Preparations Before Launch

Time passed quickly, and it was almost time to open the servers. Across the two worlds, no fewer than five million players had signed up for the closed beta.

Fortunately, Cheng Jue had the foresight to connect the servers to the World Tree Supercomputer System early on. Otherwise, real-world servers would not have been able to handle so many people.

While the two worlds were busy promoting the virtual game, Cheng Jue was still occupied with the matter of the players' arrival.

After carefully considering the process, Cheng Jue realized something had been overlooked. This was the Primordial World. Although the Heavenly Dao had yet to awaken, not just any stowaway could casually enter the Primordial World.

If Cheng Jue did not solve this problem, the players summoned by Cheng Jue would receive the same treatment as a second Shen Ni. Although players were the Fourth Calamity, Cheng Jue did not want the opportunity painstakingly devised to die before it could even begin.

Cheng Jue had also thought of a solution: when players arrived, the Human Dao Jade Disc would imprint a Humanity Mark upon their souls.

It was like a major company in the Primordial World. Heaven, Earth, and Humanity were three factions, each with its own leader and faction token.

At present, Humanity's leader was Cheng Jue, while its token was the Human Dao Jade Disc. By placing a Humanity Mark in every arriving player's soul, Cheng Jue was essentially giving the players the backing of Humanity, one of the Primordial World's three great powers. From then on, the players would be employees under Humanity.

But when Cheng Jue thought about having to use the Human Dao Jade Disc to imprint every single arriving player, a headache began to form. A thousand players were manageable for now, but the numbers would certainly grow in the future. What then?

"Ah, I don't have to do it personally. I just need to make a rigid program to help me..."

After a moment's thought, Cheng Jue had an idea. "I can make an entrance animation when they log in. I can also add a character customization system while I'm at it."

"Since there will be a character customization system, there should also be a stat allocation system. The stats will be attack, defense, speed, health, and stamina."

"Of course, aside from those five basic attributes, there will be other Hidden Attributes, such as agility and luck. These attributes can also unlock certain hidden classes."

"Oh, and there needs to be a currency system." Cheng Jue thought of Geo Archon Zhongli, who had created the first gold coin, Mora, some time ago.

For this, the Primordial World's heavens and earth had even bestowed a stream of Merit upon Zhongli as a reward.

Originally, it had not been a particularly significant matter. However, after carefully studying Mora, Cheng Jue discovered that it was not merely a crystallization of Geo energy. It was more like a crystallization of the world's elements and the collective will of all beings.

In other words, Mora did not necessarily have to be made with Geo energy. Other elements could work as well; Geo energy merely had a considerable advantage.

What was the use of the collective will of all beings? Cheng Jue first thought of the incense-and-divinity path and the Western system of ascending to godhood through faith. From this, it could be inferred that the collective will of all beings functioned like experience points.

That gave Mora a role similar to spirit stones in cultivation novels. Yet unlike spirit stones, the cost of using Mora for players to level themselves up would be far too great.

Cheng Jue's idea was for Mora to upgrade weapons, purchase special materials, or be used for class-change items, such as high-purity elemental crystals. Since Mora was also a form of elemental crystal, exchanging it for high-purity elemental crystals was merely a difference in quality and quantity.

This would also prevent the economic system from collapsing, because Mora was not simply currency. It also carried some of the functions of spirit stones from cultivation novels.

Some time ago, Cheng Jue had also sent Skadi to Mondstadt to dispatch some low-level professionals from the Elf Forest. These people would become the players' future class instructors, though they would only teach basic classes.

As for the Elf Forest, it was the forest where Cheng Jue resided and would also become the future beginner village.

Ever since Cheng Jue had destroyed one of Shen Ni's incarnations, Cheng Jue had always felt somewhat uneasy.

Cheng Jue estimated that Shen Ni had likely set his sights on him. Yet why Shen Ni had not come looking for him remained a mystery that Cheng Jue could not understand no matter how much he thought about it.

It was only after Cheng Jue began refining the Human Dao Jade Disc that he understood why Shen Ni had not come for him after that incarnation was destroyed: Cheng Jue had used the Human Dao Jade Disc at the time.

In other words, it was Humanity Dao that had destroyed Shen Ni's incarnation, not Cheng Jue.

If Cheng Jue had used the Hongmeng Measuring Heaven Ruler at the time, although the ruler could kill without staining its wielder with karma, that was not absolute. In this case, the ruler's Merit had taken on the karma of destroying Shen Ni. With enough effort, Shen Ni could still have traced Cheng Jue's location.

But in reality, Cheng Jue had used the Human Dao Jade Disc. The karma had been transferred to Humanity Dao, and Humanity Dao was one of the Primordial World's three paths of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. That was effectively the same as transferring it to the Primordial World itself.

What weapon in the world could truly kill without incurring karma? Such weapons merely served as a means of warding off disaster. If the slain person's karma was too immense, even a supreme Merit treasure would be unable to bear it.

Shen Ni was the perfect example. As the protagonist of the Primordial World's first calamity, the Beast Calamity, how could the Hongmeng Measuring Heaven Ruler possibly bear that karma? In the end, it would return it to its user. The Human Dao Jade Disc was different; the karma of those it killed would be borne by the Primordial World's heavens and earth.

Of course, the Human Dao Jade Disc could only destroy Lifeforms harmful to the Primordial World's heavens and earth, or those caught up in a calamity, such as Shen Ni.

When Cheng Jue first learned this, he felt as though he had been repeatedly probing the gates of hell.

Luckily, I wanted to test the Human Dao Jade Disc's power after obtaining it. Otherwise, Shen Ni might have come knocking. At least, not yet. Cheng Jue thought. I'm only a Taiyi Golden Immortal right now. Shen Ni is at least a Daluo, and not merely an incarnation. I'm probably no match for him at all.

But while Cheng Jue was troubled, he thought of his recent plan to place Humanity Marks on the players. Perhaps he could make some adjustments there.

After some tinkering, Cheng Jue successfully upgraded the Humanity Mark to version 2.0.

The upgraded Human Dao Jade Disc gained one notable function: any karma produced when players killed in the future would be transferred to the Human Dao Jade Disc. Thinking about it this way, the Human Dao Jade Disc was the true weapon for killing without incurring karma.

When the future calamity began, the players would become a force not to be underestimated.

To allow the players to develop smoothly during the beginner phase, Cheng Jue made several rounds through the Elf Forest, checking for threats beyond the early players' ability and eliminating them. Naturally, all of this was to ensure that Cheng Jue's "game" plan proceeded smoothly.

Cheng Jue also specifically inspected what resources this beginner village possessed, making it easier to formulate the initial beginner quests.

After making a round, Cheng Jue did not find a single monster above level 40 or the Core Formation stage. It made sense: the Elf Forest lay deep within the Grotto-Heaven World. Powerful monsters were blocked at the outermost edges, while the rest roamed beyond the Seven Nations.

With all the inspections complete, Cheng Jue nodded in satisfaction. Cheng Jue once again sank his consciousness into the Human Dao Jade Disc and ran the game system he had developed one final time in his mind. After confirming there were no issues,

Cheng Jue looked toward the canopy, where a thousand white fruits hung. These were the player bodies specially prepared for the players.

The bodies had already matured. All that remained was to finalize the player candidates and prepare for those little darlings to arrive.

My little leeks, are you ready?

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