The Fourth Disaster: People become gods through high martial arts and gaming

Chapter 172: The Brand New Campaign System Goes Live

"A hunting group formed by graduates." Lin Qi was quite surprised to hear this. "Can I, a beginner martial artist, do it?"

Hunting groups aren't something you can just form on a whim. You need to have the strength of the Bone Forging Realm for the Martial Arts Association to recognize a hunting group and provide information on high-level monsters for the group to hunt.

For martial artists who want to join these hunting groups to hunt high-level monsters, it's not as easy as just teaming up with other martial artists in the wild and joining whenever they want.

After all, that's for hunting high-level monsters. If a beginner or intermediate martial artist goes there, they're basically just feeding the enemy. You could say they're not even qualified to join.

As for monsters of higher rank, their value is extremely high.

Unlike low- and mid-level monsters, whose entire bodies become less tough after death, the skin, teeth, claws, bones, and so on of high-level monsters remain extremely tough, making them the primary materials used in major cities to craft weapons and equipment.

Currently, the highest strength alloy that can be made in major cities is only grade C. Because it can damage lord-level monsters, according to the association's weapon tier classification, first-tier weapons can damage monsters below the higher tier, and second-tier weapons can damage monsters below the higher lord level. Therefore, weapons and equipment made of grade C alloy are also called second-tier weapons.

However, the raw ore for making C-grade alloys is extremely rare. Even in major cities, there are not many Tier 2 weapons and equipment made of C-grade alloys. Almost all weapons and equipment above Tier 2 are made from materials from these high-level monsters.

Therefore, weapons and equipment of the second tier or higher, even if purchased in major powers and cities, are extremely expensive. They cannot be bought with Bitcoin; they are purchased through barter and can only be bought with energy crystals, which are very important to all martial artists.

In addition to the flesh and blood of high-level monsters, there are many cultivation effects that low-level and mid-level monsters cannot match. Hunting a high-level monster is a great asset for both individual Bone Forging Realm warriors and the major forces in the city to strengthen themselves.

It seems highly improbable that a Bone Forging Realm martial artist would now invite a beginner martial artist like him to join a hunting party.

“Right now, you certainly don’t have the strength to participate in hunting monsters of higher or higher ranks, but that person sees potential in you,” Qin Mu explained. “So he invited you to join in advance. Once you enter the genius training camp and become a high-ranking martial artist, you can hunt monsters of higher or higher ranks together.”

"Moreover, once you join, with that person in charge, those four major powers will no longer dare to openly deal with you. Otherwise, that person would definitely not let those four major powers off the hook."

“Okay, I’ll join.” Lin Qi didn’t hesitate and joined the hunting party directly.

This time, the player wiped out the Iron Heart Gang and killed many elites from the four major forces. If the four major forces disregard their reputation and decide not to fight a war of attrition, and instead send all their forces to attack the martial arts school, then he will have no choice but to hide in the city. After all, the difference in strength between the two sides is too great, and it cannot be made up by a few hundred players.

However, if a powerful figure at the Bone Forging Realm is protecting him, and the four major forces dare not overturn the table, then he can confidently engage in a war of attrition with the four major forces and see who can outlast whom.

"Alright, I'll reply to that person now." Qin Mu looked at Lin Qi, who had agreed, and comforted him, "You caused the four major powers to suffer a great loss today. Although they will retaliate, you don't need to worry too much. With that person's permission, you should tell the people in the martial arts school not to take on any transportation business for the time being. If there is any emergency, just quietly send a small team."

“I will remind them,” Lin Qi nodded.

Now that he has taken over the Iron Heart Gang's territory, many suburban gangs are eager to seize the land, recruit more subordinates, and strengthen their own power. These players are already busy maintaining order in their territory so that he can recruit and train local residents in peace. How could they possibly let the players go out to trade in the wild now?

Qin Mu then took his leave of the martial arts school, intending to personally report the news of Lin Qi's agreement to join to that person as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, in the basement of the Obsidian Martial Arts School, the players were in an uproar.

Not long ago, after the museum owner Lin Qi distributed the rewards, the system also issued a new announcement.

After everyone completed the hidden storyline, the game developers decided to launch a new gameplay mode called "Factional Wars".

To help Obsidian Martial Arts School flourish in the City of Light, players can now participate and assist the school in expanding its influence in the suburbs.

As for how to grow stronger, it's quite simple: assist in protecting the Iron Heart Gang's territory that Obsidian Martial Arts Academy has already taken over, while also occupying the territories of the four major forces in the suburbs. The more suburban territory Obsidian Martial Arts Academy occupies, the higher its prosperity will be.

The higher the prosperity level of the Obsidian Martial Arts Academy, the more privileges players will receive. All players will receive rewards upon completion of each stage, and the team with the highest contribution will receive the right to purchase team territory.

Although the update didn't include much content, it caused a stir among all the players, especially on the official forums, where it was in an uproar.

"This game is amazing! The development of the martial arts school is actually driven by the player."

"Do you think that if we sweep through all the forces in the City of Light, the City of Light will become ours?"

"Damn! If that's really the case, that would be awesome. We players could totally play the role of a city lord."

"Wow! Isn't this just a disguised guild and campaign system? If this develops to a certain stage, let alone becoming a city lord, players could probably even establish their own kingdom, provided that the martial arts school first becomes an empire."

"It's already so well-developed, why isn't this game in open beta yet?"

Players who hadn't logged into the game were eagerly awaiting the latest update, especially members of various gaming guilds.

The game "High Martial Arts" has become a popular game.

Many viewers, especially those who witnessed the battle in the Azure Sky, were captivated by the lord-level monsters larger than skyscrapers and the magnificent Azure Sky itself. Every scene was worthy of being used as background art, and even watching the video was mesmerizing. They couldn't imagine what it would be like to experience it firsthand. Furthermore, the battle in the wilderness valley was incredibly exhilarating, especially for players who reached the Martial Artist level – they were practically superhuman. And this battle involving thousands of players was merely the tip of the iceberg of the Martial Arts Era. It's unimaginable what scale the power struggles and even city conflicts will reach in the future.

Because of these two major battles, even though High Martial Arts Descent has not yet been officially released, it has already become one of the top ten new games recognized by the platform this year.

Now that High Martial Arts has arrived and introduced gameplay like faction battles, and even the prototype of a guild system is emerging, how can the major game guilds sit still?

Fang Zhen: "The game developers have finally released the suburban map. Anyone want to form a group to explore the territories of the four major powers tomorrow?"

A Floating Cloud: "I just ran out of points, count me in."

Saiwai Gunner: "(⊙﹏⊙)b Didn't you only get a little over 20 million points?"

A Floating Cloud: "I'm out of cigarettes! /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~"

Fang Zhen: "+1! That really is a bottomless pit Orz"

Ragnarok: "I suggest we improve our strength before going. Those are the four major powers in the suburbs. I guess the rescue plot today is just to let us players get familiar with the struggle for power territory. Otherwise, how could we wipe out a suburban power so easily without even a decent BOSS?"

Xiao Yuan also went crazy: "I agree. Today's martial arts BOSS is too weak. It is obviously not as good as the BOSS in the battle in the valley. According to the information, that BOSS is just a guard of the four major forces. If you go like this, be careful that you lose all your weapons and equipment."

Luo Wushang: "I learned about these four major forces in the game before. All four major forces have mid-level or higher martial artist-level BOSSes. I also suggest that you become a martial artist before going. Although you can't fight against martial artist-level BOSSes, this game mode is about territory struggle. As long as you clear out the monsters, you can naturally take over the territory. Otherwise, if you go there as a martial artist, you'll just be throwing your life away."

A Floating Cloud: "What do we do now? I don't have any points to buy energy ore. Can any of you lend me some?"

With the system update and new content, veteran players became active on the forums, never expecting that the game company would give everyone such a big surprise.

Not only has a new map been added, but new gameplay has also been introduced, making players who are already busy grinding for clothing attributes feel like they can't keep up with the game's pace.

Deep within the maze-like tunnel beneath the martial arts school.

"Fan Chen, have you seen the system announcement?" Lin Xinyao looked at Lu Fan Chen, who had just killed a one-horned gold-devouring rat, and excitedly walked over to him, saying, "This hidden storyline has actually unlocked the team's base purchase permission. If we can get this permission, we can definitely surpass Tianwei quickly."

“I’ve seen it,” Lu Fanchen said calmly. “However, my thoughts are the same as Luo Wushang’s: first, we should advance to the level of a martial artist so that we can seize territory and make the greatest contribution.”

"Advancing to a martial artist?" Lin Xinyao looked at her panel and sighed slightly. "Even in this maze tunnel, it will take me two or three days to reach the level of a quasi-martial artist. In those two or three days, Zhang Qingwei and Zhao Hu from Tianwei's side will probably have already broken through to become martial artists."

"How about we also try to improve our clothing attributes?" Li Tianxing, who was wearing A6-level armor, suggested. "If we can get the Qi and Blood Circulation Enhancement effect, our speed of advancing to martial arts should be much faster."

"Let's forget it, that's too expensive." Lu Fanchen shook his head and looked at the tunnel not far away. "Let's focus on improving ourselves and not worry about the four major forces. This is not something that a few martial artists can handle. Besides, we also need to accumulate points. Since the game company has enabled the purchase function for team bases, the price must be expensive. In the maze tunnel, we can improve ourselves quickly and also farm Unicorn Gold-Eating Rats to earn points. It's a win-win situation."

With that, Lu Fanchen led the team deeper into the maze tunnel.

As they ventured deeper into the labyrinthine tunnels, Lu Fanchen and the others felt the violent energy growing increasingly intense. If they weren't all advanced apprentices, they would have been instantly overwhelmed and exploded.

After running down the tunnel for more than twenty minutes, Lu Fanchen and his companions suddenly discovered a large door at the end of the tunnel.

The gate was 20 meters high and 6 meters wide. It was made of some unknown metal and looked like a door, but the oppressive feeling it gave off made Lu Fanchen and the other two feel palpitations.

"Why is there another door here? Shouldn't this be the nest of the One-Horned Gold-Eating Rat?" Lin Xinyao looked at the door in surprise.

“I guess we’ve gone the wrong way. After all, we’ve taken several forks in the road along the way,” Li Tianxing said. “But this gate doesn’t look simple. Just within a hundred meters of it, I feel like I’m carrying dozens of kilograms of weight.”

"Could this be level suppression?" After taking a few steps forward, Lin Xinyao felt the pressure increasing and couldn't help but look at the gate. "The gate is an inanimate object, it can't possibly create this kind of pressure suppression for us. Could this be a level suppression setting in the game, indicating that we are in a high-level area ahead?"

“Very likely, but since we’re already here, let’s open the door and take a look.” Lu Fanchen nodded and walked directly towards the door, intending to see what kind of area was on the other side that could exert such a level of suppression on them.

As Lu Fanchen and the other two walked to the gate, they used all their strength to slowly push it open.

In just a moment, Lu Fanchen and the other two felt everything go black.

"You're going to die now?"

Lu Fanchen stared at the game pod interface, completely dumbfounded.

(End of this chapter)