The Court's Deception, the Players' Naivety

The three players quickly exchanged glances.

Player One said, "Fourth Prince, you can't hesitate when doing great things."

"The affairs of the imperial court are complicated. They say the money will be needed in two years, but we need to prepare everything now, otherwise it will definitely be delayed."

"You need to finalize the auction arrangements for the mines, technology, and personnel we mentioned earlier as soon as possible."

"Yes, it's like doing something important. If you procrastinate, there's no chance of success," Player Two chimed in.

Upon hearing this, the Fourth Prince frowned immediately.

But it must be admitted that these three players are quite right.

When it comes to accomplishing great things, the worst thing you can do is procrastinate.

"Since that's the case, let's just do it and see what happens?"

"Yes, let's do it first and then talk about it."

Upon seeing this, Gao Linzhi of the Fourth Prince immediately changed.

I thought the other party was truly a model and characterization of Yongzheng, but now it seems they were just a shell.

When it comes to crucial decisions, they hesitate and look back.

Yongzheng was not that kind of person. He would do whatever he set his mind on, even if many people tried to stop him.

Of course, this Yongzheng was by no means the selfless figure portrayed in TV dramas. The things he did were all for consolidating the dynasty's rule, not for acting as a ruler for the people.

Then, the Fourth Prince said:

"Alright, I remember the imperial court has a gold mine in the southeast, but it hasn't been developed yet."

"It should sell at auction."

The three players were immediately delighted. "Gold mines are a hot topic these days, perfect for us to develop!"

"Very well, the imperial court wants to auction this gold mine for 15 million taels."

"15 million taels, how many installments?"

"Of course, the payment will be settled immediately after the auction."

"Business doesn't work that way. We need time to input and output, so naturally, payments also need time."

"But what if you don't pay in the future?"

"If we don't pay, our mines are there, and we can't run away. On the contrary, if we pay in one lump sum, and the imperial court takes the mines back, what are we supposed to do?" the player said, shaking his head.

The Fourth Prince stated firmly, "The imperial court would never do something so treacherous."

"Hehe, we players all know that when doing business with the imperial court, you always have to be extremely careful."

The Fourth Prince was very dissatisfied.

No wonder the other princes, knowing that the players were very rich and powerful, didn't bother to associate with them.

It turns out these guys are all too shrewd, unwilling to take any risks, and have no filial piety towards the imperial court whatsoever.

Gao Linzhi found it amusing.

Are modern gamers doing business with feudal dynasties?

Anyone who has completed nine years of education will understand how unreliable this is.

As expected, the Fourth Prince remained silent.

However, his attendants took the initiative to curse on behalf of their master.

"You three, you were saved by my master, and instead of expressing gratitude, you spout nonsense! Why don't you kneel down and apologize?"

The three players looked at each other in bewilderment.

They then burst into laughter at the same time.

"Kneel?"

"I only kneel before my parents, not even before heaven and earth. Who do you think you are?"

"That's right, a man's knees are worth gold, how can he kneel?"

"Once a person kneels, they lose their spirit; no matter how great their achievements, they are still just a slave!"

The Fourth Prince's face immediately turned red.

These bastards don't respect him at all; they're absolutely despicable!

But he took a deep breath; he still needed to utilize these players' resources to ascend to the top.

We have to endure it!

Even if it's unbearable, is it harder than kneeling before the Second Prince?

"Alright, alright. You gentlemen are from a foreign land, so if you don't want to kneel, then don't. As for the payment method, we can proceed as you have suggested."

"As for the gold mine, let's proceed as you've suggested."

"Your Highness is so generous; you are indeed a man destined for great things," the three players immediately flattered.

Then they asked, "According to the prince, the Heaven's Heart Stone requires 499 powerful warriors to perform a sacrifice."

"If we can do it, could you give it to us?"

"Of course, it's just a broken rock anyway."

"You want to achieve Immortality through incense offerings, but you don't know that our royal family also has incense offerings. As long as you make a great contribution to the royal family, you can use the resources of the entire nation to offer for Immortality," the Fourth Prince then tempted.

"Forget it, dynasties may be powerful, but their ambitions are too great. There are families that have lived in seclusion for a thousand years, but there are no dynasties that have lasted for a thousand years," Player Two said, shaking his head.

The Fourth Prince was displeased again.

Is this a curse wishing that their own dynasty wouldn't last a thousand years?

The last dynasty was so bad, yet it still ruled for another eight hundred years.

He realized that the anger he felt in a year was less than the anger he felt in just one hour with these three players.

No wonder some people in the imperial court always say that these players should be killed as soon as possible before things will be peaceful.

We must prevent them from using underhanded tactics, employing evil forces, and inciting the people to rebel.

He used to think it was an exaggeration.

I think these players are quite good to ordinary people.

In retrospect, it is indeed a major threat to the imperial court.

They must be killed, and killed severely!

We must also block their retreat and kill them!

Thinking this way, the Fourth Prince's face broke into an even wider smile.

He must, of course, tolerate those destined to die.

So the Fourth Prince thought for a moment and then spoke:

"Since that's the case, don't you want that Heaven's Heart Stone?"

"As mentioned before, it requires the sacrifice of 499 powerful individuals to take shape."

"In that case, you can act on your own. However, there are only a limited number of strong individuals in the area, so you will have to find your own way. If you can make it effective, then it is yours."

The Fourth Prince didn't say it explicitly, but he had actually hinted at what the other party should do.

"That's great! We'll design a trap to lure 500 powerful warriors here," player one exclaimed excitedly.

He completely forgot that he had almost become a sacrificial offering before.

"Five hundred strong individuals? Five hundred strong individuals in our dynasty is a very small number."

"It takes decades for each strong person to grow up, and they are all cunning and shrewd. The Heaven's Heart Stone has been there for a long time, but not many people have come to see it," the Fourth Prince said, shaking his head.

"We understand that. At present, the only way to quickly achieve a complete system is to attract top players." Player Two said matter-of-factly.

The Fourth Prince was taken aback upon hearing this.

He had assumed that the three players would be unhappy with his refusal and the players' scheming, but to his surprise, they didn't object at all.

They seemed to take it all for granted.

Player Three was even more excited, and he couldn't help but say, "Everyone's right, let's do it!"

"With a large player base, becoming a strong player is quick and easy."

"Within about six months to a year, without any additional suppression, it can develop."

"Using them as sacrifices to the Heaven's Heart Stone is the perfect solution."

"That's right, the number of game slots won't decrease; if one dies, another will take their place."

The words of these three people made the Fourth Prince feel a chill run down his spine.

Although he inwardly disregarded human life, he always maintained an outward appearance of "loving the people," "upholding righteousness," and "observing propriety."

Therefore, over time, some cruel words suddenly become impossible to utter.

But these players spoke as if it were perfectly reasonable.

You see, the death here is real death, not the kind that leads to resurrection.

Sacrificial offerings must be made by offering human flesh, blood, spirit, and soul together in order to give them sentience.

Otherwise, if it's just flesh and blood, what's the difference between that and sacrificial offerings of three kinds of animals?

To be considered a strong person, one must be at least level 45.

These three people, however, seemed completely unconcerned.

However, since they didn't care, he naturally wouldn't stop them.

And at this time...

The three of them then began designing with great enthusiasm.

"How should we design it?"

"Design a treasure, using a werewolf-style elimination tournament format, and invite players to participate."

Will anyone come?

"As long as the treasure is genuine and powerful enough, someone will definitely come."

"There are people willing to do business that results in beheadings, but nobody wants to do business that loses money. It's that simple."

Gao Linzhi eavesdropping from the side.

He overheard their entire conspiracy.

It has to be said that rivals are the greatest enemies.

"Then what should this treasure be?"

"What gamers need most right now is a sense of security; everyone is worried about being discovered and killed in real life."

"What they want most are naturally all kinds of advanced cultivation techniques."

"Many people are stuck around level 40 and can't level up because they lack the right cultivation techniques. Without suitable cultivation techniques, the game won't allow job advancement or promotion."

"Your Highness, I think there must be many related cultivation techniques within the royal family, right?" They looked at the Fourth Prince.

"Yes, once we have the relevant techniques, we can launch a targeted attack."

Upon hearing this, the Fourth Prince had no choice but to nod.

"Alright, since you want to do it this way, then go ahead. I'll provide you with ten high-level cultivation techniques for different professions."

For him, these techniques were not actually valuable.

What is truly valuable are the gifted members of the royal family.

Ideally, the child should be your own; that would be the best.

Unfortunately, this is very difficult to achieve.

It's fair to say that in the extraordinary world, the possibility of ruling as a family is extremely difficult to achieve.

Even though bloodlines can be inherited, intelligence often cannot.

And so, under Gao Linzhi's watchful eye, they began their operation.

Three days later.

On the Archipelago Forum.

A message began to circulate.

"Have you heard? The Imperial City is recruiting top players. Those who succeed will be offered a position by the Royal Family."

"Expert? What are the requirements?"

"I heard you need to be level 45 or higher."

"Damn, I'm only level 40!"

"I'm in awe of the level 40 pro; I'm only level 4."

"Strange, the Sky Wolf Dynasty has always been very indifferent to players, why would they need to recruit experts? There must be something fishy going on."

"What's so strange about that? It's because there are still two years until the Anomaly Calm Period, and they need manpower to collect supplies from various places for offerings."

"Yes, the imperial court needs to take advantage of this opportunity to reap the rewards in order to keep itself functioning."

"Holy crap, so you're saying if we join in, we can line our own pockets?"

"Yes, that's right. I heard that the people who go out to collect offerings usually get a 70/30 split, with the royal family taking 70% and the royal family taking 30%."

"Haha, so that means we collect three million, the royal family gets one million, and we get two million?"

"Almost."

"Let's go together, let's go together."

When Gao Linzhi saw these messages, he couldn't help but laugh.

Indeed, scams have always been the same.

You're eyeing other people's interest, while they're eyeing your principal.

The players were eyeing the court's dowry and benefits, while the court was eyeing the players' lives.

Now it depends on who has the better skills.

Gao Linzhi believed that these players weren't stupid; they would definitely be able to spot the differences during the match.

Of course, Gao Linzhi stop this, since he also wanted the Heaven's Heart Stone.

Ultimately, this provides some protection.

Gao Linzhi's bottom line is that he will not do evil on his own initiative, but he will take the benefits if there are any.

After all, these people are destined to die eventually; they brought it on themselves, so they can't be blamed.

One week later.

Before the Heaven's Heart Stone.

A match is taking place in a corner of the imperial city.

More than a dozen arenas were set up early, surrounded by elite guards.

Because the conditions were so good, players from all over the country flocked here, and in a short time, there were over a thousand people.

The Fourth Prince is presiding over this elimination-style interview.

Of course, he was just sitting there; the others were the ones talking.

"We will test both your intelligence and your physical strength."

"Therefore, the competition will be conducted in the format of Werewolf."

"Twelve people form a group."

"Everyone needs to figure out who the werewolves are, but eliminating the werewolves will require force. If the good guys win, the werewolves will die."

"If the werewolves win, the good guys will die."

"Wait, if that's the case, why bother with all this? Why don't we just start fighting?"

"Haha, that's easy. If you can figure out who the werewolves are, you can take on one more. If you can't figure them out, then it's a free-for-all."

Upon hearing this, everyone agreed that it made sense.

However, some people sensed something was wrong. "No way, is this 'death' really death? Or is it just a simple elimination?"

"Of course it's real death. Do you really think the imperial court is playing a game when it comes to recruiting people?"

"Those who succeed will obtain advanced cultivation techniques to advance their ranks, and will also be able to participate in collecting offerings in the future."

"These are all great jobs!"

Everyone suddenly realized.

However, many people still chose to withdraw after understanding the explanation.

"What? He's really going to die?"

"We're out."

"Exactly! Revival Stone are so expensive. How can it be worth dying once?"

"No, I'm canceling!"

At this moment, one of the players gave the Fourth Prince a wink.

The Fourth Prince then gave a wink to one of his officials.

The subordinate official spoke up:

"How dare you! This is the imperial examination for officials; it is a very serious matter!"

"Now that we're here, how can we just leave?"

"You only have one way out, and that is to die!"

The players were immediately shocked.

They're not even going to act anymore!

What are you trying to do?

"Are you all going to become enemies with our player community?"

"A selection process that requires risking lives to fill out—do you think you're gods?"

"Damn it, guys, let's log off now."

However, someone else chimed in, "Oh no, I tried it when I came here, and it kept telling me I was in combat and wouldn't let me log off!"

"Damn it, they really didn't mean any harm."

"You bastards, aren't you afraid of ruining your reputations?"

Upon hearing this, Gao Linzhi couldn't help but think these players were naive.

Do you really think feudal dynasties have any reputation to speak of?

A family-run empire has never cared about credit or reputation.

Dismantling bridges after crossing rivers, disarming troops on drill grounds... these are all common practices.

As expected, the Fourth Prince didn't pay any attention to the shouting and threats, though his expression was rather unpleasant.

The reason he looks bad is that these players dared to insult the imperial court without any fear!

He deserved to die!

So what if they use tricks to lure someone in and then kill them?