After the internet was disconnected, I connected to the magic world.

The global buzz on the channel was witnessed by six people at the foot of Qingyun Mountain, hundreds of miles away.

Master Xuanqing looked up at the message on the world channel and raised an eyebrow slightly.

Master Mingyuan, holding a string of prayer beads, softly chanted a Buddhist prayer:

"Amitabha Buddha, it's quite a novel thing for an extraordinary person to establish their own sect."

"What's so new?"

Zhang Lei, carrying a large sword, came over and glanced at it, then curled his lip and said, "We won't die. At worst, we can start over. What's the big deal about building a sect?"

Master Xuanqing, shall we get one too?

"With our combined reputation, and if we bring in the extraordinary brothers from the Qingyun Sect, our scale will definitely be larger than this Seven Star Sect."

Zhou Ming pushed up his glasses and nodded.

"That's definitely feasible. Solo players are being ostracized by small sects these days. If we create a guild, a lot of people will definitely join."

"There's no need."

Xuan Qing shook his head and put the Polygonatum into the medicine basket on his back:

"The Qingyun Sect has treated us well, giving us the Qingyun Technique, a primordial-level cultivation method, as soon as we entered the sect."

We received our monthly allowance of pills and spirit stones without fail, and the sect leader even specially allocated us separate courtyards for cultivation, so there was no need to start our own practice.

Master Mingyuan nodded in agreement: "What you say is true, Daoist. Qingyun Sect has been kind to us by passing on its teachings. If we rashly establish ourselves as independent, we will only be at a disadvantage."

Zhang Lei and Zhou Ming thought about it and agreed that it made sense; they were among the first to enter the game.

If you're lucky, you can directly join a top-tier sect like Qingyun Sect, where you'll receive top-notch resources and treatment, so there's no need to go through all that trouble.

"Hmph, only the weak like to stick together."

A cold snort suddenly came from the side. Zhao Hao leaned against the tree trunk, twirling a fine steel sword in his hand.

With an arrogant look on his face, he glanced sideways at the world channel, his tone disdainful:

"A pack of wolves together is still just wolves; they can't amount to anything."

A true tiger never hunts alone.

Once I break through to the Innate Realm, I can take on an entire sect by myself.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Lei laughed first, then gently kicked the tree trunk he was leaning against:

"Give me a break. Who was it that was crying and screaming when they were chased for three miles by a Tier 1 Black Wind Wolf last time? You call yourself a lone tiger? I think you're just bragging."

Zhao Hao blushed, and with his neck stiff, he wanted to retort:

"That was my carelessness! I didn't dodge! Otherwise, I could take on ten of those lousy wolves with one hand!"

Xuan Qing smiled and shook his head, silencing him with a glance.

As they chatted and laughed, their eyes all fell on the man at the back of the line.

"Mr. Song," Zhou Ming pushed up his glasses and asked curiously.

"Haven't you officials ever thought about organizing a guild? With the official influence, it's definitely more reliable than this unofficial Seven Star Sect, right?"

With more and more players, conflicts with the indigenous people are also increasing. Without a unified organization, trouble is bound to break out sooner or later.

Song Xian looked up and smiled.

"Of course the authorities thought of that."

He said calmly, "As early as when we learned about the Nine Provinces world, the think tank was already deducing the development path of the player group."

Building our own organizations is an inevitable trend, but we didn't expect it to happen so quickly.

"We didn't move before because we knew too little about this world."

The cultivation system, the distribution of power, and geographical knowledge are almost entirely blank.

Establishing a large organization rashly could easily arouse the suspicion of top local powers, ultimately resulting in more harm than good.

"But now," he glanced at the Seven Star Sect messages flooding the world chat.

"The first unofficial guild has emerged, which can be considered as paving the way for us."

It's time to put official organization on the agenda.

Zhang Lei immediately asked, "So, what does Mr. Song mean?"

"There have already been instructions from above," Song Xian said without hiding anything.

"If you are willing, the official team would like to invite a few people to collaborate."

We'll provide the funding and resources, and everyone here has experience and ability; let's work together to build the official player organization.

After all, the official system is always much more reliable than spontaneous guilds.

Whether it's negotiating with local sects or supporting solo players, things are much easier now.

Xuan Qing was silent for a few seconds, exchanged a glance with Shi Mingyuan, and said calmly:

"Official involvement is a good thing; the benefits outweigh the drawbacks."

However, we can discuss the details of the cooperation when we return. As long as it does not violate morality or harm our interests, I have no objections.

Master Mingyuan nodded, "Amitabha, this humble monk is also willing to do his part."

Zhao Hao raised his head and coughed dramatically: "Seeing how sincere you are, I'll agree. Let's make it clear beforehand, this is just a collaboration. I can do whatever I want."

Zhang Lei and Zhou Ming nodded in agreement.

Song Xian breathed a sigh of relief and a smile appeared on his face.

He knew that with the addition of these top players from the first batch, the official player organization was already halfway to success.

He knew in his heart that the appearance of the Seven Star Sect was like a signal.

The player community has begun to move from being scattered individuals to becoming a cohesive group.

And the authorities will certainly not be absent from this grand event.

Deep within the demiplane lies the origin of the Nine Provinces world.

Lin Ze sat on the floating stone seat, working on a new spell model.

Amidst his busy schedule, he spared a moment to glance at the movements in the Nine Provinces world.

Seeing the divergence between players and local sects, and the establishment of the Seven Star Sect, he merely raised an eyebrow slightly, showing little surprise.

"Those who are not of our kind will surely have different hearts; this is only human nature."

He murmured to himself, his tone flat.

The local sects were wary of the players' rapid growth and immortality, while the players were dissatisfied with the locals' exclusion and suppression. It was to be expected that estrangement and conflict would arise between the two sides.

This conflict can even force players to grow faster and explore the world more quickly, making it more beneficial than harmful for them.

After all, the mechanism that allows players to revive indefinitely was a newbie perk he personally designed.

In the early days of the Nine Provinces world, these resources from reality were needed to continuously generate spiritual energy for it.

It is then transformed into pure magic, which in turn gives back to the world's growth.

Reducing a player's cultivation level by one is merely to instill a sense of awe towards death, preventing them from becoming too reckless.

However, this benefit is not permanent.

Lin Ze paused slightly in the magic at his fingertips, a deep glint flashing in his eyes.

The Innate Realm is that dividing line.

Once a player breaks through to the Innate Realm, their true energy will deeply merge with the magic of the Nine Provinces, and their soul and body will be completely anchored to this world.

At that time, they will no longer enter dreams as souls, but as their physical bodies, and will be able to directly travel into the world of Kyushu.

At that time, death will be true death.

All the blood, flesh, essence, and soul of the body will be completely dispersed into the land of Kyushu, becoming nourishment for the world's growth.

There is no resurrection, no second chance.

"Soon..."

Lin Ze regained his composure and his gaze returned to the spell model in front of him.

Some of the first batch of players have already reached the threshold of the late-game stage.

The appearance of the first Innate Realm expert is not far off.

Only then will the game truly begin.

The real world.

Initially, online discussions about "Nine Provinces World" and "real cultivation" were just a small-scale celebration.

Most passersby assumed it was just hype for a new VR game or a collective illusion and scoffed at it.

However, as time went on, dozens of Dream Tokens appeared silently every day across the country.

Students, office workers, migrant workers, retirees...

People from all walks of life have successively found tokens and entered the world of Kyushu.

More and more concrete videos, cultivation experiences, and detailed descriptions have surfaced, and public opinion online has completely taken off.

On Zhihu (a Chinese Q&A website), the question is: "Does the world of Kyushu really exist?"

The question has garnered over a billion views and thousands of highly-rated answers, all from players who have actually visited Kyushu.

On short video platforms, any video with the "Dream Order" tag can easily get over a million likes.

Some people showed off their cultivated inner energy, some talked about their experiences in the sect, and some even demonstrated basic breathing techniques brought from Kyushu, which can really improve one's health.

The controversy has never stopped.

Some people believe it, while others condemn it as a scam, a pyramid scheme, or a new type of spiritual drug.

Strangely, in the past, when such "mystical events" caused a great uproar, the authorities would have already come out to refute the rumors and limit the flow of information.

This time, the relevant departments remained unusually silent, neither admitting nor denying, allowing public opinion to ferment, and related posts and videos were not deleted on a large scale.

Special Investigations Headquarters.

The conference room was filled with smoke.

Seated in the main seat was Li Jianguo, the highest-ranking official in the Special Investigations Department.

A thick stack of reports lay before him, all analytical materials submitted by his think tank.

"There's no need to suppress public opinion."

Li Jianguo flicked his cigarette ash and said in a steady voice, "The decision has already been made above."

The number of Dream Entry Orders is increasing every day, and the number of people entering Kyushu will only increase; eventually, the truth will come out.

This discussion is just a way to give the whole nation a heads-up.

"Waiting until it's fully disclosed later will prevent too much panic."

"Understood." The subordinate nodded and then asked, "So, how do we deal with the player base?"

News just came out today that players in Dongzhou have spontaneously formed the first sect, called the Seven Stars Sect.

If this continues unchecked, the player base could easily spiral out of control.

"Out of control? No way."

Li Jianguo shook his head, his tone firm: "The higher-ups have already given clear instructions."

To the greatest extent possible, we will bind the player base to the official team.

Money, power, and resources can all be given.

The Special Investigations Department must maintain supreme command over the player community and must not allow any single civilian force to gain absolute power.

He paused, then continued to give instructions:

"First, immediately investigate the entire internet and list all those who have reached the Acquired Realm and have influence in the player community."

Contact them one by one, directly informing them to join the Special Investigations Division's guidance group, providing them with all the necessary staffing, benefits, and authority.

"Secondly, the preparation for the establishment of the official player guild should be launched immediately."

"Have Song Xian's side cooperate to first win over the first batch of core players and set up a framework."

"Third, observe the Seven Star Gate first, don't suppress it."

Civil society organizations are dynamic and can help us test the limits of local forces.

Once our official organization is fully established, we can gradually incorporate and integrate it.

With each instruction clearly issued, the entire special investigation unit's machinery immediately sprang into action at high speed.

No one understands better than the state apparatus what this other world, which allows people to cultivate and enter, means.

This is an extraordinary transformation that will sweep across all of humanity.

They must seize the initiative.