Chapter 202: 202, 【Lu Xun’s New Identity】

Translator: 549690339

Tong County, a small county located hundreds of miles from Qingling City, is also one of the beginner villages in “Heavenly Dust”.

Lu Xun arrived on a paper crane just outside Tong County, then used the “Camouflage Art” to hide high up in a tree and observed the players below.

“Camouflage Art” is one of the low-level skills he learned. It wouldn’t be effective against some cultivators with a decent cultivation base, but it came quite handy against the new players who just landed.

The noobs below had no idea that the Purple Palace player they were eager to encounter was observing them from the treetops.

“How come I never noticed how noobish players were when I used to play the game?” Lu Xun wondered as he observed the players’ every move.

Some of the players were lined up, hopping forward as if the ground were scorching their feet.

Others behind this line were rolling forward, performing acrobatics.

There were even players munching on wildflowers, spitting them out while exclaiming, “Wow! Even the taste is so realistic!”

He also noticed a player seemingly studying the resurrection mechanism in “Heavenly Dust”, pleading with other players around to take turns killing him.

Damn! There was even a player hiding in a corner trying to pee! He sniffed as he peed and then shouted out what a realistic urination experience the game offered! This was absurd!

“Why don’t you taste a little bit of it while you’re at it?” Lu Xun couldn’t help but snark internally.

It turned out that people’s perspectives changed as their positions did. Once upon a time, Lu Xun was also a member of the noob army…

“The players here must have just spawned in this world. They haven’t even entered the city. But fair enough, not all players could log in the moment the game hit open beta.” Lu Xun reasoned with himself.

Just then, a spirit crow perched on his shoulder broke the silence with a screech. “Cluck-! Cluck-! Gan Linliang-!”

Lu Xun suppressed a twitch at the side of his mouth, grabbed the crow, and vanished from the tree in a flash.

The players who heard the noise glanced in the direction of the tree appearing puzzled.

“I thought I heard someone cursing. Could I have misheard?”

Lu Xun, flying high above on his paper crane, promptly took out a black rope and gagged the cawing spirit crow.

The spirit crow, cocking its head to one side, stared blankly at Lu Xun but made no attempt to resist.

Soon afterwards, Lu Xun flew away from Tong County atop his paper crane.

“Most players are currently bare-bones, possessing neither money nor experience points. There’s not much to gain from interacting with them at the moment. Best to wait longer.”

“I still have one preparatory task to do. I’ll get that over with.” Lu Xun thought.

His destination was the Treasury Pavilion.

Ah, what a cliché and era-specific name!

The Treasury Pavilion, as the name implies, is a no-brainer. Everyone gets it.

This is the largest trading platform for Cultivators on the Heavenly Dust Continent and will also be the platform that players use most frequently in the future.

A grand total of three Treasury Pavilions can be found within the vast territory controlled by the Demon Sect on Heavenly Dust Continent.

On closer inspection, the Treasury Pavilion seemed a pretty badass place, possessing enormous wealth. The question was, who owned the property?

The answer? The Four Righteous Sects and the Three Demon Sects!

In Lu Xun’s view, he could consider it half his property.

These pavilions didn’t explicitly sell items from the seven sects. Rather, they operated as trading platforms, with the sects taking a cut of the transactions.

While their share might seem insignificant, the total revenue the Demon Sect collected from the Treasury Pavilion each year was downright terrifying!

Lu Xun was now headed there to buy something.

Following directions on the map, Lu Xun soon reached the nearest Pavilion.

The Treasury Pavilion was not located within any city. It was a standalone entity, almost like a small independent city. Only cultivators were allowed inside. No non-cultivators were permitted.

It was a place where different types of people mixed together, and you could find all sorts of odds and ends for sale.

Lu Xun, wearing a bamboo hat, approached the entrance. There were no guards outside, but a barrier was in place which could be broken by displaying a trace of spiritual power.

Inside, there were indeed guards. Moreover, each Treasury Pavilion had a head whose strength was not to be underestimated.

Lu Xun hadn’t been here since crossing over. However, in his past life, he was very familiar with the place. Furthermore, the environment inside most Treasury Pavilions was nearly identical, so he didn’t feel out of place.

Upon entering, Lu Xun saw that he wasn’t the only one who was hiding his identity under a bamboo hat. But thanks to his Charisma of 10, he caught the eye of many nonetheless.

When Lu Xun made it into the designated room with his number slip, a professionally smiling young woman greeted him.

Upon seeing Lu Xun, her professional smile gradually morphed into a genuine one, expressing her respect for his high charisma score.

“I need a magical weapon that can disguise myself and change me into a different form, or an illusion technique.” Lu Xun sat down and got straight to the point.

The Demon Sect might have had these items, but they’d leave behind records, and Lu Xun didn’t want that.

“Please wait a moment.” The woman pushed open the small door behind her and stepped through. About seven or eight minutes later, she returned.

She handed Lu Xun two booklets. The thicker one listed all the concealing magical weapons currently on sale. The other, incredibly thin one, obviously contained the rarer illusion techniques.

Lu Xun first inspected the magical weapon booklet, but didn’t see anything that caught his eye.

The cheaper ones were too shoddy and the effects were mediocre. The more high-end ones, at Blue Equipment level and above, were price-prohibitive.

He then took a look at the illusion technique booklet, which was also outrageously priced.

It contained just two techniques, one superior Yellow Level and one intermediate Blue Level.

The former was priced at 3,000 Spirit Stones, which was a lot more than the usual Superior Yellow Level techniques.

The latter was a whopping 15,000 Spirit Stones!

After some thought, Lu Xun opted for the latter.

Although it was quite a pinch, it was an investment for the early game and mustn’t be taken lightly.

“If not for the random 10,000 spirit stones my third senior brother gave me before I left the mountain, I wouldn’t have been able to afford it…” Lu Xun muttered to himself.

From time to time, he wondered whether he could fleece his players more efficiently than he did his third senior brother?

“Lu Xun, cut it out! Your third senior brother is good to you. You can’t fleece him too often!” He scolded himself inwardly.

After purchasing the illusion technique skill book, he left the Treasury Pavilion and decided to learn the technique right away.

With the “Charm” special attribute boosting his ability, the illusion technique would definitely be handier than any magical weapon.

He didn’t level up too much, just one level. As long as it was sufficient for now.

The illusion technique was called “At Will”. An appropriate name, he thought.

“What should I transform myself into?” Lu Xun pondered.

He looked at his current appearance, dressed in a black robe. His all-black attire had become one of the Purple Palace’s trademarks, so he felt the need to make a stark contrast.

His new look should differ in age as well. He should transform into a middle-aged man.

High-profile bluster would be left to the Purple Palace persona, and low-profile bluster would be handled by this new persona.

And so, using the illusion technique, he transformed himself into an affable, refined middle-aged man wearing a white shirt. The new look was akin to…

An attractive mature man.