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

Chapter 97: Chapter 97: Grand Development?

Zhou Xiao found Fan Guzhou, and they rushed back to the patch of Spirit Grass that had frozen to death.

The frost-killed Spirit Grass was easy to spot.

’They’ve stopped glowing, so of course they’re dead!’

Chen Miaomiao was also standing there, her expression grave. "I didn’t expect them to die so quickly."

She hadn’t even finished researching how to graft Spirit Grass. It was a long-term process, and it was impossible to apply real-world experience and expect it to quickly make a difference in a world where even the laws of physics were abnormal.

Now that the Spirit Grass was in trouble, there was no way to provide emergency relief.

The temperature was too low.

They didn’t have the resources to build a proper greenhouse right now, and other methods were also unable to save the Spirit Grass for the time being.

Fan Guzhou looked even more grim. After all, he had taken out a loan from the Sect to manage these fields. If something happened, losing money was a minor issue; losing his qualifications, however, would be a catastrophe!

Chen Miaomiao had a few Cultivators start pulling up all the dead Spirit Grass.

’Even though this was Cultivation, Chen Miaomiao found herself missing the equipment from her lab. Even just a microscope would be nice.’

’That way, she could see more of what was causing this.’

’Unfortunately, without the resources, it was just a pipe dream.’

A Wu arrived on the scene as well. Seeing the dead Spirit Grass, he looked utterly distraught. "What are we going to do? If the snow doesn’t stop, more and more Spirit Grass will die."

Although this Spirit Grass was Fan Guzhou’s property, it was essentially the Sect’s as well.

Any loss the Sect suffered now was heartbreaking for A Wu.

’Because supporting so many disciples costs money!’

’And from the looks of it, the Sect Master plans to recruit even more disciples in the future. Those are all mouths to feed, which means living expenses will just keep going up!’

Chen Miaomiao asked him, "Senior Brother, is there really no way to handle this kind of weather in an emergency?"

A Wu shook his head and looked back at her. "I’ve only ever heard of Earth-grade Treasures that can change the environment, and Fourth Rank or higher spiritual ore... but we don’t have any of those..."

’A Sect that had those kinds of spirit materials wouldn’t be growing a few patches of First and Second Rank Spirit Grass.’

Just then, Wangcai, who had been in Zhou Xiao’s arms, jumped down and ran into the field.

Strangely, it didn’t seem bothered by the heavy snow and was frolicking all over the place.

It entered the Spirit Field, took a bite out of an already dull-looking Spirit Grass, chewed a few times, and swallowed the stalk.

The Spirit Grass was dead, with no value for transplanting or medicinal use, but it still contained a faint trace of Spiritual Energy.

Seeing this, Zhou Xiao quickly tried to stop him. "Wangcai, come back!"

Chen Miaomiao glanced over and shook her head. "Let him eat. All this Spirit Grass has gone to waste anyway."

Everyone looked grim.

After all, this was a tangible asset, and the impact on Fan Guzhou would be immense.

The crucial part was that they were completely helpless.

’In the modern world, they could have come up with some emergency solutions.’

"Spirit Grass needs a suitable temperature; too hot or too cold won’t work," Fan Guzhou said. "It’s not just Wang’an County that needs to be reformed, but the Longevity Sect as well. We can’t just hope things like this don’t happen. When they do, we’re no different from sitting ducks."

’This goes against the whole point of playing a game.’

’They were players, after all!’

Chen Miaomiao glanced at him. "What’s on your mind?"

Fan Guzhou said, "Let’s create a division of labor. The players are too disorganized right now. Since the Sect Master hasn’t forbidden it, let’s form our own departments. A Medicine Department, Ministry of Industry, Beast Taming Department, and players who focus on combat can join a Battle Department. The Sect Master has even made Secret Techniques available, so we’ll let the players choose their own path."

"You’ll head the Medicine Department and be responsible for recruiting players to help you. The Ministry of Industry will handle Artifact Refining, and the Beast Taming Department will focus on Beast Taming. Every player will be responsible for a different area of expertise. I’ll also create a Civilian Department for life-skill players, in charge of cuisine and miscellaneous Sect duties."

Chen Miaomiao thought it was a viable plan.

Zhou Xiao agreed as well. "I’ll let Lord Han know. I’ll join the Civilian Department. Tianya and the others can join the Battle Department."

She thought for a moment, then said, "I’ll ask the system."

She summoned the system and asked, "Can we establish these kinds of departments within the Sect?"

The system relayed the question to Song Jiulai, who unexpectedly rejected it outright. "They can be affiliated with the Sect, but they cannot be established in the Sect’s name. I will not grant them any special privileges. They can only exist as the players’ own personal factions."

The reasoning was simple.

In essence, all players were equal; they were all here to play a game. The Sect couldn’t be the one to create a class system among them.

Song Jiulai supported them forming their own factions to attract other players.

To put it bluntly, they were just game guilds. If you wanted players to join, you had to offer them benefits.

But the main system—the Sect—had to treat all players equally. There could be no disparities.

Even if player factions emerged that could influence the game, there had to be a guaranteed, unobstructed path for solo players—and that path was points.

Players could choose not to join a faction and go solo. They could choose their own path in the game and have ways to acquire their own resources, preventing a monopoly by the early players.

If she agreed to make them official departments, resources would certainly be skewed in their favor, which would be unfair to everyone else playing the game.

The system condensed Song Jiulai’s explanation into a few sentences and relayed it to Zhou Xiao.

Zhou Xiao was lost in thought.

In truth, she had suspected the Sect Master might not agree, since they were already playing as a tight-knit group.

If they were to form official departments and monopolize resources on top of that, it would indeed be detrimental to future new players.

And for a personal faction to convince people to join, it would have to offer its own benefits.

After learning Song Jiulai’s thoughts, the system said to her, "What you say is correct, but it would be better to prevent them from forming personal factions in the first place."

Song Jiulai shook her head. "I can’t stop it. There are just few players right now. When more players join in the future, there will definitely be some who don’t want to play with the current group. Everyone will have their own circle. It’s inevitable. As the Sect Master, I can’t manage every single person’s private agenda."

’As for whether the factions the players are forming now will affect the future development of Wang’an County?’

’That can’t be helped. It’s a perk for joining the game early.’

Right now, Song Jiulai was relying on the players to strengthen the Sect’s influence anyway.

She only needed to control the overall direction. For instance, one of the most important points was that all land belonged to the Sect.

The resources these players acquired would be donated to the Sect and exchanged for corresponding points.

And in this process, the main challenge would be mediating the conflicts between the locals and the players.

Compared to the real world, the only difference here was the law of the jungle.

After all, in the real world, getting angry might lead to threatening one person. Here, a bit of unhappiness could erupt into a regional war affecting countless people.

Of course, they were still just a small sect. This was all just planning for the future.

After Fan Guzhou and the others received the system’s message, they temporarily shelved the idea of creating official departments, but they still divided themselves into teams.

For example, they assigned who would be responsible for what.

Meanwhile, Fan Guzhou also got in touch with players like Zhen Weida to establish a series of policies for the future reform of Wang’an County, as well as various attractive incentives for recruiting new players.

Once the plan was ready, they just needed the Sect Master’s approval, and sooner or later, Wang’an County would belong to the Longevity Sect.

And the Feique Sect as well!