The Players arrived

Boom!

In an instant, heaven and earth seemed to hum.

Qin Shujian felt his heart sink, as though boundless pressure were bearing down on him from some unseen source.

This strange sensation forced him to leave the Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness.

Inside Liangshan Stronghold.

The blazing sun hung high overhead. Yet stars flickered into view across a sky that should have been clear for thousands of miles.

Qin Shujian emerged from the Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness just in time to witness it.

Starlight wreathed the stars across the heavens, complementing the radiance of the sun and filling the entire firmament.

Otherworlders have arisen in answer to destiny, descending into this world from beyond the heavens!

A system notification arrived, but Qin Shujian had no time to pay attention to it.

Before his eyes, the stars across the heavens seemed to fall all at once, turning into countless meteors that plunged toward the earth.

Watching the stars fall, Qin Shujian seemed to glimpse something profoundly mysterious. The Body Tempering Scripture he had been practicing actually began to circulate uncontrollably.

Boom!

A soundless thunder.

Qin Shujian felt his body shudder, as though some hidden barrier within him had been opened. Warm currents surged endlessly from his limbs and bones, gathering toward his abdomen.

His blood gradually began to boil.

Once the warm currents gathered beneath his abdomen, they circled only a few times before abruptly dispersing, returning to every part of his body.

At that moment, Qin Shujian felt as though the connections between every part of his body had become incomparably tight.

Inspired by witnessing the falling stars, you have advanced your Body Tempering Scripture to the fifth layer!

You have mastered the Body Tempering Scripture, triggering the passive skill: Force Follows Will!

Force Follows Will: Your force moves with your thoughts, allowing you to kill unseen with a flick of your finger!

By then, the spectacle of falling stars was gradually subsiding.

"Mastered the Body Tempering Scripture? Force Follows Will?" Qin Shujian studied the system notifications, astonished.

He had never expected to reach the fifth layer of the Body Tempering Scripture, the advancement he had long yearned for, at the very moment the Players arrived.

This was also the first time he had achieved progress through his own cultivation rather than by using life source.

Thinking of the Force Follows Will mentioned by the system, Qin Shujian considered the skill.

He closed his eyes slightly, sensing the subtle changes within his body.

A few seconds later, he opened his eyes and looked at a moderately sized stone nearby.

Then!

He flicked his finger!

A streak of force shot from his fingertip and struck the stone.

With a soft crack, a small pit appeared in its surface.

At the sight, Qin Shujian understood.

"In the past, my body needed time to coordinate whenever I attacked before I could unleash my full strength. But now that I've mastered the Body Tempering Scripture, force exists throughout my body. Wherever my thoughts direct it, I can exert my full power."

The benefits of this were far from trivial.

No matter how quickly he coordinated his body's strength, there would always be a slight delay.

In a clash between experts, a single delay could determine victory or defeat—even life or death.

Precisely because of this, Qin Shujian understood just how useful this passive skill was.

He checked his attributes again.

Name: Qin Shujian

Identity: Stronghold chief of Liangshan

Affiliated faction: Liangshan Stronghold

Realm: Entering martial sixth layer (within Liangshan Stronghold's territory, realm +1)

Cultivation methods: Body Tempering Scripture, mastered (Force Follows Will) (mortal tier, low grade); Black Tiger Saber Technique (peak perfection), mortal tier, middle grade

Life source: 8

Equipment: Ninth-rank weapon, Tiger Head Saber; ninth-rank armor, Tiger Hide Outfit (Tiger Hide Coat, Tiger Hide Trousers, Tiger Hide Belt, Tiger Hide Boots)

Now that he had mastered the Body Tempering Scripture, Force Follows Will had been added after it.

With the faction bonus, his realm had also risen directly to entering martial sixth layer.

"Someone, come here!"

Gathering his thoughts, Qin Shujian shouted.

Wang Tiezhu immediately came at his call and said respectfully, "Chief!"

"Take a few of our brothers and investigate exactly how many Otherworlders there are within Liangshan, and see whether anything has changed in the surrounding area."

"Yes, Chief."

In a moderately sized village, a dense shower of stars fell, transforming into humans dressed in coarse linen clothing.

There were men and women!

There were old and young!

The scene immediately became a clamor.

"Whoa! This game feels so real. I doubt any game in the country can compare to it in realism!"

Lu Shoujia pinched his arm. The sharp sensation of pain immediately registered in his mind, making him suck in a breath.

As he breathed, a faint freshness entered his nostrils, leaving him relaxed and refreshed.

Lu Shoujia soon collected himself.

The first thing he did was check his attributes.

After a while, Lu Shoujia finished examining them and frowned deeply. "There's no standard level system, no experience bar, and almost none of the attributes other games usually have.

Martial entry, layer 0. That seems to be this world's level system.

But without an experience bar, does that mean you can't level up by killing monsters in this world? Or is it just hidden?"

He was rather confused.

Before the game's open beta, the developers had revealed no information whatsoever.

As a result, practically everyone who entered the game, including him, was completely in the dark.

But his years of extensive gaming experience allowed Lu Shoujia to immediately set aside his doubts and turn his attention to the village surroundings.

By his reckoning, this should be the Novice Village.

And a Novice Village would usually have tutorials, or even beginner quests.

These tutorials and quests would not be laid out in plain sight. Players would have to take the initiative to trigger them themselves.

Within Lu Shoujia's field of vision, quite a few Players had already left their starting spots.

Some tried to strike up conversations with passing villagers, while others simply left the village.

After a moment's consideration, Lu Shoujia headed toward a guard standing at the village entrance.

Quite a few Players had already surrounded the guard, bombarding him with all sorts of remarks in an attempt to trigger a quest or obtain useful information.

"Hello, is there anything I can help you with?" Lu Shoujia squeezed his way to the guard with some effort and asked the familiar question out of habit.

The guard glanced at him and shook his head. "You're too weak to help me."

There were no surprises.

The guard's reply was the same as the ones he had given the other Players.

Lu Shoujia did not lose heart. Instead, he continued, "Then how can I become stronger, and what would it take for me to help you?"

The guard paused at his words.

Meanwhile, Lu Shoujia quietly withdrew from the crowd of Players.

Just then, he had received a system notification.

Village guard Chen Ermu seems to have some troubles. You wish to help resolve them, but unfortunately, you lack the strength!

Your enthusiasm has moved Chen Ermu. He tells you that the Martial Arts Hall in the village offers an opportunity to improve your strength. Once you are strong enough, you can return to him!

Quest: The First Step!

Requirement: Reach entering martial first layer. No penalty for failure. Accept?

Seeing this, Lu Shoujia accepted without hesitation.

He then headed into the village to find the Martial Arts Hall mentioned in the quest notification.