40: Between illusions, tower rewards

“Virtual World?”

“Something similar to a Virtual World or a metaverse?”

Before Qin Chuan could even ask, the little sprite waved its small hand, and the distance between Qin Chuan and Lu was instantly closed.

It introduced, “This place is called ‘Divine Land,’ and it’s a base your civilization acquired in the Virtual World at a great cost.”

“Our civilization?” Qin Chuan asked, puzzled.

“Yes, didn’t you already get a spot? Oh, don’t interrupt!”

The little sprite stomped its feet in the air, annoyed.

Qin Chuan glanced at its small mouth, which was barely larger than a grain of rice, and said nothing.

The little sprite shivered for no apparent reason, and unable to find the cause, it could only continue its introduction.

“The Virtual World perfectly mirrors reality; you can do everything here that you can do in reality. For example, this continent of your civilization primarily functions as a place of inheritance.”

With that, it extended a hand, and Qin Chuan found himself at the edge of that continent.

“Go in. Divine Land has granted you access. You can just walk right in.”

As Qin Chuan stepped onto it, his expression changed.

“Detected player stepping onto an important Civilization Stairway. Reincarnation count +1.”

A pleasant surprise, but why… only a count, no skill?

Is there a difference between a stairway and a place of inheritance?

Qin Chuan was a bit confused.

He was so engrossed in this question that he didn't pay much attention to the little sprite's introduction.

Until—

“Alright. Simply put, your goal is to enter that tall tower. Afterward, someone from your own civilization will introduce you to the path ahead. Go explore it yourself!”

“If you have any questions, you can contact me via the virtual network. Remember to give me a five-star review!”

With that, the little sprite transformed into specks of starlight and vanished into thin air.

At this moment, Qin Chuan finally came to his senses. It’s over?

He temporarily pushed the reincarnation count to the back of his mind and scrutinized the ‘Divine Land Continent’ before him.

Civilization Stairway?

The distant pillar of light, reaching from heaven to earth, must be the so-called tall tower.

As for other information, he knew nothing.

Bah! He definitely had to give that little sprite a bad review!

Qin Chuan looked at the bottom right corner of his vision, where his basic information was displayed.

“Qin Chuan, Da Xia Civilization Level 1 Civilization Seed of Blue Star.”

“Log out.”

“Real-world time: 23:01:12 (Virtual Divine Land has a three-times time difference with reality)”

It really is… rudimentary!

That “Log out” must be the option to exit the Virtual World?

As for the three-times time axis?

Qin Chuan wasn't in a hurry about this. He wanted to see what the Martial Arts Tournament wanted to pull him here for.

Climbing the tall tower should clear up some confusion, right?

Thinking this, Qin Chuan embarked on his journey.

Half a day later—

Qin Chuan looked at the still distant tall tower and couldn't help but sigh.

The saying “running to the mountain until the horse dies” perfectly described his current situation.

He felt he had already traveled dozens of miles at a fast pace, but the distance to the tall tower had only slightly shortened.

At this moment, he suddenly heard a commotion from ahead.

Soon, a few gray wolves appeared before him.

“First-tier Gray Wolf”

“Drops: Wolf Fang (Forging Material), Wolf Fist (Zero-tier Fist Art)”

Is this really… a virtual online game?

Grinding monsters for levels, dropping equipment, dropping materials?

Qin Chuan was speechless. Although he had no weapon in hand, he quickly dispatched a few small wolves.

The wolf corpses quickly vanished, leaving only a few long fangs and a book.

Qin Chuan opened it, and indeed, it was a fist art.

However, this fist art was worthless; it was so weak that one could learn something better at any third-rate martial arts school on the street.

This…

“Forget it, no more wasting time.”

Qin Chuan recalled what the little sprite had said: “All real-life activities can be replicated, right?”

What about Haoran Righteousness?

He immediately let out a soft cry, “My body has no phoenix wings to fly together!”

“Virtual World: Detecting ‘Literary Dao Energy,’ forming personal skill, detecting user's rank.”

“Literary Dao: Second-tier.”

Qin Chuan: ?

It really works!

Unfortunately, after he finished speaking, no wings sprouted from his back.

—“Celestial Change Treatise” wasn’t brought in, so Qin Chuan naturally didn’t possess the ability of a low-tier Great Confucian to make words come true.

However, since it was verified that Haoran Righteousness worked, the rest was simple.

Although he couldn't directly modify the rules, it was still possible to create some conveniences.

“Sitting on the ground, traveling thirty thousand li a day!”

“As swift as the wind and quick as lightning!”

“Light-footed!”

“Chasing clouds and pursuing lightning!”

After applying a series of buffs to himself, Qin Chuan looked at his rapidly depleting blue bar (Haoran Righteousness) and dared not waste time.

He transformed into a blurry figure, rushing straight towards the distant tall tower!

In the vast plain before the tall tower, a group of people were struggling with an eight-hundred-pound wild boar.

At this moment, a blurry shadow flashed past.

“Holy cow, did a big black rat just fly by?”

“Bullshit! Where would a big black rat come from in the Virtual World? I think it was a ghost!”

“Shut up, quickly kill this boar king and forge a longsword. I feel like I can pass the third floor!”

Qin Chuan, who was moving at high speed, also saw this group of people, but he didn't stop.

—It was too much of a waste of Haoran Righteousness.

Now, he had some guesses about this Divine Land in the Virtual World.

Next, he would go to the tall tower to verify them.

Finally, just before he was about to exhaust himself, he finally arrived before the tall tower.

Here, he finally saw a large gathering of people.

“I still haven’t passed the fourth floor. If I can get the reward for the fourth floor and exchange it for a Splitting Light Sword, I can definitely advance another level.”

“How do you pass the third floor? Does anyone have a guide?”

“I don’t know how those people on the seventh or eighth floor do it; it’s simply inhuman…”

“I heard they’ve already broken through human limits and entered the Innate realm?”

Listening to the conversations around him, Qin Chuan finally formed a rough impression.

A moment later, he found a place.

“Da Xia Civilization Tall Tower Office.”

“Towards the boundless sea of stars, Qin Chuan, welcome to the tall tower! I will now introduce the Precautions to you.”

A moment later…

Qin Chuan looked at the young woman with a standard smile, who was introducing the tall tower to him, and asked, confused:

“To improve human evolution, there are rewards for clearing each floor of the tall tower?”

“That’s correct.”

Qin Chuan shook his head, always feeling that something wasn't right.

“How many floors does the tall tower have, and what are the rewards? Also, are you an AI?”

The young woman said, “No one knows the answer to the first question. The rewards are mainly points, which can be exchanged for divine weapons, cultivation techniques, knowledge inheritances… I’m not an AI—those things are too expensive, the association can’t afford them.”

From her demeanor, she had answered this question countless times, and her reply was extremely formulaic, with only the last sentence revealing a hint of different emotion.

Qin Chuan: …

“Last question: Are there any real-world rewards?”

“Yes, but they are all very expensive.”

“Understood.”

Qin Chuan shook his head, indicating he had no more questions.

Indeed, this place was for cultivating the development of Da Xia’s transcendent powers.

This thing might be a ladder to heaven for ordinary people, but for him—it was far inferior to reincarnation simulation.