Recaps

Gao Linzhi learned how the ancestral hall protected the village and how the Sky Wolf Dynasty exploited isolated settlements, then considered the court’s likely claim on the Four Village Trading Company. Meanwhile, Xu Gou announced rules for Rogue Players in Xu City and Liang City, while a college student realized his girlfriend had lured killers to his apartment.

• The Second Elder explained that ancestral spirits could resist anomalies, that villagers who sacrificed themselves could be enshrined, and that the imperial court periodically demanded tribute and labor.
• The Third Elder told Gao Linzhi that the court usually took seventy percent of valuable goods and would likely claim a share of the Four Village Trading Company.
• After the elders left, Gao Linzhi used Inspiration to see the village ancestors’ spirits gathered in a misty temple.
• Xu Gou told Xu Zongyin that Rogue Players in Xu City and Liang City could earn money legally but would be executed if they committed crimes, and he refused to register them.
• A bespectacled college student regretted leveling poorly and killing robbers, then overheard his girlfriend agree to lure him outside so men could kill him for six million.

Zhao Shan survived an attack after killing his ex-girlfriend and two gunmen, then learned that Xu City would not arrest him for acting in self-defense. A month later, Gao Linzhi prepared for the Shrine Sacrifice event, spent most of his Skyfall Stones on its shop, and inspected the thriving village economy he had built.

• Zhao Shan pushed his ex-girlfriend into the gunmen’s bullets, escaped across the balcony, and killed both gunmen when they pursued him.
• The Rogue Players Security Association told Zhao Shan that his killings were self-defense and gave him the rules for Skyfall Players in Xu City and Liang City.
• After two days in hiding, Zhao Shan stayed safe and wondered why Gao Linzhi had protected Rogue Players rather than fearing competition.
• Gao Linzhi received notice that the Shrine Sacrifice event would begin in 24 hours, then spent nearly all his 100 million Skyfall Stones buying the event shop’s materials.
• Gao Linzhi turned invisible, visited the village’s busy central street, and reflected on the villagers and players who sustained its prosperity.

Gao Linzhi converted ten tons of gold into Skyfall Stones and spent them on sacrificial materials, then took the lead in the newly launched Sacrifice Event. After he offered complete sets and surged to first place, the shrine developed a sacred restraint that seemed to prevent violence nearby.

• Gao Linzhi collected ten tons of gold, converted it into 100 million Skyfall Stones, and instructed Wuliao to expand the company’s gold-mining, refining, and purchasing operations.
• Gao Linzhi arrived at the village shrine for the 49-day Sacrifice Event and found a Golden Altar with a Giant Cauldron surrounded by Nine Dragons.
• A player’s illegal, insulting offering triggered Heavenly Punishment, and the game banned two players’ accounts for a year while five players appeared on the Overall Ranking with negative points.
• Gao Linzhi offered complete sets of Demonic Creature Souls and Villager Incense, raising his Sacrifice Event score to 120,000 and taking first place.
• Platinum light spread from the Giant Cauldron, creating a sacred atmosphere and an apparent restraint against fighting or harming people near the shrine.

The top players argued over Gao Linzhi’s overwhelming lead in the Sacrifice Event and demanded access to the shop or a way to contact the game’s official team. The group settled on stockpiling resources for future events, but Pig Realm 3001’s questions made them suspect Number One Handsome in the World had more influence than he admitted.

• The Official Game Group blamed Gao Linzhi’s spending-related talent for his huge lead and demanded that Number One Handsome in the World explain the unfairness.
• Number One Handsome in the World said he was outsourced customer service and could not access confidential talent data or contact official staff.
• Jiangnan1912 and Number One Handsome in the World urged the group to keep playing, while members discussed their own powerful talents.
• Empty 2086 and Riding the Wind to Beat Luo Shao warned that players could not compete with a whale and might risk being banned if the imbalance continued.
• Number One Handsome in the World said major events would return and advised players to stockpile resources, calming most of the group temporarily.
• Pig Realm 3001 questioned why players had to gather shrine materials if the game could sell them, leading the group to suspect Number One Handsome in the World could influence event plans.

As the United Council considered how to exploit Gao Linzhi’s Pay-to-Win Talent, Gao Linzhi widened his lead in the Sacrifice Event while other players struggled to gather materials. Xu Gou found volunteers to help secure a Gold Quality talent, and Gao Linzhi went with him to meet them at the Xu Clan’s Central Tower.

• United Council members confirmed Gao Linzhi had Pay-to-Win Talent and discussed postponing plans against him until they could learn how to obtain game-store items.
• Gao Linzhi’s score rose by 120,000 points daily, then jumped by 240,000 when he submitted the Four Village Trading Company’s accumulated event resources.
• Players used the event guide to gather sacrifice materials, while many praised Canxue for drawing company attention away from weaker players.
• Gao Linzhi continued training and bought a Revival Stone each day as Xu Gou searched for people who might help him obtain Gold Quality Talent.
• Xu Gou told Gao Linzhi that he had found a hundred volunteers, and they went to the Xu Clan’s Central Tower to meet them.

Gao Linzhi addressed a hundred elite recruits, promising that he valued freedom and creativity and that they could pursue a new life through the game. After explaining the dangers and conditions of keeping their game access, he led them into Sirius Island, where they encountered Steward Zhang’s Corporate Players gathering sacrifice materials near Giant Dune.

• Gao Linzhi listened as the seriously ill elites discussed the risks of entering the game and began forming alliances.
• Xu Gou introduced Gao Linzhi as Canxue, the top-ranked player, and Gao Linzhi told the recruits that he believed creativity and cooperation could lead to Immortality.
• Xu Gou explained that recruits needed to obtain the corresponding Talent Stone to keep their game access, while the Glasses Merchant described the black-market value of access and the danger Rogue Players faced from Corporate Players.
• Gao Linzhi and Xu Gou led the hundred recruits to the city corresponding to Sirius Island, where Steward Zhang arranged for them to activate their game access.
• The group entered Sirius Island and headed to Giant Dune, where Gao Linzhi recognized the Corporate Players nearby by the shared Zhang prefix above their heads.

Gao Linzhi oversaw the training of a hundred elite Rogue Players and discovered that Shang Que possessed a Gold Tier talent. Shang Que tried to avoid the coming mission by bargaining with Gao Linzhi, then proposed using marriage and family ties to reconcile Gao Linzhi with the great families, but Gao Linzhi remained unconvinced.

• Steward Zhang reported that powerful outsiders and the local dynasty were spying on the productive wasteland, and Gao Linzhi ordered him and Xu Gou to train the elite Rogue Players.
• The elites killed demon rats to gain levels, and Shang Que's unusual experience gain led Gao Linzhi to discover his Gold Tier Halo of the Sole Supreme talent.
• After a week of training, Shang Que rallied the elites against the dangerous mission and asked Gao Linzhi to let him buy his way out or find a replacement.
• Gao Linzhi rebuked Shang Que for abandoning the group he had promised to lead, then questioned whether Shang Que could be trusted after betraying them.
• Shang Que argued that Gao Linzhi could reconcile with the great families by marrying into one, and then urged him to join their ranks; Gao Linzhi said he might not want to compromise with them.

Gao Linzhi recruited Shang Que after hearing his analysis of the tensions between him and the great families, then interviewed the elite survivors before sending them into the Giant Dune trial. After refusing to sell his Sacrifice Event materials, he learned that the Association had hoped to use them to overtake him.

• Gao Linzhi agreed to let Shang Que join the Four Village Trading Company, gave him a Revival Stone and a talisman, and watched him rally the elite survivors around the Giant Dune mission.
• Gao Linzhi interviewed the survivors and dismissed most of them, while Mo Shengsheng impressed him by seeking a place through her abilities rather than her looks.
• Three days later, Gao Linzhi sent a hundred elite survivors into the Giant Dune trial and stayed behind to guard the golden talent.
• A visitor offered Gao Linzhi a high price for his Sacrifice Event materials, but Gao Linzhi refused to sell before the event ended.
• Members of the Association complained in a secret Archipelago Forum thread that Gao Linzhi had rejected their offer and discussed how they had hoped to use his materials to turn the competition around.

After claiming his Sacrifice Event rewards, Gao Linzhi prepared to upgrade his shrine and found that he had run out of gold after spending heavily. When Wuliao reported that major forces were hoarding gold, Gao Linzhi decided to mine it himself and learned that three Advanced Prospectors were ready.

• Gao Linzhi watched players debate his success and marriage alliances, then claimed his rankings’ rewards and put all 35 Free Attribute Points into Spirit.
• The Upgrade Materials Preparation Event began, and Gao Linzhi saw that shrine upgrades required expensive materials and offered separate overall and island rankings.
• Gao Linzhi tried to buy upgrade materials but discovered he had exhausted his Skyfall Stones and was running short on gold after spending ten tons during the Sacrifice Event.
• Gao Linzhi asked Wuliao about the gold supply and told him to auction Revival Stones; Wuliao explained that several forces were hoarding gold and refusing to sell it.
• Gao Linzhi decided to dig for gold himself, and Wuliao reported that the trading company had trained three Advanced Prospectors.

Gao Linzhi found a gold deposit with Dragon Fruit’s divination and organized a company to mine it. When the three prospectors he hired defected after being lured by a rival group, he tracked them down and turned them into prospecting puppets.

• Gao Linzhi brought Dragon Fruit and three Advanced Prospectors to a valley near Xu City, where Dragon Fruit divined a low-grade gold deposit.
• The prospectors confirmed the gold deposit could yield hundreds of tons, and Gao Linzhi arranged for them to mine it with puppets and proper pay.
• A mysterious group offered the prospectors triple pay and warned them that Gao Linzhi’s rivals might target them, persuading them to leave with mined gold.
• The United Association discussed pressuring Gao Linzhi through economic means and undermining his real-world resource operations.
• After Dragon Fruit located the defectors at a coastal villa, Gao Linzhi appeared and turned all three into prospecting puppets with Puppet Talismans.

Gao Linzhi retaliated against the Association’s restrictions by stealing gold from guarded vaults and dealing with Yan Ran Yi Xiao, a player whose talent let her reach into the dimensional space. After clearing a curse and converting his haul into Skyfall Stones, he left the Association arguing over the missing gold.

• Gao Linzhi bound the three Prospecting Puppets with purple-tier Puppet Talismans after they begged him to spare them.
• Gao Linzhi used divination and stealth to break into a city’s central gold vault and take more than a ton of gold before moving on to other cities.
• Gao Linzhi discovered Yan Ran Yi Xiao reaching into a vault from dimensional space, traded her a Revival Stone for fifty tons of gold, and sold her a Heavenly Clear Talisman after she warned him about cursed treasure.
• Gao Linzhi stole gold from several more vaults, bringing his total to eighty-six tons, then removed a curse that would have made him age one year each day.
• Gao Linzhi exchanged his gold for 860 million Skyfall Stones and went to buy event materials for upgrading.
• Members of the Association blamed Canxue for the theft of 150 tons of gold, while one participant argued that the Association had provoked the retaliation by taking his business.

The Federation tried to stop Gao Linzhi from stealing gold and offered compensation, but he rejected its proposal to cooperate and warned that he would take more drastic measures if its factions kept provoking him. He accepted three hundred tons of gold and sent Shangguan Ouyang back with a warning against further trouble.

• Federation officials debated the social consequences of Gao Linzhi's gold theft and decided to seek an agreement with him.
• When a messenger asked Gao Linzhi to stop stealing gold, he refused and told the Federation to keep hoarding it for him to collect.
• After the Federation offered eight tons of gold, Gao Linzhi demanded three hundred tons, and Shangguan Ouyang delivered the full amount.
• Shangguan Ouyang urged Gao Linzhi to cooperate with the Federation, but Gao Linzhi rejected the proposal and cited Han Xin as a warning against trusting rulers.
• Gao Linzhi told Shangguan Ouyang to warn the Federation that he did not want chaos, but would take their hearts if they kept stirring up trouble.

Gao Linzhi arrived at Giant Dune after his elite personnel completed a deadly war trial, then killed cavalrymen who demanded the site for the Sky Wolf Dynasty. As local officials and the Big Black Fatty’s Zhang clan steward plotted to seize the Gold Quality Talent Stone, Shang Que returned and tried to conceal the one he had obtained, but Gao Linzhi saw through his deception.

• Gao Linzhi spent 300 tons of gold to advance to Noble 25, then used a Substitute Puppet to travel to Sirius Island after Xu Gou reported that someone was trying to seize the nearly completed Gold Quality Talent Stone.
• At Giant Dune, a trial-taker described three brutal ancient-war battles, and about eighty of the hundred elite personnel emerged with Talent Stones; Gao Linzhi allowed those who wished to leave to do so after their Game Accounts were deleted.
• Cavalrymen from the Sky Wolf Dynasty ordered everyone off Giant Dune, but Gao Linzhi refused and killed the attacking squad with his Substitute Puppet and a fireball.
• The Big Black Fatty’s Zhang clan steward and two local officials watched from a distance and discussed how to seize the prize, while Wang Jianke claimed he could kill Gao Linzhi within ten strikes and the steward warned that Gao Linzhi could revive.
• Shang Que returned without presenting a Talent Stone and claimed he had failed the final mission, but Gao Linzhi accused him of hiding the Gold Quality Talent Stone and deduced that he had obtained it when Shang Que offered to farm for another one.

Gao Linzhi seized Shang Que’s Gold Quality Talent Stone, defeated and turned the Sky Wolf Dynasty attackers into puppets, then learned he needed advice from a high-level NPC to use the stone. The chapter ended with him planning a trip to Capital Island, which corresponded to Sea Dragon City in the real world.

• Gao Linzhi used a Puppet Talisman to take the Gold Quality Life Steal Talent Stone from Shang Que after Shang Que tried to escape and kill himself.
• Gao Linzhi defeated two Sky Wolf Dynasty members, turned them into puppets, and did the same to Big Black Fatty, while Xu Gou gave the remaining people a choice between quitting the game and continuing the trials.
• Gao Linzhi returned to East Wolf Village, submitted the event materials, and saw Can Xue Waves Across the Map leading the ancestral hall upgrade event leaderboard by millions of points.
• Gao Linzhi asked Game Help how to use the Talent Stone and learned he needed to level up and change class, or ask a high-level NPC for another method.
• Gao Linzhi asked the Second Elder and Wuliao about Capital Island and learned that it was more than ten thousand miles away and corresponded to Sea Dragon City.

Gao Linzhi moved his respawn point to Sea Dragon City, then arrived on Capital Island to seek a high-level NPC who could help him use his Gold Quality Talent Stone. He followed two female players to witness their confrontation with Young Master Gao and Inspector Zhao, whose arrival exposed the capital’s restrictions on Descenders.

• Gao Linzhi learned that Sea Dragon City’s Wei, Su, and Wu families shared his views on Immortality and were relatively lenient toward Rogue Players, though he still planned to avoid trusting them directly.
• Gao Linzhi used the Respawn Point Reset Talisman to move his respawn point to Sea Dragon City, then logged in on the vast Capital Island and followed two female players through an inn.
• Young Master Gao harassed the two female players, and they beat him and his servants after he threatened to have them arrested for lacking travel permits.
• Young Master Gao summoned the Imperial Observatory, and Inspector Zhao arrived with a young man to inspect the women’s permits.
• Young Master Gao demanded that Inspector Zhao arrest the women and threatened to accuse the Imperial Observatory of conspiring with Descenders, while Inspector Zhao warned him that Descenders were difficult to control.

Gao Linzhi watched two female Descenders kill Young Master Gao and then get captured by a powerful black-clad figure. In the inner city, officials chose to blame an anomaly and conceal the truth, leaving Gao Linzhi with a glimpse of the Sky Wolf Dynasty’s corrupt workings.

• Player B killed Young Master Gao with a curse, and Player A fought off the old patrol inspector before the pair fled.
• A black-clad figure interrupted the women’s attempts to log off, restrained them with Spirit-Stabilizing Talismans, and ordered the old patrol inspector to take them for interrogation.
• The patrol inspector brought the women to a courtyard in the inner city, where a gatekeeper explained that Young Master Gao had been used as a pawn to test Descenders.
• The old patrol inspector and gatekeeper decided to report that an anomaly had killed Young Master Gao and that the women had merely been passing by.
• The old patrol inspector warned the young constable that officials who investigated the truth could die, and Gao Linzhi reflected on the dynasty’s culture of mutual deception.

Gao Linzhi watched Bao Fei turn on his superiors after they cheated him out of most of the gold paid by two female players, then feed them to Anomaly No. 7 for Skill Stones. Infected by the anomaly, Bao Fei began killing stronger targets to gain power and rise through the ranks, while avoiding players.

• The patrol inspectors decided to kill the two female Descenders to cover up Young Master Gao's death, but let them go after they offered gold.
• Bao Fei negotiated with his master and the old gatekeeper, and the women bought their freedom for eight hundred taels of gold.
• After receiving only twenty taels, Bao Fei stabbed the two old men and blamed their deaths on Anomaly No. 7.
• Bao Fei fed the still-living men to the anomaly, which produced two Skill Stones that he swallowed to gain new abilities.
• Gao Linzhi saw that Bao Fei had become infected by the anomaly, and Bao Fei resolved to kill stronger people and climb to the top.
• Over the following week, Bao Fei hunted abnormal people under various pretexts while deliberately avoiding players.

Gao Linzhi observed a young patrol officer use the white mist of Anomaly No. 7 to defeat a level 55 assassin bodyguard during an attack on court official Lin Cheng. The officer escaped with a stone, while Gao Linzhi realized the anomaly was controlling its contamination and might be forming a symbiotic bond with him.

• Gao Linzhi watched Lin Cheng discuss medicine and grain supplies with players, who learned that the official wanted to keep grain scarce so the poor would remain desperate for work.
• The young patrol officer disguised himself as a player and attacked Lin Cheng, but the level 55 assassin A Qi intervened while Lin Cheng fled and summoned help.
• The young patrol officer used the white mist to curse A Qi, weakening his speed, stamina, and vision until the assassin mistook the attack for an attempt by Lin Cheng to kill him.
• A Qi fled toward Lin Cheng, and the young patrol officer engulfed him in white mist, devoured him, and took a stone from his remains before escaping.
• Gao Linzhi recognized that the officer had learned to wield the weird, and noticed that it was deliberately slowing his contamination, suggesting a symbiotic relationship.

Gao Linzhi observed how the White Mist Anomaly helped Bao Fei absorb a restricted Skill Stone, then followed the dynasty’s black-clad agents as they suppressed the Anomaly and revealed their plans for Bao Fei. He continued infiltrating the imperial city, where someone had noticed him and appeared to be using him to draw out a larger target.

• Players fled after witnessing Bao Fei’s Anomaly-assisted assassination attempt, and the Sky Wolf Dynasty spread the story to turn people against Anomalies and strengthen loyalty to the court.
• Gao Linzhi watched Bao Fei use White Mist to absorb an Advanced Evasion Skill Stone despite not meeting its level requirement, and he realized the same method might let him use restricted stones.
• Players identified Bao Fei outside a restaurant, and five black-clad agents attacked him with arrows and green smoke before following him back to the Imperial Observatory courtyard.
• The black-clad agents lured Bao Fei away, used Gold Quality Evil Suppressing Talismans to immobilize him and the White Mist, and revealed that the dynasty wanted to preserve his skill-devouring ability.
• Gao Linzhi learned that the agents had also placed two female players on their watchlist as reserve materials, then infiltrated a tower in the imperial city while someone watched him to lure out a bigger target.

Gao Linzhi infiltrated a tower that concealed a modern laboratory, where Director Ouyang and her staff studied and contained a dangerous White Mist anomaly. After revealing his deductions about the laboratory’s origins, Gao Linzhi left Ouyang intrigued by his Substitute Puppet.

• Gao Linzhi followed the men in black into the tower by feeding its face a Purple-tier sword.
• Inside the tower, the men in black registered Bao Fei as experimental material and left the laboratory without revealing Gao Linzhi.
• Director Ouyang’s team examined the young Inspector and confirmed that White Mist had consumed him, while the laboratory’s purple light drove the anomaly back.
• White Mist claimed it could grant Immortality and help break through the world, but Ouyang Jing dismissed its claims and ordered the useful parts preserved for an operative.
• Ouyang Jing discovered Gao Linzhi’s presence and offered him a stomach transplant in exchange for a work contract.
• Gao Linzhi deduced that the laboratory’s people were descendants of players and natives, then told Ouyang Jing that the human heart was the greatest anomaly; she studied his Substitute Puppet with interest.

Gao Linzhi and Ouyang Jing argued over which world was safer, then struck a deal to study a Gold Quality Talent Stone in exchange for a Revival Stone. After Ouyang Jing’s lab devised a risky way to help him absorb it, Gao Linzhi returned with his real body and discovered she had trapped him inside the sealed laboratory.

• Gao Linzhi challenged Ouyang Jing’s belief that her world was better, arguing that its path to Immortality outweighed its dangers while his world’s greatest danger was time.
• Gao Linzhi asked Ouyang Jing how a beginner could use a high-quality Talent Stone, and they agreed to trade one for a Revival Stone so her lab could study it.
• Gao Linzhi handed Ouyang Jing a disguised Talent Stone and a real Revival Stone, and the lab began researching the stone while he observed its methods.
• After three days, Ouyang Jing’s team proposed fusing Gao Linzhi with White Mist to create an Anomaly Stomach that could digest the Talent Stone.
• Two days later, Ouyang Jing revealed that Gao Linzhi had brought his real body into the lab and that its staff had sealed him inside.

Gao Linzhi was trapped in Ouyang Jing’s laboratory, but he used repeated deaths, revivals, and teleportation to evade the Black Mist and ransack the facility. After Ouyang Jing’s group identified him as the top-ranked player Can Xue Waves Across the Map, a White-robed Woman arrived and threw a Golden Ring at him.

• Ouyang Jing ordered the Tower’s Black Mist to restrain Gao Linzhi, but he revealed that the captive was only his Game Character and killed it.
• Gao Linzhi revived inside the laboratory, where the Game System told him he could only revive within the special instance, and began taking equipment as compensation.
• Gao Linzhi killed a researcher who objected, then repeatedly killed and revived himself to evade the Black Mist while turning researchers into puppets and stripping the laboratory of its movable contents.
• Ouyang Jing rejected a suggestion to destroy the valuable equipment and ordered everyone to retreat, while Gao Linzhi continued his rampage.
• A White-robed Woman appeared, praised Gao Linzhi as an exceptional specimen, and learned from the researchers that he was the top-ranked player Can Xue Waves Across the Map.
• The White-robed Woman tossed a Golden Ring at Gao Linzhi.

Gao Linzhi escaped the Tower Laboratory’s sealing talisman by logging off, then used the stolen research and staff to begin building a new laboratory under East Wolf Village. As Xu Gou’s work progressed, Gao Linzhi helped bring in the large equipment they needed.

• Gao Linzhi recognized the Golden Ring as an illusion shaped by his own idea of a powerful ring and took it before the White-robed Woman trapped his Game Character with a high-level Sealing Talisman.
• Gao Linzhi logged off, used a Reset Talisman to change his spawn point, and returned to Wolf Snake Island with the Tower Laboratory’s technology, documents, and staff.
• The White-robed Woman ordered Gao Linzhi’s anomaly recorded in the S-Class File after his Game Character vanished, while the Tower’s remaining faces appeared to celebrate his raid.
• Gao Linzhi ordered Xu Gou to reproduce the laboratory, warned him that the white mist was a sealed anomaly, and backed the plan to recruit scientists as players.
• Xu Gou recruited researchers and organized an underground laboratory beneath East Wolf Village, which players completed in ten days.
• Xu Gou reported that the laboratory needed newer equipment and that the Game Backpack could not hold their large machine tools, so Gao Linzhi used a game item to bring the equipment into the game world.

Gao Linzhi attended the East Wolf Village Shrine upgrade ceremony, where the shrine expanded into a Safe Zone with an Ancestral Spirit Pavilion and three game shops. The update brought official merchants into the village, while the ceremony revealed the founder’s regrets and hinted at the village’s potential as the foundation of an empire.

• Gao Linzhi reviewed the Shrine Upgrade Event rankings and hurried to East Wolf Village Shrine under Stealth to attend the upgrade ceremony.
• The village’s first Great Elder spoke of his three regrets, and the ancestors sang a hymn about following Heaven’s Dao and reigning in eternal glory.
• Gao Linzhi realized the hymn seemed to encourage him to rebel and saw its message about the Dao as connected to his pursuit of Immortality.
• Golden light transformed the shrine into a large manor with an Ancestral Spirit Pavilion and improved shelters for the villagers.
• Three game shops appeared in the backyard, and Gao Linzhi recognized them as part of the new Safe Zone while villagers debated whether the shops disturbed their ancestors.

Players celebrated the new shop and its gold-based goods as Gao Linzhi collected his ancestral hall reward and considered how the game worked. A week later, he learned that a company was exploiting a mathematical genius named Hai Zida, and set out to meet him; Hai Zida was torn between joining the game through Fifth Generation Company and considering an offer from Four Village Trading Company, which the woman he loved favored.

• Players reacted to the shop's gold exchange, expensive Revival Stones, and the new opportunities for prospectors and miners.
• The ancestral hall upgrade event ended, and Gao Linzhi received five Free Attribute Points, which he put into Spirit.
• Gao Linzhi entered the shop, observed how its illusion let many players transact, and speculated that the game was being expanded with additions to its core functions.
• A week later, Xu Gou told Gao Linzhi that a genius scientist could solve their research problem within a month but was constrained by a company that might kill him.
• Gao Linzhi learned that Hai Zida was being pressured by Fifth Generation Company and told Xu Gou to take him to meet the mathematician.
• Hai Zida weighed whether to join the game through Fifth Generation Company or consider Four Village Trading Company's offer, while the woman he loved favored the latter.