Chapter 8: System Update
“Great! After digging all day and excavating so many tunnels, I finally found this uncontaminated area. As long as I can develop the area ahead, I'll definitely strike it rich!”
In the tunnel barely wide enough for one person, Twilight of the Gods excitedly stroked the completely uncontaminated land, as if stroking gold, wishing he could rub his entire body against it.
“According to previous explorations, this uncontaminated area is very large. It can develop at least five hundred square meters of energy land. One square meter is one point, so five hundred points can be exchanged for one hundred blood essence rice seeds.”
“These blood essence rice seeds will yield two catties of blood essence rice in ten days when they mature, earning 2000 points. Deducting the ten-day rent for 400 square meters of land and providing the water myself, I can earn 1600 points.”
“With these 1600 points, I can exchange for 320 seeds. As long as I can develop enough energy land within the ten days of the first batch of blood essence rice, I can earn 5120 points next time. This way, in just one month, I can exchange for the middle volume of the Soul Shocking Breathing Method.”
“One month?” Wu Chang looked at Twilight of the Gods lying in the tunnel analyzing, and couldn't help but frown slightly, “Wouldn't that be too slow?”
After experiencing High Martial Descent for a day, she personally was extremely optimistic about it.
It could be said that High Martial Descent's virtual reality level completely surpassed Holy Land. Holy Land was already an old game that had been operating for seven years, and because its virtual reality level was only 70%, no matter how popular Holy Land was, it would face the problem of being replaced by other new games.
As one of the five major giant guilds in Holy Land, if Holy Land fell, Heaven's Might would fall with it. Therefore, Heaven's Might had also been searching for Holy Land's next replacement.
The game High Martial Descent could be said to be the most suitable one currently. Although High Martial Descent had a sci-fi style, it was also martial arts-centric like Holy Land, making it very suitable to become Holy Land's replacement.
When any large-scale virtual game opens its servers, being fast in the first step leads to being fast in every subsequent step. To catch up later, one often has to pay several, or even dozens of times the price.
As one of Heaven's Might's first pioneers, she naturally had to find a way to lay the foundation for Heaven's Might's future. After all, Heaven's Might was not the only giant-level guild in Holy Land. It was only a matter of time before the other guilds, and even guilds from other fighting games, discovered High Martial Descent. Therefore, she had to increase their advantages in High Martial Descent as much as possible.
“Wu Jie, this isn't slow anymore,” Twilight of the Gods said, adjusting his non-existent glasses, “According to my estimation, High Martial Descent is still in its initial testing phase. The next time game slots are increased, it should be in over a month. By then, we'll have the middle volume of the Soul Shocking Breathing Method, which will give us a big lead over latecomers.”
“Alright, call Fang Zhen over later and develop this area together. I'll go search for new uncontaminated areas.” Wu Chang nodded, understanding that this kind of thing was indeed difficult to speed up.
blood essence rice has a ten-day maturation period, and developing land also requires a lot of manpower to dig. It's not something that can be done in one or two weeks. To speed things up, we can only search for more uncontaminated land underground.
After speaking, Wu Chang directly closed her eyes, calmed her mind, and used her body to sense the pollution radiation, looking for places where the radiation weakened.
“Hmm?”
Wu Chang had only taken a few steps when she was interrupted by the System prompt sound in her mind.
System: High Martial Descent System updated. Players can open their personal interface to view their own data.
System: Due to the excessive number of reserved players, the test experience slots are limited. To also ensure the professionalism of the game test, all pre-purchased players can participate in the High Martial Descent assessment test. Players who pass the assessment test will have a greater probability of entering High Martial Descent to play.
“Holy crap! How did this game update so quickly!” Twilight of the Gods couldn't help but curse as he looked at the System prompt.
He had just said that the next time the game slots would be increased would be in over a month, but the System updated at this moment. It was foreseeable that the next increase in High Martial Descent slots would probably not require a month at all.
“Players who pass the assessment test have a greater probability of entering the game?” Wu Chang's tightly furrowed brows couldn't help but relax slightly. She had a plan in mind. “Professionalism, this is a good opportunity. When I go back today, I'll have all those idle guys in the guild come and give it a try. If they pass the assessment and enter the game, it'll be a gain.”
Since a martial arts-centric game needs to take professional testing into account, it goes without saying that it requires combat experts. For Heaven's Might, which respects martial arts, this is a great opportunity for a large number of its members to enter High Martial Descent.
“So it turns out that just by digging in this game, you can also increase your attributes?”
Fang Zhen, who had just walked into the cave, looked at his attribute panel with a surprised expression at this moment. His enthusiasm and motivation for daily tasks instantly increased greatly.
Player: Fang Zhen.
Martial Arts Level: Provisional Apprentice
Strength: 77.4 kg (+1.4)
Speed: 7.4 meters per second (+0.1)
Exercise Method: Soul Shocking Breathing Method (Not Learned)
Previously, Fang Zhen had some opinions on how High Martial Descent improved attributes, feeling it was very unsuitable for a professional player like him. After all, just logging in to earn points already took a lot of time, and learning exercise methods also required a large amount of time to study. He had to say, this game was too realistic.
With very limited daily online time, he would definitely develop a gap with players who were online all day, and this gap would be continuously amplified.
However, he wasn't in a hurry now. He could still improve his attributes without learning exercise methods. For him, who didn't have much time to learn exercise methods, this was a huge piece of good news.
As for the matter of long-term underground development leading to poisoning and death, it was nothing more than being a bit expensive. But considering the future achievement of becoming a top professional player, this wasn't a big problem.
These resurrection fees could be completely regarded as initial investment for doing business, and by continuously developing land, he could also earn quite a few Martial Hall points.
It was simply a great win-win situation!
Fang Zhen's live stream room also exploded at this time.
“What's going on? I just slept, and this game updated its version? How much did I miss?”
“It seems this game is really going to be popular, there are so many reservations.”
“Damn! What kind of nested game is this? I paid money, and now I still have to take an assessment test? What was the point of me paying? A paid qualification assessment?”
“Get lost! Don't try to fool me into leaving the queue. Developer, I'll add money, hurry up and let me in. I'm a professional at digging holes. As long as you dare to let me in, I'll dig out an ancient Babylon for you.”
Everyone looked at the announcement issued by High Martial Descent, and for a time there was a lot of chatter, with all sorts of things being said. However, not a single person chose to quit, and even more people paid to reserve. This was because everyone watching Fang Zhen dig could see very clearly that the virtual reality level was truly terrifyingly high. With every shovel, not only could they see the sweat dripping from his body, but they could also hear the crisp sound of the shovel hitting numerous gravel. This sense of realism was clear just by watching on the screen. This was a masterpiece, the new future of the gaming world.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Just as Fang Zhen was digging vigorously in the cave, a series of drumming roars came directly from outside the cave. Even Lin Qi, who was in the training hall, was startled by this sudden sound.
“What's going on?”
This was the first time Lin Qi had encountered such a sudden roar.
Outside the Obsidian Martial Hall, on the dilapidated street, more and more people had gathered at some point. Judging by their clothing and appearance, these people could be said to be standard Black Household Drifters. Each of them had a nervous expression, holding various weapons in their hands, and were quickly running towards one place. The atmosphere was indescribably heavy.
“Little brother in the Martial Hall, aren't you going over quickly?” A one-eyed middle-aged man passing by the Obsidian Martial Hall saw Lin Qi still standing inside the Martial Hall and couldn't help but ask in surprise, “If you don't go now, it'll be too late!”
“Too late? Big brother, is something happening over there?” Lin Qi asked curiously.
“Little brother, are you new to this area?” The one-eyed middle-aged man couldn't help but size up Lin Qi.
“Yes, I've only been living here for a little over ten days.” Lin Qi nodded, not hiding anything, or rather, he couldn't hide it, as he had no idea what that roaring sound meant.
“I see.” The one-eyed middle-aged man wasn't surprised and explained, “Then now, take whatever weapon you can, and come with me. It'll be too late if we delay any further. Now, there are drifters from other tribes running here, trying to occupy our area. If we can't stop them, we'll all have to move out of this area then.”