Who let him join the Sword Sect?!
Chapter 87: This Is What the Main City of Online Games Looks Like

Chapter 87: Chapter 87: This Is What the Main City of Online Games Looks Like

"Boss, why don’t you just go and rob them."

After hearing Zhang Ze’s plan, Lily’s mouth dropped open.

She really didn’t expect it to be so profitable.

Generally, what sects pursue is to be reclusive and tranquil, the quieter the better.

The ideal life is to greet the sunrise every morning, practice breathing exercises, and nurture mind and spirit.

Occasionally, when there’s nothing to do, call a few friends, talk about cultivation, and lament the impermanence of the world.

But the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion, due to all sorts of coincidences and reasons, had a change in style.

In Zhang Ze’s original plan, the market outside the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion was just a stopover for cultivators.

But now, plans can’t keep up with changes, and the very entrance of the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion has turned into a night market street.

So why not go all out and directly expand that market into a Cultivator City centered around the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion.

By that time, anyone wanting to move in would have to pay to rent land, and the rent would be collected only in spirit stones.

Selling trinkets like the Heavenly Illusion Pendants and Thousand Mechanism Tools can’t compare to how quickly real estate brings in money.

Collecting rent is the happiest thing.

Lily scratched her head, "But why would they come here to pay to rent land and houses?"

"Of course, it’s all about those loose cultivators."

"Come, let me show you a few things."

During her longer stay in Cold City, Zhang Ze had been working on a lot of new stuff.

Coming to the square behind the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion, three tall stone steles stood before Lily’s eyes.

The three steles were one tall and two short, completely black, not ordinary objects.

Only for some reason, the statue of the dragons on the highest stele’s top was missing one dragon head.

It looked somewhat abrupt and unaesthetic.

Now a group of Thousand Mechanism cultivators were adding various extra Thousand Machine Devices to the steles.

"Are those the three Divine Sword Steles that Chen Qin mentioned?"

Seeing the missing dragon head on the stele, Lily immediately recognized this object.

"Yes, they were just delivered yesterday."

This Heavenly Sword List was something Chen Qin acquired from the General Sword Sect Pavilion.

The General Sword Sect Pavilion originally created this Heavenly Sword List to encourage disciples to cultivate.

When one’s cultivation reaches the standards of each level on the Heavenly Sword List, their name can be recorded on it.

Cultivation is divided by Golden Core, Foundation Establishment, Qi Cultivation, into the three Lists of Heaven, Earth, and Man, and when someone tops the list, the array talisman on the stele’s top would be triggered.

The virtual image of the Double Dragons Fighting for the Pearl would ascend amidst clouds, along with sounds of ceremonial music and chimes.

Initially, those disciples of the Main Pavilion were fairly sensible and didn’t pay much attention to this ranking list as disciples of the sect have pride.

Many with average cultivation wouldn’t even test themselves for fear of ranking low and looking disgraceful.

The People’s List for the Qi Cultivation Stage was even always empty.

Those geniuses who advanced rapidly in cultivation would generally choose a time once a month to test themselves and simply offer congratulations to the person who claimed the top spot on the Celestial List.

Everyone was satisfied.

Until the day when the first and second places clashed.

Unknown what conflict arose between those two, they started testing for the first place on the Celestial List, from every hour to every half hour, then every ten minutes.

They resorted to taking pills, using secret techniques for short-term cultivation boosts, utilizing magical treasures, even array talismans—anything to outdo the other.

In pursuit of fairness, the Divine Sword List was actually very sensitive.

After being repeatedly tested by the two disciples, the rankings of the first and second places flipped again and again on the Celestial List.

So, the Double Dragons’ virtual image at the top of the Celestial List didn’t rest for that entire day, flying continually.

The sounds of ceremonial music also resounded all day.

Coincidentally, at that time, Mo Jingchun was pregnant with Chen Qin.

And her temper was quite high that day.

Frustrated and irritated by those sounds, Ms. Mo directly drew her sword and sliced off one dragon head from the Celestial List, stopping the sound.

Then she locked up those two idle disciples with nothing better to do for a month’s confinement.

Later, to prevent other disciples from causing trouble, these three Divine Sword Steles were taken down and stored away.

...

"I plan to reactivate these three Divine Sword Steles."

"They correspond exactly to the three difficulty levels of the Underground City."

"The top 100 names will be displayed based on the progress of clearing levels."

"To prevent cheating, only the top ten who complete the challenge will be shown, ranked by their completion time."

"And the most impressive person..."

At this moment, the Thousand Machine Devices outside one of the Divine Sword Steles had just been fully installed.

Now, the Divine Sword Stele lost some of its ancient vibe but became even more dazzling.

A Thousand Mechanism cultivator activated the Divine Sword Stele.

The rankings on the stele began to refresh, filled with test names like Ergou, Liu San, and Li Dadan.

When it registered to the top ten, all the special effect-type Thousand Machine Devices on the Divine Sword Stele activated, and the virtual image of the Double Dragons Fighting for the Pearl spiraled upward.

Amidst the flames and golden light, a bolt of lightning struck the Dragon Pearl.

The Dragon Pearl cracked open, and the three golden-glowing names of Li Dadan appeared in mid-air.

The two Golden Dragons then merged into a giant sword, suspended behind the words ’Li Dadan’.

"The first place not only gets completion rewards. This special effect will also hang up there for a whole day," Zhang Ze said.

"Subsequent additions will include statues, the Hall of Fame, titles, and other fame-building stuff, in short, making those striving for the ranking immensely thrilled."

"Furthermore, there’s a season every year, and by that time, we’ll reset the list and update the Underground City, keeping their anticipation alive."

After the special effects vanished, Zhang Ze’s words and ’Li Dadan’ stayed lingering in Lily’s mind for a long time.

Those loose cultivators out in Jianghu, just for some nonsense ranking, could fight among themselves; faced with this kind of situation, they’d undoubtedly go all out for the list.

"This is only the name aspect," Zhang Ze continued.

"The most important thing is profit."

"A clear-headed loose cultivator only needs to go through the Underground City once to understand how useful this thing is."

"When they truly venture out to train in the future, this experience could really save their lives."

"Besides experience, there are also tangible rewards. Look at this."

Zhang Ze handed Lily a booklet, marked with the various levels of rewards given to those who clear the challenges.

There were also consolation prizes.

Rewards ranged from cultivation techniques to magical artifacts and pill medicine, everything valuable especially for those loose cultivators.

Lily did the math, "The rewards are this generous?"

Zhang Ze chuckled, "Don’t worry, even for the lowest difficulty Underground City, typically a cultivator of the related cultivation stage can’t clear it."

Lily shivered at Zhang Ze’s smile, silently mourning for the loose cultivators for three seconds.

"What happens afterward?"

"Later, they’ll naturally go to really experience training in the Secret Realm," Zhang Ze continued as he led Lily back the way they came.

"And after they try adventuring out, they’ll find the experience they gained from our Underground City will truly come in handy."

"Then next time they’re planning to explore a certain area, they’ll think of this place."

"But what if they exchange information privately? Won’t we be taken advantage of for free?" Lily suddenly pointed out a flaw.

"It doesn’t matter. We’re not depending on the Underground City to make money; I want them gathered here."

"Just imagine, if there was a place..."

"A place that offers information exchange, entertainment, fair trade, a chance for fame, and even the opportunity to learn Sword Sect’s cultivation techniques—all with convenient transportation..."

"All the loose cultivators would love this place! In the entire Cyan Thorn area, even the disciples from those small sects couldn’t resist," Lily immediately caught on.

"What am I doing researching Thousand Mechanism Tools then?"

"Boss, I want to open an auction house! I want to charge commission!"

"Get me the best plot of land!"

Lily’s eyes already turned into the shape of spirit stones.

"Calm down first." Zhang Ze stopped the already ecstatic Lily.

"Let me ask you something."

"Have you guys figured out anything about those two arrays?"