Root Skill

And shortly after this update window popped up.

Immediately afterwards.

A new window popped up.

[Additional Explanation.]

[The factions of Nine Provinces (IV) and the opposing faction Prison Rock (IV) have been detected. The community-run dungeon ecosystem in both regions has experienced a significant leap forward.]

[To encourage and allow more players to experience excellent community-run dungeons, all system dungeons were closed 30 days early.]

[As compensation.]

[Unlock more preview information ahead of time.]

[On the day the version is released, a limited-time cross-server PVP arena will officially open.]

[Currently publicly available rules:]

[Rule 1: On the day the version goes live, all system dungeons will be temporarily closed. During this period, players can only enter unofficial dungeons constructed by Architect in their respective regions.]

[Rule 2: Within a specific time period, unofficial dungeons that have been verified and cleared by players in the region will be automatically added to the region's [Cross-Realm Arena Scene Library].]

[Rule 3: Once the arena battle officially begins, the battle area will be randomly selected from the [scene library] of both sides, or a Ban/Pick phase will be conducted. The specific rules depend on the challenge mode.]

[Rule 4: Successfully defeating a cross-player in the arena will grant a large amount of Survival Points, and you can also forcibly Plunder the skills, equipment, and items from the opposing player.]

[Rule 5: During the arena, a ranking system will be activated. Top-ranked players will have a chance to obtain Mythic Grade skills surpassing SSS-level, and a very small probability to obtain Origin-level skills.]

More rules will be released gradually.

Enjoy the works of the Architect!

Plop.

Shen Nian lost her grip on the soup spoon she was about to hand to Lu Xiu, and it fell into the bowl, splashing a few drops of milky white soup.

"Ahhh----"

A drop of soup splashed onto Lu Xiu's fair thigh.

She jumped back in fright, moving herself and her chair back. She wasn't injured, but she was definitely startled.

"I'm so sorry."

Shen Nian snapped back to her senses and was equally flustered.

We finally recovered from the chaos of war.

Lu Xiu then realized that there was a window in front of her.

[Effective today, exclusive strategic information for Architect is now available.]

Lu Xiu swiped past the window in front of her, knowing what it referred to—it was the exclusive information given to Architect a while ago. Now that the rules were made public, there was really no need to restrict them anymore.

that is.

Why was it suddenly brought forward?

Without any warning—and without creating a new copy.

Could it be that a genius Architect has appeared and created an amazing dungeon?

"By the way, what were you about to say?"

Lu Xiu suddenly realized something and looked at Shen Nian, who was still in a daze.

Shen Nian was stunned for a moment before saying, "I wanted to tell you that it seems someone from the Architect Association has created a lower-level alternative dungeon for Sifu— "

She told Lu Xiu about the posts she had seen on the forum.

Lu Xiu was taken aback, then brought up the System Panel and was redirected to the forum.

really.

Although the announcement was quite explosive, it's clear that players haven't quite caught up yet, and there are still many posts discussing [Simple Sifu].

Lu Xiu glanced at it, her expression turning strange.

She had no objection to these Construction Club serving as substitutes for the Sifu dungeon, nor did she have any reason to stop them, because it was beneficial for both the overall players and the Sifu dungeon.

Of course, she couldn't change her opinion of them just because she did something decent in Construction Club. The matter of them sending people to threaten her back in Four Continents wasn't so easily resolved.

Her strange expression wasn't because of that.

Rather, it's because----

This lousy system, just because Construction Club finally did something worthwhile and created a lower-tier alternative dungeon, doesn't it automatically conclude that the community dungeon ecosystem in both regions has experienced a qualitative leap?

When Shen Nian saw Lu Xiu open the forum, her expression turned strange. Curious, she asked, "What are you thinking about? Doesn't that lower-level alternative dungeon meet your requirements?"

"----No, I haven't even been there, so I have no right to comment. Besides, if players think they can become a lower-level replacement for their Sifu, then they probably will. I have nothing to say about that."

Lu Xiu reached out and scrolled away from the forum in front of her. "I just thought of a possibility."

She shared her guess.

Jian Li tilted her head.

Upon hearing this, Shen Nian's expression turned strange, and she felt completely numb.

Because it's really possible!

She even subconsciously started mentally cursing herself for being unladylike.

&*# Construction Club!

Although I know this makes no sense—it's just displaced anger.

Even if the Construction Club doesn't take on the task, the Coordination Bureau is already preparing to create a lower-level instance for the Sifu.

What's meant to happen will happen.

But it just makes you want to curse—who can blame you when the Construction Club has such a bad reputation?

But soon...

Shen Nian realized something was wrong. She looked at Lu Xiu, "You don't seem surprised by the new version of the arena rules?"

Lu Xiu's first concern was the early closure of the system instance.

This just doesn't make sense.

"----Because I received intelligence as the Architect before the special event started, otherwise what do you think I was building the Outlast and Sifu dungeons for?"

Lu Xiu glanced at Jian Li beside her, whose expression remained Jian Li: "After completing Titanfall, I felt that doing any more high-difficulty dungeons wouldn't work. After all, Titanfall is already easy enough, yet countless people still fail and perish. The ticket price and the death penalty are not light, and the pressure to Survival Points is immense."

At that point, I didn't know whether I should attempt high-difficulty dungeons anymore, and I started to feel lost—I was about to go and study the bishoujo game I had been researching a few hours earlier, and then suddenly the update announcement came.

I only continued doing the high-difficulty dungeons after learning that players could obtain a huge amount of Survival Points by winning in the arena.

"I see----"

Shen Nian muttered to herself, "No wonder you suddenly became so enthusiastic about deck building after the Titanfall Instance, and you talked to me for a long time about the types of raids players need."

"Yes, so I'm not surprised by that. What surprises me is that the system instance was shut down thirty days early."

Lu Xiu continued, "However, what's done is done now, and there's no way to change it. It seems the system dungeons will have to be shut down, which must have a significant impact."

"It's definitely not small."

Before joining the Coordination Bureau, Shen Nian was just an ordinary person struggling at the bottom of society, and she was very clear about what the closure of the system instance meant.

Especially when the Architect in Nine Provinces are top-tier, even the most outstanding ones, are also incredibly bad.

Let me put it this way.

Without the system dungeons—even though she learned something from the Sekiro dungeons, she wouldn't have been able to farm enough Survival Points to complete the game through low-level system dungeons.

"That's troublesome----"

Looking at the announcement, Lu Xiu could already imagine the chaotic scene at the Coordination Bureau: "Will this have a big impact on top players as well?"

"Big."

This time, it wasn't Shen Nian who answered, but Jian Li, who had been silent all along. "Your dungeon is currently the most important task for the Strategy Group, and the rewards for your dungeon are also very attractive to top players."

However, the system dungeons remain irreplaceable—because they are currently the only confirmed source of Mythic Grade and Origin-level skills.

"Mythic Grade skills and Origin-level skills----"

Lu Xiu turned her head. "I was just about to ask—are these two skills higher-level than SSS skills? Are they very strong? The system dungeon actually drops them?"

Jian Li nodded slightly. "Very strong. Some of the Chosen Player ' talent skills are already Mythic Grade. As for the Root Skill —it's rumored to be a skill involving the underlying logic of the game world. System dungeons do produce it, but how to obtain it is still unclear."

Lu Xiu asked curiously, "Has anyone ever obtained one?"

Upon hearing this question...

Jian Li seemed taken aback for a moment, then gently pursed her lips. A very subtle stiffness suddenly appeared on her delicate face, and her previously calm and beautiful eyes suddenly surged with intense emotions, as if she were in some pain.

, final.

She didn't answer Lu Xiu, but turned her head back to look at the dishes on the table.

Lu Xiu blinked, thought for a moment, and decided not to press the matter. She sensed that Jian Li didn't really want to talk about it, so she decided not to force her.

But who's that powerful— the Root Skill?

I'm a little curious about the strength of this thing.

"----Please take your time."

Shen Nian appeared beside Jian Li without her noticing, silently brought her a bowl of soup, whispered a reminder, and then looked at her profile with a worried expression, hesitating for a moment before speaking.

However, she ultimately didn't say anything, but turned to look at Lu Xiu: "Actually, for top players, even without this reason, the closure of the system dungeon isn't a good thing. Your dungeon is very powerful, but fighting your Sifu for thirty days is still too much of a stretch."

"Indeed—so you mean I need to release a new copy?"

"?"

"I understand what you mean. How about creating a dungeon that a player might not be able to clear in thirty days?"

Lu Xiu looked thoughtful. "You reminded me that constantly fighting Sifu isn't the right thing to do. My original plan was to build the combat instance I mentioned to you before after Sifu, the one where you roll and fight the dragon. It was just postponed because of Jiang Qiu."

"?"

"I see!"

"You don't understand!"

Shen Nian quickly picked up a bowl of rice and shoved it into Lu Xiu's hands. "I didn't say anything! I absolutely didn't imply that you should do anything more torturous! Eat, my master!"

In her anxiety, Shen Nian started calling for her master.

Lu Xiu looked at Shen Nian, who had inexplicably become nervous, and was about to ask something.

A communication window popped up.

It comes from Yan Fushou.

Lu Xiu had no choice but to temporarily abandon the idea of asking Shen Nian and answered the call.

"Lu Xiu, did you see the latest system announcement?"

As soon as the call connected, Yan Fushou's deep, bubbly voice came through.

Who would have thought?

A bald man has this kind of voice----

"I saw it."

While inwardly complaining, Lu Xiu replied, "The system instance closing thirty days early is indeed a big problem. Is that why you came to me?"

Lu Xiu had already made preparations in her heart.

The Coordination Bureau will definitely have to consider the survival and stability of the entire Nine Provinces camp.

Now that all the low-level dungeons in the system have suddenly disappeared, countless ordinary players are about to face the desperate situation of having no dungeons to play—someone has to fill this void.

Yan Fushou on the other end of the communication was silent for two seconds before speaking, "Since you've seen it, I'll get straight to the point, Lu Xiu —in the next thirty days, if you have the capacity, could you, while ensuring quality, construct one or two more top-tier dungeons in the shortest possible time?"

"Top-tier dungeon?"

Lu Xiu paused slightly. "I thought you were going to have me do some low-difficulty dungeons as a last resort."

"I said it last time— Lu Xiu, even geniuses have things they need to do."

Yan Fushou took a deep breath. "Actually, some people suggested that you do some low-difficulty dungeons as a temporary measure, but the director and I both think that would be a waste of your talent. For ordinary players who have lost access to the system's low-level dungeons, the days ahead will indeed be difficult, but most people won't die."

For players who risk death if they lose access to lower-level dungeons, the Coordination Bureau will allocate some Survival Points to provide assistance.

Moreover, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for other Architect in Nine Provinces.

"After all, for other Architect in Nine Provinces, this is an absolute vacuum period with no competitors."

Yan Fushou for a moment, then continued, "In the past, with the system dungeons, ordinary players preferred to run low-level system dungeons rather than try and fail in low-level civilian dungeons. This meant that Architect had no room to survive or get feedback. But now the system has blocked this path, and countless players are in dire need of alternatives."

Let them handle the easier dungeons. If they still can't create an ecosystem during this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, then the Nine Provinces are truly doomed—if the system dungeons close again next time, and the time limit is extended."

Lu Xiu nodded slowly.

That's absolutely true.

"Furthermore, there's a severe shortage of top-tier community-run dungeons. The ban/pick mechanism in Cross-Realm Arena means your dungeon will be targeted, and the number of dungeons you've currently built—"

"Understood."

Lu Xiu pondered for a moment, then replied, "I will think about it carefully."

"Thank you for your help."

Yan Fushou spoke with a hint of solemnity, then proactively disconnected the connection.

The communication window is closed.

Lu Xiu began to eat while pondering.

Shen Nian realized at this moment that Lu Xiu was probably thinking about the new instance.

I will not make a sound to disturb you.

But looking at the girl in front of him shoveling rice into her mouth, Shen Nian couldn't help but feel a little dazed.

That's amazing!

The fate of Nine Provinces seemed to rest on her shoulders.

Others, faced with such Heavy Burden that's almost driving them mad, would probably be frantic with worry right now.

But she still had the appetite to be picky about food.

So Lu Xiu doesn't eat cilantro.