Chapter 253: About to Break Out

The task of expanding the shop had practically become a permanent fixture on Fang Qi's system panel.

Condition for completion: The shop must be packed to maximum capacity.

Typically, to meet this requirement, long queues would have already begun forming during peak hours several days prior.

Fang Qi glanced over casually and noticed that the attendance rate at the Jiuhua City branch only averaged seventy percent, barely reaching full capacity during peak times, while the Half City branch had only sixty or seventy patrons scattered across over a hundred computers, meaning it was not even half full.

"It seems there is no need to worry about shop expansion for the time being," Fang Qi thought to himself, completely unaware of just how naive his assumption was at that moment.

...

The player base for the Legend grew steadily, as disciples from the Shengjing and Xiyi Academies, who had long been suppressed by those of the Lingyun Academy in older titles, naturally sought alternative paths, such as diving into newly released games.

In a fresh release, everyone started from the exact same baseline, so there was no need to fear being outpaced from the beginning!

Consequently, they showed far more enthusiasm for the new game than the veteran players, logging on from the very first day, though they were fortunate enough to avoid Gong He's wretched luck of being maliciously player-killed at a mere few levels and losing his dropped gear.

Likewise, through their gameplay, they uncovered a certain pattern: while cultivating strength in the Legend was indeed faster than in single-player games, the constant competition for monsters and the necessity of earning gold ultimately dragged their progress down, reverting it to the progression rate of standard single-player titles.

And should one become entangled in malicious player-killing, that progress would only slow to a crawl!

"Royal Sister..." muttered the Second Prince, a minor warrior clad in sky-blue light armor, alongside several members of the royal clan squadron who were among the earliest to enter the Legend, having started early and escaped the plight of malicious player-killing, they had managed to reach over level ten despite being severely constrained by a lack of funds.

Ji Wu had also created a young warrior, and the group was currently grinding levels in the Serpent Valley, guided by a contingent of royal masters, their levels gradually approached the average mark, reaching level ten.

Fortunately, warriors possessed a distinct advantage in the early stages; when everyone started as ordinary commoners, only the warriors retained their combat techniques, with some even versed in martial arts, meaning that unlike the original game, early-stage warriors were actually the most economical.

Yet being economical was one thing, and they still found themselves facing a critical shortage of capital now.

The funds they had for grinding levels were only available because they had spent a considerable amount of time hunting yesterday, and it was entirely evident that their finances had now reached rock bottom.

What was to be done? Go hunting at this stage? The experience points gained would be virtually nonexistent.

Turn to banditry? As noble members of the Great Jin royalty, they could not bear the disgrace of resorting to highway robbery.

"Perhaps... we could buy some from others?" Princess Royal Ji Yu pondered, raising her elegant chin as an idea suddenly struck her.

"The issue is... everyone is short on cash for grinding right now, so who would sell to us?!" The Second Prince dismissed the idea as impractical, given that most players diving into a new game at this stage were hardly strapped for cash in the real world.

After all, those who lacked money would stick to the older games, waiting to see if this new release was truly worth the investment.

Ji Wu fell into deep thought before speaking, "Let us do this, I shall deploy several detachments from the imperial guard."

It was clear to Ji Wu that this game differed from its predecessors; while other titles only allowed veterans to guide newcomers, this game permitted the new to sustain the old!

Everyone is striving to level up to increase their strength and has no gold coins to spare for us, but we can bring people in specifically to farm gold and make money!

By designating a group solely to amass wealth to fund our leveling, why should we ever worry about lacking funds?

Such was Ji Wu's current line of thought, distinct from Huang Shan's approach but equally effective!

As long as funds were abundant, their own rate of progression would naturally eclipse everyone else's!

Furthermore, rapidly elevating one's strength within this world was not merely for the sake of the immediate, tangible benefits.

Certain things could never be judged solely by short-term gains.

Take Wind and Cloud for instance; at the beginning, it only reached the Grand Martial Master realm, which failed to catch his interest entirely, but if one never looked ahead, who could have foreseen the emergence of the twenty-third style of the Heavenly Sword?!

A television series could always be binged later, but the Legend, which placed all players within a shared universe, was completely different from previous single-player games—the strong grew stronger, while the weak were destined to be suppressed!

Hoping to catch up later like catching up on a show? That was nothing short of wishful thinking!

This was a matter that demanded preparation well in advance.

"However... using Imperial Father's guards to farm gold coins, isn't that somewhat beneath their talents?" the Second Prince noted, "Those men are the most elite warriors of our Great Jin, perhaps we should..."

"Let our own retinues handle it," Princess Royal Ji Yu suggested, "Imperial Father's guards are elite to a man, would it not be far better to reserve them for conquering uncharted high-level maps in the future?"

One had to remember that this world lacked the rigid boundaries of Act One and Act Two found in Diablo.

"Reasonable!" The young warrior controlled by Ji Wu stroked his nonexistent beard, pausing for a moment before nodding in approval.

...

A few dozen minutes remained before the arrival of the royal gold-farming platoon.

The combined forces of the Yuanheng Pavilion and the Huang Family, numbering some sixty to seventy players, began a sweeping search outward from the novice village while grinding levels.

Likewise, for ease of communication, Tang Yuan, Tao Kun, Huang Shan, and others had jointly established a chatroom named the Yuan-Huang Joint Army on Penguin Messenger.

Upon opening the room, one would find a channel titled "Eradicate the Jiuhua Army," where over a dozen names starting with "Huang Family" and over fifty beginning with "Yuanheng" were lined up in perfect order.

...

Jiuhua City.

On account of yesterday's grand victory in the war against the Morning Star Sea, Gong He was riding a wave of immense satisfaction.

Wang Qiang, however, was in a different state, having been ambushed yesterday by four young wenches who caused his items to scatter across the ground.

Fortunately, though he himself had been sent to the Red Name Village, several of his close brethren remained behind.

Inside the Jiuhua Army room, within a channel named "Jiuhua Elites," Wang Qiang was chatting heatedly with his comrades: "Keep an eye out for me! Among those four wenches, there is one named Ningshuang or something, give her some special attention! How dare they ambush your granddaddy!"

"Understood! There are seven or eight of us here, let them dare show their faces!"

Just then, a member of the Huang clan glanced toward a few figures fighting spiders ahead: "Those people look incredibly familiar...?"

"Aren't they the ones who blocked us yesterday?"

Within the "Eradicate the Jiuhua Army" channel, someone immediately yelled out: "I spotted the Jiuhua Army, they are right over by me!"

"Where?!"

"How many of them?"

"There are seven or eight!"

"Do not startle them just yet!" Tao Kun instructed, "I shall lead a group to flank them!"

A dozen or so minutes later...

Seven or eight members of the Jiuhua Army lay sprawled across the ground in a chaotic heap, surrounded by twenty to thirty Yuanheng Pavilion players who had converged from all directions.

Two disciples of the Huang family stepped forward and spat heavily upon the ground: "Bah! Look at the pathetic state of you, yet you dared boast that you would slaughter us every time we crossed paths?!"

"Damn it! Stay right there if you have the guts!" one of the Jiuhua Army elites roared in fury.

"Flee?" Tao Kun let out a cold sneer, as a figure of some renown himself, he had never been subjected to such a threat!

Your insignificant little Jiuhua City is somewhere I have never even heard of, do you honestly think I would fear you?!

With an arrogant expression, Tao Kun declared: "Your granddaddy will be right here waiting today, if you have the ability, call every last one of your people over!"

The "Jiuhua Elites" channel erupted: "How many brothers are online! Everyone assemble over at Serpent Valley! We have been hacked down by the people from the Morning Star Sea!"

"How many are there?"

"Twenty or thirty! They claimed they are waiting right here for us and told us to call for backup!"

"Arrogant! Utterly insolent!" A surge of rage rushed straight to Gong He's head, and he roared, "Assemble! Everyone gather at the village entrance! Send out messages and call over any brother who isn't here yet!"

"With a mere twenty or thirty people they dare provoke us so, forget about leveling up today! If I do not bury every single one of them, I, Gong He, shall resign my office and return to my ancestral village to plow the fields!"

.