123: After the defeat, prepare to become a sect

Old Potato's expression was grim.

Initially, when the Great Love Alliance was formed, it was indeed somewhat of a hobby, simply aiming to create a player organization for mutual assistance and benefit.

But as the Alliance's membership continuously grew, Old Potato discovered that the profits he could gain from it were also getting larger and larger.

For example, the copied Cultivation Techniques and skills that players shared with each other—though high-grade ones rarely appeared—even the low-grade ones solved the problem of scarcity.

More importantly, by uniting players, they could systematically do things that single players couldn't, such as developing ore veins, cultivating spiritual fields, or fully exploring a Secret Realm. These things, whether used for personal Cultivation or sold for money, yielded very high profits.

Therefore, both Old Potato and the other high-ranking members of the Alliance harbored ambitions. They might not aim to become a truly professional guild club, but they at least wanted to be the top guild or organization below the professionals, right?

However, the reality was that the Xuanhuan World was unlike other online games; it wasn't enough to simply gather enough players to hack and slash. Various resources needed to be allocated, and various Cultivation Techniques and skills prepared. Most importantly, the Xuanhuan World had extremely high demands for specialized combat personnel.

The battle with Yan Xiao made Old Potato understand that the native characters had genuinely Cultivated for many years, and their combat skills were superior to each other. Professional players might still be able to contend with them through their operations, but ordinary players were truly helpless.

So, after the high-level meeting began, the first thing Old Potato said was:

"I've decided to professionalize the Great Love Alliance and Cultivate some professional players who belong to our Alliance."

As soon as he spoke, a high-ranking member, whose face was hidden and appeared as a virtual avatar, immediately responded: "I also have this idea. We can learn from the Sects in the Xuanhuan World, dividing them into outer and inner Sects. The outer Sect would be as it is now, but later, we might need to assign them more tasks. Inner Sect players would only focus on Cultivation or specializing in skills. Beyond the inner Sect, we could further distinguish direct disciples. We can use Alliance funds to subsidize these players, acquiring specialized resources to help them Cultivate faster."

Old Potato's eyes lit up: "Ah, Watermelon Prince, that's an excellent suggestion! In fact, the Sects of the Xuanhuan World already have the structure we need. We can just copy it directly."

"So, we are going to establish a real Sect?"

Someone frowned and asked: "What about the location? What about the Legacy? What about the resources? How will these be resolved? Even Green Grass, who announced long ago that he would establish a Sect, has made no progress. How can we achieve this?"

Watermelon Prince continued: "We can start this way: we first have people join the Heshui Prefecture, Qingling Sect, and Duan Kong Cave—or other Sects and Families. Then, we steal their Legacy, and figure out their branch Sects' resource warehouses. We'll seize them when the time comes."

This proposal was quite audacious, yet at this moment, not a single person found it problematic; instead, everyone felt it was perfectly correct, and Old Potato also gave his approval.

"Alright, next we need to discuss... the problems exposed by this encirclement and killing of Yan Xiao."

Old Potato's expression became serious again.

He deliberately brought up the professionalization and Sect-ification agenda first, wanting to ease everyone's emotions, so as to avoid a major incident when discussing the defeat.

But no matter how much they eased the tension, this disastrous defeat still needed to be studied and reviewed, as it had already become a huge farce across the entire Xuanhuan World, with people all over the internet fiercely mocking the Great Love Alliance.

"First... Gao Sou, what were you doing?"

Old Potato looked at Midnight Gao Sou's virtual projection, rare for him to lose his temper: "You actually went to warn a native NPC?"

The others also looked at Midnight Gao Sou, one after another, reprimanding him:

"Gao Sou, are you crazy? It's just a game, those characters are just lines of code. Kill them for drops, that's it. You actually got emotional?"

"If you hadn't warned him, we might have been able to surround him in one go. Maybe Yan Xiao wouldn't have had time to Breakthrough at all!"

"Exactly, you bear the main responsibility for this disastrous defeat!"

Listening to everyone's reprimands, Midnight Gao Sou did not retort.

Indeed, for some players with low immersion, native NPCs were just lines of code, just game characters that could be treated casually, fundamentally different from real players.

But for Midnight Gao Sou, he felt it was not quite the same.

The AI in the Xuanhuan World was truly amazing, and the entire Xuanhuan World was very systematic. The four countries could trace their past histories, and NPCs had their own elders and ancestral lands. Their conversations and interactions with players showed no signs of game design, indistinguishable from real people.

It was this sense of immersion that had always given Midnight Gao Sou subtle emotions deep down. He couldn't treat the natives as non-humans like other players, which was why he went to warn Yan Xiao.

"Everyone."

Midnight Gao Sou was silent for a moment, then finally looked at everyone and spoke: "I obtained a Legacy in the mountain valley cave, a method that leads directly to the Golden Core stage. It also includes Formation Legacy. If we decide on a Sect location now, I can pay out of my own pocket and spend my own time and Lifespan to set up the Formation."

Old Potato and the others exchanged glances; this was a complete and unexpected joy.

"The great Sect-protecting Formation is too difficult, I haven't learned it yet, but I can already set up a Spirit Gathering Array for Cultivation, and it can reach Grade Five."

"Grade Five Spirit Gathering Array?"

"Is that true?"

Everyone was very surprised; all their resentment towards Midnight Gao Sou had vanished, and even the sorrow of defeat had disappeared.

As long as the news of the Golden Core Legacy was released as the gain from this operation, the Great Love Alliance's disastrous defeat could be turned into a great victory!

"But I'll say this first."

Midnight Gao Sou hesitated, as if making a momentous decision: "Although this Spirit Gathering Array is Grade Five, the Legacy is somewhat incomplete, so it will continuously consume Qi during Cultivation. Of course, players can restore Qi on their own by preparing enough Medicinal Pills and promptly investing Lifespan to accelerate its replenishment."

Old Potato and the others smiled; what was Qi to a Cultivator? It was merely harmless.

Thus, although the Great Love Alliance had just suffered a disastrous defeat, it had a new goal and began to select a site to establish a Sect.

"Let's choose a location within the Great Jiang Imperial Dynasty first."

Old Potato thought for a moment and said: "The Great Jiang Imperial Dynasty has a court administration, and small Sects won't be directly swallowed by large Sects, making it most suitable for our expansion."

...Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Imperial City of the Great Jiang Imperial Dynasty, Lan Yun Guard.

Wang Huohuo looked at the new video about Yan Xiao on the internet, completely stunned.

What did it mean to Breakthrough in battle? Could one even Breakthrough in battle in the Xuanhuan World?

What did it mean to counter-kill an encirclement, making Late Stage Mortal Foundation Cultivators flee in disarray? Wasn't that Yan Xiao a Qi Refining Triple Stage waste?

"Something's not right..."

Wang Huohuo was a little flustered; if things continued this way, she would surely die three years later.

After careful consideration, Wang Huohuo finally made a decision:

"I can't let him continue like this. I must ask Master to intervene... No, Master is only at Foundation Establishment, and perhaps she can't suppress this Yan Xiao. I must ask those Core Formation old monsters from the Lan Yun Guard who are in seclusion to give Yan Xiao no chance."

Thinking this, Wang Huohuo headed towards the Twelfth Princess's sleeping quarters... At the same time.

Videos about Yan Xiao were going viral on the internet.

Those who had previously looked down on Yan Xiao, and those who had mocked him, were all dumbfounded at this moment.