Goes Live

I won't be able to have dinner with you anymore.

At the dinner table.

Shen Nian, holding the bowl, suddenly looked at Lu Xiu and whispered something.

Jian Li nodded slightly.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiu looked at the two people in front of her and felt a little uneasy.

She found herself actually getting used to this kind of scene.

----I don't know why, but ever since the two of them came here last time, it seems like they've naturally made this place their base, and they come to see her almost every day.

but.

This appears to be the last one before the new version stabilizes.

Lu Xiu took a bite of rice and asked curiously, "Because of the new version?"

"Um.

Shen Nian nodded, then, holding the bowl in one hand, tucked her neat, shoulder-length short hair behind her ear. "The Strategy Group needs to be coordinated. After this meal, we'll have to go back to the Coordination Bureau to wait for orders. Once the new version is released, we might be among the first players to enter the arena."

Jian Li looked at Lu Xiu and said softly, "Don't leave. The new version's mechanics are unclear. If unexpected situations arise—don't hesitate, prioritize your own safety."

I think you should worry about yourself more.

Lu Xiu smiled and said, "Thank you anyway."

Jian Li looked at Lu Xiu's smiling face, pursed her lips, and nodded again.

soon.

The three of them then finished their meal.

After washing the dishes and tidying up, Shen Nian said goodbye and left with Jian Li.

Lu Xiu watched the two leave and then closed the door.

Then, looking at the suddenly quiet apartment, she felt, to be honest, a little uneasy.

Even before this, she had always lived alone and was used to the quiet of solitude.

At first, she was a little disgusted when she saw Shen Nian Jian Li knocking on the door.

After all, the two of them had already cleared the Witch Instance and reversed the ending, so what was the point of coming here again? Besides, whether in her past life or this life, she has always been a person with a very narrow social circle.

She's not very good at handling close interpersonal relationships.

This goes without saying for completely transgender communication.

But after spending more time with her, she found that she wasn't bad at all.

"Does this mean I've made a friend?"

Lu Xiu smiled and then stretched.

She herself wasn't really sure.

However, there seems to be no need to think about it so clearly.

Just let things take their natural course.

Right now, the most important thing is to focus all our energy on the upcoming new version.

Thinking of this, Lu Xiu lowered her hand, summoned the System Panel, and re-entered the Construction Space.

At the same time.

With only twenty-odd hours left until the new version goes live.

There's been a lot of discussion about it on the forum.

Actually, there have already been quite a few cases since just a few days ago.

But the last few days were especially busy.

[Only twenty hours left!! Can anyone tell me how this Cross-Realm Arena is supposed to work? Is it one-on-one or group battles?]

[Based on the rules revealed so far, it should be a one-on-one battle, right? I just don't know how the unofficial dungeons will function, or how the unofficial dungeons at Prison Rock will be.]

[I'm panicking! I haven't been to any system dungeons for a month. Lately, the only decent unofficial dungeons I've encountered seem to be the Witch's Prison Rock. How's the Prison Rock dungeon? Are we just going to be grinding good unofficial dungeons every day? We can't possibly beat that!]

[I'm worried too—the worst thing is when the shoe hasn't dropped yet.]

[I'm in the Old Sea, and lately I see frontline soldiers everywhere. Have they abandoned the front lines?]

[To ensure nothing goes wrong, as far as I know, the cities near the front lines are all fine, and the front lines should be able to hold—it's a new version, and now we know it's an arena, but we don't know the specifics of how it will be fought, which is making everyone very anxious.]

[Can we really beat them?]

[Since this arena battle is related to Lu Xiu's instance, I choose to trust Lu Xiu! I think this could be the deciding factor!]

[But I'm worried that the Architect on the other side, Prison Rock, is just as freakish as Lu Xiu. Since they were matched together, there must be some similarities, right? Otherwise, why would they be matched together?]

[Equally insane? Then what's the point of fighting? Let's shake hands and make peace, and start fighting the Architect!]

[Don't even mention it! You guys really shouldn't say this! Since the levels are the same! Maybe the other player's Architect is really that freakish, or maybe the player is just freakish----]

On the forum.

Players expressed a variety of speculations, anxieties, jokes, and unease.

Compared to Prison Rock.

This is the first time Nine Provinces has faced such an event.

Such a reaction is normal.

But besides these people, many more had already made preparations.

Large guilds, frontline soldiers, or even top players outside the established systems—for true powerhouses, the unknown Cross-Realm Arena is actually an unprecedented and rare opportunity, given how tempting the rewards revealed by the system are.

Longsword Guild Headquarters.

Jiang Qiu carefully checked the last list of personnel. After confirming that all the core members of the guild would be available and ready to go when the countdown reached zero, she let out a soft breath, turned off the communication panel in front of her, then picked up a hair tie, gathered her long, loose hair behind her back, and neatly tied it into a high ponytail, revealing her fair neck.

Chen Capital.

A private Training Ground.

Du Shu was dressed in a traditional white training uniform, which made him look thin and even a little frail.

But the next moment.

Bang!

He slammed his fist heavily into the specially made sandbag in front of him, causing the entire sandbag to shake violently and leaving a clear fist mark on its surface.

It's completely unbelievable that such an astonishing explosive power could erupt from that frail body.

Du Shu withdrew his fist and casually wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Next.

He summoned the System Panel, looked at the countdown timer flashing on it, and suddenly laughed, "Hurry up—I can't wait to have a proper martial arts exchange with the people from another world!"

"I've been training in the Sifu's instance for so long! It's finally time to put my skills to the test!"

Four Continents.

Han Chi, wearing a dark trench coat, stood silently on the high steps, watching the soldiers methodically inspecting the props.

The evening breeze made his trench coat flutter loudly.

He slowly raised his head, his gaze passing over the soldiers and looking towards the distant horizon shrouded in the deep night.

Everyone is waiting.

Waiting for the countdown to reach zero, waiting for the new version to arrive.

Time flies.

The night outside the window gradually faded, and dawn broke.

Then, without realizing it, the clock had already pointed to near noon.

"Call----"

Lu Xiu exited the Construction Space, first summoning the System Panel to check the time, and found that there were still three minutes left.

She rummaged through the kitchen, then, biting into a piece of bread for breakfast, went to the French windows in the living room and looked outside.

The sun is shining brightly outside.

The frontline soldiers downstairs still stood like statues, ready for battle.

The vast majority of people in the entire Chen Capital, and even throughout the entire Nine Provinces, are waiting.

More than twenty hours have passed.

But those last three minutes seemed exceptionally long.

Two minutes.

One minute.

Thirty seconds.

Ten seconds----

The instant the countdown jumps to [00:00:00].

A terrifying roar, seemingly capable of tearing the heavens apart, suddenly echoed through the sky.

Immediately afterwards, a white beam of light shot down from the void without warning.

This beam of light not only appeared in the sky above Chen Capital, but also in the sky above the capital city of Prison Rock, illuminating the vision of all players in both areas.

You can see it clearly no matter where you are.

Immediately following, the system's cold, booming notification sound, accompanied by a pop-up window, resounded simultaneously in everyone's minds.

[New Expansion Preview: "Iron and Blood" Version Officially Launched.]

[Cross-Realm Arena Gameplay Now Available.]

[This area's opponent, Prison Rock (IV)]

[Rule 1: On the day the version is released----]

Detailed and complex rules were released one by one.

The players hadn't had time to fully digest the complex rules.

Immediately afterwards.

A new window popped up.

[The Cross-Realm Arena is loading!]

[Current Event Mode: City Battle!]

[Chen Capital, the core city of Nine Provinces.]

[Obsidian City of Prison Rock.]

[Combat zones are being generated between the two sides!]

As the system notification sounded, the vast white pillar of light in the sky above Chen Capital instantly exploded, transforming into countless smaller pillars of light that fell upon the streets, buildings, and squares of Chen Capital City.

Each beam of light that falls will forcibly create a separate combat zone in the real city.

From a bird's-eye view, the entire Chen Capital was instantly sliced into thousands upon thousands of cocoons of light, large and small.

The same is true of Obsidian City in Prison Rock.

Immediately afterwards.

Another window popped up.

[Thirty minutes later]

[All players enter the matchmaking pool. The system will match players across two zones based on their rank and overall combat power rating.]

Players can choose to attack or defend.

[Offensive teams will be prioritized for matchmaking in Obsidian City, while defensive teams will be prioritized for matchmaking in Chen Capital.]

[After matchmaking is complete, a certain number of instances will be randomly selected from the defender's pool of unofficial instances as candidate scenarios, which will then be banned/picked by both the attacking and defending sides.]

[The number of players in combat will be determined by the maximum capacity of the final selected instance. Victory conditions, aside from the undeniable elimination of all enemy players, will be generated by the system based on the instance's content.]

[After the battle ends, the victorious player can Plunder the defeated player. Based on the dungeon's rating, the defeated player will randomly lose corresponding items, equipment, and skills (e. g., in an A-level dungeon, the defeated player will randomly lose A-level items, equipment, or skills, and a large number of Survival Points will be deducted from their account and given to the victorious player based on the rating. If the defeated player cannot pay for the corresponding rating's assets, they will be forcibly converted into Survival Points proportionally.)]

[If the defending player is defeated within their home territory, the corresponding real-world city map will immediately fall under enemy control. During the 30-day arena event, the defending team can launch a recapture operation to reclaim the lost territory.]

[If the 30-day arena period ends and the territory is still occupied, it will completely belong to the enemy, who will then be able to Plunder the area.]

[Thirty days----]

Inside the apartment.

Lu Xiu bit into her bread, looking at the window in front of her that was now giving her a choice: whether to be the attacker or the defender. Her beautiful eyes widened slightly.

This is not what I imagined.

----A battleground version of conquering cities and territories???