Volume One: Days in the Shantytown - The Portable Generator

A streak of blue light fell into Toad Mountain like a meteor. It swirled on landing and became Du Lengning. "Old Luo! Old Luo..." he called as he barged into Luo Qian's cave residence. Luo Qian chuckled. "Young Master Du, out of power again?" Du Lengning shook his head. "No. This time it's a little troublesome. That kid Lei Ming has worked out the Treasure Artifact you wanted, but he can't make it. We need an expert artifact crafter." "Already?" It had been less than three months. Luo Qian was genuinely surprised Lei Ming had figured it out so quickly.

"Do you know an expert artifact crafter, Young Master Du?" Luo Qian asked. Du Lengning had never wanted to get mixed up in these affairs. His face clouded. "I know a few, but you know what they're like. Expert artifact crafters are people of standing in the Immortal Realm. Why would they make something for you that's only Treasure Artifact-grade?"

Luo Qian's eyes darted, and he changed the subject. "Young Master Du, do you know what I've been doing in the Lower Realm lately?" Du Lengning said nothing.

After talking it over, Luo Qian and Du Lengning reached an understanding. Du Lengning thumped his chest and promised to find Luo Qian a suitable artifact crafter. Luo Qian promised nothing, but if he failed to handle Du Lengning's business in the Lower Realm, the young master of Distant Hall certainly wouldn't let him off.

In the Lower Realm, Luo Qian opened the magazine to the rankings. Number Thirty-Five sat high atop the list, nearly a hundred thousand votes ahead of second place. With two weeks left, the championship was all but settled. The suspense was gone.

Still, Luo Qian dared not slack off. He called Chen Baozi in the city and told him to keep buying fifty thousand copies of the magazine every week and pouring in votes.

A weekly magazine normally circulated little more than a hundred thousand copies nationwide, but the publisher wasn't foolish. Print runs for the recent issues had exceeded three hundred thousand, and demand still outstripped supply. Chen Baozi had only managed to obtain so many through the province's chief distributor.

Back in the Immortal Realm, Luo Qian had barely sat down when Du Lengning came charging in. "Old Luo, quick! I've found someone. Come take a look."

An expert artifact crafter who met Luo Qian's requirements was hard to find. He had to possess a certain level of skill, have little reputation, and keep secrets. Meeting one condition was easy; meeting two was difficult, let alone all three. Du Lengning hadn't expected to find one so quickly either. As luck would have it, someone had bought a plot of land on Ningyao Mountain yesterday for thirty pieces of High-Grade Immortal Jade. Ningyao Mountain was prime real estate in the Immortal Realm, and establishing a business there was anything but cheap. Thirty pieces of High-Grade Immortal Jade equaled thirty million standard Immortal Jade, yet on Ningyao Mountain that vast sum bought only a plot the size of a sleeping mat.

Before Luo Qian could ask what was going on, Du Lengning grabbed him and headed for Ningyao Mountain with the easy grace of a third-tier immortal art, Drifting Duckweed Step. Poor Luo Qian was still shaky with the first-tier Sky-Leaping Vault. Seeing that Du Lengning had spent little more time than he had in the Immortal Realm yet had already reached the level of a Third-Tier Immortal, Luo Qian was green with envy.

Before long, Ningyao Mountain appeared in the distance. A third-tier immortal art truly was beyond comparison with his pitiful Sky-Leaping Vault. They had arrived so quickly.

Within Ningyao Mountain lay a choice stretch of land, bright with fluttering banners. Eye-catching cloth streamers danced in the wind, each bearing lettering in a different style. Whatever else they were, no one could accuse them of failing to attract attention.

Luo Qian knew this was a coveted spot on Ningyao Mountain. Every streamer represented a shop, serving as both signboard and teleportation gate. Anyone interested in a shop's wares had only to stand beneath its streamer to be transported inside. Where the shop itself stood was another matter entirely.

Every inch of Ningyao Mountain was worth its weight in Jin. It wasn't that no wealthy patron could afford a shop here, but for the vast majority of immortals, planting a streamer and opening a shop elsewhere, then drawing customers through a teleportation gate, was the surest way to keep costs down.

"See it? Right there." Du Lengning pointed. Luo Qian followed his finger and saw a pitch-black streamer standing on a palm-sized patch of land. Amid the others, its pole looked as thin as a chopstick. Two characters were written on the cloth: Ghost Refining.

Luo Qian shook his head. "That fellow's business can't be doing well." Du Lengning chuckled. "Old Luo, that's where you're wrong. It's a gimmick. The more understated it is, the more it stands out amid Ningyao Mountain's clamor. I went to see it yesterday. He's actually doing quite well. The clever part is the word 'ghost.'"

"Oh? Is he a Soul Immortal?" Luo Qian asked. "It's not that simple," Du Lengning said. "He is a Soul Immortal, but more importantly, that word puts people with ghosts in their hearts at ease. Some who come to Ningyao Mountain inevitably have requests that can't bear the light of day. Ghost Refining is just what they're looking for..." Luo Qian smiled faintly and murmured, "Like us?" Du Lengning nodded, not noticing that Luo Qian had successfully turned "me" into "us."

"Come on, I'll take you in." They stood beneath the black streamer. A dim light flashed before their eyes, and the next moment they found themselves amid green hills and clear waters. Luo Qian glanced around. "This is Clearwater Cliff, next to Ningyao Mountain. It may not compare with those treasured lands of the Three Heavens and Six Sources, but it's far better than my Toad Mountain."

Black smoke curled from a thatched hut. It had a crude brushwood gate and a fence of withered bamboo. Its owner plainly struck a pose of wanting no quarrel with the world and no trouble from anyone. Du Lengning gave a cold chuckle. "Don't underestimate the furnishings. The thatch on the roof is deadly Heart-Piercing Grass. Behind the gate is a Nine Ghost Beheading Formation, and beneath the fence are vicious Ghostfire Hidden Thunders..."

Luo Qian's eyes nearly popped out. "Good grief. I thought I was underhanded enough, but someone's even more poisonous than me!"

"Brother Xiao! Brother Xiao!" Du Lengning called twice. A figure drifted out from behind the gate, black-robed and white-faced, with a sinister air. "So it's Brother Du. What brings the young master of Ningyao Mountain to my humble abode?" The words were courteous enough, but spoken in his icy voice, they sounded like a challenge. Du Lengning knew his temperament by now and chuckled. "One doesn't visit a temple without a reason."

"Come in."

The two entered the Soul Immortal's thatched hut. The furnishings inside were as sparse as those outside. With a gesture from the Soul Immortal, three soft grass cushions floated down from overhead. He "sat" on one and motioned for Du Lengning and Luo Qian to take their seats.

"Old Luo, this is Master Xiao Xiangzi of Ghost Refining. Brother Xiao, this is my good friend Luo Qian. He has some business to discuss with you." After introducing them, Du Lengning sat to one side and fell silent.

With no other choice, Luo Qian laid out his intentions in full. Xiao Xiangzi glanced at him and said blandly, "No problem. Since Brother Du brought you here, I'll give you a discount: five pieces of High-Grade Immortal Jade per finished piece." Luo Qian sprang up from his cushion. "What? Five pieces of High-Grade Immortal Jade? I'm not asking you to make an Immortal Artifact!" Xiao Xiangzi smiled without warmth. "That covers more than crafting. It also covers secrecy..."

Luo Qian turned to leave. "Farewell."

Du Lengning hurried after him. "Old Luo, Old Luo, why are you so rash? You clearly don't know the going rate for artifact crafting. That price isn't high!" "Five pieces of High-Grade Immortal Jade isn't high? I rigged that contest for you in the Lower Realm, made all that commotion, took on enormous risks, and that's all I'm getting..."

"Artifact crafting doesn't succeed every time," Du Lengning said. "Once you account for wasted materials, labor, and hush money, it's not expensive." Luo Qian sighed helplessly. "Fine. You haven't paid me what you owe me anyway, so transfer the debt to him. I'm not going back in. You tell him." Du Lengning agreed and went back.

Luo Qian flew back to his cave residence on Toad Mountain alone. Then it struck him: if the Treasure Artifact made according to Lei Ming's method failed to meet his requirements, wouldn't his five million standard Immortal Jade have gone down the drain?

Bang! He slammed a fist against his cave residence and snarled, "Damn it! Lei Ming, if this really fails, you can forget about eating bird food from the Lower Realm for the rest of your life!"

By his reckoning, that beauty contest in the Lower Realm was nearly over. Luo Qian drew a deep breath of Immortal Spirit Energy, preparing to descend, but the same strange thing that had happened last time occurred again. The energy entered his body, then silently vanished through a leak he couldn't locate. Having experienced it once before, Luo Qian felt a little flustered, but he didn't panic.

He sat cross-legged in his cave residence, palms and face turned skyward, and began breathing exercises. Immortal Spirit Energy was thin on Toad Mountain, and this time the "leak" seemed hungrier. Luo Qian could clearly feel that he drew in a third more Immortal Spirit Energy than he had last time.

At last, the leak was filled. Luo Qian straightened his clothes and stood. He wasn't worried about his body. What could be worse than his present condition? A Tribulation Immortal, still scraping by as a First-Rank Immortal after five hundred years. And after another five hundred years... whether he could survive that tribulation remained to be seen.

He found a newsstand and bought a magazine. A striking headline filled the cover: "Phoenix Cup Cosplay Competition — Overall Champion of the Year: Pei Sefei." The girl's name appeared in enormous, explosive lettering, even more conspicuous than the streamers on Ningyao Mountain.

Pei Sefei, Contestant Thirty-Five, appeared on the cover in a white warrior outfit, her expression cool and elegant.

Luo Qian smiled and tucked the magazine away. He would need it to report back to Du Lengning. He didn't go to see Chen Baozi. With the job done, that fellow would disappear on his own.

The Immortal Realm.

Smack! Luo Qian tossed the magazine down in front of Du Lengning and leaned back lazily in a comfortable chair at Rockview Tower. "Young Master Du, I've done everything I promised." Du Lengning spotted the girl on the cover at once. He snatched up the magazine and stared at it for ages before frantically flipping through the pages. "Old Luo, the awards ceremony! There's still the awards ceremony! I want to see it..." Luo Qian waved a hand. "No. I can go down myself, but I can't take another person with me." "Brother Luo, that's not what I meant. I want you to go down and record it. Then you can bring the recording back for me to watch."

Luo Qian frowned. "All right, but..." Du Lengning had dealt with him long enough to know what he meant. "Don't worry. I'll add another million standard Immortal Jade." Luo Qian nodded, as though accepting with great reluctance. "Very well..."

"Damn it, I've been had!" When Luo Qian saw on a poster that tickets to the awards ceremony cost three thousand yuan apiece, he felt cheated. The high-definition, three-megapixel video camera hanging around his neck had cost him thirteen thousand, and the ticket another three thousand. Nearly twenty thousand yuan in expenses was far more than he had expected.

This competition was a major event for the domestic gaming world. By the time Luo Qian reached the awards venue in S City, countless gaming enthusiasts had gathered outside. Fans in game costumes were everywhere. Camera flashes crackled at the newsmakers emerging from luxurious cars: game-company bosses, actresses dogged by scandal, and many of the contestants.

Ticket in hand, Luo Qian stood off to one side, attracting no attention at all.

The venue was decorated with a distinctly gaming-inspired flair. Supposedly, it recreated one of the main settings from a new online game about to be released by a principal sponsor. Beneath a gray-blue sky hung a ruby-red sunset. An Elf forest covered the walls, and a scale model of Giant Beast Cliff rose inside the hall.

To please his client, Luo Qian had chosen a better camera angle and bought a front-row "guest seating" ticket, spending another two thousand yuan.

Once seated, he adjusted his camera. He didn't care how many stars glittered on the awards ceremony's red carpet. He had only one target: the competition's champion, Contestant Thirty-Five, Pei Sefei.

At last, the lengthy opening formalities ended. The competition's scale and influence had far exceeded the organizers' expectations, so they had expanded the original prize plan for the top three to award prizes to the top ten. Naturally, the presentations began with tenth place.

By the later stages of the contest, anyone could see that no one could make the rankings without buying votes. And which contestant with the means to buy votes lacked connections? The magazine publisher was shrewd. It had widened the prize pool to give everyone it couldn't afford to offend a consolation prize.

After a noisy stretch of applause, flowers, and camera flashes, the competition's overall champion, Contestant Thirty-Five, Pei Sefei, finally took the stage to accept her award. Luo Qian quickly raised his camera and kept it trained on her from the moment she emerged backstage and stepped onto the red carpet.

Today, the girl had washed away all artifice and appeared with a bare face. A fitted Pale-gold evening gown traced her graceful figure, and her steps were so light she seemed a fairy descending from the clouds. The contest had been dogged by revelations of manipulation, and its champion had been fiercely disputed beforehand. Yet at this moment, Pei Sefei's beauty and elegance won over the entire hall. The thunderous applause went on and on...

It was Luo Qian's first time seeing the girl's real face, and even he froze for a moment. He had seen countless beauties of breathtaking grace in the Immortal Realm, yet her looks still startled him a little. He sighed inwardly. After ascending to immortality, people can change their appearance to suit their wishes, but how can beauty shaped by their own hands compare to nature's flawless handiwork?

Luo Qian carried out his task conscientiously. Pei Sefei was more beautiful than he had expected, but that had nothing to do with him. He no longer belonged to this world, and its people would have no connection to him.

From her entrance and acceptance of the award to her final remarks, Pei Sefei conducted herself with poise. She neither became so excited that tears filled her eyes nor made a show of remaining unmoved by honor or disgrace. Her open, gracious manner won praise from everyone present.

When Pei Sefei left the stage, Luo Qian switched off his camera and left the awards ceremony. Plenty of performances remained, but he had no interest in them.

After leaving the venue, Luo Qian didn't immediately return to the Immortal Realm. Instead, he visited his hideout. Enough time had passed since the vandalism incident that the police no longer asked about it. After returning, Luo Qian had paid a full year's water and electricity bills in one go. Even the neighborhood aunties looked at him differently now: no longer as though he were a fugitive on the run, but with the approving eyes they reserved for a promising young man.

(I don't have much saved up and hadn't meant to post this so quickly, but I thought of my old friends who read the preview edition and decided to post it anyway. Heh.)

(Poor new book only got twenty featured-comment slots for its first week, and I used them all up in one morning. Sigh. I can't feature any more of your comments this week. Sorry...)

(Lastly, I extend my wicked black hand to ask for votes...)

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