Profound Yellow Sect.
The Three Great Halls consist of the main hall—Zhengyang Hall, and the side halls—Gathering Sun Hall and Yingyang Hall.
Inside Zhengyang Hall stands a massive Stone Stele with the words "Heaven and Earth" engraved, signifying respect only for heaven and earth, not gods or buddhas.
Xu Nian walked out of Zhengyang Hall, setting the players' spawn points at Gathering Sun Hall and Yingyang Hall.
There'll definitely be more players in the future. Having just one spawn point won't cut it, so preparing in advance is always a good thing.
Soon, the wind chimes hanging at the entrance of the two Great Halls suddenly started ringing, even though there was no wind.
The sound of the bells was pleasant to the ear.
It seemed to announce that an honored guest had arrived at the entire Profound Yellow Sect.
The next moment, the first figure stepped out of Gathering Sun Hall's entrance, looking around curiously, even acting like a country bumpkin, reaching out to touch the surrounding buildings.
This sensation!
This visual impact!
This damn clarity.
If he didn't know this was a game, he would really think he'd transmigrated.
Xu Nian stood at the entrance, glancing at this player.
Soon, all their attributes were displayed before his eyes.
[Player: Evil Queen Morgana.]
[Identity: Profound Yellow Sect Disciple.]
[Equipment: None.]
[Realm: None.]
[Talent: Beauty Brings Misfortune.]
At the moment, players don't have many attributes, but you can more or less tell their situation at a glance.
According to this world's realms, a Ninth-Grade Martial Artist is entry-level—you already qualify to gather a group and form a faction.
Above that, the strongest is First-Grade Martial Artist!
As for realms beyond that, Xu Nian isn't sure—even in Liang City or Fengxiang Prefecture, it seems there are none above First-Grade Martial Artist.
Right now, even Xu Nian himself hasn't become a Ninth-Grade Martial Artist.
Soon, more players stepped out from the entrances of Gathering Sun Hall and Yingyang Hall; except for that Morgana player, almost everyone else had no talent.
Looks like talents are only given by the System under certain special circumstances.
Out of thirty players, only three or four have talents—now that's quite a low probability.
"What the hell, is this really a game? Are you telling me this thing is a VR Game?"
"Damn, damn, even pain sensation is included!"
"Black tech—definitely black tech! Who's the genius lord behind this game?"
"You said full freedom, but why can't I take off my pants?"
"Was this supposed to be a martial arts game? Feels like I've joined some immortal sect!"
"Based on what the Official Website says, we're all Profound Yellow Sect Disciples. Are we supposed to pick up Tasks next? Where're the NPCs?"
"..."
The players were all getting hyped, as if this whole thing was blowing their minds.
And that's exactly the effect Xu Nian wanted to see.
Watching the players roam around on the mountain, constantly testing the game's freedom and getting used to this world's setting, Xu Nian finally felt a lot more at ease.
Some players also spotted Xu Nian and curiously sized him up.
They could also see Xu Nian's status, but in their eyes, all they saw was "Xu Nian" hovering above his head.
[Xu Nian: Profound Yellow Sect Leader.]
So, is this their Sect Leader?
The players strolled all over the Profound Yellow Sect grounds.
Some climbed trees for bird nests, some jumped in the water to catch fish, and others just kept trying to figure out how to take off their shorts.
Aside from not being able to leave the Profound Yellow Sect, they kept pushing the limits of in-game freedom.
All thirty players went online.
At that moment, Xu Nian received a reward from the System.
[Congratulations Host for completing the Task. Reward distributed.]
A warm current surged through him.
Xu Nian felt his dantian suddenly filled with raging Internal Energy—at that moment, he knew he'd become a Ninth-Grade Martial Artist!
Now, he was officially a Jianghu expert.
You gotta hand it to the System.
He'd struggled a whole year and still wasn't a Ninth-Grade Martial Artist, but with one System reward, he'd reached this step.
How could he not be surprised?
Suddenly, he sensed something off.
As a Ninth-Grade Martial Artist, he could now sense some danger.
He turned his head and saw the player named "Evil Queen Morgana" putting her hands together, clearly aiming for a sneak attack on his butt.
Judging by her motion, she seemed pretty skilled at this sort of thing.
Xu Nian: ???
Is this player nuts?
Trying to unleash the secret technique: Thousand-Year Kill?
Before Morgana could act, Xu Nian swung his sleeve hard and sent Morgana flying to the ground.
"Damn! This pain sensation is wild!"
Morgana got back up, hurriedly telling the others, "FYI, NPCs aren't purely neutral—they'll actually attack players!"
Hearing this, the other four players came up as well.
"So this is our Sect Leader? Game Designer, explain! Why can't we make ourselves this handsome?"
"Anyone got his character data? I wanna grab a copy for my roommate."
"Really biased—our self-made faces are ugly as hell, yet the Sect Leader's so handsome! I call foul!"
"Wonder if we can import face data from other games here."
"..."
Now, the players gathered before the main hall, and—by Xu Nian's command—the System activated Forced Restriction.
No player could make any unauthorized move.
"Can't move? Did someone trigger the game's main plot?"
"Stop blabbing, let's see what the storyline is. Might come in handy for future Tasks."
"Quiet down and show some respect to our Sect Leader!"
"..."
The players gradually quieted down, eyes hot with excitement as they stared at Sect Leader Xu Nian.
For Xu Nian, the players were all here—time to start his Chives Farming Plan.
If you don't raise them, how you gonna harvest?
The System seemed to know what Xu Nian wanted, instantly dropping a new Task!
[Task: Eliminating Mountain Bandits.]
[Description: Black Wind Stronghold is burning, pillaging, looting, and kidnapping. As the Profound Yellow Sect Leader, you can't just let them run wild.]
[Goal: Defeat and kill all Black Wind Stronghold bandits.]
[Time Limit: Two days.]
[Reward: Depends on host's completion.]
[Tip: Host may assign the Task to the disciples; sub-tasks can be freely assigned. Rewards are only in Contribution Points, and this Task's reward cannot exceed 100 Contribution Points.]
Phew—
Damn, this System gets me!
This Task looks like it's for him, but he's got the privilege to send it straight down to the players. Once they finish it, it counts as his job well done.
In that case, the players are basically certified Workers.
As for Contribution Points?
Don't seem all that useful for him.
But…
The players are just ordinary people. Charging headfirst at bloodthirsty bandits would end badly for them.
Even though they have Resurrection, they'd just be lining up to get slaughtered.
Xu Nian wasn't in a rush to assign the Task—instead, he started his masterful persuasion routine. After all, you gotta motivate your little Chives before harvesting…