Chapter 452: Chapter 379: Dao Foundation Concepts
This is a typical Lower Grade Dao Foundation, Yan Qing thought.
He remembered that the key differences between Perfect Dao Foundation, Superior Dao Foundation, Middle Grade Dao Foundation, and Lower Grade Dao Foundation in this game are not the strength of the Dao Foundation Divine Techniques, nor the functionality of the Dao Foundation’s inner scenery, but the complexity of the Dao Foundation Restriction!
After Foundation Establishment, the player levels no longer exist, replaced by Dao Foundation levels.
If levels 1~39 are the process of mortals honing their skills, then levels 40~69 are the journey of the messenger to strengthen the Dao Foundation to the extreme, thereby qualifying to seek golden ascension, implying a tribulation status.
But previously, player skill upgrades drove level progression. Now, how does the Dao Foundation upgrade? The answer is Dao Foundation Restriction.
By acting in accordance with the Dao Foundation Restriction, one can grow and strengthen the Dao Foundation, and conversely, weaken it.
If a player continually goes against the Dao Foundation Restriction, not only will they fail to level up, but even the Dao Foundation state will continue to weaken, and once it drops to 0%, it will cause a Dao Foundation collapse, dropping back to level 39!
Some might think, doesn’t this mean you can farm the Dao Foundation? It’s said that in the first year of "Messenger," many players indeed used this mechanism to repeatedly establish their foundation. After all, back then, nobody knew which Dao Foundation was good. But later, everyone compiled a list of Perfect Dao Foundations and their corresponding Celestial Spirits and Earthly Fiends combinations, so only those bored to death would want to try falling back to Foundation Establishment.
Yan Qing was able to recognize it as a Lower Grade Dao Foundation at a glance because its restrictions are too many and too messy, too easy to trip over!
He also remembered reading a debate post where a player proposed that the better the Dao Foundation, the more restrictions it should have, and as Dao Foundation levels rise, new restrictions should be added. This way, it could restrict the behavior of high-level players, give weaker players a chance to defeat high-level ones, align with thinking like ’Unity of Heaven and Man’ and ’Refining Void and Merging with Dao’, and encourage the strong to play the role of a true ’Foundation Establishment Immortal Cultivator’, creating a better game atmosphere.
The post then blew up with over ten thousand replies, and in the poll, the supporters gained an overwhelming victory. But when everyone tallied things up, they found that the supporters were all cloud players or light players around the level 40 mark, and all high-level players were opposed.
The reason was simple: even though you’re right, even though such a design would be more dramatic, and even though the game’s xianxia atmosphere would be better, but—it’s a game that serves us!
This broken game is already troublesome enough, and now restricting player actions, whoever wants to play can play! I spent so much time finally reaching Foundation Establishment Great Perfection, and you won’t let me enjoy it, and you intend to restrict me?
Great Fortune Sang, it’s up to you to handle the developer’s horse!
The officials did not heed these noisy voices, but instead, year by year, they weakened the restrictions of the Dao Foundation. Now, a Perfect Dao Foundation only has one ’negative restriction’, a Superior Dao Foundation has at most three, a Middle Grade Dao Foundation has at most six, and only a Lower Grade Dao Foundation comes with a ’negative restriction’ for every ’positive restriction’.
Therefore, the biggest benefit of a Perfect Dao Foundation is that you can play without worries, while a Lower Grade Dao Foundation requires spending a lot of time on role-playing.
The Dragon Blood Hua Mei Dao Foundation is a typical Lower Grade Dao Foundation, having twenty positive and negative restrictions, detailed enough to serve as a character card for a role-play game.
Logically, a Lower Grade Dao Foundation with more restrictions should mean having more ways to level up. If the player plays entirely according to the restrictions and invests so much effort, the speed of leveling up should reasonably be faster. But anyone who has read "A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality" knows that although the Four Spirit Roots require more effort, their cultivation speed isn’t as fast as the Celestial Spirit Root.
A Lower Grade Dao Foundation is like Four Spirit Roots, while a Perfect Dao Foundation is like the Celestial Spirit Root. Because of fewer restrictions, each restriction of a Perfect Dao Foundation grants a huge experience bonus, and you can level up quickly to the sixth transition within just a month.
As for the qi fortune True Man of Locking Dragon mentioned... The Rabbit Heroine took out a pot of wine and gulped it down, then took out a piece of ’teriyaki crispy chicken’ and munched it down. She saw a "↑" symbol appear in the "Dao Foundation State," but the value didn’t change, seemingly causing only a fractional increase.
At the same time, crimson clouds rose around the Rabbit Heroine, a halo of seven colors appeared behind her head, and an amber glow spread from her brow, indicating an increase in experience, reminding the player they did something right and can continue doing so.
True Man of Locking Dragon widened his eyes upon seeing this, rudely pointing at the Rabbit Heroine with the Desolate Heaven-Caging Finger, stammering, "You, you—"
"You actually established the legendary First Grade Dao Foundation!?"
Yan Qing was dumbfounded by her.
Although he didn’t know what a First Grade Dao Foundation was, he thought it was probably a local assessment of Dao Foundations. But why was True Man of Locking Dragon so envious and resentful?
"Kid... no, fellow Daoist." True Man of Locking Dragon composed himself, looking at the Rabbit Heroine with a complex expression, touched his ring, and took out an azure longsword: "Since you possess a First Grade Dao Foundation, achieving the fifth and sixth transitions should be a breeze for you. Auntie has often offended you in the past, so consider this ’Hengqiu Sword’ as an apology."
Yan Qing was left dumbstruck.
No, when Rabbit Heroine’s divine powers were limitless, you were so arrogant. How did you suddenly fall from the ’Aunt Realm’ to the ’Fellow Daoist Realm’?
Although aware that it might reveal her shallow knowledge, Yan Qing couldn’t help but let Rabbit Heroine ask:
"Why do you say this heroine has established a First Grade Dao Foundation?"
"The greatest characteristic of a First Grade Dao Foundation is the ability to gather fortune through daily trivialities." True Man of Locking Dragon looked at Rabbit Heroine strangely: "Didn’t your elders tell you about the division of Dao Foundations? They were even willing to give you a Foundation Establishment Pill and sent you to negotiate with me, yet didn’t mention these matters?"
Both Rabbit Heroine and Pharmacist’s Wish shook their heads.
"From ancient times, Dao Foundations have been divided from First Grade to Ninth Grade. Ninth is the lowest, and First is superior. However, most Foundation Establishments are between Fourth Grade and Sixth Grade. Seventh to Ninth are less common, and First to Third are even rarer," explained True Man of Locking Dragon. "The factor dividing the grades of Dao Foundations is the simplicity of gathering fortune."
"A First Grade Dao Foundation can gather through sitting, walking, eating, living—everything; a Sixth Grade Dao Foundation can only gather through slaughtering demons and scavenging resources." True Man of Locking Dragon sighed: "I am a Seventh Grade Dao Foundation, and the way to gather fortune is very narrow. I’ve been held up for decades to reach the Fifth Transition."
"It’s said that in the past, Liang Taizu Shao Taibai had a First Grade Dao Foundation, reaching Fifth Transition in seven years and Sixth Transition in ten, otherwise he could not have stood out in the contest between Zhou Taizu and Emperor Divine Martial, firmly occupying the fertile land of Jiangnan." With envy, True Man of Locking Dragon looked at Rabbit Heroine: "With your potential, you might achieve Sixth Transformation Perfection in fifteen years."
Pharmacist’s Wish tried hard not to show emotion, but her lowered gaze couldn’t hide her regret. She hadn’t expected her sister’s Dao Foundation to be so excellent, but alas, it would fall tomorrow... She resolved to find her sister a Foundation Establishment Pill in the future to not waste such potential.
Only Yan Qing’s mouth twitched.
How could he not hear that the local people’s views on Dao Foundations were completely opposite to those in the game!
Game players pursued a Perfect Dao Foundation with fewer restrictions, focused on battles, as there were endless monsters in the game, and they didn’t want to be bound by regulations. But locals were different; Even Foundation Establishment Zhenrens might only fight in two or three Foundation Establishment Secret Realms in a lifetime. For them, fighting monsters was too troublesome and dangerous, unlike gamers who could constantly grind for upgrades, or interact freely with others in the Treasure Pavilion.
Instead, lower grade Dao Foundations with more restrictions, which could grow through daily trivialities, with ’very little’ time to reach the Fifth and Sixth Transitions, were seen as the best Dao Foundations by them!
As for the supposed burden of restrictions, they thought it insignificant. From a young age, they endured countless hardships honing their skills. So, having more restrictions to securely grow the Dao Foundation without needing to suffer—who would complain?
This probably is a rare case where the official design, brought into reality, turns friendly—officials couldn’t foresee someone growing their Dao Foundation just through daily chores. They likely set these daily tasks’ rewards low because even if only accruing 0.5% per day (gaining just 0.5% experience per day is very low), one year would give 1825%, and five years 9125%, while occasionally fighting could upgrade ten levels!
A transition every five years—a pace inconceivable for game players, but for Foundation Establishment Zhenrens, who live over a hundred years, they might worry if their foundations are unstable—they might not even normally reach a transition every five years!
No matter how small the benefit, under the local’s year-scale time perspective, it becomes profitable.
As to why a lower grade Dao Foundation is here called a ’legendary First Grade Dao Foundation,’ Yan Qing understood with a brief thought:
Any Third-Turn Messenger absorbing Celestial Spirits and Earthly Fiends would inevitably start as a Middle Grade Dao Foundation, those they call from Fourth Grade to Sixth Grade, and absorbing sufficient Celestial Spirits would make a Superior Dao Foundation possible. Only those establishing a foundation without absorbing Celestial Spirits and Earthly Fiends would form a lower grade Dao Foundation.
But as said before, Third-Turn Messengers establishing a foundation forcibly without absorbing Celestial Spirits and Earthly Fiends have less than a ten percent success rate. Among a hundred aspiring Third-Turn Messengers attempting to establish the foundation, ninety would pursue the Foundation Establishment Pill and Celestial Spirits and Earthly Fiends, leaving ten to force the foundation, with maybe one succeeding at most. Thus, a lower grade Dao Foundation naturally becomes the rare First Grade Dao Foundation.
Rabbit Heroine accepted the "Hengqiu Sword" and found it was a Four-Turn Rare Token. Yan Qing was speechless; Infinite Divine Power couldn’t subdue an aunt, but the lower grade Dao Foundation caused the aunt to pay respect instead.
"But isn’t this growing the Dao Foundation?" Rabbit Heroine asked: "Why do you say it’s gathering fortune?"
"Dao Foundation is closely linked to fortune." True Man of Locking Dragon didn’t plan to elaborate: "You’ll understand once you’ve gathered enough fortune, fellow Daoist."
"Aunt Yue, I still liked your previous unruly demeanor."
"Then let’s go, kid." True Man of Locking Dragon turned and entered the Secret Realm Vortex Gate.
Watching Rabbit Heroine and Pharmacist’s Wish enter the Secret Realm on screen, Yan Qing suddenly realized a problem:
He had planned the perfect Dao Foundation path for both Shang Xinlei and Pharmacist’s Wish, hadn’t he inadvertently cut off everyone’s shortcut of upgrading just by daily living?
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