After leaving the girl behind, Xuan continued his descent down the side of Cloud Peak mountain. He couldn’t afford to dwindle for long, since he and that girl couldn’t possibly have been the only ones to hear those screams from before. Without a doubt, the Sky Cloud Sect had already sent out a few investigation parties—Xuan had to hurry.

Perhaps that girl may be branded the culprit if they find her—‘beautiful girl lures two men outside at night, then reap the rewards after they are killed by beasts’. He could already see the headlines. Unfortunately, if something like that actually happened, Xuan’s plans would go a bit awry—just one Healing Rejuvenation pill would have been enough to save her life, but he had intentionally given her more than enough in order to make her feel like she owed Xuan a favor.

That was the plan, anyway. With her skills, a favor could come in useful later on. If she were to be captured by the Sky Cloud Sect, though… her favor may be hard to come by.

‘Ah… whatever.’ There was nothing Xuan could do about it anyway. He believed she was smart enough to outmaneuver the sect, but if she couldn’t even do that, then she wouldn’t have been a very useful pawn in the first place.

Still, that girl certainly was strange. Despite being such a skilled hunter and wary of strangers, she seemed quite inexperienced when it came to actual human interaction, easily believing what Xuan told her about giving her more healing pills to fully restore her health. It really made him wonder just what her past was, who taught her, what was her nam-

“… Oh, I forgot to ask her for her name.”

Stopping in his tracks, Xuan scratched his head a bit, then carried on walking as if nothing happened.

‘Well, whatever,’ he thought. ‘She’ll come looking for me soon enough. I can ask her then.’

After another few steps, though, Xuan paused again.

‘… Wait. If she finds out how I fed her the pill, with that personality of hers… wouldn’t she try to kill me instead of repaying the favor? Hm…’

Oh well. Risk and reward were two sides of the same coin, after all.

*****

As Xuan walked with nothing better to do, he decided to check on the other players using the Global Chat feature of the System, under the Social tab. He figured he’d take a look at the reactions of everyone to that announcement about him earlier, seeing as now he had time to kill.

[Zhao Xin: Yooo, that announcement earlier really took everyone by surprise, huh? Everyone immediately woke up from the sound. Funny af hhhhh]

[Jiang Zemin: Indeed. I’m in Cloud Catcher City already so I can’t be sure, but… the UN must be panicking right about now. Still, an announcement and bounty system? An interesting implementation for sure. I’d imagine only the rarest and most impressive achievements will warrant something like this, but… it’s almost like Nirvana is encouraging us to fight and hunt the best players down.]

[Cui Dong: Hasn’t that always been the case? Everyone here past players? Or are there new guys here as well?]

[Hu Bao: I’m a past player. It feels pretty weird without our cultivator names, though, doesn’t it? Can’t wait to get out of this place and start my cultivation again, haha!]

[Zhao Xin: Yeah, I miss my old title. Having to start all over again sucks like hell, but i guess it's about the journey, not the destination, yeah?]

[Li Shun: The UN’s trying to contain the situation, but it really ain’t working. The people are wondering what that announcement was all about and demanding answers. They’re trying to hide the existence of the player system altogether, and I dunno why, but it looks like the it won’t be long before the truth gets out.]

[Cui Dong: Hoh? Do you think some more people will be inspired to become cultivators after learning of the system?]

[Hu Bao: Probably? Idk. But that just means more competition for us, what are you excited about?]

[Cui Dong: So? More competition means more fun, doesn’t it?]

Xuan could argue with that theory, but he chose to simply watch the chat from the sidelines just like in his past life. The talk about the United Nations was interesting—after having their sleep disturbed by that loud announcement and the mention of Credits, the people would naturally want answers. The UN wouldn’t be able to explain Credits without explaining the System shop, and they wouldn’t be able to explain that without explaining the System—and thus, the heart of the game itself.

This Cui Dong person's theory wasn't half-bad either. More people would likely want to leave the sect in search of their own opportunities after learning about the system. Power, fame, fortune, and lust were the four pinnacle greeds of mankind, and this world could let them achieve everything they couldn’t back in their own world.

In other words, it was a brand new chance at life.

When presented with this new perspective, many people were naturally going to want to try their luck. Xuan chuckled—the UN’s half-truths and withheld information weren’t going to last for much longer. Nirvana Inc. had one-upped them yet again.

[Du Lingrong: Wait… you guys are all past players of the game, right? I have to ask… who is this Zero person? Why is no one talking about him?]

Ah, finally. The main point Xuan had been waiting for.

[Jiang Zemin: … You can’t be serious.]

[Cui Dong: There’s actually someone who hasn’t heard of Zero? Are you even a past player?]

[Du Lingrong: No? I’m new…]

[Hu Bao: Zero was a-]

[Cui Dong: Was?]

[Jiang Zemin: Was?]

[Li Shun: Was?]

[Hu Bao: IS* a legendary player of this game. I don’t think any of us here have seen him in-person, but the rumors say he’s terrifying. If he’s in a bad mood, he’ll eradicate entire cities and single-handedly destroy whole sects. Even Dragon Island Temple, one of the top ten sects across all the realms, was said to be annihilated by him overnight…]

[Du Lingrong: What?! He’s that powerful?!]

[Jiang Zemin: You have no idea. That man… he’s death incarnate. And this is just what we’ve heard about. God knows how many terrifying deeds he’s done under the radar… The reason we weren’t discussing him here was because he’s also a player and could be reading this chat even as we speak, but… well, that plan’s gone out the window.]

Xuan blinked. ‘Is this how I am pictured by other players?’

How blasphemous. He only eradicated that one Heavenly City in Elysium because the city lord there refused to sell him curry chicken at market price. And Dragon Island Temple? Yes, he’d destroyed it overnight, but that was their own fault! Who told them to eat that one clownfish named Neemo? The legendary Zero had taken the effort to name it, for god’s sake—they can’t just kill and eat it like that!

‘And do they really think I’m petty enough to target someone just because they talked about me behind my back? Heh… Jiang Zemin, I’ll remember you. Cloud Catcher City, is it?’ Xuan rubbed his chin. ‘Good, good… I’m on my way there myself, actually. A lesson needs to be taught, an example needs to be made.’

[Cui Dong: … Oi, guys. Let’s end this topic here, k? As for you, Du Lingrong, if you’re new, then how did you get here? By chance?]

[Du Lingrong: The United Nations got everyone gathered in the main courtyard right now, and giving instructions on how to use this… System thing. Many people seemed pretty mad, saying that if they knew about this earlier, they’d have chosen to leave the sect, so the UN’s busy apologizing and explaining their reasons now… I just thought I’d pop in to see what this tab is all about.]

[Zhao Xin: Oh, now that you mention it, I do hear some noise coming over from the main courtyard. Guess they didn’t bother inviting those of us who chose to leave, knowing we’re all past players, huh?]

[Hu Bao: I already departed a long time ago, part of an earlier batch. Already in Cloud Catcher City, in my inn room. But ‘many’ people seemed mad, eh? Well, looks like you’ll be getting your… violent wish granted, fellow cultivator Cui Dong.]

[Cui Dong: Haha! Damn right! But I wonder… if every ‘player’, both current and past, are aware of the System now, what’s next in store? The NPCs?]

[Qi Yun Yue: Ironically… that is not far from the truth.]

[Cui Dong: Huh? I said that as a joke…]

[Qi Yun Yue: I know. I am Celestial Seven Moons, one of the last players to exit the game. Before logging out, I saw the final patch notes. It said NPCs will be given further sentience, as much as any player… as well as access to all player features.]

[Zhao Xin: :wtf: But if they have access already, why aren’t any of them talking here?]

[Jiang Zemin: I’d imagine it’s because no one taught them about the System, or someone already has and the information simply has not made its way into the ears of all yet. It’s not something you can just ‘manifest’ by chance, after all. There are specific steps to it. I can, however, confirm fellow cultivator Qi Yun Yue’s words. I am on the streets of Cloud Catcher City as I type, and just now, all the NPCs were able to perceive the announcement—both the hologram in the sky and the soun-]

[Hu Bao: Eh? Why’d he cut off?]

[Cui Dong: He’s typing on his System in the middle of the street… if the NPCs could see the announcement, then…]

[Qi Yun Yue: … Ah. Well, I suppose it won’t be long before the NPCs discover the System and begin to make use of it.]

‘Hm… NPCs using the player System, huh? I already knew this was going to happen since I saw the hotfix notes as well, but it’s still quite interesting.’

Xuan, sensing that the conversation was ending, closed the chat window and instead switched to the Director tab to take a look at his quests to see if there was any events happening. He’d already obtained the news update he came here for, so there was no reason to keep reading their senseless messages any longer. He still had some time to kill as he walked, however, so he might as well make use of it.

Earlier, at the top of the mountain, he’d already looked through his Quest list once—the only quest that had been there was his Breakthrough Quest to the Core Formation stage. But thanks to experience, he knew that the Director was constantly being refreshed, changing based on his current location and time. One second, there may not be any available quests, but in the next, there may very well just be.

And sure enough, upon seeing the list of available quests, Xuan spotted a new one under the category . These ‘quests’ were rare and often bountiful, and generally had specific timeframes to complete them. He knew something like this would appear as he grew nearer and nearer to a large and bustling district like Cloud Catcher City—there usually was, given that it was a major population joint in the region.

Not only that, but this one in particular… fitted his needs perfectly.

Time remaining before start: 1d, 22h

Requirements: Must be at least of Core Formation stage to participate

Guaranteed Rewards:

- Credits (10 Credits minimum for every kill, then multiplied by the Beast’s Order)

Possible Rewards:

- Beast Parts (ANY rarity)

- Beast Cores (ANY grade)

- Hidden Artifact (???)

- Spirit Crystals

- City Lord’s Favor (ANY wish within abilities)

Beast Cores—exactly what Xuan needed to break through to the next stage.

Usually, in these beginner areas of the game, there would be a lot of opportunities to obtain Beast Cores, since that was the requirement to advance to the Core Formation Stage. That would explain why he was encountering all these chances, but this Public Event was especially good since it also provided Spirit Crystals as a reward—the currency used in this world, as opposed to Credits which could only be used in the System Shop.

And even if he wasn't in need of any of that, there was also a chance of obtaining the City Lord’s Favor for any wish within his abilities to be granted. As the City Lord of a big region like Cloud Catcher City, his power was no doubt immense—not to mention the fact that every city had a special secret art in possession of the City Lord. Thus, this was too good of an opportunity to give up. The Hidden Artifact was also a boon, even though it could also just be a false alarm given its enigmatic nature.

At the same time, however, a Ninth-Order Magic Beast was no joke. As the highest-ranking Beasts, Ninth-Orders always have a Horde of other Beasts and Magic Beasts following them around, protecting them and doing their bidding. With this level of threat, the City Lord had no doubt already invited many top-level masters to Cloud Catcher City—hence why one of the possible rewards was as generous as a direct favor from the City Lord himself.

But while those idiots dealt with the troublesome one… Xuan had a plan of his own.

As for the Core Formation stage minimum cultivation requirement, that was no problem for Xuan—the signature trait of that stage was the ability to use Qi, and Xuan could do that just fine.

With a satisfied smile, Xuan closed up his System and picked up the pace, further descending the steep path surrounding Cloud Peak. Cloud Catcher City lay at the base of this mountain, and the event was starting in nearly two days. Xuan had some time to work with, but he had a few things he wanted to do in the city before the event began as well, so…

‘Time to get moving.’