In 2050, the technology linking the human brain and the internet had fully matured, declaring that human consciousness could freely enter and exit the virtual world and interact with machines, causing a huge sensation.
With the update and iteration of a series of information processing technologies such as supercomputers, optical computers, quantum computers, etc., a large amount of military technology was unlocked for civilian use. The previously popular holographic virtual reality games, riding on this wave, entered a boom period.
At that time, major powers, in order to showcase their national power and promote their own cultures, threw themselves into the gaming industry without agreement, bringing forth holographic games that dazzled the eyes.
The "Nine Continents World" game was born against this background. A super map evolved from parameters, exquisite pictures that did not exist in reality, and most importantly, the realistic experience of flying and earth escape, made this completely open holographic game quickly popular.
Initially, due to cultural reasons, this game was popular only in Asian countries. But with massive publicity, countless guilds joining, the establishment of professional leagues, and the tempting benefits of equipment trading, bonuses, and medals, the game gradually occupied the gaming markets of other continents.
The main reason why "Nine Continents World" could stand out from the crowd, crushing other competitors, and winning the hearts of a vast number of players, was encapsulated in two words—realism.
Due to its realistic nature, many players firmly believed that this world truly existed, and was not simply a large string of virtual parameters.
Lu Bei was a non-professional player from an ordinary family. The high cost of the game made him flinch, unable to include the holographic games among his personal hobbies.
However, he found a good job, where his boss was a passionate amateur player who often found himself dominated by other players, stubbornly asserting that his inferior gameplay was not due to lack of skill but a distraction by his busy career, leading to slower hand movements.
After a one-time substitute play, the boss realized that Lu Bei's lack of funds was holding back his gaming talent and happily handed over his account to him, asking him to complete the plot missions on his behalf.
And so, Lu Bei spent half of his working day in the game cabin.
In fact, he himself was only moderately interested in this game. After all, no matter how realistic, the network is not reality, and the huge gap between the power in the network and the helplessness in reality, over time, even if it does not cause mental illness, is enough to make people lose sight of their own standing.
This was not a good thing.
But the boss gave him so much, in the face of the temptation of increased wages and doubled year-end bonuses, Lu Bei chose to compromise.
One day, as usual, he came to his boss's office under his jealous colleagues' envious glances, proficiently opened the game cabin, selected plot mode to enter "Nine Continents World", and then...
There was no "then", when he opened his eyes again, the world in front of him appeared even more realistic.
His boss's account was nowhere to be found. He had logged into a stranger's account, even an NPC pedestrian template.
Unable to log out, he tried to ask for help, but he found that the forum area was gray, not even a post pinned by the official, even worse than during maintenance.
After conversing with another NPC passerby, Lu Bei confirmed that he had time-traveled.
Year 824 of the Wu Zhou Dynasty, Ning Province, Dongyang County, Lang Yu County.
Year 824 was the time node of the "Nine Continents World" public test, whereas when Lu Bei started playing as a substitute for his boss, he did missions continuously in the capital of the Wu Zhou Dynasty, and the version had already been updated to 3.0.
In other words, he not only traveled worlds but also time.
Although the time in Nine Continents is not synchronized with reality, that's not the main issue. The key was that Lu Bei found himself followed by an old Taoist priest.
That pair of squinted eyes, sweeping him up and down, made him shudder, and he suddenly sobered up from the confusion of the transmigration.
"Young man, I see that you have extraordinary bones, a good material for cultivating immortality, and I just happen to lack a disciple, how about we try it out?"
"In your dreams."
For the sake of both physical and mental safety, Lu Bei strongly refused the squint-eyed old Taoist who rubbed his hands together and cackled while speaking.
This was the first time that Lu Bei met Mo Buxiu. The result was not very friendly to him – Mo Buxiu forcibly took him up to the mountain and forced him to become a disciple.
…
"My head hurts, I'm hungry. Can I go back?"
Lu Bei, who was examining his status panel with closed eyes, frowned and began to talk to himself, "What to do if I can't get back. Is this status panel serious? Will there be really players entering the game... that's too bad. I didn't agree, moreover, I am hungry."
Lu Bei, who hadn't solved his hunger problem, began to worry about his future life. After a series of sighs, he once again focused his attention on the panel information.
After players enter the game, there are a mode options like plot mode, battle mode, and instance mode for them to choose from. As an NPC, there's nothing to think about.
The information panels of the player and NPC are slightly different, much simpler, and look rather refreshing at first glance.
The primary interface of the information panel has four sections. Lu Bei clicked them one by one. Except for the character interface, the rest of the sections – spells, wealth, and affiliation – were all blank.
"That can't be right. I can understand the spells section being blank, but why is the wealth and affiliation section empty?"
Lu Bei claimed to be in disbelief - Mo Buxiu had passed on the position of the head of the Feather Gate to him. In theory, there should be at least one land title deed in the wealth interface, and affiliation should show a default change.
"Could it be because of my inner resistance? I inherited his legacy, but did not completely inherit it?"
Confused, Lu Bei began to study the character interface. Reading through the sparse lines and neglecting the comment at the end, he got a rough idea.
First of all, attribute-wise, it was not much different from players. To put it bluntly, it could be said to be continuing the set up of all game attributes.
Setting aside the standards for equipping items and practicing spells for now, strength determined basic attack power, speed influenced basic movement and evasion, spirit and stamina determined basic mana and life, at a ratio of 1:10.
Of course, there were some finer points in between. For example, spirit influenced will, judgement, and comprehension, while stamina affected defense, physical energy, and had an interaction effect with spell skills.
As for charm, it didn't equate to beauty and affected the interaction with NPCs. In the factions, it also played a critical role.
Of course, if someone was handsome enough to shake the world, enough to make everyone ignore other factors, and compared beauty to charm, Lu Bei had nothing to say.
Then there's the luck attribute - Lu Bei never understood it. To give a simple example, with the same account, doing the same task, everything being the same, but his chance of obtaining good equipment is higher than his boss's.
What does that tell us?
Is his boss a noob?
On one hand, yes. On the other hand, whatever equipment he could drop, the final interpretation belongs to the official.
After checking out attribute 233333, Lu Bei scanned the level, experience, and cultivation. It wasn't surprising that they didn't start from zero. The official forum had explained that in the Nine Continents World, where spiritual energy was abundant, anyone who could breathe, even a pig, would build up cultivation over time.
If they were lucky, they could even open up their spiritual intelligence and become a demon.
However, having cultivation was one thing, a natural deposit of spiritual energy inside the body. These beings had not properly cultivated, and a pig with cultivation was merely tastier.
This explained why Lu Bei had cultivation, but couldn't open the Universe Bag. Compared to a pig, he might even be lackluster in flavor.
"I currently have no main job class. I need someone to show me the way, and that person should be my senior sister."
After a while, Lu Bei opened his eyes and picked a foxtail grass to chew on: "I wonder what my senior sister's main job is. Lingxiao Sword Sect sounds like Tao Cultivator, but it's not certain. Many demon cultivators also practice sword arts... Huh, this grass tastes good, is it because of the spiritual energy?"
...
When it was noon, the scorching sun was overhead and a cool mountain breeze brought a slight dryness.
After continuously chewing on the foxtail grass, Lu Bei's health recovered somewhat. He admired the wonders of this vast world - with spiritual energy, you could do whatever you wanted. Not knowing when his senior sister would arrive, or whether she would even come, he decided to take advantage of the daylight and try to descend the mountain.
Regardless of the outcome, scouting the path was a good thing.
As he walked to what may have been the gate or the courtyard wall, pine trees beckoned and birds chirped. Lu Bei turned his head at the sound of wind from behind.
Within his sight was a woman wearing a white waist-cinching fairy skirt, a light blue silk belt was tied around her waist, her black hair hanging down to her waist, adorned only with a white ribbon.
Her skin was fair and her appearance was dazzling. Her face looked as delicate as a painting.
A fox spirit? That fast?
Lu Bei frowned and retreated half a step.
Logically, the girl looked younger than him. If this was the big sister Bai, who had won the title of top student from Lingxiao Sword Sect thirty years ago as mentioned by Mo Buxiu, then...
This fairy, he has cultivated it!
No matter who came, it wouldn't work!
Seeing Lu Bei's wariness, the woman's cold expression softened slightly, introducing herself, "Bai Jin received Uncle Mo's message and came. Are you Mr. Lu?"
"So you are sister Bai. Sister Bai is so white, my name is Lu Bei."
"What?"
"I mean… Hello sister Bai, my name is Lu Bei."
After a brief exchange to confirm she was indeed his senior sister and not a fox spirit, Lu Bei shook his head with embarrassment. Even though he had personally experienced that in the Nine Continents World you could do whatever you want with spiritual energy, he still couldn't get rid of the fixed impression.
It seemed that to adapt quickly, it would take some time.
Inside the room, Bai Jin fell silent as she looked at the wooden box on the table. After a long time, she spoke, "Mr. Lu, Uncle Mo's message was hasty, did he leave any last words for you to pass on to me?"
"He… he said that matters regarding my cultivation would be troubling you, Sister Bai." Lu Bei thought for a while and said so.
"Is there anything else?"
"Anything else?"
Lu Bei kept a straight face, muttered in his heart that one must always be wary, and changed the subject, "He left so quickly, he didn't even have time to say 'Master is passing all his skills onto you', nothing else, really."
Bai Jin fell silent. Lu Bei was more lively than she imagined. Cultivation would be much harder for him than others. And about Mo Buxiu…
"Lu Bei, tell me truthfully, did Uncle Mo… mention my master in the end?"
"???"
Looking at Bai Jin's earnest face, a bunch of question marks floated across Lu Bei's forehead. He tentatively said, "He did mention Lingxiao Sword Sect, but only said one sentence, 'If it wasn't for the Sect Leader who accidentally severely injured him back then, he would definitely go back for one last look before he died.'"
"I see, he did mention it." Bai Jin nodded and then shook her head.
"Sister Bai, I have a question that I'm not sure I should ask." Lu Bei thought of a possibility and felt a great pressure.
"Ask."
Senior sister, since you were top student of Lingxiao Sword Sect thirty years ago, how old are you now and how many years have you been cultivating?
Actually, Lu Bei really wanted to ask this, but considering it might damage their relationship and primarily that it could harm his body, he decided to suppress the question. He cautiously asked, "Sister Bai, that injured Sect Leader, isn't he your master, is he?"
"No, that's the Sect Leader's uncle. There was a misunderstanding between him and Uncle Mo."
Bai Jin turned her head, "As for my master... she is the Sect Leader's wife."
Lu Bei: "..."
I get it, the relationships are not complicated.
Also, with this relationship, his plan to gain experience at Lingxiao Sword Sect would not work.