Xie Yue stood nearby with a ledger in his hands, recording each transaction.
Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing helped out on the first floor.
Xiao Wu wore a work uniform issued by Spirit Hall: a pink-and-white short top paired with dark trousers. Her scorpion braid was coiled atop her head, showing off her round face and little canine teeth. Her smile was sweet. She stood beside the claw machine, explaining the rules to customers.
"Just like that. Push the joystick left, line it up with that rabbit, then press this button."
A young male Soul Master stared at the rabbit plush inside the claw machine, his hand trembling on the joystick.
"I moved it! I moved it!"
The claw descended and caught the rabbit by its ears. Halfway up, the rabbit fell.
"Ah! So close!" The male Soul Master slapped the machine.
Xiao Wu smiled beside him. "Try again. It's three Gold Soul Coins a go."
The male Soul Master took out his money.
Things were even livelier over by the Fruit Machines. Yan had slipped in through the entrance at some point and was now standing in front of a Fruit Machine, pulling its lever.
"Spin! Come on, spin!"
The three reels whirred and stopped. Apple, grapes, watermelon.
Nothing matched.
Yan put in another Gold Soul Coin.
"Again!"
Apple, apple, grapes.
One short.
Yan's face flushed crimson. His fists clenched, loosened, then clenched again.
"Just one short! Again!"
Xie Yue glanced at him as he passed.
"You've already put in seventeen Gold Soul Coins."
Yan froze. "Seventeen?"
Xie Yue pointed at the number beside Yan's name in the ledger.
Yan looked at it, and the flesh on his face twitched twice.
"...One more time. Last time."
Xie Yue ignored him and turned to go elsewhere.
The blind-box wall was even more outrageous. A crowd had gathered there, and some people had already opened five or six boxes. Empty boxes littered the floor. A female Soul Master in blue opened one and found a bottle of hundred-year spirit lingzhi powder inside.
"Wow! Hundred-year spirit lingzhi powder!"
Everyone nearby crowded around.
"How much is that worth?"
"At least five hundred Gold Soul Coins!"
"A blind box only costs ten Gold Soul Coins. What a windfall!"
"I want some too! Give me ten!"
Zhu Zhuqing stood beside the blind-box wall, her long black hair tied in a ponytail and her face largely expressionless. Holding a stack of boxes in her arms, she replenished the shelves.
Someone recognized her.
"Isn't that Zhu Zhuqing? The one who sent Dai Mubai flying with a single punch in the match the day before yesterday?"
"That's her!"
"She's so cool!"
Zhu Zhuqing heard them. The tips of her ears reddened slightly, but she kept arranging the blind boxes without turning around.
The first floor grew more and more crowded. Some people played the claw machines, some pulled the Fruit Machine levers, some opened blind boxes, and some shouted themselves hoarse in front of the Horse Racing Machines.
Laughter, shouts, and the clinking of Gold Soul Coins mingled together, creating an almost unbelievable bustle.
Qin Chuan stood at the top of the second-floor stairs, leaning against the railing and looking down.
On his system panel, his points and Soul Power values crept steadily upward.
Every Gold Soul Coin spent earned him one point. Each player's feelings of approval added a few more.
Dozens of people were playing on the first floor. The points weren't rising fast, but they rose steadily.
Qin Chuan calculated inwardly: once he saved enough points to unlock Otherworld Survival on the second floor, and then brought the third-floor Script Area online, his point income would be dozens of times what it was now.
He glanced at Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing below, so busy their feet barely touched the ground, then at Yan, who was caught in the Fruit Machine's snare. The corners of his mouth lifted.
His points and Soul Power were both increasing steadily.
No rush.
One step at a time.
Standing at the top of the second-floor stairs, Qin Chuan casually swept his gaze downstairs and caught sight of a vaguely familiar figure.
The newcomer wore a plain white brocade robe. The fabric was fine, understated but visibly expensive.
A white jade pendant hung at his waist. With both hands clasped behind his back, he walked with steady steps, his figure tall and straight.
The youth had delicate features, excessively fair skin, and a rather slender jawline.
He wasn't short, but his frame was narrow. Standing among a crowd of rugged Soul Masters, he looked particularly out of place.
Two gray-clad attendants followed him, their presence barely noticeable. They walked with their heads lowered and said nothing.
Yan glanced at him by the entrance without giving it much thought. Assuming he was another wealthy young gentleman, he waved him inside.
Leaning against the railing, Qin Chuan took a couple more looks.
He wasn't looking at that face. He was looking at the two gray-clad attendants.
Ordinary attendants didn't walk that lightly. These two made almost no sound as they stepped on the stone tiles. Their strides matched, their spacing remained fixed, and they stayed half a step behind the youth, one on either side.
That was the formation of expert bodyguards.
Qin Chuan's mind turned, running through the characters from the original story.
White robes, refined nobility, youthful, feminine.
The Heaven Dou Empire's crown prince, Xue Qinghe.
Real name: Qian Renxue. Martial Soul: angel.
The corner of Qin Chuan's mouth twitched. He withdrew his gaze and stopped staring.
He saw through the disguise but kept it to himself. There was no need to expose it to the newcomer's face.
Downstairs, the "crown prince" entered and first stood in the center of the first-floor hall, looking around.
Claw machines, Fruit Machines, Horse Racing Machines, a blind-box wall.
He had never seen any of these things.
The customers around him laughed and shouted. Some pressed themselves against the claw machines' glass enclosures and slapped them, while others stamped their feet in front of the Fruit Machines.
The blind-box wall was even more outrageous. A female Soul Master had opened seven or eight boxes and sat on the floor, laying out their contents one by one, while a circle of people offered her advice.
Xue Qinghe looked around, his expression unchanged, but his feet unconsciously carried him two steps toward the claw machines.
One of his attendants reminded him quietly, "Your Highness, the purpose of our visit is..."
"I know," Xue Qinghe interrupted, keeping his voice very low.
He walked up to the counter.
Xiao Wu was busy behind it, her scorpion braid tightly coiled atop her head and a thin sheen of sweat on her face.
There were far too many customers today. She hadn't stopped since opening.
"How much would you like to top up?" Xiao Wu asked, looking up. She had already taken out a blank Membership Card.
Xue Qinghe considered it.
He had originally intended to add only a small amount and casually see what novelties this shop had to offer.
Before setting out, he had already heard the news in the Heaven Dou Empire: an eccentric from Spirit Hall had defeated Clear Sky Douluo with a game at the Continental Soul Master Tournament. He had even announced that he would open a Game Hall where playing games could increase Soul Power.
He didn't believe it.
But he was curious.
The cultivation speed granted by the Six-Winged Angel was already the best among his peers. Yet he was level seventy-one this year, still far from breaking through the level seventy-five bottleneck.
If even a tenth of that news was true, it was worth coming to see for himself.
"Start with one hundred Gold Soul Coins," Xue Qinghe said.
Xiao Wu registered a Regular Membership Card and handed it over.
Xue Qinghe took the card and started with the claw machine.
On his first attempt, the claw caught a cat plush by the ear, lifted it halfway up, and dropped it.
On his second attempt, he tried a different angle. The claw caught the cat's back and lifted it two-thirds of the way before dropping it again.
On his third attempt, he aimed precisely at the center of the cat's neck. The claw closed, gripped it firmly, and lifted it above the chute. Then it swayed, and the cat fell back inside.
Xue Qinghe stared at the cat inside the glass enclosure, silent for two breaths.
A nearby customer leaned over. "That's just how this thing works. I've tried more than a dozen times and haven't gotten a single one out."
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