New Activity: The Imperial Court Treasure Hunt Begins!

That scream sounded just like a kitten's heart-wrenching cry, and a kitten's cry is very similar to a child's.

It could be said that this old Daoist priest's success was unintentional.

That just happened to attract the Faceless Man monster away.

Throughout the entire process, Gao Linzhi did not make a move. He did not want to leave any trace, nor did he want these guys to know that there was someone on Wolf Snake Island who could easily deal with them.

That would only make the imperial court more wary of Wolf Snake Island and bring stronger suppression.

If they knew there was something strange about the island, they would have chosen to give up.

Just like the Old Daoist Tiansheng was unwilling to stay there because he knew there were demons under the Five Finger Mountain.

Now that everyone on the ship knows there's a powerful anomaly here, they won't stay easily.

And at this time...

Ouyang Jing said, "The strange creature has left. Let's set sail immediately and leave this place."

"Okay, let's set sail immediately."

"Are we still going to Wolf Snake Island?" asked one of the last surviving crew members.

"Go to hell!" the elderly man roared.

Soon, the airship turned around and left, far away from Wolf Snake Island.

Gao Linzhi stood in mid-air, and couldn't help but sneer.

This is what a feudal dynasty is like.

They bully the weak and fear the strong; they shrink back at the slightest difficulty.

Do they really possess an organizational structure from another dimension?

That's impossible.

He now deeply understands why the supernatural is both a scourge and a blessing to this world.

It shielded ordinary people from the unlimited exploitation by the imperial court, giving them the best tool to resist the court.

If they really exploit us too much, we'll all be doomed.

Even if you are a county magistrate who has wiped out an entire family, you wouldn't dare to bully ordinary people at will.

Taking a more specific example from East Wolf Village, even the four elders did not recklessly exploit the villagers and clansmen.

Regarding the asylum quota, the goal is to have one per family, thus creating a check and balance between them.

To prevent anyone from being exploited without any bottom line, leading to a lose-lose situation.

So he looked through the village chronicles of East Wolf Village and found that no one had ever starved to death in the village, many had died in accidents, and there weren't many major injustices.

It's inevitable that some people will suffer injustice, but they'll still stay within acceptable boundaries.

At the same time.

On the airship that fled in a disheveled state.

The elderly man, Ouyang Jing, and the three others, all with Old Daoist Tiansheng, looked calmly at the empty boat.

"It's happening again." The Old Daoist Tiansheng looked around regretfully at the two boys who had been used as scapegoats by him earlier.

He has already died at the hands of the Faceless Man monster.

The strange creature had already set its sights on him.

Before he could throw out his magical artifact, he needed someone to distract the Faceless Man, so he pushed out two boys.

Otherwise, he would have died from just that one action.

Even if he has a rating as high as 76 in the player rating system, it's completely useless.

This is similar to a feudal empire facing an industrial empire; no matter how big it is, it's useless, it just dies a little slower.

"There's no other way. These damned scoundrels, we can only let them get away with it."

"If there were no strange occurrences, our imperial court's reach could extend to every corner." The old man looked unwilling.

Ouyang Jing remained silent.

Although she was cold, ruthless, and aloof, she still despised this imperial court.

"Any dynasty, no matter how wise and powerful its emperors and generals may be, is a corpse filled with the stench of decay"—this was what her father had told her when she was a child.

"We can only go back first and discuss this further," the elderly man said, shaking his head.

Essentially, it's about putting the matter aside, leaving it unattended, and no one asking about it anymore.

That's how most things in the imperial court are.

Only the governors on the Prefectural Island are enthusiastic and proactive, because they are under pressure and have ambitions.

At this very moment.

Gao Linzhi stood in mid-air, watching the fleeing airship, and couldn't help but smile coldly.

This strange benefit has truly materialized.

Although it was terrible and cruel, it was able to drive out an even more terrible and cruel court.

While there are ways to avoid the supernatural, there is no way to avoid the imperial court; it is omnipresent and relentlessly exploits one's resources.

He then returned to Wolf Snake Island.

The imperial court also turned its attention to Wolf Snake Island, something that any power that grows stronger will inevitably have to face.

Wolf Snake Island is not yet prosperous.

The imperial court still looked down upon them.

Once Wolf Snake Island becomes prosperous enough, it will inevitably attract more covetous eyes; this is bound to happen.

I still need to improve myself.

He then opened the game's in-game store and found that there were no new items.

How to become stronger is actually quite simple in terms of the game's methods:

First, it has two-dimensional attributes.

He currently has a constitution of 1337, a spirit of 587, and 40 Free Attribute Points.

Secondly, there are skill attributes; he currently has 96 skills.

To improve quickly, you must focus on these two aspects.

After some thought, Gao Linzhi decided to strengthen his trade activities and purchase relevant Skill Stone from other islands.

Now that he has Hai Zida's research lab, he can ignore the restrictions on Skill Stone requirements.

However, considering the issue of that stormy sea eye, his trip was quite fruitful, after all, the imperial court's research was indeed effective.

He has already identified three points to note.

All we need to do is send people to patrol regularly.

So he found Puppet Best and arranged for it to be made.

Send dozens of puppets to patrol the Eye of the Storm regularly. Once they discover someone provoking that thing, they should immediately report it, and Gao Linzhi will naturally rush over and kill the person.

As for how to get there, it's naturally by aircraft.

This flying machine was recently developed by their Four Village Trading Company. By utilizing the power of runes and combining them with hot air balloons, these elements can fly over the sea.

Of course, the speed isn't very fast.

They also created something similar to "Sky Crystal," which is actually a demon stone, a type of stone formed from demons, imbued with Mysterious Energy.

Similar to pearls, shells encase accidentally swallowed grains of sand by secreting a substance to protect them and prevent them from harming the shell.

The same applies to Demonic Creatures.

"Unfortunately, you can't get the loot directly from monsters; you need Expert Level gathering skills to do that," the Puppet Best explained.

"I see, no wonder I hadn't noticed it before." Gao Linzhi nodded.

The matter was then resolved.

However, business remains relatively sluggish.

After all, the damage from this storm was quite significant.

Fortunately, Gao Linzhi has Hard Currency that others have no choice but to buy from.

The items in the game store can only be sold in limited quantities and at set times by Gao Linzhi.

Gao Linzhi typically supplies goods once a month.

Every day, he would clear out the limited-purchase items in the store, keep enough for his own use, and sell the rest to exchange for gold, which he would then use to recharge his account.

In this way, a stable source of recharge is formed.

Therefore, despite the economic downturn, there is still a stable flow of customers.

Players quickly bought the items and then logged off.

Gao Linzhi didn't care about this, after all, time would heal these fears.

At the same time.

Island No. 8.

The seasoned veteran, New Century Amber, is frowning as he discusses matters with a group of experienced collectors.

"It seems the imperial court is truly unreliable. They're even trying to shift the blame eastward, letting the newcomers experience the court's terrifying power. I never imagined the Sky Wolf Dynasty would be so corrupt."

"Yes, one strange thing scared them away. They've lost their pioneering spirit and only want to get by. Even if something is very beneficial, they often can't be bothered to do it." Another person shook their head and said.

"Yes, this is a sign of the complete collapse of a dynasty—the officials are too lazy to even make money, fearing the risks, because they've already made enough and just want to live a comfortable life."

"However, this is a good opportunity for us. We haven't made enough money yet. We've worked hard all these years to live to be a hundred years older. We can't be content with living to be two hundred years older," Amber said, shaking her head.

"Yes, the imperial court still has quite a few good things. The Longevity Water —there's only so little of it, how could it be possible?"

"That's right, the Longevity Water is extremely rare. In my opinion, we should spread the word. Once the item is in the hands of the players, it will be much easier for us to take it back. Players are not as difficult to deal with as the imperial court."

"Yes, the imperial court is deeply entrenched; even a wrecked ship has some nails left."

"Okay, let's do it that way then."

"I'll spread the word, let the players steal and cheat, and then we'll clean up the mess."

"Well said! We should have done this a long time ago!"

Official Built-in Group.

"Have you heard? The imperial court has found a new kind of Longevity Water that can extend one's lifespan by 200 years!" Empty 2086 exclaimed excitedly.

"Damn, this extraordinary world is so much better. In our offline world, if we extend it for another three to five years, we'll have to spend billions on injections every year, and we'll have to stay in a hospital ward and can't move around much," said Riding the Wind to Beat Luo Shao.

"Yes, this extraordinary world is dangerous, but those with ability live incredibly long."

"I just found out there haven't been any promotional activities lately, so we can launch one."

"What should we do? Most of the people in this group are still newbies, right? The veterans aren't in this group."

"Yeah, those islands with only a handful of islands definitely won't let go of something this good."

"I have to get it no matter what," Empty 2086 said resolutely. "Everyone, please help me out. I'll step aside for future ranking events, but I can still help you get on the leaderboard."

"Holy crap, such a high price?" Riding the Wind to Beat Luo Shao. "Are you already an old hand?"

"P, I'm only 18, young and tender, not old at all!" Empty 2086 said angrily.

However, everyone immediately understood.

Once you become a player, your appearance will be modified; an old person may even appear as a young person, but your lifespan will remain unchanged.

Therefore, everyone thought this touched on Empty 2086's sore spot.

"Alright, let's all discuss how to get this Longevity Water."

"First, confirm the accuracy of the information, then determine which government office it's in, then find the relevant person, and finally, find a way to get it out."

"I'll go find out right away." Riding the Wind to Beat Luo Shao seemed very eager and immediately logged off to look for someone.

One hour later.

Riding the Wind to Beat Luo Shao is back online.

"I have great news to share, it's true!"

"It was originally kept in the Imperial Observatory, but there was a conflict between the Imperial Observatory and the Privy Council. In order to be fair, it had to be kept at the top of the Great Brightness Tower and guarded by a group of monks."

"What? The news is actually true?"

"Where is the Great Brightness Tower? I know about monks. In the Sky Wolf Dynasty, Imperial Observatory is mainly managed by Daoists, while monks are out of the public eye and Daoists are in the court. Therefore, the royal family is close to monks and distant from Daoists, while the ministers are close to Daoists and distant from monks," someone asked.

"The Great Brightness Tower is on a separate island called Great Brightness Island, located south of the Capital Island. It is very special because it sits in the Buddha Anomaly statue," explained the Riding the Wind to Beat Luo Shao.

"It sounds terrifying; it's like snatching food from a tiger's mouth."

"Yes, that Buddha Anomaly is said to have originated from a great monk in the early years who, in order to quell a strange phenomenon that affected the entire dynasty, fed himself to a demon, merging himself with the monster and transforming into the Buddha Anomaly. From then on, he was immortal and indestructible, but also lost most of his humanity."

After hearing this, everyone became more interested.

The more serious the description, the more likely the news is to be true.

So everyone started discussing how to resolve the matter.

"First, we need to gather a team; taking it will be very difficult."

"We must take advantage of the chaos, that is, spread the news."

"By the way, it would be great if the game could create an event specifically for this 'Longevity Water'."

"@The Skyfall's Most Handsome, can you arrange a collaboration event?"

The Skyfall's Most Handsome actually showed up. "Oh, that can be arranged. I'll report it to my superiors."

Everyone was overjoyed, then surprised.

Is this some kind of event in the game in response to the imperial court's attempt to seize the Longevity Water?

What kind of behavior is this?

This is clearly encouraging players to rebel!

Obviously, this game is not just a game—that's obvious, everyone knows it's not.

However, its purpose is still unclear to everyone.

But now, it seems that everyone has a clue.

"Now it seems that the purpose of this game is probably to rebel against the imperial court."

"Yes, the game wants to take over this world, doesn't it?"

"That should be the case, so that we can target our attacks more effectively."

"We can now formulate our own strategic goals. In short, following the game's lead is definitely the right thing to do."

... Three days later.

The game displayed a server-wide notification again.

"Game update, permanent cross-server event now open."

This is a regular, monthly event.

"The Imperial Court Treasure Hunt"

"Event details: Cleverly Obtaining the Longevity Water"

"Event Rewards."

"This time, the rewards will no longer be divided into island-wide and overall rankings."

"All islands across all servers will be ranked the same."

"First place winner will receive 40 Free Attribute Points."

"Second place, reward: 30 Free Attribute Points."

"Third place receives a reward of 10 points."

"The top 4 to 50 will receive a 5-point bonus."

"Rankings 51-100 will receive a reward of 2 free attribute points."

The reward is simple and straightforward.

But everyone knew that the real reward—that was, of course, the reward for successfully seizing the treasure.

"The game will provide event phases, event prompts, and in-game item support."

"You can earn points at each stage, and these points can be exchanged for items used in the event."

Upon seeing this, everyone was pleasantly surprised.

"Great! A new event has been launched!"

"Yes, this is our chance to catch up with the big boss!"