"Wah… Is this really a Spirit-grade metal-armor set?"

Chaos Moon blinked visibly to confirm that she wasn’t seeing things. Surprise filled her beautiful face as she said, "These stats are ridiculous enough, but this Dance of Draconic Energy is even more amazing. It’s perfect for grinding mobs and killing undead players like Lu Chen, Gui Guzi, and Lil Beiming…"

"..."

Gui Guzi let out a laugh before saying, "It’s an amazing equipment set alright. HP, Defense, Attack; it has everything. It’s much better than the random equipment I’m wearing right now. Where did you get these, Boss Broken Halberd? Did you call us over to make us roll for this?"

I shook my head. "No, no need. I have 27 sets in total."

"What? 27?" High Fighting Spirits exclaimed in shock. "Holy shit, does that mean everyone here is getting a set?"

I smiled and said, "That’s right. Eve, sis, Beiming Xue, Moonlight Stone and I grinded an entire day and night at Dragonlight Canyon to get these. I’m not giving these away for free though. I’ll name a price, and you will decide if you want to buy it or not. I didn’t grind these by myself, so I can’t just give them away for free."

"You’re right, but please give us a discount!" Heaven’s Rain begged hopefully, "None of us are exceptionally rich even though we’ve managed to earn some money through equipment sales. Frankly, there’s no way we can buy this at the auction price."

Diamond Dust also agreed, "Yeah, my total earnings from selling equipment and magic stones for this month are only 500k+ gold or so. There’s no way I can afford this…"

Xu Yang was the only exception of the group who was crying about how poor they were. He tapped his chest confidently to show that he could pay the equipment set at its full price if necessary.

……

I let the group throw a tantrum for a bit before saying in amusement, "Alright, alright. Eve and I have already discussed this earlier, and we’ve decided to sell the Dragonblade set for only 200k, at around 10% of its market price which we estimate to be at 2 million. Surely you guys can afford this much? The reason we’re selling it this cheaply is because we wish to build a squad of Dragonblade fighters exclusive to Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls. We killed literally every mob that drops the Dragonblade set in the map, so if you buy them you’ll probably be the only 27 Dragonblade fighters in the entire server."

"Wait, really? You’re charging only 200k?" Chaos Moon’s eyes suddenly lit up. She hurriedly walked up to me and tapped my chest armor with a smile on her face. "Glad to see you still have some conscience in you! I’m sure everyone here can afford to fork 200k. So, where’s this set? I can pay immediately…"

I nodded. "Mn. All 27 sets are in my bag, so prepare your gold and trade with me one by one. And no, you’re not allowed to buy more than one set, understand?"

"Hehe, we know!"

Every player in the name list was either Level 150 or higher, or just a few percentage short of hitting Level 150. No one who managed to reach this level and establish themselves as a core player in Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls was a small fry. Everyone here was more or less a famous person in their own right. They exceled in their parties and grinded a ton of top-tier loot every day, earning several million RMB a month at least. That was why I was sure that they could afford the Dragonblade set at this price. 200k for an equipment set that could last them until Level 180 and their seventh class promotion? One that was this powerful no less? Even a fool could tell that this was a golden opportunity.

The trade went smoothly, and almost all of the equipment sets except one was gone in the blink of an eye. It was at this moment a female warrior carrying a leopard cat in her arms and a rapier around her waist walked up to me and said in a timid voice, "Brother Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand, I…"

I recognized her. She was the introverted girl who just became a Famous General not long ago, A Lazy Cat, or Cat as people preferred to call her. Ever since she learned Soul of the Foot, she had instantly risen through the ranks and become a core player of our guild. Soul of the Foot was an essential Famous General Skill because it was far more useful than Knight General in certain situations, such as scaling the walls during a siege battle. It was why He Yi, Murong Mingyue, and I placed great value on Cat and Yama Slayer, including them in our name list.

I gave her a friendly smile before asking, "What’s wrong, Cat?"

Cat’s cheeks turned red as she replied, "Well… my dad was hospitalized this month, so I’ve converted most of my gold to RMB to pay for his hospital fees. I don’t have the gold to buy this set right now… can I pay you at a later date? I promise I’ll pay you back in full…"

Even as she spoke, she couldn’t help but shoot glances at the Dragonblade set again and again. She clearly desired the set, but she also couldn’t afford to buy it right now. She looked conflicted to say the least.

I pursed my lips and said, "Well… sure! That’s not a problem!"

I brought up the trade window and added the equipment set. Not only that, I added 1 million gold and said, "Take good care of your dad, okay? You only have one dad in the entire world. Once he’s better, you can pay back the money you owe me! And you’d better, cuz I don’t ever forget a debt, hahaha!"

"Oooh…"

Cat’s eyes reddened, and she nearly burst into tears there and then. Barely holding back the tears, she said again and again, "I’ll pay you back! I’ll definitely pay you back for this!"

I gave her a strong nod and said, "I trust you. Now take this and grind hard! Ah, but don’t burn the midnight oil everyday, okay? Also, you should spend more time with your dad…"

"I know!"

An extremely moved Cat accepted the trade and equipped the Dragonblade set immediately. A beautiful warrior immediately appeared before all of us. The Dragonblade set looked pretty on a woman, but handsome on a man as well. Its design automatically changed to fit the person who was wearing it.

Everyone present saw what I did for Cat and was encouraged by it. My choice to help Cat both alleviated her burden and increased the unity of our core members, so I considered my million well spent. Moreover, Cat was a stubborn girl. I knew she would do everything in her power to repay everything I gave her today, with an interest.

……

Over half of the 27 players I summoned were already qualified to equip the Dragonblade set, so they did. At a glance, it was almost as if we were conducting a military parade or something. The way they climbed onto their horses and brandished their weapons and the emblem of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls on their shoulders proudly instantly caused a wave of commotion among the randoms on the plaza. They probably thought that we were plotting something big again.

"All done!"

Holding the Armored Ice Qilin Horse’s rein and carrying the Cyan Netherworld Sword, I said, "Work hard, everyone. Remember your promise to Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, and don’t let me down. In the future, you are the ones who will carry the guild’s name to every corner of the world and conquer, so fight hard for our dreams and our brothers and sisters! Now then, I’ve been online for 24 hours, and I’m so sleepy I could black out at any moment. I leave the rest to you all!"

High Fighting Spirits waved his battle axe once and laughed. "We got it, so take your rest already!"

"See you all later!"

I gave them all one last nod before walking into the adventurer’s inn and logged out!

……

After I took off my gaming helmet, the first thing I did was to run into the toilet and relieve myself. I had drunk a lot of water before I went online earlier to keep myself hydrated, so my bladder was about to burst by now!

When I finally swayed out of the toilet, He Yi had already returned from outside with ten boxed lunches in plastic bags.

"Hmm? I thought we’re having a great lunch today," I said with a smile.

He Yi rolled her eyes at me before chiding me a bit, "What, are these boxed lunches not enough for you? Anyway, this is just the rice. I ordered some dishes from the restaurant downstairs, and they’ll be delivered to us very soon. Where’s Beiming and Mingyue, by the way?"

"They’re in their rooms, I guess."

"Well, tell them to come out and get ready for lunch!"

"Okay!"

I pushed open Beiming Xue’s door and found her standing in front of her vanity mirror. She was holding up a dark blue mini skirt when she looked back at me and asked, "Big bro, do I look good in this skirt?"

I instantly turned as red as an apple. "Beiming Xue, I’m sorry, but can you please wear a bra even when you’re inside your own room?"

"Huh…" Beiming Xue looked down and saw her red T-shirt clinging tightly to her attractive body. The fabric was rather thin, so there were two visible bumps on her beautiful mounds. She immediately understood why I looked as embarrassed as I was.

"Hmph! You’re such a bad person, big bro!"

Beiming Xue closed the distance between us quickly before turning around toward the door. "I’ll come out for lunch after I change, so get out already!"

"Okay."

I closed the door for her and looked at Murong Mingyue’s door. Having learned my lesson, I slapped the door and shouted from outside, "Miss Murong, it’s lunch time already!"

The door opened immediately, and Murong Mingyue said to me with a smile, "No need to be hasty, Sir Lu. This one is ready!"

I nearly puked blood at the spontaneous response. There was just no beating Murong Mingyue.

……

It didn’t take long before the waiter delivered our food to us. It was quite convenient living at this apartment because all the food we could possibly order like Hunan, Sichuan, Shandong, Cantonese, and more were all downstairs. All we needed to do was head down and make the order, and it would be delivered to us in no time.

After paying the waiter and sending him away, we sat around the table and started chowing down on our food. We hadn’t eaten anything for 24 hours, so all thoughts of proper appearance were thrown right out of the window, at least until we were done filling our bellies.

Half an hour later, I leaned comfortably against the sofa and let out a burp. I closed my eyes and felt like I could fall asleep on the spot.

Beside me, He Yi poured me a glass of clear water and passed it over. "Here."

"Thanks."

I accepted the water and took the chance to wrap my arm around He Yi’s shoulder. She happily leaned against me before asking, "Have you distributed the Dragonblade sets?"

"Mn. I sold 26 of them and lent the last one to Cat because her dad’s hospitalized, and she doesn’t have the money right now. I also let her borrow a million RMB."

"Well done. That is how it should be."

"Mn. Now let’s head to bed!"

"Yes!"

……

I returned to my room and pulled my blanket over me. I slept like a log to say the least.

In my dreams, I fought a million battles and shed a seemingly endless amount of blood and tears on my way to the top. I heard mad laughs, and wailing weeps. I saw winners win, I saw losers lose. I saw legends being recorded in the annals of history, no one to ever know the amount of sweat, blood, and tears required to achieve these feats.

When I woke up and looked outside, it was already dark outside. The clock showed 7:30 pm, and it was the perfect time to get up and get ready to resume our adventure. Dragonlight Canyon gave us the Dragonblade sets yesterday, and I wondered what other pleasant surprises it had in store for us. I couldn’t wait.