Chapter 10

"——My level?!"

Zhou Xian looked at his character status in disbelief.

Level 65, 0% experience.

This was Zhou Xian's current situation.

"What's going on?"

Zhou Xian's face darkened.

He was preparing to reach Level 70 in the game world, but suddenly, he had dropped three levels. What was happening?

However, Zhou Xian looked around and found that his items and equipment were still intact.

"Could this ability be consuming my experience in the game...?"

In a daze, Zhou Xian suddenly had this thought.

The events of these "few days" were still very mysterious to him, even now.

The game had inexplicably undergone a version update, he had obtained this peculiar ability to relive a day in the real world, and there was that mysterious countdown on the login screen.

"Wait a minute—"

The countdown!

Zhou Xian was suddenly chilled to the bone.

362 days!

This was the number he had seen when he logged in!

"But I remember that when I first saw this new version, the time was clearly... 365 days!"

It was indeed the evening of July 4, 2033.

"System, I want to log out!"

To confirm, Zhou Xian immediately called out the system.

"Right—indeed, it's 362 days!"

This time had not changed at all!

"What's with this strange countdown?!"

Zhou Xian logged back into the game and then visited the forum.

"The new version's name is so cool, I really like it!"

"Does anyone know what the countdown is about? Is it some kind of official event?"

"What's the official thinking by suddenly launching a new version?"

As soon as he entered the forum, Zhou Xian saw a group of people posting their thoughts about the game.

"Does anyone know what the update content for the new version is? The official website hasn't explained it!"

"What's with this new version? It can't be a mistake by a temp worker, right?!"

A group of people were arguing.

"Right, the official website!"

Zhou Xian immediately logged into the official forum.

"Dragon Tomb" was clearly written on the advertisement on the official website.

However, Zhou Xian did not see any explanation that could help with the current situation.

"What's going on?"

Zhou Xian closed the system and started looking for changes on the interface.

The interface had indeed changed, but Zhou Xian did not find anything particularly significant. Even the character attributes had not changed much.

"This interface looks better, though."

Zhou Xian muttered and then opened various attribute panels to browse.

Suddenly, his gaze was drawn to something on the quest panel.

"Emperor Quest: Dragon Tomb. Stage 2: Collect the three great treasures (Wujin Tiankui Sword, Dragon Platform, Chixue Jinxiao), Current Progress: 2/3."

"Stage 2?!"

Zhou Xian did not remember completing the quest to this extent in the game.

"Martin, Martin Luther King? I need to talk to you."

Zhou Xian called out the spirit of the Wujin Tiankui Sword.

"What?"

A peculiar creature suddenly jumped out of the Wujin Tiankui Sword.

"Zhou Xian, didn't I tell you this morning not to disturb me unless it was important?"

"I have something very important—do you know what Chixue Jinxiao is?"

When Zhou Xian mentioned this name, Martin Luther King seemed to pause for a few seconds.

"Chixue Jinxiao? A familiar name. I think I've heard it somewhere."

"Doesn't your memory have this information?" Zhou Xian asked.

"Yes! It must be there!" Martin Luther King said, then sighed in frustration. "Unfortunately, I can only remember that we had some connection. In an even more distant era, before I was taken by Princess Mingdie, I did indeed see this thing. And I can feel that I am very familiar with it."

Unfortunately, Martin Luther King's memory was not clear.

At this moment, Zhou Xian noticed the words "Budi" on the hilt of the Wujin Tiankui Sword and had a sudden thought.

He quickly took out the Dragon Platform from his inventory.

On the Dragon Platform, or "Dragon Platform Seat," there were also two characters, which read "Shentong."

On a whim, Zhou Xian suddenly asked, "Martin, have you ever heard of the six words 'Shentong Budi Ye Li'?"

"Hmm, I remember!"

Hearing Martin Luther King's words, Zhou Xian immediately perked up. "Where did you hear it?"

"You want to know this? No way, no way, I'm not sure myself. I can only tell you that it seems to be related to ancient divine weapons. Come to think of it, it's a coincidence that the Wujin Tiankui Sword has the words 'Budi,' the Dragon Platform has the words 'Shentong,' and the Chixue Jinxiao might have the words 'Ye Li.' Do you have any information about this?"

"Not really, but it might give us a direction."

Zhou Xian focused on the Emperor Quest.

Zhou Xian opened the forum and started searching for information about the strange treasure called "Chixue Jinxiao." Unfortunately, he did not find much relevant information.

He thought for a moment and decided to post a bounty to gather information about Chixue Jinxiao.

"And that countdown... Is it related to my current Emperor Quest? Maybe I should try to find the other seven Emperor players..."

If the other Emperor players had any information, it might be useful.

"But is it a good idea to contact these people so rashly?"

Zhou Xian was hesitant.

The seven top guilds that currently had an Emperor player had already achieved a relative balance in the game world. The appearance of an eighth Emperor player would disrupt this balance.

Having an Emperor player was crucial for top-tier game guilds.

Although Zhou Xian instinctively felt that the strange countdown might bring a significant crisis, others were unaware.

Not only were they unaware, but Zhou Xian guessed that many players were actually looking forward to the countdown ending, thinking it was some kind of event.

"This game is not that simple, and what is the operator thinking? Do they want to see this world slip out of their control? And Dad, what are you planning to do...?"

A series of questions left Zhou Xian almost breathless.

"Alright, let's try to gather information about the Emperor players first."

Unlike Zhou Xian, the seven players who had already become Emperors had completed their Emperor quests and did not fear death. Zhou Xian felt that if he wanted to gather some information from them, it might be a bit easier.

After all, Emperor players were not just hidden away.

Sometimes, when people noticed the powerful attributes of Emperor players, it was the best time to act.

The powerful abilities of Emperor players themselves were a form of deterrence.

Just like nuclear warheads. When they were first developed, few people knew about them, but when the two bombs exploded, the entire world was shocked by their terrifying power. The same was true for Emperor players—how powerful were they if they remained hidden?

Zhou Xian directly searched for "Emperor players" on the internet.

The information about Emperor players was indeed detailed, and Zhou Xian found a lot of data.

However, the recent internet was full of information about the "eighth" Emperor player, so Zhou Xian had to scroll a bit to find what he needed.

"A once-in-a-century sight! Video of the Cloud Emperor in action! See what true dominance and power look like!"

At this moment, Zhou Xian found a post.

Opening the post, he saw a recorded game video. In the video, a blurred human figure was visible.

Although the figure was blurred, Zhou Xian could sense the powerful aura emanating from it, which left him secretly amazed.

At this moment, a group of Black Bat Demons suddenly appeared in the video.

"Level 80 Elite Black Bat Demons?"

These Black Bat Demons were not particularly strong, but because they were ethereal, they were very difficult to hit and thus quite troublesome. They were often seen in the Demon Forest in front of the Netherworld Mountain, but Zhou Xian never provoked them and did not consider them as targets.

While Zhou Xian was lost in thought, the mysterious player moved.

"Wind!"

He shouted.

The originally clear sky immediately darkened with his roar, and a fierce wind blew, causing the numerous high-level monsters to stagger! According to the health bars, this wind directly reduced the monsters' health by one-third!

These were not ordinary monsters!

The average level of elite players was now Level 72, and the strength of monsters above Level 70 was incomparable to what it was before.

Zhou Xian was certain that if these Black Bat Demons were organized in a war, they could easily breach the defenses of Central State City!

But these high-level elite monsters actually stopped in their tracks in front of the Emperor player!

"Rain!"

The Cloud Emperor shouted again, and suddenly, countless raindrops appeared in the sky. At first, it was a light drizzle, but within seconds, it turned into a torrential downpour.

What surprised Zhou Xian even more was that the Black Bat Demons seemed to have no resistance in the Emperor player's heavy rain, only to be slaughtered!

"The rain is actually lethal!"

Not only was it lethal, but the Black Bat Demons were instantly battered and killed in the heavy rain. If this terrifying rain were called the "End of the World Rain," it would be no exaggeration.

"Is this what a true Emperor player looks like?"

Zhou Xian suddenly thought of his strongest move, but he shook his head, knowing he could not achieve such power.