Chapter 401 - 382: What the Heck? You Couldn’t Have Said Sooner?

Chapter 401: Chapter 382: What the Heck? You Couldn’t Have Said Sooner?

Within the city, the dust had yet to settle.

The golden light of the Spirit-Suppressing Stele finally faded.

Below the ruined city walls, countless players gazed up at the distant sky.

There, high above the clouds, a few figures were gathered, dividing the spoils.

Those were masters who could manifest colossal avatars—beings completely beyond the reach of ordinary players like them!

And now, the corpses, souls, and magical treasures of those Nascent Soul Patriarchs were being divvied up, some pocketed, some tossed into a furnace, others stuffed into a coffin.

On the ground, a player named OneSwordSettlesAll looked at the half-broken iron sword in his hand, then glanced at the distant platinum avatar receding into Lin Qingfeng’s body.

He was so excited, the hand gripping his sword was trembling.

’No matter what! A win is a win!’

"Did you see that, bros?! Those are the kinds of special effects you get from spending real money! This is the sheer pressure a whale exerts! It’s so damn cool!"

"I only got two swings in during this whole demonic invasion, but that’s not stopping me from declaring—we totally crushed it!"

"So this is what it feels like to ride someone’s coattails? This is the joy of getting carried to victory? I used to think paying to win broke the game’s balance, but now all I want to say is: Boss, you need a lackey? The kind that’ll spam ’666’ for you!"

Nearby, a player named GoToBiquCountry4 sat slumped in the mud, using his Spiritual Power to stanch the bleeding from an injured person’s severed leg while pulling up his system panel.

[Regional Emergency Event: The Defense of Anhe City (Settlement Complete)]

[Campaign Evaluation: Epic Victory!]

But when his gaze shifted down to the Contribution Leaderboard, his pupils shrank.

First Place: Lin Qingfeng

Second Place: Shi Gandang

Third Place: Ji

...

And below the glittering top ranks was a bottomless abyss.

He had to scroll down a long way before he finally saw his own name.

11th Place: GoToBiquCountry4

"I died forty-seven times... Forty-seven times!!"

"To hold back those Qi Refining bastards, I was stomped into paste and melted into a puddle of blood by poison! Forty-seven damn times!!"

"I thought I was going to take a huge loss, but guess what? The big boss ate his fill, but he actually left some soup for us! Eleventh place! I actually scraped my way into eleventh place! I was sure we were done for this time, that I wouldn’t get any rewards!"

"Thank heavens this God of Wealth descended on our Anhe City when he did!!"

A wave of cheers erupted around him.

Someone clapped him excitedly on the shoulder. "Bro, you still don’t get it?"

"What game?" OneSwordSettlesAll tossed his broken sword into the air as if celebrating a holiday. "This is clearly an exclusive bonus stage for us Anhe City players!"

"Think about it! Players in other cities are still struggling to grind monsters and level up, while we just follow Mr. Lin and pick up the scraps! He does the damage, we cheer him on! He takes the main loot, we get the leftovers! What more could you possibly want?!"

"SOB... It’s so touching..."

Beside them, All-Nighter Champion had tears in his eyes. He gazed out at the devastated, scorched earth, yet his face was a mask of pure bliss.

"In this damn martial arts game, I’ve finally made a name for myself! I’ve decided, I’m going to celebrate by drinking that little potion that makes plants grow strong and healthy..."

"HOLY SHIT! DUDE, CALM DOWN!!"

A nearby City Guard lunged and grabbed his leg. "That’s fucking pesticide! Don’t let your joy turn to sorrow!"

"Oh! You should’ve said something sooner! I’m just so excited!"

Snot and tears streamed down All-Nighter Champion’s face as he broke into a dopey grin. "Sigh, I’ve been grinding for so long. I used to feel exhausted, but now, just looking at the boss’s silhouette, I’m not tired at all. I can keep grinding! As long as the boss doesn’t quit the game, I’ll be his hype man for life!"

"Me too! SOB... I got sucked dry five times trying to save an NPC! I thought it was a huge loss, but I just glanced at the settlement rewards, and I actually made a profit! I’m gonna have a tug-of-war with a roof beam to see which of our necks is stronger!"

The player named DontWannaWork, his face set with determination, staggered toward a ruined crossbeam where half a rope was dangling.

The Little Match Girl’s face turned pale as he and several other City Guards rushed madly to stop him.

"STOP!! EVERYONE, JUST STOP!!"

"That’s fucking hanging yourself!! We’re City Guards, we can’t be setting an example by getting so hyped over good rewards that you give yourself a brain hemorrhage!!"

"Who said I was going to hang myself?"

DontWannaWork clutched the rope and gazed piously at the sky. "I’m just trying to climb up higher to see if I can offer my worship to Mr. Lin! I want to ask if the boss needs a janitor! No pay needed, just cover my meals!"

"Damn! Why didn’t you say so?! I thought you were about to do something crazy!"

"Crazy? You’ve got to be kidding! My future’s never looked brighter! Following a god-like boss like this, I could play this game until the servers shut down!"

"Don’t even think about it. You have to pay an application fee to join their sect. We’re better off just staying in this city and getting the leftovers."

"Alright, never mind then. I’ll just stay here and get my share of the leftovers!"

After a long moment, GoToBiquCountry4 let out a deep sigh, climbed grinning out of the mud, and patted his rear clean.

"Alright, alright, stop fooling around. Everyone, let’s get started on reconstruction. With all these ruins, it’s a perfect opportunity for us to rebuild together. This is great. I was worried we wouldn’t have the resources to fix the roads and bridges, but now with contribution rewards on the line, I’m worried you’ll all start fighting over who gets to do the manual labor."

"Exactly. We just got lucky being born in Anhe City, right? Everyone knows the only thing that can counter a whale in a game is a hacker, but the only one who lets us regular players get the leftovers is a mega-whale who’s on our side!"

One of the City Guards opened the newly unlocked Contribution Point Shop.

He stared at the item at the very top of the shop: an Incomplete Qi Refining Skill, priced at a staggering "10,000 Contribution Points + 100 Spirit Stones" and marked with the note, "Extremely low spawn rate."

"Tsk, tsk. I can’t afford it, but damn if that isn’t a tempting prize. Mr. Lin casually slaughters a Nascent Soul cultivator and gets first place for contribution. We can’t compare to that, but as long as we stick with him, that Cultivation Technique will be ours sooner or later!"

"Be grateful! In a few years, the top players might have ascended, and Anhe City will be ours to rule. At least for now, we’re miles ahead of the other cities, aren’t we?"

[DING—! Server-Wide Announcement (Daqian Dynasty Region): Anhe City has overcome the crisis and is now officially independent from the jurisdiction of the "Daqian Dynasty"!]

[Server-Wide Announcement: The Contribution Point Shop for the Anhe City region is now open to all players in the city! Tax rate is now zero! Buffs are doubled!]

[Server-Wide Announcement: Congratulations to all players who started in Anhe City. You are now free!]

At the same time, the other cities in the Daqian Dynasty exploded.

[Daqian Dynasty Channel - Luoyang City]: [HOLY SHIT! Anhe City really went independent? How is that fair?! We’re still paying a 35% tax to this goddamn dynasty!]

[Daqian Dynasty Channel - Chang’an City]: [What the hell is a Contribution Point Shop? No taxes? Double buffs? We don’t have jack shit over here! I want to ride some coattails too!]

[Daqian Dynasty Channel - Youzhou City]: [Can any of the big players from Anhe City say something?! We need a guide! We want to be independent too! Speaking of which, would any whales be willing to come carry us? I want to be a lackey too!]

[World Channel - Biqu Dynasty]: [Say no more. My red name is about to fade, and I’m already getting ready to delete my character and reroll in Anhe City in your Daqian Dynasty. I hear the players there are rich and dumb... wait, no, I mean the top players there are handsome and kindhearted!]

Seeing the flood of envy, jealousy, and hate in the Daqian Dynasty channel, GoToBiquCountry4’s back instantly straightened, his nose held high in the air. This was the ultimate gaming experience, maxed out!

[Anhe City - GoToBiquCountry4]: Ahem. All in a day’s work, no need for applause, everyone please remain seated. The starting zone in Anhe City is currently at capacity. Anyone who wants to come beg for scraps... ahem, I mean, anyone who wants to join us in our great endeavor here in Anhe City, please get in line for the lottery. Sigh, having a whale for a patron is such a pain. Just counting the rewards takes forever. It’s truly a sweet burden~

’The power gap between the whale and players like me is still a massive chasm, but so what?’

’A rising tide lifts all boats!’

’Compared to the other players still struggling in the mud, we’re already standing on the shoulders of a giant! It’s true—the only way to play this game is by following a whale!!!’

...

Meanwhile, many of the city’s common folk collapsed, their knees giving out as they began to weep loudly.

Their sobs were a mixture of grief for their lost loved ones and gratitude for their own survival.

"We won..."

"That was... heavenly retribution!"

"Finally... have the Immortals finally come to save us?"

The sea of two hundred and sixteen swords of light had torn the six terrifying avatars apart from the inside out, instantly incinerating the flesh and blood of the six Nascent Soul Patriarchs along with them.

Those six mighty figures had been completely erased from existence.

If not for the lingering scent of burning and the surrounding ruins, they might have believed they had just witnessed an absurd, fantastical dream about a war between gods and demons.

’But what would become of these saviors now? Would they be like Su Ling’er, acting without thought of personal gain? Or would they be like the Celestial Furnace Sect, demanding tribute from the entire city?’

’But did a city reduced to rubble even have anything left to offer an Immortal?’