Jing was flabbergasted. His mind refused to operate for a few seconds as he gazed at the numbers before him.

Aukhman's smile deepened and he began to explain, "The viewers in general can give as many follows as they want to the other players, but they only have one favorite to give. Out of the 67 Million views, you have almost a million favorites, that is a very good start."

"It is?" Jing mumbled, feeling that it was very low compared to the whole 67m who watched him.

"Of course," Aukhman assured. "Go check your rank."

Jing heeded his instructions, and called, "System," in his mind.

[~Status Window~]

Name: Xie Jing

Age: 16

Cultivation: Body Tempering(9)

Soul Purity: 63%

Affiliation: The Golden Mountain Sect(Wandering Abyss Demonic Sect)

Rank: #472

Access Level: 2

Episode: 1

Reviews: 0

Views: 69 Million.

Followers: 19.4 Million.

Favorites: 1.2 Million.

Game Coins: 1.618

Leaderboard.

Loot(11).

Friends(1).

Cultivation Aide(J).

-

"Rank 472?!" He exclaimed. "I was around 860 the last time I checked."

"See," Aukhamn said. "I told you it was good. And this is all because you are one of the only two players in the demonic camp inside the sect. If you want to get even more views and donations..."

Jing quickly understood his meaning, he had to become the only one in the demonic camp so that all of their resources would pool into him. His heart beat wildly rang in his chest, and he could feel himself salivating. The resources he had received thus far were already life-changing. 'What if I was to become the only one?' He thought. His eyes snapped open and he glanced at the faintly smiling Zho Tu with a deep look.

'Oh god!' He thought, terrified by the feelings he was feeling at that moment. When he was confronted with the reality of the matter, mainly what he would gain if he killed Zho Tu, and what he would risk losing if he didn't, he found that the choice was very easy to make.

'Not now, not now,' He whispered, dismissing those thoughts and opening the loot menu. His eyes locked on the abundant resources that he had never before seen in his life, and his mouth watered, especially that "Radiant Echo Black Gold." Just from the name, he could tell that it was something amazing, and he had 5kg to boot!

'Soulforge capsule? I don't even know what's that.' He yelled in squirming joy. 'But it sounds great! Serenity Blossom and Dancing Enigmatic Sprout are spiritual herbs, maybe I can sell them in the disciples' market.'

'Goodness!' He exclaimed. 'Body Cleansing Elixir. I needed that to break through, and it's even middle grade. That's higher than the one Wang Fei has.'

Jing quietly jumped down from his upper bunk bed with a smile. Wang Fei was still busy cultivating, and so he softly tapped his shoulders. When the boy's eyes opened, Jing gestured for him to follow.

After gently shutting down the door to avoid disturbing the other two, he and Wang Fei walked out of the dorms. Their room was one of the rooms in the first story of that dorm, and so the door was but a few steps away. Still, they were able to witness several disciples who lived in the same dorm as them either going in or out. By then, they had already seen one another a few times, and so some polite smiles and nods were exchanged as greetings.

"What is it, Jing?" Wang Fei asked as he stretched outside the dorm.

"Have you finished cultivating?" Jing sent back another question.

"I only have some teeth left and I will be done," Wang Fei replied with a wince. "I hate cultivating them, so unbelievably irritating."

"Ouch," Jing said back. "They do suck indeed." Fortunately, the meat from the Core Formation monster had managed to effortlessly, and most importantly, painlessly temper most of his body in his sleep. However, it wasn't every day that a Body Tempering nobody would stumble upon meat of that caliber.

"But," Jing continued. "Let's go to the Outer Serenity Lake, we'll finish the rest there and I'll give you something."

"What is it?" Wang Fei asked with a confused tone.

"You'll know later," Jing flashed him a mysterious smile.

Once the plan of action was settled, the duo walked in the lake's direction. It was on the northern part of the outer sect, well beyond the first forest. Jing knew that the mountain was very vast, and had a complete ecosystem of its own with trees, plants, flowers, animals, and lakes.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Although the sun had already sought cover for the night, the moon was hanging overhead with bright alertness. Jing also noticed something peculiar about it. Even though it wasn't completely full, its light was very bright. In fact, even brighter than the full moon in a dark forest in his previous world.

Thus, as they navigated between the dorms, the main road, the pagodas on the northern side, and then finally the forest, the world was well-lit and they didn't have any issues in that regard. A cultivator's eyes were also something that gets purified, tempered, and bettered with the cleansing of Qi and so their vision was top-notch, at least relative to how it was.

Inside the forest, the duo walked in silence as Jing's attention was captivated by the silver skies above. On his first day, he was underground, but most importantly, he was so overwhelmed by the new journey that he didn't even pay much attention to the sky. The second day was just as eventful with his near-death experience atop the mountain peak and all, and of course the city lights, so he didn't have the time nor space to actually take a good look at the skies until that very moment.

It was so bright with seemingly millions of stars.

They stretched out infinitely like bright white jewels. In just the few minutes that his head had been glancing up, he even caught sight of two shooting stars which dazzled him to no end.

"Is the sky always like this?" Jing asked with a stupefied voice.

Wang Fei glanced up and smile, "No, in most cities there are a lot of lights which get in the way. But even outside the cities, there is a lot of moisture, mists, and clouds in the air which interferes with the stars' light. The reason it's so visible from here was because the sect leader's daughter used to love stars and he changed the whole ecosystem of the mountain to become very dry and have an unobstructed view of the stars."

"How's that possible?" Jing asked with a raised eyebrow. "He'd have to change the environment in maybe hundreds of kilometers."

"True," Wang Fei said. "But if you can build an array formation that will rise into the air like a pillar of light and obliterate everything in its wake, then you only need to pay attention to the part you're in."

Jing's eyes widened in both shock and understanding, "Such a thing is possible?"

"Indeed it is," Wang Fei said with bright eyes. "Array formations have endless potential."

Jing's lips split into an ironic smile when he heard that, 'The whole reason I am here in the first place is because of an array formation to begin in, so I suppose he's right.' He thought remembering how the creator of the games was also an Array Formation.

"But," He asked. "You said used to like? Did the sect master's daughter die?"

Wang Fei's head darted left and right as if he was trying to survey the surroundings before throwing some unspeakable secret. "No," He explained. "But rumors say that some very big issue happened between them and they split."

"How big is the issue that would separate a daughter and her father?" Jing asked intrigued. From how much trouble the sect master took upon himself to just let her have a beautiful view it showed that he cared for her.

"The sect master himself destroyed her spiritual mountain and exiled her out of the eastern part of the southern continent." Wang Fei said with a low whisper.

"Exhile his daughter?" Jing asked with disbelief. "Why would he do that?"

Wang Fei shrugged his shoulders and continued, "I do not know, but it must be big. Have you heard of the Wandering Lotus Mountain? It's to the south of here, In that direction." He pointed somewhere.

Jing's steps halted, "No way," he mumbled. How could he forget about the Wandering Lotus Mountain? Because of how much the sect master of the demonic sect terrified him he engorged himself with every piece of information he could find about her. He could vividly remember Shen Yun telling him that their sect used to be on a mountain called the Wandering Lotus Mountain.

'Could it be?' He thought with an astonished expression.

Wang Fei paused as well and asked in confusion, "What is it?"

"Are you sure it was the Wandering Lotus Mountain?" Jing asked with a serious voice.

"Of course," Wang Fei innocently replied. "It's a well-known fact. It is still in ruin after the sect master obliterated it in his crazed state."

"Goodness..." Jing uttered. 'So the sect master of the wandering abyss demonic sect is also the daughter of the sect master of the golden mountain sect...' He pondered with a complicated expression. 'Then why are we here? Revenge on her father? But what about that deciding war and the movement of the other kingdoms that they had been talking about?'

"What?" Wang Fei asked again.

Jing dismissively waved his hand and said, "Never mind, nothing," and picked up his pace. However, his disposition lacked any of its previous carefree wonders. He could tell that the peace The Golden Mountain Sect and the Kaesen Dynasty enjoyed would be very short-lived, and he had to prepare himself as much as possible for the upcoming storm that was inevitably going to fall on everyone here, including him.

At the same time, a player with something akin to a divine weapon was getting stronger just a few houses from his. He had learned from Aukhman that as you increase your access level to gain access to more functions and abilities. He didn't have the slightest shred of doubt that most players would be able to locate one another given enough time, that he was certain of. The game's main concern was entertainment, and letting players freely roam the world unbothered wouldn't be as entertaining as allowing them to locate one another.

"This is it?" Jing suddenly asked. The duo by then had walked beyond the tree line into a vast green expanse with a glistening lake in the middle. Small animals scurried away around them, frightened by their abrupt appearance. Jing could see several disciples sitting at the edge of the lake talking with one another, others had their clothes beside the lake as they fidgeted in the cold before plunging themselves into it.

"Yes," Wang Fei said. "That's the Serenity Lake, and beyond it I heard is the outer spiritual garden."

"Here," Jing said with a smile, handing the chubby boy a short thick glass vial with a sky-blue liquid inside. He had stealthily summoned it from his Loot menu into his pocket and brought it out.

"What's this?" Wang Fei asked, puzzled.

Smile widening, Jing explained, "Middle-grade Body Cleansing Elixir."

Wang Fei's face froze, and he almost stumbled backward. "You're kidding?" He asked with a voice that pleaded to hear a 'No.'

"No," Jing said, he grabbed the boy's palm and put the vial into it. "Don't worry about it," He said whilst tapping his shoulder. The boy in front of him had actually saved him from certain death, and Jing would never forget such a thing. Giving him the elixir was merely a very minuscule matter compared to what the latter did.

Wang Fei gulped in both excitement and nervousness, "You're certain?"

"Yes, yes..." Jing impatiently said. "Just take it, I have another one." And he brought out the other one.

"Where did you get them?" Wang Fei asked with a flabbergasted expression. "You didn't even have one the last time."