Chapter 239: This Game Finally Couldn’t Resist Going Pay-to-win!
When he was ten meters away, Lin Qi only took a small step, and a spiritual force like a great hammer slammed into his mental domain. He immediately felt a splitting headache as blood flowed from his seven orifices, and he hurriedly retreated.
“So that is how it is. No wonder advanced martial artist players die in an instant when they step in.” Lin Qi clutched his head, staring in shock at the arm inside the transparent container.
Although he had already tried to overestimate the arm inside the container, only when he truly stepped within ten meters did he realize he had still underestimated that arm, and underestimated the methods of the Star Energy Civilization.
The Star Energy Civilization used the transparent container to store the arm not to block the spiritual shock of the arm inside, but to block external observation.
That transparent container was not truly transparent, but something like a display screen that could show the items inside the container.
Within his omniscient domain, even though it lasted only for an instant,
the thing within the crack of the container was simply indescribable.
The amount of information in that instant nearly burst his head. By contrast, that kind of mental shock was nothing to him. It was only because his spirit was extraordinary and his reactions extremely fast that he immediately retreated at the first moment, cutting off the immense information that was automatically pouring in; otherwise, he would have died on the spot just like the players.
“A ten-meter zone where life is forbidden. This is really a divine weapon for screwing people over. Even someone at the level of the City Lord, if they fail to react in time, would probably die instantly. If the container were completely destroyed, several kilometers around would likely become a forbidden zone for life.” Lin Qi looked at that arm, and many ideas formed in his heart.
He then summoned some players and had them find tools to carry this arm from beyond ten meters away into the rear carriage of a large transport vehicle. He also had all kinds of instruments and other monster remains inside the rock wall loaded into another transport vehicle, preparing to bring everything back to the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.
Originally, Lin Qi had planned to hide this arm, preferably in the branch hall he intended to establish. Normally, it could be used as a mental training room for players and Martial Arts Hall Guard Corps disciples. After all, the arm’s value was too high; it would be troublesome if someone else took it.
But after sensing the danger of this arm, he understood that this danger was also a weapon. If used well, this arm could become the strongest trump card of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.
If Isaac told the Smiling Skull about the secret and the Smiling Skull’s army attacked, he could simply flip the table. At that time, he could have the players lure the enemy deep, then destroy the container to give Smiling Skull a surprise.
City of Light Chasing, basement of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.
“The effect of dying this time is really good.” Twilight of the Gods watched the speed of improvement in his cultivation of the mental secret technique, his eyes shining. “If I die a few more times, reaching first level perfection in my mental secret technique might really not be that hard.”
At present, among the two major secret techniques cultivated by players, the one that boosts combat power the most is undoubtedly the Body Strengthening Secret Technique. It allows the body’s toughness to surpass monsters of the same level, with astonishing recovery power, and has already become a compulsory course for all players.
And because the Body Strengthening Secret Technique had been developed, a group of players who loved hand-to-hand combat would often go into the wilderness to brawl with monsters, enjoying the feeling of fists hitting flesh. It had now even become a mainstream gameplay choice for many new players.
Although he was not interested in unarmed combat, the Body Strengthening Secret Technique was something he would push as high as possible.
However, the further one went with the Body Strengthening Secret Technique, the harder it became to cultivate, and the higher the requirements for control of internal force. To improve control of internal force, the level of the mental secret technique was crucial. The mental secret technique even provided considerable help in improving the cultivation method. So any top player was looking for ways to raise their proficiency in the mental secret technique.
Unfortunately, cultivating the mental secret technique was not easy. It was a slow grind, and it was impossible to speed it up.
Right now, dying twice to cultivate the mental secret technique had more than doubled the efficiency. If one could die a few more times, it was unimaginable how fast cultivation of the mental secret technique could become.
Because of this, Fang Zhen and Saiwai Qiangke, who had both recently resurrected, were also extremely excited, especially as internal force burst out from Fang Zhen’s body. He spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, yet his face was filled with ecstasy.
“Brother Zhen, did you succeed?” Saiwai Qiangke looked at the greatly increased aura of Fang Zhen in surprise.
He had only felt such momentum from Luo Wu Shang. Clearly, Fang Zhen had also cultivated the second level of the Body Strengthening Secret Technique. Combined with his advanced martial artist level, his combat power could definitely rank in the top three in the game.
“It is all thanks to the improvement in the mental secret technique, which greatly increased my control over internal force. Otherwise, cultivating this second level of the Body Strengthening Secret Technique would have taken a lot more time.” Fang Zhen nodded, the confidence in his gaze returning to what it had been.
Previously, because of Luo Wu Shang and Ye Qinglu, their mecha team had already fallen to the second tier, even inferior to the later-rising Mythical Paradise.
The main reason was that in their team, no one had mastered an Extraordinary Martial Skill capable of matching the power of a Bone Forging Realm boss.
Now, as the leader, he had finally cultivated the second level of the Body Strengthening Secret Technique, and his physical toughness was no weaker than a high-level monster. Although he was still not at the point where he, like Luo Wu Shang and Ye Qinglu, could directly repel a Bone Forging Realm boss head-on, at least he was presentable and could withstand a few frontal blows.
At this moment, Twilight of the Gods also looked at Fang Zhen with some envy. The second level of the Body Strengthening Secret Technique was extremely difficult to cultivate. Once it was achieved, combined with B6-grade battle armor, one would possess the strength to withstand a Bone Forging Realm opponent head-on.
“We have already wasted a lot of time. Let’s hurry over. Deals like this are rare in the game.” Fang Zhen stood up, wanting to go to the White Feather Gang stronghold to die a few more times. By then, surpassing Luo Wu Shang with the Body Strengthening Secret Technique would not be impossible.
Twilight of the Gods and Saiwai Qiangke both nodded, feeling somewhat impatient.
Although they were indeed masters in the current High Martial Arts Descend, they also understood that this was only for now. Compared to a top expert like Luo Wu Shang, they were far worse in talent. This was obvious just from looking at martial skills.
Now that there was such a bug, it was the best chance for ordinary game experts like them to catch up.
But just as the three of them walked out of the basement, they saw transport vehicles parked outside the martial arts hall courtyard, and Lin Qi stepping down. Lin Qi was currently instructing martial artist players to secretly carry a large box. The box was supported by alloy long tubes, and the martial artist players carrying it all kept a distance of more than ten meters, with no one allowed to come near.
“They fixed the bug this fast? I only got two rounds in!” Twilight of the Gods stared blankly at the large box being carried into the martial arts hall.
Even if he were stupid, he could tell that the arm must be inside that box. Otherwise, there was no need to make such a fuss and deliberately maintain a ten-meter separation.
“This is normal. If they do not fix a bug like this, everyone would become invincible.” Fang Zhen smiled wryly. “But we have been lucky enough. At least our cultivation of the mental secret technique will be much faster from now on.”
“This probably is not a bug. I suspect that speeding up cultivation of the mental secret technique is actually the reward for this random event.” Twilight of the Gods shook his head and sighed. “It is a pity I reacted a bit slowly. If I could have died one more time, it would have been great. What a loss.”
But before the three had chatted for long, a commotion broke out in front of the announcement board at the martial arts hall training ground, drawing their curiosity and leading them over to check.
They saw players packed tightly around the announcement board, so dense that they could not squeeze in. Yi Ye Fu Yun squeezed out from the crowd, his expression excited, his grin reaching his ears.
“Yi Ye, what is going on? Why are you so happy?” Fang Zhen looked at the excited Yi Ye Fu Yun and asked curiously.
“The game has opened a new map again!” Yi Ye Fu Yun said excitedly. “The new map is called the Mountain of the Dead. According to the hall master, the Mountain of the Dead connects to other areas. Any disciple who masters the new martial arts hall secret technique can freely explore the Mountain of the Dead. The Mountain of the Dead’s level is even higher than the wilderness area. If we can discover the stronghold of the Smiling Skull faction, we can obtain trade and commerce rights to travel to other areas.”
“Connects to other areas? And you can get trade and commerce rights with other areas? Are you sure you did not misread it?” Fang Zhen looked at Yi Ye Fu Yun, feeling that this new map update was too exaggerated.
Previously, new maps were already good if they allowed them to stroll around. Now, the newly opened map could not only be freely explored, but even granted trade and commerce rights with other areas. The game’s actions were no longer ordinary; it was clearly intending to overturn the existing game structure.
Leaving aside that this new map only required mastering a new secret technique to enter freely, the mere fact that its level was higher than the wilderness area meant terrifying wealth. The higher the map level, the greater the profit in all aspects, not to mention the trade and commerce rights with other areas.
This meant players could do business with NPCs in other regions. That was revolutionary.
Previously, while players could do merchant escort runs, those runs were more like acting as guards, just accompanying NPCs everywhere to earn some hard money. True expert players were not interested; only sightseeing players and newcomers would take those merchant escort tasks to earn some contribution on the side.
Now, however, it was clearly stated that one could obtain trade and commerce rights. The profit implied was terrifying.
After all, the game’s world view was that monsters ran rampant, transportation between regions was inconvenient and dangerous, and prices for goods varied everywhere, with many local specialties. Doing merchant escort and trade runs now would definitely earn far more than simply farming monsters and doing tasks.
“How could I misread it? I just checked more than ten times.” Yi Ye Fu Yun said excitedly. “I knew it. Why else would this game suddenly open so many quotas? Turns out they are setting up something big. Now it is finally our life players’ era.”
“It should not be just for life players. I think opening this new map is to let newcomers better catch up to us veteran players.” Twilight of the Gods said. “Previous new maps either had permission restrictions or level restrictions. Now the new map only requires mastering the martial arts hall’s new secret technique. This is clearly an opportunity for a large number of new players to catch up, putting them on the same starting line as us veterans.”
“Indeed. To enter the new map for pioneering, you first need to master a new secret technique. The secret technique is the same for everyone. Whoever masters it first can go pioneering first. It is fair for both newcomers and us veteran players.” Fang Zhen nodded.
“Enough talking with you. I have to hurry and notify the others to come back to learn the new secret technique. If we are late, we will be overtaken by those newcomers.” After hearing this, Yi Ye Fu Yun hurried to log off and contact the rest of his team.
While the entire martial arts hall was celebrating the opening of the new map, the official forum of High Martial Arts Descend exploded.
“This new secret technique is too much. You actually need to master the Body Strengthening Secret Technique and the mental secret technique before you even get a chance to cultivate it, and its danger level is above the Stellar Explosion Meditation Technique. Are we new players really supposed to train this?”
“The game manufacturer is not even pretending anymore. With this kind of cultivation difficulty revealed, if we do not spend our lives and money like crazy, it would be strange. When I cultivated the Stellar Explosion Meditation Technique, I died more than ten times just to get in the door, and that was with veteran players guiding me. A pure newbie trying alone would definitely die dozens of times. The new secret technique is even harder, so the death count will be even more terrifying.”
“I knew it. This game is really pay-to-win.”
“Come on, the manufacturer is not forcing you to learn it. The new map is not somewhere players have to go. It is just giving all new players a way to catch up faster to the veteran players.”
“Whoever wants to learn this new secret technique can learn it. I am not going to. I think it is better to steadily do tasks in the wilderness and slowly improve my cultivation method. Once my level is up, I can slaughter everything in the wilderness area anyway. This new secret technique screams cash grab. They do not even say what the concrete effects are. They only claim it can improve potential, and they do not explain what that potential is good for.”
“This is probably welfare for the big spenders. Ordinary players should not even think about it. Just relax and come mining with me.”
“You are all pros and can still talk about whether to learn it or not. I am a little newbie who is not even qualified to try. I cannot even get into the game yet. Is anyone willing to give me a quota? If you give me a quota, I will train any secret technique.”
…
People on the forum discussed the newly revealed secret technique heatedly. Many newcomers were delighted that the game had released a new map and that both new and veteran players could stand on the same starting line there, but opinions on the difficulty of learning the new secret technique varied. More and more people gathered on the forum, and the atmosphere became insanely heated.
City of Light Chasing, Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.
“Sis, how is the new secret technique? Is it hard?” Yi Ye Fu Yun asked curiously, looking at Ye Qinglu in the lounge, who had been cultivating for nearly two days.
“This energy secret technique is rather hard to learn.” Ye Qinglu exhaled deeply and looked at Yi Ye Fu Yun. “I have died nearly thirty times in the past two days. It is indeed much harder than the Stellar Explosion Meditation Technique. But fortunately, I have just reached entry-level.”
