Chapter 9: Draw Your Sword, Rival—She Is My Wife!

Being able to collectively funnel money into the accounts of four top-tier streamers and professional players in the million-level range—this game company, barely known and with a website so simple no one had heard of it before—could they be secretly wealthy?

Some players who missed out on the qualification began to feel faint regret.

Judging by the way things were going, perhaps it wasn’t false advertising—the game really was holographic!

If it weren’t holographic, what else could make four veteran streamers from affluent backgrounds and these pro players so engrossed that they didn’t even have time to reply to posts?

Especially after that heated argument, none of the four reappeared.

“What’s going on? Why have you suddenly gone silent?”

“I’m dying of anxiety—say something!”

“Ahhh, my heart is torn apart! Can someone please tell us how the game is?”

Unfortunately, the next several hours were utterly silent.

Outside the game, netizens were beside themselves with impatience, almost wanting to storm into the homes of those hundred players to shake them vigorously for answers.

If this really was holographic, wouldn’t missing out on the first test be a loss of a hundred million?

Not to mention that the second test’s levels and resources would fall far behind!

Even when desperate fans frantically tagged those who got spots, no one replied; it was as if they had all died.

First-test players: “We’re busy! Who dares to leave the game now just to reply to posts? If you have the time, go gather more fresh bamboo shoots and wild fruits, or catch a few beasts!”

The post accumulated hundreds of replies, but the testers were as silent as the grave, and everyone could only wait patiently.

Inside the game, Su Qingyue was pondering whether to help a player defeat a tiger. She couldn’t stand seeing someone die three, four, or even seven times fighting a single tiger.

Player: “??? Hey! A tiger over two meters long and weighing several hundred pounds—of course modern people can’t take it down easily!”

Su Qingyue sighed and prepared to assist. “I hope the players level up quickly. We still have a ways to go to the ancestral land of the Su family, several hours of travel. We’ll pass through a small town and even the outskirts of a mountain range inhabited by magical beasts.”

Even at the periphery, there were many low-level magical beasts. If they couldn’t defeat ordinary wild animals, then those corrupted by demonic energy, ferocious and brutal magical beasts…

She shivered. The image was too terrifying to imagine. Surely she wouldn’t see a hundred meat pies!

One magical beast leader after another, each swipe turning players into meat pies.

“Flying Dragon in the Sky, you trash! A professional player and big streamer? Every dodge and move is perfectly timed to get you killed. Zero percent dodge rate. How dare you call yourself a top player!”

“I thought it wasn’t a holographic game before? Just press the keys, so easy! Who knew it would be this hard? You’ve died five or six times yourself!”

“Heh, so we’re all just trash!”

Su Qingyue: “……” A hundred players shouting and bickering—it was unbearable.

“Stop fighting. You’re hurting my ears.”

Just as she was about to slap the tiger to death out of impatience, the tiger suddenly collapsed.

The hundred players: “???”

A long silence fell before someone timidly asked, “So, how did the tiger die?”

“No idea! We can’t say it killed itself because we’re too pathetic!”

“Hey, who are you insulting?”

Lan Ling rolled her eyes, remarkably calm. “I threw a basket of wild mushrooms into its mouth.”

If it could poison two players weighing over two hundred pounds combined, there was no reason it couldn’t poison a tiger.

Usually, tigers wouldn’t eat random wild mushrooms, but this one was forcibly fed.

Flying Dragon in the Sky was dumbfounded: “Uh… this basket of wild mushrooms is actually pretty useful.”

No kidding! It took out two players and the big boss everyone had been fighting for so long.

Lan Ling shrugged. “Yeah, I said our levels were too low to face fierce beasts. Dying repeatedly fighting monsters just didn’t make sense.”

“What do you mean?” everyone was confused.

Xiao Mo, with perfect timing, elaborated: “Obviously, we’re not supposed to fight monsters up close or use these trash weapons! Use the environment—the terrain in the forest allows maneuvering, poisonous plants can be used, and we can even lure one beast to another to finish it off!”

The players’ eyes lit up. Things suddenly became much easier.

Before long, the players gradually completed all their tasks, returning with various wild fruits, vegetables, and game meat.

“Daily task complete, rewards being distributed…”

White light flickered over the players as they leveled up. Some reached level 8, while others were above level 5.

“We leveled up! Now we can awaken our spiritual roots!” Xiao Mo excitedly gathered a large crowd of players and approached Su Qingyue with eager eyes.

The system notification sounded: “Newbie Task 2: Spiritual Root Awakening activated, led by main NPC Su Qingyue. Please queue in an orderly manner.

Task rewards: Beginner storage ring, a random skill book matching your spiritual root attribute, a set of green-grade equipment, skill panel and attribute point allocation system unlocked, 1000 experience points, 50 reputation.”

The players erupted in excitement, politely lining up, eager to get their storage rings.

That storage ring was a big deal—in mobile games, backpacks were normal, but in a holographic game, a storage ring raised expectations sky-high.

And after awakening their spiritual roots, they would receive skill books. Everyone was curious to see what cultivation skills would look like when performed in person.

“It’s going to be super cool! I can’t wait!” The players were bursting with anticipation, almost rushing forward to have Su Qingyue awaken their roots in a second.

Meanwhile, on the forum, some netizens kept pestering:

“Is anyone there? What’s going on with you all?”

“Someone come out and explain!”

“Damn it, I’m dying of anxiety. The thought that others might be playing a real holographic game while I got scammed makes me even angrier!”

Player: “Stop it, we’re waiting to awaken our spiritual roots!”

“Alright, let’s begin testing and awakening your spiritual roots.”

Su Qingyue took out a testing stone and looked up, unexpectedly meeting the shining, intense gaze of a hundred players, as if she were facing an unparalleled beauty.

“……” Su Qingyue’s scalp tingled.

Though she understood the Chinese people's passion and longing for cultivation, meeting so many fervent eyes at once made her want to turn and run on reflex.

“Fire Spiritual Root, top grade?”

Seeing the words on the testing stone, Su Qingyue was stunned.

Could the testing stone be malfunctioning? Top-grade spiritual root? Had she read it right?

On the surface, the beautiful girl in simple elegant clothes maintained her graceful composure and continued to wait for the next player to test their spiritual root.

In reality, if you looked closely, her pupils dilated, her gaze wandered, and her thoughts had long since flown elsewhere.

The players were completely unaware of the storm raging in Su Qingyue’s heart. They cheered as they clutched the skill books, equipment, and storage rings that appeared in their arms, eagerly rushing to inspect them one by one.

Other players cast envious glances at the loot, filled with eager anticipation.

“Who knows what kind of spiritual roots we’ll get? It’s like opening blind boxes—so exciting!”