Chapter 2

In the sixth year of the Taisho Dynasty, Emperor Wude issued a nationwide martial order, aiming to conquer the entire world with China's powerful army. As a result, the practice of martial arts flourished throughout the country, and many reclusive masters emerged. Major forces also opened their doors to recruit disciples. For a time, the martial world was in turmoil, and a grand era of the martial world slowly unfolded.

In the spring of the sixth year of the Qingfeng era, 16-year-old Gaoshou walked the streets of Chengdu, beginning his journey in the martial world. No one knew whether he would become a renowned top expert, a revered medical sage, a notorious villain, or an ordinary, unremarkable person...

A scroll slowly unfurled, and rows of brush strokes leaped onto the paper. When the last character was written, the entire scroll seemed to ripple like water. In the next moment, the ancient and elegant streets, the bustling crowds, and various sounds all flooded into Zhang Fang's mind.

"Welcome to the world of the Grand Martial World. Would you like to undergo the beginner's guide? Note: The Grand Martial World is a highly open world. Not undergoing the beginner's guide may increase the difficulty of the game."

Zhang Fang experienced a brief dizziness, and a voice sounded in his mind. He did not immediately choose but instead felt the current body.

"So weak!"

Zhang Fang performed a few simple movements and immediately felt that this body was utterly useless. There was almost no strength in his hands, and he probably couldn't even kill a chicken. When he walked, his whole body felt light and could be blown over by a gust of wind.

However, it was still good that the character's physique was similar to the original Zhang Fang. As for the appearance, it was a comprehensive improvement over the original Zhang Fang, looking spirited and quite handsome. But the character was dressed in a gray sleeveless coarse linen robe, a knee-length linen short pants, and a pair of tattered straw shoes, which made him look like one of those laborers in ancient times, quite out of place with his appearance.

Zhang Fang was not concerned about the character's appearance. He was not one of those rich people; he came to the game to earn some extra money to support his family. Soon, he focused on the beginner's guide provided by the system.

"Is there any difference in whether to undergo the beginner's guide or not?" Zhang Fang thought that since the system offered a choice, each choice must have its own potential outcomes, and it wouldn't deliberately increase the difficulty for players.

The game system, clearly a highly intelligent digital life form, quickly replied, "The Grand Martial World is a highly open world. The system encourages players to explore the game world on their own to better experience the fun of the game. Therefore, if you do not undergo the beginner's guide, you will receive a Human Essence Pill from the system."

"Human Essence Pill?"

As soon as Zhang Fang spoke, an image of a pigeon-egg-sized red pill appeared in his mind, along with a description.

"Human Essence Pill, a high-quality human-grade spirit medicine. After consumption, it can increase 0 to 2 points of potential value!"

Zhang Fang immediately cursed, "Damn, do you have to rely on luck to eat a pill? If your luck is bad, it's like you didn't eat it at all, and if your luck is good, you can gain two points of potential value?"

"That's correct."

Zhang Fang looked at the Human Essence Pill and felt a bit tempted. Although this thing was quite a rip-off, what if his luck was good? And it seemed to be tradable?

"Not undergo the beginner's guide."

Zhang Fang made his decision with a determined bite of his lip. Immediately, a white light flashed in his hand, and a red pill appeared in his palm.

"May you enjoy your time in the Grand Martial World."

Zhang Fang was extremely excited looking at the Human Essence Pill in his hand, not paying attention to the digital life form's farewell. When he looked at the Human Essence Pill, a detailed description appeared in his mind, and indeed, there was no "non-tradable" mark.

"Who would have thought I would gain something as soon as I entered the game? This game is really good." Zhang Fang was delighted and wanted to put the Human Essence Pill away, but he was dumbfounded because, with his coarse linen clothes, he had nowhere to put it.

"That's not right. In other games, there are similar backpack storage slots. You just need to think about it in your mind to put things away. Why doesn't it work in this game?"

Zhang Fang was not in a hurry. With his relatively rich gaming experience, he first held the Human Essence Pill in his hand and then carefully examined his entire body. Unexpectedly, this examination yielded some results. Apart from the coarse linen clothes, he had a bronze ring on his right ring finger and a black plaque hanging around his neck.

Zhang Fang brought his right hand close to his eyes and carefully examined the bronze ring. Soon, a series of descriptions about the bronze ring appeared in his mind.

"Small Storage Ring, with 10 storage slots. Each slot can only hold one item, and the weight must not exceed 10 kilograms."

"Indeed, but this game is quite stingy. Ten storage slots can't hold much." Zhang Fang said as he put the Human Essence Pill into one of the slots. He thought that if he wanted to be a life player, mining was a must, but minerals were heavy. Even a slightly larger one would weigh more than 10 kilograms, making it difficult to store them.

After putting away the Human Essence Pill, Zhang Fang focused on the black plaque. Soon, a detailed description of the plaque appeared in his mind.

"Player character's identity proof in the Grand Martial World. Attributes: never damaged, never lost, visible to other players."

"Plaque V2-C1-8897 Character Information—

Name: Gaoshou

School: None

Regional Reputation: 0

World Reputation: Not Activated

Righteousness Value: 0

Infamy Value: 0

Martial World Status: Small Fry

Martial World Nickname: None."

After reading the plaque's description, Zhang Fang understood its function. In the Grand Martial World, without this plaque, players would likely have difficulty distinguishing between players and NPCs.

Understanding the functions of the bronze ring and the black plaque, Zhang Fang prepared to leave his standing spot. He had been standing there for a long time without seeing any other players. Given the vastness of this world, even with many players, they were likely scattered, making it difficult for their spawn points to be together.

Zhang Fang glanced at both sides of the street. The left street led to a market, and the right street seemed to lead to a square. After some thought, he decided to go left. In his opinion, the market was always a mix of various people, and there would definitely be places like blacksmith shops and taverns where he could inquire about learning life skills.

However, after taking just two steps, Zhang Fang stopped. He noticed three spherical shadows appearing in his vision. The one on the left was gray, the one in the middle was red, and the one on the right was blue, though the blue one was quite dim. The gray sphere had slightly fluctuated after he took two steps, as if it were about to decrease.

"The gray sphere must be my stamina, the red and blue ones represent health and internal energy, respectively. But is this body so weak? Just two steps, and my stamina is already decreasing."

Zhang Fang finally understood why this template was called a "waste." It was truly terrible. He thought that any player with a bit of ambition would not choose the waste template, as it had a low starting point and was purely self-torture. However, Zhang Fang did not regret his choice. He believed his decision was correct. Since he was determined to be a life player, he had to make some sacrifices.

After understanding the functions of the three spheres, Zhang Fang took a step to continue toward the market. However, he saw a tall, muscular man in coarse linen clothes walking toward him.

Seeing this person, Zhang Fang's face showed a hint of joy. He was just thinking about finding a player to discuss things with, and here one appeared. He had already understood the function of the plaque, so he focused on the plaque around this person's neck, and the person's basic information immediately entered his mind.

"Jin Chenbo? What a name..." Zhang Fang silently criticized the name, but he respected the person's right to choose their name.

Just as he was about to greet the person, the man walked up to him, almost nose to nose. Then, Zhang Fang heard the man say, "Gaoshou? Your name is quite impressive, are you a game veteran? I have a shareable quest, but I can't complete it alone. Want to go together? The quest location is near the south gate of the city."

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