Xuanming Sky.

Zhong Shenxiu's avatar paused slightly, "East-West war, and the original body is in seclusion?"

But it was just a slight pause before he continued to walk into the newbie valley.

His current appearance was quite flamboyant, dressed in white, floating as if about to ascend to heaven, with an ivory folding fan in hand, resembling an ancient noble young master.

"Look quick! It's Lord Shenxiu!"

A passing player glanced over and immediately shouted out loud.

"Lord Shenxiu? Who's that?"

His friend next to him apparently didn't visit the forums much.

"A top player! Supposedly a Martial Artist Daoist who has reached at least the sixth rank and is especially good at finding hidden quests. Seems like he might even be relatives with the development team…"

The last bit was said in a lowered voice, but it didn't do much to conceal from Zhong Shenxiu.

Nowadays, the newbie valley was crowded with players, every day competing fiercely for tasks from Er Ha that they would bash their heads in.

And those who had learned the languages and scripts were mostly too eager to venture out into the Jianghu.

Although most of them would end up respawning by the water within a few days, there were quite a few who managed to thrive.

Zhong Shenxiu didn't bother with these players and headed to a food shop.

The place was run by 'Lingling is a Foodie' along with a few lifestyle players with cooking skills, doing quite well in business. It was said that sometimes even Er Ha would come to taste the food, but the lack of hidden quests left the players quite disappointed.

Zhong Shenxiu found a seat and ordered an egg fried rice from 'Lingling is a Foodie' then started to ponder.

He didn't need to bother about the dealings of the "Heart's Test."

What needed attention now was how to accelerate the game's progress.

"Massive increase in the number player actions, the feedback has been very positive... So, it's essential to start open beta testing soon?"

Thinking of making astronomical amounts of glasses, Zhong Shenxiu subconsciously scratched his head.

Though those glasses were just a prop, they were still such a hassle!

"In addition, we need to set up more control groups... Offer a carrot along with the stick…"

Suddenly, Zhong Shenxiu thought about Grotto Heaven.

The real impact of "Gaming Parallel Worlds" was more significant in Xuanming Sky.

Whereas in Grotto Heaven, people just viewed it as a game.

"Goodness gracious, this game is so hardcore!"

A few third-test players sat nearby, among them 'Living Leisurely With Rains and Mists' and 'Concealing Armor and Weapons', these two newbie players teamed up in the game and had formed a certain friendship. They were now complaining, "It's obviously the body in the game, but if you don't eat, you still get hungry, totally unreasonable…"

"You can't say that though, your body gets hungry, you eat, you feel pain when injured… those are negative effects, but you can also enjoy the positive effects, like visiting brothels to listen to music, supposedly they're just like real life…"

A sleazy middle-aged man nearby spoke mysteriously.

"Cough cough!"

'Lingling is a Foodie' waved her iron spoon, tapping on the rim of the pot: "Discuss this topic further and out you go!"

Zhou Cheng chuckled awkwardly, "Then how did this game pass the review?"

"Pass the review my ass! Look at us going out to hunt wild boars, with one chop intestines and blood spill all over the ground... so bloody and violent, how could it possibly pass any review? But in Da Xia, there are national conditions to consider, any game can be internally tested and monetized without an official review, so it's a gray area... I think this game might never pass a review, gain too much fame and it'd be banned, so cherish it while we play..."

The middle-aged sleazy man sighed.

'Concealing Armor and Weapons' nodded, "Actually, even if they removed some of the bloody scenes and blocked the brothel maps, this game would still be pretty perfect... The development team just needs to step back a bit, 'Gaming Parallel Worlds' would have no problem becoming globally popular, why bother?"

"There's also the game store, heard they used to have unlimited perfect revives for a decent price... We just missed out on the good times, to be honest... If the officials opened up a recharge option and let us use Xia coins, I'd willingly pay."

…

These days, the most complained about by players were the harsh death penalties and the extreme rarity of perfect revival.

The game mall had become as useless as a decoration!

Zhong Shenxiu sat quietly, pondering on how to speed up the ceremony.

Moreover, he had a rough idea in his mind.

"This evolution of Xuanming Sky isn't drastic enough, firstly because there aren't enough players, and also the time isn't long enough… So… it's time to bring out the big guns!"

The two worlds had different rates of the flow of time, but it had been forcefully anchored by Zhong Shenxiu.

At this moment, he was preparing to let it loose a bit.

"At the same time, the reverse impact of Xuanming Sky on Grotto Heaven also needs to be prioritized!"

While having his meal, Zhong Shenxiu casually made a patch and applied it.

[ding!]

The next moment, players like 'Lingling is a foodie' were startled and looked up.

They all heard the familiar system notification sound:

[Public beta launching soon!]

[New patch added—Thought Acceleration! Effect: The flow of time in the game world is three times that of the outside world!]

[New items added to the store, purchasable with experience points!]

[More to come…]

The Newbie Valley suddenly quieted down, then the voices of the players, like boiling water or like five hundred ducks clamoring together, filled every space.

"Am I seeing this right? Can this game actually launch a public beta?"

"Devs dad, I was wrong! You do love us!"

"Thought acceleration? Does that mean if we play for three hours here, only an hour passes outside? This technology is epic, what is this alien black tech?"

"The store! The store is finally useful! Hahaha!"

"I still hope they'll open a recharge port, wait a minute… what do I see? What do I see?"

Three Elements City.

Lin Fan awoke from his meditation training, suddenly clenching his fists.

At this moment, he could feel a strange 'presence' within his body.

Under the influence of this presence, even the most ordinary martial arts moves had miraculous effects, they could even pluck flowers and leaves, hurt invisibly, and somewhat resembled the Inner Strength mentioned in real-world legends!

"The Sect Master had summoned me before and bestowed Spirit Pills to help me breakthrough and become a Sixth-rank Martial Artist…"

Lin Fan's expression was bewildered, feeling that the profound and inscrutable Mu Yuanliu's every action seemed to carry a deep meaning, and even… might have already known about his mysterious identity!

After all, Pu Feiling was just a young girl, and there were always flaws in her lies, while he had even more on himself.

Arriving here in Three Elements City, a deeper investigation would reveal that Lin Fan was an orphan with unknown origins, suddenly appeared in the martial arts hall, and became a disciple of Pu Dongyun.

If not a stranger, how else could it be explained?

Even Lin Fan felt that someone had been secretly monitoring him lately.

But no worries, players aren't afraid of death, give him sugar-coated bullets, and he'll eat them all!

[ding!]

At that moment, he too heard the system update notification, saw the triple thought acceleration, and was overjoyed, "Having three times the time to practice martial arts, that's great…"

Then, when he saw the system mall, his eyes and mouth suddenly widened, looking like a toad struck by lightning…

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