Lord Shenxiu

Seven days later.

Underneath the walls of Cangyuan County City.

From a distance, a vast army approached—an imposing force of at least thirty thousand!

"To attack and occupy a county, thirty thousand is the bare minimum."

At the core of the formation, Shen Mo confidently expounded, "Our Daxia Alliance's five thousand Black Tiger Army, composed entirely of players, along with twenty-five thousand auxiliary soldiers. Although not all are Martial Artists, they are equipped with improved rifles and cannons… under a barrage of bullets, even a Fourth Grade Martial Artist would have to retreat three times! After laboring in agriculture for a year, this time, we will truly shock the world!"

"Yes."

Xie Biqi also added, "The veteran players are cheering ecstatically, eager for revenge… In fact, when several top players advanced to Fourth Grade, they were ready to move against Tu Qianqiu, but an internal voting decided that they would seek revenge together, and no one was allowed to act first… Not only that but they also secretly protected Tu Qianqiu several times, preserving this 'BOSS' until now."

Shen Mo's lips twitched slightly, "Making such pointless things… should we say it's typical of players?"

"However… recently, the players' leveling speed has generally slowed down a lot."

Within the Ninth Grade Martial Artists, advancing from Seventh to Sixth Grade, and breaking from Fourth to Third Grade, are significant milestones.

Currently, only veteran players and top players have reached the Third and Fourth Grade, while most open beta players are still stuck between the Sixth and Seventh Grades.

"Indeed, the higher the grade of the Martial Artist, the more experience is needed for advancement, and it seems to be related to talent and constitution… Of course, we don't need to worry about that much."

Xie Biqi said, "And the resources required for real-world level advancement are ten times or even dozens of times more than in the game, and now we only have reports from Fourth Grade Martial Artists…"

Shen Mo nodded silently, falling into a thoughtful silence.

Investigations on the destructive power of Fourth Grade Martial Artists, and simulations on how to kill them, were ongoing in various major headquarters around the world.

So far, many results and data had been collected.

For example, the Martial Will of Fourth Grade Martial Artists has a limit to its expansion, and the farther the distance, the less the impact.

Therefore, the best strategy to deal with high-level Martial Arts practitioners was to deploy drones or remotely controlled weapons, forcing them into uninhabited areas and then commence a missile barrage.

Essentially, it was just a matter of how much it would cost, but they could always be killed in the end.

"The attack on Cangyuan County City was also prompted by the rapid development of other player guilds, like Divine Domain and Divine Wind Team… Each occupying a city or a territory, yet, our Da Xia Empire's guild remains the most powerful!"

Currently, the Da Xia Empire hosted only one player guild, the Daxia Alliance!

Over ten thousand registered players, leading in both the gaming world and reality!

"Moreover, the pattern for acquiring experience points has been discovered; the greater the influence, the easier it is to harvest experience points…"

Shen Mo stated, "With those guilds aggressively conquering territories, our Daxia Alliance cannot remain idle. This attack on Tianyuan Sect is merely a drill; our real target is the White Tiger Sect! The think tank has already prepared a plan on how to capture Dingzhou."

"With our grand army, even if it's just the auxiliary troops, defeating the army of the White Tiger Sect wouldn't be a problem."

Xie Biqi considered, even for a hegemonic sect like the White Tiger Sect that dominates an entire region, their elite White Tiger Warriors, who are all Martial Artists, have never exceeded ten thousand.

Most of them are from the ordinary soldier corps, numbering a hundred thousand.

While the soldiers may have practiced some Martial Arts, most are ordinary people, with Martial Artists serving as officers.

Such a large army, even if several hundred thousand strong, the Daxia Alliance could confidently break through using barrages of bullets and modern infantry formations!

"The most crucial… or rather, the most concerning, are still the experts of the White Tiger Sect above Third Grade."

Xie Biqi explained, "About the levels above Third Grade, although it's a secret, we have gathered and analyzed information… Third Grade Martial Artists reach Great Perfection in vitality, spirit, and essence, invulnerable, capable of catching bullets with their bodies… The influence range of their Martial Will also expands, which would be troublesome in reality, but in the game, we ourselves are at Third Grade. Even if it takes ten of us to fight one, if we can't kill him, we'll exhaust him to death!"

"Second Grade Martial Artists, known as—Heavenly Phenomenon! They can mobilize the power of heavenly phenomena within a certain range, about several miles… The lethality and range are terrifying, ordinary people or low-grade Martial Artists would all die in droves, but by deploying Martial Artists above Fifth Grade and grinding them down slowly, there's still a chance."

"First Grade Martial Artists, known as—Spirit Suppressing! One person can suppress an entire region, the true peak of Martial Arts, the highest cultivation level of hegemonic sects like the White Tiger Sect, specific destructiveness and parameters unknown… but if we, the Third Grade veteran players, are willing to sacrifice ourselves, we also stand a strong chance."

"The ultimate level, Holy Immortals, is just a legend…"

...

Shen Mo gazed at the walls of Cangyuan County City, suddenly sighing, "Even you are using the term 'veteran players,' which seems to be dividing our player community…"

Xie Biqi was stunned, then murmured, "I'm just used to it…"

After the public test of "Game Different World," only about a hundred thousand players were recruited, then the selection was halted.

Among these hundred thousand plus players, factions and natural divisions gradually formed.

Such as, veteran players from the closed beta, versus new players from the open beta.

And high-skilled players versus the less skilled.

Shen Mo was aware of this trend but had no good solution.

If someone excels in gaming, achieving rapid level advancements, what can you do?

In this world, after ascending in rank, they indeed became vastly different from ordinary people, even a single level difference seemed like a chasm.

When people inherently differ in strength, how could one prevent the emergence of classes and cliques?

"Captain Xie! Prepare for the attack."

Shen Mo sighed, his expression suddenly becoming very serious, "I hope you'll always remember your identity and your stance…"

"Understood."

Xie Biqi responded loudly, then shivered internally.

She always felt as if this major battle also encompassed other issues.

Boom, boom!

The war drums began to beat.

The modern auxiliary forces of twenty-five thousand soldiers arranged their formation, the cannon covers were lifted, ready to fire at any moment.

"Fire!"

Boom!

As the commanding officer's voice roared out, the cannons bellowed angrily.

Projectiles filled with kinetic energy smashed against the tall and majestic ancient walls of Cangyuan County City, bursting in succession.

Bricks and stones scattered, causing the scores of soldiers guarding the walls to be torn apart.

"Foreigners' cannons?"

Tu Qianqiu watched this scene, her eyes nearly bursting with rage.

She had long since stolen the formula for gunpowder and blueprints for the Firearms Workshop from foreigners. However… her local craftsmen were never quite as good as theirs.

When cannons were developed, the Sect Master had immediately ordered replication, but neither their range nor power was satisfactory.

Now facing the real deal, the few cannons on the city walls were instantly destroyed, utterly ineffective.