326: People's reaction

Midnight Gao Sou was wallowing in the Mortal World.

He felt as if he had been unlucky and ill-fated recently.

Ever since he fell from the Golden Core Realm, he had never climbed back up.

The worst part was that he was too famous; if he accidentally exposed his identity, other players would most likely attack him.

This made him afraid to team up with others after multiple Rebirths, only daring to explore alone.

However, some areas hiding treasures were simply impossible for a Foundation Establishment or even Qi Refining cultivator to explore.

So Midnight Gao Sou was stuck, unable to see any possibility of advancement.

He felt he couldn't make it in the Xuanhuan World anymore and it was time to quit the game.

Just as this thought sprouted in his mind... Yao Guang Technology emerged, and news of full virtualization for all spread like wildfire across the internet.

Midnight Gao Sou was completely stunned.

"So, not only can I not quit the game, but I also have to stay in the Xuanhuan World for a hundred years? A thousand years? Or even ten thousand years?"

"I have to bear the identity of the leader of evil cultivators and be targeted constantly?"

Midnight Gao Sou was utterly dumbfounded.

He sat in his real-world house, staring blankly at the screen, and suddenly felt a bit bitter.

"Me... I should have been a good person from the start... What do they mean 'it's just a game,' what do they mean 'evil cultivators can do whatever they want'... From now on... I want to be a good person..."

...Western Country.

Da Quan Knight looked at the news coming from Hua Xia Creation.

He was completely dazed.

"Full virtualization for everyone?"

"The future belongs to the virtual world?"

"Billions of people worldwide are going to enter the Xuanhuan World?"

He was completely bewildered.

Unlike other players, Da Quan Knight's identity in the Xuanhuan World was very special.

He was originally a popular streamer, then entered the Xuanhuan World and became a Dog Demon. After many twists and turns, he eventually became a Fire Wolf Demon with an extremely brilliant appearance.

Because of his brilliant appearance, he was noticed by a top-tier rich second-generation from Hua Xia Creation, signed a contract, and became a mount in the game.

Since the treatment was good, and the contract did not affect reality, Da Quan Knight himself didn't care about his self-esteem, and could even comfort himself that this was just game-play.

But now... "What does it mean that billions of people worldwide will enter the Xuanhuan World?"

"What does it mean that the time in the Xuanhuan World will accelerate?"

"What does it mean that my Demon Body can live for at least a thousand years?"

"What does it mean that the contract signed back then stipulated the entire lifespan of this life?"

Da Quan Knight felt like the sky had fallen.

At this moment, countless bullet comments in his live stream were mocking and laughing loudly.

He only found them noisy.

"I... I need to ask Li Changfeng to see if I can terminate the contract."

"After all, the future of us Blue Star people will be in the Xuanhuan World from now on. It's impossible for me to be someone's mount for a thousand years, right?"

"What kind of ultimate torture is this?"

...Xuanhuan World.

Ye Chun stood on a mountain peak, with a virtual screen in front of him. He looked at the recent news, deep in thought.

"The future is the future of the virtual world... In that case, is this still considered a game?"

At this moment, Ye Chun finally understood where the feeling of unease he had been experiencing came from.

When the proportion of game time far exceeds real-world time, people start to feel uneasy.

In traditional games of the past, even with high-intensity daily play, there was always time for eating, sleeping, and using the restroom... not to mention various social activities that would interrupt the game.

Even for professional players, time outside the game was always greater than time inside the game; some professional players even played only eight hours a day.

But the Xuanhuan World was different.

Ye Chun hadn't realized before that he had spent too much time in the Xuanhuan World, so much that he found it somewhat incredible now that he thought about it.

And once Yao Guang Technology is fully rolled out and everyone enters the Xuanhuan World, real-world time can even be compressed to 0, and all his time will be spent in the Xuanhuan World.

Then... does such a game truly still have a "sole competitive gameplay"?

"So that's it, the thing I've been concerned about, it's like this..."

Ye Chun was pensive.

He thought of the people and events he had seen before.

Chefs, Puppeteers, Formation Masters, Talisman Makers... even pure scenery-loving casual players.

The Xuanhuan World was vast, vast enough to accommodate a myriad of ideas.

But... Ye Chun looked up at the sky. He remembered Jin Cui, Sect Leader of He Shui Sect saying there were Restrictions there.

The state-stabilizing seal was a peak players looked up to, but above that peak were some unseen things.

"Can these ideas truly be accommodated?"

"The iron rule of the Xuanhuan World... is ultimately still the law of the jungle, isn't it?"

"If I cannot become stronger, what good are any ideas I have?"

At this moment, his Dao Heart seemed to have been reshaped somewhat... Hua Xia Creation Capital.

A commercial building in the core area.

This place had already been prepared for a press conference.

Jiang Feng and Director Li Shaohua of Hua Xia Creation arrived early.

Director Li Shaohua's face showed much excitement. He looked at Jiang Feng and said:

"Boss Jiang, do you know? Many dignitaries in the Western Country, in order to gain the opportunity of eternal life in the virtual world, actually ceded their real-world power."

"Good heavens, a few decades ago, I would never have imagined that the virtual world would become so popular, that it would become the future paradise for humanity in the next century."

Jiang Feng merely said calmly:

"I'm just a game developer; I don't understand these things. I'm only responsible for making the Xuanhuan World perfect."

Hearing this, Director Li Shaohua immediately said with reverence:

"Indeed, the higher-ups tested so many virtual worlds, and finally found that only the Xuanhuan World could withstand high-intensity time acceleration, and only the Xuanhuan World could keep Yao Guang (Shaking Light) always active... How exactly was this achieved?"

Jiang Feng chuckled lightly:

"The first point is because the Xuanhuan World is sufficiently 'real'. Even on the tiniest blade of grass, we didn't cut corners; even the gentlest wisp of breeze, we absolutely did not treat perfunctorily."

"It is this realism that can hypnotize players, making them ignore the boundary between virtual and reality."

Director Li Shaohua nodded: "The sheer amount of content in the Xuanhuan World is truly terrifying. Even with AI assistance, it's incredible, almost as if there are no costs involved."

Jiang Feng gave a hearty laugh and continued:

"As for the second reason, that is the characteristic of the Xuanhuan World itself."

"The virtual worlds that participated in the previous tests each had different backgrounds and different worldviews, but only the Xuanhuan World was the most special."

"This specialness is not as the rumors say, that the Xuanhuan World actually exists; that's pure nonsense."

"This specialness comes from its worldview."

Jiang Feng paused, glanced at the time; the press conference was about to begin.

So he said: "How about we discuss it at the press conference? It's time to get ready now."

Director Li Shaohua nodded.

The two stood up and walked out of the preparation room.

The stage was set, the audience was in place, and the press conference that would impact the entire Blue Star and the subsequent development of the Xuanhuan World was about to commence.