Courtship by the Imperial Court, a New Challenge Stage

"You all came here not just to express your gratitude, right?" Gao Linzhi asked directly after the three of them sat down.

"Of course, we have come here to save your life, to repay the debt of life you owe us," said Paladin123.

Good heavens, his tone of voice has even taken on an ancient flavor; he's clearly had a lot of contact with people from the imperial court.

Gao Linzhi thought to himself.

Tell me about it.

"Your Excellency is now in a precarious situation, yet you are unaware of it. This truly worries us," Priest 466 added.

"Oh, what's the danger?" Gao Linzhi unconsciously led astray by the others.

"Don't you know Yue Fei and Han Xin?" Priest 466 shook his head and sighed.

"I understand. You mean that for me right now, the biggest enemy isn't the court in the game, nor the strange things in the game and in reality, but the company in reality, right?" Gao Linzhi smiled.

"That's right, Your Excellency's insight is brilliant," the three said in unison.

Gao Linzhi nodded. "Then, based on your understanding, what should be done?"

"Naturally, we must strengthen ourselves internally and seek strong external support to ensure safety," Priest 466 said, shaking his head.

"I have learned a lot, but how should I proceed?"

"Strengthening oneself internally is not something that can be achieved overnight, but strong allies can be quickly formed to provide support. Throughout history, those who have achieved great things have always had external assistance; one cannot rely solely on oneself."

"Who is this foreign aid?" Gao Linzhi asked, picking up a cup of tea and patiently drinking it.

He wanted to see what price the other party was offering.

Loyalty? It doesn't exist.

Those Longevity Being have no concept of loyalty.

Gao Linzhi didn't beat around the bush and stared at the other person directly.

The Priest456 took a deep breath and slowly said:

"As for external aid, at present, only the imperial court is the most reliable."

"The imperial court?" Gao Linzhi smiled.

"Yes, the imperial court may seem corrupt, but it is actually very powerful and deeply rooted."

"The Sky Wolf Dynasty inherited from the Great Gan Dynasty, the Great Gan Dynasty inherited from the Great Jing Dynasty, and the Great Jing Dynasty inherited from..."

"The dynastic lineage spans over tens of thousands of years, and that's with historical records. The true history of dynasties exceeds one million years."

"The depth of its cultural heritage is self-evident."

Gao Linzhi nodded.

That's true.

Putting everything else aside, antiques are still quite valuable.

Just as Westerners often despise the Dragon Han dynasty and its people, there is one thing they do not despise; on the contrary, they have been trying their best to plunder it.

That's silver and antiques.

"If you establish a relationship with the imperial court, even if those large corporations decide to discard you after they've served their purpose, you'll still have a place to stay and make a living."

Upon hearing this, Gao Linzhi immediately laughed.

"So, is the imperial court reliable?"

Paladin123 chimed in, "You're right, sir. The imperial court is certainly unreliable too."

"But other forces are even less reliable."

"In comparison, the imperial court still has some credibility, cares about face, and is relatively reliable."

"Aside from the imperial court, there are no other significant forces."

Gao Linzhi nodded slowly.

"That's a fair point."

"Then how does the imperial court intend to cooperate with me?"

"That's right, the imperial court will appoint you, sir, as the garrison commander of this island."

"This island is given to you, my lord."

"You only need to pay tribute once every 10 years."

"The imperial court will grant you all four villages as your official territory."

"So, I'm just a town mayor, right?" Gao Linzhi smiled.

"You could say that. Although he's the town mayor, he represents the entire island, which is far more significant than a town mayor who works offline."

A mere town mayor thinks he can bribe me and make me work for him?

Gao Linzhi wanted to laugh inwardly.

He then asked, "Besides this, are there any others?"

"You may take 30% of the offerings every 10 years."

"I only have 30%?" Gao Linzhi retorted.

"Yes, 30% is already very good. Many people can't even find this opportunity."

"After surrendering to the imperial court, the court will not send troops to conquer us."

"What other benefits are there?"

"You can also apply for rescue from the imperial court through the jade talisman. In the event of a large-scale invasion of strange creatures, you can escape to the Capital Island for protection."

Gao Linzhi also smiled.

"These benefits alone are not enough to make me risk my life for the imperial court."

The rebels directly gave him the method to achieve Immortality.

What does the imperial court offer here?

It's all flatbread.

There is no real benefit whatsoever.

What is this so-called investiture?

The imperial court had no real control to begin with, and now the four villages are under his control.

Will this so-called rescue operation even count for anything?

At this moment, the Priest quickly said, "Sir, please don't be in such a hurry."

"The biggest advantage is that it allows access to various auctions organized by the imperial court."

Gao Linzhi nodded.

This is actually quite useful.

"The imperial court has been in power for hundreds of years, and these are the locals."

"It still has a rich heritage, with a large amount of legacy."

"Just like our feudal society back then, although it was backward, there were still many forces that wanted to do business with the dynasty," the Priest quickly said.

"However, even if I don't pledge allegiance to the imperial court, participating in the court's auctions is not a problem, so this is not a benefit," Gao Linzhi and said.

The group frowned immediately.

Suddenly, the Game System prompted again.

"Ding! Congratulations to a player who has successfully triggered the level challenge game."

"This is a temporary event with a total of 99 levels. Different attribute points will be awarded based on the number of levels completed."

"Everyone can complete the game solo or in a team."

"You can create NPCs, local natives, as long as they agree."

Gao Linzhi nodded in satisfaction upon seeing this.

At this moment, the event channel immediately became lively.

"Looks like operations have been revived."

"It's been a long time since we've had any events, but now they're finally here."

"Yeah, we weren't even eligible to participate in the previous treasure hunt, but now it's great, we can team up and play."

"That's right."

At that moment, the three Warrior-Mage-Priest all looked at Gao Linzhi.

Gao Linzhi smiled and said, "Everyone's points are very good."

"However, why don't we try challenging the level and see how strong the imperial court is?"

The three nodded.

There were actually people in the imperial court who had been trying to get closer to Gao Linzhi, the top scorer.

They were even more eager to recruit him into their ranks.

Now that there's an opportunity to showcase my abilities, I naturally agreed immediately.

Three days later.

Warrior-Mage-Priest, came to find Gao Linzhi again.

This means that six people will form a team to challenge the temporary mini-event levels.

Gao Linzhi, as the Captain, paid 5 gold coins as a team formation fee.

These five gold pieces are quite a lot for the indigenous people.

For Gao Linzhi, of course, it meant nothing.

Then, to everyone's surprise, they found themselves in a modern Amusement Park.

From the outside, the entire Amusement Park appears to be made up of countless suspended gardens pieced together.

This is a huge aerial maze.

From the ground, layer upon layer, it extends upwards until the horizon.

The group then proceeded to the first suspended garden.

As soon as they entered, they found that the situation had changed once again.

They appeared inside a room.

The Priest began, "My lord, according to our strategy, this first level is called the Number Maze."

"There are three doors in front of us in our starting room."

"Each door is marked with a number; you need to choose the correct room based on the pattern of the numbers."

"There are highly skilled individuals in the imperial court who have used divination techniques and the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams to decipher the mathematical patterns involved. Now, all we need to do is open the doors according to the order of the answers."

"Come, please come with us."

The order is...

Gao Linzhi was too lazy to look for a strategy guide in the event channel, so he simply followed behind them.

This is now the third day of the event.

Many enthusiastic players have already posted guides and their achievements in the event channel.

Judging from the time taken to complete each level, the difficulty of each level does not seem to be too high.

In about three minutes, the six people successfully passed the first challenge.

The system then displays a prompt.

"Your success rate has increased from 0 to 1."

Immediately afterwards, the system suddenly presented an option. "Can you jump to level 5 now, or continue to challenge level 2?"

Is this the random redirection mechanism?

If you can keep skipping levels like this and complete all ninety-nine levels, it doesn't seem that slow.

Of course, Gao Linzhi knew that skipping levels would reduce the number of levels he could challenge, which would likely affect the final reward.

Moreover, it is very likely that some necessary information is missing.

Ultimately, the choice depends on individual circumstances.

"My lord, would you like to skip this level or continue to the next?"

"The wise men in the court suggest that those Descenders, who have failed no more than nine times, should try to participate in every challenge," the Priest said.

"That way you can get more rewards."

"Therefore, we'd better choose to go to the second level."

Gao Linzhi nodded and said, "Then let's move on to the next level."

"If the later levels become too difficult, we'll consider skipping them."

The second challenge is called "Extreme Fall".

As soon as the six entered, they felt a wave of heat wash over them, as if they were in a sea of fire.

"It's so hot... Is this test about heat tolerance?" Gao Linzhi asked doubtfully.

The group looked towards the source of the heat—a raging mountain of flames.

The group was at the foot of the mountain.

Above the mountaintop, a stone platform is suspended.

There are already many players standing on the platform.

The bricks on the platform are falling rapidly at this moment.

Players standing on top had to quickly move and dodge.

Those who were a little slower fell into the lava below like dumplings, their screams echoing through the air.

"I'm starting to regret it... Burning them alive is just too horrible..."

"Damn it, we should have chosen to skip the level!" the players exclaimed.

Of course, those who dare to take on this challenge all possess Revival Stone.

This shows that the production of Revival Stones has indeed increased significantly.

Watching the players struggling and howling in the sea of fire, the group felt a pang of sympathy.

Gao Linzhi glanced at it indifferently.

The Game System is displaying a hint for this level:

The player must remain on the platform during the ten-second falling brick period.

"Once a player selects to begin the challenge, they will be transferred to the platform."

"There will be a 0.1-second warning sign before the brick falls."

"Players need to concentrate fully, observe the changes in the blocks, and react in time to avoid danger."

"The final Safe Zone is only five percent of the platform. The challenge ends when five percent is reached."

"Players who are still alive on the platform when the challenge ends are considered to have succeeded."

Other players quickly appeared around them.

Many players, like Gao Linzhi and others, began to stop and observe the platform in the distance.

Most of these people are not very confident in their own reactions and want to wait and see.

This is where the importance of teaming up with indigenous people comes in – you can find someone to guide you.

0.1 seconds is actually enough time for the strong to use.

This is a process of weeding out the newcomers.

Someone immediately shook their head and said:

"I definitely can't do it... I've always been slow to react and uncoordinated, what am I going to do!"

"Then let's gamble on luck!"

"I just saw a guy who didn't move an inch from the beginning, and he just happened to be standing on the last safest brick—the entire platform has collapsed by 95%, and he was right in that 5%."

"European Emperor luck! Tell me which brick he's standing on! I want to stand on that brick too!"

"Let's just squeeze together and pile on top of each other!"

"It's no use. I've noticed that the bricks fall randomly each time; it still depends on your reaction time."

After observing for a moment and figuring out the pattern of the brick changes, and finding no large pits, Gao Linzhi prepared to go on stage.

Although this is my first attempt, it shouldn't be too difficult if I react quickly enough.

For him, with a physical attribute of 2000, his reaction speed is a hundred times faster than the speed of sound.

"Look! The Canxue god is coming on stage!"

"Make way! Don't crowd together, can't you see the expert is coming up?"

"Don't worry, Master. If there's not enough time, just step over their shoulders!"

Gao Linzhi's appearance immediately attracted everyone's attention.

Whether on or off stage, players' eyes were focused on him, and many even decided to follow in his footsteps.

But that's clearly wishful thinking.

The challenge in this round is divided into groups of 30. Once 30 people have registered, a new round of challenges will begin.

When only 5% of the bricks remain, it signifies the end of a round of the challenge, and the platform will then teleport all players who have successfully completed the challenge away.

Next, the platform will be restored to its original size, awaiting the next group of participants to take the stage.

The twenty-second countdown quietly ticked by, and the participants took their places one after another.

The platform rose again, hovering directly above the crater—a new test was about to begin.

Some people simply adopted a defensive strategy, choosing a stone slab and not moving it, waiting to see what would happen.

"According to my calculations, the stone slab under my feet has the lowest probability of falling, so it should be quite safe!"

As soon as one player finished speaking, the stone slab he was standing on suddenly plummeted, and he and the slab disappeared into the lava.

The people around were stunned, and after a long while, someone murmured:

"This isn't just safe... it's like winning the lottery right from the start."

As the first stone slab collapsed, the surrounding slabs followed suit.

The figures on the field moved erratically, leaping and dodging between ever-shrinking footholds.

"Damn it! Every time I step on a piece of land, it collapses! Someone help me out!"

Get away from me! Don't come near me!

The fall may seem like a fleeting moment to the spectators, but for those on the field, it feels like an endless night.

Everyone counted their heartbeats clearly, feeling the thrill of each moment.

"It's not over yet? It's still falling... I can't take it anymore!"

"Don't come any closer! I feel like this place is going to collapse too!"

Gao Linzhi had already noticed that, just as the system had previously indicated, each stone slab would darken for a fleeting moment before falling.

This subtle change is the only warning sign.

Upon seeing it, you must immediately leap onto the stone slab that has not yet changed color.

With Gao Linzhi's physique, he could easily rise and fall continuously between the stone slabs.

Each stone slab is fairly spacious, enough for three or four people to stand on.

As long as you react quickly enough, you won't be disrupted by others.

Of course, even if someone squeezes into his position, he will simply reach out and shoo them away.

Over time, players started avoiding him when jumping.