To ascend, I had no choice but to create games

Underneath their madness, the driving force was to accumulate stronger power to obtain the title of First Under Heaven.

This driving force aligned with the game objectives Fang Cheng had set for himself previously, so there was no issue here, and it was fine to let it be.

However, Fang Cheng found the actions of the Morals Aid Group quite interesting.

They were engaged in some outlandish activities, their overly abstract methods were somewhat cryptic, but he felt they were enjoying themselves.

Considering them as a key observation target for the future, Fang Cheng said goodbye to the old Taoist and headed to the next Taoist Academy to continue his journey as “First Under Heaven Taoist”.

The next destination was Lake City, a town dissected by extensive waterways, with each household owning a small boat in front of their doors.

When it rained heavily, people traveled by boat; when the rains subsided, the roads underneath would emerge and they could also travel on foot.

When Fang Cheng arrived, it happened to be a season of little rain; seeing the houses floating above was quite an amusing sight.

However, upon leaving the Teleportation Array and trying to head to the Taoist temple to obtain the token, he noticed an increase in the number of soldiers around.

Leading each squad of soldiers was a constable dressed in dark red clothes, their faces grim and bodies stiff like zombies, yet their capturing skills were all around level thirty.

Seeing Fang Cheng step out of the Teleportation Array, the leading constable’s eyes lit up, and he shouted fiercely, “That’s an Alien, take him down!”

The sound of arrows being fired rang out as someone aimed at Fang Cheng with a drawn bow, seemingly intent on shooting him dead on the spot.

Fang Cheng waved his hand, and as the spell unfolded, the arrows immediately fell from the sky, landing on the ground.

Leaving a clone in place, the true body of Fang Cheng snuck past the group busy with the clone and entered the city.

Although it was still daylight, the citizens had already entered a state of martial law.

Every household had shut their doors, and fierce-looking soldiers patrolled everywhere, arresting aliens and throwing them into prison.

Concealing his presence, Fang Cheng walked into the dungeon curiously and saw that prison guards were already stationed there.

The arrested Aliens were immediately disassembled by the prison guards using the Bone Diverting Hand, their joints dismantled, and their limbs folded into blocks not even half a square meter in size, with only their mouths left to protest.

Locked in their cells, these players furiously cursed at the NPC guards and, finding no one paid them heed, they went online to various groups to unleash their rage against these NPCs.

[The NPCs have gone mad!]

[I was doing the First Under Heaven Butcher quest, almost had my ten thousand pigs for a statue! Now look, the pigs are gone, and so am I!]

[One second the NPCs are all smiles and talks with me; the next, they’ve turned around and captured me. You don’t mess with Method-acting NPCs, but I like it!]

[I’ve made it to Top Scholar with help from Wikipedia and various ancient texts. Next up was reviving Confucianism to become the First Under Heaven scholar. Then suddenly I’m thrown in jail. Can’t handle the heat, can you?]

Players with dislocated joints didn’t count as dead but were imprisoned and couldn’t leave the cells.

While many players could be defeated by NPCs, quite a few had managed to escape; some paths chosen by players were particularly suited for breaking free in this chaos, and these players quickly formed a QQ group to attempt the rescue of the trapped players.

Game journalist Chen Rang immediately smelled a big story – confrontations where NPCs took action against players were very rare events.

Taking along his Mukuai, he made an agreement that should he be captured, Mukuai would leave immediately and not come back under any circumstances.

Moved by Chen Rang’s words, Mukuai promised to run when the time came, but also insisted on coming back for the rescue.

Thereafter, Chen Rang lived dangerously in the game, sneaking around various areas with Mukuai, their skills related to espionage continuously improving, and their findings were reported hourly.

[Latest Intelligence: NPCs pursuing players is related to First Under Heaven eunuch, powerbroker, and overlord Zhao Qin. Zhao Qin, aged sixty-five, once called by the late emperor as having the vision of an eagle and a wolf’s guard, is born a scheming minister. However, before anyone could depose him, he died suddenly, the cause unknown. Afterwards, the young emperor took the throne, and Zhao Qin became the power behind the throne and has been controlling the court ever since. The order to capture players came from him.]

[Latest Intelligence: Many positions of First Under Heaven have changed; numerous strong players have gathered at the imperial palace, indicating that something big is about to happen.]

[Latest Intelligence: The First Under Heaven Taoist has gone mad, slaughtering many Temple Masters. From what our reporters observed, he seems to have used some secret technique, improving his Taoism level with each batch of Temple Masters killed, having broken past the level sixty barrier, with profound and unfathomable strength.]

[Latest Intelligence: Many First Under Heaven title holders have started attacking others in the same field; players could usually advance step by step, but now the path is blocked. It’s speculated that the game developers are increasing the difficulty for players, but the operators have yet to respond.]

[Latest Intelligence: I’ve been captured, tell my Mukuai, I…]

Players and media had differing reactions to this turn of events.