Late at night.
Lin Zhao returned to the studio, it was already past eleven o'clock. Chen Xue, Shen Xingchen, Luo Man, Ding Chi, and others had also logged off. They gathered together, drinking seafood congee simmered by Wang Ju.
"How is it?"
Luo Man, with her hair tied up, took a sip of congee and looked up at Lin Zhao, smiling and asking, "Brother, how's learning to be a fighter pilot with Huo Dao going?"
"Not very well..."
Lin Zhao chuckled, "After three hours of learning, we started simulated flights. According to Huo Dao, I've crashed six times due to piloting errors today. However, around nine o'clock, there was a perfect takeoff, missile evasion, railgun lock-on, and risky landing. Huo Dao said that at my current pace, I should be able to fly the Yunying-class solo in three days. Just need more practice."
"Mhm."
Chen Xue nodded, "The Yunying-class is alright. The operating system is relatively simple, and the auxiliary flight systems aren't overly complex. The most difficult to fly is the Chi You-class; it's hard to become proficient without a month or two of training."
"No rush, take it slow."
Lin Zhao picked up a small steamed bun and asked, "How is it in the game?"
Shen Xingchen replied, "The battlefield has been at Xi Jian Jiang all day today. We finally got to grind monsters properly, the experience points were very high, leveling up twice in one afternoon. It slightly made up for the losses in the Battle of Bai Cheng. However... starting tomorrow, we'll enter the 'War of Ten Years' version, and the game progression will be very fast."
"Ah?"
Lin Zhao asked in surprise, "War of Ten Years? What does that mean?"
"The great war will continue for ten years."
Shen Xingchen smiled slightly and said, "Starting tomorrow, every day at noon, the China region server map of 'Tian Xia' will undergo maintenance for one hour. During this hour, one year of story development progress will refresh. Players can also log in during this hour to watch the progress of the war."
"Is that so..."
Lin Zhao frowned, "I didn't expect this great war to last for ten years."
"Yeah."
Chen Xue added, "But it's good this way. You only need to spare one hour around noon each day to basically understand the in-game story progression for a year."
"Mhm."
Lin Zhao nodded, "Alright, let's eat, eat. I have to wake up at seven tomorrow to go to the base."
"Okay."
Chen Xue smiled, "It's good that you go to the base often. It strengthens your control as the owner of Fei Yue Transport. Otherwise, if Su Wan and Huo Dao gain more prestige in Fei Yue Transport, it might not be entirely a good thing."
"Mhm, got it."
Lin Zhao nodded with a smile. He naturally understood that reality was not a game; many details and changes in people's hearts needed attention. Otherwise, life might surprise you one day.
...
The next day.
Lin Zhao went to Fei Yue Transport early and had breakfast with the escort team members in the base's cafeteria. Many of the young employees who had just been recruited to Fei Yue Transport were spirited young men. They already knew that the true chairman of Fei Yue Transport was named Lin Zhao, and he was the leader of the Fei Yue Knights, the renowned Lin Baiyi in 'Tian Xia'.
Therefore, Lin Zhao was very popular at the base. Many young escort team members he didn't know greeted him with smiles. Under Huo Dao's reminder, they didn't call him "Mr. Lin" but "Boss," which was a unique corporate culture. This made Lin Zhao quite pleased, feeling that the entire base was like a real-world projection of the Fei Yue Knights.
This was good. Managing a group with thousands of employees in reality might be beyond his capabilities, but managing a guild of thousands of people was effortless, and dealing with them would be much easier.
In the morning, he continued practicing flying the Yunying-class. Huo Dao allocated a Yunying-class specifically for Lin Zhao's practice, and he flew for the entire morning, repeatedly practicing takeoff and landing, evasion, attack, and defense tactics. By the end of the morning, Lin Zhao's operations had become increasingly proficient, giving him a sense of unity between man and machine.
Huo Dao marveled, Lin Zhao's talent was truly terrifying. Not only was he the peak Lin Baiyi on the national server in the game, but his comprehension in driving, flying, and machinery was also exceptionally strong. Moreover, he was a science and engineering major with an excellent foundation, grasping many operations and principles instantly. He was even more terrifying than professional fighter pilots. It was estimated that he would be able to learn to fly the Chi You-class in a few more days.
At noon, after eating, it was exactly twelve o'clock.
Lin Zhao, carrying his game helmet, ducked into the chairman's office, locked the door, put on the helmet, and loaded his data to enter the game.
As usual.
He appeared in a pitch-black cage, still pressed under Mount Wuwang. However, when Lin Zhao pricked up his ears to sense, the sounds of the great war in the distance were gone. Bai Cheng had been razed to the ground, and the mountain peak villa had been reduced to ashes. The Snow Domain Heavenly Pool he had painstakingly built had vanished, leaving only the solitary Lotu Pavilion.
"System Elf."
He took a deep breath and said, "Enter the 'War of Ten Years' version program."
"Yes."
A long-lost voice sounded, and the next moment, Lin Zhao's eyes brightened. Guided by the System Elf, he entered the version program. His body stood in a magnificent palace, alone. In front of him, various scenes and data flashed, and he quickly entered the state of deciphering the year's progress.
March, the Battle of Bai Cheng ended. Lin Zhao, Chen Ben, Su Qingjiu, Tang Guangjun, Chu Yu, Liu Liying, and others died. Bai Cheng and the mountain peak villa were burned to ashes. The entire Snow Domain Heavenly Pool turned into a pile of decay.
Early April, the demon and devil armies marched south, attacking Xi Jian Jiang. By late April, Lin Xingchu, with hundreds of Haitang Golden Ships, held back the fierce onslaught of the demon and devil armies, forcing them to detour east through the Eastern Snow Ridge before marching south.
Late April, ten demon army camps reached the Fusang Great Wall, beginning their assault on the human defenders of the Fusang Great Wall.
Early May, the Heart Demon War in the Upper Realm entered its white-hot stage.
...
"This is it..."
Lin Zhao frowned, directly halting the progress at May and then selecting the event "Ding Mucheng Retrieves the Fusang Sword" from the important events. His eyes lit up, and Lin Zhao immersed a wisp of his consciousness into the grand scene of the Upper Realm.
On the Fengshen Platform, numerous human cultivators were engaged in a bloody battle.
Outside the heavens, over a hundred blood-red figures of Fearful Heart Demons appeared collectively, accompanied by tens of thousands of Undefeatable Heart Demons wielding demonic flames, launching their assault. This battle raged ferociously, shaking heaven and earth, with cries echoing to the sky. Countless Heart Demons were crushed by arcane arts, but on the human side, ancient sages were also falling.
Golden lights descended from the sky, like falling stars.
Lin Zhao stood on a green peak, looking up, his heart churning. He knew that each falling star represented the demise of a human sage, and at least a XIII realm cultivator!
In the Lower Realm, a XIII realm sage held immense prestige, and no secular dynasty dared to neglect them. However, in the battle against the Heart Demons outside the heavens, the demise of a XIII realm sage seemed quite commonplace.
Amidst surging flames, a figure clad in snow-white retreated, it was his second senior sister, Ming Yuechi.
At this moment, Ming Yuechi's entire body was engulfed in the flames of the Fearful Heart Demons. The moment she unleashed a wisp of sword intent to dispel the demonic flames, Lin Zhao found that Ming Yuechi's left arm was already charred black. If she had been any slower, she might have lost an arm like Xi Zhi.
"Senior Sister!"
Not far away, a brilliant sword light erupted in the air. Ding Mucheng, holding a sword condensed from sword intent, fiercely shattered the body of a Fearful Heart Demon. He then swept out a fist, his soldierly aura powerful, crushing the bodies of three Undefeatable Heart Demons. But as Ding Mucheng looked back, he saw a figure trapped in the distance.
It was Dao Sage Lie Yun.
Holding a Daoist magic sword, Lie Yun was covered in hexagrams. This most outstanding disciple of the Dao Ancestor was inherently deeply cultivated and powerful, but even so, he was surrounded by over a dozen Fearful Heart Demons and thousands of Undefeatable Heart Demons. Hundreds of Undefeatable Heart Demons even self-destructed their primordial spirits, forming a Heart Demon cage, trapping Lie Yun within.
"Behold my sword!"
Ding Mucheng soared into the air, his long sword erupting with thousands of feet of sword light. He struck the cage with a fierce blow, shaking heaven and earth. The restrictions of the Outer Heavens hummed and buzzed, but this strike only managed to obliterate the physical bodies of dozens of Undefeatable Heart Demons, still unable to save Lie Yun trapped within the cage.
"Oh dear~~~"
Lie Yun, holding his sword with hexagrams flowing around him, couldn't help but chuckle, "Careless, I didn't expect to end up like Old Daoist Wang. It's bad, I'll have to go to the netherworld to fight Old Daoist Wang for wine."
"Dream on!"
Ding Mucheng laughed from afar, "With me here, who dares to let you, Lie Yun, die?"
Saying that, Ding Mucheng stretched out his large hand towards the direction of the Lower Realm and roared, "Sword—Come!"
Between heaven and earth, sword intent surged!
In the distance, Wei Huarou's lips curved into a slight smile. She finally saw this fellow shout "Sword Come." This scene was truly breathtaking. The only XIV realm sword cultivator in the Three Realms was indeed not known for nothing.
"Swish—"
A ray of light trailed from the Lower Realm, transforming into a silver longsword. It was the original body of the Fusang Sword, one of the ten great swords of 'Tian Xia'. This longsword that had guarded the human world finally returned to the Upper Realm, back into its master's hands. Instantly, it radiated brilliant light and chirped joyfully. Ding Mucheng then swung his sword, as if to split heaven and earth apart.
Clearly, this fully empowered Ding Mucheng would be a nightmare for the Heart Demon legions!
...
Lower Realm, Fusang Great Wall.
Suddenly, it was as if the spiritual essence of the entire Fusang Great Wall had vanished. The wall remained the same wall, but the dense sword intent and martial arts destiny had disappeared, replaced by desolation. When Ding Mucheng pulled out the Fusang Sword, the entire Great Wall lost its spiritual energy, transforming into an incredibly desolate old city.
"Hoo—"
In the back mountain, an old sword cultivator imprisoned by chains suddenly opened his eyes. The great Daoic suppression that had fallen upon his shoulders vanished. He was now truly free, no longer a bird in a cage or a fish in a pond.
As the old sword cultivator Wei Yan slowly stood up, the chains binding him turned to dust and fell away. He grinned, reached into his ear, took out an embroidery needle, and with a flick, it transformed into an ancient immortal sword.
The next moment, he roared towards the front of the mountain, "Han Fang, old man, are you lonely?!"
...
Fusang Great Wall battlefield.
On the city wall, the XII realm old sword cultivator Han Fang trembled all over upon hearing this voice and couldn't help but laugh heartily. If that fellow could come to assist in the battle, perhaps the Fusang Great Wall could hold out for a while longer.