468: Different player paths

Above the Trial Grounds, amidst the swirling mist and clouds, suspended light projections appeared, revealing everything happening within the trials like a mirage.

Among them were all the scenes of Divine Craftsmanship, from the moment he entered the city until now, trapped in a room.

People from hundreds of Sects in the Eastern Region were stationed here, whether Elders or Disciples, all holding the same external identity: Examiner.

For the players, the assessment had already begun when they arrived in the western part of the Great Desert.

The first assessment was naturally whether they could find a way to enter the Trial Grounds; this single test was enough to eliminate over ninety percent of the players.

The second assessment was entering the city gates.

Various Sects had set up one hidden entrance after another on the city walls, the methods of discovery related to their respective Dao Tradition Inheritance, all requiring a bit of talent.

Anyone who could avoid the city gates and find a hidden entrance to enter was considered to have passed the second assessment and would be directly teleported to the reception point set up by the corresponding Sect.

Regrettably, Divine Craftsmanship clearly did not pass this assessment.

Therefore, those like him who lacked obvious talent and could not directly resonate with a Dao Tradition Inheritance could only honestly enter through the city gates and then continuously come into contact with various Dao Lineage methods along the way.

This was the final opportunity; anyone who could resonate with a certain Dao Lineage and was deemed to have talent and Comprehension Ability could be pulled into a simple trial space.

The trial space that Divine Craftsmanship had currently been pulled into was one set up by the Nine Swords Dao.

And the one responsible for evaluating him was none other than a player named Jiang Vengeance.

Jiang Vengeance had watched the whole process, seeing Divine Craftsmanship's anxiety and unease, and seeing all the foolish mistakes he made under high tension, he couldn't help but curl his lips, revealing a trace of mockery.

At this moment, a Nine Swords Dao Disciple approached, glanced at the scene of Divine Craftsmanship, and shook his head, saying: "This person is timid and lacks spirit; I don't think he's good material. Shall we eliminate him?"

Jiang Vengeance, however, shook his head and smiled: "Senior Brother, these players have Lifespans so long they can be called infinite, and they also possess Acquired means to obtain Innate talent, so temporary talent and Comprehension Ability are actually not important."

"If not for the limited spots, I don't think this previous Comprehension Ability assessment would even need to be held."

"What we need are players who can be controlled by us. Isn't someone with such a weak Heart-Nature, who is hesitant and indecisive when encountering things, exactly what we need?"

After Jiang Vengeance finished speaking, he continued to look at the screen.

In the screen, Divine Craftsmanship had already circled once without finding anything unusual, yet he didn't dare to touch the utensils on the various shelves, and for a moment, he was actually frozen in place.

He thought that if he didn't act, he would likely be eliminated by the examiner in the dark. Anxious, sweat poured down like rain, and even his breathing became labored.

Seeing him in such a wretched state, the Nine Swords Dao Disciple was thoughtful and nodded: "Junior Brother Jiang is right. If he were truly someone with extraordinary Heart-Nature who acted recklessly, our Nine Swords Dao would really not dare to take him as a Disciple."

He also watched the screen, seeing Divine Craftsmanship approach cautiously, carefully touching the utensils on the shelves, and then afraid of breaking them, not daring to take them down, and he couldn't help but laugh inwardly.

"Indeed, it must be someone like this that we can safely recruit."

"By the way, Junior Brother Jiang, I heard that before you came here, you submitted a strategy document regarding players to the superiors?"

Jiang Vengeance nodded: "Correct, that is indeed the case."

The Disciple became curious and couldn't help but say: "These Extraterrestrial Demons who call themselves players have only appeared for a short time. How could Junior Brother Jiang be able to discern their habits and even utilize them?"

Jiang Vengeance chuckled lightly: "It was just a coincidence. I previously lived in the east of Yanwang Prefecture for a long time and happened to run into some players, getting to know them earlier than you, Senior Brother, which is why I know their habits."

"Then I, as your Senior Brother, am curious: what exactly is written in this strategy document? How should we deal with these players?"

"It's nothing much, just some simple suggestions. How to specifically execute them depends on the superiors..."

Jiang Vengeance pondered for a moment and continued: "However, I can tell you a thing or two, Senior Brother, and you can pass it on to other fellow Disciples or Elders. Everyone should pay attention, so that dealing with players will be simpler."

"The first and most important thing is to understand the players' playful mentality and then utilize this mentality of theirs."

The Senior Brother sat up straight and said seriously: "Please, Junior Brother, explain in detail."

Seeing him like this, Jiang Vengeance was happy in his heart.

He was able to thrive in the Nine Swords Dao, firstly because he showed extremely high talent and did not expose his player identity, gaining the favor and attention of an Elder.

Secondly, it was because he understood the players well enough.

This understanding was purely taking advantage of the first-mover advantage. If any other player had been on the same track as him and submitted the player strategy first, he would have gained nothing.

Therefore, Jiang Vengeance did not hide anything, only thinking about cashing in on his lead as quickly as possible.

"Players love to play, viewing the cultivation world as a playground and viewing us as non-player characters."

"So-called non-player characters either serve as background boards, issue quests to them, or lead some plot..."

"In short, we must utilize their perception of our positioning, packaging ourselves as faction leaders who can bring them rich rewards, making them listen to our commands unknowingly, and even actively protect us..."

While speaking, Jiang Vengeance sighed inwardly.

Although players see this System the most clearly, it was a native like the state-stabilizing seal who truly utilized it well.

The state-stabilizing seal not only packaged himself as a faction leader, he even packaged the Immortal Dynasty as a game server, and based on this, he cleverly packaged reputation Systems, affinity Systems, and so on.

Eventually, he successfully achieved something that countless natives envied: paying only a little bit of nominal things to make a large number of players work for him.

It can be seen that the principle of this System is indeed correct; players really buy into this.

But as the players' cultivation continuously improves and their horizons broaden, the detailed design required to continue controlling them becomes increasingly complex, even arguably tedious.

And this was the main event of Jiang Vengeance's strategy submission; he provided many focus directions.

For example, cultivating players' recognition of the Sect, shaping the hostility between players of different Sects, creating the charisma of Sect Masters and Elders...

And so on.

The Nine Swords Dao Disciple was enthralled by what he heard.

After Jiang Vengeance finished speaking, the Disciple was almost dumbfounded: "I never thought there would be so many details in dealing with players. I have truly been taught a lesson!"

Jiang Vengeance smiled at him. He very much hoped to package himself as an authority on players so that he could stand at a very high position in the coming waves.

Now, he looked at the screen of Divine Craftsmanship, seeing him timidly search for several utensils, and finally, one utensil reacted.

"This is..."

Jiang Vengeance thought for a moment: "Oh, it's the Legacy of the Giant Fiend Sword."