Zhou Yue returned to the desolate land where he was born.
After wandering for a whole day, he had nothing to show for it.
A mix of emotions overwhelmed him—his damnable competitive spirit was truly dead this time.
"Old Zhong, I’m coming to find you guys now."
"Wait, don’t! It’s not even dawn yet—"
[Player "No Break, No Stand" has joined the world.]
"Holy crap! Why are there so many zombies!?"
"That’s why I told you—"
"Damn it! Stop killing them, stop—ahhh!!!"
……
……
[Achievement Unlocked: Dig Three, Fill One (Seems like… you’ve stumbled upon a little trick.)]
Seeing the sudden achievement prompt, Zhong Yi had an epiphany and knocked away the dirt block above his head.
Sure enough, daylight had arrived.
In his past life, the achievement system from Minecraft served as a hidden tutorial prompt.
Lu Ze had added some extra achievements to the original game.
For example, the [Dig Three, Fill One] achievement would unlock the first time a player survived until morning by digging three blocks down and filling one back in.
"So it’s called [Dig Three, Fill One]? Dig three, fill one—fitting name."
Zhong Yi nodded thoughtfully.
"Senior Brother, look! The demonic creatures outside are all on fire!"
Mu Yawen, who had climbed out first, exclaimed in amazement as he watched the zombies fleeing with flames licking at their bodies.
"So the monsters are afraid of sunlight? Heh, let’s press our advantage!"
Zhong Yi’s suggestion was met with unanimous agreement.
Bare-handed combat didn’t feel safe, so each of them dug up a dirt block to wield as a makeshift weapon, charging forward to deliver righteous four-on-one beatdowns.
The spectacle had the live-stream chat rolling with laughter.
[LMAO, getting jumped by three true disciples—this zombie died a glorious death.]
[A shining moment for demonic creatures!]
[Honestly, holding a dirt block makes no difference…]
[Probably just for morale.]
[New here—is this a new illusion realm? Is it fun?]
[Super fun! Go buy one, especially at night!]
……
In the original game, zombies killed by sunlight would still drop loot.
But considering the sheer numbers would drastically lower the difficulty, Lu Ze modified the modpack’s settings.
Now, monsters killed by sunlight wouldn’t drop experience or items.
"Beat it! Beat it!! Nice punch, Junior Brother Mu!!"
The group reverted to the most primal fighting style, ganging up on the zombies with their fists.
One after another, they took down four zombies and two skeletons.
Seeing zombies drop rotten flesh and skeletons drop bones and arrows, they wanted to keep expanding their gains.
But under the scorching sun, the remaining monsters either fled or perished.
The surroundings fell eerily quiet.
Only a few zombies lingered in the distance, watching them with hostility.
They quickly began looting the battlefield.
Aside from rotten flesh and bones, each slain monster dropped several colorful glowing orbs.
"What are these?"
Zhong Yi approached curiously.
With a "ding," the orb flew into his body.
The experience bar above his health instantly filled more than halfway.
"Experience orbs?"
Zhong Yi immediately understood.
Just then, Mu Yawen suddenly shouted:
"Holy crap!! Senior Brother Zhong, I’ve reached Qi Refinement… and I awakened a spiritual root!!"
"What!?"
Hearing this, the other three turned to stare at Mu Yawen.
"I just hit Level 1, and it says [Qi Refinement]… then it told me I awakened a fifth-grade Fire Spiritual Root?"
Mu Yawen carefully reread the description, then examined his fist.
Deep in thought, he punched a nearby tree—on the fifth strike, his fist suddenly ignited with flames, setting the wood ablaze!
"I get it! Everyone, grab the experience orbs! Reaching Level 1 unlocks Qi Refinement and awakens your spiritual root!"
Zhong Yi declared immediately.
Hearing this, the Zhou siblings hurriedly scooped up the nearby orbs.
Zhong Yi picked up one orb, instantly leveling up from 0 to 1.
Just as Mu Yawen had said, [Qi Refinement] now appeared next to his level.
A prompt materialized before him:
[You have awakened:]
[Wind Spiritual Root (Fifth-grade): Movement speed increased. Slight chance to evade enemy attacks.]
"I awakened a spiritual root too! A fifth-grade Wind Spiritual Root!"
The wave of new gameplay mechanics and content thrilled Zhong Yi.
Nearby, Zhou Qiaoling cheered:
"Wow! I got a fourth-grade Thunder Spiritual Root—attacks deal bonus lightning damage with a small chance to paralyze enemies!"
The live-stream chat erupted.
[Experience orbs? More like condensed spiritual energy.]
[LOL! Elite disciples with top-tier roots getting hyped over low-grade ones.]
[Watching this, I totally get their excitement!]
[Kinda makes me wanna try it… this world-exploring vibe is fascinating.]
[They’re like pioneers of this realm.]
[Might even become its first immortals!]
[What about Senior Disciple Zhou? Why hasn’t he said anything?]
……
"Right, Old Zhou, what about you? What’s your spiritual root?"
Zhong Yi asked curiously.
"I… I’m still a bit short of leveling up…"
Zhou Yue replied gloomily, his face dark.
The experience orbs dropped by monsters varied in size, containing different amounts of experience.
Zhou Yue’s luck was abysmal—three orbs still left him shy of Level 1.
"No worries, there are still spiders over there! Let’s go help you farm them!"
Zhong Yi reassured him.
With that, he led the charge toward the black spiders.
As he ran, his speed wasn’t noticeably faster, but the wind-trail effect at his feet was undeniable.
After sprinting ahead, Zhong Yi turned and waved at Zhou Yue. "Keep up, Old Zhou!"
"Great idea! Perfect chance to test out these fists!"
Mu Yawen threw a punch, instantly setting nearby leaves on fire.
"……"
Zhou Yue gulped.
He had a sneaking suspicion these two were flexing their spiritual roots at him.
He glanced at Zhou Qiaoling, who was moving leisurely, without a hint of showboating.
‘At least my little sister isn’t rubbing it in…’
He thought to himself.
"Come on, why are you just standing there?"
Zhou Qiaoling walked up and playfully patted his shoulder.
Zhou Yue immediately convulsed on the spot.
"Damn it!! You shocked me!!! You did that on purpose!!!!"
……
With their spiritual roots enhancing their combat, the two spiders didn’t stand a chance.
The four of them quickly ganged up and finished them off.
After absorbing the experience orbs, Zhou Yue finally reached Level 1.
"So, Old Zhou, what’d you get?"
Zhong Yi asked eagerly.
"Let me check…"
Zhou Yue glanced at the system prompt.
"Fifth-grade Earth Spiritual Root."
Zhou Qiaoling teased without mercy: "Sounds about as basic as it gets…"
"Even Old Zhou got fifth-grade? Guess that’s the lowest tier."
Zhong Yi concluded.
Zhou Yue’s face darkened further: "What’s that supposed to mean?"
"By the way, what’s the special effect of your Earth Spiritual Root?"
Zhong Yi pressed.
"Let me see…"
Zhou Yue opened his system panel and took a closer look.
Then he froze in place.
[Earth Spirit Root (Grade 5): When digging soil, gain double the amount. Has a small chance to activate when mining ores.]
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
