324: New Technology

For players, three days of waiting time was pure torture.

"Damn it, can't they just release all the announcements at once?"

"A preview of a preview, is it?"

"What big event is the VR pod going to pull off this time? The last update opened up the Dao Heart and Soul System, what will it open this time?"

"Looking at the momentum of this pre-heating, it must be an unprecedented major event."

Players discussed animatedly, all eagerly anticipating the press conference three days later.

Even some professional players were affected by this.

Within the Immortal Dynasty.

The Thunder Team's brand new Station.

The perimeter was a sea of thunder that could be arranged using Wood Virtue Thunder techniques; ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivators dared not step inside.

Even the Thunder Team's own members needed guidance to enter.

Players had a real-time communication System, mostly holding virtual meetings or directly chatting in groups, with "offline" communication within the game being quite rare.

However, professional clubs like the Thunder Team would still set up means to maintain their Station, allowing team members to meet offline for conferences.

The reason was simple: a Nascent Soul Cultivator like the state-stabilizing seal could use Spiritual Sense to detect every move of the players, and even judge a player's current mood based on subtle changes in expression or even slight fluctuations in Spiritual Sense, thereby guessing the player's subsequent plans.

Ordinary players didn't care about this, but professional players absolutely had to avoid such things, so they needed to purchase large stealth formations, combined with various methods, to evade the detection of the state-stabilizing seal.

Although these Golden Core Cultivators couldn't defeat a Nascent Soul, merely evading basic Spiritual Sense detection was achievable for them.

Wang Long, dressed in a fiery red battle robe and holding a red long spear, passed through the Thunder Swamp and the great formation, arriving at the plaza in front of the pavilion.

The rest of the team was already waiting there; seeing Wang Long's lateness, some people's expressions changed, but they still held back.

The Golden Core battle previously triggered by Ye Chun had resulted in the deaths of several Golden Core Cultivators that the Thunder Team had painstakingly nurtured, ultimately leaving only Wang Long as a Golden Core.

Wang Long's influence grew steadily as a result, and his actions became increasingly free and undisciplined.

His presence at this meeting was actually unexpected.

Lightning Flash, the captain of the Thunder Team, scanned the area to count the numbers, feeling annoyed by the weakness of his Spiritual Sense.

Not long ago, he had fallen from the Golden Core Realm, transforming into a pool of thunder that shook heaven and earth, lingering for a long time. Later, he had to ask Wang Long to use his methods to collect it back, serving as the Thunder Team's foundation.

Although the reincarnation points from the Golden Core Realm gave him a powerful Golden Finger, enough to quickly return to Golden Core, precisely because of this powerful Golden Finger, the team required him to accumulate strength and achieve a higher quality Golden Core.

He had no choice but to remain in the Immortal Foundation Realm for now.

His body felt so heavy that he was uncomfortable, and the narrowness of his Spiritual Sense made him extremely uneasy. He wasn't in the mood for pleasantries and went straight to the point:

"You all know that the Xuanhuan World is about to undergo a major update, right?"

Everyone nodded.

Wang Long was a bit impatient and said, "If there's nothing else, I'll leave first."

Lightning Flash frowned; he didn't like Wang Long very much.

Wang Long's combat power was indeed strong, but during the last hunt for Ye Chun, he acted impulsively, pursuing Ye Chun even after he had left, which caused the Thunder Team's formation to collapse and ultimately led to his own downfall.

If he weren't a player with a Golden Finger for restarting, they would have become enemies long ago.

Now, seeing Wang Long's indifferent attitude, as if an update made no difference, Lightning Flash snorted coldly.

"Wang Long, if you want to leave, you can go now.

"But let me make it clear, the upcoming update to the Xuanhuan World is an unprecedented major update, affecting not only the game but also the entire real society.

"This information was shared with relevant individuals by the higher-ups for the greater good; other players don't know a single thing."

Wang Long fell silent, snorted, pulled a chair from his storage ring, and sat down on the spot.

The others also found chairs to sit on.

Clearly, this matter was significant enough to make even the troublemakers sit down and listen obediently.

Lightning Flash continued:

"You are all professional players, so you should all know that in recent years, the virtualization progress in our China, and indeed in various countries around the world, has been extremely rapid.

"Real-world labor has largely been replaced by AI robots, and even daily social interactions can be completed in the virtual world. Some creative labor has long since entered the virtual world.

"Perhaps only researchers who require real-world support will continue to be confined to reality."

Wang Long interrupted, "Get straight to the point."

Lightning Flash almost couldn't catch his breath, his expression a bit distorted.

He forcibly held back, exhaled a mouthful of turbid Qi, and continued:

"Job positions being replaced by AI, and Blue Star's resources gradually nearing depletion—these were problems that emerged decades ago. At that time, there were even massive strikes involving hundreds of thousands of people, with a very grand momentum.

"But after VR technology matured, social problems were alleviated, and the virtual world became the new world for us Blue Star people.

"Now, countries on Blue Star have two paths: one is to actively explore alien planets, attempting to expand and acquire new resources, but in the foreseeable future, this path is basically unfeasible; it's too difficult.

"The second is to shift focus to the virtual world, moving most of the population into the virtual world to reduce the consumption of non-renewable resources in reality, retaining only a limited population in reality to execute the first path.

"Previously, although VR technology became increasingly mature, it was always unable to allow players to stay in the virtual world for extended periods, and players' demand for real-world resources remained high.

"And recently, VR technology has had an extremely astonishing Breakthrough..."

Wang Long listened, raising an eyebrow.

He had originally wanted to punch Lightning Flash; this guy spoke so slowly, like he was telling a story in class, never getting to the point.

But soon, his curiosity was gradually piqued.

What kind of astonishing Breakthrough could affect the entire social landscape of reality?

Lightning Flash said:

"Have you heard of Yaoguang?"

Everyone looked at each other, clearly not knowing what it was.

Wang Long said, "Stop beating around the bush, get to the point."

His shift from initial impatience and desire to leave to his current anxiety and curiosity made Lightning Flash inwardly chuckle.

Lightning Flash deliberately waited for a moment, and seeing Wang Long's face turn ashen, as if he was about to get angry, he then slowly said:

"Yaoguang, that is a flickering light in the human mind; it is human consciousness, or, to use Xuanhuan terminology, it is the Soul.

"Calling it light is merely for the convenience of laypeople; what it actually is, only researchers know, and we don't need to delve into it.

"We only need to know that the virtual world created by the new-era VR pod, which is entirely based on Yaoguang..."

Lightning Flash paused for a moment, his eyes filled with shock: "Is unprecedented."