Chapter 25: Fun to Play With
If the Nameless Seed didn't still need the snow from Mount Guguan to nourish it, Chi Zhen really wouldn't have wanted to log into the game the next day.
At first, he hadn't thought there was anything wrong with being marked for revenge by so many people.
After all, conflict between players and conflict between guilds were both legitimate ways to play the game.
He had even found it pretty entertaining when he was maneuvering against members of the two major guilds in Mount Guguan and Zhuyu Waters.
But what had happened in his stream yesterday made him extremely uncomfortable, even a little unhappy. People had spent money to order his character to stand up and get killed—
Yes, he had made money from it. Yesterday had been the most profitable day since he started streaming. Half of the 5,000-yuan Fruit Transport Plane gift came to him, and together with the other miscellaneous gifts, he'd earned around 4,000 yuan.
But his feelings about it were complicated.
Fortunately, he had a full day of classes today and didn't get out until 8:30 p.m. The regular viewers who frequented his stream all knew that. For the time being, he didn't have to think about what to do when he started streaming today—or what would happen if he logged in and the people from Way of Heaven were still camping his corpse.
In Quest for the Azure Heavens, wherever you logged out was where you'd log back in. Whatever state your character was in when you logged out would remain unchanged when you logged back in.
So if the people from Way of Heaven were truly determined to make things difficult for him, all they had to do was keep waiting at the place where he'd logged out yesterday.
But if he refused to log in, wouldn't that be exactly what Way of Heaven wanted?
The more he thought about it, the more unwilling he felt.
After agonizing over it for quite a while, Chi Zhen still started his stream at nine o'clock.
He entered the streaming room first without immediately opening the game.
After some thought, he changed the stream title to: "The Gears of Fate Begin to Turn — Seventh-Day Anniversary..."
As soon as the stream went live, eight or nine hundred viewers flooded in, and the number continued climbing.
Chi Zhen began with his usual greeting. "Hello everyone, welcome to my stream."
Then, as usual, he asked for the platform's daily free gift from viewers—the little flowers that increased popularity points.
Today's flower barrage was astonishingly fierce. For a good two minutes, the entire screen was filled with tiny flowers scrolling nonstop, making it impossible to read any other messages.
Chi Zhen widened his eyes. "Wow, these flowers are coming in aggressively today. What's going on? Did everyone give all three of their flowers to me?"
By then, the viewer count had already passed one thousand.
[Feeling sorry for the streamer, so all three flowers are yours.]
[Here for the drama. We've been waiting forever—you're so late, streamer!]
[Report! The forums are full of righteous bystanders cursing Way of Heaven's petty behavior today!]
[Xiao Chi, did you skip the forums again today? Hurry up and check them out! It's an absolute spectacle!]
[Report! Way of Heaven's people are still camping your respawn point! Log in on a different account, Xiao Chi!]
Chi Zhen scratched his head. "I had classes all day. I literally just got out. I started streaming before I even had time to catch my breath. How would I have time to browse the forums? They're still camping me? It's already been a whole day. Why do Way of Heaven's people have so much free time? No, seriously, do they think I'm some kind of Chosen Son of Heaven? Why are they putting in so much effort just to camp me? Honestly, even I'm starting to get confused."
[Go browse the forums. You'll understand after that.]
[It's complicated to explain. Basically, you're an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire. The main issue is internal conflict within Way of Heaven.]
[Huh? I think it's mainly because Way of Heaven is ridiculously chuuni. The type that plays a demonic cultivator and thinks they're a Demon Lord, or plays a sword cultivator and thinks they're the leader of the Immortal Alliance. #Laughing]
Thinking he might as well pad his stream time while he could, Chi Zhen opened the forums.
One look and— Good grief. Half the front page was filled with posts about Way of Heaven, Wei Yu Ning Qiu, and Wujin Shi.
"Uh..." Chi Zhen said. "Is there a summary hero around here?"
[Read the hottest post.]
[Summary: The boss who spent 5,000 yesterday got exposed as a member of Way of Heaven. Way of Heaven refuses to admit it and is demanding to know whether Wujin Shi still cares about the guild. If he does, then he should cut ties with Qingzhou Yiguo!]
[Holy crap, Summary Hero, you're amazing.]
[That's an absolutely flawless summary.]
Chi Zhen carefully read the summary. By the time he finished, he had successfully confused himself.
"Huh?"
He didn't entirely trust the Summary Hero, but there were simply too many posts, so he clicked on the most popular one first.
After reading it, he found that, yes, the boss from yesterday really had been exposed as a member of Way of Heaven.
Someone had discovered that the account he registered on the streaming platform with was linked to an email address. On Bilibili Live, phone numbers were hidden by default, but email addresses were displayed on user profiles.
The original poster searched for that email account and found that it had once participated in an official Quest for the Azure Heavens forum event. At the time, each account could claim a gift package. That account had posted a screenshot of a demonic cultivator character, submitted its in-game ID, and received the official reward.
The character ID was: Chan Xue.
Someone had asked him how difficult the Demonic Cultivator class was to play.
He replied that it was only an alt account. His main account—a Ghost Cultivator—was much more exciting.
Then, as it happened, the original poster had a friend in Way of Heaven and discovered that there was indeed a Ghost Cultivator in the guild whose ID was: Chan Xue.
Moreover, this Ghost Cultivator had once been instantly killed by Qingzhou Yiguo and had cursed furiously afterward. He had even declared in guild chat that he would definitely make Qingzhou Yiguo pay for it one day.
The righteous bystanders took that post and confronted Way of Heaven in the world chat. Way of Heaven immediately denied everything, claiming it was a malicious frame-up!
"So the first half of Summary Hero's summary was actually true." After finally finishing all the posts, Chi Zhen reached that conclusion half an hour later.
[I suspect you're padding stream time, but I have no evidence.]
[I really want to roast Xiao Chi, but he says he has reading difficulties. Turns out it's true.]
[Are you going to spend another half hour figuring out the second half of the summary?]
Chi Zhen rapidly clicked through posts on the front page, skimming the opening posts. They all seemed more or less the same—righteous bystanders questioning Way of Heaven, with a handful of Way of Heaven members coming out to argue back.
He wanted to keep reading, but the chat had already started urging him to log into the game.
[Hurry up and log in! Something huge is happening!]
[Report! Wujin Shi and the Way of Heaven members are fighting in guild chat! Wujin Shi said to pull everyone back and stop corpse-camping. The guild leader is online but leaving him on read~ Chan Xue said, "If you've got the guts, come save him yourself~" Then Wujin Shi actually flew over there~]
[Wujin Shi is now standing guard with his broadsword at the spot where Xiao Chi logged out yesterday~]
[He's so in love!]
Startled, Chi Zhen quickly logged into the game.
The moment he logged in, all he could see was an azure sky.
Right. Qingzhou Yiguo was still lying on the ground.
He moved his mouse around and finally saw the tall figure of a sword cultivator standing before him.
Dressed in black robes, his black Kunwu Blade had been taken off his back and was now gripped firmly in his hand. The blade pointed toward the ground, gleaming with a cold light.
It was a stance— A stance of standing in front of Qingzhou Yiguo and protecting him.
[Friend] Wujin Shi: Logged in?
[Friend] Wujin Shi: Wait a bit. Qingtian Wai is on his way.
[Friend] Wujin Shi: When I say "get up," you get up and draw a teleportation array.
[Friend] Wujin Shi: Qingtian Wai and I will hold them off.
Chi Zhen froze.
Then he received a party invitation from Wujin Shi and accepted it.
There were only three people in the party: himself, Wujin Shi, and Qingtian Wai.
As soon as Chi Zhen logged in, more and more people gathered around the respawn point. Way of Heaven members kept arriving. Looking around now, there were already twenty or thirty of them.
With that many people, how could just Wujin Shi and Qingtian Wai possibly hold them back?
And yet, because it was Wujin Shi saying it, the words somehow inspired confidence.
[Holy shit! Wujin Shi is incredible!]
[I'm in love! Who could resist the damned charm of a man like this?!]
[That back view just radiates security! This is the first time I've truly understood how cool blade cultivators are!]
Chi Zhen hesitated. He was genuinely moved.
[Friend] Qingzhou Yiguo: But won't this cause trouble for you? The people in your guild will definitely have opinions. It won't be good for you or Qingtian Wai. I'm fine. I can just switch to another account today.
[Friend] Wujin Shi: It won't cause any trouble.
The instant that message was sent, the guild tag above Wujin Shi's head suddenly disappeared.
In Quest for the Azure Heavens, a character's ID floated above their head to make identification easier. If a player belonged to a guild, the guild name appeared after their ID.
Wujin Shi's display had always been: [Wujin Shi] [Way of Heaven]
Now only: [Wujin Shi] remained.
Chi Zhen's head buzzed.
[THIS IS INSANE! Wujin Shi quit the guild!]
[Report! A guild notification just appeared in Way of Heaven's guild chat saying Wujin Shi left the guild! Qingtian Wai left too!]
[Report! Before quitting, Wujin Shi posted a message in guild chat! "I quit. Not fun anymore." Just those six words!!! Way of Heaven is completely stunned right now!]
[Holy shit, this plot is developing so fast I can't keep up???]
[What's going on? Is Wujin Shi really this devoted? Is this the legendary "a hero enraged for a beauty" situation?!]
[I need a moment to process this.]
[Friend] Qingtian Wai: Brother Chi, what's wrong with the viewers in your stream? I came to help you too, and I quit the guild too, but nobody's mentioning me at all!
[Friend] Qingtian Wai: Why does Wujin Shi get to be the male lead while I don't?!
[Friend] Wujin Shi: ?
Chi Zhen couldn't process any of it. His brain had already crashed.
At that moment, Qingtian Wai arrived.
Qian Yu requested to join the party, and Wujin Shi accepted.
[Friend] Qian Yu: Why did all of you quit the guild?
[Friend] Qian Yu: I'm here.
Only when Chi Zhen turned his head did he realize that Qian Yu was already standing nearby. And Qian Yu's guild tag was blank as well.
[Friend] Qingzhou Yiguo: You quit the guild too?!
[Friend] Qian Yu: ? Because I want to play with you guys.
The team now had four people—and not a single healer.
[Friend] Wujin Shi: Get on YY. I’ll command.
[Ah, Xiao Chi, I’ll come help too. I’m nearby~]
[I’ll also call my friends over to help. We’re not from Way of Heaven anyway~]
[Perfect romance, so touching I’m tearing up. I’m bringing my guild over to help~]
Chi Zhen opened YY and said quietly, “A few viewers in my stream said they want to come help me…”
“Alright.” Wujin Shi replied.
Soon, a lot more people joined the team, and Wujin Shi converted it into a raid group.
In Quest for the Azure Heavens, a party has a maximum of five people. After converting into a raid group, it can hold up to six parties—thirty people total. During guild wars, they use the guild system, where a guild can hold up to twenty parties—up to a hundred players.
The raid quickly filled to thirty people. Qingtian Wai immediately posted the YY link and called everyone over.
[Raid] Qingtian Wai: If you have YY, get on YY. When you’re in, type 1.
[Raid] Gao Shou: I’ve been sick of Way of Heaven for a long time.
[Raid] Xiaoxiao: Congrats on the god-tier quitting the guild, what a happy occasion!
[Raid] Fan Lu: Way of Heaven treats world chat like its own front yard, spamming insults and trash talk all day. A guild with that kind of behavior is better off avoided.
[Raid] NPC: Uh… I’m a healing support. I just hope the commander doesn’t mind I’ve never done PvP before (scared)
[Raid] Zang Jian Ji Hua Hun: Just spam heals mindlessly, that’s easy enough.
[Raid] Lin Feng Nuan: Suggestion: guild leader should shut up and stop randomly commanding.
[Raid] Feng Cheng: The commander will assign squads. Just take care of your own group.
The righteous bystanders in the raid channel chatted and laughed freely. Wujin Shi diligently assigned roles and balanced classes, while Qingtian Wai flitted around building connections. The atmosphere was lively and chaotic.
Chi Zhen looked up—and saw that Way of Heaven had also formed a surrounding formation on the opposite side.
Han Jian Ying and Wei Yu Ning Qiu were both standing clearly among them.
[Nearby] Han Jian Ying: Wujin Shi, we’ve been brothers for so long. You quit the guild without saying a word—no explanation at all. Why?
[Nearby] Wujin Shi: Because it wasn’t fun anymore.
[Nearby] Han Jian Ying: Way of Heaven has the best resources on the server. What do you mean it’s not fun? Is going against the guild like this supposed to be fun?
[Nearby] Wujin Shi: It is fun.
Even though game characters had no subtle facial expressions, Chi Zhen somehow felt that Han Jian Ying had been choked by that answer.
[Nearby] Han Jian Ying: What about Qingtian Wai and Qian Yu? As the guild leader, I’ll give you all a chance to reconsider.
[Nearby] Qingtian Wai: I can’t. I owe Wujin Shi three million.
[Nearby] Qian Yu: You owe that much money???
[Nearby] Qian Yu: Guild leader, I’m leaving too. Wujin Shi’s command is very logical, I don’t feel tired following it, and he’s also really good at playing sword cultivator—he can teach me.
[Hahaha]
[Qingtian Wai you damn genius!]
[Holy crap Qian Yu is the real genius here! Praising a sword cultivator for playing sword cultivator well right in front of Han Jian Ying?! That’s peak humiliation—if I were him I’d spit blood!]
[Wujin Shi is really something… look at the people around him]
[Streamer, you’re blessed]
On YY, Wujin Shi turned on his mic: “Ready? If you are, press 1. We push first.”
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