Although Daoist Lingyang frequently visited the World of Gods and even spent a long time here in his early years, culture wasn't something that could be accepted so easily.
It was the same as a foreigner in imperial China—no matter how many years he spent there, people would still recognize him as a foreigner as soon as he opened his mouth. That was culture.
The World of Gods also had its own unique culture, which came from wars among the gods in ancient times and developed step by step until now.
For instance…
"Will playing this really help me integrate here?" Daoist Lingyang held some black cards. After several rounds of crushing defeat at Gu Nan's hands, he finally asked with a face full of confusion.
"Of course," Gu Nan replied without hesitation. "At least you can use this to communicate with Sylvia more often. Culture can be learned through communication."
Daoist Lingyang thought about it for a moment before finally nodding. "You have a point."
...
Xie Yun was able to acquire the Pay to Win Expert route, while Liang Ruxin also seemed to reach the end of his quest and was about to undergo his final exam.
The two's progress wasn't out of Gu Nan's expectations, but Xie Yun's compatibility with Pay to Win Expert surprised Gu Nan a bit.
According to Lan Si, Xie Yun barely encountered any troubles before she successfully changed her class.
Moreover, Xie Yun seemed to have an innate talent for exchanging everything she could think of into gold and investing it all into her class.
"She ran off to Atalante, where the ore deposits are richer," Lan Si said with a helpless look.
There were a large number of gold mines within Atalante, and it was clear that Xie Yun was no longer satisfied with ordinary trade and was determined to directly plunder the gold mines.
Gu Nan nodded in understanding. Pay to Win Experts tended to experience skyrocketing power shortly after they acquired that class, but they would soon fall into a bottleneck as well.
This was because this route requires a terrifying amount of gold upon reaching the mid- to late-stages. Not even emptying all the gold in a few main planes would be enough.
But then again… This route seemed well-suited for the Myriad Heavens.
Unlike the artificially-created Divine Kingdoms here, the planes in the Myriad Heavens all occurred naturally, many of which contained gold mines ripe for plunder.
"Just bring her along when we leave. Leave her to her own devices for now."
After Gu Nan made up his mind, he stopped paying attention to Xie Yun's situation and focused on preparing Elise's matter.
In theory, Elise had already lost much of her value after her reputation as the "three-time fiancé killer" spread.
Because by this point, most of the missions related to her were already completed, and there were only a few minor subplots left that didn't give good rewards.
But players were players precisely because they could turn the impossible into possible.
"Lan Si." Gu Nan called his apostle to his side, "Spread the news."
...
By the time old Fox arrived, news of Elise finding a husband through "ball tossing" had already spread throughout the entire World of Gods.
If it was the original Fox, he probably wouldn't have understood what an "embroidered ball" was. But after traveling to the Myriad Heavens, this was not the first time he had seen this custom.
'Sure enough, a powerful figure from the Myriad Heavens snatched Elise away!'
Old Fox couldn't help clenching his fists, his eyes full of indignation— 'That damned fellow even wants to tarnish Elise's reputation!'
As someone who personally married his daughter off three times, old Fox knew all too well how his daughter's reputation was nowadays.
If not for the fact that Elise's godly fiancé didn't believe in bad luck, there would actually be no one willing to marry his daughter for the third time.
But now that person actually wants Elise to publicly solicit marriage. This… this was simply rubbing salt in the wound!
"Where is that damned fellow? I want to see him!"
"That one invited you to the Luxuriant Blossoms Divine Kingdom to see him…"
"What a joke! How am I supposed to go to the Luxuriant Blossoms Divine Kingdom?!"
...
For mortals, the main plane they lived in was their entire world, and the greater gods' Divine Kingdoms were existences they could never hope to set foot upon.
Unless one was guided by a god's apostle, there was no way to enter the Divine Kingdom.
Regardless of Gu Nan's intentions, news that Elise planned to "toss the ball" had already spread.
People didn't know there was a mastermind behind Elise and only believed this "bad luck charm" had gotten so desperate that she came up with such a stupid move.
Did she really think that people would be willing to come to her door if she openly looked for a partner?
Many people treated this as watching a show, and the reality was also similar to their expectations.
The place where Elise threw the ball was also in Atalante, a new continent that was still in turmoil, so even fewer people showed up.
It's just that amidst the jokes about it, a new piece of news came out.
Even though Elise didn't manage to find a husband, her embroidered ball was still thrown out, and it had strayed to who knows where.
It was said to have been unintentionally picked up by a man who was already engaged, whereupon this gentleman, who didn't even know Elise, similarly died a violent death.
When this rumor began to circulate, the World of Gods finally boiled over—this was practically a divine weapon that could kill people tracelessly!
And the men who were already engaged but hadn't gotten around to consummating their marriages yet felt a sense of crisis.
Who didn't have a few enemies? No one wanted to wake up with a big red embroidered ball in their house and live in fear of a violent death.
A wave of marriages and withdrawals spread among the young men of Atalante.
Whether they got married or withdrew their engagement, the purpose was the same: to free themselves from the status of being a "fiancé".
And due to factors like cumbersome procedures and the required approval of the bride's side, marriage was naturally far more troublesome than withdrawing an engagement, so countless scenes of "don't look down on me just because I'm a poor girl" repeated across the entire continent.
Even more terrifying was that in a few days' time, a big red embroidered ball really did appear in some young men's homes.
Just like that, the horrifying legend about the "red embroidered ball" spread among mortals.
"Why on earth are you doing this?" Daoist Lingyang, who was dressed as a nouveau riche, looked at Gu Nan curiously.
The two of them were sitting comfortably in a remote manor in Atalante. On this rare occasion, Gu Nan had also changed his clothes, putting on a flashy outfit that made him look like a wealthy young master.
It had to be said that Gu Nan's taste was still a bit better than Daoist Lingyang's.
Daoist Lingyang was extremely curious about Gu Nan's actions, especially after seeing him organize a husband-recruiting ceremony for Elise where a grand total of zero candidates showed up, then creating the embroidered ball himself.
That's right—the vast majority of the embroidered balls that were secretly circulating on the continent today came from Gu Nan's hands, and every single one of them sold for a high price.
Sometimes he even specifically arranged for people to kill the youths who received the embroidered balls in order to corroborate the curse's authenticity.
It could be said that a large part of the reason why Atalante was in a state of panic nowadays was due to Gu Nan.
"I need to kill some gods." Gu Nan had no intention of hiding it, and it wasn't like he could hide it from Daoist Lingyang anyway.
"Revenge?" This was Daoist Lingyang's first thought, as he had done the same himself.
"No, no." Gu Nan, however, waved his hand. "I just want to slaughter gods, doesn't matter which ones."
Daoist Lingyang was slightly taken aback, then asked, "So, you can lure over a god by doing this?"
He had personally proven just how difficult it was to lure a god down to the main plane.
Of course, he seemed to have also forgotten that the last time Gu Nan had done something similar, it was likewise a very easy process for Gu Nan.
"It's here," Gu Nan didn't answer him, but merely smiled and said.
Outside the manor, a woman in a light red cloak was slowly walking up to the entrance.
"In the name of My Lord, Her Majesty Emma." The woman's pretty face was filled with frost. "Stop these foolish acts immediately, vile merchants!"