Chapter 42: Chapter 42 Ape Demon Subdued_l

Translator: 549690339

As a former professional player (self-proclaimed), Wang played a plethora of games, and his hand for gaming had become instinctive, to the point he could immediately tell which game a knockoff was imitating after playing it for a while.

Therefore, when he felt the indescribably delightful handling of the game, Wang realized that inferior 3D games would no longer catch his eye.

The tactile experience wasn’t even in the same league, it was like being accustomed to subpar burgers and then suddenly being served a supreme abalone soup, the dimensionality reduction strike of the taste highlighted the mediocrity of most other games and made it difficult for him, now used to this hand feel, to play those inferior games again.

Normal players might not notice such details, but once they get used to “Quiet Cultivation,” playing some other games would soon bring a sense of discomfort, which in turn would give them an inkling that something was off.

“Dimensionality Reduction Strike, this is,” he mused.

The thought that this was still only the beta version made Wang uncontrollably anticipate its perfected form, believing it would definitely stir up a maelstrom in the current battle royale scene.

No, it was already capable now.

Because he had been admiring the scenery and familiarizing himself with the feel of the game, Wang hadn’t been able to secure any meditation spot.

When he came to his senses, he noticed the sky had changed color, chaotic streams snaking through the air like sinister dragons.

Recalling the scene from the opening animation, Wang frowned, “Gang Wind…”

Gang Wind was a fixed natural disaster in the game, appearing automatically after a certain period of time. If players managed to seize a meditation spot, their powerful bodies could withstand the Gang Wind and overcome this calamity.

But if they failedtodoso, they would need to flee the Gang Wind, and this process left them vulnerable to being sniped by other characters, often resulting in death by their opponents’ tactics.

Moreover, the Gang Wind would grow stronger over time, and even players who had greatly progressed would perish beneath it.

This mechanic made the game’s pace very fast from the start and encouraged players to fiercely vie for meditation spots, promoting active direct confrontation.

Understanding this, Wang no longer fled and let the Gang Wind blow his character to smithereens, then started to think.

“Interesting,” he said.

Restarting the game, this time Wang chose a strong early-game character, the Ming General.

Compared to the weaker early-game Ape Demon, the Ming General’s early game was much more comfortable.

Being able to swiftly move through the shadows of objects, he could quickly approach and slit an opponent’s throat undetected, and if the opponent had no defense cultivation technique, they would be facing certain death.

Additionally, after killing an opponent he could snatch their soul to recover his own health or even enhance his attributes, making him an exceptionally aberrant character.

But power comes at a cost, the Ming General was a dead war general from the Underworld, and walking in the world of the living consumed Yin Qi. Without soul snatching, his health and attributes would gradually decline until he restored them by taking souls.

After controlling him for a while, Wang felt the handling of the Ming General was truly amazing.

Prowling, assassinating, then prowling again—after every hide, the switch to a black-and-white world would instantaneously immerse him into the perspective of the Ming General; the strong feedback from each assassination stimulated Wang’s nerves wave after wave, leaving him unable to stop.

As per the game’s setting, every character was a resurrected statue, so there was no blood upon death, only mud that splattered.

But “Quiet Cultivation” is perverse in that it created up to a thousand types of death animations, and they would vary according to the manner of being killed.

These states made death non-gory yet exceptionally realistic.

Not only that, Wang also discovered that in this game, the real environment system came into play—the vegetation wasn’t placed arbitrarily but could be destroyed, manipulated, and even some spells could use these items to achieve even more powerful effects.

Terrifying attention to detail made the entire world feel more real and allowed players to immerse themselves more easily.

Because most cultivation techniques were automatically targeted, combat was no longer just about skill alone, but also about understanding the techniques, characters, and environment. Overcoming stronger opponents was still not easy, but when it happened, Wang couldn’t help but cheer exuberantly.

Not to mention the feedback from acquiring meditation spots; high-level spots could even qualitatively change one’s fighting style, making Wang look forward to meditating.

Three hours later, having finally won a battle royale with the Ming General, Wang couldn’t suppress his celebration, jumping up and down like a monkey in his room for a good while before calming down.

Sitting in his chair, he watched the Ming General’s final settlement screen, his heart racing at an elevated rate, dopamine surging wildly through his body, plunging him into seemingly endless ecstasy.

After quieting down, he rubbed his fingers, feeling it was time to show off to his buddies in the group chat.

But looking at the other three characters available for selection, he hesitated.

If the Ming General feels this good, how exhilarating might the other characters be?

Within three seconds, he had ditched his fans and chosen to start the game with the beautiful Heavenly Soldiers.

Heavenly Soldiers, that was another experience altogether.

Though they seemed standard and unremarkable in every aspect, once their true form was unleashed, the accumulated blandness turned into pure exhilaration in an instant.

Ignoring controls, health skyrocketed, and a great enhancement in all attributes allowed Heavenly Soldiers to rival the Gods within five seconds, making Wang understand what “five-second real man” meant.

And meditating afterwards could strengthen the effect of the true form and extend its duration, which made Wang prioritize meditation and continuously fight for meditation spots based on the situation of each round.

With his previous experience, Wang succeeded in a two-hour chicken dinner.

A massive sense of achievement washed over him, making him forget all about his buddies and start experimenting with the Ape Demon.

In the early game, Ape Demons were weak, slow-moving, and without much in the way of tactics; they could only lie in wait and slowly approach the meditation spots.

But once they had accumulated the power of two meditation spots, their overall strength began to climb rapidly, and after five, they could look down upon all other players, even forcefully snatching meditation spots from others’ spells and emerging from retreat to continue their slaughter.

Their moves were ferociously limitless, their physical bodies swift as dragons; once mature, Ape Demons strode forth unstoppably, treating Gang Wind as nothing. Their staff, like a key stand, stirred the winds and clouds of the world, slaying the thousands of demons.

“Ah… exhilarating!”

Roaring with delight in the game, Wang could hear the Ape Demon’s domineering aura which overlooked all heroes; a fervor surged in his own chest, yearning to be released.

There were only two players left in this game.

Among the cultivation techniques he acquired, there was one that couldn’t increase his strength but allowed him to see the location of his enemies after use.

Having located the final player, he stepped forward boldly, a Monkey dashing along the mountain path swiftly, determined to cut down his last opponent.

When he arrived at the destination, Wang saw his final opponent, a Sword Immortal.

This discovery made him pause for a moment.

Hours of gameplay taught him that Sword Immortals were the most challenging of the four classes.

All their cultivation lay in a single Flying Sword, which could protect them with Sword Qi when close by, but when attacking, the Flying Sword had to be sent out, leaving them completely defenseless; an early-game Ape Demon could finish them off with a single swing of the staff.

Although later in the game they could increase the number of Flying Swords to a maximum of three, the swords required manual aiming, unlike other spells that could lock onto the target. Engaging in combat meant taking into account the opponent’s position and speed, making it very difficult to hit the target.

That is to say, once a Sword Immortal attacked, one of us was bound to die.

The Sword Immortal who had lasted until the end must have some tricks up his sleeve, but he couldn’t possibly be Wang’s match.

After estimating the direction and gauging the distance, Wang suddenly let out a roar, raising his staff and charging towards the Sword Immortal who was still meditating.

The massive staff was about to crush the opponent into ash when he saw a flash of sword light, like a scorching sun growing ever larger, rushing straight towards him.

So fast!

With no time to dodge, Wang was engulfed by the brilliant light, and the Ape Demon was vanquished, leaving behind only the serene Sword Immortal.

So cool!

Staring blankly at his opponent’s final move, Wang didn’t win the round, but he was thoroughly impressed.

To die at the hands of such an impressive Sword Immortal was a wish fulfilled.

“This player is really amazing,” Wang sighed, “another round, and I’m going to try Sword Immortal too!”

“These players really have issues.”

Inside Fang Cheng Studio, Fang Cheng watched the screen, perplexed.

They’re not meditating properly and grasping its essence; instead, they’re fighting everywhere.

What are you all doing?

Is fighting fun?