Except for the fact that Players can resurrect indefinitely, everything else is indistinguishable from the real world. This includes names. This game does not have the concept of nicknames; everyone enters using their real identity. In other words, whatever your name is in reality, that is exactly what you are called in the game.
Cao Hong had played many games over the years and accumulated a wealth of experience. Upon entering this world, his first move was to seek out a martial arts hall and become an apprentice. He was confident that among the players currently in Novice Village No. 10021, fewer than ten could reach the Martial Entry First Stage faster than he could. One had to realize that just within Novice Village No. 10021, there were tens of thousands of players.
However, the difficulty of this game was indeed immense. Because it was so nearly identical to the real world, the monsters here were far more troublesome than any he had fought before. Even with so many players continuously exploring, they had only managed to map out the general area within a ten-mile radius of Novice Village No. 10021. As for anything further, it was impossible.
Cao Hong squatted down, took a short dagger from his inventory, and began to carve up the wild deer that had fallen before him. This game had no "one-click looting" function. Aside from equipment that dropped automatically, one had to manually cut and harvest materials from the monsters. Cao Hong had done his research thoroughly before venturing into the wilderness; he knew exactly which parts of a deer were valuable and which were not.
After much effort, he finished harvesting the most valuable parts. Before Cao Hong could continue, the deer abruptly vanished. He knew this was because the time limit had expired. Another downside to this game was that monster corpses refreshed too quickly. The system did not care if you had finished looting; when the time was up, it was up—it would not linger for even a second.
"Well, if I take these back to sell, I should be able to get a few dozen copper coins," Cao Hong said, looking at the materials in his pack with a satisfied expression. A few dozen copper coins were enough to buy a decent weapon. The iron sword he was currently using to traverse the wilderness had only cost him thirty copper coins.
Rising to his feet, Cao Hong looked at the sky and made his calculations. "It’s only noon. Killing two more monsters shouldn't be a problem. It looks like I can reach the Martial Entry First Stage today!"
The wilderness at night was far more dangerous. Although players could resurrect, there was a cost to every resurrection. Cao Hong did not want to be knocked back to square one just as he was on the verge of reaching the Martial Entry First Stage.
***
With a pull of the iron sword, blood splattered. A wild deer, half the height of a man, collapsed and lay still. Cao Hong’s body gave a slight tremor, and a look of pure satisfaction crossed his face.
Martial Entry First Stage!
After nearly two days of effort, he had finally crossed the initial threshold, moving ahead of the vast majority of players. After a quick harvest of the loot, Cao Hong prepared to head back. Even though his cultivation level had improved, he did not want to act recklessly.
Just as he was about to turn back, however, his sharp eyes caught a figure.
The man held a large blade and wore tattered clothes.
*This is!* An NPC! Cao Hong realized instantly. He had been wandering the wilderness for a long time and had only ever encountered beast-type monsters; this was his first time seeing a humanoid NPC. Seeing the weapon in the stranger's hand and his fierce expression, Cao Hong would have chosen to retreat just half an hour ago. But now, with his strength boosted to the Martial Entry First Stage, the surge in power filled him with confidence. Besides, this humanoid mob did not look like a particularly formidable character.
"A humanoid NPC. If I kill him, he might drop something good," Cao Hong mused, walking slowly toward the NPC.
The other party seemed to have noticed him as well, letting out a roar and charging toward him with a large blade in hand.
*Perfect!* Cao Hong thought to himself, setting his stance and preparing to face his opponent.
However, before Cao Hong could show off his skills, he saw more figures like the first one swarming out from the surroundings. One, two... ten... twenty! They surrounded him tightly in the blink of an eye.
Cao Hong’s face turned deathly pale, and his grip on his iron sword faltered. He had never expected that the one-on-one fight he had envisioned would turn into a gang-beating in the blink of an eye. Looking at the glinting blades and the hungry eyes surrounding him, Cao Hong swallowed hard.
*Run!* That was his first reaction.
But it was too late—he was completely surrounded. He hadn't even managed to take a few steps before he was hacked to the ground by a flurry of blades. The raw, realistic pain turned his face ghostly white. Before he could even scream, several more blades filled his vision.
"Damn it..."
That was the last thought that flashed through Cao Hong's mind before his vision plunged into darkness.
In an instant, the white light faded. Nothing remained on the spot but an iron sword.
Qin Shujian walked forward, and Zhao Shanlin stepped up at the right moment to pick up the iron sword and hand it over.
"Stronghold Master, this is what the Outlander dropped."
"Mm."
Taking the iron sword, Qin Shujian checked its stats; it was no different from the blades used by ordinary mountain bandits, so he tossed it to a bandit holding a wooden club.
"Pass on my orders: any Outlander who steps more than two miles outside the borders of Novice Village No. 10021 is to be killed on sight."
"Understood!"
Zhao Shanlin took the order and immediately dispersed with the other bandits to scour the wilderness. Although he didn't know why Qin Shujian wanted to wipe out these Outlanders, he had no intention of asking. Since joining the Liangshan Stronghold, Zhao Shanlin understood what should be asked and what should not. In his view, these Outlanders looked much like them, but at the end of the day, there was something different about them. This reminded him of something Zheng Fang had once said: *Those not of our race must surely have different hearts.*
If they were to be killed, then so be it.
After Zhao Shanlin and the others had scattered, only Qin Shujian remained. Looking at the respectful expressions they had maintained from start to finish, he felt quite satisfied. Some things didn't need to be probed too deeply. As long as they were obedient and could be put to use, that was enough.
***
**Chapter 19: NPCs Grinding Players?**
The white light faded, revealing Cao Hong’s dark, brooding face. Thinking about how he had just been hacked to death, he couldn't help but grit his teeth. Inevitably, he checked his status. When he did, his expression turned even uglier.
"Damn it!"
No matter how good his composure usually was, he couldn't help but curse. His cultivation level now clearly displayed "Martial Entry Stage Zero," an eyesore of a sight. Losing a cultivation level upon dying once—this was the first time Cao Hong had felt such genuine heartache.
But before he could stay angry for long, he saw white lights flashing all around him.
"Damn it, those wretched Liangshan bandits!"
"To hell with you!"
All around him, he heard the curses of various players.
"I’ve spent all day chasing chickens and ducks, and just when I was about to reach the Martial Entry First Stage, they wiped me back to zero! I’m done with this trash game!"
One player stood there, his face full of grief and indignation. The other players looked at him with sympathy. By then, Cao Hong had seen the system logs remaining on his screen:
*You were killed by a Liangshan Stronghold bandit!*
Liangshan Stronghold! Bandits! Putting that together with what the other players were saying, Cao Hong understood. It wasn't just him; all the other players were in the same boat.
"It seems we were all killed by the Liangshan bandits. We absolutely cannot let this go. Since when do we players have to let NPCs sit on our heads? Let’s all form a group and kill every last one of those Liangshan bandits!"
A player suggested it immediately, and the remark was met with instant agreement from the others. No one could swallow such an insult. They had painstakingly gathered experience points, only for them to be wiped clean by a single resurrection—a day or two of hard work wasted. No player could accept that. Even Cao Hong felt a surge of rage in his heart.
However, just as he prepared to take out his weapon, he discovered something else that made him want to scream.
His weapon... it was gone. In short, he had been looted by an NPC.
"A gentleman does not let this grudge go unavenged. We'll see who gets the last laugh!" Cao Hong gritted his teeth. Seeing other players forming teams and heading out of the village, he followed right behind. Players could resurrect; that was their greatest advantage. Even if they knew from their run-ins with the Liangshan bandits that the enemy’s cultivation might be higher, there were so many of them. Cao Hong believed that with the sheer number of players, they could drown the bandits through attrition alone.
***
On the other side, Qin Shujian watched his Life Source steadily rising, a satisfied smile on his face. He couldn't deal with the Novice Village directly for now, but that didn't mean he couldn't suppress the players' growth. Most players hadn't even reached the Martial Entry First Stage yet; compared to the Liangshan bandits, their strength was significantly weaker. Furthermore, while the bandits weren't highly intelligent, they were bandits nonetheless, tempered by battle—they still held an advantage over these "newbie" players. Coupled with the fact that bandits could resurrect, Qin Shujian had no fear of attrition. Finally, with the recent addition of Zheng Fang and his men, the strength of the Liangshan Stronghold had increased dramatically.
Qin Shujian had made the simple decision to dispatch the vast majority of his bandits to indirectly surround Novice Village No. 10021, killing every player they encountered.
"I don't believe that by keeping these players trapped in the Novice Village, they'll be able to achieve anything major."
Qin Shujian’s mouth curled into a cold smirk. The strength of players lay in their ability to grind monsters for experience and their constant resurrections. But if the option to grind monsters was removed, leaving them with only the ability to resurrect, they would essentially become an endless ATM for him. He was now following the "grind monsters to level up" route—except, in his case, he was using the players as the monsters.
*Liangshan Stronghold bandit Sun Xiaoer has reached the Martial Entry Second Stage for killing too many Outlanders!*
Suddenly, a system notification caught Qin Shujian off guard. Then, he was overjoyed.
*Leveling up—other bandits can also level up by killing players!*
This discovery genuinely shocked and delighted him. He had always assumed that other bandits could only improve their strength through step-by-step, traditional cultivation. But now, it was completely different. Other bandits could also level up by killing players! This meant the bandits of the Liangshan Stronghold now had the potential for rapid growth.
Qin Shujian had previously worried that his own strength was increasing too quickly for his subordinates to keep up. But now, that worry was gone. Being able to grind players for levels was enough. Qin Shujian rubbed his chin and muttered to himself: "I originally wanted to improve my strength quickly and then attack Novice Village No. 10021 to eliminate the player threat entirely. But now that the bandits can level up by grinding players, there's no need to be in a rush to conquer it."
Keeping them around to grind was better than just grabbing a one-time haul. However, for every bandit who leveled up, there were inevitably others who died. As the Liangshan Stronghold Master, Qin Shujian oversaw every movement of his men. Whether someone increased their cultivation or died, he received a system notification. A bandit killed by a player required three days to refresh. As long as the Liangshan Stronghold was not conquered, these bandits would continue to refresh, but if the stronghold fell, they would stop refreshing forever.
*Liangshan Stronghold bandit Tie Dan has reached the Martial Entry Second Stage for killing too many Outlanders!*
*Liangshan Stronghold bandit Wu Gou Dan has died!*
*Liangshan Stronghold bandit...*
System notifications popped up occasionally, proving the intensity of the fighting between the bandits and the players.
At this moment, several players appeared in the distance. Qin Shujian spotted them, and they spotted him. Both sides stared at each other for a moment. After only two seconds, one of the players shouted: "It’s the Liangshan Stronghold Master! Run!"
The other players realized this as well. When Qin Shujian fought the NPC masters at the village gate a day ago, they had been among the players watching from the sidelines. They had a general idea of Qin Shujian’s strength—namely, that it was absolutely not something they could contend with. It was true that players could resurrect, but no one wanted to endure the pain of death for no reason, especially such a meaningless death. So, the moment they saw Qin Shujian, they turned and fled.
*Want to run?*
Qin Shujian tapped his toes against the ground, his body shooting forward like an arrow released from a bow. He kicked out into the air, causing a sonic boom. The player lagging at the back didn't even have time to turn his head before he was struck in the back, dissolving into a stream of white light. The thunderous sound caused the other players to glance back involuntarily, just in time to see Qin Shujian kick the player to death. They were terrified.
"Holy shit!"
***
**Chapter 20: Hidden Dangers**
*How are we supposed to fight this?*
This was impossible to fight. Their strength was simply not on the same level. When the few players tried to recover and flee, they couldn't get far. Soon, they followed in the footsteps of the first player. Only two iron swords remained, left behind in the emptiness.
Qin Shujian killed the players without even catching his breath. With his current cultivation at the Martial Entry Sixth Stage, dealing with players who hadn't even stepped into the Martial Entry First Stage was effortless. Picking up the two iron swords, Qin Shujian continued to hunt for other players. The slaughter didn't stop until night fell.
In the Loyalty and Righteousness Hall of the Liangshan Stronghold, the newly joined Zheng Fang, along with Wang Tiezhu and others, were gathered.
"What are our casualties this time?" Qin Shujian asked.
The others exchanged looks, and finally, Zheng Fang spoke: "Reporting to the Stronghold Master, this time our Liangshan Stronghold lost thirty-two men to the Outlanders."
"And how many brothers promoted?"
"Seventeen have reached the Martial Entry Second Stage, and two have reached the Martial Entry Third Stage," Zheng Fang reported truthfully.
Qin Shujian knew who the two who reached the Martial Entry Third Stage were: Wang Tiezhu and Zhang Tieniu. Both were original leaders of the Liangshan Stronghold and were already quite strong. It made sense that after killing so many players, they would reach the Martial Entry Third Stage. He had been too lazy to read the flood of system notifications earlier, waiting until things settled down to consolidate the information.
The Liangshan Stronghold originally had seventy bandits, and with the refugees who joined later, the number had surged to one hundred and thirty-three. Losing thirty-two men meant that until they refreshed, there were only one hundred and one bandits remaining.
However, a quarter of those remaining one hundred and one were now at the Martial Entry Second Stage. Because of this, the strength of the Liangshan Stronghold hadn't weakened—it had actually increased significantly. But there were hidden dangers.
Before Qin Shujian could dwell on it, Zheng Fang spoke again: "Stronghold Master, the number of Outlanders is simply too vast; they outnumber us by several dozen times. Furthermore, their resurrection speed is too fast. We encountered the same Outlander three times today. While each rank below the Martial Entry Fifth Stage has a gap, it’s not insurmountable. A few Outlanders can pile up and kill one Martial Entry First Stage, and twenty or thirty can surround and kill a Martial Entry Second Stage. If this isn't handled properly, I fear it will lead to massive trouble."
With Zheng Fang’s insight, he could see the threat the Outlanders posed. Their sheer numbers and their rapid resurrection were things the Liangshan Stronghold couldn't match.
"However, I did discover one thing: the Outlanders who have resurrected are weaker, as if they lost a cultivation level."
Upon hearing this, Qin Shujian fell silent. Zheng Fang’s words made him realize that his original assumptions had been too naive. It was true that his bandits were stronger than the average player, but no matter how strong they were, they were vastly outnumbered. A bandit took three days to refresh, while a player’s resurrection took nowhere near that long. As long as the players were willing to throw their lives away, they could eventually grind the Liangshan bandits into nothing.
By then, the dead bandits wouldn't have had time to refresh, and countless players would swarm the foot of Liangshan. Even with his own formidable strength, Qin Shujian didn't believe he could hold off tens of thousands of players.
He had originally intended to keep the players of Novice Village No. 10021 as his own experience-farming cattle, but only now did he realize how dangerous his previous plan had been. As for the last thing Zheng Fang mentioned, he understood that as well: a player’s resurrection was not without a cost—much like a bandit’s death-refresh, every time they died and resurrected, they would lose a cultivation level.