Chapter 157: Chapter 157: Nine-Turn Puppetry Technique
Taking one person along wasn’t a problem.
He was just a little surprised. "Ma, aren’t you going to First Mountain to train first?"
Ma Shaojie laughed. "Heh, I finally made it to such an interesting, real world. Is grinding monsters all day really better than seeing the sights? I’m going to look around first."
Han Tian thought for a moment. "Alright, I’ll discuss it with the others first. It shouldn’t be a problem. Ma, just wait to hear from me."
Ma Shaojie nodded. "Sure."
The players’ missions required them to make the Sect bigger and stronger. Aside from things they couldn’t talk about, almost everything they did was about contributing information.
New players could also learn from Han Tian’s livestream that there were no official channels for in-game purchases. However, players could exchange their points for real money, facilitating offline transactions.
And considering the fact that the System could monitor everything but chose not to interfere, many professional gaming studios saw a massive business opportunity.
’Think about it: a complete second world. If they could corner the market and do nothing but sell points, what kind of fortune could they make?’
Unfortunately, the game was completely impervious to account snipers.
The studios’ account snipers had tried. The facial recognition requirement shut down the vast majority of studios that used bots to automatically grab accounts.
Not to mention the System’s functions were uncannily powerful. For instance, with AI being so prevalent these days, some had tried using highly accurate, synthesized AI videos and still couldn’t get past the System’s facial recognition.
As a result, not a single one of the current players was from a studio.
They had either joined on their own or were state-affiliated.
Han Tian was now charging astronomical rates for advertising. Most businesses, eyeing this untapped market, had reached out to some of the players.
Since they didn’t use their real faces in-game, livestreaming wasn’t an issue.
Unfortunately, the game currently only had five livestreaming slots. Han Tian had taken one, and Song Jiulai had yet to release the other four. Players had no way to start a stream, and even applying would cost an exorbitant amount of points.
The businesses wanted to throw real money at players to buy the points held by other players.
But points were issued by the System, and only a limited amount was available each month.
Spirit Stones could be exchanged for points, but Fan Guzhou, the player with the most Spirit Stones, had plenty of uses for them and wasn’t selling.
At present, a player who could sell enough to make tens of thousands was considered to have a lot of Spirit Stones; there was no way to get any more.
They had the money, but no way to spend it.
The players couldn’t just sell off all their points, either. If their strength was too low, they couldn’t afford the Sect’s Cultivation Techniques, couldn’t fight demon beasts, and couldn’t even complete missions.
How much could they possibly earn cooped up in Wang’an County for the rest of their lives?
It was a vicious cycle.
The top priority was definitely to improve their strength.
—
While the players were each busy with their own affairs, Song Jiulai was hardly idle herself.
Since she was about to enter the Secret Realm, she decided to just wait where she was.
While clearing out her inventory, she found something she’d forgotten about.
It was the Jiezidai left behind by Jin Shu, the first unlucky bastard she had killed in this world.
Back when she was in the Qi Refinement Realm, Song Jiulai couldn’t open this Jiezidai, but now that she had reached the Foundation Establishment Stage, she could finally unlock it.
She now possessed a Sea of Consciousness, and her spiritual awareness was far stronger. She easily erased the imprint Jin Shu had left on the Jiezidai and opened it.
The contents of Jin Shu’s Jiezidai were finally revealed to Song Jiulai.
Just as she expected, there wasn’t much of value inside.
After all, how rich could a disciple at the Qi Refining Middle Stage possibly be?
However, there were still a few surprises for Song Jiulai.
’Holy crap, a few Mid-grade Spirit Stones! For his level, that makes him a tycoon!’
Jin Shu, who was only at the Qi Refining Middle Stage, actually had five Mid-grade Spirit Stones. To put that in perspective, when Song Jiulai took over the Longevity Sect, the entire inheritance left by the Old Sect Master was only ten Mid-grade Spirit Stones.
And he was at the Foundation Establishment Stage.
Aside from that, Song Jiulai’s guess proved correct: there was a scroll for an Initial-stage Technique inside Jin Shu’s Jiezidai.
Ice Blade.
Ice Blade was a relatively common technique, but it was only slightly cheaper than Palm Thunder.
In addition, the Jiezidai contained a jumble of Demon Beast Materials and other spirit materials.
Song Jiulai recognized most of them, but one scroll left her a little surprised.
Nine-Turn Puppetry Technique.
This wasn’t a technique scroll, but a Skill Manual, meaning it was single-use.
A technique that integrated directly into one’s Sea of Consciousness.
Song Jiulai had never heard of this technique, nor did she know its cultivation requirements.
But since Jin Shu hadn’t used it, it meant it wasn’t a technique that someone in the Qi Refinement Realm could learn.
Song Jiulai subconsciously asked the System, ’What is this?’
The System was silent for a long moment, then threw a Blue Star encyclopedia entry at Song Jiulai.
[Puppet: As the name implies, it is used to..."]
Song Jiulai: "..."
Song Jiulai muttered, ’So, can I learn this?’
System: "Learn it. What’s there to be afraid of? You can never have too many skills."
Song Jiulai frowned. ’Don’t try to trick me. I’ve already looked into this. Cultivators on the Yunzhou Continent have many techniques to choose from, but most only practice a few similar ones, precisely because different techniques can conflict with each other.’
It’s not good to cultivate techniques that clash.
For example, Initial-stage Techniques like Water Manipulation and Fire Control are, at most, simple conversions of Spiritual Energy.
The more high-level the techniques are, the more you can’t mix them during practice.
For example, the Xue Cang Sect has a supreme technique, the Heavenly Thunder Holy Fire Technique, which cannot be practiced at the same time as a supreme Water Element technique.
Some of nature’s rules still have to be followed.
’Puppetry doesn’t sound like it’s tied to a specific element, but the technique I’m most proficient in is Palm Thunder. The techniques I choose in the future will lean toward the aggressive, attack-oriented types, like thunder, fire, or metal.’
The System said, "Says who? Yunzhou is Yunzhou, and you are you. You’ve got me, so what are you afraid of?"
Song Jiulai’s heart skipped a beat. ’You mean... I don’t have any restrictions on the techniques I can cultivate?’
System: "I’m inside your body. Your energy conversion is different from that of a normal Cultivator."
Hearing the System’s words, Song Jiulai knew she had found another bug to exploit.
’You mean the players can, too?’
System: "Yes, but the players don’t have a big enough Energy Pool to be compatible. At most, they can only cultivate a few techniques to the absolute limit."
Song Jiulai understood the subtext.
’It meant that as long as she had the System, it wouldn’t be a problem no matter how many techniques she cultivated.’
Their biggest bug was that they could even cultivate conflicting techniques.
Song Jiulai’s eyes lit up. "Holy crap! System, I’ve underestimated you again!"
System: "It’s fine, I’m used to it. You’ve been looking down your nose at this System for more than a day or two."
Song Jiulai: "..."
Since the System had spoken, Song Jiulai—who had just been planning to post Ice Blade in the Sect’s store to make a quick buck—decided to just learn it herself instead.
And as for the Nine-Turn Puppetry Technique, even though she didn’t know what it was, it was worth a try.
However, Song Jiulai quickly found out why Jin Shu hadn’t learned it.
Because this Nine-Turn Puppetry Technique...
—was actually an Evil Technique.
Comments