"Is this actually a game?"
"How could this possibly be a game?"
Zhang Qingwei looked at everything in the room, her beautiful eyes brimming with confusion and astonishment. The shock in her heart was beyond words.
Real!
It was simply too real!
Whether it was the bone-piercing chill in the room or the feedback beneath her feet as she stepped on the ground, she had never encountered such virtual engine technology—not even among the hundreds of virtual games focused on the five senses that she had played.
"Qing Wei, are you okay?"
Watching Zhang Qingwei bounce around like a lunatic and occasionally stomp hard on the floor, Luo Wu Shang could not help walking over and waving a hand in front of Zhang Qingwei's face, her heart full of puzzlement.
Zhang Qingwei had seen her fair share of storms during Pilgrimage. It was hard to imagine that she would go crazy just from entering a game. Even if High Martial Descent was a 100% virtual game, she should not have gone this crazy.
"I'm fine." Zhang Qingwei stopped moving, shook her head, and looked at Luo Wu Shang with excitement. "Wu Shang! I grew a brain! I grew a brain!"
"Mm, I know. I can tell." Luo Wu Shang nodded.
Who wouldn't be able to tell in this situation?
"Has she gone crazy?"
"That's really possible. It was too hard to get into this game. I didn't even dare tell the guys in my dorm, afraid they might do something in the middle of the night."
"True. After I got the qualification to enter, I didn't even dare speak loudly in the dorm."
The stern, muscular young man doing squats and the lean young man constantly rubbing against the ground both stopped, staring at Zhang Qingwei in surprise. They had not expected someone to be even more excited than them after entering High Martial Descent.
"Hello, brothers. My name is Twilight of the Gods." Twilight of the Gods looked excitedly at the muscular young man and the lean young man. "You mentioned dorms? Are you university students too?"
With only ten slots in High Martial Descent, it was far too difficult to encounter people of the same kind.
"Yeah! I attend university part-time, while my main job is being a reserve member of the Blue Enchantress Team. Just call me Outlander Gunslinger." The stern, muscular young man nodded as he introduced himself.
"What a coincidence! I attend university part-time too, and my main job is as an official member of the Imperial City Team. Just call me Peerless One Shot." The lean young man gave the muscular young man a surprised look. He had not expected to meet another one like himself.
"A reserve member of the Blue Enchantress Team and an official member of the Imperial City Team—and they're still attending university part-time? Has the professional gaming industry become this cutthroat?" Fang Zhen looked at the two professional youths, both barely in their early twenties, and suddenly felt that he had already fallen behind the times.
On Mecha Continent, the Blue Enchantress Team was a regular in the national league and had always held steady in the top four. Its most famous figure was none other than Blood Flame Spear Princess Chen Ya, whose personal strength ranked third nationwide. The team had always been the strictest in the country when selecting newcomers.
The Imperial City Team was likewise a regular top-eight contender in Mecha Continent's national league. Anyone who could become an official member undoubtedly possessed formidable strength and skill.
"Brother Zhen, I could play High Martial Descent this time thanks to you. I used to watch your livestreams all the time—I practically grew up watching them." Outlander Gunslinger walked up to Fang Zhen, his face full of excitement. "From now on, your little brother will follow you, Brother Zhen."
"Same here. If I hadn't watched Brother Zhen's streams every day, I really wouldn't have found this game." Peerless One Shot also felt as though he had found his organization.
"Good! Wonderful! With you two brothers helping out, we'll grow bigger and stronger in High Martial Descent!" Fang Zhen was stunned for a moment before delight surged through his heart.
He was desperately short of manpower. He had found the energy zone, yet lacked the strength to develop it. If two more people could help, the energy zone spanning over a hundred square meters would surely be developed much faster with the three of them working together.
At least he would not have to spend every night silently digging holes by himself. It truly killed his motivation.
Just as everyone in the basement was introducing themselves and getting acquainted, someone descended from the stairway. The entire room immediately fell silent as they watched that person approach step by step. The newcomers in particular looked at him with utter curiosity.
"This person looks so real!"
"He looks exactly like a real person!"
After their earlier exchange, the newcomers had learned that the NPC before them was the highest-ranking NPC overseeing all the players. If they disobeyed or did anything improper, the consequences would be severe.
"Newcomers! Welcome to Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. I am your hall master, Lord Lin Qi. By the rules, if you wish to become glorious disciples of this martial arts hall, you must prove yourselves."
Lin Qi swept his gaze over the eager newcomers, feeling quite satisfied. Although the system's assessment was clearly rather scummy—dragging in seven players despite not a single person passing the assessment—the results were still not bad. Every one of them was young and strong, prime material for work.
Lin Qi then pointed at a table nearby.
"There is a registration book on that table. Write down your name and age, then choose a little shovel you like. Leave the door, turn right, and head to the small warehouse. You have twelve hours to open up as much energy zone as possible."
"Whoever develops the most energy zone within the time limit may choose one of these two hall-protecting martial skills to learn. The person who develops the second most may learn the other one. I look forward to your performance."
As he spoke, Lin Qi took out Crushing Stone Fist and Leopard Shadow Steps from his pocket, each divided into upper and lower volumes.
As for why they had been divided into two volumes, it was entirely because these martial skills could only be split into two. Otherwise, Lin Qi truly would have wanted to split them into nine parts and eighteen books.
Apprentice-level martial skills generally had two realms. Crushing Stone Fist was divided into the Crushing Stake Realm and the Crushing Stone Realm, while Leopard Shadow Steps was divided into the Chasing Wind Realm and the Hunting Shadow Realm.
For both martial skills, each realm unleashed greater power than the last, while becoming increasingly difficult to master.
Yet Lin Qi was willing to bring out two martial skills at once as rewards for the newcomers' development efforts.
The first reason was naturally to prevent the newcomer players from exploiting bugs to harvest leeks. Competition brought efficiency.
The second was to introduce martial skills so that all players could learn them and improve as quickly as possible.
Once a martial skill was learned by one player, it meant every other player could learn it as well. The only difference was sooner or later. After all, he could not restrict players from spreading the knowledge. This was entirely unlike people in the high-martial world, who needed specialized instruction; if they practiced wrongly, they could accidentally cripple themselves. Those teaching them would check their purchase records, and without such a record, they would not provide instruction.
Players, however, had no worries about crippling themselves through practice. At worst, they would just die a few more times.
"Holy shit!"
"Is the combat class system finally being activated?"
"I knew bringing in so many newcomers at once meant there would be a major move. I never expected the officials to pull something like this."
Everyone present stared straight at the two martial skills in Lin Qi's hands. Fang Zhen, Luo Wu Shang, and Twilight of the Gods, who had arrived a few days earlier, practically had their eyes glued to the books.
The underground-development sandbox gameplay was certainly good, but in a 100% virtual game like High Martial Descent, who would not want to experience what it felt like to be a superhuman?
Especially since all three had personally witnessed the battle between Qin Mu and Hou Fei. It was simply two great monsters fighting each other.
The viewers in the livestream outside completely exploded at the sight.
"Oh my god! This is too unfair! Why do they get to start becoming superhumans while we still can't even enter the game?"
"No, brother. Not only can't we enter the game, we can't even pass the testing assessment. All we can do is watch them play."
"I saw someone offering professional boosting for only 98. I'll pay 20,000 if he can pass it for me!"
"You mean that booster? I seriously doubt he has a long enough life to earn that 20,000."
As the livestream chat erupted into heated discussion, more and more people began trying the testing assessment again, especially players who loved combat.
Previously, everyone had assumed Qin Mu and Hou Fei's battle had merely been staged by the game developer for show. After all, after entering High Martial Descent, players had nothing to do besides dig dirt every day and occasionally practice the Soul Shocking Breathing Technique.
But now, seeing the two martial skills in Lin Qi's hands, everyone understood that the battle that had looked like a blockbuster film was not staged for them to watch—it was combat that players could truly achieve.
Before you continue