When the Jade Emperor sent True Martial Demon-Suppressing Grand Emperor leading the Seven Stars of the Big Dipper to support the three border cities, the second day in game time happened to coincide with the biweekly update.
After Jiang Yuan finished his classes and returned to the dormitory, he eagerly turned on his computer, ready to log into the game, only to find it was already undergoing maintenance.
"I totally forgot, today's the update day. Let's see what's new."
Jiang Yuan muttered to himself, then logged onto the official *Wanjie* website while the game was still updating to check today's patch notes.
The update notes were very short, with only two items:
1. Unseal the "Seal and Ribbon" equipment slot. Players can exchange battle merits for corresponding-level seals and ribbons from the NPC "Wanjie War God" in the celestial realm's Liuyun City. 2. Add 140+ equipment exchange items "Thousand-Hua Dragon Sinew" and "Linked Sky Combat Jade," obtainable through NPC store purchases, daily dungeon drops, etc.
Since the update content was minimal, it finished in less than two hours, and the servers opened. Jiang Yuan immediately started downloading the update package.
Returning to the game, as the map finished loading and before his vision cleared, Jiang Yuan heard a system notification.
[Ding! You have accepted the quest "Exterminate Demons and Uphold the Way." Please proceed to the designated location as soon as possible.]
Once the scene before him became clear, Jiang Yuan was slightly taken aback, thinking to himself, "When did I accept this quest? Could it be a mandatory quest forced on every player?"
With this question in mind, Jiang Yuan opened his quest list.
[Story Quest: Exterminate Demons and Uphold the Way]
Countdown: 48 hours
Accumulated Battle Merits: 0
Quest Description: The demon realm has launched a massive assault, aiming to seize the remnants of the Demon Ancestor Luohou. The celestial realm's borders are in peril. All cultivators must exterminate demons and uphold the way. Please hurry to Lihuo City to assist the celestial realm's defending forces.
"It really is the main storyline! I guessed right!"
Jiang Yuan was incredibly excited. He had suspected earlier that the major event in the celestial realm a few days ago would be tied to the game's main plot, but he hadn't expected to participate so soon.
Just then, players from the two immortal sects, Huangji Hall and Qingyun Sect, were already organizing groups on the world channel. Jiang Yuan quickly contacted Wen Ding Cang Sheng and found that he had also started preparations.
Jiang Yuan applied to join Wen Ding Cang Sheng's group. After entering, he noticed that all the members of his fixed team had already been invited by Wen Ding Cang Sheng. Additionally, old friends from the Hanjiang City alliance, like Chuang Shi Yong Ge, Hua Qian Gu, and Zhang Er Gou, had all gathered again. The group channel was lively, with everyone chatting happily.
"Brother Er Gou, Doctor Hua, long time no see, haha!"
Jiang Yuan was delighted to see these old comrades and quickly greeted them in the group channel.
"Haha, Brother Jiang Yuan, finally we can fight side by side again! So happy!"
Zhang Er Gou sent a message to Jiang Yuan in the chat channel, accompanied by a "peace sign" emoji.
"Jiang Yuan, you're amazing! The prediction you made a few days ago came true so quickly. That's incredible!"
Wen Ding Cang Sheng sent a "cow" emoji to Jiang Yuan, saying.
"Heh, I thought it would take a while longer, but I didn't expect the story quest to come so soon. Everyone needs to prepare well and try to rack up as many battle merits as possible!"
Jiang Yuan replied in the group channel.
"Attention, all brothers in the group: you have half an hour to prepare. Whether you're buying potions, upgrading equipment or skills, do it quickly. We'll meet in Liuyun City in half an hour."
Wen Ding Cang Sheng posted a "group announcement" and pinned it at the top of the group chat channel, making it very prominent, urging all Changsheng Hall players to actively prepare for battle.
Jiang Yuan happened to be in Liuyun City at the moment and didn't have much to prepare, but he still opened the trading hall to see if he could stock up on anything for emergencies.
For potions, Jiang Yuan bought two large health potions and one large mana potion, then grabbed some status-enhancing potions, like those that increased attack power, critical hit rate, and critical damage. These potions were listed by players, few in number and quite expensive, each costing between 3 and 5 immortal crystals.
After buying potions, Jiang Yuan flipped through the equipment list for a while but found nothing suitable. Finally, he opened the skill book trading section in the trading hall.
"Oh? What's this?"
In the "Skill Book" trading interface, Jiang Yuan spotted a skill book categorized for the Summoner class, and its quality was actually Mythic-level!
Intrigued, Jiang Yuan clicked on it, and after reading the details, he was stunned.
[Spirit Summoning: Six Jia and Six Ding]
Class Requirement: Spirit Master
Skill Description: Use the spirit method to summon the Six Jia and Six Ding guardian divine generals of the celestial realm.
Jiang Yuan checked the price of this book; it wasn't too expensive. The player had listed it for only 30 immortal crystals, but it had been on the market for nearly a week without anyone buying it.
"What is a Spirit Master? Could it be a hidden class for Summoners?"
Jiang Yuan suddenly remembered that the final boss of the Huanyue dungeon, Mo Li Qing, had dropped a hidden class change book for Summoners, which was still sitting in his backpack!
He quickly opened his backpack and found the hidden class change book, his eyes widening. On it were clearly written the words "Spirit Master"!
"Buy it, buy it!"
Jiang Yuan was thrilled and immediately spent 30 immortal crystals to snap up this skill book. Once he reached level 150, he could use the class change book to undergo his second class change to Spirit Master and then learn this skill!
After doing this, Jiang Yuan closed the trading hall and noticed that Liuyun City was already flooded with players wearing Changsheng Hall sect attire.
"Brother Cang Sheng, Old Ding, I'm over here!"
From a distance, Jiang Yuan spotted Wen Ding Cang Sheng and Ding Ye among the crowd and waved to them, calling out.
"Huh? Where's Buding? Why isn't she with you?"
Wen Ding Cang Sheng walked over and, seeing Jiang Yuan alone, asked.
"I don't know. I'll send her a message and ask."
Jiang Yuan replied, opened his friend list, and sent a message to Cang Shu Bu Ding: "Honey, what are you doing? Come to Liuyun City to gather!"
"Coming right away, dear. Xiaoyun and I are doing a quest; we'll be done in a few minutes."
Cang Shu Bu Ding quickly replied. Jiang Yuan closed the chat window and briefed Wen Ding Cang Sheng on the situation.
About fifteen minutes later, Cang Shu Bu Ding, Chuang Shi Xiao Yun, Chuang Shi Yong Ge, and the rest of the old crew gathered in Liuyun City. Wen Ding Cang Sheng counted the group members and saw that almost everyone was present. He then activated the group follow mode and led the Changsheng Hall team to the outskirts of Lihuo City.