The game is only half finished, and the entire internet is begging for an update!

"But there are so few people! How come there aren't even many to talk to!"

Chi Cheng circled around Zhuxi Village twice.

The village doesn't look very big, but there are very few people you can actually talk to.

"This must be what high-freedom exploration is all about!"

"Looking around, are there really so few players choosing the solo route?"

Actually, there were a few other players nearby, dressed in patched-up burlap clothes just like him, wandering from house to house. But everyone was busy getting a head start in the game, and no one stopped to talk to each other.

[Haha, Emperor Chi Tian has died while getting lost in the beginner village.]

This is what happens when you try to show off! Everyone else has GPS navigation, and you're just trying to survive in the wilderness!

[Brother Chi, how about we restart? There wasn't even a tutorial at the start, what are you doing?!]

"Reopen? The word 'reopen' doesn't exist in my dictionary!"

Chi Cheng stubbornly refused to admit it, and began to check the water meters from house to house, controlling his character.

After breaking into three empty thatched huts, Chi Cheng finally found a withered old NPC with the title "Village Chief of Zhuxi Village" on his head under a large banyan tree at the end of the village.

At the bottom of the screen, a long-awaited dialog box finally popped up.

Village Chief: "Where did this refugee come from? Look at your skinny arms and legs, you're destined to be a farmer. What, you want to learn swordsmanship from those great sect masters?"

"Holy crap, this NPC can even taunt players?!"

Chi Cheng's eyes widened, and he frantically clicked the chat box with his mouse.

Emperor Chi Tian:

[A. I'm a sword cultivator, stop talking nonsense and hand over the divine weapon!]

[B. Please, Village Chief, enlighten me; I am willing to serve you faithfully.]

C. Never mind, I'll go farm.

Chi Cheng chose B without hesitation.

"That's called being flexible and adaptable."

"I have just arrived here, so I will not bother with a village chief for now."

The village chief sized up Chi Tiandi a few times.

"His ambitions were higher than the sky, but his fate was as fragile as paper."

"Alright, back in the day when I went to the city to collect scraps, I did bring back a few useless sword blanks, which I just threw in the backyard. Go pick one yourself, whether you can pull it out or not depends on your luck."

As the conversation ended, a faint task cursor finally appeared in the upper right corner of Chi Cheng's screen: [Go to the village chief's backyard].

Chi Cheng instantly perked up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, did you see that? This is what they mean by 'where there's a will, there's a way'!"

Chi Cheng smugly maneuvered his character to circle around to the backyard.

But the scene before him instantly dampened his initial excitement.

There was no ancient sword tomb with crisscrossing sword energy as I had imagined, nor any divine weapons that shone with dazzling light.

The backyard was more rudimentary than I had imagined.

A row of rain-soaked wooden shelves leaned against the wall, with a few sword blanks scattered on them.

Some are covered in rust, some have a chipped blade, and one is only half left. I know it's useless, but this is just too useless.

Chi Cheng stood in front of the wooden frame, and remained silent for a moment.

"Others choose companion opportunities, and they start with either a spiritual treasure or an ancient sword."

"So, the village chief sent me to the scrap metal recycling station to pick out weapons?"

"Is this some kind of sword blank or a fire poker?!"

The viewers in the live chat were not surprised at all.

[It's a personal path, so you have to pick up everything yourself.]

[That's already pretty good; at least they didn't make you go to the mines to dig for iron yourself.]

[Village Chief: Take it or leave it. If you don't want it, I'll use it to chop firewood.]

Chi Cheng had no other choice but to bite the bullet and walk to the wooden frame.

He carefully examined the sword blanks.

The greatsword looked too cumbersome and didn't suit his elegant style of operation, while the longsword was too ordinary and lacked any distinctive features.

Finally, his gaze settled on the slender rapier.

The sword is thin and long, with a blade only two fingers wide. Although it has rust on the surface, it is relatively intact overall.

"I've chosen you!"

"A lighter touch will make the sword strike faster."

Chi Cheng pressed the interaction button.

Should I choose a slender sword blank as my destined sword?

Chi Cheng confirmed it directly.

Please name your destined sword.

Chi Cheng placed his hands on the keyboard and thought seriously for a few seconds.

"Gentlemen, since our sword follows a fast, accurate, and ruthless approach, its name must possess a power that strikes straight to the soul!"

"Zhu Xian? Zhan Shen? That's too cliché, full of the old-fashioned, lowbrow vibe of web novels from ten years ago."

A wicked smile suddenly appeared on Chi Cheng's lips. His fingers flew across the keyboard, typing two words before pressing the Enter key.

8 AM

[Naming successful! Your destined sword is: Zao Ba (早八)]

The live stream went silent for a moment.

Immediately afterwards, question marks filled the entire screen.

【what? 】

What do you call a sword?

[Eight in the morning? I thought you'd call Shang Fang! If all else fails, you could call: Holy crap, have mercy, or Big E!]

[How about naming it after a sword? Sword names are easier to maintain!]

【Brother Chi, have some decency! I have class at 8 AM on Monday, why are you attacking me with those two words at this time!】

I get it! Physical damage is just scratching the surface; mental attacks are the real killers!

Chi Cheng looked at the sword name and became more and more satisfied.

"You don't understand."

"The main selling point is that it sounds impressive but is actually quite mysterious."

"From now on, any enemy who sees these two words will be reminded of the most painful mornings of their university days."

"I want to make everyone in the world suffer the wrath of 8 AM!"

[Naming successful!]

Your destined sword: Zao Ba (Early Morning)

The rust on the surface of the rapier peeled off slightly, and a faint light appeared along the blade before quickly disappearing.

Chi Cheng pulled out the 8 AM tube.

The blade is thin and light, and its swing speed is significantly faster than that of an ordinary longsword.

Chi Cheng clicked three times in succession, and Chi Tiandi swiftly thrust forward with two swords. The third sword swept horizontally, the movements crisp and clean.

"This feels great!"

"Look at my 8 AM!"

Having acquired weapons, Chi Cheng finally shed his status as an unarmed refugee.

He controlled the Heavenly Emperor to go out; the village chief had been waiting for him for a long time.

The village chief glanced at the sword in his hand.

"Recently, a lot of wild rabbits have appeared in the bamboo forest outside the village, and they have already ruined several medicinal herb fields."

"If you really want to repair the sword, go and take care of this first."

The task prompt finally appeared.

[Personal Quest: Clear out the wild rabbits wandering in the bamboo forest]

[Task Reward: Basic Tempering Materials]

He manipulated Chi Tiandi to leave the village chief's house and head outwards along the dirt road in the village.

When he reached the village entrance, he found that there were finally more players around.

However, these people had clearly chosen their own paths, each carrying a broken sword, standing at the crossroads and sizing each other up.

Messages kept popping up in the nearby chat channel.

How do I get to the bamboo forest?

I don't know, I'm looking for it too.

I've been to the road on the left; it's along the river.

What's by the river?

[Two old men fishing; it looks like you can actually catch fish.]

Fishing? How come Chaoxi Games can fit fishing into every single feature?

Chi Cheng glanced at the chat messages nearby and immediately turned around to choose another path.

The viewers in the live chat laughed even harder.

[This is terrible; solo players have already formed mutual aid groups.]

Others cultivate immortality through chance encounters; you cultivate immortality by asking for directions.

I want to go fishing! What if I catch something amazing?

After passing through a field, a large expanse of green bamboo soon appeared ahead.

As the rain subsided, water droplets continued to fall from the bamboo leaves, hitting the muddy ground with a soft, gentle sound.

A grey-backed hare was lying on the edge of a field, munching on herbs, with a simple message appearing above its head.

[Wandering Wild Rabbit]

[Level: 2]

Chi Cheng immediately pulled out Zao Ba.

"Come."

"The first lesson at 8 AM, let's begin!"

Chi Tiandi rushed out quickly, his slender sword thrusting straight at the rabbit.

The sword struck the rabbit squarely on the head, causing the rabbit to lean back.

Chi Cheng then clicked the mouse repeatedly, his second sword piercing the rabbit's chest, and his third sword sweeping across, sending the rabbit tumbling down the ridge.

Each time the sword struck, the rabbit's body would visibly deviate.

Without exaggerated digital obscuring of the scene, the pause when the sword pierces the fur, the rabbit's roll after losing its balance, and the marks left by the body hitting the mud and water all make the attack appear exceptionally solid.

"Holy crap, this feels amazing!"

Chi Cheng originally just wanted to test the speed of the rapier, but after striking it, he instantly became energetic.

He had already given chase to the hare the moment it rolled over.

Swish!

Swish!

Swish!

The rapier's single strike isn't particularly powerful, but its attack speed is very fast.

The rapier transformed into several silver afterimages, striking the hare in succession. While each attack lacked power, the speed of the strikes was astonishing; the hare barely raised its head before the next sword met its attack.

"See that!"

"Of all martial arts techniques, speed is the only way to break through defenses!"

Chi Cheng became more and more excited as he fought, controlling Chi Tiandi to chase after the wild rabbit and stab it all the way.

Just as he was about to deliver the final blow, the hare suddenly lowered its body and kicked off the ground with its hind legs.

boom!

Before Chi Tiandi could retract his sword, he was knocked backward and staggered, his boots leaving two long tracks in the mud.

My health dropped significantly in an instant.

"A sneak attack?"

Chi Cheng's eyes sharpened, and the muscle memory he had developed over years of playing single-player action games quickly returned.

The hare charged again, but he slid half a step to the side, almost brushing past its body to avoid the collision. Chi Tiandi turned around in the process, thrusting his rapier three times in succession, the last strike coming from below at an angle.

The hare was thrown off the ground and rolled into the bamboo thicket.

Defeat the wandering hare

[Materials Obtained: 3 Gray-backed Stiff Hairs]

[Obtained: Rusty Iron Essence x1]

Chi Cheng took a breath and controlled his character to pick up the fallen materials.

"That's more like it!"

"The action is fast enough, the feedback is strong enough, and it doesn't feel like hitting a monster is like chipping away at a wooden stake."

"Is this really an online game?"

"Many single-player action games might not be this satisfying!"

He pressed the shortcut key and opened the core development system of "I Have a Sword" - [Sword Cultivation].

In the center of the panel, the old rapier he named "Zao Ba" was slowly rotating, the yellow mud and rust on the blade clearly visible.

He dragged the [Rusty Iron Essence] he had just obtained into the [Quenching] slot on the sword.

A system notification appeared immediately.

[Current materials are insufficient]

[Current sword blank tempering progress: 1/20. Requires 20 pieces of the same level to proceed to the next deep sharpening!]

"..."

Chi Cheng stared at the "1/20" progress bar, his smile instantly freezing, and his hand holding the mouse froze in mid-air.

"How many?"

"twenty?"

The live stream chat was instantly filled with merciless ridicule.

[Hahaha! You're stunned now! You thought sharpening was that easy?!]

[We just killed one rabbit, and Brother Chi's health bar is almost empty. If we have to kill 20, we'll probably boil his brains dry!]

If you had chosen the Spirit Treasure route, the materials available might have already doubled.

[The old man's route may have already mastered the technique.]

[The pet route is even more outrageous; while the pet is hunting a rabbit, the owner is just picking something up nearby.]

Chi Cheng's hand holding the mouse froze for a few seconds.

Then, he silently closed the sword-nurturing panel and pulled out Zaoba again.

"What's wrong with twenty?"

"Cultivating immortality is all about perseverance."

"Today, every single rabbit in this bamboo grove is going to be caught by my 8 AM warning!"