114: It's a mess

Chapter 114: Utter Chaos

After browsing through the information, Wu Xian’s mood was heavy.

Contrary to his expectations, the Zhou Family’s data was not important information containing hidden Chinese civilization, and could even be said to be insignificant.

But those tattered drafts brought him an inexplicable sense of historical weight.

It was as if those drawings transported him back to that dark and desperate era.

From the brushstrokes, these drafts and written records did not come from a single person, but from countless ordinary people struggling on the brink of life and death; it was they who recorded what they saw and heard in that era.

They had no conditions, no drawing skills, and even their handwriting wasn't beautiful.

Most of them were terrifying otherworldly monsters, apocalyptic scenes, and concise records of various struggles for survival.

Yet, it was these drafts and texts that made him feel the “artistic sense” he had fruitlessly pursued in his previous life.

After carefully reviewing all the data, Wu Xian felt an unprecedented sense of fulfillment, especially the last crayon drawing from a child a thousand years ago: a family of three lighting candles atop ruins.

In the background, many people could vaguely be seen building new homes, only that in the sky, which should have been azure blue, there were some strangely colored twisted lines.

It seemed to put a period named “Hope” on the entire segment of history.

“This drawing is…?” Wu Xian asked, looking curiously at Zhou Hong.

“It should be the earliest Yaoyang City,” Zhou Hong nodded, confirming Wu Xian’s guess. “The first city built in the Dark Era.”

“The first city?” Wu Xian was stunned.

“That’s right,” Zhou Hong said with some emotion, “Not only our Yaoyang City, but several surrounding cities were also among the earliest cities in the new era, and they were once prosperous for a time, but they have long since lost their former glory.”

Wu Xian smiled knowingly, his gaze turning to Zhou Qi beside him, “Brother Zhou’s inspiration came from these terrifying dimensional monsters?”

“Mm.” Zhou Qi nodded.

“But I didn’t quite understand this drawing,” Wu Xian said, pointing to one of the more skillfully drawn drafts, “A giant snake-like worm, coiled above a group of people, seemingly fighting other dimensional monsters?”

Zhou Qi pondered and analyzed, “Perhaps not all the otherworldly monsters that invaded that era were evil. At least from this drawing, it clearly shows them protecting humans.”

Hearing this, Wu Xian was pensive.

Are dimensional monsters not necessarily all evil?

“Thank you for sharing,” Wu Xian said after a long while, carefully placing all the data back into the box. “This information has deeply moved me.”

Zhou Hong was surprised and stunned, originally thinking Wu Xian would be extremely disappointed.

At least the Scroll Masters who had seen this data before all had increasingly stiff expressions… Half a month passed in a flash.

Inside the small villa in the North District.

Wu Xian logged into the Club’s official website and secretly marveled at the continuously growing number of orders.

Not only him, Shifu-jie’s orders were also increasing.

Even Zhou Qi’s [Netherworld Fierce Beasts] series of scrolls began to receive orders one after another.

In just half a month, the reputation of Ghost King Club scrolls began to spread rapidly.

The citizens of Yaoyang City, who had tasted the “fine grain,” had completely fallen into “madness.”

Only Spirit Masters holding silver scrolls from other Clubs were still scoffing online.

However, the rapidly rising popularity of the bronze-tier league and the soaring popularity of Ghost King Club players all indicated the arrival of a new era.

Especially the internal competitions among Ghost King Club players, whose live broadcast popularity even crushed the popular matches in the silver-tier league.

Wu Xian looked at the continuously growing number of orders, feeling his scalp tingle, a mix of pain and joy.

He couldn't finish it; it was simply endless.

At his current delivery rate of ten copy scrolls per day, his schedule was booked until next year.

Many consumers, unable to wait, would first order a [rubbing] to make do.

As a result, Wu Xian was even having trouble “printing” enough rubbings.

Wu Xian didn't dare to go out now.

“No, why are even orders for silver scroll upgrades starting to appear?”

Unlike bronze scroll orders, silver scroll upgrade reservations were all paid in advance, and they included labor costs plus self-provided Materials.

Even so, there were already more than a dozen orders.

Although he had expected his scrolls to be popular, he never thought they would be this popular.

Shifu-jie, in the first few days, was overjoyed, counting money until her hands cramped.

Now, she too has been overwhelmed by the massive number of orders.

Every day, as soon as she opened her eyes, she was making scrolls.

And with the explosive sales of Ghost King Club scrolls, the entire Yaoyang City was undergoing earth-shattering changes.

It could even be said: it was utter chaos.

The most direct change was that the three dimensional control zones could no longer accommodate the vast Spirit Master population of Yaoyang City; Spirit Master teams had already crossed the military defense lines to run wild outside.

The army’s defense lines had also begun to push outwards, expanding, invisibly forming a grand spectacle of military-civilian cooperation and territorial expansion.

Secondly, the second-hand market experienced a complete collapse.

At first, second-hand merchants almost cursed Ghost King Club to pieces, but within a few days, they found a new way out.

They sold the second-hand scrolls they had stockpiled to other neighboring cities, and then turned into loyal fans of Ghost King Club, engaging in scalping business.

And then, there were the major Clubs that once “ruled” Yaoyang City.

Various sponsors in the city defected to Ghost King Club, and scroll sales plummeted, as netizens put it: garbage scrolls, not even dogs would use them.

To be honest, Wu Xian didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.

Just now, he was discussing with Shifu-jie, “Shifu-jie, are other Clubs really so vulnerable?”

“To be honest, this situation is somewhat beyond my expectations,” Shifu-jie shook her head and smiled. “Perhaps Yaoyang City has suffered from garbage scrolls for too long?”

“But I still don’t understand, why don’t other Clubs, backed by Dengfeng Dojo, release some high-quality scrolls?”

Xue Lingling went straight to the crux of the matter: “They can’t make enough.”

“…” Wu Xian was speechless.

“Your and Master’s two sets of scrolls might truly be a dimensionality reduction attack,” Xue Lingling said with emotion.

Before returning from the Dojo, she had anticipated various scenarios, but the current astonishing trend still far exceeded her imagination.

Xue Lingling wasn’t foolish; relying solely on her Ghost King Scroll, it was clearly impossible to create such a situation.

The key lay with her adopted disciple.

At least from the current data on the Club’s official website, the popularity of the Yin General Scroll far surpassed that of the Ghost King Scroll.

“Other Clubs can’t just sit back and do nothing, can they?”

“Of course,” Xue Lingling said without hesitation, “It’s just that the situation is changing too fast, and they haven’t had time to react. But judging by the time, Dengfeng Dojo should also be making a move soon; it’s probably a matter of days.”

“Tsk tsk, is it going to get competitive?” Wu Xian was excited.

Xue Lingling nodded and smiled, “This is what Club competition should be like. Competition among Clubs in first-tier big cities is truly fierce. Garbage scrolls, let alone sales, don’t even qualify as cannon fodder.

The public is even more demanding to the extreme; if a match is lost even slightly badly, sales will fluctuate significantly.”

Wu Xian listened, marveling and understanding.

Only now did he understand what Zhou Qi’s phrase “dead Qi” meant.

“If that’s the case, why is our Yaoyang City in such a dead Qi state?” Wu Xian asked, puzzled. “Didn’t anyone come to compete?”

“I don’t know,” Xue Lingling shook her head. “Perhaps because the population is too small? Or the economy is sluggish, and the people are too poor? In any case, Undead Dojo doesn’t pay much attention to this area.”