Target: The Players Descend

The world Jiang Dali now inhabited was extraordinarily mysterious and strange.

It had the most powerful imperial courts.

It had countless sects and aristocratic families that had once existed only in extremely ancient Wuxia novels.

And there were all kinds of wandering heroes, martial arts legends, peerless demons, and more.

In his previous life, when he learned that the ancient world contained so many fascinating stories woven from love and hatred, he quickly came to enjoy these tales that had almost been forgotten.

And now, after strangely being reborn into this game world two years ago, he had become part of one such story—a very ordinary game NPC.

Yet after being reborn and surviving in this world for two years, Jiang Dali had begun to feel that this world might not be a game world at all, but a real world of flesh and blood.

The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became.

If this world was real, then how was he supposed to return to the world where he had once lived?

For now, Jiang Dali had only one answer—become stronger.

Only by becoming stronger, strong enough to reach the pinnacle of this world and control it, could he uncover its many hidden secrets and possibly find a way back to his former world.

However, that would inevitably bring him into conflict with certain official forces and player guilds from his previous life.

Ever since the official organizations of his previous life had discovered the Comprehensive Martial World, they had harbored ambitions of controlling it.

If the forces backed by experts cultivated by the authorities truly took control of this world and became its overlords, who knew whether they would discover some secret of this world, trace it back to him, and eliminate him?

Fortunately, those official organizations from his previous life were not united. They were an alliance formed by several great clans and financial conglomerates that controlled the world, and their attitudes appeared divided.

Thus, from every angle, Jiang Dali believed he still had a certain chance.

His goal was clear—become the overlord of this world, control this world, and seek the truth.

And now, he had already learned one truth relevant to his current situation.

"So the people above the people above the people above my tiny Black Wind Stronghold are Prince Ruyang's Mansion.

"Li Junwang previously ordered us to rob the Dragon Gate Escort Agency's shipment. It seems that some plotlines related to Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber from my memories of my previous life are about to unfold.

"There are advantages and disadvantages to this. Fortunately, I possess foreknowledge. Apart from me, the players about to descend can only learn fragments of the old stories' plotlines from ancient records provided by the authorities. Even the information held by the authorities may not be as comprehensive as mine, a reborn man's.

"The only thing to watch for is that, after the worlds that formed these stories became one Comprehensive Martial World, the effects of the resulting changes may cause certain events to exceed expectations, perhaps even diverging from my previous life."

In the depths of the forest, Jiang Dali pondered with shadowed eyes. "My tiny Black Wind Stronghold only has me in the Inner Qi Realm. If I get involved in Prince Ruyang's Mansion's plot to use the Dragon Gate Escort Agency against the Wudang Sect, one careless move could leave me dead without a burial place.

"Some of the ordinary bandits under me may be able to run, but this Leader Brother definitely cannot escape. Such is the burden of wearing the crown.

"The key is that this has already been done. If I don't want to be sacrificed as a pawn, I need to immediately increase my strength and expand my forces."

Jiang Dali tried to use his internal energy to shatter the note, only to helplessly discover that his meager internal energy was of little use. He simply stuffed the note into his mouth and swallowed it, then left the forest and returned to his room to rest.

That night, he once again assigned his trusted bandit, Bucktooth Xu, to keep watch. At the same time, his pet Jianmen Pass Demon Eagle circled nearby, keeping lookout.

After years of struggling through the martial world, Jiang Dali might appear rough and careless on the surface, but he was actually meticulous and had never let down his guard.

The next day, at dawn.

As the clouds parted, dozens of meteor-fire showers suddenly fell from the sky, descending from the northern horizon onto the eastern lands.

Countless people witnessed this miraculous sight. For a time, it became another topic of discussion throughout the martial world, while wandering mystics rushed to cast hexagrams and divine its meaning.

Some said it was an auspicious omen. Some said it foretold a bloody disaster. Others claimed that some treasure had emerged into the world.

Yet the gentleman seated high within the Holy Dynasty Observatory cast a hexagram that, once spread, shocked the world.

The hexagram said, "Heaven sends strange signs, extraordinary people emerge, and a prosperous age approaches!"

Jiang Dali was awakened by the noisy clamor of his underlings.

When he stepped outside, the damp, cold mountain breeze of early morning hit his face and cleared his head.

Bucktooth Xu, who had stood watch all night, came over with several foul-smelling, drunken bandits and brought up the meteor-fire shower that had fallen from the sky.

Jiang Dali had expected it. Without any panic, he had someone bring well water and green salt for him to wash up, then sent some bandits down the mountain to collect grain from the surrounding villages and, while they were at it, see whether any unfamiliar faces had appeared.

There might not be many of the first batch of closed-beta players descending from the heavens, but there would certainly be some in the nearby mountain villages.

They were all prime little leek seedlings.

Still, haste made waste. For the moment, Jiang Dali had no intention of showing himself personally.

Apricot Blossom Village, Mengyin County.

A startled cry suddenly rang out from one of the houses.

Hua Kai Jian Hong stared blankly at the incomparably realistic surroundings.

He discovered that he was inside a shabby wooden house.

Looking around, he found that the room contained nothing besides a broken bed, a bamboo chair, and a few bamboo bowls and cups.

Even the bedding on the bed looked extremely coarse.

He touched his own body and could feel its warmth and physical sensation.

"Holy crap? The realism is actually this high?"

Hua Kai Jian Hong was dumbfounded.

He was a professional player. Ever since Comprehensive Martial World, a Wuxia game recommended even by the authorities and advertised as "adopting the setting of ancient martial arts worlds," had been announced, he had secured a closed-beta slot in advance.

And today was the day he entered the Comprehensive Martial World game.

However, after using the neuron-link device provided by the authorities to send his consciousness into the game world, he had been stunned by the incomparably realistic experience.

Jumping out of bed and opening the door, Hua Kai Jian Hong found himself in a mountain village. Among the crisscrossing paths nearby stood over a dozen shabby houses, all similarly built of wood.

"This game may be incredibly realistic, but isn't this a little too shabby? I'm starting in this kind of game environment?"

Hua Kai Jian Hong was speechless.

But he quickly became excited again.

This game did not even have beginner guidance. He could even feel pain when he pinched himself. It was extremely unusual.

Hua Kai Jian Hong opened his attribute panel to take a look.

Hua Kai Jian Hong (Qi and Blood: 50/50)

Realm: None

Status: Ordinary villager of Apricot Blossom Village

Martial World Title Reputation: Unknown (0/100)

Pet: None

Martial Arts: None

Internal Energy Cultivation Method: None

Cultivation Points: 0

Potential Points: 0

Clean!

An utterly blank panel.

Hua Kai Jian Hong was not particularly surprised.

As a professional player, he knew that the first thing to do now was get out there and build social connections.

Since there was no beginner guidance, he would take the initiative to approach the nearby villager NPCs and see whether he could trigger any quests and obtain Cultivation Points or even Potential Points.

As for martial arts and Internal Energy Cultivation Methods, Hua Kai Jian Hong intuitively felt they would not be easy to obtain, though they should not be too difficult either.

After all, this was still just a game.

Although the game had so far revealed very little information and claimed to be set in an ancient Comprehensive Martial World.

The authorities had still released some collected cultural materials concerning a special genre called "Wuxia novels," written by certain scholars and literati from ancient times.

"About 100,000 players entered this closed beta, and it will last two months.

"During these two months, I need to dig up every kind of quest in this world and strive to quickly raise my realm and learn martial arts.

"The authorities say this is a real world. Any gains made during the closed beta will not be reset when the open beta begins, unless I die. If I die, my realm will drop, and all the items on me will be dropped as well.

"But a game is a game. Calling it a real world? Seriously."

Hua Kai Jian Hong mocked it inwardly, full of ambition as he breathed in the fresh country air and strode through the fields, taking the initiative to approach the villager NPCs.