System Update

"This is great! We dug all day, carved out so many tunnels, and finally found an uncontaminated area. As long as we develop the area ahead, we'll definitely strike it rich!"

Inside a passage barely wide enough for one person, Twilight of the Gods excitedly stroked the completely unpolluted soil as though he were caressing gold. He practically wanted to rub his whole body against it.

"According to the previous scans, this uncontaminated area is huge. We can develop at least five hundred square meters of energy land. One point per square meter means five hundred points can be exchanged for one hundred Blood Essence Rice seeds."

"These Blood Essence Rice seeds mature in ten days and produce two jin of Blood Essence Rice, earning us 2,000 points. Deducting the ten-day rental fee for four hundred square meters of land, while supplying the water ourselves, we can make 1,600 points."

"With those 1,600 points, we can exchange them for 320 seeds. As long as we develop enough energy land within the first batch's ten-day growth period, we can earn 5,120 points next time. That means we only need one month to exchange for the middle volume of the Soul Shocking Breathing Technique."

"One month?" Wu Shang watched Twilight of the Gods lying in the tunnel and analyzing everything, her brows knitting slightly. "Isn't that too slow?"

After experiencing High Martial Descent for a day, she was personally extremely optimistic about it.

It could be said that High Martial Descent's virtual realism utterly crushed Pilgrimage. Yet Pilgrimage was already an old game that had been running for seven years. With virtual realism at only seventy percent, no matter how popular Pilgrimage was, it would eventually face replacement by newer games.

As one of Pilgrimage's five giant guilds, Heavenly Might would go down with it if Pilgrimage collapsed. That was why Heavenly Might had always been searching for Pilgrimage's next replacement.

High Martial Descent was currently the most suitable choice. Although it had a technological style, like Pilgrimage, it focused on martial arts and was well suited to replace Pilgrimage.

Whenever a large-scale virtual game opened its servers, one step ahead meant every step ahead. Trying to catch up later often required paying several times, even dozens of times, the price.

As one of Heavenly Might's first pioneers, she naturally had to find ways to lay the groundwork for Heavenly Might's future. After all, Heavenly Might was not the only giant-level guild in Pilgrimage. It was only a matter of time before the other guilds, or even guilds from other fighting games, discovered High Martial Descent. So she had to build up their advantage in High Martial Descent as much as possible.

"Sister Wu, this isn't slow anymore." Twilight of the Gods pushed up nonexistent glasses. "By my estimate, High Martial Descent is still in the earliest stage of testing. The next increase in player slots should be at least a month away. By then, we'll have the middle volume of the Soul Shocking Breathing Technique, putting us a huge step ahead of those who come later."

"Fine. Call Fang Zhen over afterward and develop this area together. I'll go look for more uncontaminated land." Wu Shang nodded. She understood that this sort of thing truly could not be rushed.

Blood Essence Rice had a ten-day maturation period, and developing land required enormous manpower for digging. It was not something that could be completed in a week or two. If they wanted to speed things up, they could only search underground for more uncontaminated land.

With that, Wu Shang directly closed her eyes and quietly used her body to sense the radiation from the pollution, searching for places where it weakened.

"Hm?"

Wu Shang had only taken a few steps when the system notification in her mind interrupted her.

System: High Martial Descent system update. Players may now open their personal interface to view their own data.

System: Due to the excessive number of pre-registered players and the limited number of test experience slots, while also taking into account the game test's professionalism, all players who have pre-purchased may participate in High Martial Descent's assessment test. Players who pass the assessment test will have a greater chance of entering High Martial Descent.

"Holy crap! How did this game update so quickly?" Twilight of the Gods cursed as he looked at the system notifications.

He had just said that the next increase in player slots would come after a month, only for the system to update now. It was clear that High Martial Descent's next expansion of slots probably would not take a month at all.

"Players who pass the assessment test have a greater chance of entering the game?" Wu Shang's tightly furrowed brows relaxed somewhat, and a plan formed in her heart. "Professionalism... this is quite a good opportunity. When we get back today, I'll have all those guild members with nothing to do come try it. If they pass the assessment and get into the game, we'll have hit the jackpot."

For a game centered on martial arts, if it had to take professional testing into account, then it obviously needed combat experts. For Heavenly Might, where martial arts reigned supreme, this was an excellent opportunity for a large number of members to enter High Martial Descent.

"So just digging holes can raise attributes in this game?"

Fang Zhen had only just entered the underground cave when he stared at his attribute panel in astonishment. His enthusiasm and motivation for daily missions instantly surged.

Player: Fang Zhen.

Martial Arts Level: Preparatory Quasi-Apprentice

Strength: 77.4 kilograms (+1.4)

Speed: 7.4 meters per second (+0.1)

Training Method: Soul Shocking Breathing Technique (Not Learned)

Previously, Fang Zhen had held some reservations about High Martial Descent's progression system. He felt it was poorly suited to a professional player like him. Just logging in to earn points already took up plenty of time, while learning a training method required spending a great deal of time studying it. This game really was too realistic.

With his daily login time being severely limited, he was bound to fall behind players who stayed online all day, and that gap would only keep widening.

But now, he was no longer in a hurry. He could still improve his attributes without learning a training method. For someone like him, who did not have much time to study training methods, this was simply a blessing from heaven.

As for being poisoned to death by spending long periods developing underground, it was nothing more than a little expensive. Considering his future goal of becoming a top professional player, it was not a major problem.

He could treat those revival fees as an initial investment in doing business. Besides, continuously developing land could also earn him plenty of Martial Hall Points.

It was simply the perfect case of shooting two birds with one arrow!

Fang Zhen's livestream chat had also exploded.

"What's going on? I just slept for one night, and the game has already received a version update? How much did I miss?"

"Looks like this game is really going to blow up. So many people have pre-registered."

"Damn! What kind of nested-doll game is this? I paid money and still have to take an assessment test? Then what was the point of paying? A paid qualification test?"

"This game is as arrogant as ever. Before, 4,999 meant you could play the game. Now, 4,999 means you can take an assessment to play it. Brothers, listen to me—get your refunds now while there's still time."

"Get lost! Don't think you can trick me into leaving the queue. Developers, I'll pay extra, just let me in already! Digging holes is my specialty. If you dare let me in, I'll dare dig you an Ancient Babylon."

As everyone watched High Martial Descent's announcement, the chat became a buzzing cauldron, with people saying all sorts of things. Yet not a single person chose to withdraw. In fact, the number of paid reservations kept increasing. Watching Fang Zhen dig had made everything clear: the virtual realism was terrifyingly high. With every shovel, they could not only see the sweat flowing from his body, but also hear the crisp sounds of the shovel striking countless broken stones. Even through the screen, that sense of realism made it obvious—this was a masterpiece, the new future of the gaming world.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Just as Fang Zhen was digging away wildly in the cave, a thunderous sound like beating war drums erupted from outside the underground cavern. Even Lin Qi, who was in the training hall, was startled by the sudden noise.

"What's going on?"

It was also Lin Qi's first time encountering such sudden thunderous booms.

Outside the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, on the dilapidated street, more and more people had gathered without anyone knowing when. Judging by their clothes, they were all standard unregistered drifters. Every one of them looked tense, carrying various weapons as they hurried toward the same place. The atmosphere was indescribably grave.

"Little brother from the martial arts hall, aren't you hurrying over?" A one-eyed middle-aged man passing by the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall saw Lin Qi still standing inside and could not help looking surprised. "If you don't go soon, it'll be too late!"

"Too late? Big brother, what happened over there?" Lin Qi asked curiously.

"Little brother, are you new to this area?" The one-eyed middle-aged man sized Lin Qi up.

"Yeah, I only moved here a little over ten days ago." Lin Qi nodded, not concealing it. Or rather, he could not conceal it, since he had no idea what the booming sound meant.

"So that's it." The one-eyed middle-aged man was not surprised. He explained, "Then grab whatever weapons you can carry and come with me. If we're any later, there won't be time. Drifters from another tribe have come here, trying to seize our territory. If we can't hold them back, we'll all have to leave this area."