Lin Feng followed the instructions in the manual and held the ancient coin in his left hand.

Fifteen seconds later, the ancient coin vanished as expected.

Then, a pattern appeared on his palm, as if it were a tattoo.

This pattern wouldn't wash off. As long as the player didn't die in the game, it would remain. Conversely, if they died, the pattern would disappear permanently.

Lin Feng lay down, raised his right hand, and pressed it onto the pattern. As soon as fifteen seconds passed, he fell into a deep sleep!

And his consciousness had already arrived in a completely unknown world!

"Welcome to the world of 'The Grand Martial World.' Here, you will experience the purest martial arts world. We hope you can live an exciting life in this world!"

"Character confirmation: Male, nineteen years old. Please name your game character."

Lin Feng thought for a moment and said, "Lin Yanfeng."

Fang Zhiqiu had advised him that it was best not to use his real name in the game, as it could easily lead to being doxxed.

"Name confirmed! Please choose your period hairstyle!"

Lin Feng then saw a series of hairstyle options based on his face.

There were options like a bald head, the Qing Dynasty's rat tail, Bu Jingyun's afro, Nie Feng's half-loose hair, Guo Jing's classic tied hair, and the Mongolian braided hairstyle, among others.

Lin Feng chose the most normal tied hairstyle. He could also choose the color, but he didn't want to dye his hair yellow or green, so he went with the most normal black hair.

"Image confirmed. The system will now detect your physical attributes... Please wait!"

"Attribute detection complete! Now transporting you to Seven Heroes Town! Young hero, embark on your journey through the martial world!"

As soon as the voice finished, the scene before Lin Feng's eyes flashed, and he found himself in an ancient town.

He looked down at his attire, a simple coarse cloth outfit, unarmed.

He clenched his fist and felt an incredibly real sense of strength in his palm, no different from reality.

The bustling game buildings around him were also indistinguishable from reality, and this sense of realism left Lin Feng in awe.

This virtual game was too realistic, far surpassing the latest AI and VR technology on Earth. Who on earth could have created such advanced technology?

The game's background was all derived from Earth's wuxia novels.

This couldn't help but make Lin Feng wonder if it was future technology from Earth that had accidentally ended up in a parallel world.

Of course, he could only speculate and had no way to find evidence.

Since he was here, he might as well enjoy it. This game allowed people to continuously grow stronger and become martial arts masters, which he was quite looking forward to.

As a mercenary, Lin Feng never played games, but he was obsessed with martial arts and had always been committed to becoming a top mercenary in the world.

Unfortunately, no matter how much he trained on Earth, he was just an ordinary mortal.

Unlike here, where one could become a martial arts master.

Legendary internal energy, lightness skills, hidden weapons, and cultivation methods—he would soon experience them firsthand, and just thinking about it made him a bit excited.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Although Lin Feng had never played games, he had seen others play, and Fang Zhiqiu had explained many game strategies to him, so he just had to follow them.

First, he chose to open his attribute interface. Each player's attribute interface was divided into two types: the talent interface and the combat interface.

Talent Interface:

[Player: Lin Yanfeng]

[Innate Talent: 51/Mediocre]

[Grace: 64/Acceptable]

[Comprehension: 75/Excellent]

[Fortune: 60/Minor Luck]

[Charisma: 85/Graceful]

Innate talent was necessary for body cultivation martial arts, whether it was fist techniques, leg techniques, palm techniques, etc., all required innate talent for practice.

Grace was needed for mental cultivation martial arts, such as various internal energies and arcane techniques.

Comprehension was required for weapon martial arts, like swords, spears, and staffs, which required comprehension talent to learn.

As for fortune and charisma, they were easy to understand.

After reviewing his talent interface, Lin Feng was a bit speechless. It was said that all attributes in "The Grand Martial World" were determined based on the player's physical talents.

The maximum talent attribute was 100 points, and most people ranged between 50 and 70. Above 70 was considered excellent talent, and the higher the number, the higher your martial arts talent.

Players with higher talent were more likely to be accepted into major sects, as experts were willing to take them as disciples. Conversely, those with lower talent were less desirable and could only join minor sects.

Lin Feng's talent interface could be described as average.

If he wanted to join a first-rate sect, it was basically impossible, as no expert would want to waste their energy on someone as mediocre as him.

Of course, there were ways around it, such as finding various elixirs and treasures to increase talent points or cultivation methods that could transform one's physique.

Alternatively, completing tasks for others could also allow entry into sects.

But currently, Lin Feng had nothing, so he temporarily ignored his talent and opened the second page, the combat interface.

After reviewing it, he finally felt relieved.

Combat Interface:

[Player: Lin Yanfeng]

[Level: 0]

[Experience: 0/100]

[Strength: Unranked]

[Reputation: Unknown Nobody]

[Vitality: 100/100]

[Internal Strength: 0/0]

[Physique: 5]

[Force: 5]

[Defense: 4]

[Agility: 7]

[Martial Arts: None]

[Lightness Skill: None]

[Internal Energy: None]

[Equipment: None]

Physique represented vitality and internal strength, force represented attack and damage values, defense and agility represented resistance and speed, respectively.

Ordinary people's combat talent attributes were generally around 10 points, determined by the game system's scan of your physique.

Lin Feng's body was weak and frail, standing at 1.75 meters and barely weighing 100 pounds, even less than many girls.

This also resulted in his combat attributes being pitifully low, completely weak and fragile, akin to Lin Daiyu's physique.

With such physical attributes, even Lin Feng couldn't bear to look at himself. Not to mention martial artists, even in a regular gym, he'd be called a weakling.

"Sigh, a disastrous start."

Lin Feng sighed, feeling that the path of joining a sect was out of reach, at least for now. No expert would want to take him in.

However, Lin Feng also knew that this game had a high degree of freedom, and players didn't necessarily have to join a sect.

Self-cultivation, seeking fortuitous encounters, and being a wanderer were also viable paths, provided you could find those encounters.

Other players would rather join third-rate gangs or private forces than be wanderers.

The reason was that being a wanderer was too risky, with no backing, no sect, and all cultivation resources had to be obtained by oneself, which was extremely difficult.

If you encountered competition or were targeted by evildoers, the chances of being killed were high.

Many players had chosen this path before, but most didn't last long before dying. The longest a wanderer player had survived was only half a year.

So, with the experience of predecessors, the path of a wanderer had long been labeled as "high mortality rate," and no one dared to try it lightly.

After all, this game only had one life. Taking such a big risk, once you died, you could never return to "The Grand Martial World." It was better to play it safe.

But Lin Feng wasn't afraid. He was familiar with the game's background story and knew the locations of various fortuitous encounters. If he didn't dare to venture out, wouldn't he be wasting his golden finger?

With the opportunity to defy fate, even if the risk was high, it was definitely worth taking!

Having figured this out, Lin Feng decided to temporarily abandon the path of joining forces and chose to be a wanderer player!

***

At this moment, he stood at the entrance of Seven Heroes Town.

The town wasn't large, but it had everything one could need, including various shops, restaurants, trading firms, cloth shops, rice shops, and blacksmith shops.

The town's streets were wide and straight, and although they were dirt roads, they were compacted and smooth. Rows of weeping willows lined the roads, with vendors and peddlers resting or selling their wares under the trees. The bustling scene was lively and vibrant.

Among these people were many NPCs from the game, as well as many who were clearly real players, most of whom were heading out of town.

Many players stood at the town entrance, shouting:

"Anyone want to team up to go to Wudang Mountain? It's safer to travel with a companion!"

"Looking for a few third-rate experts to escort me to Mount Heng Sect, 5000 silver per person, unlimited spots!"

"This damn Seven Heroes Town is full of commoners. I've been wandering here for three days, only completed a few ordinary tasks, and earned some loose silver. What a waste of time!"

"I heard there's a branch of Dragon Gate Escort Agency nearby. Anyone want to join me for an escort mission?"

"Cuiwei Mountain wolf hunting mission, anyone want to team up? Must be at least level 10, preferably with some martial arts skills!"

"Ugh, it's my first time playing this game. Any expert brothers willing to guide me? We could even be a couple in-game, and I'm open to meeting offline nationwide (blushing)~"