Pay-to-Win Immortal: My Gacha AI Waifu

——Identity and Health Report (Li Qingran)——

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After reading Li Qingran's health and identity report, Chen Huaian was completely stunned.

"What the heck? How did I end up in a female-oriented drama? Plus, I only have cancer as a debuff, but Li Qingran has five!"

And this girl's life was just too tragic! What kind of grudge was this? All she did was accidentally injure her junior sister's shoulder during a sect competition. Isn't it normal to get hurt in martial arts contests in the cultivation world? Yet, the entire Chixiao Peak went berserk over it! Could there be some hidden secret behind this?

"No wonder she was hiding in such a rundown hut. If I hadn't shown up in time, she probably wouldn't have made it." Looking at Li Qingran sitting cross-legged on a chair in the room, meditating with her eyes closed, Chen Huaian couldn't help but feel immersed, as if Li Qingran were a real person and this wasn't just a game.

"Is she cultivating now? With her foundation destroyed and her spiritual root gone, can she still cultivate?" Chen Huaian tapped on Li Qingran. Out of respect, he tapped her shoulder instead of any other strange place.

[Status: Cultivating]

[Cultivation Progress: 39/99]

This probably meant she needed to accumulate 99 units of spiritual energy to advance to the second level of Qi Refining?

Chen Huaian speculated to himself, not noticing the slight blush on Li Qingran's ears.

He watched Li Qingran cultivate for half an hour.

But not only did her cultivation progress not increase, it dropped by one point to 38.

The girl on the screen frowned, her pale lips slightly downturned, evoking pity.

"She must have noticed that her spiritual energy is decreasing instead of increasing…"

Chen Huaian started looking around for buttons again, trying to see if he could help Li Qingran speed up her cultivation progress.

Moreover, Li Qingran had so many injuries. Leaving them untreated would only make things worse.

After searching for a while, he couldn't find an option to heal Li Qingran. There was an unlocked "Virtual Girlfriend Store," but he finally found something that might be useful to her in the upper right corner—a formation icon.

[Primary Spirit Gathering Formation: Watch an ad to unlock for one hour]

[Intermediate Spirit Gathering Formation: Watch an ad to unlock for 10 minutes]

[Advanced Spirit Gathering Formation: 188¥ per hour, requires watching an ad. ]

Besides the Spirit Gathering Formation, there was a list of various other formations.

For example, there were concealment formations, Xuanjia formations, and even the incredibly named "Slaying Immortals Formation." Some of these formations required money, while others required rare conditions that he couldn't even understand.

For instance, one of the top-tier formations, the "Ten Directions Blood Slaughter Formation," required collecting 12 spirit weapons of at least spiritual tool grade, along with a bunch of complex materials to activate. The question was, where could he find these materials? Buy them with money? Get them from the game? Or have Li Qingran go out and find them, like a traveling frog?

"Another special offer! And it's Crazy Thursday?" Chen Huaian gritted his teeth.

Tomorrow, the Advanced Spirit Gathering Formation would return to its original price, and it wouldn't be cost-effective to use it then.

Whether he charged ahead or held back, it was still a loss.

Charge it, damn it!

After recharging 1888, Chen Huaian slumped back, feeling an inexplicable emptiness. But it was just a fleeting moment. He didn't have many days left to live anyway, so he might as well do what made him happy. As long as it gave him emotional value and made him feel like a living being rather than a half-buried corpse, what did it matter if he spent all his money?

Starting now, the Advanced Spirit Gathering Formation would last for 10 hours, just until midnight.

Since Li Qingran wanted to cultivate, he might as well go all out!

But before that, he had to watch an ad.

[The heavens are merciless, treating all beings as straw dogs. As cultivators walking the rivers and lakes, defying the heavens, how can we not have a reliable weapon? Treasure Pavilion's spiritual weapons, the big brand in weaponry, are now offering a celestial subsidy. Click the link below to receive up to 25% off! For spiritual weapons, trust Treasure Pavilion!]

Chen Huaian: "…"

…

"Sigh, I failed again."

In the room, Li Qingran sighed dejectedly.

Her cultivation had been crippled, her foundation destroyed, and her spiritual root was gone. Even though she was proficient in cultivation techniques, she couldn't cultivate effectively. The spiritual energy in her body was continuously decreasing, and now, no matter how much she cultivated, it only slowed the decline.

Moreover, she was cultivating the Chixiao Peak's exclusive technique, the Red Cloud Art.

In the entire Qingyun Sect, the Red Cloud Art was considered a relatively fast cultivation technique at the lower tier of the Profound Grade, a lower version of the higher-tier Red Sky Art. If even the Red Cloud Art couldn't restore her spiritual energy, the only solution would be to rely on a Spirit Gathering Formation.

She was quite skilled at setting up Spirit Gathering Formations. Three years ago, her fourth senior brother, Zhang Hanxiao, had helped her once during a sect mission. Since then, she had been giving half of her monthly spirit stone allowance to Zhang Hanxiao to set up Spirit Gathering Formations, and over time, she had become very proficient.

A Spirit Gathering Formation required a large number of spirit stones. A primary formation needed at least 100 low-grade spirit stones.

An intermediate formation required 500 mid-grade spirit stones or 50 high-grade spirit stones.

And an advanced formation required spirit crystals, something only elders and sect leaders could afford.

But now, she didn't even have spirit stones, let alone spirit crystals.

Just then.

"Clink—!"

Something fell to the ground.

Li Qingran looked closely and couldn't help but widen her eyes, her mouth forming an "O" shape.

What had fallen to the ground were ten spirit crystals!

Translucent cyan crystals, the size of a baby's fist, exuding a rich spiritual energy—she couldn't be mistaken.

The spirit crystals that Qingxuan Daoist usually used sparingly had just been casually tossed onto the ground!

Senior, you, you, you're wasting treasures!

Following that, eight formation flags emitting a faint golden light also fell from the air, all of the highest quality immortal-grade flags, capable of maximizing the efficiency of formation materials without wasting a single bit.

The eight formation flags seemed to be manipulated by an invisible hand, surrounding her.

In no time, they formed an advanced Spirit Gathering Formation.

Hum—!

The moment the formation activated,

the spiritual energy from the spirit crystals was instantly extracted, swirling around Li Qingran like a vortex.

Within the formation, the concentration of spiritual energy grew higher and higher, first forming a mist, then even condensing into liquid droplets inside the formation. At this point, even without actively circulating the Red Cloud Art, the spiritual energy rushed into her body on its own.

She needed a Spirit Gathering Formation, and the senior had given her one.

And it was the best one.

Li Qingran's eyes welled up with tears, almost crying.

From the house, clothes, and food to the Thunderfire Talisman and the advanced Spirit Gathering Formation.

The things the senior had given her far exceeded her own worth.

She had even wondered if the senior needed her as a cultivation furnace, but even for that, such an investment wasn't necessary. Ten spirit crystals alone were enough to buy several virgin Foundation Establishment female cultivators willing to serve as furnaces.

She realized that this might truly be her destiny.

The senior might be one of those wandering super-powerful beings.

The fact that they hadn't shown themselves yet meant they weren't asking for any specific repayment, merely leaving behind a karmic connection and accumulating merit.

The only way she could repay this senior was by cultivating hard and not disappointing their expectations.

"Senior, rest assured. Qingran will not let you down."

Li Qingran wiped the corners of her eyes, took a deep breath, and sat down cross-legged again to meditate.

Every second within the advanced Spirit Gathering Formation was precious.

She couldn't waste the senior's kindness.

…

[Status: Cultivating]

[Cultivation Progress: 41/99]

[Current Favorability: 20 (Awe) (Actively increasing favorability may trigger small gifts)]

"It still feels a bit slow, doesn't it?" Chen Huaian scratched his head and watched for another ten minutes.

He kept poking Li Qingran's shoulder to check her cultivation progress.

In the end, he could only console himself by thinking that as long as her spiritual energy wasn't decreasing, it was good enough. What more could he ask for?

Seeing that Li Qingran's cultivation would take a long time and nothing was likely to happen during this period, he still moved the Thunderfire Talisman from the roof to the door of the room.

After ensuring everything was safe, he couldn't bear to turn off the phone screen and just left it aside. Then, he opened his computer.

Previously, he didn't want to make money because he thought it was pointless since he was going to die anyway.

But now, his mindset had changed.

For this game, for Li Qingran—this string of data that had brought a bit of color to his life—he wanted to make money.

This was the internet age, and he was a cancer patient.

So, there was no easier way to make money than exposing himself to the public eye.

That's right, he was going to start live streaming.

But before that, he needed some preparations.

For example, getting a cancer diagnosis from the hospital, then shaving his head to fake multiple rounds of chemotherapy.

Makeup wasn't necessary—his current pallor clearly showed he was seriously ill.

As for the content of his live stream, he had already decided when he opened the computer.

—Flipping off fate and mocking death with a smile.

He was going to climb Mount Tai, enduring the excruciating pain in his legs, as a bone cancer patient.