"Hey hey hey?"

"I can hear you, stop yelling..."

After putting on the headset and joining the voice channel, Guo Mo asked Pan Yang on the other end, "Have you started streaming?"

"I did, what about you?"

"I haven’t yet, let me change the title of my stream room first..."

Guo Mo and Pan Yang have been old friends since they first met in the game "Star Emperor," and later streamed "Divine Grace Continent" together, forming a deep bond.

This time for the second test of "Cultivation Fantasy," they invited many streamers to join, and since they were very familiar with each other, they simply teamed up by connecting their mics.

After changing the stream room title to "Cultivation Fantasy Second Test: Cultivating Immortality with Old Pan," Guo Mo also started streaming.

Both had long downloaded the client for "Cultivation Fantasy."

All they needed was to log into their Tianba Accounts, enter the test activation code, and they could enter the game for a first-hand experience of this MMO gaming world of immortal heroes.

It’s worth noting.

During the second testing phase, the game only had one "test-specific" server to choose from, and only five sects were open.

"What are you planning to play?"

"I choose Spirit Pill Sect to do Alchemy, what about you?"

"Then I’ll be an Array Master..."

Pan Yang chose to be an Alchemist, while Guo Mo thought about it and felt being an Array Master would be better, allowing them to support each other.

Playing this type of MMO with good friends, the most taboo thing is everyone choosing the same profession, as it leads to resource waste and overlapping roles.

It’s best to choose different professions; otherwise, if everyone chooses the same, then they wouldn’t be able to manage dungeons?

"Thankfully, this game doesn’t have Priest or Healer roles, otherwise I’d have to play Priest!" Guo Mo joked.

The sects in "Cultivation Fantasy" aren’t the traditional battle-priest-mage iron triangle, with the role of Priest evenly distributed among each sect.

So you can choose any sect, as each one has some Priest abilities, making everyone a Priest.

[Please enter a nickname]

[Transforming Martin]

After giving himself a nickname, Guo Mo created a mature female character with Fox Maiden features, before entering the game.

The chat was flooded with comments calling him crazy, questioning why he didn’t create a male character.

To this, Guo Mo couldn’t help but retort, "Come on, with single-player games, you seek immersion, so creating a male character is fine, but for these MMO games, you want me staring at a man’s butt all day?"

Stop joking!

In MMO games, since the characters typically have their backs facing the player, having a good-looking face isn’t important; but the back view must be captivating.

Understanding this well, Guo Mo decisively chose a mature female character, focusing on an eye-pleasing aesthetic.

In these MMO games, he really can’t stand staring at a male character’s butt all day.

"Absolutely right!"

Pan Yang supported Guo Mo, stating he also created a mature female with not only a perky behind but also impressively long legs, making the view quite enjoyable.

It’s noteworthy that in "Cultivation Fantasy," players can shape not only human characters but also various non-human races.

For instance, Guo Mo’s character is a Fox Maiden, with a long tail and fluffy ears...

"Is the Newbie Village this small?"

Upon entering the game, players are greeted by the Newbie Village, the place where every player is born.

It’s a barren mountain, lush with trees, and at the end of a winding path stands an antiquated Taoist temple.

In front of the temple stands an elderly man with white hair and beard, with a flashing red exclamation mark above him, signaling he has tasks for players.

Guo Mo and Pan Yang followed the other players to the old Daoist to take on the main quest: Descend the Mountain!

The old Daoist tells players they are orphans he rescued, with all their family wiped out. Now, they are of age, with excellent bones, and need not stay in the mountain to accompany an old man like him.

"Ah, the newbie quest!"

Upon receiving the main quest of seeking the Immortal Gate, Guo Mo and Pan Yang lamented, "Is it more courier work?"

These kinds of MMO games are full of tasks like running errands and defeating monsters, which can be quite tiresome.

Being veteran players, Guo Mo and Pan Yang naturally understand the process here, so after receiving the quest, they figured it would be a series of running around maps fighting monsters.

But the outcome was unexpected.

After leaving the barren mountains and entering the map named Wulin Town, the main quest didn’t require players to run errands fighting monsters, but simply gave the instruction "Stay in place."

Players can roam freely in Wulin Town, with no specific task prompts, the sole rule being that they cannot leave Wulin Town.

Once disciples from the seven Immortal Gates arrive at Wulin Town and start testing Spirit Roots, players can then proceed to choose their respective sects.

During this time, the main quest doesn’t demand players meet the Blacksmith, Tailor, or Village Chief, nor does it require slaying wolves, pigs, and the like.

"Quite convenient..."

Guo Mo joked, "First time playing an MMO without errands or map running, I’m finding it hard to adjust."

"Me too."

Pan Yang heartily agreed.

An MMO without errands or map running, that’s very rare! Both being new to experiencing such newbie quests, they developed significant anticipation for the subsequent tasks in "Cultivation Fantasy."

Would the initial convenience be a means of dulling the senses? Perhaps the map running and errands come later?

"No errands required?"

Entering their respective sects, the first phase of the main quest was deemed complete, and the second phase simply stated: Improve cultivation to the early stage of Qi Cultivation, upgrade to an official disciple!

Such a concise task description.

This made Guo Mo a bit confused; it’s the first time he’s encountered such a straightforward newbie quest, and he truly feels a bit at a loss.

When players first enter the sect, their status is that of a servant disciple. To advance to become a formal disciple, they need to transform from a mortal into a cultivator, upgrading their status to the Qi Cultivation Stage.

Once you’re in the Qi Cultivation Stage, you’re no longer a mere mortal!

Players only receive the main quest to break through to the early Qi Cultivation stage, but how exactly to break through, cultivate, and improve their strength must all be explored independently.

The live chat was also offering advice to Guo Mo.

"Go to the Task Hall, take on servant tasks, and earn spirit stones as rewards to accelerate cultivation and improve your skills."

"Running errands? Impossible to run errands; won’t run errands this lifetime. I will focus on my training, and won’t come out until I reach the Qi Cultivation Stage..."

"Take a stroll in the wild, maybe you’ll encounter a dying Divine Beast and soar to the sky?"

"Hilarious! This isn’t some online game novel, there’s not that many adventures for you to bump into."

The chat’s suggestions were all feasible.

In the end, Guo Mo thought about it and decided to head to the Task Hall to take on servant disciple-exclusive tasks and earn some spirit stone rewards.

Aside from being currency used to purchase items, spirit stones can also be used to aid cultivation, enhancing the efficiency of spiritual energy absorption.

These are good things!

With enough spirit stones, even a pig could embark on the path of immortal cultivation and become an immortal pig.

Players surely have an edge over pigs, so with the aid of spirit stones for cultivation, breaking through the Qi Cultivation Stage should be a breeze.

Servant tasks were rather simple.

Removing weeds and watering spirit plants, cleaning up, transporting various sect items, etc. As a servant disciple, Guo Mo couldn’t take monster-slaying tasks.

No choice!

The Cultivation Realm is indeed harsh; servant disciples have low power, and where would they have the right to go out and slay demons? Just honestly fetch water and do the watering!

Although within different sects, apart from differences in maps and buildings, the other workflows are essentially the same.

So Guo Mo took up servant tasks, and while fetching water and watering, Pan Yang wasn’t having it any better, cleaning up!

After completing a round of servant tasks and earning a spirit stone reward, players can then accelerate cultivation, advance to the early Qi Cultivation stage, and participate in the formal disciple evaluations.

The evaluation task was straightforward: players must frontally defeat a puppet at the early Qi Cultivation stage; successfully defeating it escalates them to formal disciples; failing leads to a second chance assessment.

Guo Mo was fortunate; he smoothly passed the evaluation in his first attempt, advancing from servant disciple to formal disciple.

After advancing, most game features were unlocked.

Similarly, the next stage’s quest prompt was still very simple: advance to the mid Qi Cultivation phase, do array formation/alchemy, etc., for the first time.

"Okay, I can fight monsters now."

Guo Mo called on Pan Yang, and the two went through the teleportation array to the wild, forming a team to start slaying various monsters to increase experience and skills.

Leveling up early is quite tedious.

Especially in games like Cultivation Fantasy, without looking at guides, playing is indeed quite tough, and it’s just head-down monster grinding to level up.

"Hey, did a secret manual drop?"

Guo Mo was rather lucky; after slaying a wild wolf monster at the early Qi Cultivation stage, he unexpectedly scored a skill book with an extremely low drop rate.

Unfortunately, this manual only boosts speed, and cannot be used to increase attack power or efficiency in monster grinding, truly a bit useless.

"Having it is better than nothing."

Compared to Guo Mo’s disdain, Pan Yang’s eyes were red; he’s slain so many monsters, and why hasn’t a single skill book dropped for him?

This isn’t fair!

Cultivation Fantasy, this broken game is definitely targeting him; the drop rates for monsters are truly heart-wrenching.

The two were grinding monsters partly to accumulate experience, and also hoping to grind out some materials needed for alchemy and array formation.

But the result...

They ground monsters for half a day; got loads of experience, but the materials they wanted barely appeared.

"Is there an issue with item drop rates?"

Pan Yang was almost at his breaking point; grinding wild monsters for half a day and coming up empty felt terribly bad.

He’s never played such a stingy MMO game before; such just a bit of newbie-required materials, does the drop rate need to be set so low?

"Don’t rush, I took a look..."

Compared to Pan Yang, who was on the verge of breaking, Guo Mo examined the game manual and seemed to have found the answer.

"The game’s item drop rates, whether outdoors or in dungeons, are all linked to a system called Merit!"

"The higher the merit, the higher the probability of item drops, and the chances for high-level or rare loot to drop will also increase. Conversely, the lower the merit, the less drop yield..."

"Merit?"

Having never expected this, Pan Yang was somewhat surprised: "How do you acquire this thing?"

"It’s not clearly stated here, only mentioning that doing good deeds, slaying demons to eliminate karmic force and other game behaviors, can earn Heavenly Dao Merit."

Don’t mention Pan Yang’s confusion.

Even Guo Mo, after glancing at the game manual, was filled with question marks.

This Heavenly Dao Merit thing, being described so mysteriously is one thing, but even its acquisition method seems elusive? 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Doing good deeds to earn merit?

Not... how do you do good deeds in a game? And what exactly is the standard for doing good deeds, what level of good deeds has hope of earning merit rewards?

Does helping an elderly woman cross the street count?