Luliduo and Qianshui (Part 2)

Private Room.

The two women sitting side by side stared wide-eyed at Li Dui, stunned. Doubling the clarity of law comprehension? How much would that boost comprehension efficiency? They had to admit, they felt a flicker of temptation.

Li Dui waved his hand. "No, it's not that exaggerated. The effect is real. But it's hard to fuse, really hard! One is manageable. Wanting to fuse three—even a World Lord would struggle." On fusing Xueluo Crystals, the natives of Xueluo World had it far easier than outsiders. For these two women, fusing them would be quite challenging.

Hearing this, the two women relaxed. When they first heard about the Xueluo Crystal's effects, they had indeed been tempted. Of course, it was only a slight stir. As core geniuses at the Domain Lord Rank, their minds weren't so easily shaken.

Qianshui said in surprise, "Kid, you're this impressive? You managed to get that many... of those things. And you're offering us three each right off the bat. Come on, tell big sister, how many do you have?"

"Heh heh, lucky break. Got a few dozen or so." Li Dui put on a smug look.

"That many?" Qianshui was genuinely shocked. Luliduo also looked at Li Dui with surprise.

Mission items with such extraordinary effects were usually very hard to come by.

Qianshui's mind started working. "Kid, if you... when the mission's done. Those extra mission items, the useless ones, you just toss them. But these with strong effects, your Giant Axe Martial Arena will definitely buy them back from you with points."

She paused, a bit conflicted inside. This was getting a little too familiar for their level of acquaintance. But she couldn't just let the chance to grow stronger slip away. As long as the kid didn't lose out, it was fine. She continued, "When the time comes, whatever the points per crystal, I'll give you points and trade for three. How about it?"

Luliduo, hearing this, also seemed interested.

"No, giving is fine. Trading, no." Li Dui shook his head like a rattle-drum.

He was helpless. A few Xueluo Crystals really meant nothing to him. Selling them to the Giant Axe Martial Arena would only net a few hundred points each. Giving a few to the two girls was no big deal.

Qianshui said with mock anger, "You brat! Whatever, save them for big sister. I've got some points saved up I haven't spent. Oh, and save three for your sister Luliduo too."

Luliduo nodded in agreement.

Li Dui's attitude made them feel comfortable. For something this valuable, offering it outright meant he genuinely wanted to give it to them.

"You'll have to wait. I'm not planning to come back anytime soon." Li Dui couldn't be bothered arguing with them about trading or not. He'd just give it to them directly when the time came.

Just then, the service staff brought over drinks and food. After setting everything up, they withdrew from the room.

"Why stay in such a dangerous place for so long? You can only take ten missions in a hundred years." Qianshui grabbed a skewer of meat and bit into it.

"Over there, it's good for... fusing. I'll just stay for now. Ten missions in a hundred years, I can't finish them anyway. Unless I keep doing difficult or dangerous ones. That'd be too exhausting."

Both women nodded. They'd been through it and understood.

Luliduo rarely spoke up first. "Safety comes first. Dangerous missions can easily lead to unexpected trouble."

Qianshui chimed in, "Yeah, I ran into that once. Came close—but now that I'm Domain Lord Rank, I kind of miss those mission days. What's up with that?"

"Mm-hmm, I know. I'm pretty sneaky, always ready to hop on my ship and bolt. I bought a good ship, the kind with an E9-Grade Laser Cannon." Li Dui answered while chewing on some pastry made from unknown materials.

The two women chuckled. Someone actually calling themselves sneaky.

"That kind of ship is crazy expensive. And you actually bought it." As she spoke, Qianshui casually checked Li Dui's profile to estimate how many points he'd earned to spend so freely. Then she exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, you passed the third layer of the Heavenly Bridge in Chaos City within thirty years? Not bad, kid."

Luliduo looked at Li Dui with surprise. She hadn't even achieved that back then.

"Too bad you're from the Giant Axe Martial Arena. If you were from our Virtual Universe Company, you could apply to be my bodyguard. Big sister would have your back, keep you safe." Qianshui bit off a chunk of meat.

"To be your bodyguard, do I need to check the 'agree to serve in bed' option?" Li Dui asked with a look of terror.

"You wanna die, you brat?" Qianshui angrily threw her meat skewer at Li Dui, aiming for his head to teach the reckless kid a lesson. How dare he flirt with her?

Since she'd just learned Li Dui had passed the third layer of the Heavenly Bridge, Qianshui used her fourth-layer insights for the throw. As a powerful Spirit Reader, she had that much control.

Li Dui dodged instinctively. He'd been sitting in his chair, but his dodge was a subtle twist—half-rising, half-seated, with a hint of mystery. Qianshui's skewer missed.

During this time in Xueluo World, he'd killed twenty-eight city lords. With the philosophy that he could kill slowly or not at all, but he absolutely couldn't get hit, his greatest improvement in combat experience was in movement techniques.

"Oh?" Qianshui froze.

Luliduo asked suspiciously, "You... can you pass the fourth layer now?"

Both women had sharp eyes. Qianshui had passed eight layers of the Heavenly Bridge, and Luliduo had recently passed the seventh.

Seeing Qianshui grab another pastry as if to throw it again, Li Dui quickly raised his hands in surrender. "Wrong, wrong. No more." Then he turned to Luliduo and replied, "Pretty much."

Qianshui snorted a laugh and popped the pastry into her mouth. Mumbling through the food, she said, "Big sister will teach you a trick—of course you check it. More points that way, didn't you know? Haha."

"You can pass the fourth layer of the Heavenly Bridge this fast. What layer is that guy from your batch in the God Origin Secret Realm at?" Luliduo asked again.

"He was already at four before leaving Chaos City."

"Then he's not that far ahead of you. How did you end up in the Battle Axe Secret Realm? Can the Virtual Universe System really make mistakes?" Qianshui asked, puzzled. She thought Li Dui had been overlooked during the Genius War.

"No, no. I just... uh, after being saved by Sister Luliduo, I slowly started to get it."

The two women understood. There was great terror in life-and-death moments. Some people, after experiencing such moments, did unlock new potential. It wasn't unusual. Many stories and legends had similar plots.

"Then you really should thank Luliduo properly. Speaking of which, is your Earthling bloodline really low-grade? In our batch, Luo Feng has left everyone else several galaxies behind. And now, just ten thousand years later, another little genius like you pops up." Mentioning Luo Feng, Qianshui sighed.

The few of them in the Primordial Secret Realm had a decent relationship with Luo Feng. But at least she herself wasn't close enough to chat across several ranks.

Sure enough, they hadn't contacted each other in years. Not just her—Rong Jun, Wuka, and the others seemed to have lost touch too.

"It's ninth-grade. Senior Luo Feng... is truly impressive. I'm just okay. I almost died in Chaos City. I definitely thank Sister Luliduo. It's all in my heart."

Li Dui patted his chest. Then he raised his glass in a toast and downed it in one gulp.