CHAPTER 94: 094 TAKING THE INITIATIVE

Xu Longyun’s pupils constricted slightly, and he breathed a subtle sigh of relief. A hint of a smile then blossomed at the corners of his mouth.

"What arrogant words." Jiang Qingqin huffed. "You haven’t even achieved Golden Core Cultivation yet, and you’re establishing your own sect and recruiting disciples? You’ll actually need people willing to join your sect!"

"That’s not for you to worry about," Lin Bai said. "Even if I can’t, Righteous Door is behind me. My masters will support me even if heaven and earth collapse."

"Xiao Qing, don’t bother arguing with him." Xu Longyun chuckled. "Most of the heaven-sent people don’t know that the major sects are recruiting disciples in Qian City. Once this news gets out, his little Beggar Gang will be wiped clean in an instant. The heaven-sent people are truly immortal; without special methods or resources, even your Hundred Flower Valley might fail to retain them, let alone his puny Beggar Gang with hardly any members."

"You’re right." Jiang Qingqin shot Lin Bai a disdainful look.

"And you, Lin, the Storekeeper," Xu Longyun turned to Lin Bai and said, "you don’t have to worry too much that recruiting disciples on a large scale will attract retaliation from the Evil Sects. Yesterday, I received an official document from the Qian City Lord. Blood Shadow Sect, Magic Spirit Sect, and Sunsetting Valley are negotiating with him to set up recruitment offices in Qian City. Given this trend, the righteous and evil sides will inevitably compromise, eventually allowing players to choose their sect according to their own wishes."

After all, it’s still a game!

Lin Bai silently pursed his lips.

Xu Longyun chuckled, "Storekeeper Lin, if you have confidence in your Righteous Door, you can establish a recruitment office in Qian City and compete with the various major sects for the heaven-sent people."

"Thank you for the advice, City Lord. My Righteous Door doesn’t need to set up a recruitment office; we still have plenty of talent." Lin Bai casually tossed Little Fox aside, cupped his fists towards Xu Longyun, and said.

At this moment, he finally realized that Xu Longyun had sought him out not for the Revitalizing Pill, but primarily to remind him to prepare in advance.

He was indeed a loyal partner, true to his word.

"Shouldn’t Storekeeper Lin be off to Alchemy? You should be on your way," Xu Longyun said, smiling at Lin Bai. "Xiao Qing and I haven’t seen each other for days; we still have much to discuss."

"I’ll take my leave," Lin Bai chuckled.

"Tomorrow, I will post an announcement at the City Lord’s Mansion," Xu Longyun glanced at Lin Bai and said coolly. "It will inform any heaven-sent people willing to go to Qian City to report here. We will depart five days later. This is the only chance; latecomers will not be accommodated. Storekeeper Lin, if anyone from your Beggar Gang wishes to go, please do not stop them. We want to avoid bringing calamity upon my Jiamucheng."

"As the saying goes, ’The sky is vast for birds to fly, the sea is wide for fish to leap.’ If anyone from the Beggar Gang truly wants to join another sect, I certainly won’t force them to stay." Lin Bai smiled. "If Righteous Door is to flourish, perhaps I too will make a trip to Qian City."

Jiang Qingqin looked at the two men but said nothing.

...

After bidding Xu Longyun farewell, Lin Bai didn’t head to the Alchemy Room but instead turned and left the City Lord’s Mansion.

He had once thought about players leaving Jiamucheng to progress to higher stages, but he hadn’t imagined it would happen so quickly! Are there no level requirements for novice class changes? Then what’s the point of establishing Novice Village? Is it just to let players understand this world? They can understand this world just as well by going to Qian City. They might even join a Cultivation Sect directly and save the time wasted in Novice Village.

...

The news from Xu Longyun caught Lin Bai completely off guard.

You have to understand, he had just finished setting up Novice Village and hadn’t even had a chance to develop it thoroughly yet! Once players hear about advancing to Cultivation, they’ll definitely go to Qian City to try their luck. Which player would want to stay in Novice Village forever? He was powerless to halt this. Once the players are drawn to other sects, his newly established Beggar Gang would likely fall apart. To keep the Beggar Gang’s structure intact, its appeal to players must surpass that of those Cultivation Sects... To be honest, that’s going to be tough. Unless the disciples of the Cultivation Sects were all as strong as Jiang Qingqin. But that’s impossible to imagine; even a minor place like Medicine King Valley has 3,000 Golden Core Cultivators! Is Big Brother’s enterprise going to face difficulties again?

Lin Bai furrowed his brows slightly.

He knew he would have to face this step sooner or later; he couldn’t avoid this ordeal. He couldn’t hide in Novice Village and be king forever. So what if Xu Longyun told him that the seven orthodox sects and the Evil Sects had an agreement forbidding Evil Sect members from invading Novice Village? But what about the unstable factor of the players? With them around, another great war between the righteous and evil factions is inevitable. Competing for rank! Striving for glory! Defeat the BOSS! Seize territory! When there are factions, there will be faction wars. When there are nations, there will be national wars. Even if there are no official quests, players can create all this themselves... And any of these reasons could ultimately trigger a great war between righteous and evil—that’s practically a certainty... If a real war breaks out? Who would still care about any Novice Village agreement?

Moreover, he was a shining BOSS; there would always be players wanting to take him down...

...

Furthermore, the resources Jiamucheng provided him were nearly exhausted. Not only was the growth of his Deficiency Value slow, but his Negative Emotion Value also wasn’t increasing as quickly as before.

Therefore, for both public and private reasons, Lin Bai had to venture upward.

Otherwise, once the players leveled up, Xu Longyun wouldn’t be able to protect him. Choosing comfort was akin to waiting for death.

...

As for the newly emerged Sect Leader System, Lin Bai decided to set it aside for now. Never mind finding a suitable mountain headquarter, he currently lacked the foundation to support a sect. If he managed Big Brother’s enterprise well and secured a territory in the future, he could level up the sect in minutes... Helping Big Brother was helping himself! In this world, no one understood player behavior better than him!

...

"...Golden Lion from Dinghuo City and Live under the crotch from Kun City—one joined the Blood Shadow Sect, the other the Sunsetting Valley. Both are legitimate Evil Sects. One was abducted on the way to Qian City, and the other while heading to Kun City. Now they’re bragging on the forum like dogs. Most internal beta players are itching to go out and try their luck," Lumberjack No.1 said. "Lonely Old Man, what should we do? Should we go out and take a chance?"

"Let’s wait," Lonely Old Man said. "We’ve just joined the Beggar Gang, and Lin Bai has Righteous Door behind him! We can’t just chase greener pastures and end up with nothing."

"It could be just a coincidence!" Crispy Rice said. "Haven’t there been stories of people who went out to try their luck, only to be killed by bandits on the road and instantly sent back to the city without a single coin left? The bandits blocking the road are said to have high-level Martial Arts."

"We’re different; they’re acting alone, but there are over a hundred of us!" Lumberjack No.1 said. "Are you willing to stay in Jiamucheng and level up slowly? It’s too difficult to gain Lin Bai’s approval. Even if we don’t encounter any Evil Sects, it would be fine just to go to Qian City and look around!"

"Let’s wait a bit longer; we haven’t finished exploring Novice Village yet," Lonely Old Man said. "Didn’t Lin Bai mention there are Demon Beasts on West Mountain? Leaving Novice Village without even defeating the BOSS just feels like something is missing..."

...

Crispy Rice, Sticky Rice, Lonely Old Man, First Reporter in Xianxia, and a few other players gathered in the dilapidated temple, each clad in tattered clothes, chatting together.

It’s unclear whose idea it was, but their tattered clothes even had the character ’Beggar’ embroidered on the chest and back, looking surprisingly neat.

As for the original beggars in Jiamucheng, they had long been relegated to minor roles serving tea and fetching water. Not only did they not dare to resist, but they also seemed to relish their positions. It felt as if, after years of struggle, they had finally been recruited by a major corporation.

While the group was chatting, they saw Lin Bai walk in. They instinctively stopped their conversation, stood up, and greeted him.

"Storekeeper Lin!"

"Storekeeper Lin!"

Lin Bai looked around at everyone, a faint smile on his face. "It’s good that you’re all here. There’s something I want to discuss with you."

"Please speak, Storekeeper Lin," Lonely Old Man said.

"Are you ready to expand outward?" Lin Bai asked. "I have news that Return to Dragon View, Hundred Flower Valley, and Morning Yuan Sword Sect have set up disciple recruitment offices in Qian City, intending to attract heaven-sent people like you. I think the Beggar Gang should also aim higher. Jiamucheng is too small; being trapped here offers no future."

Players have forums; they receive the latest news even faster than Xu Longyun.

Lin Bai had overheard their private conversations and thus made his decision. Rather than trying to appease the restless players, it was better to take the initiative and lead them onward and upward.