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

Chapter 254 The Right Way for a Newbie to Play? (Thanks to Yao Heng for the Alliance Leader!)
Are you planning to go too?

Lin Qi looked at Qin Mu, who seemed to be getting restless, and was surprised to find that Qin Mu was quite warlike.

With the training provided by the martial arts school during this period, Qin Mu has already reached the level of a mid-level martial artist. His Microscopic Insight skill has also progressed from the initial stage to the mid-stage, a truly astonishing rate of improvement.

It was because Qin Mu had reached the intermediate level of the Microscopic Realm that he felt comfortable letting Qin Mu train the members of the martial arts school's defense team. After all, reaching the intermediate level of the Microscopic Realm from the initial level was not an easy thing.

The initial stage of the Microscopic Realm simply allows one to grasp the extreme distance of combat, evade attacks with minimal movement, and attack without any unnecessary movements, making the attack speed much faster. This level is difficult for experts of the same level to deal with. Under normal circumstances, one can take on several opponents if they are both at the Refining Organs Realm.

However, once you reach the intermediate level of the "Mastery of Subtlety" stage, it's completely different. You can instantly change your evasion and attack trajectories when dodging or attacking, stopping or moving at will. You truly achieve the ability to move like thunder and remain as still as a mountain, making it easy to fight opponents of higher levels.

As for the advanced level of the Microscopic Realm, that's truly terrifying. With such control over the body, one can use martial arts techniques without charging them up, treating them like ordinary attacks. Not to mention fighting above one's level, even fighting above one's rank is not impossible.

Of course, even at the advanced level of the Microscopic Realm, not every level of martial art can be turned into a normal attack. The most he has ever tried is a high-level martial art, and he can't do anything beyond that.

Even so, it is still very powerful. High-level martial arts can generally increase strength by 2.5 times, which means that normal attacks can be delivered with 2.5 times the power. As long as a high-level martial artist does not give a mid-level Bone Forging Realm expert a chance to react, he can definitely fight him.

If he hadn't been unable to properly control his body and reach the advanced level of the Microscopic Realm after transforming into an extraordinary life form, he could have easily fought against a true Blood Condensation Realm expert.

"Master, the purpose of establishing the martial arts school's defense force is to protect the school. If they only train without engaging in combat to hone their skills, they will never grow. Moreover, actual combat and sparring are completely different. Many people may be able to unleash their full strength in sparring, but due to mindset issues, they are lucky to achieve 30-40% in actual combat. To unleash their full strength in actual combat, they must adapt through repeated sparring, and this step is inevitable sooner or later," Qin Mu said earnestly. "This city battle, although very dangerous, is also an opportunity for the martial arts school's defense force to improve. It would be a great pity to miss it."

"Alright, you'll all be coming with me tomorrow." Lin Qi thought about it and agreed with Qin Mu's suggestion.

He didn't establish the martial arts school defense team just for show; it was to take over the players' defense duties. If it couldn't be used for combat, then there was no point in establishing it.

Moreover, Qin Mu is right. Every step on the path of a martial artist is extremely difficult. Although the talents of the city garrison members are far inferior to those of the students in the genius training camp, there are quite a few who have achieved more than those students in the genius training camp.

The main reason is that the city garrison regiment has been undergoing life-or-death training.

Although the martial arts school has abundant resources that raise the bar for its guards, if they only focus on training, their limit in this lifetime will likely be the Bone Forging Realm. As for reaching the Blood Condensation Realm, that's probably just a pipe dream.
"Thank you very much, Master!" Qin Mu couldn't help but feel excited after hearing this.

"Oh, and remember to invite the Lionheart Merchant Guild members tomorrow too. Since they paid for it, they should get some real combat experience," Lin Qi instructed.
"Is this... alright?" Qin Mu hesitated.

The Lionheart Merchant Guild paid for the training, but they still want to take the people to the battlefield to use as guns. If the Lionheart Merchant Guild finds out, they will definitely go crazy.

"Why not? These kinds of real combat training opportunities are usually hard to come by even if you have the money. They're getting a great deal this time." Lin Qi didn't care at all. On the contrary, he felt that the Lionheart Chamber of Commerce had made a huge profit this time.

Normally, it's difficult to find Bone Forging Realm experts for real combat practice outside. Now that the city war has started, Blood Coagulation Realm experts can't fight, and the strongest are only at the Bone Forging Realm. This is a paradise for Bone Forging Realm experts to practice their skills.

Normal training would involve hiring a Bone Forging Realm expert as an opponent, which would cost an unknown amount of money. Now, he can freely choose any Bone Forging Realm expert in a city, so it's already good that he didn't charge the Lionheart Merchant Guild extra.

Qin Mu was speechless for a moment, finding it quite reasonable. He never expected that the members he had trained could be used in this way.

Midnight midnight.

As another batch of newbies appeared in the underground detention room, the entire underground detention room became lively.

"I'm in! After waiting in line for over a month, I'm finally in!"

"This game is so realistic! The quality of these clothes is absolutely top-notch. It's a pity they're not pure cotton; they're probably polyester, which makes them a bit itchy."

"The combat in this game is really good. My hand was bleeding after I punched the wall. The accuracy of the game is about 60 or 70 percent of the real thing. I wonder where I can buy wound medicine. I think I need to bandage it up."

……

The appearance of one hundred newcomers left Fang Zhen and the others, who had returned to the martial arts school, sighing with emotion.

They had all been there before, and they were also amazed at how many new players were joining the game. It was clear that many of these newcomers didn't even bother to read the basic game guides before jumping right into the game.

"How come there are suddenly so many newbies who don't know anything?" Yi Ye Fu Yun looked at these silly newbies in front of him and couldn't help but be a little surprised.

Previous newcomers all had some understanding of the arrival of high-level martial arts, and some were even hardcore gamers, while others had at least watched the live stream.

But among the newcomers entering the game this time, he even suspected that many of them probably didn't play virtual games much, and many of them looked like office workers who clearly lacked exercise.

"It must be because of the big spenders and super-rich players putting in the effort," Fang Zhen sighed. "Because of this version event, those big spenders and super-rich players probably asked a lot of people to make reservations, which is why many office workers who don't usually play games are also trying to earn extra money. I checked the number of reservations when I logged off to rest just now, and it has now exceeded three million. It will probably only get harder and harder for our people to get in in the future."

As Fang Zhen spoke, the guild players present, including Luo Wushang and Lu Fanchen, frowned slightly. Previously, these super guilds had sent tens of thousands of people to pre-register for the game, and the entry rate was quite good, at least five or six out of every hundred people could enter each time. But now that the number of pre-registrations has reached three million, the number of guild members who can actually enter in the future will probably be much smaller.

"It seems we still need to persuade the board members to increase investment, otherwise we won't be able to secure many of the 100 spots each time," Zhang Qingwei suggested to Luo Wushang, looking at the fact that over 90% of the applicants were complete newbies.

Currently, Tianwei has a significant advantage in the High Martial Arts Tour, but if they don't have a large number of new players to join them, their future development will easily be overtaken by other guilds. After all, the more you play this game, the more you realize how important players are in this kind of game.

It can be said that many things in the game require players to do themselves. It is impossible for them to cultivate and improve rapidly while also taking care of various other things.

Even something as simple as sending a message requires a dedicated group of players to do it, unlike other virtual games where you can simply add friends and chat anytime, anywhere in the game. In High Martial Arts, even with a smartwatch, you can only stay connected within the city; once you leave the city, there's no signal, and it can only be used as a walkie-talkie for short-range calls.

With maps now often showing distances of hundreds of kilometers, unless someone nearby can log off and contact the person on the other side, they have no idea what's happening in the city.

And this is just information. Exploring the map also requires a lot of manpower. For example, the Mountain of the Dead is an area of ​​millions of square kilometers. If one person were to explore it, it would take three to five years to finish. Of course, as superhumans, they wouldn't actually need three to five years, but it would still take a year and a half. After all, there are too many monsters in the Mountain of the Dead. They have to fight all the time, and if they die, they have to run away. It's not an ordinary kind of grind.

Without exploring the map, you can't get more and better cultivation resources, so manpower is extremely important in this game, unlike other games.

“I already made the suggestion to the president,” Luo Wushang said with a wry smile. “But you know the situation of those conglomerates. They would rather invest tens of billions more in the pilgrimage than risk investing in an unknown game. Even if we are very optimistic about it, it’s useless. The president has already sent all the manpower he can. Unless we can prove the future value of this game, those conglomerates will never allow large-scale investment.”

While these large guilds may have a large number of members and far more funds than one or a few large corporations, the real power within these guilds lies with the conglomerates that hold substantial shares in them.

These conglomerates have been reaping huge profits from Pilgrimage for years, and have developed an instinctive dependence on this masterpiece with a billion players. Even the guild leader couldn't persuade them to invest in other games.

"How about we persuade the president to join forces with the other elders to raise the funds?" Zhao Hu suggested.

Although the power of the Tianwei Guild is in the hands of several major conglomerates, the elders, who are considered saints, also possess considerable resources and money. With the help of the dozen or so elders and the guild leader, they can easily come up with tens of billions. After all, the guild leader, as one of the founders of the guild, also owns a significant number of shares in the guild and has far more cash on hand than some large corporations.

“That’s probably not easy either.” Luo Wushang shook her head. “These elders are all quite old. Even if they are willing to believe us, it’s unlikely that they will take out their hard-earned savings. That money is their retirement money. Taking it is like taking their lives. Unless they can come in and experience the arrival of high-level martial arts firsthand, it will be much harder to persuade them than to persuade those conglomerates.”

"But what if we could persuade Elder Tianyu?" Zhang Qingwei asked.

“That old guy?” Luo Wushang thought for a moment and said, “That’s possible. That old guy was one of the first elders to follow the president, and he has a very good relationship with the other elders. If he invests money, the other elders will probably invest as well, since they are all about the same age.”

Just as Luo Wushang finished speaking, a deep and rough voice suddenly entered the ears of Luo Wushang and the others.

"You brat! I was the one who introduced you to this group, and you're talking about me like this behind my back!"

A burly middle-aged man, around forty-five or forty-six years old, stepped out from the crowd. His large, copper-bell-like eyes stared intently at Luo Wushang, startling her.

Zhang Qingwei, standing to the side, couldn't help but chuckle to herself, because just now, she had seen Elder Yutian among the newcomers, which was why she asked Luo Wushang about him.

"Elder Yutian, how did you get in?" Luo Wushang looked at the middle-aged, burly man with disbelief in her eyes.

Elder Yutian was one of the first elders of the Tianwei Guild. He was almost as old as the guild leader and had retired from the guild. After all, age has a huge impact on virtual games. Many times, he would be defeated by younger, less skilled players due to exhaustion during long battles. Therefore, he had no choice but to retire.

The game "High Martial Arts Descends" clearly deliberately avoided older players during its closed beta test, so the majority of players are young people, with the oldest being players like Fang Zhen who are close to thirty.

It's hard to imagine that a middle-aged person over forty-five years old could actually enter the High Martial Arts Descendant.

"Why can't I come in?" Elder Yutian exclaimed, his beard bristling and eyes wide with anger. He felt that this girl was increasingly disregarding him as her uncle.

“Elder Yutian, it seems that because this game is in closed beta, most of the players are young people, which is why Wu Chang asked this question,” Zhang Qingwei explained.

She was also very curious as to why Elder Yutian was able to enter the game. Given the selection method of the High Martial Arts Descendants, it was impossible for Elder Yutian, at his age, to be selected.

"Isn't the test in this game just about lasting twenty seconds?" Elder Yutian stroked his beard and said with great pride, "I've been fighting the test boss for a while now, but I haven't been able to last twenty seconds. So I've been thinking of ways to last twenty seconds. Finally, I came up with a solution. Since this game claims to be 100% virtual, and many people on the forum say that it can recreate skills from other games, and you even have copies of the Stellar Explosion Visualization Method and Breathing Technique that you made in the guild, people can practice them in the test space."

"For the past month or so, I've been practicing the stellar explosion visualization technique and breathing method, while also recreating one of the ten great martial arts techniques of the pilgrimage, the Nine Transformations of the Heavenly Gang. I never thought I'd actually succeed. This game is really amazing. I successfully materialized my energy and managed to last for twenty seconds before the test boss. Otherwise, how do you think I got in?"

Elder Yutian's words left Luo Wushang and the others present, and even Fang Zhen and the others standing to the side, dumbfounded.

I never imagined this game could be played like this!

P.S.: Extra chapter tomorrow!
(End of this chapter)