Chapter 1602: Chapter 1234: The Players’ Hometown, Old Players’ Return Blessing Bags

Early morning, late February.

Within Divine Iron City, the player-recognized main city’s safe trade zone.

Surrounding Divine Iron City are numerous volcanic peaks that stretch endlessly, with many peaks covered in white snow. The snow on the mountain tops shimmers brightly under the sunlight after the snowfall, casting a gleam on the somewhat empty Divine Iron City trading square, making it exceptionally clean and beautiful.

A few bored native guards of Divine Iron City, clad in armor, stand watch on the city walls, gazing at the extremely desolate trading square below. One of them laments, "I used to find those Abnormal People so noisy and annoying. Now that it’s been so cold and deserted for so many days, I suddenly feel a bit unaccustomed to it."

Another agrees, "Yeah, it’s really strange. I used to hate these guys, but now I weirdly miss those rowdy fellows."

The third one says, "Actually... it felt good having them around. They were noisy, but there were endless stories from all over the world to listen to. These Abnormal People certainly have better channels for acquiring information than we do. Without their lively storytelling, life feels a bit dull."

After speaking, the three sighed in unison again.

They’ve had many similar conversations during these days.

Unfortunately, the Abnormal People still have not returned, and there’s no knowing when they will return.

The village chief says... the Abnormal People have gone to their mysterious homeland and should return within a month.

But now it has already been a month.

And where is their mysterious homeland anyway?

No one knows.

Perhaps the all-knowing, all-powerful village chief might know.

But it is a place even the village chief cannot reach.

Some speculate that the homeland of the Abnormal People might be somewhere underground.

The reason the Abnormal People resurrect after each death is due to their bodies being protected by the ancient goddess, the Goddess of Earth, a child of the Gonggong Family.

Therefore, whenever the Abnormal People die, their bodies disappear into the earth, only to emerge again from below, reappearing at various City God Temples.

Their connection with the City God Temple is naturally because, in ancient mythology, the duty of the Goddess of Earth includes overseeing mountain and land changes, as well as being the central deity of mountain gods, terrestrial spirits, and the Three Mountains and Five Peaks great gods, of course with the right to resurrect Abnormal People at the City God Temple. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

This "reasonable explanation" imagined by the natives, relying on ancient mythological tales, although filled with mythical colors and incredible meanings, is quite rational and coherent from a certain perspective, not entirely fictional, and has gained the consensus of many natives in the Mixed Martial Arts World.

The secret of the Abnormal People’s immortality has thus been spread with this mythological explanation, gradually accepted by many people and forces within the Martial World.

As a result, the homeland of the Abnormal People has, in the eyes of many natives in the Mixed Martial Arts World, become the rumored earthly paradise where the Goddess of Earth resides, full of mystery and longing.

Jiang Dali has naturally heard such mythological stories fabricated by the natives.

Even in the previous life, such explanations about the Abnormal People’s resurrection mystery existed among the natives.

It seems that the natives of the Mixed Martial Arts World enjoy mythologizing and beautifying some mysterious unknowns by combining them with ancient historical tales, thus turning them into widely accepted, everlasting stories.

This has had a positive effect on promoting a friendly relationship between the natives and the Abnormal People.

Although Jiang Dali finds these fabrications and imaginations quite absurd, he too is happy to facilitate them.

At this moment, as several bored guards prepare to shift their gaze and continue their watch, suddenly, rays of white light accompanied by figures start appearing successively out of nowhere in the originally empty and cold city square.

Followed by a slowly growing noise, spreading across the previously desolate city.

One hundred, one thousand, two thousand... over ten thousand...

In just a few moments, throughout Divine Iron City, from the large square to some tavern or inn’s restrooms, the familiar figures of the Abnormal People suddenly appeared.

Within the city, whether guards or some Martial World people, merchants, bodyguards, street performers, all were startled by the sudden appearance of Abnormal People right beside them.

Especially some natives who were squatting in the restroom were yet to react to what happened when suddenly a person or even two Abnormal People emerged beside them, directly pushing them into the pit with screams.

For a moment, Divine Iron City was crowded, everywhere filled with Abnormal People whose expressions were brimming with excitement and delight.

Such a scene was almost simultaneously unfolding rapidly in other corners of the Mixed Martial Arts World.

Whether at Shaolin, Wudang, Diancang Sword Sect, Kunlun, Yijian Pavilion, Six Demonic Paths of the Demon Sect, Unrivaled City, and many other sect forces, the once-disappeared players all reappeared in large numbers...

Then, it was like a massive stone splashing into a tranquil lake, stirring up huge waves across the Martial World.

The players emerging in various regions quickly began familiarizing themselves with the surrounding situation, inquiring about the changes that occurred in the Mixed Martial Arts World during this month, wanting to know what the family update section has updated indeed, and whether the Four Great Families really possess the ability to update certain major events in the Mixed Martial Arts World.

If that’s the case, then whether the Mixed Martial Arts World is real is indeed questionable.

A moment later, the Jianghu Forum quickly became lively as players started posting one after another.

"Shit? What happened? The Black Wind Village sub branch I’m in seems to have been attacked, the buildings have been rebuilt, and many familiar native NPCs have disappeared."

"It’s even more exaggerated on my side, half a mountain peak has collapsed, as if some unimaginable war took place, with this kind of destruction, it must have been experts at the Heavenly Human Realm fighting, right?"

"I heard some news, in the past month, the God-searching Palace launched a fierce attack on Black Wind Village, at one point even conquering half of the sub branches, but later the Black Wind Village Chief led people to raid the God-searching Palace’s home, seemingly taking down the Master of Search God Palace, and eventually Black Wind Village came out victorious in a fierce battle."

"Is it because of the newly updated Chapter the family talked about? Is this the result of the family facilitating it?"

"If letting us all log off by controlling the server is considered facilitation, then it indeed counts as the family’s result, at least if we players were present, Black Wind Village wouldn’t have been defeated so thoroughly in the early stages of the faction war."

"Good fellow! Fortunately, our village chief managed to hold on, otherwise when we logged back in, we wouldn’t even have a home."

"Are all of you only concerned about Black Wind Village? Isn’t anyone going to acknowledge that our Baihua Valley Master got married half a month ago? Not possible, my goddess suddenly became someone else’s dish."

Players from various regions gathered on the forum to discuss and share the changes they observed in the Mixed Martial Arts World.

The most noteworthy of these discussions, of course, was the war that broke out between Black Wind Village and the God-searching Palace.

A large number of players who accepted the faction war task issued by Jiang Dali a month ago, now upon logging in, found that the faction war mission had already ended.

All their contributions in the faction war amounted to zero, receiving no rewards at all, causing many players to become unsettled and complain on the forum.

Very few players knew that now among Black Wind Village and Eight Desolate Alliance players, a small number of the top-level experts approaching the Heavenly Human Realm had been approached by people from the Four Great Families during this month, offering high rewards to recruit them.

Notably famous players in Black Wind Village such as Tie Niu, Ning Su, Li Jianfeng, and Ping Shengaoqi were contacted by the Four Great Families for recruitment, although they were not urgently requested to betray Black Wind Village.

Nevertheless, the recruitment together with the real cultivation techniques revealed by the Supreme Alliance, would inevitably start to influence some people’s attitudes towards the Four Great Families.

In the future, if certain tasks or directives of Black Wind Village come into conflict with the interests of the Four Great Families, these affected people could become potential threats.

The worry that Jiang Dali had, after all, became a reality with the aggressive actions of the Supreme Alliance and the Four Great Families.

And just as he had thought, it was happening in a gentle, gradual approach, leaving him unable to find a suitable way to intervene and stop it.

He certainly couldn’t just confront those core players secretly favored by the Four Great Families, pushing these core "leeks" directly into the fields of the Four Great Families, especially since as a "shouldn’t know about the outside world" native NPC, how could he act all-knowing to actively counteract.

Therefore, Jiang Dali could only find other ways to strengthen his core appeal, to create stronger competition, and hence allow players to make their own choices.

As players gradually returned, the various sub branch leaders who received Jiang Dali’s message via Yun Yan promptly activated their pre-prepared personnel and ceremonies, warmly welcoming the returning Abnormal People.

Following Jiang Dali’s instructions, each sub branch must give every returning player a "Returning Player Gift" prepared meticulously by the Mountain Village, which might contain Silver Tael, Martial Arts Secret Manual, or Famous Weapon Exchange Voucher, etc., of varying value.

The significance of these blessing bags is to allow players to feel the joy and sense of belonging after returning, while also creating a stark contrast in the Martial World.

It’s clear without thinking that other sects like Shaolin, Wudang, etc., couldn’t possibly be like Black Wind Village managed by Jiang Dali, distributing blessing bags to returning players right off the bat; they wouldn’t even consider such actions at all.

As a result, the gap and contrast become evident.

After understanding the situation, Black Wind Village players, each with a "Xiu’er" personality, naturally showcased their sense of presence on the forum by flaunting their faction, hence resulting in more pride and superiority, while instilling a sense of envy among players from other factions who could only look on longingly, thus reinforcing Black Wind Village’s specialty and core appeal.

It can be said that in the area of creating core allure to attract players, Jiang Dali has always been right on target, and if harvesting leeks counts as a divine skill, then his God Skill of Cutting Leeks has reached a Shocking the Ancient and Modern level.

Sure enough, with the rollout of the old Abnormal People Returning Blessing Bags by all ninety-seven sub branches of Black Wind Village, including the headquarters, it immediately stirred up a huge wave on the first day players re-entered the Mixed Martial Arts world.

No comparison, no harm.

Black Wind Village quickly became the standout among all sects and sects in the Mixed Martial Arts World on that first day.

On Jianghu Forum, topics about Black Wind Village quickly shifted from the initial war with the God-searching Palace to the blessing bags, especially when one "lucky person" unexpectedly drew a "Third Grade Divine Weapon Manufacturing Voucher" from a blessing bag, instantly pushing Black Wind Village to a new height of popularity, drawing fervent attention filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred from players.

And as the "lucky person" Li Jianfeng, carefully chosen by Jiang Dali, even felt somewhat bewildered, almost losing confidence, did he really have such luck? He never expected that he had become a deliberately chosen actor...

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(Adding more at midnight!! Finished! Requesting double monthly tickets)