Chapter 128: Official Launch

"Clap, clap, clap!"

As the introduction to the reality-based game concluded, sporadic applause echoed through the room. The attendees were all top-tier designers, each possessing a sense of pride, so there was little sycophantic flattery; after all, Chen Guang hadn't offered them any tangible benefits. It was merely a grand promise, and since no one in the room was a fool, they saw it for exactly what it was.

The silence in the audience did not affect the smile on Chen Guang’s face in the slightest; he seemed quite accustomed to it. After a few more perfunctory remarks, a man dressed as a host took the stage to take over, keeping the Qiyou Annual Meeting moving.

"Next, we invite 'Night Rain with a Handle' to the stage to share the arduous journey of becoming a Platinum-level master."

"Clap, clap, clap, clap!"

Thunderous applause erupted instantly. Chen Guang, who had just stepped off the stage, felt his face twitch, though he quickly regained his composure.

Following the host’s introduction, a man with a weathered face walked up. 'Night Rain with a Handle' was a veteran designer, having produced seven titles for Qiyou so far. All of them were high-quality games, and his most recent work, *Cat in the Forest*, had even broken out of its niche, winning over countless cat lovers. It was this title that officially earned him his Platinum status.

"This guy is only twenty-seven?" Yin Jian stared at the file he had pulled up, feeling confused. The man on stage looked so world-weary that if someone claimed he was fifty, people would believe it; twenty-seven seemed like a stretch.

"Is this what it means to be a powerhouse?" Yin Jian wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, beginning to weigh whether the price was worth it.

The annual meeting continued. The stories told by the designers who took the stage were all largely similar. It was obvious they were using scripts provided by Qiyou. These Platinum-level designers were merely soulless reading tools; at least until they left the stage, they had no thoughts of their own. Yin Jian watched with patience for a while longer, but finding it truly boring, he shut off the live stream.

"I'll just wait for Qiyou's reality game recruitment to come out before looking again," he thought. He opened the designer group chat, having not checked it in a few days.

*Egg-y Egg-y: Jian Qi, when are you releasing your new game?*
*Sect Leader of Sword Rise: Soon, soon. I’ve already picked the theme—sports.*
*Divine Phoenix: Didn't you say last time you were making one about collector's figures?*
*Gray Wolf Who Loves Frying Pans: Eh? I remember you saying it was a nation-building type? Why did it change again?*
*Egg-y Egg-y: Dimwit Jian Qi.*
*Sect Leader of Sword Rise: Moron Egg-y.*

"..."

Seeing no explosive news, Yin Jian exited the chat group. He then opened the game assistant backend to check the recent revenue. Qiyou had recently opened channels to other gaming platforms, adding a new stream of revenue beyond the platform itself. Yin Jian checked and found that the channel revenue wasn't particularly high—not even 10% of the base revenue.

"Probably because there’s no promotional spot," he mused. Since it wasn't a game from their own site, it would be a miracle if the channel websites gave it any promotion. "Better than nothing, I suppose."

Muttering to himself, he opened the review management section. *Cultivation Family* was set to launch next week, and he wanted to look through the comments. If there were any sound suggestions, he planned to incorporate them.

...

Luo City.

The entire city was silent today, as if there were an omen of some great event about to unfold.

At the Li family ancestral hall, the original Li family had been wiped out, and the hall was now occupied by the branch led by Li Shang. Inside, Li Shang, looking like a sage with a celestial aura, sat cross-legged on a prayer mat in the center. His eyes were tightly shut. A faint, lingering aura—the kind only seen in those near death—emanated from him.

People trickled through the threshold one after another until over two hundred had gathered. Only then did Li Shang open his eyes. He scanned the crowd with cloudy vision before saying slowly, "My time is short."

"I am making one final attempt to break through to the Core Formation stage. If I succeed, I will gain another five hundred years of life and begin a second existence; if I fail, my body and soul will dissipate."

"Patriarch! We can find you pills to extend your life!" someone shouted from below.

Over the course of more than a hundred years, the small family that once consisted of only five people had grown to over two hundred. Talents had emerged one after another; there were over forty Foundation Establishment cultivators, including three powerful Core Formation masters guarding the family. They had gained control of the entire city. Now, calling it Luo City was less accurate than calling it Li City.

Hearing his descendant’s words, Li Shang shook his head. "My mind is made up. From now on, Li Xia will act as interim Patriarch. We will hold a formal succession when a suitable candidate is found."

After reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, Li Xia had traveled extensively and encountered many opportunities, eventually breaking through to the Core Formation stage. While he wasn't the strongest in the family now, he held the highest seniority. With him in charge, the situation would remain stable even if Li Shang passed away.

"Big Brother!" Hearing that he was to act as interim Patriarch, Li Xia stepped forward, wanting to argue, but was silenced by a single look from Li Shang. Although his cultivation level was much higher than Li Shang's, in his heart, Li Shang remained the big brother who could bear any burden for him.

"Enough. Everyone leave. If I haven't emerged within three days, have someone come in to collect my body." Li Shang closed his eyes.

The Li family descendants looked at each other, eventually turning their eyes to Li Xia. Feeling their gaze, Li Xia looked at his brother one last time. "I will wait outside for you to come out."

Afterward, he turned and walked out of the hall. "Everyone, go back to your duties." He sat down on the steps outside the hall, a Green Profound longsword placed before him, clearly prepared to stand guard.

The other family members exited the hall, but not one of them left. They all sat cross-legged in front of the ancestral hall, keeping watch. They firmly believed their Patriarch would overcome the obstacle and become the fourth Core Formation master of the Li family.

"So many difficulties in the past couldn't stop you; I believe this small bottleneck will be no different," Li Xia thought, his eyes filled with determination.

...

Inside the hall, Li Shang brought up his character panel. His progress had reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage; he was only one step away from shattering his base to form a core.

However...

"A 2% success rate is bad enough, but a 78% mortality rate? That’s absurd." Li Shang looked at his stats, feeling helpless. Even with his body fully equipped with artifacts to boost breakthrough rates, the odds remained dismal. The reason for such a low rate, besides his poor spiritual root quality, was the inexplicable addition of a trait called "Beset by Karmic Fire."

[Beset by Karmic Fire]:
Breakthrough chance -66%
Failure/Death chance +50%
Note: Heaven watches what man does. It’s not that retribution doesn't come, it’s just that the time hasn't arrived.

"Damn it, I haven't done anything heinous," Li Shang muttered. "The family I wiped out had it coming. And the family members borrowing things were using other people's names anyway; it had nothing to do with my Li family. This game system has absolutely no logic."

Li Shang grumbled as he clicked on time acceleration, letting the AI take control of his body. If he died, he died; the protagonist of the game was the family, and as long as the family didn't perish, the game could continue.

His consciousness left his body. Time began to accelerate. Under AI control, the body suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood during the breakthrough attempt. The attempt was declared a failure, and the body fell to the ground, lifeless. Aside from dying slightly faster than expected, everything went according to Li Shang’s plan.

Soon, three days passed in the game. Li Xia, that stubborn mule, still believed he would succeed and made no move to enter the hall, seemingly afraid of disturbing the process.

"He'll give up in a few days," Li Shang thought, though he was touched.

As time accelerated further, Li Shang watched his body decay, with mushrooms sprouting from it. Li Xia and the others remained motionless outside. Li Shang felt his teeth ache. "How did I raise such a blockhead?"

As time flowed on and maggots appeared on his corpse, Li Shang finally couldn't sit still. He quickly opened the panel to check the changes to game functions after death, which he had learned about from the comments section. Once the initial character dies, new features appear.

He quickly grasped the new feature. With a light tap, time acceleration stopped, and his consciousness entered Li Xia's body. He could now control anyone in the family, though only one at a time.

Taking control of Li Xia, Li Shang didn't hesitate to have someone go in and collect his body. "This feeling of collecting my own corpse is so damn strange," he muttered. He issued a series of instructions and then accelerated the game again, observing the descendants to choose a new Patriarch.

Li Xia was too rigid; he was fine at cultivation, but a total failure at managing a family. After a few months of observation, Li Shang found a candidate: Li Xiaoyao, a third-generation disciple. He possessed dual spiritual roots—an outstanding talent—along with an unusual knack for management and creativity. He was the perfect choice.

Since the candidate was chosen, Li Shang didn't hesitate to confirm Li Xiaoyao as the new Patriarch using Li Xia's body. Naturally, this caused opposition, but Li Shang had already prepared a plan, and it didn't take much effort to settle the matter.

With everything arranged, Li Shang accelerated the game again.

[Li Shang's passing is a massive blow to Li Xia; his state of mind is damaged, breakthrough chance -20%]
[Li Shan takes a fancy to Xiao Mei; he disguises his identity to get close to the beauty and wins her favor]
[Li Mei'er discovers she has fallen in love with her father, Li Yuanba; knowing it is a forbidden love, she hides it in her heart]
[Li Jian disguises himself as a demonic cultivator and loots recklessly, drawing the righteous path to besiege the Heavenly Yin Sect]
[Li Yan finds an opportunity while collecting herbs; his marrow is cleansed, and his spiritual root quality changes to 'Fire-type single spiritual root']
[Li Lei builds a temple for Li Shang to have people pay respects]
[Li Jian disguises himself as 'Wang Jian' and helps the righteous path slaughter the Heavenly Yin Sect, earning the title 'Gentleman's Arrow']
[The Heavenly Yin Sect's master sect is furious and places a high bounty on 'Wang Jian's' head]
[Li Jian disguises himself as 'Sun Xi' and uses 'Wang Jian's' head to trade for the Earth-grade 'Flame Demon Heaven-Watching Method']
[ 'Wang Jian' is killed; the righteous path's morale hits a low point, and a large number of demonic cultivators emerge]
[Li Xia is no match for the demonic cultivator Tian Ya-zi and is severely injured]
...

(Notification: *Cultivation Family* has been released.)
(Notification: Content has been updated.)

A few days later, Li Shang, who had been playing with great intensity, saw this notification. He paused, then his eyes lit up. He immediately opened the data panel to check the updates. The recent war between the righteous and demonic paths had him frazzled; they were surviving in the cracks. One wrong move, and the family would be doomed.

"Family talent improvement?" Li Shang raised an eyebrow as he saw the new function. He clicked for details.

The birth probability of spiritual roots appeared before him:
Five-element: 66%
Four-element: 24%
Three-element: 6%
Dual: 3.9%
Single: 0.09%
Heavenly: 0.009%
Mutated: 0.0009%
Mutated Heavenly: 0.0001%

"Holy crap! The probability is so low." Seeing these odds, Li Shang finally understood why geniuses were called geniuses.

He closed the details and looked at the main interface.

[Family Bloodline (Ordinary)]
Level: 1
Progress: 0/10
Note: (Points settled after each game or purchased directly)
Bloodline Optimization: None

Li Shang clicked the plus sign on the progress bar.
[Notification: Insufficient points. Would you like to top up?]

Li Shang did not hesitate to click yes. *The Xuan Practitioner* had earned him quite a bit of money; he was currently quite well-off.

1 RMB = 10 points
10 RMB = 100 points + Mystery Talisman x1
100 RMB = 1100 points + Mystery Talisman x11
500 RMB = 5888 points + Mystery Talisman x58

"Ten points for one yuan isn't expensive. By the way, what exactly is this Mystery Talisman?"

Curious, Li Shang bought ten yuan worth of points.

[You received Points x100]
[You received Mystery Talisman x1]

Seeing the notification, Li Shang didn't rush to use the points on the bloodline. Instead, he clicked on the Mystery Talisman, eager to see what it was actually used for.