if I can." Hearing Tang Hao's words, Nan Xuan smiled and stood up, then headed into his kitchen. He brought Tang Hao a bag of rice while exchanging a few polite remarks with him.
Tang Hao listened to the man's tone and found no hostility in it. He was even quite warm and welcoming. Most importantly, the rice had been given to him for free.
Then, when he took the rice Nan Xuan handed him, Tang Hao deliberately brushed his hand against Nan Xuan's and sensed him. There was no Soul Power.
Good character, no Soul Power. He's a good neighbor and can stay. After accepting Nan Xuan's rice and thanking him, Tang Hao returned to his wooden cabin, having reached his assessment of Nan Xuan.
The moment Tang Hao touched his hand, Nan Xuan knew the fellow had not come to buy rice. He had come to investigate whether Nan Xuan was safe.
A Title Douluo thinks he can investigate me? Unless I tell you, no one will ever know I'm a Soul Master. Consider this bag of rice an advance salary payment for the Blue Silver Emperor. Nan Xuan lounged in his chair, rocking leisurely as he chuckled darkly to himself.
With his domain skill, he could naturally conceal anything he did not wish to reveal. Activating his domain did not require him to pay any Soul Power, so he kept it active at all times.
Over the following days, Tang Hao occasionally came by to ask Nan Xuan whether he needed anything forged. Nan Xuan could only say that he did not need anything for now, but that he would definitely seek Tang Hao out when he did.
More than a month later, Nan Xuan received letters from the three regions saying that the Network Card Readers had been distributed to the merchants who needed them. They had chosen to believe that the God of the Network would bring them profit and a convenient payment method.
No matter how these merchants believed in Nan Xuan, Nan Xuan truly sensed an inexplicable power from their faith.
After receiving the replies from all three parties, Nan Xuan returned to his room. He used his soul skill to monitor his surroundings, then controlled the Blue Silver Grass he had spread throughout the continent. Dark-blue spiritual power emanated from the grass and soon attached itself to the Network Card Readers.
After finishing this, Nan Xuan posted an announcement in the Network World.
"Good afternoon, veteran netizens. I am the God of the Network. To make it easier for everyone to pay for anything they purchase, my world has developed Network Card Payment. For details, please consult your Smart Guide."
Clear Sky Sect.
Ever since Tang Hao's deeds had reached the sect, his father, the former sect master, had been angered to death on the spot. Tang Xiao then inherited the position of sect master. After Tang Hao announced his departure from the Clear Sky Sect, the sect did not immediately withdraw from the world, because the source of the matter rested with Tang Hao. Even if Qian Xunji truly wanted to make trouble, he would need a good reason. But after hearing that Qian Xunji had died of illness, they immediately shut down all the sect's affairs in the secular world. All direct and branch-family disciples returned, and the sect hid away in the snowy mountains.
"Oh, the God of the Network has introduced another new system." Aside from handling sect affairs, Tang Xiao spent most of his time browsing the Network World now. After all, his "Ah Yin" was there.
Moreover, ever since the God of the Network had bestowed "Ah Yin" upon him, he had become one of Nan Xuan's devoted believers.
"Ah Yin, introduce this Network Card Payment to me." Tang Xiao rested his head on the lap of the Smart Guide "Ah Yin" and asked with an expression of pure enjoyment.
"Of course, A-Xiao."
"Network Card Payment means that at merchants equipped with a Network Card Reader, A-Xiao can choose either card payment or Network Mental Payment."
"Every netizen's Network Card now has an additional bank account function. The bank where the account is opened is the Network World Bank. If A-Xiao needs cash in the future, you can exchange for it at the Network World Bank. You can also exchange cash for Network Gold Coins. The exchange rate is one-to-one, and there are no service fees."
"Furthermore, my god has reached a cooperation agreement with Spirit Hall, allowing Network World Bank exchange points to be established in Spirit Hall branches in every city. This lets commoners make exchanges without traveling to major cities. For places that are truly inconvenient, professional teams will even travel to the countryside to register exchanges." The Smart Guide "Ah Yin" gently explained it to Tang Xiao.
"Sigh, it's just that the Clear Sky Sect has gone into seclusion. Otherwise, we definitely would have supported it." Tang Xiao sighed.
"It's all right, A-Xiao. There will definitely be opportunities in the future, so don't worry." The Smart Guide "Ah Yin" massaged Tang Xiao's brow and comforted him softly.
For a time, not many people could accept Network Card Payment. After all, handing all their money over to someone they had never even met was bound to make people afraid.
Nan Xuan uncovered this information and felt that the way he absorbed faith was rather strange. People only knew a name and almost nothing else about him. How was that supposed to spread? How were they supposed to believe in him?
Nan Xuan hurriedly contacted the three parties and asked them to make statues of him.
"Oh? My little Xuan is finally putting up statues. You're finally willing to show your face." Bibi Dong crossed her legs and chuckled.
"Sister Dong, long time no see." Chen Gao and the others greeted Bibi Dong one after another.
"Yes, it has been a long time. Your children might already be old enough to run errands for soy sauce, huh?" Bibi Dong joked with Chen Gao and the others.
"Hey, Sister Dong, that's where you're wrong. You and Brother Xuan have been together for so many years without having children. How would we dare have them first? Right?" Yang Tian's mind worked quickly, and he immediately tossed the question back at her.
Seeing that Bibi Dong could not outtalk these thick-skinned fellows, Nan Xuan hurriedly stepped in. "Ahem, ahem. As for my statue, I do have a few requirements."
After speaking, Nan Xuan sent his three-dimensional image to the four of them.
His height, refined features, short black hair, and a white casual robe that looked elegant and scholarly. In particular, the left breast of the robe bore the distinctive spider emblem of a Network Card. Behind him, a pair of faint azure wings spread open. His left hand rested behind his back, while his right hand held up a dark-blue Wireless Router.
The group looked at Nan Xuan's statue model, smiled, and nodded, indicating that it was acceptable.
"Oh, right, little Xuan. I'm currently the Pope of Spirit Hall, so I can't place your statue in the most conspicuous location. Otherwise, it would be somewhat hard to justify." Bibi Dong spoke to Nan Xuan thoughtfully.
"That's fine. Just put it in my Momo Treasure Appraisal House." Nan Xuan said with a smile, unconcerned.
After discussing matters, they all logged off. They were all in the midst of advancing their careers.
Using his spiritual power, Nan Xuan gave the faces of all his statues across the continent a slightly hazy quality. It seemed as though one could make out his face by looking closely, but the truth was that it could not be seen clearly.
Through Nan Xuan's efforts and those of the various parties, netizens' trust in him steadily increased, and more people went to the Network World Bank to exchange for Network Gold Coins every day.
Star Luo Empire Auction House.
"Can your auction house use network payment now? If not, I'm not going in. Don't waste my time." A chubby middle-aged man asked the auction house receptionist.
"Sir, everyone is using network payment now. As the Empire Auction House, we naturally lead the way in accepting new things. So please rest assured, there will absolutely be nothing here that interferes with your purchases." The receptionist explained with a smile.
The middle-aged man smiled in satisfaction. He had previously visited several ordinary auction houses that did not offer it, and it had nearly ruined his mood.
"It still has to be the empire. They accept new ideas quickly." As the middle-aged man strode toward the Empire Auction House, he muttered approvingly under his breath.
PS: I wonder how many people are still following this. There are only a few days until it reaches 100,000 words, and I'm really nervous.
After more than a month of development, Nan Xuan saw that Network Card Payment had begun to spread, so he began preparing the Network Library.
As for the Network Library, Nan Xuan did not have many ideas. However, it would be a pity not to use Spirit Hall's treasure trove. A store of knowledge was indeed the foundation of a sect, but the most crucial thing was still the inheritance of martial souls.
So using Spirit Hall's books to make money was quite a good idea.
After giving it some thought, Nan Xuan decided to store the books as a document database, then have the Smart Guide serve as a search engine.
Using his First Soul Skill, Nan Xuan extracted all the content from these books. Then, through Digitization, he stored it in his martial soul. In any case, his martial soul was practically the storage repository for the entire Network World. All he needed to do was release an announcement saying that the Network Library was available.
Very quickly, the entire continent learned that the God of the Network had developed another new feature.
For common Soul Masters, these books were not particularly useful. For Soul Masters, they might only be interested in information regarding soul beasts. Only certain scholars would have any interest in researching other people's martial souls.
In an obscure small city within the Heaven Dou Empire, Yu Xiaogang had chosen to muddle through life there in order to avoid his cousin.
At years old, he wore a crew cut and slumped in his room, his beard already prickly to the touch.
"Hahaha, my life, Yu Xiaogang's life, is truly ironic. I originally thought that my martial soul awakening was the first blow of my life, and would also be the last. Yet the true love I finally managed to find turned out to be my own cousin. How ironic."
"Five years ago, when I first left the sect, I wanted to prove that I wasn't trash, that martial souls could not determine everything. But who would have thought that I could not even gather enough books and research materials? Spirit Hall, hahaha! If you truly cared about Soul Masters, why wouldn't you share this knowledge? You only know how to make empty promises."
Yu Xiaogang ruthlessly mocked himself while also criticizing Spirit Hall's selfishness. He had always believed that, as a direct disciple of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, he could not possibly be trash. Martial souls did not determine everything.
Yu Xiaogang took a sip from the wine bottle on his bed, his eyes filled with bitterness.
Feeling as though he might cry, Yu Xiaogang rubbed his butt before entering the Network World.
The instant he entered the Network World, another unpleasant memory surfaced.
Several years ago, when Yu Xiaogang had first obtained a Network Card with imprinting authorization, he sat at his desk considering where he should imprint it.
Not long after, while he was deep in thought, he heard his friend Flender knock on the door. He casually placed the Network Card on the table and went to open the door.
After Flender entered the room, he picked up Yu Xiaogang's Network Card, spun it in his hand, and smiled as he asked where Yu Xiaogang intended to imprint it. Yu Xiaogang said he had not decided yet and still needed to think it over.
But who knew that Flender's hand would slip, sending the spinning Network Card flying to the floor? Yu Xiaogang looked at Flender speechlessly and prepared to pick it up himself.
However, just as he was about to walk over and retrieve it, the hot-tempered Liu Erlong barged in. She happened to crash into Yu Xiaogang, and he lost his footing, falling right onto the Network Card.
And so, his Network Card imprint ended up on his butt.
"Sigh, let's see if there's anything interesting today." Yu Xiaogang put aside those unpleasant memories and decided to look for something interesting in the Network World to improve his mood.
"Hmm! The Network Library is open, and Spirit Hall is providing the materials." Yu Xiaogang stared at the top trending title and excitedly rubbed his eyes.
He immediately clicked into it.
Then he saw the announcement posted by Nan Xuan, followed by instructions to consult the Smart Guide for specific usage details.
Smart Guide. Seeing those words, Yu Xiaogang fell into another unpleasant memory. To show his love for Liu Erlong, he had modeled his Smart Guide's face after hers, with a ninety-nine percent resemblance.
Now that she was his cousin, how could he bring himself to alter it? He was afraid of seeing her in the real world and had run away. In the Network World, he did not want to see her either, so he had chosen not to activate it.
But now, Yu Xiaogang could only sigh and call out to his Er Long.
"Xiaogang, Er Long is at your service." The Smart Guide Liu Erlong spoke in a voice reproduced with perfect accuracy.
Yu Xiaogang said wistfully, "Open everything related to the Network Library."
"Okay, Xiaogang."
Yu Xiaogang then saw the knowledge he needed, but it was only the covers of the books. The actual contents required payment.
Fortunately, he had enough money for this. After paying through network payment, he plunged into an ocean of knowledge.
"Hahaha, with these materials, I can definitely become famous across the continent and let everyone know that I'm not trash. There are no trash martial souls in this world, only trash Soul Masters." Yu Xiaogang looked at the books and materials before him, hope igniting in his eyes.
And so, Yu Xiaogang spent day and night in the Network World, organizing his writings.
Before you continue