Chapter 9: The Start Of A New Storyline?
“Vagrants from other races want to seize our abandoned area?”
After hearing this, Lin Qi’s expression also became much more serious. He had not expected such a conflict to break out even in the abandoned area.
The City of Light Chasing was jointly managed by multiple races, and it could be said to be very peaceful within the city, but things changed once you reached the suburbs. The areas there were basically managed by the major gangs, and violent shootouts broke out from time to time.
Gang fights were extremely brutal. On his way to the Azure Crystal Weapon Shop, Lin Qi had personally witnessed a gang battle: hundreds of people clashing until one side was completely wiped out before it ended. That horrific scene was something Lin Qi had never forgotten.
Because the gang wars were so severe, very few people were willing to join a gang. Unless they really could not survive, were pushed to a dead end, or were gambling on a future. After all, the gangs controlled considerable resources, so they were generous to their members. Those who managed to survive in the end lived far better than ordinary people in the city.
“Don’t worry too much.” The one-eyed middle-aged man saw Lin Qi’s concern. He stepped forward, patted Lin Qi on the shoulder, and said with a smile, “Even if a fight really breaks out, we won’t go as far as those gangs. This is just an abandoned area, just a daily resting place, not worth us throwing our lives away. We’re going over there mainly to boost our presence.”
“…” Hearing the one-eyed man’s reassurance, Lin Qi actually felt even more worried.
Vagrants living in this abandoned area could leave, but how was he supposed to?
Was he supposed to carry the martial arts hall on his back and run with his legs?
“All right, let’s hurry over.” The one-eyed middle-aged man did not know why Lin Qi’s expression had worsened, so he added comfortingly, “If the situation looks bad, we can just turn around and run. Even if we’re from different races, we’re all vagrants. We won’t go so far as to hurt each other too badly.”
“Big brother, you go ahead first. I’ll go get weapons and call some more people over.” Lin Qi did not wait for the one-eyed man to say anything more. He turned and rushed to the martial arts hall basement to fetch bow and arrows.
While Lin Qi was running toward the lounge, Fang Zhen and the other two also came out of the basement because of the commotion. Each of them was carrying an alloy shovel, their eyes constantly scanning the vagrants gathering on the street, afraid of missing anything.
“My god! This game actually has so many NPCs!” Fang Zhen watched as more and more vagrants gathered on the ruined street. His eyes lit up, excitement in his voice. “If we can get tasks from them, that would be amazing.”
“These people are made so real!” Twilight of the Gods was equally thrilled. “Look at them. Not only are they all dressed differently, even the expressions on their faces are so real. This game manufacturer is really dedicated.”
“With so many NPCs gathering, something big is probably going to happen. Let’s go over and take a look. Maybe we can trigger some special task.” Fang Zhen suggested.
“Brother Zhen, don’t forget, the master of the pavilion won’t let us leave the martial arts hall’s boundary. Do you remember what happens if we leave it?” Twilight of the Gods reminded him.
“Damn, this game manufacturer is so mean. We can only look and not touch.” Fang Zhen stared at the NPCs filling the street, feeling a bit unwilling.
At the moment, High Martial Arts Descend was in the experience test phase. The only area they could move in was the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. Previously, Twilight of the Gods had wanted to test how far along High Martial Arts Descend’s development was and had tried to sneak out of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall to see the outside world.
But before Twilight of the Gods got more than ten meters from the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, he became like a person who had lost his soul, collapsing onto the ground and convulsing, as if he had a bad network connection.
After quite a while, the hall master Lin Qi walked over from inside the martial arts hall, dragged Twilight of the Gods back, and issued instructions. Without his arrangement, they were forbidden to leave the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. It was very dangerous outside the martial arts hall, and if they left, they would bear the consequences.
Because of this, Twilight of the Gods had been much more obedient recently. He no longer tried to probe the limits of High Martial Arts Descend and focused seriously on underground work.
“Even if we can’t go over, we can still watch from here.” Wu Shang, gripping her shovel, rolled her eyes at the two of them, feeling their outlook was a bit shallow. “Right now the game is still in development. These NPCs gathering here is probably the game manufacturer testing something. We’re internal test players now. If they won’t let us participate, we can at least find a way to watch.”
“Watch?” Fang Zhen was a bit surprised. How were they supposed to watch? It was almost dark.
“The higher you stand, the farther you see. Just climb up higher.” Wu Shang pointed at the rooftop of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.
“Right! We can run up and take a look.” Twilight of the Gods suddenly understood.
The Obsidian Martial Arts Hall covered more than eighty thousand square meters, like a huge stadium. Its rooftop was over thirty meters high. Standing on the rooftop, they could more or less see what was happening, since the place where the NPCs were gathering was not far.
“You three, come with me.”
Just as the three were discussing how to climb up to the rooftop of the martial arts hall, Lin Qi came out of the lounge carrying a compound bow and nine black steel arrows and directly gave the order.
Although the current strength of Fang Zhen and the other two was very low, and Wu Shang was just a middle school student who could not compare at all with vagrants who had long mixed in the high martial arts world, just as the one-eyed man had said, an extra person meant extra momentum. It would be good if they could intimidate the other side a bit.
“Master of the pavilion, we can go too?” Fang Zhen shuddered and could not help asking Lin Qi.
“I knew it. The system suddenly updated, and now so many NPCs are gathering. The officials must be planning something big.” Twilight of the Gods clenched his fist excitedly. “Good thing I don’t have class tomorrow. I can stay up all night today!”
“Master of the pavilion, is something major happening outside?” As the vice president of Heavenly Might, Wu Shang was long used to handling things calmly. She went straight to the key question.
“Nothing much. There’s a group of vagrants who want to occupy our area. We’re going over to fight them.” Lin Qi did not hide it and told them the truth directly.
“I knew it!” Twilight of the Gods’ face showed a trace of fanaticism. “A new plot is about to start! And it’s specifically to test the combat system!”
“Faction conflicts, huh?” Fang Zhen also looked delighted. “I knew it. A game called High Martial Arts Descend, making us dig soil and farm all day, what is that? Finally they’re going to test the combat system.”
At this, even the usually silent Wu Shang’s expression changed a little. Her grip on the shovel tightened.
“Next we’ll see how the combat system of High Martial Arts Descend performs. If it can be made not inferior to Pilgrimage, then we can report back to the president.”
Wu Shang was also a bit nervous about this. Heavenly Might had a huge foundation. If they switched games poorly, it would cause serious damage.
Although the simulation level of High Martial Arts Descend already completely crushed any virtual game on the market, if the combat system was not well done, Heavenly Might would still find it hard to choose High Martial Arts Descend. After all, Heavenly Might had risen on wuxia games, and the members cultivated within the guild had always focused on martial combat.
“What are you spacing out for? Hurry up and follow me!” Lin Qi looked at the three standing there motionless and excited and had no idea what they were thinking. He simply gave the order.
“Yes!”
The three snapped back to their senses and quickly followed behind Lin Qi, heading at a brisk pace toward another street outside the martial arts hall.
Old Cat knows everyone definitely wants to see the second update, so the second update will be posted very soon.
