Chapter 396: 396, [High Priest]
Today, the Heavenly Dust forum is quite lively.

Unlike the usual trolling style, even though there’s still a lot of trolling content today, many posts seem more solemn and serious.

In the forum, there are videos of swords singing across the West State, and pictures of the myriad lights from different places in the Heavenly Dust Continent.

Concerning the special event of “Soul Returning”, players also discuss it on the forum.

There are still people playing with Internet memes and making jokes in the comments, but overall, it’s not as cheeky as before.

After all, Heavenly Dust is a game with a strong immersive experience, and everyone is more or less affected by it.

Moreover…a lot of the NPCs that died might be a player’s sect brothers or their masters.

Among them, quite a few popular NPCs fell in this battle, causing many players to lament.

“Sigh, this game feels like a real world, sometimes I wonder if these NPCs are really just a bunch of data?”

“Yeah, every character in the game seems so vivid. While the immersion is strong, it’s really upsetting when they die!”

“I have a friend who’s quite sentimental. She doesn’t care about her experience points when she plays and she’ll die for the NPCs. She’s lost several resurrections.”

“Always complaining, isn’t it just a game? What’s with all this forced sentimentality! A bunch of idiots!”

“People think differently. If you don’t take it seriously, no one says anything. Others have strong immersion, they regard them as heroes, what’s there for you to curse about?”

Upon closer browsing, it can be seen that there are quite a few posts in which the players trash each other.

At the same time, especially some professional players, are closely watching the rankings, especially the Contribution Points ranking.

Including some mainstream media related to the game, they’re also reporting on the changes in the rankings.

“Wow! My goddess Cai Jiangjiang has made the list! Long live white silk stockings!”

“She only ranked in the thirties. What’s there to brag about? Is a pretty anchor a big deal? Is tying ponytails a big deal? Is wearing a JK uniform and acting like a Lolita when streaming a big deal? Is having a soft voice a big deal? Yes, that’s a big deal! Jiangjiang is awesome!”

“I look at the Sword-Serving Children of the Purple Palace, except for that Mo Guanji, all of them have made it into the top fifty! That Li Zuole and Han Bagui are actually ranked first and third among the players!”

“Isn’t it! Having the Purple Palace as a backer, isn’t that different? Didn’t you see their leveling speed is faster than ours? I saw an interview with Li Zuole yesterday. In that article, Li Zuole praised the Purple Palace to the stars. I laughed, as if the Purple Palace could see that article.”

“Please, that’s true feelings, okay? And why are you all surprised! Open your eyes and see who is at the top of the ranking, see how many contribution points the Purple Palace has gained!”

“Exactly, back then everyone mocked Sword-Serving Children as a shameful title, now who doesn’t want to become a Sword-Serving Child of the Purple Palace?”

“I have calculated that the Purple Palace has gained 1739 points in the first foreign invasion!”

“Goodness, how many low-level foreign races did they kill, or did they kill high-level foreign races? Players together couldn’t achieve such high contribution points even if they added their points together!”

Yes, Lu Xun’s data on the leaderboard has now broken through to more than 25,000.

And the contribution points he can spend in the mall, have also increased to 15,000.

He is a one-man army, with a high kill rate, killing large numbers of foreigners in every major battle.

This means that as long as he gathers about another 5,000 contribution points, he can exchange another “Sword Dao Aptitude Point” in the Mall!

As for why Cai Jiangjiang and others have such high contribution points?

Because they came down the mountain with Lu Xun, and when the foreign races invaded, they hadn’t had time to rush back to the Eastern Region and were still in the Southern Territory, so they just rushed into the battlefield.

If they had already returned to the Eastern Region at that time, they wouldn’t have a place to get contribution points.

At present, they are at the edge of the Southern Territory and don’t know where to go, so they’re holding a mini meeting.

Li Zuole looked at everyone. As the most famous among the six and the notorious playboy, he was the first to speak: “Everyone should have no plans to return to the Eastern Region temporarily right? There’s no objection to this, right?”

It’s no secret that there are no foreign races in the Eastern Region. Eastern Region players have already posted countless posts on the forum, it can be said to be a lament.

No monsters to kill, it’s so miserable, I really want to be chopped by a foreign race girl.

Everyone nodded after hearing Li Zuole’s words.

“I think… how about staying in the Southern Territory?” Wang Gangtie suggested.

He didn’t want to run around randomly, fearing it would waste time on the road.

He was previously burned by the Soul Devouring Flame which used up all his resurrections and he lost so much experience points.

If it hadn’t been for Mo Guanji’s poor skills, making the killing efficiency extremely low, Wang Gangtie may have been the last among the bunch of Sword-Serving Children under Lu Xun on the ranking list.

Tying ponytails, typically cute as a steering wheel, Cai Jiangjiang sat there, raised her right hand to speak as if she was a primary school student raising her hand to answer a question in class: “I have something to say.”

“Hey, we’re all friends here, be straightforward, you’re not live streaming, we won’t send you a rocket.” Said Xiao Guangming.

Cai Jiangjiang swung her head, flicking her ponytail at him and said: “Don’t any of you want to go to West State?”

Everyone went silent upon hearing that.

As everyone knows, the Purple Palace is located in West State.

But although we are his Sword-Serving Children, we can’t contact him!

He can’t see the forum, and he can’t receive private messages. We also don’t have the money to send a flying sword letter…

Really, he didn’t even give us a chance to serve him!

“The best situation would definitely be to stay by the side of the Purple Palace, but what if we get to West State… and he left?” Li Zuole expressed his own opinion.

“I…I have a little immature suggestion.” Mo Guanji, rarely speaking, suggested.

Apart from him and Han Bagui, they are all professional players. Mo Guanji, this “Big Child”, usually just follows along and happily does stuff.

He rarely expresses his opinions, but his sudden remark attracted everyone’s attention.

“I think West State is a pretty good choice, even if we get to West State and the Purple Palace just happened to leave, we actually still have another choice.” Mo Guanji suggested.

Seeing that everyone was listening carefully, he didn’t beat around the bush and said directly: “Ye Sui’an!”

“We can go and find Ye Sui’an, at least he is a significant NPC and he’s sure to bring benefits to us.” Mo Guanji analyzed.

“Exactly, Ye Sui’an isn’t going anywhere. He will certainly stay in the West State!” Xiao Guangming’s eyes lit up.

“Yes! Considering his relationship with the Purple Palace, if we identify ourselves, he will certainly look after us!” Cai Jiangjiang suddenly got excited.

She muttered to herself, “Just last night I was reading fan fictions about the Purple Palace and Ye Sui’an on a forum. Oh God! I’m so shy about it!”

For a moment, everyone turned their eyes back to Wang Gangtie. He promptly raised his hands and said, “I got no comments.”

Li Zuole heard and immediately made the decision: “That’s settled then, let’s head for the West State!”

The young sword attendants took out their crane origami and began to fly towards the West State.

…

…

In West State, at the break of dawn, Lu Xun bid farewell to the Boundary Monument and Dida, taking Ye Sui’an with him as they flew towards Frost Feather City.

“Once we arrive, let’s walk around and see if we can find the location of the altar. Then we can reap a wave of Contribution Points and exchange them for some Sword Dao Aptitude!” Lu Xun had already set his goal in mind.

He opened his character panel and saw that his Reputation Value in the Demon Sect had already reached 49,711 points.

He only needed to perform a few more great feats and his points would increase to 50,000. Then, he could submit the Reputation Value Task and exchange it for a Random Special Attribute Point.

In other words, Lu Xun might soon enter a period of rapid growth in strength.

He owed this achievement to The Sword Qi is Near.

He glanced at The Sword Qi is Near, the Sword of the Ages, which was floating beside him. It seemed to feel his gaze and emitted a sword hum as if to say, “What are you looking at?”

“Slap!” The black cord on the sword sheath floated up and whipped the arrogant Sword Qi is Near.

The Sword Qi is Near suddenly lost all its color.

You’re hitting me again for this wild man!

Lu Xun watched from the side, having seen through everything long ago.

He felt that the sword sheath was not protecting him, and simply took every opportunity to beat The Sword Qi is Near.

Observing The Sword Qi is Near, perhaps because of his own Body Refining Sword technique, his perception of swords was quite sensitive. He could tell that this Sword of the Ages wasn’t as powerful as it was when it first came down from the mountain.

To put it simply, when it came down the mountain, it was at full strength, but now at least half of its energy had been depleted.

Just as the “Guanzi: Internal Affairs” says: “The wise use things, they are not used by things.”

The Sword Qi is Near is, after all, a Magical Weapon, it has its own limitations.

It was placed on top of Hidden Mountain, and was blessed by the Formation of Hidden Mountain. Its master, Yan Li, was also in closed-door cultivation on the mountain, not far from it. These factors could keep it in peak state.

But staying for a long period at the base of the mountain and constantly getting involved in fights caused too much damage.

Ultimately, it’s Yan Li’s sword.

It’s not Lu Xun’s sword.

Although there has been a beautiful misunderstanding about this in the outside world, Lu Xun indeed can’t keep The Sword Qi is Near in its peak state all the time.

“This sword has reached its limit, and it’s impossible to apply the Sword Cultivating Technique to it.” Lu Xun thought to himself.

This means that The Sword Qi is Near can’t always be with him. Sooner or later, it has to be returned to Hidden Mountain.

Therefore, while this workhorse of a sword still has strength, it should be made to work more!

Of course, I, Lu Xun, am not a devil either. I will offer you irresistible compensation.

I will personally try to mediate between you and the sword sheath, hoping that you, as a couple, can make up before returning to Hidden Mountain.

“What a nice guy!” Lu Xun praised himself.

…

…

Outside the western boundary of West State, in the Lost Forest.

A boy with a large head and wearing a felt hat was walking in the forest with his hands behind his back, like a senior official.

When he passed a poisonous marsh, a young cultivator tumbled out with a bunch of herbs in his arms, rolling several times, splashing mud and pebbles from the ground.

The big-headed boy wearing the felt hat remained motionless, and the mud and debris scattered right in front of him without even leaving dust, as if they had vanished into thin air.

The young cultivator looked at the herbs in his arms and said, “I’ve gathered it! My master will be saved!”

Only then did he realize that there was someone beside him.

It was strange, why didn’t he realize it just now?

Most importantly, how could a common child wander alone in the Lost Forest?

Did he accidentally wander in?

The young cultivator stood up and asked, “Kid, did I hurt you just now? Did I scare you? I’m sorry.”

The big-headed boy wearing the felt hat raised his finger and lightly pointed at the young cultivator, who immediately turned into a pool of blood.

“It’s not a big deal. Just be careful in your next life.” The big-headed boy spoke, his voice strangely hoarse and deep.

Then, he adjusted the felt hat on his head and continued on his way.