Interstellar Travel: Becoming a Dress-Up Game Designer

Chapter 257

He said awkwardly, "Go on, hahaha..."

A player nearby asked curiously, "Why are you fetching water from down the mountain? Isn't there any up there?"

There should have been water; the whole way was wet, and there were even small puddles in some places on the stone steps.

The young man picked up his carrying pole and continued walking, saying steadily as he went, "Because there is no water on the mountain."

"Um...why do you live on a mountain where there is no water?"

There really is no water?

The water on the stone steps wasn't spilled by them while carrying water, was it? If so, it's quite wasteful.

"Because the mountain is rich in spiritual energy, it is suitable for cultivation."

"Huh? Cultivation... I know that, but what is spiritual energy?"

"Things gained through cultivation and insight."

"..."

I asked a pointless question.

His teammate slapped him on the shoulder and said, "It's the 100 power source we have, the one that activates the Red Embroidered Ball. The Red Embroidered Ball and Guardian Spirit events introduced spiritual energy, which seems to be a kind of energy that can make players stronger."

"Ah... I remember now! But these things are actually related?"

"I think so."

This player wasn't quite sure either, as he wasn't familiar with it. The Qingfengyi event is actually rather disorganized; if you don't play seriously, you won't understand the story at all.

A teammate said, "There's definitely no connection, but it's useful here. Let's go! Let's go up and see what's here."

A player following closely behind interjected, "Qingfengyi has a main storyline; every event actually has a story and a main plot behind it."

The player who was just chatting looked blank. "Really?"

The player who interrupted said, "I'm a player from the Story Pavilion. We have the complete storyline, and even some predictions about the future developments based on Qingfengyi's current progress. If you're interested, you can check it out. You can unlock all the storylines for just 200 gold ingots."

Forehead......

It turned out to be an advertisement, but unfortunately, the two people had absolutely no interest in the storyline and weren't his target customers. Seeing that they knew nothing and couldn't remember anything made the situation clear. The player, however, didn't care; story-driven players didn't need customers to buy the story content now. They just needed to know about their storyline section and remember it when needed.

The game's freedom is so great that players can build their own information cocoons, completely ignoring anything they're not interested in. This doesn't affect normal gameplay at all, a feature that sets it apart from most games.

As everyone continued their ascent, they unexpectedly saw players carrying water.

Are they all about challenging oneself?

The players who had just tried it thought these players were pretty amazing, managing to lift themselves from the bottom to the top. Excited and full of admiration, they ran over and asked, "You guys are incredible! You actually managed to lift the water..."

The conversation abruptly ended because there wasn't much water in the bucket, just a thin layer. Because everyone was lingering there, lifting the bucket created a large ripple, causing a lot of water to flow out and creating the illusion of a spring. However, the water evaporated completely in the lower sections of the path where it had been sitting for a long time.

I swallowed back the words of praise I was about to say; I felt a little stifled. The players carrying water, on the other hand, were very confident and proud. They had carried water up hundreds of steps; who could be so impressive?

Some players asked, "What are you carrying water for?"

The player carrying water said, "We apprenticed under a master in a Taoist temple to learn martial arts; this is part of our training."

"You can find a master on the mountain? Is the kung fu you learn very powerful?"

"Wow, that's amazing! It really is like the light-footed skills that we can't learn in the martial arts world of China. It can fly out in a flash, which is extremely elegant and cool."

"I heard that it can even fly later on, I'm so excited just thinking about it."

"As powerful as a household guardian spirit?"

"It's much better than that one. You'll see when you go up there."

The words piqued the interest of many players, who abandoned climbing the stairs and instead rode up the red embroidered ball. Upon arriving at the Taoist temple they had mentioned, a cutscene and special effects played as they entered the temple gates.

The first scene shows many people practicing swordsmanship in a martial arts training ground, their postures graceful and their movements cool, their sword energy powerful and fierce. After practicing for a while, they discover that this is just one of the sects, called the Sword Splendor Sect. The disciples there wear greyish-white Taoist robes and dark blue hats. They have ankle braces and look full of energy. Then, NPCs with different styles of clothing appear, each wielding a sword—red, pinkish-white, black, and blue—and they all gather together, seemingly vying for the title of martial arts leader?

The video was quite long, a full two minutes, after which several lines of text appeared on the screen:

The martial arts world of China is a battleground for heroes!

Hundreds of schools of thought, each with its own unique skills, will gather at the summit and fight to become famous throughout the world!

The leader of the martial arts world meets once every ten years; who can rival him?

The world of martial arts heroes awaits your challenge!

After this section ends, the system will display a notification stating that this is the latest update to the Huaxia Jianghu dungeon. Only unique martial arts moves can be used in this dungeon; damage skills from other systems are not permitted.

The player was puzzled; were there other damage skill systems?

Before everyone's curiosity could be answered, the second part of the story began. It started at Xiong'er Mountain, followed by Huashan, Wudang Mountain, and many other mountain ranges. The initial perspective was an overhead shot of various breathtaking natural barriers, densely forested. Cranes and other birds and beasts cried out in unison, and distant clouds and mist shrouded the landscape, creating an extremely majestic and awe-inspiring atmosphere. It was as if the world was incredibly small, capable of changing in the blink of an eye.

Many players couldn't help but worry about the mountains, wondering if they would be completely swallowed by the clouds and mist. Just as their perspective began to drop, the clouds and mist slowly began to tinge with vibrant colors, and a beautiful sun rose. The sunlight was initially tinged with water mist and felt icy, but it grew warmer and warmer over time. Then, they realized the clouds and mist had dissipated, leaving only the sun high in the sky, the colorful leaves, and the dewdrops clinging to them.

Just then, a thatched hut appeared before them, inside which lived an old man with a white beard, who was refining elixirs. (For those who might not understand this part, Qingfengyi thoughtfully added narration.)

It is said that many mountain gods and reclusive immortals live in the mountains, simple and unadorned, protecting this place. There are also some highly accomplished individuals who live here, yearning to cultivate themselves into immortals. After developing certain abilities on their own, they become known to the surrounding villagers or gentry, who then worship them as gods and offer them incense. This is how they achieve godhood through the incense offerings of the human world and their own cultivation.

In the story, the old man concocted many pills and kept them unused most of the time. However, he would distribute these pills to the world when a major epidemic broke out, to cure the sick and save lives.

He saved so many people that he accumulated a great deal of merit. In addition, those he saved offered incense and built shrines for him, so this hermit became an immortal.

Some people become gods by performing meritorious deeds in temples or by being granted titles by the emperor, while others become gods by saving countless ghosts and doing good deeds throughout their lives.

Regardless of the method, the path to divinity is based on benevolence and merit. This is part of the cultural heritage of the Chinese people. Many say that the Chinese are uncivilized and lack manners, which is utter nonsense. Undeniably, in an era without formal education, most people did not pay much attention to personal cultivation, but the quality of character inherited from this civilization is not low. At least this nation is warm, benevolent, and moral. This is especially true regarding the constraints placed on superiors; it's a relatively effective means for the weak to restrain the strong. However, its effectiveness depends on whether those in power care; if they don't, it's of little use.

This part of the story is quite long, lasting a full five minutes. Most of it tells players how to become a deity, which translates to gameplay and character attributes in the game.

Finally, there were a few lines of text:

Fortune, prosperity, longevity, joy, and wealth; may you reach the path to immortality at every turn.

Cultivating ghosts, humans, demons, and immortals—the line between good and evil is thin.

Heaven covers the earth, protecting and ensuring the safety of all people.

After accumulating merit, one will naturally rise to high office.

Throughout history, human desires for fortune, prosperity, and longevity have driven people to madness, leading them to commit acts of both good and evil. Those who cultivate immortality or pursue chivalry must understand the intricacies of the path and lest they stray into the demonic path.

Although all paths can be cultivated, not all paths lead to the Azure Clouds!

The player's system panel displays the message: "Chinese Immortal Hero Dungeon".

This dungeon is over, and the next part of the story continues. At this point, the cutscene offers a skip option. Since it's already been ten minutes, many players have lost patience. Plus, the storylines of the Xianxia and Jianghu dungeons have essentially covered all the later systems—it's just a rehash of the same old formula.

However, no player skipped the story; they all diligently watched the entire story.

What follows is the content on cultivation, telling the story of ordinary people in China who, after witnessing the lightning, thunder, fire, storms, and torrential rains of nature, wanted to control and study these powers, attempting to understand them. They also studied the stars in the sky, the flowing water of rivers, and the vitality of growing plants. Gradually, many written records explaining these things and techniques for controlling these powers evolved. Through generations of research and inheritance, cultivation methods were born and became increasingly sophisticated.

Cultivators forge their bodies, souls, and minds through various forms of training until they break through the world's tolerance and thin the world's barriers. Then, the cultivators can use their immense physical strength to shatter the barriers and transcend the void.

After the cutscene ends, a few lines of text appear before your eyes:

Cultivators defy fate and are unafraid of death!

In China, people have always been filled with awe and curiosity about the forces of nature and the workings of the world. However, limited exploration has kept them confined to fantasy. Humans tend to explain the unknown with things they can understand and justify. Some of these explanations are indeed plausible, forming unique cultural essences such as the twenty-four solar terms, the twenty-eight planets, and feng shui directions. Even supernatural phenomena and theology exist—many things remain beyond human comprehension. But not understanding or seeing something doesn't mean it doesn't exist; these things will only become clear once better written descriptions and research are available.

Lin Shuying initially wanted to write something more profound and concise, but then she thought, "Let's stick to plain language." The goal is to allow players to truly experience the game, and the purpose of leaving blank spaces is to provide ample room for interpretation, isn't it?

Furthermore, cultivation is truly mysterious, and some things are difficult to explain. Perhaps interstellar people will have entirely new insights. She hoped these players wouldn't be misled by her thoughts, and at the same time, she was somewhat curious whether interstellar people had a more scientific explanation for those mystical things.