Shen Luo!! Did You Just Secretly Touch My Leg?!

Damn! Were these upgrade materials all this expensive?!

Shen Luo opened the system shop, took one look, and was dumbfounded...

Even Mora was outrageously expensive.

One Stardust could be exchanged for only 100 Mora.

One Starglitter could be exchanged for 10,000 Mora.

But Mora was far from the only thing Shen Luo lacked right now. He also needed character level-up materials and talent level-up materials.

He checked: all bronze-grade upgrade materials cost 10 Stardust apiece, while silver-grade ones cost 100 Stardust apiece.

Gold-grade upgrade materials could only be purchased with Starglitter, at 10 Starglitter apiece.

The elemental gemstone fragments used to raise character levels were even more expensive, and both large and small experience books were far from cheap.

All right, looks like I'm going to spend every bit of the Soul Power, Stardust, and Starglitter I earned today...

Whatever. Spend it all.

At worst, I'll work harder on promotion tomorrow and try to attract more Soul Masters willing to pay Soul Power.

Shen Luo had paid particular attention today. Even though the promotional effect of the elders demonstrating the characters' strength had been excellent, only one-fifth of the Soul Masters watching had been willing to pay Soul Power.

The remaining four-fifths had either been there purely to watch the excitement or were still watching and hesitating.

Getting them to willingly part with the precious Soul Power that had been with them for so long was still difficult.

Even though they knew they could grow stronger as long as they made the exchange.

But most people were simply too lazy to change their circumstances.

To use a couple of more familiar terms, they were lying flat and going with the flow.

I know your five-star characters are strong, but I just don't want to pay Soul Power, unless you give them away for free...

Shen Luo knew that most Soul Masters surely held that kind of view.

There was no helping it. The base flaws of humanity existed in every world.

So his future promotions had to make these Soul Masters feel that the entire Douluo Continent was about to be invaded by Genshin Impact characters, and that their Martial Souls and Soul Power were bound to be rendered obsolete!

He had to give them a sense of crisis and create the illusion that "if we don't pay Soul Power now, it'll be too late."

At this moment, Shen Luo grew even more determined to spread Genshin Impact characters to every corner of the Douluo Continent, large and small.

Otherwise, he couldn't even put together a team of full-constellation elemental characters. After all, he had no Soul Power of his own...

For the rest of the time, he bought materials from the shop.

First, he maxed out all of Furina's combat talents, including her normal attack, Elemental Skill, and Elemental Burst.

Then he raised Furina's weapon to refinement rank five, bought weapon ascension materials, and raised her signature weapon to Level 90.

Partway through, Shen Luo discovered he had run out of Starglitter and Stardust. He nearly spat blood and could only use his remaining 70 levels of Soul Power to keep pulling on Neuvillette's rate-up banner.

His luck remained mediocre. In the end, he only managed to pull a five-constellation Neuvillette before all his Soul Power was exhausted.

Furina's signature weapon, however, had successfully reached Level 90.

What a money pit! This spendthrift wife!

And that didn't even include the cost of Artifacts. Shen Luo knew that once the Artifact feature was unlocked, he would definitely have to grind for them himself.

No, no.

I can barely breathe anymore, bro...

Shen Luo looked at Furina. Tonight, this little beauty had to find a way to make it up to him properly!

"Fufu."

"Hm? Did you finish pulling for the weapon?!"

Furina hurried over and sat beside Shen Luo with her legs folded to the sides, her fair, rounded knees pressed together.

Shen Luo took out the refinement-rank-five signature weapon.

Perhaps because it was her signature weapon, Furina's beautiful blue eyes lit up the instant she saw the Splendor of Tranquil Waters.

It was like how women were born loving expensive designer bags...

"Want it?"

Shen Luo raised an eyebrow.

Furina nodded furiously, even pressing her little hands together in a plea. Clearly, her signature weapon held a powerful attraction for her.

Seeing that, Shen Luo almost grew jealous of the weapon.

Wasn't I the one who pulled it? Wasn't I the one who built it up?

"No."

Shen Luo hid the weapon behind his back. Seeing that, Furina pounced on him like a kitten spotting catnip.

"Give it to me, I want it! Shen Luo, give it to me~"

She carried a faint scent of her own, and although her chest wasn't much to speak of, it was soft as cotton candy.

Shen Luo said, "Call me good big brother."

"Good big brother~"

She was obedient enough to say it as soon as he asked, and her voice was unbelievably sweet and soft. Apparently, she knew how adorable she was too.

Oh no, I'm going to give in... Shen Luo forced himself to calm down and pushed his luck further. "Then give me a kiss."

Two patches of red rose on Furina's cheeks. "H-how can you make such an outrageous demand?"

Before this, her inner world had always been empty and uneasy.

But when someone suddenly rescued her from "500 years of loneliness," that person became a ray of light for Furina.

Over the past few days together, Furina had indeed grown somewhat fond of Shen Luo. After all, she had been nothing more than an innocent girl from beginning to end.

"I'm not talking to you anymore."

Furina lay down with her face flushed, turning her back to Shen Luo.

But soon, the Splendor of Tranquil Waters was gently placed in front of her.

Furina immediately hugged her signature weapon to her chest, a sweet smile spreading across her face. She was as happy as a silly little child.

Shen Luo smiled too. He yawned and lay down with his back to Furina.

Who would have thought that, just then, a pair of soft, moist lips would suddenly press against his cheek for an instant?

Shen Luo turned around in surprise, and Furina quickly lay back down, the tips of her ears red.

She whispered, "Good night, Shen Luo."

"Good night, Fufu."

Shen Luo smiled.

Three minutes later, a startled cry came from the bed.

"Shen Luo! Did you just secretly touch my leg?!"

"Nonsense! I, Shen, have been upright and innocent all my life!"

Damn... Silly Fufu was still awake.

Early the next morning.

When Shen Luo woke up, the first thing he did was turn off the stage lights.

He had deliberately designed the stage to stay lit at night, since it created a mysterious atmosphere.

And his current identity was that of a god, so of course he had to be mysterious.

Wait.

It's early in the morning.

Why does something feel off?

Shen Luo got out of bed and walked silently to the backdrop. He gently pulled its curtain aside and looked outside.

Good grief. One look, and he froze.

The entire stage was already under heavy guard. Imposing soldiers in armor, spears in hand, had sealed off the area.

The city's other residents could only stand at a distance on the outskirts and watch.

They pointed this way and whispered among themselves, not daring to come closer.

Shen Luo frowned.

The good news was that, judging by the scene, Spirit Hall's upper echelons already knew about him.

That meant Yan and the elders had successfully opened up the market within Spirit Hall last night.

The bad news was that Shen Luo didn't know what Bibi Dong and the others planned to do today. There was no way they would trade Soul Power with him right off the bat.

These people wouldn't trust Shen Luo so easily. They would surely put him through repeated tests.

So there was bound to be some use of force next.

Where's Fufu? Where's my battle girl? Why is she still asleep?

The sun's shining on her butt, and they're already at our doorstep.

Shen Luo looked back, only to be momentarily stunned by the sight on the bed.

Furina was an extremely restless sleeper. She had kicked the blanket aside, and her skirt had even ridden all the way up.

One of her slender, snow-white legs was stretched out while the other was curled up, leaving what she wore under her skirt almost entirely exposed.