At the same time, the blacksmith Wang Dachui had already climbed to the top of the topic charts on the World Channel. Eight out of ten posts were about him.
Gradually, almost half the players learned that there was an NPC in Shangjing City who could do equipment enhancement.
In an instant, a tidal wave of players flooded Shangjing City.
The city gate guards stared at the surging crowd of sect disciples and were scared stiff.
In all their lives, they had never seen so many sect disciples gather in Shangjing City. If not for the disciples’ attire, the guards would have thought a rebel army was at the gates.
The players, as soon as they came out of the teleportation array, mounted their horses and used Qinggong to fly over walls, completely ignoring the guards as they entered the city in flashy ways.
As for stopping and letting the guards check them?
Sorry, that didn’t happen.
Besides, the guards didn’t dare try to stop them—they could only watch helplessly as the players entered, then report to their superiors afterward.
With so many sect disciples, one wrong move could cause a disaster. The centurion responsible for the city gate’s safety that day didn’t dare take it lightly.
The ordinary people of Shangjing City were the happiest about the large-scale gathering of sect disciples. With the immortal cultivators around to deter them, the petty criminals wouldn’t dare make trouble.
Both sides of the street were packed with spectators.
Such a massive entry of sect disciples was a once-in-a-lifetime sight. They came both to watch the excitement and to admire the immortal cultivators’ heroic bearing.
Compared to when they first entered the Xianjie, the players’ discipline had improved somewhat, but there were inevitably bad apples.
“Bastard, get off now!”
Someone deliberately rode their horse into the crowd, but a female Shence player kicked them off the saddle, sending them crashing to the ground in a clumsy heap.
“Fuck you, are you insane? Why did you kick me?” The troublemaker stood up, black-faced, holding his back, and glared at the female Shence player.
Hong Chen Ru Meng didn’t say a word. She just gave a thumbs-down, her eyes full of contempt.
Then she turned and walked away, leaving the furious player grinding his teeth.
He couldn’t do anything—she was much higher level than him. Even if he fought, he’d just embarrass himself.
But ‘Hong Chen Ru Meng, huh?’
‘Top five in Shence, huh?’
‘If I don’t blacken that bitch’s name from now on, I’ll take her surname.’
“Tch, what bad luck.” Aside from this scene, some players harassed women on the streets, thinking they were as handsome as Pan An and looking for excitement. They tried to flirt with NPC women who had some looks.
After two months of development, players had discovered that NPCs could apparently be courted.
This greatly aroused the perverted thoughts of some male players.
After all, NPCs were easier to fool than players. They were designed to be too innocent. As soon as they saw the clothes the players wore, those female NPCs looked at them like idols.
They didn’t need to waste energy chasing them—just a crooked finger brought them trotting over. The adoring look on their faces satisfied the male players’ vanity that they lacked in reality.
Although they couldn’t do much because of the undergarments blocking them, they could at least get some hands-on and eye-candy fun.
Plus, NPCs didn’t have the system’s protection.
Some players wanted to flirt with them in public, but the women naturally refused.
They weren’t idiots. The Great Song Dynasty was at the peak of gender segregation. Such forward behavior naturally earned looks of disgust. To protect their own reputations, they could only keep away.
If they got labeled as wanton women in this era, their lives would be ruined. Words could kill.
Not only would they be ruined, but their families would also suffer.
“Whoa, that’s not what those bastards said. They said she’d shyly throw herself into my arms. What’s with this reaction of avoiding me like the plague?”
This Zhenwu male player, who thought he was somewhat handsome and wanted to have an adventure with an NPC girl, stood there doubting his life.
Then a Shushan player walked over and patted his shoulder with a wink, grinning. “Brother, I’m not saying your method is wrong, but your timing is off.”
“How so?”
“Look around—with so many people here, how could these ancient little sisters do anything with you in public? Don’t overthink it. The Xianjie did a decent job with this. After all, in ancient times, men and women had to keep their distance. It’s not as open as modern times.”
The Zhenwu player’s eyes lit up.
So they were shy—didn’t want others to see.
That’s easy. I’ll find them in private.
Heh heh.
With that thought, the Zhenwu male player began scanning the crowd for a target.
Just then, the Shushan player leaned in again. “What are you looking at? Hurry up and get to the blacksmith’s shop. If you wait too long, you won’t be able to squeeze in.”
“Screw that, I don’t have any equipment.”
“Uh… well, that’s a sad story.” The Shushan player was left speechless.
“No kidding. I’d rather go for some girls. These Xianjie ancient-style beauties are my type. Compared with the ‘fairies’ in reality, these are way better. This is truly a man’s paradise.”
“True.” The Shushan player didn’t argue.
Elsewhere, some Shushan players tried to show off by using Qinggong to fly over walls, but their poor skill caused them to fall flat on their faces, making a group of young maidens cover their mouths and giggle.
This also earned a wave of merciless laughter from many players.
Most of the players were just there for the excitement. Equipment was rare—not everyone had it.
Even those who did might sell it for some money, especially the laid-back, scenery party, and Buddhist-style players who didn’t care about game intensity.
Only a small fraction actually came to the blacksmith’s shop.
Even so, the entire shop was packed to the brim, the corridors densely crowded with players.
Add in the troublemakers, and within that short half-day, Shangjing City was thrown into chaos—dogs barked, chickens flew, and the normal life of the citizens was severely disrupted. The common folk cried out in misery.
Perhaps because of Chen Xiaoyan and a few well-behaved sect disciples, the people had assumed all players were the same.
But once they actually interacted, they found these immortal cultivators were a mixed bag with wildly different behaviors.
Harassment, zero-yuan shopping—these incidents kept popping up.
In no time, the Shangjing Government Office and Dali Temple received a flood of reports.
With such a serious incident, Dali Temple didn’t dare act on its own, so they reported it to the Prime Minister.
Helpless, Prime Minister Mo Ruhui ordered Dali Temple and the Shangjing City Guard to jointly maintain order, strictly forbidding any conflict with the sect disciples. No matter what happened, they were not to use force or draw their weapons.
Normally, the military faction would have seized the chance to cause trouble for Mo Ruhui.
But this time, the military officials were surprisingly quiet.
The military in the court held enmity toward Mo Ruhui, not toward the Great Song Dynasty.
If the sect disciples rioted, Shangjing City would be drenched in blood and chaos, and even they themselves would be affected—something the military officials didn’t want to see.