Chapter 61: Luo Xiya's Jubilation
In the desolate chaos of the dimensional rift, an ancient castle bearing the style of the millennia-old Kaman Empire drifted like a speck of dust around the Azeia Main Domain, solitary and adrift.
Within the Divine Palace of the Internet God, Luo Xiya, the butler, slowly opened her eyes beneath a window. Suddenly, her gaze sparkled with disbelief and exhilaration.
What she had just experienced struck her soul with such intensity that it left her trembling!
This was the first time since becoming the butler of this Divine Palace that she had felt such overwhelming emotion.
She was grateful to her former master, Tang En, for teaching her magic and helping her exact revenge.
But the price for all of it was being locked inside this ancient, lifeless castle, becoming a part of it, forever burdened by the torment of loneliness.
Until the arrival of her new master—everything changed. Her life suddenly became vibrant and thrilling.
The bustling Forum eased her isolation, allowing her to understand the outside world without ever stepping foot beyond the castle.
The online classes, watched by thousands, not only brought her a sense of accomplishment but also helped her rediscover her self-worth.
Life had become extraordinarily vivid in an instant.
The Magic Books she had once found utterly uninteresting were now something she actively flipped through, verified, and pondered over.
Because during the online classes, there were always people who raised bizarre and unexpected ideas. To preserve her dignity as an instructor, she had to study diligently in private.
And indeed, reviewing the old to understand the new—after more than two months of online teaching, her mastery of magic had advanced by leaps and bounds.
She had a premonition that it wouldn’t be long before she broke through to the realm of Grand Archmage.
In truth, her innate talent had never been lacking—otherwise, Tang En would never have taken her under his wing.
Though she had later been transformed into a Ghost, it was precisely this spectral form that made her soul power exceptionally potent.
Coupled with the guidance of Tang En, the God of Contracts, her foundation in magic was undeniably solid.
Her stagnation at the Archmage realm had less to do with the difficulty of advancing to Grand Archmage and more with her lack of motivation to progress.
Now, she had that motivation.
But none of this could compare to the earth-shattering shock brought by the [Conquest of Subdomains]!
No one knew just how exhilarated she had felt when the stone platform rose from the abyssal well, and the first ray of sunlight fell upon her earth puppet.
The forests, the flying insects, the wild beasts—even the roaring beastmen—all seemed endearing in her eyes.
She felt as though she had been reborn.
That was the air of freedom!
As her thoughts wandered, a crisp ding!—the notification sound for a special alert—rang out within her soul.
Luo Xiya froze for a moment before hurriedly opening the internet. There, she saw a message from her master, the Internet God: "Come here!"
Luo Xiya immediately stood up, her figure gradually fading as she passed through countless walls before finally stopping before the gates of the Grand Hall.
She steadied herself, calming her emotions, before stepping inside.
The majestic hall grew increasingly oppressive with each step.
The surging Source Essence thickened the space within the hall, distorting the passage of light and making her master’s figure ever more enigmatic and unfathomable.
This was the majesty befitting a god!
Luo Xiya grew even more reverent at the sight.
She still remembered how, in the early days of her new master’s ascension to the Contract Godhood, he had seemed utterly naive and ignorant.
Who could have guessed that in just over two months, he would not only begin to exude the same majesty as her former master Tang En but also nearly rival him in the number of Believers?
You must understand, the old master Tang En was a god who had lived for centuries, with Contract Documents and summoning techniques spread across countless worlds.
And the new master? Currently, his preaching zone is only known to be the Keville Empire—just one nation.
Yet, within this single nation’s preaching zone, the majority have become his Believers. Such speed and depth of influence are nothing short of terrifying.
Even the Five Great Righteous Gods would likely find this difficult to achieve, no?
Perhaps the essence of Contract Godhood has always been that of the internet godhood—it was simply misunderstood and misused by previous masters.
Only the new master has grasped its ultimate truth!
As these thoughts flashed through her mind, Luo Xiya stepped to the center of the grand hall, bowing her head in deference. "Master, what are your orders?"
Yu Sheng'an opened his eyes and took a deep breath, like a whale inhaling the ocean. The thick Source Essence filling the hall surged violently into his nostrils and mouth.
In an instant, the hall was cleared.
Yet, new Source Essence immediately began pouring in, gradually thickening the air once more.
"I see you’ve been playing [Conquest of Subdomains]?"
"Yes, Master."
"How does it feel?"
"The experience is unparalleled! Congratulations, Master. Your glory will surely spread across the multiverse with the players’ footsteps."
Yu Sheng'an looked at Luo Xiya in surprise. He hadn’t expected her to articulate his next plans so precisely.
"Hahaha, it’s too early to say such things. Even if a bunch of low-level puppets possess creativity, what can they really do? If the underworld’s undead armies were unleashed, my players wouldn’t even qualify as cannon fodder."
Yu Sheng'an shook his head with clear-headed realism.
"Tell me about your gaming experience. The onlooker sees most of the game—I need to gather some feedback to optimize the conquest mechanics."
After all, [Conquest of Subdomains] wasn’t a virtual game. He couldn’t design levels, experience points, or rewards from an omniscient perspective.
Of course, [Conquest of Subdomains] also had advantages no game could match.
With the sensory sharing of godhood, the experience was nearly 100% real, and the power gained could be shared with the main body.
One could say that playing games was no longer a waste of time—it was a way to cultivate ambition.
"Right now, I think it’s quite good… though the earth puppets feel a bit stiff, making it hard to execute combat techniques."
Yu Sheng'an nodded.
He had chosen earth puppets as the players’ initial avatars based on cost-effectiveness and practicality.
Aphnora was skilled in Earth Magic, and earth elements were easy to obtain, making earth puppets naturally cheap to produce.
Moreover, earth puppets could merge into the ground. When players logged off, the puppets could sink into the earth and enter a dormant state, preventing them from being killed while offline.
"Anything else?"
"Earth puppets are inherently cannon fodder, relying on simple grapples and charges for damage. But now that they possess player intelligence, these skills are clearly inadequate. Master, do you think they could be equipped with weapons?"
"The merit points calculation also seems a bit unfair—it’s based on the final kill. This leaves many people falling short at the last moment! I’ve even seen some deliberately revealing their real-world identities, using money to bribe others into helping them hunt beastmen."
Luo Xiya spoke at length, offering many suggestions. Yu Sheng'an listened without immediate judgment.
Equipping weapons is a great idea, but reality is too heavy, and the cost is too high.
After all, this isn’t a virtual game where you can just tweak the data and be done with it.
As for the merit points being calculated based on the final kill, there’s no other way.
Again, this isn’t a game—he simply can’t calculate the proportional damage output of every participant, so the final kill has to be the standard!
Truthfully, if he wanted to gather feedback and ideas on the gaming experience, the Forum would be the best place.
In fact, he had already checked it.
And he was even preparing to optimize some of the finer details.
Asking Luo Xiya had just been a spur-of-the-moment thought.
Just when he assumed her insights would be limited to these points, she suddenly made a suggestion that sent a shock through his entire body.
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