After the Masked Emperor returned, the blacksmiths discussed it and decided to log off.

After all, they'd been sitting in the ruins playing card games all day.

Finally, someone took the bait, gleefully pulling off a show, full of cryptic messages, very cool and aloof... once it ended, it was almost seven o'clock.

In reality, the person they intended to lure out wasn't necessarily the Masked Emperor.

Anyway, they just wanted to give it a try here, and if someone came to spy, they could bamboozle them... while publicly putting on a show, flaunting their prowess.

If no one came to watch, it wouldn't matter either.

Basically, they're just that crazy.

Jiucai Rong and Mudworker logged off one after another.

"Next, the Gale Emperor will start responsible for AFK grinding..."

"He should continue hunting those people down, resuming last night's combat, while the Masked Emperor will act as an inside agent in the combat, delivering the fatal blow."

"We've already written the script; everything's on autopilot!"

"Maybe when we log in tomorrow, it's all taken care of."

They didn't need to interfere. Everything would proceed naturally.

The Masked Emperor is a clever person, and the Gale Emperor is a cunning little weasel... clever people don't need hints; they'll handle things themselves.

...

The night was as smooth as water.

At seven o'clock in the evening, Jiucai Rong logged out of the game and stretched lazily.

"Got it done; this show-off was truly satisfying!"

"If I were truly the strategist from the Otherworld, with astonishing eloquence, convincing a legendary ancient Great Emperor... that would be great!"

People play games essentially to experience the thrill of being a hero, a powerhouse inside the game.

And today, he completely felt that sensation.

By comparison, the real world is such a boring game; no wonder so many people get hooked on games.

Even if you're doing boring tasks in a game, it's still enjoyable, let alone being a lamp-post capitalist, tormenting others while enjoying yourself.

Phew!

He took a deep breath and started ordering takeout.

This time, returning home for the New Year, he took advantage of the vacation to move to a small villa from his previous rental place.

Reflecting on over half a year ago, he was still a struggling graduate, dumped by his girlfriend, exposed in the game...

Now he was already a big streamer.

Of course, other blacksmiths were also streaming, recording live gameplay, such as King's Canyon from the game, which recently became popular for earning money.

Twenty minutes later.

The delivery arrived, and Jiucai Rong, having taken a bath, was full and began browsing the forums.

Today, everyone was discussing his charismatic presence, impressive eloquence, dramatic artistry, full of ups and downs.

They were also discussing what impact the Masked Emperor's formal joining, as one of the first combat NPCs, would have on their manor?

In Jiucai Rong's view, the impact was certain; for instance, those who only knew how to act tough were becoming a force with genuine depth.

Of course.

Some people were looking ahead, skipping today's discussion, focusing on the future, like his good buddy Night Mad Cultivator.

[Prediction Post: End of the Divine Statue Era dungeon! We will completely break free from the ineffective combat mode; after half a year of testing, the combat power system is officially online!!]

The post was very lively, with a crowd discussing it.

Just posted for over ten minutes, and there were already hundreds of replies.

"Hello everyone, I'm your old friend Night Mad Cultivator, head of the think tank at Sword Casting Manor, specializing in leading dungeon raids, strategizing, and guiding the manor's development."

"Today, the Masked Emperor's surrender was unexpected; the benefits from this dungeon are unimaginably large; it's being discussed by many, so I won't delve too much into that. I want to talk about something else."

"After half a year of testing, the [combat power system] has finally appeared, not like the pseudo-human possession system we previously had, which relied on substitution to provide combat power, but our own body's realm advancement!"

"As everyone knows, we are a management-type game; the realm remains our pain point, although the racial synthesis and various Immortal Beast races give most blacksmiths a Five-Body Realm Great Perfection at birth; even some old blacksmiths have progressed to the Four Viscera Realm, but it's still too slow."

Reading this, Jiucai Rong agreed.

After half a year, Five-Body Realm Great Perfection, Four Viscera Realm early period?

Is this called slow?

In any sect, this would be considered fast!

But blacksmiths are different; although it seems a hundred years have passed, in reality, they've only been managing the manor for half a year.

Other games during half a year of testing are still in low-level maps...

And looking at their upgrade speed now, it's not considered slow in traditional online games, thanks to the synthesized races, they had a certain realm at birth, barely filling in some shortcomings.

Night Mad Cultivator:

"Our blacksmiths' spring is about to arrive; the Divine Statue system is clearly a newly opened farming feature; we capture some prodigies back as statues, hanging them as street lamps, placing them in the upgrade square for reincarnation."

"What do we call this? This is the Reincarnation Hall! Break it down further: Warrior Reincarnation Hall, Mage Reincarnation Hall, Knight Reincarnation Hall... doesn't it have that flavor? We capture all the big shots back, categorize them."

"We can plunder their cultivation! This completely matches our Green Hat Manor's great ambition!"

"Everything is predestined in the unseen!"

"Everything follows the storyline of a single green word!"

"Brothers, shout with me: Thanks to the great Green Hat Manor Master!"

...

...

Crazy.

Jiucai Rong showed a hint of a smile reading this.

Night Mad Cultivator ought to have understood the plan this time.

Green is the main theme.

Even the upgrade reincarnation system is full of creativity.

Jiucai Rong even thought that this might be conceived inspired by his lampost idea, leading to this street lamp Divine Statue reincarnation system.

Truly an interesting worldview.

Night Mad Cultivator:

"Now the formal opening of the reincarnation combat system is a special new growth point, the [Profession Hall]."

"Each major player can capture prodigies back to become statues; anyone who comes to you to reincarnate as this prodigy will have to pay a patent fee!"

"This gameplay, thinking about it is super cool, I'm already impatient, wanting to capture lots and lots of Bai Xinglings, Jian Xins... to come back and become statues, then collect dividends, everyone replicating them... this money can definitely be earned superbly! o(*￣︶￣*)o"

"Brothers, why are you still waiting? [Race Login] is where we create races and collect patent fees, [Reincarnation Hall] is where we create professions and collect patent fees."

"The entire manor's progression system is crafted by us blacksmiths! This is where the fun in management games lies; this inventive gameplay is unprecedented in the history of gaming!"

The post ends here, leaving Jiucai Rong in a thoughtful expression. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Everything was progressing step by step!

After the public testing, those players will come in droves, logging races, reincarnating, they all have to pay the patent fee to these testing players...

We build the game framework for you, you come in to select races, reincarnate, fight monsters, you have to pay us money?

Just thinking about this made him feel great.

Though, it seemed he, Jiucai Rong, had started this business early on, like writing game update logs instead of the official.

Jiucai Rong scanned the comments below, everyone bragging:

"Hahaha, so fun!"

"Wow, wow, wow, so that's how it is, it's actually progressive, we're all working for the public test, perfecting the worldview!"

"Dividends, I want dividends! Creating races, creating professions... waiting for the masses of novice players to storm in, hahaha, Jiucai, lots of Jiucai! Gagagaga!"

"I thought of a special gameplay, guild monopoly, certain special strong races, special professions... it's our guild's exclusive patent, want it? Join us."

"Hahaha, those players will cry when they come in."

"You've got this game figured out."

"No way, guild monopoly, can't be without Bai Xingling, I must rush to capture him as a street lamp, waiting for others to reincarnate as the Qi Fortune protagonist, they can only come to my guild!"

"Damn, Bai Xingling is mine!"

"He's mine, actually."

...

Everyone's eyes light up, the gameplay is freshly updated.

They're already thinking about how to build the street lamps, continuing the great glorious era of the Divine Statue civilization.