Online Game: Me, with Unparalleled Comprehension

While waiting for the food to be served, he habitually unlocked his phone, swiped his thumb, and first entered the chat interface of that gangster's money exchange group.

Information scrolled rapidly, and I glanced at several repeated acquisition announcements that were constantly appearing on the screen:

"135/100 coins, long-term stable buyer, as much as you want, instant payment!"

"Unlimited winnings at a 135 ratio, supports various payment methods, and guaranteed reputation!"

"Buying copper coins and silver, 135 per unit, negotiable for large quantities. Scammers, get lost!"

The price of gold remained unchanged at 135 yuan per 100 coins.

It seems that after the initial surge in prices at the start of the server launch, the market has temporarily entered a relatively stable period.

The big spenders and guilds are still recruiting, but the overall output and demand of players seem to have reached a certain balance.

Wu Feng glanced at it and then left the group chat.

Next, he opened the "Jianghu Dream" official forum app.

As soon as the icon lit up, the astonishing online user statistics on the homepage came into view.

[Current concurrent online players in the China region: 12,000,000]

Six million!

Wu Feng's eyelids twitched. How long has the server been open?

The number of online users has already exceeded six million, and judging from the momentum, it is still steadily growing.

"This speed... it's frighteningly fast," he couldn't help but mutter under his breath. "The production lines for gaming helmets and pods must be practically sparking by now!"

Such a massive user base implies unimaginable market potential, intense competition, and chaos.

It is foreseeable that future resource competition, territorial battles, and guild wars will only become more intense.

He shook his head and turned his attention back to the forum post itself.

The homepage is filled with all sorts of trending posts: some showing off their loot, some asking for help with quests, some sharing scenic views, and others complaining about the game's difficulty.

As he casually swiped through the browser, a headline suddenly caught his attention:

[Wudang Mountain Travelogue: Traveled a thousand miles to seek a master, only to be turned away before even entering the gate! Ten taels of silver for travel expenses went down the drain!]

The poster's ID is "Wandering Swordsman," and the post is quite popular, followed by a flame icon.

Wu Feng's heart stirred, and he clicked on it.

The original poster, "Wandering Swordsman," was clearly emotional, filling the entire post with exclamation marks and emojis:

"Brothers, I'm truly impressed! After five days and countless deaths, we finally saved up enough money to take a carriage from the post station to the foot of Wudang Mountain! I was so excited! The holy land of my martial arts dreams was right before my eyes!"

"And then? I excitedly ran to the mountain gate, explained my purpose to the Taoist NPC guarding it—that I wanted to become a disciple of Wudang. Guess what that NPC said?"

"Young hero, our sect has not recently opened its gates to recruit disciples. Please return."

"What the hell???"

"I still haven't given up. I tried all sorts of dialogue options, trying to get close to them, showing off my martial arts skills, even trying to bribe them... but none of it worked! That NPC was like a broken record, repeating the same thing over and over again: 'The door is not open, we don't accept apprentices, please leave.'"

"When they saw I was refusing to leave, they almost called for help to take me down the mountain!"

"Ten taels of silver! I scrimped and saved, endured wind and rain on the road, and all the money I earned from fighting monsters went to travel expenses and supplies, and this is all I get in return? Go back the way you came? Go back my ass! I almost got sent back to the city by monsters on the way down the mountain!"

"What is the Wudang Sect up to? Are they a hidden sect? This is ridiculous! @JianghuDreamOfficial, come out and give us an explanation!"

The thread below the post has already been filled with numerous replies expressing agreement and complaints:

"OP, you're on the same page! I went too, and got turned away too! I traveled all the way from Sichuan, what a rip-off!"

"It seems that each sect has an open period or hidden joining conditions? You can't just join whenever you want."

"There must be some prerequisite quests or trigger conditions! I'm guessing it might be related to some quests in the starting area?"

"Possibly! The village chief of my newbie village gave me a letter of recommendation to deliver to some old friend at some mountain villa. I didn't take it seriously and lost it on the way... Now I'm kicking myself!"

"Damn, this game mechanics are so hidden! There are absolutely no hints; players have to figure it out and discover the pitfalls on their own?"

"So, those who can successfully join major sects now are either incredibly lucky or have cracked the hidden mechanisms? I'm so envious!"

Has anyone successfully joined the Wudang Sect yet? Say hi!

As Wu Feng read through the list, the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

"No wonder... In all these days, apart from the original NPC disciples, I haven't seen a single new player."

He suddenly realized what was happening, feeling both relieved and somewhat absurd.

It turns out that it was all thanks to the village chief's old letter of recommendation that Song Yuanqiao was able to directly accept him as a third-generation disciple.

This was not a straightforward process, but rather it triggered a crucial hidden mechanism!

Without that letter, even if you ran to the gates of Wudang Mountain, you would only be turned away.

"This is... a sect with a systemic structure," Wu Feng muttered to himself.

No wonder the atmosphere within the Wudang Sect is so different.

There are no cumbersome sect quest chains, no contribution point exchange system, the NPCs live regular and leisurely lives, and martial arts instruction is more like an open class in an academy, where how much you learn depends entirely on your own ability.

This stands in stark contrast to sects that require players to constantly complete tasks, build favorability, and accumulate contributions to gradually unlock martial arts skills and status.

"These NPCs in Wudang just eat their fill every day, practice their skills, read books, and handle some mundane affairs. There's no scheming or infighting, and no quotas to meet. They live such a leisurely and carefree life..." Wu Feng shook his head.

I thought to myself, "As expected, the sects rewarded by missions are never too bad."

The village chief's letter of recommendation, as the final reward, carried considerable weight; in retrospect, it was practically a VIP ticket worth a fortune.

Without it, I'd probably be cursing my mother outside the mountain gate right now.

He shook his head, his finger continuing to swipe across the phone screen, exiting the Wudang rant post and instead browsing other discussions about different sects.

This sight made him raise an eyebrow.

In the most popular posts, eight out of ten are filled with complaints.

"A True Account of an Outer Disciple of the Huashan Sect: Every day is spent either fetching water or sweeping steps. If the senior brother is in a good mood, he'll reward you with a couple of basic sword techniques; if he's in a bad mood, he'll send you to the back mountain to reflect on your mistakes! What happened to the soaring sword energy? How am I supposed to achieve that?!"

"A mere servant of the Quanzhen Sect, still reciting the Tao Te Ching! His comprehension is lacking; he can't even grasp the basics of the Quanzhen Swordplay! Every day, NPC Taoists look at him like he's a piece of trash. I'm here to play a game, not to become a Taoist monk!"

"Kongtong Sect Newcomer Exchange (Blood and Tears Version): Pay five taels as a tribute upon entering, otherwise your senior brothers will challenge you to sparring every day until you can't fight back. Want to learn boxing techniques? Sure, first wash your senior brothers' clothes, sweep the courtyard, feed the horses… This isn't a sect, it's a black-hearted workshop!"

"Commenting about the Diancang School: Damn it, the entry-level aptitude test was 28, barely passing, and I was assigned to the worst master. All I do every day is stand in meditation and get beaten up, supposedly to strengthen my muscles and bones, but really I'm just a human punching bag! Superior martial arts? My master himself only knows a few third-rate sword moves, what kind of nonsense is that!"

Wu Feng read through the entries one by one, and the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

Even if most players manage to pass the comprehension threshold and join a sect, life is still not easy.

They will either be used as cheap labor, doing endless menial tasks;

Either you get sloppy from mediocre NPC masters and don't learn anything real;

Even worse, in some small sects with corrupt practices, they also have to face exploitation and bullying from their senior brothers or even their masters.

Moreover, in the comments section of almost every sect's post, someone mentioned a crucial issue—the qualification to leave the mountain.