Chapter 1358

Brother Dao, it's over, really fast...

But we need to keep the quotes? The Chinese line includes 「」. Should we keep them? The instruction: translate faithfully, preserve every paragraph break. It didn't say to remove quotation marks. Usually we keep them as they are part of the text. We'll keep the Chinese quotation marks? Better to replace with English quotes? The instruction didn't specify. Usually we keep the original punctuation; but Chinese quotes 「」 are not English. We could keep them as is, but they'd look odd. Usually translators replace with English quotes. However, the rule says "Render EXACTLY what the source says — same meaning, same information, nothing added." The Chinese uses 「」; if we replace with English quotes, we are changing the characters. But it's still same meaning. I'd keep English double quotes for readability. Many translations do that. I'll use English double quotes.

Thus: "Brother Dao, it's over, really fast......"

Brother Dao, it's over—it really went by fast...

We'll output: 【1】 "Brother Dao, it's over, really fast......"

But we need to keep the line as a single output line with 【1】 prefix.

Proceed similarly.

After finishing the last dungeon, Yu Cixue and Xiao Feng, along with her three playmates, returned to the big world together.

the big world

The 250-level dungeon is for five people; the others had already left earlier.

"A day or so, that's fine; mainly the running took too long." Xiao Feng laughed.

Xiao Feng laughed.

"Hmm... what are you planning to do next? Want to do some resource dungeons again?"

Yu Cixue asked, feeling a bit reluctant to part.

Teaming up with Xiao Feng in dungeons was very comfortable, and chatting along the way, she also found him quite interesting—he doesn't put on airs of an expert, is approachable, and sometimes cracks slightly off-color jokes.

Over time, with bonuses from looks, strength, and personality, affection naturally grows.

Xiao Feng shook his head: "Forget it, the Sword Tomb won't let me in, and low-level ones aren't interesting either. I only need Immortal Crystals; we can talk about Spirit Stones and such after they're spent."

"That's right, then okay... By the way, I said I'd give you some Immortal Crystals—here, this is what I gathered, a gift for you!"

Mentioning Immortal Crystals, Yu Cixue immediately took out a bunch of things and stuffed them into Xiao Feng's embrace.

This isn't a trade; it's a gift, given outright for free.

Immortal Crystals aren't big; you can grab a dozen or so with one hand.

But the amount Yu Cixue prepared was still quite a lot; Xiao Feng couldn't hold them all with both hands, so he had to set some aside first.

"So many... huh, there are also high-grade Immortal Crystals—each one is worth 200 million!"

Xiao Feng glanced at the quantity and quality of the Immortal Crystals she gave him, and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Yu Cixue produced them in three batches, totaling over seventy: two high-grade, eleven medium-grade, and the rest low-grade.

At Xiao Feng's purchase price, this amount is worth more than 700 million Spirit Stones!

Yu Cixue smiled sweetly: "You led us so many people through the 500-level dungeon and sold me many things at low prices; consider this a token of gratitude."

Her three fixed female teammates stared, mouths agape.

"Heavens, Sis Snow, have you gone mad?"

"This is several hundred million Spirit Stones, just given away for free?"

"Done for, done for—she's fallen, she's caught in the net of love! She can't extricate herself!"

Xiao Feng felt a bit embarrassed by the remarks, took out a Spirit Stone bag containing a total of 700 million Spirit Stones, stuffed it into her hand, and said: "One thing for another—we're also friends, so helping each other with dungeons is perfectly normal; I can't just take such expensive stuff from you for free."

Yu Cixue frowned slightly: "I just wanted to give you something; you have plenty of Spirit Stones and lack nothing, so I thought to give you Immortal Crystals. If I took your money, wouldn't that be the same as directly handing it over for a purchase commission?"

Xiao Feng understood her thought and replied: "It's still somewhat different—at least I know these are what you helped gather; I appreciate this sentiment, but I can't let you spend too much, so you should still take the Spirit Stones."

"Mm... sigh, it seems you don't want to accept my feelings."

Yu Cixue isn't stupid; she sensed Xiao Feng's polite refusal, which isn't just about money but carries a deeper hint.

Xiao Feng felt a bit embarrassed and didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Yu Cixue felt glum for a while, then quickly gave a carefree smile and said: "Forget it; next time I find Immortal Crystals I'll just dump them at the purchasing place. If you have business, find me—we're leaving now."

Saying that, she took out a return-to-city talisman and left directly.

Her three fixed teammates couldn't help but shake their heads.

"Poor Sis Snow, your confession failed."

"Let's go comfort her quickly; after all, this is her first time taking the initiative to express affection to a man, and being rejected will surely upset her."

"Exactly, hurry back—she's just holding on, and she'll soon break down and cry."

The three said that on purpose for Xiao Feng to hear, then they also returned to the city and left.

Xiao Feng couldn't help but shake his head helplessly.

Yu Cixue surely isn't that fragile; she's open and generous, not a petty woman, has her own bearing, is candid and unrestrained—if she feels affection she'll show it, and if it doesn't work out she can let go quickly.

Making friends with someone like her is very comfortable, with few worries; even if there's a tiff, it can be cleared up quickly.

If one were to date her, it would also be highly enjoyable, without fooling around or actively seeking trouble.

However, Xiao Feng is now quite content; he still has four little sisters at home waiting to be fed, and Yuan Su Shen Yu is...

Human energy is limited, and emotional capacity is limited too; he dares not indulge himself further, having resolved to focus his mind, so even if he meets someone better, he must keep his distance.

More energy should be devoted to cultivation and pursuing strength.

This applies not only to the game, but to reality as well!

The dungeon is finished; for now there's nothing else to do.

Xiao Feng logged out of the game; double experience time is calculated based on actual online time, so logging out pauses it, and it resumes only after logging back in.

The Nine Provinces Immortal Realm just finished the territory war; Yuan Su Shen Yu over there is surely the same, and he wants to know how the war went after he left.

After going offline, Xiao Feng found a legal loli on his bed, lying on the other pillow, quietly immersed in the game world, the blanket not even properly covered.

"No wonder I felt weird while playing..."

Xiao Feng helplessly shook his head, gently pinched Xu Xiao Nian's little butt, then put on his clothes and went out.

Jiang Ning and the others were still in the game; he couldn't reach them in-game, so he could only wake them offline.

A few minutes later, they all logged off, went downstairs together, and drank tea while chatting in the living room.

"How did this territory war go? Did you get the ranking?" Xiao Feng asked while fumbling with the tea.

Su Lingyu said: "Not bad; it was very tense, but we ultimately took first place."

"Oh? That's impressive—you couldn't be stopped by the over two billion people of Azure Sky World." Xiao Feng showed surprise, very pleased with this result.

Jiang Ning explained: "It's mainly because Old Zhang, Dun Dun, Sword Slaying the Heavens and a few others burst forth at the last moment, taking two extra royal cities; otherwise we would have lost."

Since receiving the Primeval Inheritance, the top players of Blue Star No. 8 War Zone have seen their strength soar, increasing extremely rapidly.

Their ultimate skills, new talents, and new gear—each stronger than the last—give them an absolute overwhelming advantage over ordinary players.

Furthermore, before leaving, Xiao Feng had left behind some large scrolls; each fifth‑tier scroll has the power to clear half a city, and if used before the territory war ends, it can offset a million‑strong army.

Despite their advantage, the Blue Sky World, though numerous, lacked enough experts and ultimately fell short, losing to the Blue Star No. 8 War Zone by a 5‑point margin.

Fang Yinuo said: "It's not just Old Zhang and the others; Ning'er's merit is huge too. As this fake NPC, she biasedly attacked us, dealing absurdly high damage—no one could breach the Heavenly Dao Capital from start to finish, freeing up a lot of manpower for us."

Jiang Ning wouldn't boast about her merit, but that doesn't mean her performance was mediocre.

On the contrary, in this territory war she was the most dazzling one, wielding the Sword of Civilization, she shifted from archer to melee combat and was never breached from start to finish, becoming the sole person among the 24 Main Gods who persisted until the final hour; she was only defeated by her own side in the last 10 minutes, after which the demolition team planted their flag and took over.

Although she couldn't earn a score, her alone represented a steady income of 10 points, comparable to one-fifteenth of the entire region's total; one can imagine how important that is.