Luliduo and Qianshui (Part 1)

"Ah~ Sister Luliduo, hello, it's me, Li Dui."

The other side was a bit cold, replying only after a short pause.

"Hello."

"Um, are you free right now? Could I treat you to a meal?" She had saved Li Dui before, so he had no issue with her being aloof.

This time the wait was longer, as if she was considering it.

"I'm on Rainy Mountain, in the public area, Ten Thousand Languages Pavilion, private room D03776. There are two of us here."

"Alright, alright, no problem. I'll head over now." Li Dui didn't care how many people she had. He was going to thank her, not hit on her.

Rainy Mountain—he knew it. The Virtual Universe Company's virtual headquarters. Same deal as their Giant Axe Martial Arena's Raging Waves Island.

They had a Ten Thousand Languages Pavilion there too. Must be a chain.

The call ended. Across from Luliduo, the green-haired girl Qianshui flashed a sly smile in her eyes.

It was she who had brought up the old matter, insisting Luliduo accept Li Dui's friend request. And it was she who kept signaling Luliduo to invite him over.

Qianshui didn't have any ulterior motives; she just thought it was fun. In her eyes, regardless of identity, status, or strength, they were above Li Dui. They were also ten thousand years older. This little guy Li Dui had this connection with Luliduo, and he was Luo Feng's same race. She was just curious.

The two girls chatted over drinks. Before long, the room's communicator buzzed. It was the staff downstairs.

"Your Highness Qianshui, there's a Li Dui from the Giant Axe Martial Arena who says he's heading to your private room. Shall I escort him up?"

"Bring him up."

The staff ended the call and gestured for Li Dui to follow.

"Your Highness Qianshui—that Qianshui, right?" Li Dui remembered the name. She was from Luo Feng's batch, in the Primordial Secret Realm. She got along well with Luo Feng, Rong Jun, and that prince guy.

"Enter."

After the staff knocked, a crisp female voice came from inside.

Li Dui walked in, grinning and waving. "Greetings, two Sister Highnesses. I'm here."

The two women sat side by side on a sofa-like chair.

One had hair mixed with black and brown, a pretty face, and secret patterns extending from her neck to both jawbones. That was a Jieluo Race trait—Luliduo.

The other, with naturally curly green hair and faint green secret patterns on her face, was surely Qianshui.

Luliduo nodded.

Qianshui laughed heartily, pointing at the chair across from them. "Little Li Dui, come sit."

"Alright, thanks."

"You know Luliduo. I'm Qianshui, also from the Virtual Universe Company. Same as Luliduo, I'm in the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm now. I'm good friends with your clansman Luo Feng, you know." Qianshui introduced herself.

"Wow, Sister, you're so beautiful and so strong." Li Dui's tone was relaxed and casual, without any of the stiffness of facing a "Highness."

It wasn't an act. The truth was... they were just two Domain Lords from the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm. To put it bluntly, if he threw a punch at each, he could turn them into whimpering messes. This was a private setting, so naturally he didn't think about status or rank.

"Haha, you sure know how to talk, kid. But it won't work—today we're definitely making you treat us to a good meal." Qianshui laughed without any restraint.

Even Luliduo's eyes showed a hint of surprise. They had both fallen into the Doomsday Secret Realm. Core members of the Doomsday Secret Realm had a peculiar mindset when looking at core members of higher secret realms.

Not many could maintain a calm attitude like Li Dui.

"Of course. I came in a rush and didn't prepare anything. Really sorry about that." After saying this, Li Dui looked at Luliduo, bowed slightly, and said seriously, "Thank you for saving me."

He truly remembered this debt of gratitude. If he ever rose to prominence, he would definitely repay it.

Luliduo gently shook her head. "It was nothing. No need to keep remembering it."

"Tch, 'came in a rush.' How many years ago was that? If you wanted to bring a gift, you'd have prepared it long ago. You just have no sincerity, kid!" Qianshui cut in.

Luliduo nudged her shoulder to tell her to stop talking nonsense.

Li Dui gave a silly grin to cover his embarrassment. "Heh, my bad, my bad. I really forgot. Next time, okay, next time."

"No way, gifts are separate. After today's meal, you owe us two more feasts, kid." Qianshui smiled like a fox. She found this little guy even more fun than she'd imagined.

How people felt often came from within themselves. If someone else had said and acted like Li Dui, Qianshui might have sneered.

But with Li Dui, she just found it amusing. Because before he arrived, she had already pegged him as an interesting junior.

"Hey, hey, hey, Sister, meals are no problem. But can we stop with the 'kid' stuff? In another twenty thousand years, we'll be about the same age, alright?"

That wasn't entirely unreasonable. A few hundred years and ten thousand years were indeed a huge gap. But twenty thousand and thirty thousand—you could call them peers.

Just as Qianshui was about to retort, Li Dui spoke again.

"Oh, speaking of gifts, I just remembered something. I'll get it later, when I come back. I'll give you two Sisters three each."

"What is it? So stingy, only three. Come back... are you on a mission?" Qianshui asked curiously.

Beside her, Luliduo was quiet—that was just her nature. But she actually had a decent impression of Li Dui too, and she was curious about what he meant.

Li Dui looked up at the ceiling, thought for a moment. It should be fine to say. The Virtual Universe System wouldn't bother focusing on three little rookies like them. As long as he didn't mention anything too sensitive.

"Yeah! On a mission. Xueluo World, mission items. It's not that I'm stingy, Sister. More wouldn't help. Three—if... it works out, I can get a hundred thousand mission points." Li Dui answered vaguely.

In truth, Li Dui had forgotten that the matter of Xueluo Crystals was tightly controlled by the human race. Private gifting wasn't allowed. He was just being cautious on his own, which was why he was so vague about it.

The two women suddenly understood. They hadn't done the Xueluo World mission themselves, but they had studied the mission briefings. The mission item was the Xueluo Crystal. They didn't know the specifics, but they had a deep impression of that unique second mission in Xueluo World. One hundred thousand points—equivalent to the reward for a death-defying mission.

The two women shook their heads almost simultaneously. Luliduo spoke first: "We can't accept something so precious."

"Exactly, exactly. Don't flash your stuff around just because you've got something. And don't go blabbing about it outside. Xueluo World—how dangerous is that! I didn't even dare go back in the day. Are you in a safe place right now?" Qianshui added with a hint of concern.

"Safe, don't worry! Nothing's wrong. I'm eating in real life too. Big restaurant, big slabs of meat, big cups of wine."

Qianshui scoffed: "Tch, like I've never eaten before."

With that, she grabbed a device and started ordering food.

Still unable to hold back her curiosity, she asked: "That thing... what's it for?"

Li Dui glanced at the ordering device beside her. Watched her go all out like a tiger, only to order less than two hundred and fifty... billion cosmic credits.

He reached out to add more dishes, but before he could add a few, Qianshui stopped him: "Enough, enough. Why order so much? Think you're rich or something!" Then she restricted his ordering device's permissions. She'd opened the private room, so she had higher authority.

Li Dui gave her a helpless look and answered her earlier question: "After successful fusion... one of its effects is increasing the clarity of law comprehension. Three crystals double it. The other effect..." Li Dui shook his head and didn't continue.