6.6 – Su Xuanyan? Who is that?
The sects had been preparing for the recruitment fair for half a month now, which was enough time for players to get out of the novice village, choose their profession, and gain a good understanding of which sect they wanted to join.
After experiencing the novice village, players had become thoroughly familiar with the rules of Jiuzhou, and were all very reasonable with the NPCs and so on. They all worked hard at staying in character in order not to let others see flaws in their behaviour. As they became more and more comfortable with the game, the world channel also became more lively. Player rankings had already come out, and listed things such as level, weapon, wealth, etc. There were many rankings, and the level ranking that everyone loved to pay attention to was topped by a human race player that many people had already heard of by now: Thousand Miles Without Pause.
In the second place was a demon race G.o.d named Xue Ling, who was the same level as Thousand Miles Without Pause, but ranked below him because the first character of his name was later on in the alphabet.
That"s right. This time, Xue Ling did not copy the original string of data and directly call himself "Snow Fox". He thought back and forth and felt that any name he came up with sounded strange, so he simply used his own name to register as n.o.body knew him anyway.
The third person in this sect recruitment that also attracted much attention was another great G.o.d called Depth of Despair. Because he chose the Ten Thousand Sword Sect, but the single priority quota had been taken away by Xue Ling, he could only choose to partic.i.p.ate in the recruitment fair. In the future, he would be a senior disciple of the Ten Thousand Sword Sect, and his dao name would be Yuan Chuan.
Going down the list, many other top performers on the rankings had all been given preferential places and became high-ranking disciples of other sects, so they did not partic.i.p.ate in this recruitment event. This also allowed many people to breathe a sigh of relief. After all, they would only lose miserably when compared to the great G.o.ds.
Sect recruitment here was unlike the affairs organized in novels, where people would be accepted based on their spiritual roots. Since the people here were all players, if they based entry by cultivation ability, those who did not have a spiritual root would complain.
In the land of Jiuzhou, as long as players had the intention of cultivating, they would be accepted. The sects were not choosing from children and planning to train them up from a small age; in reality the recruitment event was a large scale arena compet.i.tion, where players joined the compet.i.tion platform of the sect that they wanted to enter. The person who lasted the longest in each sect"s compet.i.tion platform then became that sect"s senior disciple, and they would be accepted as a sect"s true line disciple and personally taught by the sect leader. After that, the elders of the sect would also pick direct disciples based on their development potential and divide everyone into inner or outer disciples. If players were not satisfied, they could level up and try again later. As long as they could win, they would enter the inner sect.
This was definitely a world that respected strength.
The world channel was packed, with words scrolling off the screen almost as soon as they appeared. There were players who had come to watch the show, and players who were tense as they waited to fight on the platform. The crowd who came just to eat melon seeds and spectate was incredibly large as many people were very interested in the big event that was happening today.
After all, people who played games all wanted to be stimulated.
[ Very Fortunate: (⊙0⊙) The nine compet.i.tion platforms have already been raised up. Is it time for the NPCs to come out next? ]
[ Don’t Let Happiness Escape: I read the introduction to the nine main sects earlier. I want to join all of them even though I"m just a level 11 weakling! I only realized after leaving the novice village how wonderful the novice village quests were and how plentiful the experience was. QAQ My level"s not rising anymore once I left the village. ]
[ Buried Love Turns Into b.u.t.terflies: (-i_-｀) Nonsense, you can see that the number one player on the listings is only level 17. Those should be great G.o.ds that have already joined a sect. ]
[ After Midnight: No way, great G.o.d Depth of Despair hasn"t joined a sect yet. That means that joining or not joining a sect does not have any great impact on your level. It"s just that all of you are too noob. ]
[ Reminiscence About the Past: As one of the noob players, I am left speechless. ]
[ Dreaming of the Midnight Moon: I"m so happy, we can probably see some great G.o.ds today~ When I think of being able to see Xue Ling again, my heart begins to jump~~ ]
[ October Return: (ˉ﹃ˉ) The legendary first beauty of the demon race? ]
[ Newly Married: Truly a great beauty~ The closer we are to the time, the more agitated my heart is~~~ ]
[ Mountain Mists: Really that attractive? ]
[ Disregarded: (*/w＼*) Heh heh. Take a look and you"ll know~ ]
As the compet.i.tion arenas rose out of the water, the nine big ships that belonged to the nine large sects also descended from the sky and landed on the surface of the water. Many members from each sect appeared on the decks, and all of a sudden, people"s eyes could not turn fast enough to take in the entire scene.
[ Knock on Clouds: (￣.￣) Why are the all old men… ]
[ Joy and Sorrow: Supposedly, all the high cultivation, powerful NPCs that are not old are all elders of the sects. They are unwilling to help manage miscellaneous things within the big sects because it would delay their training and cultivation. ]
[ Yan Yan: Dog Yan wants to express that there is no love. ]
After the sect members appeared, some elders and disciples also came out behind them. Han Wuzheng was not present, so the sect leader volunteered to bring his younger martial-brother with him and did not appear with the first batch of sect members. Instead, he accompanied Xue Ling, explaining things for him as they stepped out onto the deck.
Before they came out, there was already an uproar because Thousand Miles Without Pause had appeared in Tianxuan Gate. The melon seed eating spectators on the sh.o.r.e could see things very clearly as they had their camera function on and zoomed in to the max to try and take pictures of the protagonist gong"s handsome and heroic face. But, after they snapped the pictures, they were warned by the system about infringing on people"s privacy and the photos were directly deleted.
This was a sad thing for everyone. Many people even went straight to the world channel to cry.
They weren"t even allowed to take photos of the experts in the game - were the developers worried that they would photoshop them and make them viral?! Big G.o.ds, don"t be like that! You"re so attractive!!
When Xue Ling stepped on the deck, he was noticed by some people who were looking in the direction of the Ten Thousand Sword Sect. There was a few seconds of silence, followed by screams as the girls began to call out.
Xue Ling remained unmoved by their reactions. He kept his face cold and expressionless as he quietly observed the other big ships. Many people on the ships were looking at him; some were stunned, some seemed to have some intent in their gazes, while others…
For just a moment, Xue Ling was stunned in place.
Because his gaze had met with a pair of eyes that were as black as ink. That gaze held amus.e.m.e.nt as it looked back at him, warm as the spring breeze, and even Xue Ling"s frigid expression softened somewhat due to that smile.
That man was dressed all in black, with long black hair tied behind his head in something resembling a ponytail, but for some reason it looked better than a simple ponytail. The bangs over his forehead did not block his facial features; he was a man whose smile was gentle enough to light up the world, but when the smile was no longer there, he could freeze everyone"s heart. The breeze from the lake played with his robe, and there was a black and white cat on his shoulder that was yawning lazily. He stood on the Tianmo Gate"s ship and smiled at Xue Ling, his gaze filled with a light that Xue Ling could not understand and making his scalp feel numb as though he was being watched.
Xue Ling recalled the plot and had a slight impression of this man.
He was a person who had very little to do with the plot. He was the person ranked first on the wealth rankings, and although he was the senior disciple of Tianmo Gate, the leading devil"s path sect, he seldom made a move and his level was always stable and fixed in the fifth place of the level ranking list. No matter how the rankings changed for the people in front of him, he was always fifth.
Xue Ling looked at him somewhat absentmindedly, but then he watched as the man opened his mouth and shaped a word.
Xue Ling was shocked, recovering his wits in a rush as his ears began to turn red.
Clearly, the other side had only mouthed a word and said nothing unacceptable, but Xue Ling felt like he had just been teased.
He said, “Focus.”
The system on Xue Ling’s shoulder tsked, presumably confirming a certain person"s ident.i.ty.
Because there had been no such person in the plot, Xue Ling did not know his name. Now, this person felt a little familiar to him, so he kept his expression icy as he looked through the rankings.
There were many anonymous people on the wealth rankings, but the person ranked first hid nothing, causing others to come up with an imaginary image of a person whose entire body screamed "Lao Tzu has money". This image completely did not match up to what he looked like in person. He was Su Xuanyan, the senior disciple of Tianmo Gate"s ancestor.
Xue Ling found the name rather surprising and unexpected. It seemed to be a personal name, and not a game name.
People from all the sects and factions had appeared, and the general recruitment naturally began. There was hardly any suspense in Ten Thousand Sword Sect"s compet.i.tion as Depth of Despair had basically already been chosen beforehand as the senior disciple. Xue Ling propped his cheek against his hand and watched for a while before informing the sect leader of his decision to go off and do his own tasks. The sect leader did not try to force him to stay as he had already showed his face and completed the task, and told him to have fun before letting him go.
Xue Ling left the boats and snuck away. He was not seen by many people, but when he turned a corner, he found himself blocked.
The cat on the man"s shoulder was meowing at the fox on Xue Ling"s shoulder. The system did not think too much about it, and showed itself directly. Because it was also made up of data, it could be seen by others in this world. It normally liked to stay hidden, but was polite due to the ident.i.ty of the man in front of them.
The person who had come over curved his lips into a smile as he spoke. "A big fox and a little fox?"
Xue Ling stared at him with interest for a moment before turning to ask the system, “Is it him?”
The system nodded. “There"s no mistaking him. n.o.body but your man has this enigmatic aura. Only, why does it seem as though something is off about his life?"
“Perhaps because his character this time is Pa.s.ser-by A? And he"s a character that was mentioned in the plot with nothing else written about him?"
“He gives me a strange feeling.”
Su Xuanyan, or rather, the Sealed Devil, just stood there and watched as Xue Ling and the little fox perched on his shoulder whispered together, totally ignoring him. He was not anxious, folding his arms across his chest with an extremely patient expression. "What are you going off to do? Do you want to form a team?" He opened his mouth to ask.
Xue Ling nodded. “I need materials to forge my sword."
“I’ll accompany you.”
Xue Ling raised his eyebrows. Now he knew what was wrong with the man in this life. The repressed and bottled-up side of his personality seemed to be in hiding - the man even knew how to laugh, and it was his sunny smiling appearance that made Xue Ling hesitate. Everyone knew that throughout so many worlds, the man had always had an icy expression. Had he changed his character in this world? "You are…" Since he didn"t know what exactly was happening with the man in this life, Xue Ling followed his own designated character profile and asked the question in a very cold and aloof manner.
He had no idea that his façade had cracked as early as when Su Xuanyan had asked him a question and he had obediently answered. Even if the expression on his face was even colder, the man could already guess at the emotions hidden under that face. The man kept a smile on his lips as his pair of good-looking eyes locked onto Xue Ling, his gaze carrying undisguised intent that made his scalp tingle.
“I am the senior disciple of Tianmo Gate"s Ancestor Tianmo, Su Xuanyan. You can call me Yan." The Sealed Devil had no intention of introducing his other ident.i.ty now. Compared to calling himself the Sealed Devil, it was more meaningful for him to give Xue Ling the name that he had chosen for himself, and not the name that the people who created him had a.s.signed for him.
It is also the reason why he chose to use this face in front of Xue Ling, and not the face of the devil whose existence made heaven and earth tremble. This was an appearance that he had created for himself. It belonged only to him, and had been deeply imprinted in his mind. It was just like how the name Xue Ling had inexplicably appeared in his heart and could not be separated from his soul.
He could enter the players" chat channel, and could come and go freely in any place where the main computer existed. So, he had very clear knowledge about everything related to this person - the way he looked before he downgraded his appearance, his name, his everything.
It was also everything he wanted to possess.
When Xue Ling heard his name, something seemed to flash across his mind. He had a slight impression of this name, but it was too vague, and seemed to be something that he had forgotten long ago. Now that it was brought up again, it could only bring up a distant memory.
He vaguely remembered that there was someone who had said that to him before.
“My name is Su Xuanyan.”
Su Xuanyan?
Who is that?
Xue Ling clenched his fists, and realized for the first time that he really seemed to have forgotten something important.
alamerysl: lol poor ML
BlueBug: … The plot likes to be slow
xiin: well now you know who the ML is. isn’t he cool (ˉ﹃ˉ)