335: Dajiang City and Dingguo Seal

Great River City is a player-controlled main city created by a Fourth Rank Cultivator, state-stabilizing seal, for some reason.

From its inception, he defined this city as a guiding city for Newbie Players and a faction main city for Veteran Players to hand over quests.

It has NPCs responsible for teaching cultivation, and also NPCs responsible for forging artifacts, refining Medicinal Pills, and creating Talismans, and even brothels for entertainment.

The Golden Core War triggered by Ye Chun once led to the destruction of Great River City, but then state-stabilizing seal rebuilt Great River City on the original site and expanded its area.

Its footprint is tens of thousands of square miles, and if you consider the surrounding villages and trial Secret Realms, it can extend to hundreds of thousands of square miles.

It is almost the size of a province in real-world China, which is quite astonishing, and it can accommodate a huge number of Cultivators.

But now, as players continue to pour in, the core area of Great River City has begun to become crowded.

According to Wan Lin's understanding, there are as many as 300 million players who chose the Xuanhuan World this time. Although many stayed in Newcomer Valley, the number of players heading to Great River City alone reached several million and is still increasing.

For a time, the entire Great River City almost became dysfunctional.

"Good heavens..."

Wan Lin looked at the crowded streets and up at the congested airspace, clicking his tongue in wonder.

He suddenly remembered that the natives of the Xuanhuan World sometimes referred to them, the players, as "Extraterrestrial Demons."

From a certain perspective, this title was indeed accurate.

At this moment, a prompt box suddenly appeared before Wan Lin's eyes:

"Welcome to Great River City!"

"You have automatically joined the Immortal Dynasty faction. I am your System guide!"

"You can call out the guide at any time to analyze all things and get strategies!"

"Now releasing Newbie Quest: Head to the Teaching Secret Realm."

"Quest Requirement: Leave the Great River City teleportation array, follow the arrow's guidance to the Teaching Secret Realm, and complete the clearance."

"Quest Reward: Seventh Rank Cultivation Method and Supporting facilities Cultivation Resources."

"Huh?"

Wan Lin was stunned; he felt as if something wasn't quite right.

No matter how he looked at it, the screen in front of him was clearly a game System screen.

He had indeed heard that one had to come to Great River City first to trigger the Newbie Quest of the Xuanhuan World and activate the full System functions.

But... Wan Lin felt that a game with such high freedom as the Xuanhuan World shouldn't have such a rigid Newbie guide.

Wait a minute... Wan Lin thought of something and mused, "Analyze!"

The next moment, a new screen flashed before his eyes:

"state-stabilizing seal's Method (True Name Unknown)"

"Basic Analysis:"

"A method created by the Fourth Rank Cultivator, state-stabilizing seal, through his innate Divine Ability, combined with the System panel mode familiar to players, to guide players' actions."

"Required for Advanced Analysis:"

"Artifact Refining Attainment: Fourth Rank"

"Or"

"Possess relevant Divine Ability"

"Ah?"

Wan Lin was full of questions.

What the heck?

Although he was restricted by his body from playing vr games in reality, he had played traditional electronic games.

He knew very well that UI panels, System guides, and quest releases were all part of game design, created by the official developers for players.

And the information he had just analyzed told him that this was actually a method created by the NPC state-stabilizing seal?

Wan Lin suddenly felt that the logic of the Xuanhuan World seemed a bit outrageous.

He hesitated, unsure whether to accept this quest.

He saw the Newbie Players next to him all walking outwards, clearly following the arrow's guidance, heading to the Secret Realm.

Wan Lin grabbed a player and asked:

"Have you guys analyzed this screen? It says this isn't an official UI interface; it seems to be state-stabilizing seal's method?"

"I heard before that these Advanced Cultivators' actions are profound and unfathomable, and they might have ulterior motives. Could there be a trick here?"

The player, annoyed at being stopped, casually said:

"What if there's a trick? We are players, after all. We'll just grab all the benefits, and if anything happens, we can just Reincarnate and restart. What's there to be afraid of?"

Wan Lin thought about it and felt that what the player said was absolutely right.

They were players!

Players with infinite possibilities, who could Rebirth infinitely in a cycle!

They dared to brave any danger and seize any Opportunity.

Even if state-stabilizing seal had other intentions, they, the players, were fearless. Anyway, once they got the rewards, they could just leave.

Moreover, Wan Lin thought about it, Li Changfeng and Midnight Gao Sou, the two Veteran Players he had met before, were both of good character. Neither was an evil Cultivator, and both were eager to help.

Thinking this way, the idea of the Xuanhuan World being full of evil Cultivators should just be a rumor.

The underlying essence of the Xuanhuan World was still truth, goodness, and beauty.

Perhaps state-stabilizing seal was truly a wise ruler of the Immortal Dynasty, wholeheartedly cultivating these Newbies?

At this thought, Wan Lin no longer hesitated and followed the arrow's guidance that appeared before him, heading towards the Newbie Trial Secret Realm... In the sky, within an Immortal Palace.

Mist lingered, and Spiritual Qi surged.

state-stabilizing seal, dressed in a Dragon robe and wearing a crown, frowned deeply.

As a Fourth Rank Cultivator, who had achieved the Nascent Soul Magic Treasure, there were few things in this area that could bother him anymore.

But recently, two major events had suddenly arisen.

The first major event was that the thick mist surrounding the four directions had dissipated, and a more distant scroll had unfolded overnight, with cities descending and Cultivators standing tall.

Either the Soul Transformation method had failed, or a Soul Transformation powerhouse had returned and lifted the method.

Or, as Li Changfeng said, it was a so-called version update.

Whichever it was, it worried state-stabilizing seal.

But this was, after all, a matter of the outside world and would not directly affect his Immortal Dynasty.

The second major event was what he was most concerned about now.

"These players... why have so many suddenly appeared?"

Previously, the Extraterrestrial Demons, or players, had indeed been increasing, but the overall number remained around tens of millions.

These players were also dispersed throughout various regions of the Immortal Dynasty, and even in the Western Great Desert and North-South Mountains.

But not long ago, a dense swarm of players suddenly broke through the void and descended, with their numbers directly reaching 300 million.

What surprised him most was that a Grotto-Heaven had synchronized its descent with the valley where the players arrived, and there was also a Fourth Rank Spirit Beast.

That was a powerful existence capable of rivaling him, making him dare not act rashly.

state-stabilizing seal was very anxious about this. What exactly was going on with these players? What forces were behind them? What was their purpose in descending here?

He couldn't figure it out, but state-stabilizing seal didn't intend to sit idly by.

He had previously created Great River City to indirectly influence and control players.

This move had worked very well, and many players, through step-by-step quests, unknowingly came to rely on his guidance.

No matter what quest he issued, they would find a way to complete it.

For some smarter players, he only needed to design some side quests and arrange some special supporting characters to make them fall for it.

state-stabilizing seal felt that players were not a threat at all, but rather pawns that could be used.

However, the Cloud-Swallowing Whale in Newbie Valley changed his attitude towards players and made him eager to control more players.

To this end, he needed to attract most players to leave Newcomer Valley and no longer regard that safe haven protected by the Spirit Beast as the Newbie Village.

Instead, they should regard his Great River City as the true Newbie Village.

"According to them, this is a version update."

"Then after the update, there should be new activities, especially welcoming activities."

"Very good, I will design one for them..."