Douluo Continent: I ushered in this era

"Oh, artificial intelligence? That's something I finished playing with when I was nine," Chu Ci said casually.

"Uh... awesome!" Xue Jiu was stunned for a moment, then gave Chu Ci a thumbs up.

Chu Ci then took out three more virtual reality helmets and handed them to Tang Wulin, Ye Xinglan, and Yuan Enyehui.

"Why don't you guys give it a try?"

"Okay." The three nodded.

Chu Ci concluded by saying, "The virtual reality helmet connects your minds and takes you into a virtual universe, so be careful not to resist."

"understood."

Everyone returned to their rooms and put on the virtual reality headsets as Chu Ci had instructed.

Welcome to the virtual universe!

As a mechanical female voice rang out, the scene before them suddenly opened up, and they were shocked to find themselves in a floating city.

The city sits atop a vast floating island, shrouded in mist and surrounded by twinkling stars. Every now and then, a shooting star streaks across the sky, creating a breathtaking scene.

Nine long bridges, evenly distributed around the edge of the island, stretch towards the horizon. The bridges are shrouded in ethereal mist, obscuring their true appearance.

The floating city is dotted with buildings of all sizes, but because no one is watching over it, the entire floating city is silent.

However, above the center of the floating city lies a sizable island. This island is surrounded by crackling lightning and crisscrossing bolts of thunder, forming a powerful and mysterious array.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see at a glance that this floating island probably holds a significant position in this virtual universe.

"This place is called the Mountain and Sea Realm. Welcome everyone," Chu Ci said with a smile, opening his arms wide.

Cao Dezhi sighed inwardly, "How is this possible? Even the Star Dou Battle Network couldn't handle such a massive data flow when it simulated such a large and complete city. How did Chu Ci's virtual universe manage to withstand it?"

If Chu Ci knew what Cao Dezhi was thinking, he would definitely think to himself: The Dragon God Core is really damn useful.

The Dragon God Core, combined with Gu Yuena's dragon clan secret techniques and Chu Ci's creative power, incubated a virtual universe on the basis of the Star Dou Battle Network.

This strategy of "borrowing a chicken to lay an egg" skips the basic construction process of the virtual world, requiring only Chu Ci to add bricks and tiles, greatly reducing resource consumption.

This allowed the Chu Ci to utilize a wealth of resources to create the masterpiece, the Mountain and Sea Realm.

"My god, this is so much more advanced than the Star Battle Network!" Xue Jiu exclaimed, looking at the surrounding scenery.

Chu Ci snapped his fingers lightly, and in an instant, the world turned upside down, and everyone appeared in a small courtyard.

The small courtyard was bathed in sunshine and gentle breeze. Everyone sat around a table, with a small bamboo grove and a small pond nearby.

A gentle breeze blew, causing the bamboo grove to sway and ripples to spread across the pond's surface. Several carp leaped from the water, looking quite content.

Chu Ci waved his hand again, and a wine cup appeared in front of each person.

A wine bottle appeared out of thin air and automatically poured fiery red wine into the glass.

"Please! Let's talk while we drink," Chu Ci said with a smile.

Xue Jiu's eyes lit up. He picked up the wine glass, took a big gulp, and after savoring the wonderful taste of the wine, shouted, "Awesome!"

Xue Er glared at Xue Jiu, then picked up his wine cup and took a sip. His eyes lit up immediately, and he exclaimed, "Good wine!"

After carefully examining the wine glass, Cao Dezhi recalled a type of wine recorded in ancient books.

"Could this be Crimson Fire Monkey Wine?!"

Crimson Fire Monkey Wine is a strong liquor brewed by a spirit beast called the Crimson Fire Monkey. It has a mellow taste and leaves a lingering aftertaste.

However, due to the near extinction of soul beasts, Crimson Fire Monkey Wine has almost disappeared from the soul master world.

"Commander Xueyi has a good eye. This is Crimson Fire Monkey Wine simulated in the virtual universe. It tastes exactly the same as the Crimson Fire Monkey Wine in the real world," Chu Ci said.

Upon hearing this, Xue Jiu hurriedly asked, "Then will I be able to drink other fine wines in the virtual universe in the future?"

Chu Ci nodded, "Of course!"

"However, you have to pay!"

"What!" Xue Jiu exclaimed, her eyes wide with disbelief. "This is just a virtual item, why is it charging for it?"

"Otherwise, do you think we can just eat and drink for free in the virtual universe?" Chu Ci rolled his eyes and said helplessly, "Of course, the price won't be too high!"

Hearing this conversation, Tang Wulin grinned from ear to ear. For someone as extremely stingy as him, asking him to pay for virtual items was tantamount to taking his life.

Cao Dezhi then said, "It's impressive that we can simulate objects to this level of detail. But Star Dou Battle Network can also do it, it's just that the Federation is unwilling to waste resources on it, so it doesn't really demonstrate the advantages of the virtual universe."

Chu Ci took a sip of Crimson Fire Monkey Wine, gently swirled the wine cup in his hand, and said calmly, "The Federation is unwilling to waste resources in this area, but the Virtual Universe can freely apply resources to this area. Doesn't this demonstrate the advantages of the Virtual Universe?"

Chu Ci paused for a moment, then continued, "Of course, this is not the main point for Soul Masters."

So next I will tell you the true utility of the virtual universe!

Chu Ci smiled mysteriously, "You can all sense your physical condition in the real world, right?"

Everyone nodded. Although they had entered the virtual universe, they could still perceive their physical condition in the real world at all times, something the Starship Pod could not do.

"Now, try to put your bodies into a meditative state!" Chu Ci instructed.

The group looked at each other in bewilderment, then closed their eyes and tried as Chu Ci had suggested. To their astonishment, they found that while their bodies in the real world entered a meditative state, they were able to converse freely in the virtual universe.

"This is terrifying!" Tang Wulin could not hide the shock on his face, because he instantly understood the true terror of the virtual universe.

In the real world, Soul Masters cannot meditate while engaging in other training.

However, once you enter the virtual universe, it's not necessarily impossible.

Chu Ci’s clear voice spoke softly, “Because of the special operating rules of the virtual universe, a Soul Master’s meditation in the real world and activities in the virtual universe can be carried out simultaneously.”

"Therefore, you can meditate and cultivate at the same time, learn knowledge in the virtual universe, conduct practical exercises, practice swordsmanship and knife skills, comprehend sword intent and knife intent, etc. It can be said that you can do everything except physical training."

Chapter 327 Intelligent Guide, Simulated Combat

“This…” Cao Dezhi and Xue Er exchanged a glance. Even though they had experienced many storms, they could not hide the shock in their eyes, because this function could truly change the way Soul Masters cultivate and have a profound impact on the Soul Master world.

"How are you all?" Chu Ci asked with a smile, resting his chin on his hands.

"Incredible! Just this alone makes it a hundred times better than Star Battle Network," Cao Dezhi said in a deep voice.

“The wonders of the virtual universe go far beyond this,” Chu Ci said, then snapped his fingers again.

The world turned upside down, and the scene before everyone's eyes changed. When things became clear again, they found themselves in a place that seemed to be a battle arena.

"In the Mountain and Sea Soul Arena, you can not only fight against Soul Masters from different regions on the same field, but you can also customize your opponents to fight against you," Chu Ci introduced.

"Customize your opponents? We can customize the strength and abilities of our opponents, is that right?" Yuan Enye asked.

Chu Ci nodded, "That's right, let me demonstrate for you."

"I need a guide!" Chu Ci said to the air.

The next second, a cute little elf with a pair of small wings on its back and radiating soft golden light appeared in front of Chu Ci.

"Smart Guide Xiao Jin, at your service!" Xiao Jin shouted to Chu Ci with an air of self-importance, even giving a mock salute.

Chu Ci pointed to Xiao Jin and said with a smile, "It's an AI guide specially designed for the virtual universe. All your operations in the virtual universe can be handled by it, which is very convenient."

Tang Wulin blinked his big eyes, looking at Xiao Jin with amazement. Its lifelike expressions and incredibly smooth communication were clearly far superior to the lifeless, rigid AI in the Star Dou Battle Network.

Just as Tang Wulin developed a strong interest in the intelligent guide, Chu Ci poured cold water on his enthusiasm.

"Of course, the smart guide won't be given away for free; you'll need to purchase it. The better the quality of the smart guide, the higher the price."

"Moreover, smart guides are customizable; their appearance and personality can be determined by consumers."

"Your virtual universe really costs money for everything!" Xue Jiu's lips twitched as he complained.

Chu Ci retorted confidently, "Of course! Do you know how many resources it takes to maintain the operation of a virtual universe? Without setting up multiple sources of income, we'd definitely be losing money hand over fist."

Xue Er glared at Xue Jiu, silencing him, and then said in a deep voice, "Chu Ci, continue to demonstrate the custom opponent feature to us!"

Chu Ci nodded, and Xiao Jin immediately flew to Chu Ci's side, asking with a grin, "What kind of opponent does Master want to customize?"

"This Xiao Jin is worlds apart from that dull AI in the Star Dou Battle Network, which sometimes can't even distinguish words," Ye Xinglan complained to Yuan Enyehui beside her after seeing Xiao Jin's performance.

“Indeed!” Yuan Enhui nodded in agreement.

Chu Ci pondered for a moment, then her gaze finally fell on Ye Xinglan.

"Xinglan, do me a favor. I'll design an opponent for you to fight against."

Ye Xinglan was stunned for a moment, then nodded and walked to the side of the Soul Arena.

"it is good!"

Chu Ci instructed, "Xiao Jin, set up an opponent with level 65 soul power, a sword-type martial soul, and who has reached the Sword Soul realm."

"Yes, Master." Xiao Jin immediately established a connection with the Mountain and Sea Battle Arena and set up an opponent for Ye Xinglan according to Chu Ci's requirements.

A moment later, a man wielding a blue longsword and completely encased in dark blue armor appeared on the other side of the arena.

Ye Xinglan looked warily at the blue-armored swordsman in front of her, the Star God Sword already in her hand. She keenly sensed from the blue-armored swordsman that he posed a great threat to her.

"Battle, begin!"

At Chu Ci's command, the blue-armored swordsman moved.

A surging sword intent soared into the sky, and a transparent yet extremely bright sword shadow rose from the blue longsword in his hand, with a dark blue light gathering and dancing around him.

Ye Xinglan gripped the Star God Sword tightly with both hands, her eyes filled with undisguised shock.

Although the rising sword shadow did not look particularly magnificent, Ye Xinglan knew that it was not as simple as sword intent, nor could it be compared to the unity of body and sword.

To feel its meaning, to grasp its profundity, to possess its soul, to obtain its spirit.

This is the Sword Soul!

Not only was Ye Xinglan shocked, but the Blood Gods watching were also astonished by this scene. The virtual universe had actually created a powerful Soul Master with a sword soul out of thin air.

The blue-armored swordsman gripped his sword with both hands, raising it high above his head. A dark blue light spiraled around the sword before he unleashed a powerful strike.

The enormous sword shadow, exceeding ten meters in length, resembled a rushing, deep blue river, slashing towards Ye Xinglan in an instant.

Ye Xinglan had only just begun to grasp the essence of sword soul, and could be considered to have stepped halfway into the realm of sword soul. Naturally, he could not withstand the full force of the blue-armored swordsman's sword soul.

As the towering sword shadow swept across, the earth cracked, and dozens of huge, crisscrossing gaps suddenly appeared beneath Ye Xinglan's feet.

Immediately afterwards, a red light shone on Ye Xinglan's body. She failed to catch the blue-armored swordsman's sword and was judged to have lost the battle.

However, although Ye Xinglan lost, her eyes seemed to contain stars and were exceptionally bright, clearly indicating that she had gained a lot from the blue-armored swordsman's sword strike.