Maid Outfit Cosplay!

Xue Qinghe did not answer him. He inserted another Gold Soul Coin. His fourth try.

This time, he watched the claw's movements for five seconds, getting a rough feel for the rhythm of its grip. The instant the claw dropped, he gave his wrist a slight flick.

The cat was lifted out.

With a thud, the cat plush dropped through the chute into the collection tray.

The customer beside him stared, mouth agape. "How did you do that?"

Xue Qinghe did not explain. He took out the cat and examined it. It was fluffy, with black-and-white fur. After looking at it for two seconds, he handed it to the attendant behind him.

The attendant accepted it without a change in expression and stuffed the cat plush into a sleeve.

Then he went over to the fruit machine.

He pulled the lever, and the three reels spun. Apple, grape, orange. No match.

He pulled again. Apple, apple, grape. One short.

Third try. Apple, apple, apple.

Ding, ding, ding-ten Gold Soul Coins clattered out of the chute.

Yan happened to be passing by. At the sound, he whipped his head around. He stared at the pile of Gold Soul Coins beneath the fruit machine's chute, the corner of his mouth twitching twice.

He had fed more than thirty Gold Soul Coins into the fruit machine that day without getting a single match.

This kid in white had won on his third try.

Yan gritted his teeth and strode away, choking back his frustration.

Xue Qinghe collected the Gold Soul Coins, then headed to the blind-box wall.

First, he took an ordinary blind box for ten Gold Soul Coins. He opened it. Inside was a bottle of ordinary Soul Power Recovery Potion.

Not bad. No loss.

He took another and opened it. A fifty-year-old piece of jade ganoderma.

A small profit.

Xue Qinghe looked at the labels on the wall. Ordinary blind boxes cost ten Gold Soul Coins, Silver Blind Boxes a hundred, and Gold Blind Boxes a thousand.

The balance on his ordinary membership card was running low.

He stood before the blind-box wall and thought for about three seconds.

Then he turned and walked back to the counter.

Xiao Wu looked up. "What is it?"

Xue Qinghe took a Magic Crystal Card from his sleeve and placed it on the counter.

One hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

Xiao Wu's eyes widened at once. She looked at the Magic Crystal Card twice to make sure she had not misread it.

"One... one hundred thousand?"

Xue Qinghe's tone was calm. "Top up my account. Charge a hundred thousand to the card. The highest membership tier."

"Of course." After charging the card, Xiao Wu hurriedly dug out a gold-colored card. It was a Diamond Membership Card Qin Chuan had prepared in advance. She had thought it would take at least a few days before anyone needed one.

"Diamond members receive ten percent off all activities in the shop, priority access to new content, and an exclusive lounge." Xiao Wu recited the benefits as she registered him.

Xue Qinghe nodded and accepted the gold card.

He turned toward the blind-box wall, setting his sights straight on the Gold Blind Boxes.

One thousand Gold Soul Coins each.

He took one and opened it.

Inside the box sat a small bottle glowing pale blue, its mouth sealed with wax. A paper label on the bottle bore the words: Tenfold Meditation Potion.

Xue Qinghe unscrewed the cap and brought it closer for a sniff. A crisp medicinal fragrance filled his nose, refreshing his spirits and clearing his mind considerably.

"What is this?" he asked.

Xiao Wu leaned over to look, then flipped through the prize guide. "Tenfold Meditation Potion-after consumption, meditation efficiency increases tenfold for two hours."

Xue Qinghe put the bottle away.

Nothing like this even exists. At an auction house in the Heaven Dou Empire, the bidding would start at twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins at least. I spent a thousand. A profit.

He took another Gold Blind Box.

He opened it.

A streak of white light burst from the box, condensing into a fist-sized sphere above his palm. The light dispersed, leaving a bone in his hand.

The bone gleamed pale gold, its surface etched with intricate patterns. It was warm to the touch, as though life still pulsed within it.

When Xiao Wu saw the bone, the guide in her hand dropped onto the counter.

"A Five-Thousand-Year Soul Bone!"

At that shout, half the people on the first floor turned to look.

"A Soul Bone?"

"A Gold Blind Box gave someone a Soul Bone?"

"Five thousand years old!"

"How much was a Gold Blind Box again? A thousand?"

The crowd surged over.

Xue Qinghe put the Soul Bone into his [Storage Soul Tool]. His expression barely changed, but his fingers clenched inside his sleeve.

A huge profit.

Outside this shop, it would fetch at least thirty thousand at auction.

The onlookers had gone wild. Someone rushed straight to the counter. "Give me five Gold Blind Boxes!"

"I want ten!"

"Top up my account! I want to top up!"

Xiao Wu was hemmed in behind the counter, fumbling for cards as she registered customers.

Zhu Zhuqing came over to help. One registered customers while the other handed out cards, both so busy their feet barely touched the ground.

At the second-floor stairway, Qin Chuan watched the scene below as the points on his system panel shot upward.

Xue Qinghe's top-up alone had earned him a hundred thousand points.

With the onlookers spurred into following suit, this wave of spending would bring in at least a hundred and fifty thousand points.

Qin Chuan calculated silently. He had enough points for now. Restocking every day required points, but unlocking new games required strength as well as points.

He glanced down at Xue Qinghe again.

The youth in white stood before a claw machine, his hand on the joystick. His right-hand attendant stood beside him, a storage bag already bulging with all sorts of things.

This time, the claw dropped and lifted out a plush toy.

He discovered that this toy was unusual: it could be opened up.

Inside was a black-and-white maid outfit.

It had a ruffled skirt, a lace-trimmed apron, and a pair of white bow hair clips to match.

The workmanship was exquisite, the fabric soft. One touch was enough to tell it was no ordinary cloth.

Xue Qinghe held up the maid outfit and looked at it for three seconds.

He turned it over to inspect the back, then checked the label at the neckline. It read:

[Limited-Time Maid Outfit.]

[Description 1: increases soul power level by 10 levels when worn, up to a maximum of level 91.]

[Description 2: no time limit within the Third-Floor VR Script Exclusive Area; limited to 2 hours when worn outside the exclusive area. Only one option may be selected.]

"What? Ten levels!" Xue Qinghe was utterly stunned. With those thoughts running through his mind, he glanced at the words "third floor" on the label, then looked upstairs.

A sign hung at the third-floor stairway: "Not yet open."

He handed the maid outfit to his attendant, another question forming in his mind.

What exactly is on this shop's third floor?

After that, Xue Qinghe made another circuit of the first floor. He placed three bets on the horse-racing machine and won twice. He played several more rounds on the fruit machine, his luck almost absurdly good, hitting two wins in a row.

At that point, he suddenly stopped.

He had felt it.

It was faint, but unmistakably there.

An extremely faint ripple of soul power rose within him, flowing along his meridians and gathering where his martial soul resided.

It felt like meditation, but more comfortable, without the ordeal of sitting still until his legs went numb.

Xue Qinghe closed his eyes and sensed it for a moment.

Level seventy-one, unchanged. But his soul power was edging toward the threshold of level seventy-two. Slowly, but it was definitely moving.

He opened his eyes, looked at his hands, then at the customers around him who were engrossed in their games.

They probably haven't noticed yet.

Xue Qinghe raised his head, followed the stairs upward with his gaze, then started toward the second floor.