Chapter 4: The Game's Setting

Until the very end, Wang Liang refused to accept the Immortal Package offered by the Five Elements Group, no matter how extravagantly the fat butcher praised it. It was useless, for Wang Liang simply had no idea what it meant to rise sixty levels in ten years and achieve the rank of Immortal. He only wanted to keep everything under his own control, just as he had done for the past twenty-some years.

The butcher, undeterred by Wang Liang's stubbornness, did not get angry. Instead, he courteously ran errands for Wang Liang and helped him with various chores, such as registration and signing up. This made Wang Liang feel somewhat embarrassed, so he sold all his copies of "The Innate Universe Technique" to the butcher at a bundled price.

With more than twenty coins that looked like jade in his hand, Wang Liang left happily. These coins, all of bluish-green jade, were square-holed and round, with the characters for "Heaven" and "Earth" inscribed on the front, and "Ten Years of Power" on the back. This was the currency of this world, each coin condensed from a person's own internal or magical power. A coin forged from one year’s worth of power was black and called a "unit." Ten years produced a blue coin, a hundred years a purple coin, and a thousand years a white coin.

The words engraved on the front denoted the coin’s attribute. The basic, non-elemental coins bore the "Heaven" and "Earth" characters, while coins of the light attribute might be inscribed with words like "Radiance" or "Brilliance."

Wang Liang generally paid little attention to the appearance of the coins, but he was intrigued to learn they could be obtained not only by condensing one’s own energy but also in other ways. For instance, when defeating or killing an enemy, one-third of that enemy’s power or magic would transform into coins and drop to the ground. Even the butcher and his companions could not explain the principle behind this, but most of the currency in circulation came from such encounters.

This helped Wang Liang understand why people here tended to be impulsive and hot-blooded.

Now that he had money, Wang Liang no longer needed anyone to explain things to him and wandered around the plaza at his leisure. Gradually, he found the people in this square rather interesting. They called themselves "silly player," a phrase whose individual words Wang Liang understood but whose combined meaning eluded him.

Several self-appointed teachers seemed eager to explain the philosophy behind it all, but Wang Liang merely nodded along, understanding not a single word.

In the end, it was an unremarkable-looking woman who curiously asked Wang Liang, "Do you usually play games?"

Wang Liang hesitated before replying, "Yes, I do."

"Well, if you play games, then you're a player," she said, pointing at him, and then gestured at the people nearby. "They're all players too—players in a grand game. By the way, what games do you usually play? When you play this one, it's best to find like-minded partners."

"Me? Does backgammon count?" Wang Liang thought of the game he played with his wife and spoke offhandedly.

This made the woman more confused. "What's backgammon?"

"It's a game played with dice. The rules are like this..." Wang Liang began to explain, but the woman interrupted him.

"So it's a Western fantasy style. No wonder you don't understand anything here. But that's all right. Things are actually quite simple over here; you don't need dice. Let me tell you, this game is called 'The Rise of the Gods.'"

"The general situation is hard to explain, but do you see the library over there? Go inside and look for books about the background of the gods. I'll give you a reading list—start with 'Chronicles of the God Wars,' then read 'The Investiture of the Gods,' 'The Deification List,' and 'The Untold Stories of Me and Daji,' which are all fan works and alternate tellings. Once you've read these, you'll understand most of it.

"Also, our ranking system is different from the fantasy style. Our levels go higher. Before you reach level sixty and become an Immortal, you don’t need to make any choices. Everything begins after level sixty. At level sixty—Immortal rank—you can choose to enter one of the sects: the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Celestial Sect, or the Four Great Disciples of the Intercepting Sect, the Zhao siblings, or the Seven Attendant Immortals. You can learn even more powerful immortal arts from them.

"At level ninety, which is Golden Immortal, you can join the main schools of either sect—Jade Void Palace or Biyou Palace—and become an outer disciple under a Saint. If you reach level one hundred and twenty, that’s the Great Golden Immortal level, and you can become a personal disciple of a Saint, founding your own school.

"This is important, make a note of it. There will be a test later."

"I overheard someone say it takes ten years to reach level sixty. How long would it take to reach level one hundred and twenty?" Wang Liang asked.

"I don't know, honestly. All I know is that this game has been running for three hundred years, and the highest level anyone’s reached is one hundred and thirteen. No one's made it to one hundred and twenty yet.

"And there’s something else—you might not know this, but I’ve heard that there are levels even above one hundred and twenty.

"But don't worry, the first sixty levels are quick to gain. Once you reach the Immortal stage at level sixty, your body will be strengthened, and you’ll be able to live for over a thousand years. You’ll make it to one hundred and twenty eventually."

Wang Liang didn't know how to respond to such reassurance. He really had no interest in playing this so-called game or leveling up. But since he was already here and had no idea where else to go, he decided not to dwell on how many years he might have to stay. Instead, he turned his attention to the game itself.

"As for the game," the woman said, "don't worry. Before level sixty, there are no factions. Only after that do the different sides compete, so you can decide later. For now, just enjoy the game and have fun."

With that, she quickly left. Wang Liang now had a general idea of the situation and decided to investigate "Chronicles of the God Wars," so he went to the nearby library.

The library was like a different world compared to the plaza, filled with numerous books. Most of them required payment to read, with only a few storybooks for common folk free to browse.

Wang Liang found the books the woman had mentioned and began reading carefully. He immediately noticed how thick the books were and the use of strange punctuation to break up sentences, making it impossible to misunderstand, even if one was unfamiliar with the structure.

From these books, Wang Liang learned of a tale whose backdrop involved the three Supreme Elders, centering on a conflict between the Lord Primordial of Jade Void Palace on Kunlun Mountain and the Lord Tongtian of Biyou Palace on Golden Turtle Island. Their discord sparked a war between the Celestial and Intercepting Sects, lasting billions of years—so long that Wang Liang had never even heard of such ancient times.