Sis Dongdong Said to Go Up to the Third Floor

Bibi Dong glanced at the Fruit Machine, her expression unchanged.

"This is the blind box wall. The standard tier costs a hundred Gold Soul Coins each, silver costs five hundred, and gold costs a thousand." Qin Chuan pointed at the differently colored sections of the wall. "Standard boxes can contain low-grade medicinal herbs, spirit stones, Thousand-Year Soul Rings, and things like that. Silver boxes have a chance of containing Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings. In theory, gold boxes can contain Soul Rings as old as ninety thousand years."

Bibi Dong stopped in her tracks.

"Someone got a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring from a blind box today," Qin Chuan added. "The kind you can store long-term, unlike the ones you have to absorb immediately after killing a Soul Beast."

Bibi Dong turned to look at him. "What? You can even get ten-thousand-year Soul Rings?"

Qin Chuan nodded. "Yes, you heard right. The blind boxes come in three tiers: standard, silver, and gold. In theory, the oldest Soul Ring you can get is ninety thousand years old."

"Ninety thousand years!"

Bibi Dong's gaze lingered on the blind box wall for several breaths.

She quickly did the math in her head. If she bought every gold-tier blind box, however low the odds were, she was bound to get a few high-age Soul Rings.

Using those Soul Rings to train Spirit Hall's young disciples would be far more efficient than hunting Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest.

She withdrew her gaze and nodded.

"Then do you know which blind boxes contain rewards?"

Qin Chuan shook his head. "These are all opportunities granted by the Heavenly Dao. How could I possibly know?"

Bibi Dong glanced at him without pressing further. She knew Qin Chuan habitually held something back when he spoke, but he probably had no reason to lie to her about this.

"Come on," Bibi Dong said. "Let's go up to the third floor."

"The third floor?" Qin Chuan shook his head. "I'm not strong enough to open the third floor yet. We can only go to the second."

"Fine."

Qin Chuan led Bibi Dong up to the second floor.

Three doors stood along the second-floor hallway. The first was labeled "Object Hide-and-Seek," the second "Blindfolded Tag," and the third "Otherworld Survival."

Bibi Dong looked around.

"Which one is fun?"

Qin Chuan thought for a moment. "They're all fun. But with just two of us, we don't have enough players for Object Hide-and-Seek or Blindfolded Tag. We can only play Otherworld Survival."

"All right, that one, then." Bibi Dong sounded decisive. "Today, I'm going to see just what makes the games here so irresistible."

Qin Chuan nodded and pushed open the door to Otherworld Survival.

The two walked inside.

It was an ordinary room with nothing but a few simple pieces of furniture, just as it had been when he came in with Xue Qinghe last time.

Qin Chuan glanced back at Bibi Dong.

"Sis Dongdong, are you ready?"

Bibi Dong nodded.

Qin Chuan took a card from inside his clothes. It was gold all over, with a ring of intricate patterns around its edges.

The words "Diamond Member" were printed on its surface.

This was the highest-tier Membership Card. Only diamond members could activate the second-floor games.

Qin Chuan pressed the card into a recess in the stone wall.

A hum rang out.

Light spread beneath their feet.

The Clown Dwarf leaped out of thin air, somersaulted in midair, and grinned.

"Welcome to Otherworld Survival! This round's randomly selected scenario is: Haunted Dormitory."

"Difficulty: four stars."

A translucent rules panel unfolded before them.

Qin Chuan scanned it, quickly running through everything in his mind.

Four-star difficulty was one tier higher than the three-star game he had previously played with Xue Qinghe.

The rewards and penalties appeared on the panel.

Clear reward: Soul Power increased by 10% (effective below level 99).

Failure penalty: Soul Master level reduced by 1 (effective below level 99).

The words "effective below level 99" caught Qin Chuan's attention. That was a very generous limit. Most game scenarios capped their rewards between levels ninety-one and ninety-four. Those that extended to level ninety-nine were extremely rare.

A ten-percent increase in Soul Power might not sound like much, but for Bibi Dong, ten percent of her level-ninety-seven Soul Power was an enormous amount.

An ordinary person might not accumulate that much even after three years of meditation.

Bibi Dong was looking at the panel too.

After reading the reward, her gaze shifted to the failure penalty.

One level lost.

She was currently level ninety-seven. If she failed, she would drop to ninety-six.

It would take her at least five years to climb back from ninety-six to ninety-seven.

The corners of Bibi Dong's mouth turned down slightly.

Then she discovered an even more serious problem.

She tried circulating her Soul Power.

Nothing happened.

Her Death Spider Emperor's Soul Power was sealed. Her Soul-Devouring Spider Emperor's Soul Power was sealed too. All nine Soul Rings had dimmed. It was as though both martial souls had been covered in thick gauze: she could sense them, but she could not activate them.

Within this Game Domain, both of her twin martial souls had become completely ineffective.

Bibi Dong's heart leaped into her throat.

This was not the first time she had experienced such a feeling. Back in the Council Hall, when Qin Chuan activated One, Two, Three, Red Light, she had also been briefly frozen.

But that had lasted only a few breaths, and she had recovered quickly. This time, her Soul Power was completely sealed, and she had no idea how long it would last.

The countdown on the panel had already begun ticking down.

Twenty-eight seconds.

"Qin Chuan!" Bibi Dong's voice tightened. "The countdown has started. Hurry."

Qin Chuan was already running forward.

"Don't panic. Follow me. We need to find a room with a double bed first."

Bibi Dong followed. She was slower than usual; without Soul Power enhancing her body, she could move only as fast as an ordinary woman.

A corridor appeared before them. Dim fluorescent tubes buzzed overhead, half the paint had peeled off the gray-green walls, and dark water stains marked the corners of the floor.

The damp, moldy smell crept into her nose, making Bibi Dong frown.

Qin Chuan tried the doors one by one.

101, single bed, no turret. No good.

102, locked.

103, single bed, one turret. Not good enough.

104, locked.

This was Bibi Dong's first time playing the game. She understood nothing and could only run after Qin Chuan. Anxiety churned inside her, but she did not urge him on, because she could tell he was picking the room with the best conditions.

105, double bed.

Qin Chuan pushed open the door and glanced inside. The double bed stood against the wall, with a turret base opposite it. The room was small, but its layout was better than the previous rooms.

"Come in."

Bibi Dong went inside, and Qin Chuan shut and bolted the door.

Fifteen seconds remained on the countdown.

Qin Chuan took off his shoes, climbed straight onto the bed, and patted the space beside him.

"Quick, get up here."

Bibi Dong removed her boots and sat on the edge of the bed.

Just as she was about to draw her legs up, a dull thud came from the far end of the corridor, as though something had struck a wall in the distance.

Bibi Dong stiffened.

Qin Chuan was already lying down. He tugged at the edge of the blanket beside him. "Lie down, quick. The game requires both of us to lie on the bed before it generates coins. Coin production doubles."

Bibi Dong took a deep breath, drew her legs up, and lay flat on her back.

The bed was not wide. Lying side by side, their shoulders were very close.

Bibi Dong stared at the ceiling, her heart beating a little faster. Not because she was sharing a bed with Qin Chuan, but because of that dull thud.

The coins began accumulating. The number on the wall jumped from 0 to 2, 4, then 6. Two-player mode doubled production, generating two coins per second.

Qin Chuan quickly brought up the control panel.

"Upgrade the door first."

Once they had ten coins, he tapped the door upgrade. Its health rose from 100 to 150.

"Then upgrade the bed."

After waiting a few more seconds, they had enough coins, and he upgraded the bed. Production rose from four coins per second to six.

"Then upgrade the turret."

The turret went from level 1 to level 2.

Throughout the process, Qin Chuan operated with remarkable proficiency, his fingers tapping rapidly across the panel.