Chapter 389 - Chapter 389: 389, [Heavenly Dust Situation]

Chapter 389: 389, [Heavenly Dust Situation]

Inside the tea shop, Ye Sui’an was deep in thought about the Foreign Race, his brows were furrowed as he racked his brain.

Lu Xun was sitting next to him, browsing the game forum.

After opening the forum interface, as usual, he prioritized checking popular posts related to himself.

He saw several videos posted by players. Some were recorded on the battlefield at the Fire Yan Sect, others were from outside Sword Casting City.

There were more videos from the Fire Yan Sect, mainly because there were more players there.

They had covered every imaginable angle of Lu Xun, with impressively skillful video shooting techniques including some, quite alarmingly, from below.

— Disgusting!

However, in terms of reaction, the videos from Sword Casting City generated more heat.

After all, the videos from outside Sword Casting City were just too compelling.

Players started recording from the moment the line “Where are the Sword Cultivators from the West State?” was uttered.

This was the first half of the video, and it immediately created a stir on the forum.

Ye Sui’an became an overnight sensation. His charm value of 9, high cultivation base of an Innate Sword Body, and the goosebump-invoking line of “Where are the Sword Cultivators from the West State?” earned him countless fans.

It could be said that it was his highlight moment.

Then…Lu Xun made his entrance.

Unfortunately, a charm value of 9 is still just a charm value of 9, and an Innate Sword Body is just an Innate Sword Body.

Even though Lu Xun had not intended to steal the spotlight, he was merely there to provide support. But his appearance did indeed steal all the limelight.

Of course, even if Ye Sui’an knew about this, even if he also had access to the forum and could see the video and the comments underneath it, he wouldn’t be upset.

He might even leave a “plus one” comment under the praises of “Purple Palace rocks”…

As Lu Xun carefully browsed these posts, he noticed that players had a strong sense of immersion in the “Heavenly Dust” game.

People can feel immersed when they watch a movie or read a novel. So, naturally, they feel even more deeply immersed in a fully immersive game like this.

This would certainly be beneficial for the main plotline of the “Foreign Invasion”.

Just like the battle outside Sword Casting City, watching one elderly NPC after another fall, despite players only seeing them as stacks of data, some players still sighed for them. Some even shed tears.

However, those who both cried and typed “boo hoo hoo” were immediately punched in the comments by fellow players, their crying intensifying with each incoming hit.

Most absurdly, many female players watched the video of Lu Xun and Ye Sui’an fighting side by side, loudly exclaiming, “This scene is too beautiful!”

There was even a group specializing in fan fiction claiming they would write some stories about Lu Xun and Ye Sui’an on the forum.

Lu Xun glanced at Ye Sui’an beside him, his body breaking out in goosebumps.

Then, he quietly chose to block those IDs, so that he wouldn’t have to see their posts in the future, just to avoid irritating himself to the point of blowing his top and taking it out on Ye Sui’an.

“Aren’t the girls on my secluded hill more appealing? Why are they focusing on Ye Sui’an?” Lu Xun wondered.

Of course, because of these videos, Lu Xun’s reputation among the players increased once again.

Especially in some cases where sects got wiped out…

Like Fire Yan Sect, if Lu Xun hadn’t arrived, the sect might have been destroyed.

This led countless players to hope they could fight side by side with the Purple Palace, relying on him to turn the tide of battle!

In the eyes of the players, he was like a godsend NPC randomly selecting a group of lucky players and helping them complete the quest to wipe out the Foreign Race.

And similar cases could be seen all over the Heavenly Dust Continent.

“Fighting and all of a sudden…my home is gone! This game is so damned real!” one player lamented on the forum.

Luckily, the sect system in the Heavenly Dust Continent wasn’t so rigid. Players who had lost their sect still had a chance to join a new one.

But nonetheless, Lu Xun was very concerned about the impacts of the first wave of the Foreign Invasion.

Therefore, after checking the posts related to him, Lu Xun began to get an understanding of the overall situation of the Heavenly Dust Continent through the forum.

While people like Shen Yan had to communicate with each other by sending letters through flying swords and needed their own network for information, Lu Xun had an easier time; he just had to open the forum.

“There were quite a few sects and territories destroyed by the Foreign Race, but compared to my past life, it’s not that serious,” Lu Xun concluded after browsing through several posts.

He could take the credit for that, at least to some extent.

Compared to the time in his previous life when everyone was unprepared for the attack by the Foreign Race, they were ready this time and even had some psychological preparation.

However, looking at players’ screenshots and videos, looking at the ruins and desolate lands where life had been drained and nothing grown, seeing the bones scattered all over, even the joy of success was absent from Lu Xun.

The issue was that he no longer considered himself a player.

“According to the plot from my previous life, the second wave of the Foreign Race’s invasion should be in about a month,” he thought.

“I can’t remember the exact number of days, but it is more than a month for sure.”

The Foreign Race relied on altars to summon people, but obviously, the altars couldn’t summon without limits.

There should be a limit to the number of people that could be summoned each time, and there would also be a time gap.

But there’s no pattern to it.

Sometimes it might be more than a month, sometimes half a year or even a year. No one can really tell.

“There have been changes in the plot line this time, I can’t predict how long the gap will be, but there certainly will be some time before it happens again.” thought Lu Xun.

At least this means that after resisting the first invasion, Heavenly Dust will have a moment to breathe.

For the cultivators, it’s time to heal their wounds and make breakthroughs.

For the players, it’s time to digest their experience points and rapidly enhance their capabilities!

Of course, the aftermath of the first battle is still ongoing.

Because some of the foreign race were not killed!

Like those areas in Heavenly Dust Continent that were defeated.

After winning a battle, the foreign race won’t idiotically loiter around waiting for us to butcher them all. They would probably scatter across the continent or gather in a few hidden bases.

Then, they will await the second wave of their allies’ arrival!

This situation is mainly due to certain characteristics of the Foreign Race Altar.

Once the altar starts operating, it seems unable to hold the summoned creatures on it.

Maybe it can’t handle it, or maybe there are other reasons.

Anyway, we can consider the Foreign Race Altar as a summoning array, but once the foreign race arrives, they are not situated within the array, but are directly teleported to the grounds of Heavenly Dust Continent.

That’s why war is inevitable.

All these people suddenly appearing, it would be weird if they didn’t fight.

Moreover, players will receive missions immediately, and would rush at the sight of the foreign race, each one braver than the last.

As for the foreign race… they’re not much different from the players, driven by a mission like mad dogs.

Two groups of mad dogs meeting head on, they don’t even bother barking, they just start biting!

At this point, surely someone must be wondering, why doesn’t the foreign race summon their kind slowly and secretly? For instance, summoning just a few people each time so it doesn’t draw too much attention.

Slow but steady, secretly accumulating power, right?

This question has been raised by players on the forum before.

But the fact is, the foreign race has never done this.

Perhaps transporting 1 person or a group of people requires the altar to pay the same price.

All that the foreign race can do is to fight with their backs against the wall. They have no means to slowly gather their strength.

If they win, they can stay in Heavenly Dust. If they lose, they’re doomed.

Therefore, for the players, the current situation in Heavenly Dust Continent is still full of wild creatures everywhere.

These are all mobile experience points!

The surviving foreign race, under acceptable conditions, wouldn’t dare to enter or leave the altar rashly, so as not to inadvertently expose the altar’s location.

Of course, there might be some hidden reasons as well.

Continuing to browse the forum, Lu Xun quickly found a very useful post.

It was posted by a female player called An Chen, who he somewhat recalled. He heard that she is a beautiful aunt in real life.

Whether she’s beautiful or not he didn’t know, but that she is an aunt is quite certain.

He didn’t know who started it, but the term “aunt” spread quickly among the players.

She is thoughtful, likes to gather data on the forum and then draw conclusions.

Now, she has posted a partial map of the Heavenly Dust Continent on the forum, which shows the current state of thirteen districts and their conditions.

For example, the Eastern Region is marked as safe in white, while some defeated areas are marked in red.

The map is updated in real-time, and new information is added from time to time.

This is extremely convenient for Lu Xun. It saves him the time of browsing through a bunch of posts.

“Good job auntie, very efficient!” Lu Xun praised in his mind.

He often read her posts in his past life. She really was a data queen. Impressive!

Although not a professional player, she was very popular.

“If I get the chance to meet her, I should take a ‘photo’ with her and let her take a screenshot as a memento.” imagined the national heartthrob of Heavenly Dust.

“Should I make a move?” Lu Xun asked himself as he looked at the picture posted by An Chen, soon becoming lost in thought.

Suddenly, he had a lightbulb moment: “That’s it!”

…

(P.S.: Second update, asking for monthly votes. I have to say something here. I don’t recommend hoarding books, it’s better to follow along or check back every few days because some chapters might disappear, and some might lose little bits of content. Although it doesn’t greatly impact the story, it still diminishes the fun. As for why this happens… well it’s not my fault.)