Chapter 286 - 272: Jade Dragon Continent, Floating Life Opera
Jade Dragon Continent, Biqu Dynasty.
An imperial edict was posted overnight. It read: "To reverse the fate of the nation and secure long-lasting peace, all young boys and girls within the dynasty’s borders have a duty to sacrifice for their country."
In an instant, the imperial court and the common people were thrown into turmoil.
Most local authorities merely paid lip service to the decree. The entire dynasty needed to round up eleven thousand children, and as long as their own city’s quota was manageable and their own children weren’t the ones being offered up, they didn’t care about anyone else’s.
But there were still some officials whose consciences hadn’t died. Reading the contents of the edict, they felt a chill seep into their very bones.
’Has the Emperor gone mad? To be so bewitched by that demonic Taoist that he’d use the lives of children to extend his own?!’
...
At the very same moment the edict was posted, a dynasty quest appeared on the game panels of all players whose starting location was within the Biqu Dynasty.
The golden scroll icon radiated imperial authority.
[Dynasty - Imperial Edict] Panacea of Longevity
Quest Description: By His Majesty’s sacred decree, to refine the "Rejuvenation Immortal Elixir" and stabilize the nation’s fate, we are now gathering "catalysts" from across the dynasty. Any who voluntarily offer a "Seven-Orifice Exquisite Heart" will have their family blessed with three generations of wealth and nobility. Any who assist the court in capturing these "catalysts" will be rewarded based on their contribution with vast sums of money, top-grade elixirs, Divine Weapons, and even official titles and peerage.
Quest Objective: Submit [Seven-Orifice Exquisite Heart] 0/11,000.
[Seven-Orifice Exquisite Heart]: The heart of a healthy boy or girl under the age of ten.
[Red Name Exemption]: As this quest was personally issued by the Emperor of the dynasty, you will receive a red name exemption for actions related to the quest, allowing you to eliminate disloyal subjects for His Majesty.
Issued by: Emperor Biqiu
This dynasty quest, personally issued by the emperor, sent massive waves crashing through the player community.
"Holy shit! A dynasty quest! The rewards are insane, aren’t they? Divine Weapons, official titles and peerage?!"
"Seven-Orifice Exquisite Heart? What the hell is that? Doesn’t sound like anything good."
"Did the guy above me not read the quest description? The hearts of young boys and girls... HISS—! This game is going that far?! Killing NPC kids?"
"So what if we kill them? They’re just a bunch of data, right? Trading them for Divine Weapons is a great deal! Bros, anyone want to team up and farm ’catalysts’?"
"Is the guy above me sick in the head? This game is so realistic, how can you bring yourself to do it? I can’t, anyway. Just wait till you get a red name, I’ll be waiting to PK you!!!"
"Exactly. Even if they’re NPCs, they look just like real people with their own families and lives. How could you kill kids just for some rewards?"
"Everyone stop arguing. The Biqu Dynasty is rotten to the core. The emperor himself is promoting this kind of evil shit. There’s no way to stay in this place anymore. I’m getting out of here. Anyone want to go to another continent or country with me?"
"Yeah, yeah, time to dip! Whoever wants to stay in this shitty dynasty can have it!"
In an instant, the player base fractured into several completely different factions over this quest.
However, the players who were disgusted by the dynasty quest and were packing their bags to leave the Biqu Dynasty frequently encountered certain individuals on their way out of the city. Some claimed to be court officials, concerned for the nation but unwilling to stoop to such levels. Others claimed to be secret agents of the court, acting on the orders of a certain Prince.
In various corners of the city, they would issue quests that were the complete opposite of the golden imperial edict. The rewards for these quests were meager, perhaps just a bit of money and a few basic elixirs, but they gave some players a reason to stay.
[A Righteous Man’s Choice]: Save those poor children.
[Guardian of the Shadows]: Help the boys and girls known as "catalysts" escape the court’s pursuit.
[Red Name Exemption]
...
The atmosphere within Biqu Royal City grew increasingly strange.
The announcement of the imperial edict made the common folk bolt their doors. The cries of children were muffled behind sealed windows, and the number of City Defense Army patrols on the streets doubled.
Finally, one player, confident in his own strength and seemingly driven by the massive rewards and a desire for chaos, made his choice. He rushed toward a woman cowering in a corner, clutching a five or six-year-old child, trying to hide. The player raised his long saber.
"Don’t be scared, little one. Uncle’s going to trade you for a Divine Weapon." His saber, aimed at the mother protecting her child, came crashing down.
"CLANG—!"
With a sharp ring, another sword appeared before his saber, blocking the fatal blow. "You animal! Attacking civilians! Are you even human?!"
This was the spark that lit the fuse.
"BOOM—!"
In an instant, Biqu Royal City descended into utter chaos.
One faction of players, spurred on by the brutal scene and the massive rewards, drew their weapons, their eyes glittering with excitement. A "feast of the hunt," unbound by any rules, had begun.
"Hahaha! Killing NPCs for loot drops is the natural order of things! And today they’re even throwing in official titles! I can finally try killing without any consequences!" a player shouted, charging toward the civilians clutching their children.
But another faction of players was stung by the all-too-real scene. The cries of the children and the desperate sight of parents shielding them with their bodies made it impossible for them to stand aside. "Fuck! I play games to have fun, not to be a piece of shit! Brothers! Group up! Even if it means getting a bounty and becoming an enemy of the dynasty, we have to kill these assholes who took the edict quest!"
They organized spontaneously, drawing their swords and charging the "hunters," ready to accept a red-named wanted status from the dynasty in their attempt to protect the innocent lives.
The NPCs in the city also made their choices.
The Imperial Guard emerged from the palace, their faces devoid of expression. "By His Majesty’s sacred decree! All who stand in our way shall be killed without mercy!" They stood with the "hunter" players, their blades pointed at the very subjects they were once meant to protect.
Meanwhile, some of the city’s wandering martial artists and soldiers with a remaining shred of conscience made the opposite choice. A lone wanderer with a greatsword on his back sent an Imperial Guard flying with a single strike as the guard tried to snatch a child. "We practice martial arts to protect the weak from the strong, not to aid a tyrant! Today, I turn my back on this man-eating dynasty!"
They stood with the guardian players, turning their blades against their former comrades. The entire Biqu Royal City had become a massive, chaotic battlefield.
"Fuck! Got one-shotted again! Bros, meet at the respawn point! Don’t forget to grab my gear! This dynasty bounty for being red-named is pretty steep! Coords (XXX, XXX), that Imperial Guard captain in the black armor is an elite mob, his drop rate has to be high!" But the players were fearless. "Forget the elite mob! Head to the east gate first! There are a few scumbags from the edict faction blocking the gate, not letting the NPCs with kids get out!"
They continuously respawned at the various revival points within the city. Some, upon reviving, would immediately draw their swords and charge back toward the enemy who had just killed them. Others rushed to different districts to engage the Imperial Guard and enemy players who were capturing children.
The flash of blades, the spray of blood and flesh.
But despite all this, in the chaos that engulfed the city, blades had no eyes. Innocent parents still fell into pools of their own blood trying to protect their children. Crying toddlers were still snatched from their parents’ arms by the Imperial Guard, or hoisted onto the shoulders of a sneering "hunter" player who had just slaughtered both parents, ready to be exchanged for a blood-soaked bounty.
As for the player who had lit the fuse, he had long since retreated into a dark alley amidst the chaos.
Biqu City had completely descended into a living hell.
Players could revive indefinitely. To them, death was merely the time cost of a corpse run and some minor penalties. But for the NPCs, who only had one life, being struck just once by a stray blade in the chaos meant the end.
Some players attempted to storm the palace, wanting to personally execute the emperor who had issued this bullshit quest. But inside the palace, the absurdly high-level Imperial Guard easily cut them down again and again. These players had not yet even begun their journey of cultivation, and even the occasional Cultivator among them found it impossible to advance, suppressed by the draconic aura of the dynasty.
The players were trapped in a cycle, endlessly running between the city’s respawn points and the bloody battlefield. Hatred mounted, growing deeper with each death. Some players, unable to stomach the hyper-realistic brutality, chose to log off after dying a few times.
...
「In the Imperial Palace, on the highest point of the Star-picking Platform」
Xuanchenzi and Emperor Biqiu stood side-by-side, admiring the grand spectacle of chaos unfolding below.
The Emperor watched the smoke rising from all corners of the city and listened to the faint sounds of battle, a greedy light glinting in his eyes.
To earn his trust, Xuanchenzi had even sent his own wife and children into the palace as hostages. At this moment, the Emperor could clearly feel it: as the slaughter in the city spread, the dynasty’s draconic aura was soaring at an unprecedented rate.
All of this made him even more certain that every word the National Preceptor had spoken was true.
Xuanchenzi gazed down at the living hell below, an extremely satisfied expression on his face. He turned to the Emperor beside him and asked, "No way, no way, right? Your Majesty, you didn’t actually believe that nonsense I spouted about ’trading mortal hearts for an immortal’s lifespan,’ did you? You actually believed it? Hehehehe~"
Hearing this, the Emperor shuddered violently and stared at him in disbelief.
He watched as Xuanchenzi’s face began to twist and deform like melting wax.
His face, corroded by sinister energy, gradually elongated. The corners of his eyes pulled upward, and his mouth split open into a smile like a theatrical mask—one half of his face weeping, the other laughing. Deep within his eye sockets, there were no pupils, only two constantly spinning black vortexes.
"Now that the goal has been achieved, it’s time for the play to end." He faced the Emperor and slowly chanted a verse: "Why ask if it’s real or fake? A handful of dust I offer to the heavens!"
As his voice fell, the Emperor suddenly felt the illusion of the soaring draconic aura shatter in an instant. He looked at his hands in horror. The dynasty’s draconic aura was, in fact, nearly gone...
’This man... When did he...’
Darkness consumed the Emperor’s vision...
...
With the death of the Emperor, all players in Biqu City who had accepted the edict quest and slaughtered large numbers of NPCs received a system notification simultaneously.
[System Warning: The issuer of Dynasty Quest [Panacea of Longevity] has died. Quest failed.]
[System Warning: All respawn points in the Biqu Dynasty have been destroyed.]
[You have died... Reviving at a random location outside the Biqu Dynasty... You have gained a negative status: Red Name (Blood Debt).]
Meanwhile, the players who had accepted the righteous quests and killed people in the process also received a mocking system notification, though it seemed they had also received a follow-up side quest.
[System Notification: The quests you accepted, [A Righteous Man’s Choice] and [Guardian of the Shadows], were fraudulent and have been forcibly canceled. Due to your participation in large-scale armed conflict within the Biqu Dynasty, your actions have been judged as Chaotic Neutral. You have gained a negative status: Red Name (Strife). Duration: 72 in-game hours. Have a nice game.]
[Your experiences in the Biqu Dynasty seem to have brushed against a vast, hidden shadow pulling the strings from behind the scenes.]
[Side Quest Unlocked (Rare): Floating Life Opera]
Quest Description:
A grand play has concluded in the Biqu Dynasty. It seems that everyone—emperor, loyal minister, rebel, hero, villain... all were merely actors on a stage, pulled by invisible strings until they had played out their parts.
You, as both a participant and a victim in this grand play, seem to have brushed against the puppeteer’s hand hidden behind the curtain.
Who are they? What do they want? Was this a predetermined script, or a chaotic improvisation?
Perhaps it is time to seek the answers.
Quest Objective: Find clues related to the incident (0/3)
Quest Rewards:
Experience (Inner Strength/Cultivation): [???] (Determined by quest completion and clues discovered)
Money/Spirit Stones: [???] (Determined by quest completion and clues discovered)
Magic Artifacts: [???] (Determined by quest completion and clues discovered)
At the same time, the players who had participated in the defense without accepting any quest were pleasantly surprised to find that their red names had also vanished upon revival.
[System Notification: Due to the fall of the Biqu Dynasty, your red-named wanted status from this dynasty has been cleared. This dynasty has been destroyed. Would you like to reincarnate in another region?]