Terror? What to Do If I Want to Watch It a Few More Times?

The atmosphere immediately turned sinister.

Watching this scene, everyone felt a sense of dread.

They hadn't expected that the process of changing professions to become cultivators, planting spiritual roots, and opening the Three Flowers in this world would be so bizarre.

Seeing the gruesome deaths of their companions, the other blacksmiths also became serious and analyzed the situation rationally:

"It's a bit scary."

"Mainly the expressions and movements, they're so lifelike. The despair, sadness, pain, and struggle conveyed in their eyes are incredibly accurate."

"But then again, these death descriptions are quite something."

"Indeed, it's no wonder they made us read so much. The planners themselves must have read a lot to write such literary lines."

"For example, this line: 'Having planted the spiritual root, I enjoy freedom, breaking free from the cage to return to liberty.' You wouldn't get such a flavorful plot line without a top-tier copywriter earning millions a year, would you?"

"It's all in the details."

"The last time I was this excited was with the defeat lines and exit animations in a certain adult game. The defeat and exit animations in this game are no joke; I'm actually watching them with great interest. The design and atmosphere are absolutely amazing."

"Heh, we young folks have good bodies. After reciting the lines, we just fall asleep."

Normally, scholars and literati would only feel fear upon seeing these scenes of people opening immortal gates and dying violently.

This would affect their morale, making them gradually lose confidence, leading to them failing to open the Three Flowers, losing themselves, and drastically increasing their failure rate.

But these people were different.

As the Fourth Calamity, they were inherently "rational" about death.

Fear and reverence?

A drop in morale?

These concepts simply didn't exist for them.

They were analyzing the roots of this bizarre world and the essence of its cultivation system from a spectator's perspective, time and time again.

Some even had a CG collection fetish and wanted to die a few more times to see if they could collect all the 'exit lines' and 'death animations,' and simultaneously research how many golden lines were designed.

It was precisely this carefree attitude that would make them more likely to open immortal gates and become cultivators than ordinary people.

[Yan Xia]: "We'll probably encounter this every time we change professions from now on, right? It seems like something possessed them, making them go mad. What's the working principle behind this?"

[God of Cookery]: "I know this! The programmers might not, but I, a chef, do."

[Shao Chai Kun]: "Are you an expert now? You know the principle too?"

[God of Cookery]: "They directly cut off your connection, a flickering network connection, and then switch to an AI to control your body, making you wail and contort your body. Let's be bolder, Maybe the dog planners themselves logged in, took over your body, yapped a bit, performed a 'Lightning Five Consecutive Strikes,' wiggled their butts, pretended to be gods, acted crazy, and let loose."

As expected, the God of Cookery was indeed a master of description.

Not only were his dishes visually appealing, but his words also painted vivid pictures.

If all those dog planners personally came out to perform, starting with a shamanistic dance, their corporate culture would be quite wild!

This was probably a case of "if you cover your face, you won't be embarrassed, and you can let yourself go freely."

"I believe it. Secretly possessing and letting loose fits the characteristics of the Green Hat Manor!" The crowd's discussion was getting more and more off-topic. In the distance, another blacksmith from the opening-the-three-flowers team stood up, his expression eerie.

"Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, three souls opening three flowers, the flowers bloom and see me!"

"Ten years of hard study, the flowers bloom and see me!!"

He roared, "Immortal gate, immortal gate!!"

Seeing another person go mad, the blacksmiths who were chatting hesitated for a few seconds before one boldly and obsequiously ran over to ask:

"Planner, stop shouting, are you tired? Do you want some water before you continue with the lines?"

The madman paused for a moment, then continued roaring before suddenly collapsing, foaming at the mouth.

"Did the planner get scared away by you guys?"

In the end, everyone was still confused, only feeling that the manor was unusually lively today.

Whether it was the planners or some lingering malevolent energy possessing them, guests had arrived.

It was the New Year at the manor, and the guests were cheerfully visiting, which was quite nice, almost as lively as a market day down the mountain.

Further away.

Su Yu Niang watched this scene from the window of the steward's room, frowning silently as she analyzed the plot:

"Is this an opening kill? Our casualty rate is too high. We modern people have studied for over a decade and have a foundation; we're not like those unenlightened, illiterate people. Yet, the success rate is so strict."

Jiu Cai Rong shook his head, appearing very optimistic instead:

"We're already doing quite well. Most people can open two flowers – the Essence and Qi flowers. The Spirit flower is the hardest, the most easily swayed, but it's just the final push."

Honestly, this scene was a bit terrifying.

This kind of physically manifested spiritual root, planted on the head to cultivate immortality, was quite explosive even within the genre of cultivation novels.

"Speaking of which, this is supposed to be a sword-forging game, why are there so many messy things in the world?"

Looking at the tragic sacrifices in the distance, Su Yu Niang pondered:

"These possessed beings are the resentments of past failures in the world, aren't they? As they accumulate more and more, opening the immortal gates will likely become increasingly difficult. Will the path to immortality be severed in the future?"

"Wait! Could it be that the damn Planner set it up this way, deliberately blocking job changes, increasing difficulty, and tricking us into buying revive tokens?"

"However, it could also be foreshadowing. Is it possible that the upcoming plot is about the immortal path becoming difficult to open, and the end of the Dharma era is coming?"

"Our blacksmith shop is updating. As the mythical era of immortality enters the next stage of civilization, will we shift from forging magic artifacts to other categories? Soul artifacts? Mechanical artifacts? Evil artifacts? Ghoul artifacts? Changing with the world? That seems quite interesting too."

What the heck?!

Jiu Cai Rong was startled.

He thought her imagination was quite unique and that she was a good conversationalist, no wonder so many fans enjoyed listening to her chat.

However, there was also a lot of discussion in the steward's room, and some explanations regarding this matter.

Jiu Cai Rong said, "The path to immortality will not be severed! Otherwise, it wouldn't be worthy of the greatest era. I heard that every hundred and fifty years, the stars in the sky, the sun, and the moon, cleanse the turbid energy in the world."

Mainly, in this era, there are many people like the manor demons who kill civilians to turn them into spirit manors, giving rise to all sorts of resentments.

Large-scale purges would only take a few years before new ones would emerge.

"Then it won't lead to the end of the Dharma era. What is the purpose of this turbid energy setting?"

Su Yu Niang thought for a moment:

"I firmly believe that no setting is meaningless. Everything in this world must serve the main quest of the Sword Forging Manor – blacksmithing!"

"Let's reverse the causality. So, this 'turbid energy' must be beneficial for sword forging? For example, a hidden gameplay mechanic where one can collect the turbid energy from the world to forge swords? Belonging to a forging category?"

"Then the turbid energy is like radio waves!"

"Aren't we going to research radio receivers in the Sword Forging Manor, absorb these fellow villagers from the world back into the Sword Forging Manor, and find them a home in swords, spears, and halberds? Let them rest in peace?"

Jiu Cai Rong's mouth twitched.

What a talent.

"Rest in peace" indeed!

Su Yu Niang's wild ideas always left him speechless.

As Jiu Cai Rong was somewhat tempted, Su Yu Niang struck while the iron was hot:

"What do you say? Shall we use the manor's funds to invest in this forging project? In the future, when we open the Three Flowers to absorb turbid energy, we can directly take the opportunity to forge on the heads of these scholars."

"Using the heads of scholars who have opened the Three Flowers as a [forging table] to absorb turbid energy is like 'luring the enemy into a trap.' It would definitely be effective! As everyone knows, weapons need a scholar's diploma to sell for a good price."

"The blacksmith table made from the heads of scholars with Three Flowers is clearly a new school of thought!"

Jiu Cai Rong found the idea a bit perverse. The scholars who studied diligently in this world would be utterly dismayed to hear this.

This forging table is clearly a one-time use!

Whether they've opened the Three Flowers or not, their heads would be directly turned into a concussion.

But this seemed like a new market?

After all, the native blacksmiths outside couldn't just forge on the heads of other scholars when they were opening their Three Flowers, right?

Would those other scholars tolerate it?

This was the crucial moment of their years of hard study and their leap into success, and someone would directly fight them to the death!

"It seems only we can do this. How about we give it a try?" Jiu Cai Rong hesitated for a moment, tempted, then quickly shook his head, "But not now."

Meanwhile, "Yan Hua," who was secretly eavesdropping outside the steward's room, was terrified.

After these past few days, he had figured things out.

He felt he might have the destiny of a protagonist, having transmigrated! Transmigrated to another world.

As an avid reader, the trope of transmigrating into a game was simply too cliché.

Now, he was in dire straits.

Because after his transmigration, he was the only living person in the entire manor; all his fellow players had turned into ghouls.

They were wary of him, and from time to time, a group of them would point at him, cackling, secretly plotting, and making sounds of thirsty anticipation.

The atmosphere was truly eerie!

They might want to eat him.

At this moment, he was preparing to write a book, "The Ghoul Blacksmith of the Manor: An Observer's Log," to record their transgressions and report them to the old steward later.

After years of diligent study, risking their lives to open the Three Flowers, they wanted to add insult to injury by forging on their heads? To turn it into an industry?

That scene had already appeared in "Yan Hua's" mind:

With the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, and turbid energy descending, to see someone Duang~Duang~ on their head while happily forging and singing, the turbid energy would probably be scared away!

Terrifying.

That scene was too terrifying!

Indeed, he had transmigrated. On that night in the manor, they had all become fierce ghouls!~

He silently noted it down in his little book, sighing inwardly.

Alas, it's a pity I transmigrated to another world. Otherwise, I'd post for help:

Urgent! I transmigrated to this terrifying and unknown otherworldly realm, and the demons from the mountain captured me to forge iron. They make me work, and although they do pay me, what should I do?

"Yan Hua" instantly obtained Ning Zheng's original transmigration template, becoming the second protagonist to transmigrate.

He began his blacksmithing career, enduring humiliation and being bullied by the steward.