Volume One: Fangyun Mountain

Chapter 001: The Mysterious NPC

As the faint red glow just began to light up the horizon, a beam of white light appeared on the main street of Lingxiao City—Henry Bolton had logged in.

At the same time, white lights would occasionally flash nearby as well, with players coming online one after another.

Henry Bolton let out a sigh; he hadn’t expected that there would be so many people working as hard as he was. It was only five o’clock in the morning in real life, the lowest activity period for players. He was planning to take advantage of this time to grind some monsters—if he was lucky, he might even have a special encounter.

Just then, a hardcore player at the Nascent Soul stage next to him yawned, “Played all night, time to log off and get some sleep.”

He watched as the Nascent Soul stage hardcore player’s figure turned transparent and slowly disappeared from Lingxiao City—he had logged off.

Henry Bolton felt a bit ashamed; there were plenty of guys tougher than him. He couldn’t last through a dozen hours of nonstop gaming, and besides, he wasn’t a professional player—just a bona fide homebody.

This was a large-scale virtual online game called “Immortal Dao.” Cultivation-themed virtual games like this weren’t uncommon on 22nd-century Earth; basically, a new one would come out every few years.

From time to time, streaks of light would flash across the sky at incredible speed, trailing dreamlike, dazzling glows. Some even rode spirit beasts as they swept through the air—these were all high-level players. Henry Bolton glanced at them with envy, wondering how long it would take for him to reach that level.

Currently, Henry Bolton could only be considered an average expert in the game, with early Core Formation stage strength—decent, but not top-tier.

By rights, his Core Formation strength was already a small achievement, but unfortunately, he had neither heaven-defying top-tier techniques nor any astonishingly powerful treasures. The drop rate in this game was very low, and all kinds of rare materials were hard to come by. To this day, he didn’t even have a single magic treasure, and was muddling along in the game quite miserably. There were plenty of players in the same situation as him.

“Selling high-grade spiritual weapons, only 1,200 crystals!”

“Buying level-three spirit beasts for 5,000 crystals!”

“Big sale on all kinds of spell jade slips, price negotiable...”

“Top-quality Foundation Establishment Pills, can increase the success rate of foundation establishment, also effective for those at the Foundation Establishment stage—only two bottles left.”

...

Henry Bolton watched these players setting up stalls along the street. Some of them were professional players with high cultivation, many already at the Core Formation stage, and even some freaks at the Nascent Soul stage.

After a few glances, Henry Bolton decided to leave. It wasn’t that these things were useless to him, but rather that he was broke—there weren’t many crystals left in his storage bracelet.

Passing through the bustling street, he arrived at a deserted corner. Henry Bolton was here to pick up a quest, and the quest NPC was in this very corner.

“Young man, let’s make a deal.” A slightly hoarse voice called out.

Henry Bolton jumped in surprise and instinctively turned around, only to find a shabby old Daoist behind him.

Not a player—an NPC! Henry Bolton was delighted. Could it be that his luck was off the charts and he’d encountered a legendary hidden quest?

Although the old Daoist looked rather shabby, Henry Bolton didn’t dare underestimate him in the slightest.

“Is there anything you need my help with, sir?” Henry Bolton asked respectfully.

The old Daoist wiped his nose with his hand and gave Henry Bolton a few sly glances, grunting, “With my level of cultivation, I certainly don’t need help from a little Core Formation cultivator like you. I’m here to make a deal.”

“A deal?” Henry Bolton was taken aback. This was the first time he’d heard of a hidden quest like this.

“What kind of deal?” Henry Bolton eyed him warily. After playing for so long, he knew some basic things—there were plenty of evil NPCs in the game who used players as pawns.

“I have a set of heaven-defying techniques here. I’ll trade them for something you have on you. Are you willing?” The old Daoist’s eyes gleamed as he stared at Henry Bolton, making him feel uneasy.

“Heaven-defying techniques?” Henry Bolton drew in a sharp breath. In “Immortal Dao,” even ordinary top-tier techniques were extremely rare, owned only by a handful of elite players. As for heaven-defying techniques, rumor had it that only the top-ranked player, Travis York, possessed a set. And Travis York had held the number one spot in the game for hundreds of in-game years, with no one able to challenge him. The second-ranked expert was far behind.

In other words, only one set of heaven-defying techniques had ever appeared on the entire server, which showed just how valuable they were.

“Young man, are you willing? I’ll trade a set of heaven-defying techniques for something you have on you.” The old Daoist looked supremely confident, certain that Henry Bolton would be tempted.