A Scroll of Infinite Glory

Chapter 326 My Origin

After transferring Hei Cuodao and the others' accounts to the Historical Domination section, Guan Luoyang focused more of his attention on his player character in the Urban area.

Just now, information on the second phase of the major main quest in the metropolitan area has been released.

The second part of the main event in the urban living area: "The Otherworld"!

Beneath the peaceful and tranquil surface of urban life lie ancient secrets, long-standing struggles, ancient martial arts, esoteric arts, magic, supernatural powers, incense offerings, and exotic races—a rich tapestry beyond the comprehension of those who live on the surface.

However, there is another place, hidden far deeper than these things, and that is the existence of the inner world.

That place was a hidden space, originally a pure land that preserved the heart of the world. However, in a distant era, it became a battlefield for ancient gods. All the powerful creatures that coveted the heart of the world fought each other there until they perished together. Their corpses, treasures, and inheritances were all left in that space, becoming a boundless treasure sealed away.

Only when the many chosen ones clash and produce the final two can the portal to the inner world be opened through the harmony of their powers.

The two chosen ones who open the portal will grant players who follow them access to the underworld and unearth countless riches.

In the very end, the sole victorious faction will have one player who obtains the Heart of the World, granting them supreme authority over one-sixth of the Promised Land. This authority includes, but is not limited to, mass account bans, reshaping urban terrain, and controlling all AI-powered game characters within urban areas.

Guan Luoyang had no idea what the other players in the city were feeling.

However, the hundreds of players standing in front of him immediately stiffened their expressions, becoming as expressionless as if they had facial paralysis. Their breathing rhythm was clearly disordered, their eyes flickered, and electromagnetic waves of different frequencies rippled and undulated violently in the air.

Clearly, even among these few hundred players, there are countless large and small groups that are currently engaged in heated discussions.

"Hmm? Why have you all stopped eating? Is it because the new dishes aren't to your liking?"

In the orchard, the peach blossoms are romantic and the air is filled with fragrance. Sparse yet orderly, round tables and wooden benches are placed among the peach trees for guests to rest and dine.

I don't know how the people here manage to keep it so well. It's such a large orchard, and it's the season when peach blossoms are in full bloom, but the fragrance is light and just right, and there's no annoying pollen. There are no wet spots or decaying leaves on the ground, only a thick layer of dead leaves.

Walking on it is incredibly comfortable, both in terms of sound and touch.

On one side of the orchard is a large greenhouse with a fiberglass roof and alloy frame. Inside the greenhouse, chefs are busy at work, with firelight flickering and mist covering the glass.

Between the greenhouse and the players, there was a table with only a few people sitting there.

Guan Luoyang and Qi Dongqiang are sitting at this table, while the person who spoke earlier is sitting on the other side of Qi Dongqiang.

It was the owner of this place, Su Sheng.

He wore a blue shirt, had short, neat hair, and was handsome. He was also very hospitable when he smiled.

As soon as he uttered his question, all the players around him immediately took action.

A few others chuckled and said, "How could that be? The food here is delicious. Once you take a bite, you can't stop eating. True wisdom is found in the ordinary."

"Yes, yes, just like Boss Su. He can turn ordinary ingredients into something magical after his chefs cook them."

Various kinds of praise, seemingly given without any cost, poured out of the mouths of these players.

After all, they are now on the same side as Su Sheng. Even if they only think of Su Sheng as a game character, they will never underestimate him and everyone is thinking of increasing their favorability.

That's right, all these players came for Su Sheng.

Qi Dongqiang, who is probably the chosen one, has hardly been discovered by any players. This is partly because he is only famous in the antique trade, and partly because he is too careful. Even if players have encountered him before, they only regard him as an ordinary treasure appraiser and cannot see his special abilities.

However, Su Sheng's presence was still quite noticeable to these players.

After all, this modern-day City God Su spends his days leisurely in the mountains and forests, giving advice on feng shui, while at night his ghostly soldiers roam freely, punishing lawbreakers and locking away the souls of some vicious criminals who have escaped justice, bringing them to trial.

Many players with a psychic power level of four or higher have discovered traces of these ghostly judges and the unpredictable ghost soldiers.

Once news of the major main quest came out, those who valued chosen ones like Su Sheng naturally followed the clues and came looking for him.

This is just the first batch of players who have joined. Each of them represents a team. The number of players who have been officially recognized as having joined Su Sheng's faction through team relationships should be over ten thousand.

If other players want to join this faction later, they only need to apply to join these teams. Therefore, the number of players belonging to Su Sheng's faction is increasing like a snowball.

The situation is probably similar for the other chosen ones... oh, except for Qi Dongqiang.

Su Sheng smiled, glanced at the group, took a sip of wine, and suddenly said, "Gentlemen, let's not beat around the bush. I can see that each of you is an extraordinary person with unique skills. You've suddenly gathered hundreds of people to come to my mountain as guests. Surely you're not just here to sample our local farm-style dishes?"

The hundreds of players fell silent for a moment.

Guan Luoyang took a small sip of the fruit wine, and with a quick glance, he unknowingly entered the most conspicuous electromagnetic wave and caught the conversation being discussed in their large player group.

These people were quick to make a decision, and soon selected an eloquent person to communicate with Su Sheng.

They naturally wouldn't openly mention any major main quest, but would subtly change their tune, stating that they were all successors of various secret schools, upholding ancient prophecies, and knowing that during this period, seven individuals with great fortune would be born, fight each other, determine two victors, and open up the inner world, etc.

"...The treasures of the Otherworld can determine the future of this world. We must not let these treasures fall into the hands of those with ulterior motives."

The player who was nominated had thick eyebrows, big eyes, a square face, a slight mustache, bright and piercing eyes, and spoke politely.

If the player name above his head wasn't "Yue Buqun, the Great Hero of Jiangnan," he would appear even more righteous and masculine.

At the end, Master Yue bowed with his hands clasped in a gesture of respect and said, "Boss Su, we vaguely know your identity. You should be the only true City God of this era. Judging from your past deeds, your character is absolutely impeccable. However, we cannot guarantee the character of the other people with great fortune."

"Putting everything else aside, Zhao Lingtian and Zhuang Gujian are also among the chosen ones. If either of them were to obtain the final treasure, the future of the world would be truly bleak and unimaginable."

Su Sheng's eyebrows twitched slightly upon hearing this, and it was unclear whether he believed it or not. He simply said, "I've heard of Zhao Lingtian many times. He is indeed a despicable person. His behavior can already be seen from Zhao Tianjue, a member of a collateral branch of his family."

"Last time I sent the judge to lock Zhao Tianjue's soul in order to find out Zhao Lingtian's background. I didn't expect to be a step too late. When the judge arrived, the hotel had just been reduced to charcoal in the blood and fire."

He shook his head. "If such a treasure really exists, and they really want to get involved, then I should indeed lend a hand. However, to put it bluntly, you all are strangers to me, and to have to fight side by side with you makes me feel a little uneasy."

"Even ordinary people need a legal contract to protect themselves when doing business. If we're going to be comrades-in-arms, how about we sign a 'divine power contract'?"

As Su Sheng spoke, he didn't shy away from the topic. He pointed to the air, and a huge contract document appeared out of thin air under the sunlight.

The document was both real and illusory, with gold borders and silver seal script. The clauses were few, only a few lines long, with a large blank space below the signature.

Guan Luoyang blinked as he saw the scroll and thought to himself: "It is indeed a secret method from another system. It is not a method from this world at all. It seems to be a divine path, but it is much more profound than the incense and gods I have encountered in the Water Margin world."

In the Water Margin world, the one who went the furthest in the practice of incense offerings was Emperor Wu of Han. His imperial dragon aura could be considered a unique form of incense offering. However, incense offerings are poisonous, and the Water Margin world has not yet developed more advanced methods to purify incense offerings. After Emperor Wu of Han died, he did not become some kind of golden deity.

The methods Su Sheng possesses are mostly related to the legacy left behind by the group of reincarnators who died back then. They originally came from a world where the path of incense and gods had developed to a larger and more mature stage.

However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that when Su Sheng cast his spells, there was also a pattern of spiritual energy cultivation in this world.

It's like a combination of the strengths of two systems, trying to find a new way out.

In this way, although Su Sheng is only equivalent to an eighth-level psychic, he would probably be much more troublesome than an eighth-level psychic in reality if they really got into a fight.

If other chosen ones are in a similar situation, then it's certain that... Jiushan and the others simply cannot easily mobilize the power of these chosen ones.

Perhaps they were originally just experimental subjects, but once they became powerful enough, it would be impossible to control them with overly forceful and brutal methods. It might require the hidden doors left on them in the early stages, along with some external conditions.

Guan Luoyang didn't pay much attention to Su Sheng's subsequent interactions with these players.

He was merely invited to dinner as a friend of Qi Dongqiang, and he even used some tactics to make many people subconsciously overlook him.

Aside from casually infiltrating some player chat groups to observe the secrets surrounding Qi Dongqiang and Su Sheng, he actually focused most of his energy on infiltrating the game world.

The Promised Land is an extremely vast game world, with hundreds of millions of game creatures, dominated by intelligent programs, spread across its six major zones.

Mountains and rivers, plants and wild animals, buildings and miscellaneous objects—everything must be constructed and able to interact with the player character, containing highly realistic and detailed changes. The information processing and computing resources required for this are simply unimaginably vast.

It is said that some people have conducted experiments showing that if they can log into their account in time when their physical body dies in reality, they can continue to live in the game world for several months or even several years.

This almost proves that the "Promised Land" is about to become a second reality.

In the more than fifty years since the Great Cataclysm, organizations like the United Regime have been able to gradually reclaim the chaotic areas, take over 600 million people, and implement restoration and reconstruction plans for many cities.

The Eight Leaves Institute also controls many provinces, implements its unique policies, eliminates the psionic chips of the old population, cultivates a new batch of henchmen to help them exploit the people, and develops extremely advanced cybernetic technology and a large army of intelligent machines.

The organization led by Jiushan possesses a foundation comparable to the former two, yet it has devoted over fifty years of time and energy to building and operating this game.

Only in this way could such a miraculous virtual world come into being.

Jiushan is just a person; even if he enters the online world, he is still just an electronic life form.

The Promised Land, however, represents the power of everything, including the Nine Mountains, billions of artificial intelligence programs, countless abandoned accounts, and even all online players.

With Guan Luoyang's current strength, if he were only facing Jiushan, he would have a great chance of winning, both in the real world and online. However, against the entire game world, he could not achieve a complete "victory" and could only intervene in local details.

Although it was said before that the enemy's wishes were fulfilled, it was not Guan Luoyang's style to wait for the other side to make a move and do nothing himself.

"Without a direct assault, this kind of infiltration is too inefficient. But if we launch a large-scale frontal attack while all these people are online, regardless of the outcome, who knows how many people will be burned as fuel to hold us back..."

Thinking of this, Guan Luoyang suddenly stood up.

At this moment, many players had just signed the contract with Su Sheng, and when they saw him suddenly stand up, everyone turned to look at him.

Some people were suddenly startled, realizing that they hadn't noticed this person at all before.

Qi Dongqiang asked in surprise, "Brother Guan?"

Su Sheng was also somewhat surprised and doubtful: "Mr. Guan..."

"Now that things have come to this point, there are some things I have to say."

Guan Luoyang said with a sigh, "Boss Su, actually, I came to F City for your sake too."

The player group was immediately abuzz with excitement.

[What the heck? This person is also a player, so why isn't their username showing up?]

[The player's name can't be hidden, could it be a player?]

Is there some hidden storyline in the Chosen One quest that only triggers at this point in the story?

Su Sheng said, "Mr. Guan, are you saying you're also here to form an alliance with me and try to gain access to the Inner World together?"

"No, I'm here to warn you, to stop anyone who wants to open the Otherworld!"

Guan Luoyang sighed, "You all thought that the inner world was full of treasures, but you didn't expect that many powerful figures from distant eras died in the inner world, including some who could be called demon gods. Their evil aura and malevolent thoughts have been undying for a long time, and even after they died, their poison is endless."

"As far as I know, the current Inner World is not a treasure trove that preserves the Heart of the World and countless riches at all. Instead, it is a desolate and bleak place, shrouded in corpse poison, where everything is in a state of utter desolation, a forbidden area that no living person can enter."

The crowd erupted in an uproar, and the chat group was instantly flooded with messages, leaving some players overwhelmed and unable to keep up.

Inside the orchard, many people immediately voiced their doubts.

The chivalrous Yue Buqun from Jiangnan quickly stopped them and, using more polite but also sharper language, questioned Guan Luoyang.

Guan Luoyang said to Su Sheng, "Among Boss Su's City God Divine Arts, there is a method to play back memories, right?"

Su Sheng nodded in confusion.

Guan Luoyang plucked a small ray of light from between his eyebrows, rolled it into a bead, and said, "You should be able to see that this is indeed my memory. So please play this memory for them to see."

Su Sheng took the round bead, glanced at it, and immediately stood up in shock and anger.

The chivalrous Yue Buqun from Jiangnan hurriedly asked, "What memories?"

"Memories of the Future".

Guan Luoyang's calm voice seemed to seep into the hearts of all the players.

"That was the world three years later, a desperate world where everyone had turned into zombies."

"I come from three years in the future."

His words shocked everyone present.

Everyone looked stunned.

Guan Luoyang looked utterly dejected, silently thinking to himself, "Tsk tsk, I never expected this! I guess I'll have to play the role of a world-destroying schemer!"

(End of this chapter)