Chapter 46: Management and Exiting the Game (Please Add to Your Favorites)

Sanjin immediately exclaimed, “Impressive! As expected of the young master from the Dragon King’s family—you can tell at a glance what this green serpent is capable of, unlike those shallow fools who only ever think about the basest things. This is meant for you; once you reach level 60, you can tear open the quest scroll and bring this mansion back to your original world. As for whether you’ll be able to contact the White Serpent and take her away in the end, that will depend on your luck—we truly can’t help you with that. It’s best if you strengthen yourself further before going in. By the way, Young Master Wang, I’ll take my leave now. Should you need anything, like further renovations or more furniture, just reach out to us. I’ll leave you a way to contact me; send me a private message, and I’ll come no matter where I am. Also, we only captured this mansion and can’t handle some follow-up matters, so whatever you do, never reveal your mansion in front of any existence connected to the Great Celestial Dragon, or you’ll be dragged into a plot controlled by them. This mansion gives you only one chance to capture the White Serpent—the quest scroll we’ve given you is your best shot. Don’t make a mistake.”

The Great Celestial Dragon—who could that be?

Although he didn’t know, Wang Liang was accustomed to encountering unfamiliar terms from time to time. He already understood what was most appropriate: just nod silently to show his understanding.

Indeed, seeing Wang Liang’s reaction, Sanjin took his leave with his companions.

Before departing, Sanjin casually handed Wang Liang a few items, calling them housewarming gifts. When Wang Liang opened them, he found a purple crystal-like object, apparently a skill book for a secondary profession. Without much thought, he crushed the crystal and learned the skill on the spot.

[You have learned Archaeology as a secondary profession.]
[Level: Novice, Level 1]
[Quality: Purple, Special Effects: Cleaning (Artifact Excavation Rate +30%), Reading (Document Search Speed +30%)]

Once everyone had left, Wang Liang turned to his steward, Little Blue. “Shut all the doors and take stock of the house’s situation. From now on, this home is yours to manage.”

Little Blue said nothing, merely glancing at the silver child servants behind her. They immediately left to summon others.

Soon, several peculiar spirits and creatures were brought before Wang Liang. Among them were ten semi-transparent ghost hounds, six half-human-tall red-feathered eagles, twenty black catfolk with feline heads and human bodies, and twelve male servants with green hair.

With just one glance, Wang Liang understood their roles. The ten ghost hounds guarded the left-side gate; the six red-feathered eagles watched over the right-side gate; the twenty catfolk were responsible for cleaning all the courtyards in the front yard; and among the twelve green-haired male servants, six locust spirits guarded the left gate and left corner gate, while six willow spirits manned the right gate and right corner gate.

Aside from them, the mansion lacked many essential staff: there was no cook, no stewards for planting or livestock, no errand boys, nor night patrol guards.

Moreover, the mansion was not limited to a single courtyard—each required its own staff, so the number of necessary servants was substantial. Wang Liang estimated that at least a hundred servants would be needed just to manage the place adequately.

At this moment, Little Blue produced a list. If Wang Liang didn’t mind using some spirits or monsters, he could use the list to find several intelligent creatures and bring them back for Little Blue to enlighten. Of course, what exactly constituted an “intelligent” creature was entirely up to Little Blue’s judgment; the method wasn’t explained.

Wang Liang glanced at the list and said simply, “All right, I’ll go out for a bit and see if I can buy any suitable ones to bring back. In the meantime, help me sort through these.” As he spoke, he dumped out all his spices, books, and gemstones.

Little Blue inspected them and directed the silver child servants to sort and organize everything. Despite only just becoming steward, Little Blue’s understanding of the mansion was no less than Wang Liang’s. Aside from a few key rooms she couldn’t access, she knew exactly what each room could be used for.

Soon, everything was properly arranged, and the duty roster for the small spirits was ready, awaiting the arrival of new recruits.

Seeing all this, Wang Liang was quite satisfied. Saying no more, he took the list and exited through the main gate.

The moment he stepped outside, he found himself back at the grand square. He could sense a connection to his mansion—no matter where he stood in the square, he could instantly return to his front door in a single step.

The sensation was peculiar, almost as if the connection were hardwired into his mind, now second nature.

Testing this feeling, Wang Liang discovered other possibilities: he could bring people with him through the mansion’s door, set up a stall outside, and assign his servants to mind it.

This pleased Wang Liang greatly. As a scholar, he had only resorted to running a stall out of necessity. If he truly had to do business, it would be like asking for his life. Now, things were different—such tasks could be delegated. Indeed, it was good to be wealthy.

Feeling content, Wang Liang recalled all the common knowledge he’d missed along the way. He circled the square, then headed to the library to research the path beyond Foundation Establishment, common knowledge every player should know, and, perhaps, the identity of the Great Celestial Dragon.

After spending half a day reading in the library, Wang Liang finally understood the game’s leveling system.

In this game, every ten levels marks a threshold. You can only advance after passing it; otherwise, excess experience can only accumulate.

Each ten-level threshold comes with an unsealing condition or quest, which becomes increasingly difficult. To reach Foundation Establishment at level 10 requires two base attributes at 10 points with no equipment—a basic requirement, since most people have at least 10 spare points at level 10. Unless a player started with zero attributes, this is easily achieved. The more gifted can even achieve three attributes at 10, meaning Wang Liang had rushed his Foundation Establishment somewhat.

At level 20, for the Golden Core stage, the requirement is tougher: a primary cultivation method must reach level 4, be it Novice or Master, and the special effect unlocked at level 4 forms the corresponding Golden Core. Ambitious players often delay advancing to raise their main skill above Expert to avoid suffering disadvantages later.

At level 30, for Nascent Soul, the requirement is two main skills at level 4 and two secondary professions at level 4. This time, the level 4 must be at least Mastery, not just any level.

At level 40, for Out-of-Body stage, the challenge is no longer just attribute-based, but requires completing three quests of different difficulties, with final advancement determined by performance. By this stage, most players have mastered one or two flying abilities, so less time is wasted running errands—the real difficulty lies in the battles.

At level 50, for Primordial Spirit, a series of prerequisite quests must be completed before slowly transforming into the Primordial Spirit. Wang Liang recalled that Niu Xuanguang had begun these at level 45, showing how troublesome these tasks could be.

Most players get stuck here, so when the Five Metals Group promised to take people to level 60 in ten years, they included time to complete all these quests.

At level 60, becoming an Immortal is the final challenge to leave the novice village. Players must find a vessel for their Primordial Spirit, then face the tribulation alone. Survive, and you reach level 60; fail, and your soul is destroyed, forcing you to start the Primordial Spirit quest anew from level 49.

Beyond that, the path after level 60 is not documented here—by then, every player has their own profession and choices, and circumstances differ too greatly to detail.

After reading, Wang Liang felt immense pressure. He had underestimated the path to immortality.

Becoming an immortal is so difficult.

With a sigh, Wang Liang investigated other topics and found that most game worlds originated from strange storybook novels, with some coming from history—though the history was all after his own era.

What made Wang Liang speechless was how history here changed constantly. Someone invincible in one timeline might be a mere cannon-fodder in another. This left Wang Liang with a headache. Most frustratingly, he found several storybooks about the Tianbao era of the Tang Dynasty, yet not one mentioned him.

This isn’t right.

Wang Liang’s expression grew agitated.

He had served in court nearly thirty years, passed the imperial examinations, rose to Prefect of Shanzhou and then Capital Prefect, and finally to Minister of Revenue and Censor-in-Chief. In battle, he was Deputy Censor-in-Chief and Commander of Hexi, crushing enemy forces, taking seven thousand heads, and expanding the territory by nine hundred li. In the end, he served as Chancellor alongside Xiao Song and Pei Guangting (the son of Pei Xingjian, a great general of the Right Guard, and son-in-law of Wu Sansi), holding high office for over a decade. Both men were recorded in history—why not him?

He refused to accept this!

Slamming the table, Wang Liang nearly overturned it. At that moment, several gazes in the library fixed on him like icy blasts in summer, instantly dousing his anger.

With a neutral expression, Wang Liang stood and returned their looks. He saw several armored figures—if he made a move, they’d surely throw him out.

Wang Liang snorted, put all the books back, and left the library.

His mind still raced with questions.

Could his identity be a lie? Could everything be fake? Was he just a prisoner, and all his memories imagined?

Frustrated, Wang Liang gave up on buying intelligent creatures. There was only one thought in his mind: return to his mansion, exit the game, and see where he would appear.

Upon returning home, Little Blue awaited him at the door. Seeing he had not brought back any animals, she said nothing, simply trailing quietly behind.

Wang Liang had no mind for details now. He waved her off, saying, “That’s enough, you can go. I need to find a place to rest.”

“The main room in the rear courtyard has been prepared. Though there’s no bed yet, as we’ve no suitable furniture, the area is clean and ready for you to rest,” Little Blue replied.

Wang Liang knew the special room beneath the main building was for entering and leaving the game world, but to exit the game, there was no need to go there. Simply lying down or entering seclusion in a quiet place would suffice.

So he did not refuse Little Blue’s arrangements. Entering the main room, he said to her, “I plan to enter seclusion for a while. During this period, manage the mansion well. I have no friends here; do not let outsiders in.”

Little Blue nodded, indicating her understanding.

Wang Liang closed the door behind him, sat in a corner just as he had in his prison cell, closed his eyes, and whispered, “Log out.”

In the next instant, he felt the world spinning, as if he were being flung away. Disoriented, he opened his eyes to find he was no longer in his mansion.