Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect Wants Tomorrow

The next day, before Grand Dao Internet Cafe had even opened, a carriage stopped at the street corner. It was not ostentatious, and there were not many guards. But anyone in Spirit City with a discerning eye understood at once. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had arrived. Ning Fengzhi stepped down first, with Chen Xin following behind him, his right index finger occasionally tapping lightly against his thumb, as though he were still savoring yesterday's broken wooden stick.

Ning Rongrong had come as well. Two young disciples followed behind her, one man and one woman. Their clothes were neat, but they could not hide the tension on their faces. The female disciple lowered her voice.

"Sect Master, are we really going in? We don't have any offensive soul skills."

Ning Fengzhi glanced at her.

"That is exactly why we need to go in."

The two disciples froze. The male disciple instinctively looked toward Chen Xin. With the Sword Douluo there, the phrase they had heard most often since childhood was:

"Stand in the back."

The back was the safest place.

From the back, they could see the whole situation. Assault-type, defense-type, and agility-type soul masters would shield them from danger. Over time, many support-type disciples had grown used to it themselves. They could calculate buffs, judge Soul Power consumption, and recite the sect's battle formations. But once there was no one ahead of them, no one could clearly say where their first step should retreat to.

The female disciple lowered her voice even further.

"But Sect Master, what if we hold everyone back after going in...?"

Ning Fengzhi cut her off.

"It is better to hold people back here than on a battlefield."

Chen Xin added flatly.

"Die once, remember once."

The two disciples turned even paler. Ning Rongrong opened her mouth beside them, wanting to say something for them. But then she remembered how her hands had trembled as she held the Incense Lamp last night, and closed her mouth again. She was afraid too. She had simply already been afraid once. Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, the greatest support spirit in the world. They had heard those words since childhood. But there was another saying in the sect, one no one liked to mention.

Once a support-type soul master lost their protection, they died the fastest. Grand Dao Internet Cafe had laid that truth bare. What if they had no soul skills? What if an enemy got close? What if their teammates were held up, and the first blade was already falling before their eyes? Ning Fengzhi had taught them these things before. But no amount of teaching was as clear as dying once in Black Wind Mountain. The door opened. Lin Chuan saw Ning Fengzhi and was not surprised in the slightest.

"Three experiences?"

"One for me. They'll observe first."

Ning Fengzhi set down the money.

"The rules remain the same."

Yue Guan was already in the corner. He smiled. "Sect Master Ning, you came early." Ning Fengzhi smiled as well.

"If your hall needs anything, you may write it on the Reservation Token too."

Yue Guan looked toward the wall. The board that had been empty yesterday already bore quite a few names. Shrek. Spirit Hall trainees. Elephant Armor Academy. Canghui Academy teachers. And two low-ranking Spirit City stewards. Yue Guan walked to the counter.

"Boss Lin, Spirit Hall wishes to reserve a batch of long-term slots."

The shop instantly fell silent. In Spirit City, those words carried more weight than Gold Soul Coins. Several academy students immediately edged backward. Everyone knew that when Spirit Hall spoke up to claim something, it was best not to stand in the way. Especially when it was only a few gaming slots. Some had even looked toward the Reservation Token, preparing to erase their own names. But Lin Chuan did not even look at it. He raised his head.

"I don't sell long-term monopolies. Reservations are allowed, but daily slots are limited. First come, first served. Temporary experiences depend on open seats."

The Spirit Hall trainees beside him changed expression. He had refused? And so cleanly? The trainee who had been about to erase his name froze with his hand in midair. Erasing it was awkward. Leaving it was awkward too. Lin Chuan glanced at him.

"If you wrote your name down, it counts. As long as you're not late, your turn will come."

The trainee abruptly pulled his hand back. His face looked as though someone had stuffed a burning coal into it. He did not dare smile, but his eyes lit up. Yue Guan watched the scene, his smile deepening, yet he did not press further. Yue Guan narrowed his eyes. Somewhere else, he probably would not have been able to keep smiling. But this was Grand Dao Internet Cafe. Yesterday, even the Sword Douluo had been reduced to an ordinary man. He truly had no interest in testing the rules himself. So Yue Guan smiled.

"Boss Lin is fair."

Lin Chuan collected the money.

"It's a small shop. I have to follow the rules."

Ning Fengzhi sat down to experience it. The two Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect disciples stood behind him, somewhat expectant at first. Their sect master was personally taking the field. It could not look too bad, could it? Half a quarter-hour later, both their faces had gone pale. Ning Fengzhi died very quickly. So quickly that they had not even finished worrying for him. In the first round, the screen went black. In the second round, black again. In the third, still black. Some people in the shop did not dare laugh too openly, but their shoulders were already shaking.

The sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. A renowned gentleman across the continent. Yet on the Old Road of Black Wind Mountain, he was scratched about by Little Demons until he had none of a sect master's dignity left. The female disciple's palms went cold. She suddenly understood that the sect master's words, "That is exactly why we need to go in," had not been mere polite talk. He had truly thrown himself in first. When the first Little Demon lunged, he noticed it, but could not dodge.

The second time, he retreated to the right in advance, only for another one to crawl out of the grass. The third time, he stood still and listened for a long time, only to be tripped by loose stones on the slope. The screen went black. Several young soul masters could not hold back their laughter. Ning Fengzhi removed the Synchronized Headband without a trace of anger on his face. He asked Lin Chuan for paper and a charcoal pencil. First line: Three sounds from the left grass, loose stones on the right slope. Second line: Before a Little Demon lunges, its shoulders lower and its ankles move first. Third line: When the Incense Lamp catches the wind, the flame does not always lean in the wind's direction. The two Seven Treasure disciples stopped laughing.

At first, they thought their sect master was trying to save face. He had died too quickly, so he had to write something down to prove he had not come for nothing. But as they watched, something felt wrong. Those were not meaningless notes scribbled at random. Every line corresponded to a death. Three sounds from the left grass were the noises before the Little Demon lunged in the first round. Loose stones on the right slope were the sounds of an ambusher sliding down behind him in the second round.

The direction of the flame had been a fleeting detail on the Cooperative Advance screen in the distance, before their sect master tripped in the third round. Even while dying himself, he had been watching someone else's lamp. The male disciple swallowed.

"Sect Master, were you watching another screen just now?"

Ning Fengzhi did not look up.

"A support-type soul master cannot only watch what is in front of him."

With a single sentence, the male disciple blushed. Ning Fengzhi set down the charcoal pencil and looked up.

"What did you think I brought you here to see?"

He pointed at the screen.

"To watch me win?"

The two disciples lowered their heads. Ning Fengzhi's voice was quiet.

"I wanted you to see that even the sect master can die."

The female disciple asked softly, "What if a disciple keeps dying after going in?" Ning Fengzhi handed her the charcoal pencil.

"Then start recording from the first death."

He looked toward the spectator screen.

"What Seven Treasure wants is not for fewer people to die today."

"What Seven Treasure wants is tomorrow—when a blade truly falls before you, you can live one breath longer than you did today."

The female disciple accepted the charcoal pencil. Her fingers trembled slightly, but she did not retreat again. Ning Rongrong watched her and suddenly remembered what she had been like when she first entered the game. She had been afraid then too. Afraid of dying. Afraid of humiliation. Even more afraid that others would discover that once the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda left its teammates, it truly seemed unable to do anything. But looking at it now, she felt that such fear was not so bad.

At least if they had been afraid once here, perhaps outside, they would not even be too late to feel afraid. Yue Guan stood not far away, watching that charcoal pencil being passed over. He still wore a smile, but he had already made a note of the matter in his heart. What Seven Treasure wanted to train was not a few geniuses. It was their weakest link. That would be troublesome. Lin Chuan watched the scene from behind the counter and only felt that today's customers were much quieter than yesterday's.

It was not that no one spoke. Rather, everyone looked at the screen before speaking. That meant they were beginning to trust the screen. If they trusted the screen, they would trust the deaths in the game. If they trusted death, they would be willing to pay for another chance. To Lin Chuan, that was more solid than the name of any great power. He moved the newly collected Gold Soul Coins aside and casually added another line beneath the Reservation Token.

Tomorrow's slots: fully booked.

Two more soul masters who had come to watch the excitement arrived at the entrance. Just as they tried to squeeze inside, they were startled by the densely packed names on the Reservation Token. One of them whispered, "That many people?" The other looked at the screens.

"If we don't line up now, there'll only be more later."

His voice was not loud, yet it made quite a few people in the shop tense. Grand Dao Internet Cafe was truly starting to become hard to get into.