"Young Heroes, our Profound Yellow Sect is currently facing both internal and external crises and urgently needs your assistance."
"To be able to gather all of you Young Heroes today is truly my, Xu’s, distinct honor. Now that I have become the Xuanhuang Sect Leader, I am determined to restore our former glory."
"Young Heroes, are you willing to join our Profound Yellow Sect and strive with me to make it the number one sect in Jianghu?"
Xu Nian maintained a calm expression, trying hard to play his NPC role.
As his words ended, the players readily agreed, since their roles were, after all, disciples of the Profound Yellow Sect. All thirty players accepted without hesitation.
"Too much nonsense! Can’t the game designers just get straight to the point?"
"What’s all this? Just give me the task already!"
"What’s everyone so worked up about? Story missions have to progress step-by-step, don’t they? Have none of you ever played an online game before?"
"Sorry, I’m a Tower Defense player!"
Hearing the players grumbling and clamoring to be assigned tasks directly, Xu Nian knew the time had come.
"My disciples, from now on, you are all part of the Profound Yellow Sect."
Xu Nian announced loudly, "Today, I received news that near our Back Mountain, there is a bandit camp called Black Wind Stronghold, committing all sorts of heinous acts. How can we stand by and watch them harm the common people in our vicinity? Eliminating them is a service to the people! My disciples, follow me to Black Wind Stronghold, and let these bandits meet their doom!"
No sooner had Xu Nian finished speaking than the players received the task notification.
[Task: Eliminate the bandits of Black Wind Stronghold.]
[Description: Follow Sect Leader Xu Nian to Black Wind Stronghold and kill the bandits there.]
[Reward: Contribution Points * 100.]
Seeing the first task appear, the players were all buzzing with excitement.
This was the moment they had been waiting for!
This game claimed to be 100 percent realistic. Previous game experiences of killing and arson felt insignificant in comparison. It was unknown what it would feel like here.
Will they change the color of blood to green? After all, some games have done that before.
"Finally, the task is here! Our Sect Leader sure does talk a lot of nonsense."
"Let’s accept the task! Contribution Points can be exchanged for Martial Arts Manuals, which can improve our realm. Power is what counts!"
"Wait, can Contribution Points be traded too? Is this an advantage for grinding players?"
"Stop blabbering, the Sect Leader has already set out! Hurry up and follow so we can see the new map!"
Immediately, under Xu Nian’s lead, thirty players marched mightily towards Black Wind Stronghold.
Along the way, the players continually marveled at the modeling of the surrounding environment. Everything here felt incredibly realistic. Except for the Sect Leader’s excessive chatter, everything else was quite good.
Black Wind Stronghold was not very far from the Profound Yellow Sect, only about an hour’s walk from the Back Mountain.
The mountain they occupied wasn’t comparable to the Profound Yellow Sect’s location. However, it was overgrown with weeds and dense trees, making it an ideal hiding spot.
Recently, numerous merchant convoys had been attacked by Black Wind Stronghold, suffering heavy losses.
And within Black Wind Stronghold, those plundered goods became Xu Nian’s prime target.
Players also needed food to replenish their energy. The Profound Yellow Sect was currently dirt poor. Xu Nian certainly didn’t want the players he had recruited to starve to death one by one. While they still had strength, he planned to take down Black Wind Stronghold first.
There were lookouts stationed at the foot of Black Wind Stronghold’s mountain.
Seeing a large crowd charging up, the lookout was startled and hurried back to the stronghold to report.
Their leader was known by the moniker Mountain-Flipping Dragon, a one-eyed, saber-wielding warrior of the Ninth-Grade Martial Artist Realm. He had recruited a band of ruthless men, all of whom had either spilled blood or had lives on their conscience. They specialized in robbing passing merchant convoys in this area.
Upon learning that a group was approaching his stronghold, Mountain-Flipping Dragon’s expression changed slightly.
"More than thirty people? Are you sure?"
Mountain-Flipping Dragon, shouldering his Three-Ring Saber, growled fiercely, "Damn it, could it be people from the Liangcheng Government Office?"
"It’s definitely not the Government Office. Those people aren’t even carrying weapons; they look like they’re coming to die," the lookout said with a peculiar expression.
That’s right! They looked like they were here to die! From what he saw, they just seemed like a group of ordinary people. Other than their slightly greater numbers, they had no other advantages.
"Oh?" Mountain-Flipping Dragon’s lips curled into a slight smile. "Strange things certainly happen these days," he chuckled. "Let’s go take a look."
Nearly a hundred men from Black Wind Stronghold sprang into action, each grabbing their weapons and rushing towards the stronghold’s entrance.
At that moment, Xu Nian was also leading his disciples towards the entrance of Black Wind Stronghold.
Normally, when Jianghu people met, they would announce their affiliations and then engage in some probing clashes to size each other up.
But things were different with Xu Nian’s group.
They knew nothing of the conventions of Jianghu. In their eyes, the people of Black Wind Stronghold were just a bunch of mobs!
Before Xu Nian could even speak, a loud laugh erupted from behind him.
"Don’t you dare try to steal it from me! This First Kill is mine!"
A player named ’Evil Queen Morgana’, holding a rock, rushed forward with an excited look on his face.
Xu Nian was dumbfounded. What in the world is he doing? Doesn’t he see how many people are on the other side? They’re all hardened killers with blood on their hands, and he’s charging at them with just a rock?
"Damn, is this dude really that brave?"
"Morgana? I’ll remember him. Just for his courage to face hundreds alone, he deserves to be called Big Brother by me!"
"They’ve got quite a few people, and they’re all armed. We need a plan."
"What’s there to be afraid of? If we die, we just resurrect, right? We can wear them down eventually! Morgana, bro, wait for me!"
As Morgana charged out first, some of the more impulsive players quickly followed suit.
They might not get the First Kill, but second or third kills were still up for grabs, right?
Morgana charged directly at Mountain-Flipping Dragon, who was surrounded by a crowd. He fiercely hurled the stone in his hand at the bandit leader’s face.
The bandits of Black Wind Stronghold were stunned by this scene. Is this something an ordinary person would do? Usually, when commoners see us, don’t they all take a wide detour? This young lad, charging at us with just a rock—does he not know the reputation of our Black Wind Stronghold?
Watching the stone fly towards him, Mountain-Flipping Dragon raised his saber to block it.
The stone struck the flat of the blade.
The next instant, a man from Black Wind Stronghold kicked Morgana in the stomach, sending him sprawling to the ground.
"You brat, what kind of madman are you? How dare you come to our Black Wind Stronghold and cause trouble!" the bandit sneered, glaring at Morgana.
But who would have thought Morgana would abruptly leap up from the ground? He pounced on that same bandit, grabbed the rock from the ground, and started smashing it repeatedly onto the man’s head.
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The ferocity of the attack made even the hardened bandits of Black Wind Stronghold gulp nervously.
"Thank goodness I turned the pain sensitivity down to its lowest setting, otherwise that last hit would have really been agonizing!" Morgana muttered, scrambling to his feet.
[Player ’Evil Queen Morgana’ has killed a Black Wind Stronghold lackey. Bonus Reward: 1 Contribution Point.]
Just one Contribution Point? Morgana looked at the bandit whose head he had just smashed, then glanced up at the others. Over a hundred of them. If I kill them all, that’s over a hundred Contribution Points. Plus the hundred from the task reward... Two hundred Contribution Points! I could totally become a game merchant right now and sell these points for money!
"Hmm? You dare kill my men right in front of me, the stronghold leader?"
Mountain-Flipping Dragon also snapped back to his senses and roared furiously, "All of you, attack! Cut them all down! Show them the might of Black Wind Stronghold!"