Chapter 164: 124: First Under Heaven (Part 2) - 2
At a glance, she saw that most of the active players carried virtue related to her, and indeed satisfying them could fulfill her desire to repay her debt of virtue.
But before that, she needed to construct key points here to extend her influence into this area, forming her own Heavenly Tao network to better demonstrate her power as Little Heavenly Way.
With a clap of her hands, her angel envoys, a group of Mukuai, arrived.
Pointing around, the Mukuai who had received her orders nodded slightly and began to help Tian Xuan construct her Heavenly Tao network here.
Meanwhile, Fang Cheng, following the records of the Female Evil God, started to move through places dense with shadow energy.
According to these records, he found that most of the surrounding space was occupied by shadow energy.
This energy would devour everything it came into contact with, yet, curiously, an infinitesimal point was not occupied by the shadows and stubbornly resisted the shadow’s incursion.
Having confirmed the coordinates of this small point through the records, Fang Cheng soon found its location amidst the thick shadows.
This point was almost minuscule in size, but its interior was filled with matter, bringing it to the brink of collapsing into a black hole; however, it was fortified by a certain wondrous force, preserving its spatial structure and preventing collapse.
Probing with his Divine Sense, Fang Cheng was thrilled to discover that this force was mana.
In this region, all forces came as gifts from Little Heavenly Way; this mana was unique here and likely left behind by some cultivator.
Discovering this novelty, Fang Cheng’s previous despondency due to failure instantly vanished, prompting him to utter, “Interesting.”
Finding the mana veins on the small point, Fang Cheng channeled his own mana into them, resonating with the internal mana, and then activated the Teleportation Array within the small point, before stepping directly into it and arriving inside.
Here, he did indeed find a hidden realm.
A vast continent floated midair, with the sun, moon, and stars orbiting the land, creating day and night for the continent.
The sun’s distance from the ground varied, orbiting in a fixed pattern and giving rise to the illusion of seasons.
Clouds steamed up, forming white clouds in the sky, followed by mana naturally appearing to adjust them, turning them into rain or snow before returning to the ground.
Such intricate designs made the continent like a large ecological garden, perpetually cycling with the support of mana.
The continent also had mountains, lakes, seas, and at the other end of the sea, more land, with Teleportation Arrays transferring water from one side to the other.
Apart from the clever natural environment, there were even towns on the continent, with buildings of ancient charm and orderly streets, as if traveling back a thousand years.
And within each town, there were even pedestrians bustling about.
However, although these pedestrians looked full of vitality, they were actually mana puppets, not flesh and blood.
Attempting to destroy a wild dog seeking shade, Fang Cheng saw it shatter into a cluster of mana, while the surrounding pedestrians panicked as if they had seen blood. But soon, they returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.
After a short while, the shattered mana reformed, and the wild dog continued to enjoy the shade, seemingly unaffected.
All of these designs gave Fang Cheng a strong sense of intricate design.
Paying close attention, Fang Cheng realized this world was like a beautifully crafted treasure box; everything on the outside was a lock, and hidden inside were secrets unknown to others.
Although forced destruction could reveal what lay inside, it would also require demolishing all these intricate designs, which Fang Cheng, who had recently taken a liking to constructing garden boxes, found unbearable.
It would be a pity to destroy such a delicate creation.
But to probe into the contents following the creator’s method would be very troublesome.
The prohibitions constructed on this treasure box by its builder were numerous, totaling tens of thousands.
These prohibitions were named “The Supreme One,” requiring challengers to compete with these humanoid puppets for first place in various industries and records without using more mana than allowed.
Each achievement of a first place would unlock a prohibition, and when all firsts were achieved, all prohibitions would be lifted, and the true face of what’s hidden inside the box would be revealed.
After figuring out the setup here, Fang Cheng pondered a bit and felt that the setting sounded quite interesting.
And especially suitable for players.
Every player loves achievements, leaderboards, and competition, so letting them continuously compete for various titles in this open world seemed pretty fun.
Although individual player progress couldn’t be shared, he could use Immortal Spells to disguise players as the same person, thereby tricking the restrictions in place.
Let the players reach the goal of being First Under Heaven through legitimate means, allowing them to achieve one target after another through competition; the entire process, filled with effort, sweat, and self-challenge, seemed quite fun.
Nodding, Fang Cheng knew his second amusement park, “Theme Park,” was born.
This would be a millennium-old theme park, vast enough to satisfy players with various playstyles and imaginations. He believed that even the most outrageous players wouldn’t be too excessive, after all, their ultimate goal was to compete for first place.
He needed to construct new bodies for the players, these bodies didn’t need to have too powerful Mana, mostly requiring the players to improve themselves through the means provided here.
He needed to datafy various attributes, present the rankings, register all NPC names on the leaderboard, and let players start competing with these NPCs.
Beyond that, NPCs also needed to be more lifelike; their ability to resurrect needed to be preserved, but they could also record player actions, thereby reacting more genuinely.
Conservatively estimated, players would need a year’s time to achieve all the achievements, and during this period, he could absolutely use this to verify his success before coming back to check what was in the treasure chest.
After confirming his strategy, Fang Cheng started to take action.
A host of Immortal Spells were added into the underlying logic of this world, as an extra logic incorporated in, finally blending in inseparably.
Even though the world was already there, adding rules to an already sophisticated model wasn’t easy, and it took Fang Cheng a full week to complete the task.
When he reappeared in his studio, his staff were speechless.
Looking helplessly at Fang Cheng, who had been working overtime alone for a week, Xu Qingling finally said after half a day, “Boss…”
“I know, I’ll take time off later. But I’ve made a new game, Huang Ping, you’re in charge of optimizing it.”
“No, what I’m saying is, according to the studio’s latest policy, the boss doesn’t make up for overtime.”
Fang Cheng, puzzled, looked at Xu Qingling, who then added, “We all agreed to it.”
“When?”
“On the third day you were gone. We feel this rule helps the studio run smoothly, so we all agreed.”
“But…”
“Having the boss away has a fatal impact on the studio’s operations. Although we’re not very supportive, we could only agree in the end. So, please go to your own desk and then start working.”
And just like that, Fang Cheng inexplicably gained the freedom to work overtime. From now on, he could work overtime whenever he wanted, and until whatever time he pleased.
In response, the other planners felt quite envious but were helpless to change their situation.
Afterward, Xiao Douzi washed her hands three times then, with a pilgrim’s devotion, downloaded Fang Cheng’s new game and entered the world of “The Supreme One.”
According to Fang Cheng’s introduction, this was an open world filled with random events where players could play the roles they wanted and compete for the titles of “First Under Heaven.”
Its world was vast, with countless events. Achieving First Under Heaven would forever leave a player’s name in the world, and their actions would have a unique impact on the world.
After roughly understanding the gameplay and specific settings of the game, Wang Xiaoying was beyond excited.
A game this free truly suited her taste!
Various operational plans surged to her mind, making her gaze at the three planners with bright eyes, only one thought in her mind:
You guys have to be fast!