On the website, there was no information apart from the video. The only other thing was a bluish-green background, like the annual rings of a tree.
But since it was a work from Gong Qiying the Second’s studio, even a simple background pattern was enough to make players worldwide imagine a hundred tis more hidden anings than were actually there.
"Holy shit, a teaser for a new ga already! Are they trying to trick out of my money again?"
In an instant, Shao Shuangyue, who had still been sleepy, was overco with excitent. She sat up straight and pressed her face close to the computer screen—for a mont, she looked like the big-eyed beauty she was, but that image was quickly shattered by her wild, uninhibited laughter. "Yes, yes! I wonder if it’s DLC or a teaser for a whole new ga!"
Without a mont’s hesitation, she clicked to watch the CG.
The first thing to fill the screen was a torrential downpour at sea, with lightning streaking like serpents across the dim sky.
Amid the thunder and lightning, the waves surged. A massive treasure ship, flying a Dragon flag, cut through the towering waves in the storm, arriving at a small, densely forested island that was utterly silent, devoid of any animal life.
A deep, aged male voice began to narrate, accompanied by the gentle sound of a xiao flute. It was like an archaeology professor reciting records from a dusty, ancient to.
From ancient tis, humanity has pursued Longevity, seeking to transcend the Reincarnation of Destiny.
The treasure ship ca to a stop. On the deck, a tall, white-haired old man clad in golden Bright Armor, exuding an air of Majesty, pushed away the guard who tried to support him. He strode off the ship and set foot on the silent island.
From the highest Emperor to the humblest wanderer, everyone has yearned for it, searching for a way to obtain it in ancient Classics, mountain legends, cryptic Prophecies, and the results of sacrificial rites.
Fully ard guards lit torches, protecting the old man in golden armor as they hacked their way through the jungle. These guards were incredibly strong; not even trees thick enough to require two arms to encircle could stop them. The entire group moved like a bulldozer, carving a path through the deep green forest island straight to a small hill in its center.
And on this hill, a tiny sapling, like a potted plant, was growing alone, bathed in the rain of the storm.
Legends say Jianmu soars from a Spiritual Hill, the Peach of Immortality grows by the Giant Sea, and the Divine Wood bears fruit that grants immortality.
After staring at the incredibly small sapling for several minutes, the disappointed old man personally dug it up, taking the sapling along with the Earth beneath it.
The scene changed. The sapling was now behind a temple in the mountains of the Southern Country, enshrined amidst the landscape. In the background, a large, prosperous city could be vaguely seen. From it, the faint cry of "The Emperor passed away in the Yong’an Palace" could be heard.
The bustling Imperial Palace and the tranquil temple faced each other from afar, a contrast of motion and stillness.
Ti flies like a shuttle, and the Vast Sea transforms into mulberry fields.
Ti flew by. Two hundred years passed in a flash. The walls of the newly built temple were gradually covered with creepers and moss, and its sturdy beams rotted and were repaired.
People ca and went, their voices rising and fading, but the sapling remained unchanged.
Until one day, an old Daoist who tended the temple stopped breathing with a smile on his face as he carefully watered the sapling, pouring Spirit Water on it.
Only the human heart is ’Buyi’.
A Spiritual Light, like a soul, landed on a verdant leaf.
Then, the Divine Wood, having sensed the Spirit, grew ten feet by day and seven by night. In three years’ ti, it was as tall as a mountain.
One day, the Divine Wood was complete. Immortality had arrived.
An enormous Divine Wood could be seen standing between heaven and earth. Its trunk and aerial roots supported the world like a Divine Mountain, while its crown pierced the clouds, connecting the heavens and the earth.
At this point, the video’s color palette suddenly went Dark, becoming gloomy and hazy, as if shrouded in mist.
The once-bustling Imperial Capital, which had faced the temple from afar, was now reduced to crumbling ruins. Along its forr streets, giant Wood Centipedes and Soldiers in Black Armor were marching, destroying everything in their path, leaving only dried blood and rubble.
But an era of disaster and turmoil followed.
In the blackened ruins of the town, silent people gathered. A tall scholar, covered in filth and gri, his hands bloody as if he had been digging in the rubble for a long ti, stared at the ruins of his hotown and the corpses within. He clenched his fists, his dull eyes reflecting the Fla that still burned in the wreckage.
The cara pulled back. An army ford from people in countless different armors, seemingly from the Hundred Schools, began to approach the Soldiers in Black Armor and the Giant Beasts, charging at one another!
The screen went black, followed by the clear clash of swords!
The short CG ended there. The rest of the video was a series of ink-wash concept art flashes, set to a stirring soundtrack—a giant Monster made of wooden roots, historically accurate armor and swords, Martial Artists using Qinggong to fight in mid-air, and giant steampunk-style machines and floating airships.
There were even so fleeting spoilers about the ga’s content—a small team marching towards a Volcano in the northern snowstorms; the sudden arrival of an Inheritor of an ancient lineage; the sound effects of a series of Sword Skill clashes; and Black Wood Demon Soldiers laughing maniacally as they charged a Fortress in the blizzard.
As the progress bar neared the end, the deep male voice slowly announced the short film’s End.
Who can bring peace to this chaotic world?
After this aningful closing line, the short film concluded, and the logo for the *Dark Wolf* series appeared in the center of the black screen.
Then, wooden roots spread out, forming its subtitle.
Immortal Tribulation
For a mont, the room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Then ca a girl’s excited scream, followed by ecstatic gibberish.
"Steampunk! Wuxia! An Eastern setting! Oh my god, is that brilliant bastard planning to reboot the dieval chaotic world tiline?!"
"Shut up and take my money! Take it all! Just release the ga already!"
Even with the best soundproofing, Shao Qiming, in the room next door, could definitely hear Shao Shuangyue’s excited voice. The young man, looking much better than he had six months ago, sighed helplessly, went over to knock on his sister’s door, and coughed, signaling for her to quiet down.
Only after the noise from Shao Shuangyue’s room died down did he return to his own room, pick up his headset and microphone, and resu his voice chat with his friend, Su Zhou.
"That’s the gist of it. The ’BOSS’s’ surna is Tang. The family has five branches. The core branch, the one we suspect the most, is in ’you know where,’ at that ’corporation.’ As for the rest, I’ve already had soone forward the details to you, along with so materials—Azhou, you understand now, right? The BOSS is strong, and our current equipnt isn’t enough..."
Although it was unlikely anyone would be bored enough to monitor a voice chat that sounded like a discussion about a ga raid, Shao Qiming was cautious enough to do it anyway. He trusted that his friend would understand his aning.
"Yeah, I get all of it."
Sure enough, his friend’s eternally confident voice ca through the headset. Shao Qiming smiled and continued, "As for the advancent you ntioned, if your Talent is really that good, the Academy and the governnt will definitely fast-track you. Of course, you might have to go through the motions and show off your skills at the Holy Ascension Selection Test, just so no one thinks it’s so under-the-table deal."
"After all, you have to understand, the general public doesn’t have a strong sense of the Spiritual Energy Revival yet. They don’t really know what Extraordinary Power can bring or what it can change. A normal person’s Cultivation is very slow, and it takes a long, patient grind to see results. The governnt will definitely find opportunities to show everyone the fruits of Cultivation, if only to give them the Faith to keep going."
As he spoke, Shao Qiming touched his chest.
His lungs, which had once been a source of constant, dull pain, were now back to normal—better than normal, even. He smiled faintly, then said with renewed vigor, "Anyway, based on what my dad and his people have vaguely let on, the Zhengguo Governnt, especially the education system, is indeed looking for a few young role models... Azhou, you should really go for it."
On the other end of the line, there was a mont of silence. A short while later, Su Zhou’s voice ca through again: "—In that case, I’ll do my best."
Even though the words were humble, his tone was one of absolute certainty. Shao Qiming wasn’t surprised at all; in fact, he felt it was only natural. "Well, it’s you we’re talking about. Right?"
"It is , after all! Hahaha!"
The two of them laughed together, filling the air with a cheerful atmosphere.
Shao Qiming had been truly happy lately. First of all, his mother Wen Yuefeng’s illness was finally starting to heal. Her legs were getting better and better; she’d even put on a little weight and could take a few steps with Aunt He’s help during physical therapy.
Because of this, his father, Shao Nantian, had even flown back from the Celestial Capital to stay with them for three weeks. He also brought with him a lot of inside information on policies that ordinary people didn’t know about, allowing Shao Qiming to understand the governnt’s current attitude towards the Spiritual Energy Revival and the growing number of Awakeners.
The information Shao Qiming had just shared with Su Zhou was part of that.
"By the way, Qiming, I rember Aunt Wen’s birthday is this month, right?"
Suddenly, Su Zhou stopped laughing, his voice sounding like he was confirming sothing.
"Huh? Yeah." Shao Qiming nodded, not understanding. "It’s on the seventeenth... why?"
"December 17th, huh. It’s nothing."
「At this mont.」
「December 10, 2014. 1:15 a.m.」
Dark gray clouds churned across the do of the sky. A fierce, cold wind and a blizzard raged between heaven and earth.
Dressed in white as pure as snow, Su Zhou seed to blend into the blizzard. He held a phone in one hand, his body flickering with Spiritual Power that shielded him from the wind and snow.
He stood on the roof of a building, his eyes gazing into the distance, as if looking toward the faraway Hengcheng City.
The city where the Ghost Witch Family was located.
’There’s still ti.’
He thought with a faint smile, then raised his phone and spoke calmly to his friend on the other end.
"It’s nothing."
"I was just thinking about what would be a good birthday present."
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