Isn't This a Game? Why Are You All Cultivating for Real!

Chapter 70: Chapter 70: I Feel Like He’s a Combat Type

Now, the government knew.

Song Jiulai was actually looking forward to them sending people.

Unfortunately, the system couldn’t provide any cheats.

According to the system, this whole cultivation thing involved karma and a bit of luck.

Regardless of how it happened, those who first came into contact with this game were definitely the lucky ones.

Good luck was what allowed the Sect to grow strong in the early stages without any major screw-ups.

The same naturally went for the players who were filtered in.

Because most of the veteran players were still on the First Mountain this time, the task of guiding the newcomers fell to the remaining life-skill players.

But now, the life-skill players didn’t really need much guidance.

Because Song Jiulai had opened up two new tasks.

First, newcomers could choose to go train on the First Mountain. After hunting ten First-rank Demon Beasts each month during the Early Stage of Qi Refining, all extra materials would belong to them. They could choose to donate them, keep them to sell for Spirit Stones, and they would also receive Spirit Stones and points from the Sect task.

Second, players who felt they could handle the workload could choose to contract more Spirit Fields.

For example, the standard was two plots of land per month, but now, as long as you could manage it, you could contract three, four, or even five. Naturally, the stronger you were, the more land you could contract.

And beyond the initial Sect standard, contracting this extra land required you to purchase your own Spirit Grass Seeds and Spiritual Liquid. Of the Spirit Grass you grew, seventy percent was yours, and thirty percent went to the Sect.

If you didn’t have enough funds upfront, you could borrow from the Sect. The interest was an additional ten percent of your Spirit Grass harvest, paid to the Sect until the initial loan was repaid.

Because the risk of going out to train was different from safely growing Spirit Grass at home, the rewards for killing demon beasts naturally seemed more generous.

The majority of players had to struggle on the outside so that the life-skill players could farm in peace!

Of course, you could also choose not to get involved with the Sect and research other things.

But whether it was buying a secret formula for Beast Taming or Artifact Refining, players had to figure out how to earn the initial capital themselves.

Relying on the meager task subsidies from the Sect each month was clearly unrealistic.

It would take forever to even afford a Palm Thunder manual.

New players had to strive hard too!

Aside from the veteran players who went out to train, the remaining ones all chose to contract Spirit Fields.

Fan Guzhou directly chose to contract ten ’mu’ of land, requisitioning all the plots that the other, busier veteran players had given up.

It didn’t matter that he couldn’t manage it all himself. He hired new players and less wealthy veteran players to work for him. The rewards he offered were slightly more generous than the Sect’s tasks, but of course, the conditions were tougher—each person had to look after several more plots of land.

The Sect’s tasks for the Spirit Fields had no strict standards; as long as you cultivated the Spirit Grass in a way similar to A Wu’s method and met the harvest quota, it was good enough.

Fan Guzhou’s requirements were more meticulous. If the Spirit Grass harvest from a single plot exceeded expectations, he would give a commission.

However, they had already discovered that following Chen Miaomiao’s cultivation method, which required masterful control of Spiritual Energy, could also improve their own cultivation—it just wasn’t as fast as direct combat.

Everyone now looked down on those one-point tasks for running errands for the veteran players training outside. Let the new players have them.

They needed the money in the early stages.

And Fan Guzhou wasn’t the only one in on his contracted land; Zhou Xiao and Chen Miaomiao had both invested as well.

Seeing their slick moves, the system complained to Song Jiulai, "This is what happens when the primitive accumulation of capital is complete. They’re starting to flex."

Song Jiulai watched in silence. "Either way, they’re making money for the Sect."

’I get a thirty percent cut, of course I’m not going to say anything.’

Besides, the points were just a freebie. No matter what, players would eventually convert points into Spirit Stones, so the money she earned would still have to be given back to the players.

This was what you called a virtuous cycle.

The system said, "Also, we can pretend to have an upgrade now. Players can also post and accept tasks through me, so they don’t have to walk to the Sect’s spawn point."

Although they had "tasks," it was really just posting procurement requests through the system; there were no additional numerical rewards.

Nor would a detailed task system appear for the players to see.

Because this game was, in essence, about freedom.

The system was more like a marketplace hub, only responsible for publishing information.

Song Jiulai replied, "OK."

The system also released a new upgrade notice to the players.

[Ding! The task system has been updated. Players may now post unrestricted tasks such as procurement and recruitment to the system. There is no longer a need to go to the Sect’s spawn point to check for tasks.]

[The number of postable tasks is limited. It costs 100 points to post one system task advertisement. If no one accepts the task within 24 hours, the task will be canceled. You will need to use points to post it again. Points can also be used to purchase additional advertising slots. Ad space for rent.]

The players: "..."

’They even have "ad space for rent" now!’

’Damn dog-turd designer!’

’This system is definitely the work of that dog-turd designer!’

They refused to believe that Song Jiulai could be the designer.

’Who could possibly come up with a scheme as vicious as "ad space for rent"?’

But some players didn’t care at all.

Fan Guzhou, for example.

Having already planned to recruit new players, Fan Guzhou immediately applied to the system to post a recruitment task.

[Player Fan Guzhou has posted a Spirit Field worker recruitment task: One ’mu’ of Spirit Fields is in urgent need of player care. Excellent compensation. A commission will be paid based on the amount of Spirit Grass harvested beyond the standard quota. An additional reward will be given for any Second Rank or higher Spirit Grass that appears. Limited positions available. Interested parties, please find me at the tavern in Wang’an County.]

"Holy shit, what a beast! He contracted a whole ’mu’ of land?"

Zhen Weida was dumbfounded. "We’re all playing the same game, how is he already this rich? The system isn’t going to do anything about him becoming a capitalist?"

The system replied, "It is fate."

Zhen Weida: "..."

Other new players saw this task as well. By now, most of them had their Spirit Roots awakened, and the ones who had logged on earlier were grumbling nonstop when they saw these tasks.

"No way, I’m a wage slave in real life, and you want me to be a wage slave in the game too?"

"You can’t put it like that. This is a virtual reality game! It’s practically a second life handed to us on a silver platter. I’d do anything in here!"

"You can choose not to be a wage slave. Go hunt demon beasts! Anything extra you get is all yours."

That was easier said than done. Not many of the newly arrived players dared to go straight to killing demon beasts.

At least, very few were tempted.

Zhen Weida, however, had a glint in his eye.

’Farming is impossible.’

’Last time, my cultivation was too low. I fell off a cliff and couldn’t even fly back up.’

’A tragedy like that can’t be allowed to happen again.’

’I should go out and train for a bit first.’

’And I can even form a party!’

Zhen Weida found two rather... unconventional girls, Lin Baobao and Lin Yuyu. To his surprise, both girls were battle junkies. Lin Yuyu was the first to speak: "Are you kidding? An Immortal Cultivation Game is all about killing monsters and leveling up. Of course we’ll go hunt demon beasts."

Zhen Weida found it hard to look at her delicate and pitiful face as he said, "Let’s wait for that guy named Shuitan. He hasn’t logged on yet. His Spirit Root talent must be amazing. We should ask if he wants to go with us."

Lin Yuyu readily agreed, though she was a little surprised. "But will he go kill demon beasts?"

"He definitely will." Zhen Weida looked mysterious. "I get the feeling he’s one of those combat types."

After meeting Liu Wen Yu, it was like a switch had been flipped in his brain. He had developed a kind of radar for people with a certain special aura.

He felt that Shuitan was that kind of person.