Chapter 688 – Sima Yi's Trick
Listening to Hiiro gave Tlaloc and Joshua many ideas and a general understanding of the player's world. Now, they knew who they were up against.
"You players are cheeky. You've come here, treating our universe as a game," Tlaloc was not amused.
"I also didn't know that the game world and the people are real. Well, although I'm not a part of their developer teams, I'm sorry for what my people have done to you," Hiiro bitterly smiled.
"Don't apologize. It's not your fault. It's Pangu and his minions' fault."
"… Thanks for your understanding."
Joshua was satisfied to know that some players weren't bloodthirsty monsters. He was also relieved that Hiiro cooperated with them.
"So, what are we doing next, senior?" Joshua interjected.
"Here is what we're going to do," Tlaloc erased Houtu's Qi from the Great Dao Sealing Orb and tossed it to Hiiro.
"What is this, sir?" Hiiro was curious.
"That is the Great Dao Sealing Orb. It can seal any Great Dao Sage inside."
Hiiro widened his eyes. Then, his system identified the item.
…
Great Dao Sealing Orb
Pangu once mass-produced sealing orbs to deal with a terrifying Chaos Seraphim and his Chaos Demon Gods. However, most items were destroyed during the war, and it was considered a myth in the later generations.
The previous owner of this orb was Houtu, a disciple of Great Dao Sage Hongjun. The Sage Empress Houtu always carried it around as a tool to imprison strong sages and her rivals. You were once captured by her and were imprisoned here. But now, Tlaloc, the Great Dao Sage, has freed you from the Sage Empress and gave this to you.
Item Type: Artifact
Rarity: Mythical
Effect: Seal one cultivator inside the orb. Not effective against Creator Realm cultivators or creatures.
…
Hiiro was elated. He got another mythical item, which was a tier higher than the Legendary Rarity. But once he recalled that the NPCs in the game were real people, his excitement died down.
Tlaloc gave Hiiro an instruction, "If you're sincere, I want you to go back to your headquarters and trap your leader in the orb. Then, bring it back here and give the orb to me so that we can end your so-called "Close-Beta". Then, everybody here will be safe from Pangu and your friends. If you can complete this task, I'll impart my skills to you so that you won't have any trouble in the other world."
DING
<You have received a quest.>
…
Chaos Realm Faction Quest: Test of Tlaloc
After listening to your story, Tlaloc deems you as an interesting fellow, and he wants to test your character and sincerity.
Currently, Chaos Realm Faction is at war with Heavenly Dao Faction and Player Faction. Only when the two factions are annihilated, they will be able to find peace and defeat Pangu, who has been torturing them for countless years.
However, what Tlaloc gives you can also be used against him. You have many choices you can make. Either you win his favor by following Tlaloc's instructions or betray him by imprisoning him to the orb yourself, the choice is always yours to make.
Quest Objective: Either follow Tlaloc's instructions or betray him.
Quest Rewards:
- If you complete Tlaloc tasks and return the orb to him, you can learn myth-grade skills from this Chaos Demon God.
- If you betray Tlaloc, you can keep the orb to yourself.
…
Hiiro gulped and bit his lower lips.
The temptation was real. If Hiiro could survive until the end of the Beta-Test, he could keep one of the items as an extra reward and bring it to the real game. Thus, a mythical item like this would be extremely useful against players and stronger monsters in the future.
However, the myth-grade skills were more useful. After all, regardless of the results, all testers here got to keep their NFT characters and learned skills!
Hiiro was torn. He could simply auction the orb to the marketplace, and he wouldn't have to worry about money again. But if he could learn a myth-grade skill, the dream-life of a pro-gamer would be in his grasp.
It was about the short-term gain and the long-term gain. Hiiro had a hard time deciding what to do.
He looked up and observed Joshua and Tlaloc's reactions.
As soon as he saw the dark expression on Joshua's face, he felt guilty. It felt like Jesus was disappointed in his greed.
Because of his guilty conscience, Hiiro chose to fight for these people.
"I'll help you whatever I can."
Tlaloc nodded, "Thanks. Now, come with me. I'll send you off. If I send you off alone, those depressed cats will kill you."
"Cats?"
"You will understand when you see them."
"…"
Tlaloc got out of the green pool and led Hiiro out of the cave. Hiiro and Joshua followed after them quietly.
When Tlaloc came out of the cave, Metatron and other archangels knelt, paying respect to their only Great Dao Sage of the faction.
Hiiro widened his eyes when he saw 12 archangels, whose faces were covered in thick fog. Their energy tentacle wings looked exactly like archangels in Diablo Series.
"Wow. Is there Tyrael among your ranks?"
Uriel and others frowned and shook their heads.
"Ah, excuse me. Just asking."
As Tlaloc didn't stop moving, Hiiro excused himself and ran after the faceless demon god.
…
When Hiiro saw the catopuses, Cathulhus, and the state that they were in, he almost died from heart pain and grief.
The sight of countless little catopuses crying while the bigger ones, aka Cathulhus, weeping and bowing to the tombstone of another was torturous for a cat lover. Moreover, these poor cats seemed injured as some of them were still bleeding.
Behind these catopuses, smaller catopuses carried several pieces of shining stones to the crying cats. They tried to soothe them, but they ended up crying too.
Hiiro also couldn't help it as he also cried. He took one of the weeping catopuses and held it in his arms.
Munya
At first, Hiiro's heart was devastated by the tragic atmosphere. A few seconds later, his mind was filled with anger.
"Who did this?! Who made them cry?!"
Joshua gazed at the cats and sighed.
"Before you were freed today, our realm was attacked. Their matriarch died protecting them while the others are still injured."
"W-Was my world… did other players attack them?!" Hiiro's face was pale, thinking that it was his faction's fault.
"No. It was the Heavenly Dao Realm."
"Heavenly Dao Realm…"
Hiiro leaned over and kissed the forehead of the crying catopus. He patted his head and placed him down.
When Hiiro stood up, his killing intent shot up to the sky.
"Senior Tlaloc, sir!"
"Yeah?" Tlaloc turned around.
"I'll help you end this stupid war! I'll definitely capture my leader and put an end to this!"
"Please do. Also, be careful out there. Heavenly Dao Faction is getting stronger as we speak. Your side also gets stronger by sacrificing others. Soon, we might be invaded again."
"I promise you. None of them can bully these poor guys!"
Hiiro gritted his teeth and wiped his tears of anger. Then, he rushed out of the portal, returning to the medium world.
When Hiiro left, all cats and Tlaloc suddenly heard Miaomiao's voice transmission.
'Good job. Now, you can stop acting.'
All catopuses and Cathulhus paused. They blew their noses and wiped their eyes.
Within a few seconds, they recovered and stood tall. Although some of them were still hiccupping, they swallowed their tears and sadness. Like Hiiro, their killing intent exploded as if they were angry lions.
Tlaloc looked at the radar tower, where Miaomiao was resting. Joshua also widened his eyes as he had never heard of this plan.
Tlaloc uttered out loud, "Was this your plan all along?"
'No. It wasn't my idea.'
"Then, who was it?"
Tlaloc was not mad, but he was curious who had improvised this plan to trick Hiiro.
At first, Tlaloc believed that Hiiro might capture his leader, but he would eventually betray them. The demon god had planned to kill Hiiro after he had finished his tasks.
But now, after seeing the tragic scene, Hiiro's air changed. Doubt disappeared from his heart, which reflected the purity of his Qi and the unique energy around him.
Tlaloc was impressed by this method. He now wanted to know who was behind this audacity and ingenious improvisation.
'Sima Yi.'
"Who?"
'Sima Yi is one of my vessels and disciples. He is with me at the moment.'
"I see. Is he strong?"
'Considering his combat potential, he is mediocre at best. However, his brain is on the Great Dao Sage tier.'
"Hou?"
'You all should be respecting his instructions and advice in the future. From now on, I'll leave him and another strategist to manage our territory, including strategic resources and buildings. I'm going to enter seclusion and cultivate.'
"Fine with me."
Miaomiao ceased the communication, and everybody felt lightened.
The cats gazed at the radar tower in solemn before they turned around and kowtowed to the makeshift tomb of Mir one more time. The small catopus workers from the command center returned to their jobs while Cathulhus tended to the injured.
The order of the plane resumed.
Seeing that there was nothing else to do, Tlaloc went back to his green pool to recuperate and stabilize his cultivation base. Joshua and others also went back to deal with Houtu's items, including the strange rainbow lotus that she had used.
…
The next day, Miaomiao never came out of the radar tower.
Sima Yi and Guo Jia came out instead. They introduced themselves to the crowd of cat sages, deities, and Adam's men.
Cultivators from Adam's group shunned them because they were mortals. However, Ma Moxi, Adam, Xie Tian, and Miaomiao's wives vouched for them, so no one dared to offend the two strategists.
Guo Jia was in charge of the offense forces. He visited Tlaloc, Joshua, the archangel team, Ma Moxi, and the dragonewts.
Sima Yi was responsible for the domestic and the defense line of the plane. He joined ranks with the cats, Adam, Fuxi, and Nuwa. Miaomiao's wives also acted as their coordinators, helping them settle and planning the defensive structure layouts.
Within that day, Sima Yi finished the construction drafts and reported back to Miaomiao, who was secluding inside the radar tower.
Also, that day, 10 airdrops fell on the medium world. Mu-Nyang did nothing fancy other than gave everyone a fair opportunity.
The vanguard team, devised by Guo Jia, consisted of Ma Moxi, Venti, Tlaloc, and Orochi. The four competed against Heavenly Dao's Jieyin's team and managed to secure six out of ten airdrops.
Jieyin's team ended up with three airdrops as they couldn't compete against Tlaloc, who had the cultivation base as the Great Dao Sage. They went on a passive route and avoided a direct confrontation.
The player's side managed to collect one, but the one that got it was none other than Hiiro. This player didn't return to his world, but he continued to hunt down other players and wandering cultivators from Jieyin and Hongjun's teams.
Hiiro's gold name was now as bright as a sun. Even his level sharply increased to 3500, which was halfway to the unrestrained sage realm.
Everything was in the favor of the Chaos Realm Faction.
But the next day, it was Pangu's turn to play around with the game rules once again.
…
In the early morning, before everybody had finished their preparation, Pangu made a new announcement.
"Hello, gamers! Have you adapted to the game? Are you having fun? Of course, you should be having fun because I'm also having fun watching you goldfishes struggling to live in the same fish tank. Well, speaking of goldfishes, I think it's about time for me to drop a few piranhas to make things interesting."
RUMBLE
Earthquake hit all three planes as if something heavy had crashed onto them. However, it was an aftereffect of a shockwave, which came from the medium realm.
The sky showed a large screen of a dark silhouette of a humanoid mud creature. His body was covered in tar, and his movement was sluggish. However, his eyes and presence seemed intimidating.
Behind the tar-man, an army of 10,000 humanoid creatures in crude oil rose up from the ground. They carried ten airdrop crates with them.
"I'll do something different this time. From now on, these creatures will be the fourth faction! All airdrops will spawn directly to their territory, and they will attack anyone on sight! Well, of course, if they feel like it, they will attack any realm, too!"
Despite saying that the tar-man could attack any realm, their eyes turned toward the portal of the Chaos Realm as if they were programmed to do so.
Seeing their reactions on the broadcasting screen in the sky, everybody could tell that Pangu was targeting Mu-Nyang's subordinates again.
Tlaloc rushed out of the portal to check their cultivation base and strength. But as soon as he got out, he rushed back in.
He spotted ten Great Dao Sages among them!
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