Chapter 5: Thanks for the Invitation

Reality, rented apartment.

Chen Xiaoyan took off his helmet, stretched his neck, and got up to cook.

After playing the game for several hours, his stomach was already protesting.

“Tianxiang Sect.”

He fried an egg and prepared to boil two packs of instant noodles to tide himself over.

Recalling the words of the NPC Shen Qingqing in the game, he suddenly realized that the healer role he had been looking down on was actually a rare profession.

Chen Xiaoyan did not doubt Shen Qingqing’s words.

Because when he first entered the game’s plaza through the teleport, he noticed there were very few players—only about a hundred.

Even with numerous sects in the Immortal World Alliance, there should have been far more players.

Perhaps this game’s sudden release caused its popularity to be insufficient, hence the low player count.

Besides, the game company had even gone so far as to suspend sales, a bizarre move that could explain the small community.

“Let me check the game forums.”

Chen Xiaoyan mumbled, carrying his bowl of egg and noodles to the dining table and pulling out his phone to search on Baidu.

(Shocking! Why was the first-ever full-holographic MMORPG “Immortal World” suspended? What secrets lie within?)

(The “Immortal World” game development company remains a mystery to this day)

(“Immortal World” game forum established, all Immortal World players welcome to join [Click Link])

Entering the game forum, Chen Xiaoyan saw that there were already hundreds of thousands of registered users.

Nearly a thousand threads.

He browsed through them one by one.

Usually, when a new MMORPG launches, the official team posts the game’s storyline, gameplay, and profession guides.

But on the Immortal World’s official website, there was nothing—except the interface to purchase the game headset, no information about the game itself.

There wasn’t even customer service or a place to report complaints.

With so many forum posts, Chen Xiaoyan could only skim through the key ones.

The Immortal World Alliance consisted of eight major sects.

Tianxiang, Shen Ce Mansion, Shushan Sect, Zhenwu Gate, Tang Sect, Shaolin Temple, Yihua Palace, and Shenquan Gate.

Shen Ce Mansion was located in the imperial capital Shangjing of the secular dynasty.

According to the posts, it specialized in dual cultivation of spear and body.

Shushan Sect was situated on Mount Shu, known for their white-robed swordsmen and the famous phrase “One sword’s frost chills fourteen provinces,” specializing solely in sword cultivation.

Zhenwu Gate was located on Mount Wudang, practicing dual cultivation of sword and body.

Tang Sect was located in the Bamboo Forest of Bashu, skilled in hidden weapons.

Shaolin Temple was situated on Mount Song, focusing on dual cultivation of strength and body.

Yihua Palace was on Penglai Island, known for white robes and jade flutes, using sound to kill enemies.

Shenquan Gate was on Mount Tai, specializing in dual cultivation of fists and body.

Lastly, Tianxiang Sect was based in the Tianshan Mountains, specializing solely in spiritual cultivation.

Among the discussions, the sect with the most posts was Shushan Sect, with over ten thousand players matched to it.

Next were Shen Ce Mansion, Zhenwu, Tang, Yihua, Shaolin, Shenquan, and Tianxiang had the fewest posts, only three.

The Tianxiang posts mostly discussed the trio of Yue Qifang, Shen Qingqing, and Liu Fufeng.

Liumeng: “Sisters, I’ve decided to form a Shen sister fan club. Anyone want to join?”

Xianyun: “I’m the first to join! Shen sister forever!”

A Love Letter: “Shushan seeking protection, any ladies want to add me as a friend and play together?”

A Dream Curtain: “Shushan above, this is Tianxiang Tower, scram!”

A Dream Curtain: “Also, I think Elder Liu is better, reliable (thumbs up).”

Moonlight Girl: “Elder Liu and Sister Shen are both from Tianxiang Sect. Let’s all support them—no fighting!”

Xianyun: “Agreed, sounds good.”

Liumeng: “Then let’s support Elder Liu and Sister Shen. We’ve even thought of a fan club name: Qingfeng Girls.”

After reading the comments under these posts, Chen Xiaoyan rubbed his forehead and sighed.

No matter where these girls were, they always knew how to start fan circles.

Didn’t they care about leveling up first?

(Ding~)

I Am Master of My Fate: Yanzi, an ID named Chen Xiaoyan added me. Is that you?

Seeing the notification pop up on QQ, Chen Xiaoyan was momentarily stunned.

Yanling Assassin: It’s me.

Yanling Assassin: Which sect are you in?

I Am Master of My Fate: Shushan, you?

Yanling Assassin: Tianxiang…

I Am Master of My Fate: ??? Yanzi, are you kidding me? Tianxiang Sect is all-female. Males can’t even match in. How did you get in?

Yanling Assassin: I wish I knew, but the game’s official team is nowhere to be found. No place to report complaints.

I Am Master of My Fate: Haha, this is hilarious.

I Am Master of My Fate: No worries, Yanzi. Just a male healer, it’s fine. I’ll carry you.

“This chuunibyou fat otaku,” Chen Xiaoyan smiled helplessly, then put down his phone and ate his noodles.

After filling his stomach, he still needed to enter the game and level up in the Demon Suppression Tower.

(Master, someone sent a text message~)

Hearing the smart assistant’s alert, Chen Xiaoyan reluctantly picked up his phone again and unlocked it to check.

(Landlady Aunt Liu: Rent)

Those two simple words inexplicably made him feel melancholy.

He opened Feixin and transferred this month’s rent to the landlady.

Balance: 2566

Seeing this balance made Chen Xiaoyan’s heart tremble.

Without any other source of income, he wouldn’t even be able to pay rent next month.

He instantly panicked.

Without finishing his noodles, he put on his helmet and entered the game.

Tianxiang Sect was the only healer profession in Immortal World.

If used well, the game could also make money.

In any game, there would always be a few rich players forming guilds and recruiting top players.

In a second-world MMORPG like Immortal World, those rich players might be even crazier.

As long as he became strong enough, he wouldn’t fear lacking small earnings.

What was annoying was that his profession had no damage output, so its effect might be greatly diminished.

Upon entering the game, Chen Xiaoyan immediately received a notification that a friend request had been accepted.

He ignored it and headed straight for the Demon Suppression Tower.

Though called a tower, its appearance was not that of a tower but a pavilion.

It had five floors.

Two disciples guarded the entrance.

Seeing Chen Xiaoyan arrive, they stepped forward to block her.

“Junior sister, since you just joined, do not enter the second floor before reaching level ten.”

Hearing the NPC’s friendly reminder, Chen Xiaoyan nodded and thanked her.

“Thanks for the reminder, senior sister. I will keep it in mind.”

The NPC smiled faintly and stepped aside.

One step into the Demon Suppression Tower, the entire scene began to change.

It was a plaza under a sky heavy with dark clouds, filled with an eerie silence.

Then, a game prompt appeared.

【Detecting player entering Demon Suppression Tower first floor, automatically matching teammates below level ten. Please select difficulty and number of teammates】

【Easy, Normal, Hard, Hell】

【The higher the difficulty, the greater the rewards】

Chen Xiaoyan chose Normal difficulty, one teammate, wanting to test the waters first.

【Player selected Normal difficulty, teammate generated, waiting for player to start】

On the gray plaza, a white light suddenly appeared, and a white-robed man with a sword stepped out.

His handsome and stern face was breathtaking, his gaze calm and profound, and he bowed to Chen Xiaoyan.

Damn, he was really handsome.

If there were a “Secret Realm Shushan Puppet Level 7” above his head, she might have thought he was a living person.

“Fellow Daoist, we can start now.”

“Alright.”

Chen Xiaoyan clicked Start.

Instantly, black mist surged across the plaza, and ten dog-like monsters spawned.

【Normal Demon Suppression Tower Wave 1 Monsters: Abnormal Dogs, Level 4】

“Here they come!”

The puppet drew its long sword, feet swift as wind, charging at the Abnormal Dogs.

The sword swung, a milky white sword qi cutting one Abnormal Dog in half first.

Nine Abnormal Dogs bared their ferocious teeth and lunged at the puppet.

【Puppet attacked by Abnormal Dog, HP -89】

【Puppet attacked by Abnormal Dog, HP -210 (Critical Hit)】

Chen Xiaoyan’s pupils contracted sharply at the critical hit.

She seemed to have seen the puppet’s kick, when an Abnormal Dog sneakily attacked a certain area of the puppet.

A chill ran down her lower body.

The game’s monsters could even attack the lower three routes?

This was way too realistic!!!

Fortunately, her character was not male.

But what about others…

“Pfft,” Chen Xiaoyan couldn’t help but laugh maliciously, silently mourning those male characters for two seconds.

Remember, the game had pain feedback.

If an Abnormal Dog sneak-attacked you, the agony was unavoidable.

The puppet lost three hundred HP, one-fifth of its health bar.

That meant a level 7 Shushan disciple had about 1,500 HP.

【Puppet attacked by Abnormal Dog, HP -250】

Damn.

These dog things targeted the puppet’s lower three routes—really sneaky.

Seeing the puppet’s lower body drenched in blood, Chen Xiaoyan couldn’t bear to watch any longer; she understood men’s pain.

Hold on, little puppet brother, I’m coming.

“Mu Yu Han Guang, Spring Breeze Lead.”

Mu Yu Han Guang was a spiritual rope connecting teammates to provide continuous healing, restoring 2% HP per second for 5.5 seconds at present.

This skill seemed useless early on, but by mid-game or with strong spiritual power, it was basically cheating.

Because percentage-based skills were generally unstoppable.

But the skill effect was starting to look more and more like…

Walking a dog?

The puppet was fighting desperately up front, while she was holding a peach-pink rope behind it, watching.

Nope, the more she looked, the more it resembled dog walking.

Five seconds later, the spiritual rope vanished, and Chen Xiaoyan continuously recast Spring Breeze Lead on the puppet.

Big healing skills like Return Wind Umbrella had to be saved until the health bar was nearly empty to have maximum effect.

One minute later

The puppet coldly flicked a sword flower and sheathed the sword.

All ten Abnormal Dogs were wiped out.

【Player challenge successful, gained 200 XP, 1 spiritual energy. Continue to challenge second wave?】

【Congratulations, level up!】

“Open character interface.”

Character ID: Chen Xiaoyan

Level: 3

HP: 1300

Spiritual Energy: 111

Fragrance: 70

No other stats changed.

Leveled up twice, nice!

Chen Xiaoyan was ecstatic, eager to challenge the second wave.

She vowed not to leave the Demon Suppression Tower until reaching level ten today.

【Normal Demon Suppression Tower First Floor Wave 2 Monsters: Abnormal Dogs, Level 5】

Black mist surged again, and twenty Abnormal Dogs spawned.

The second wave had increased one level and ten more monsters.

“Twenty?” Chen Xiaoyan’s eyes lit up. Instead of feeling threatened, she excitedly gave the puppet another Spring Breeze Lead.

“Puppet dog, you’re powered up! Go!”

Shushan Puppet: “…………”

【Your friend I Am Master of My Fate requests private chat】

“#” Chen Xiaoyan was speechless.

This fat otaku really knew how to pick the timing.

【Chen Xiaoyan: “Speak your mind.”】

【I Am Master of My Fate: “Yanzi, does Tianxiang Sect have many girls? Hook me up.”】

【Chen Xiaoyan: “Thanks for the invite, but I’m at the Demon Suppression Tower walking the dog and fighting.”】

【Chen Xiaoyan disconnected the private chat link.】