Chapter 167: 167, [Who did it] (Seeking monthly votes on Monday, recommendation votes)

Translator: 549690339

Lu Xun took another glance at the necklace in his hand before carefully storing it away.

At first glance, this necklace seemed like a piece of superior yellow armor, but actually, it served as a key.

If one were to look closely, the gemstone embedded in it seemed quite quirky, almost like a bewitching eye.

Its purpose was simple; it could open a Secret Realm.

Once successfully inside the Secret Realm, Lu Xun felt confident that he could trigger one of the main plotlines of “Heavenly Dust” ahead of time!

This main plotline was supposed to kick in once most players had reached level thirty. Now that the players hadn’t even arrived, he had already initiated this main plotline. This will put him way ahead, leaving the rest of the players eating his dust!

The main plotline Lu Xun intended to activate could best be summed up as a “Foreign Invasion.”

This is a very clichéd scenario that Lu Xun had seen before in novels, comics, games, and movies.

However, now that he had become a part of the transmigrating army, he suddenly found this “Foreign Invasion” somewhat interesting.

This is because the main forces fighting against the foreign race were made up of two groups, the original inhabitants of the Heavenly Dust Continent, and the comically inept players.

But for the Heavenly Dust Continent… aren’t the players technically also a foreign race?

One foreign race fighting against another?

“Something doesn’t feel quite right…” Lu Xun thought silently.

Looking at the timeline, the players would begin to arrive in large numbers in few months, while the large-scale foreign invasion side-plot wouldn’t happen for several years. By then the players would have grown quite a bit.

No matter whether he was standing from the perspective of a player or an NPC, he and the foreign race were still hostile to each other, so he needed to start preparing for these years early.

This necklace in his hand is going to be his first step!

Inside the meeting hall, people like Mo Beipo were passionately persuading Lu Xun and the others to stay a few days at the Tianque Gate.

Lu Xun felt that the people of Tianque Gate were a bit too annoying, but staying here would definitely be convenient for his next move, so he nodded in agreement.

The smiles on the faces of Mo Beipo and the others became even brighter when they thought to themselves, “It seems our actions have left a good impression in his heart.”

The accommodations prepared by the Tianque Gate for Lu Xun’s party were top-notch, located in a quiet and secluded courtyard, with everything they needed. They even planned to send two female disciples to serve them, but Lu Xun refused that.

He came to the Tianque Gate for serious business, not for a vacation.

Moreover, having female disciples around would be troublesome. Even though Tianque Gate wouldn’t dare to monitor Lu Xun’s every move, but by just standing there, he was usually the center of attention for ordinary female disciples, always stealing glances at him. How was that any different from being watched?

That would really hinder his actions!

Of course, male disciples probably wouldn’t work either!

Through some idle chat with Mo Beipo, Lu Xun had already gained a basic understanding of the Tianque Gate.

Since Mo Beipo wanted to build a good relationship, he certainly had to give a simple introduction to his sect.

The Tianque Gate hadn’t been established for long, but it had been around longer than the Demon Sect.

The first Sect Leader, known as Tianque Shangren, was a Great Cultivator in the seventh stage.

He founded the Tianque Gate on this Great Empty Peak to pass on his cultivation. What he didn’t expect was that every subsequent generation was inferior to the last.

Each new Sect Leader of the Tianque Gate wanted to restore the former glory of the sect, but then reality hit them: everyone needs to work hard. How can you know how inferior you are if you don’t give it your all?

Under the struggle of each Sect Leader, the Tianque Gate was rapidly declining!

By now, let alone having a strong cultivator at the seventh stage, they didn’t even have any cultivators at the sixth stage on the surface.

Sect Leader Mo Beipo was only Maximum Great Perfection at the fifth stage. He could be considered a powerful existence in the Three Thousand Mountains, but in a top-tier sect, he might not even make it to be an Elder.

During his casual chat with Mo Beipo, Lu Xun intentionally or unintentionally revealed one of his hobbies, which was exploring nature.

The most famous feature of the Three Thousand Mountains region was naturally the mountains. There were mountain ranges everywhere, with all kinds of peaks. Lu Xun said he would often go out and see for himself.

For this, Mo Beipo even flatteringly offered the token of the Tianque Gate, suggesting that Lu Xun could use this token to make his trips around the Three Thousand Mountains much more convenient.

Lu Xun didn’t refuse his kindness—he directly accepted the token.

He had no intention of revealing his identity as the brother of the Junior Demon Sect Elder when meeting people. Carrying the token of the Tianque Gate indeed saved some trouble.

After arriving in the courtyard, people like Mo Beipo took the hint and took their leave.

The first thing Lu Xun did was head to the kitchen as Mao Nanbei was hungry and pressing him to cook something tasty.

As he was chopping vegetables in the kitchen, he was thinking about his plan in his mind.

“The Secret Realm opened by this mysterious key is also located in the Three Thousand Mountains region. That’s certainly a big help.”

This was also one of the reasons why Lu Xun was staying at the Tianque Gate for a while.

But what exactly it is inside the Secret Realm, and why it is related to the main plotline?

In fact, there was only one thing inside the Secret Realm, a large altar!

Put simply, it could be understood as a Summoning Array.

This altar could be used to summon the foreign race to the Heavenly Dust Continent.

“Looking at it this way, it seems the players are more advanced. They don’t need an altar or anything like that, they just can appear out of thin air.” Lu Xun compared in his mind.

“I just need to open the Secret Realm and then touch the altar. There should be a certain chance to trigger the main plotline quest in advance,” he planned in his mind.

“According to the hostile relationship between the players and the foreign race, the quest that should be triggered next should be to destroy the altar!”

“As the altar serves as an important guide for the foreign race to arrive, destroying one will reduce the landing spots for the foreign race!”

“This quest is very important, as long as it can be successfully triggered, the reward is definitely very generous!”

“And my advantage is that the foreign race hasn’t arrived yet. So the altar is essentially unguarded, and it shouldn’t be too difficult to destroy it, it’s pretty much like demolishing.”

“If that doesn’t work, I can trick Mao Nanbei to go there. If I can’t destroy it, let Mao Nanbei have a go. She’s so easy to fool; I just need to make up a few excuses.”

After Lu Xun finished cutting the vegetables, he started heating the pan, and he already had a rough plan in mind.

For some reason, he felt that his thoughts were particularly clear while frying vegetables…

As he was frying the vegetables, he suddenly furrowed his brows as he thought of an issue.

When he was a player, he focused on playing the game and completing quests, so he didn’t think too much about it. But now that he had transmigrated, the Heavenly Dust Continent was a real world to him. His perspective on things had changed, and he quickly picked up on something odd.

“If the foreign race hasn’t arrived yet, then… who built this altar?” Lu Xun pondered inside.

(PS: First chapter of the week, seeking votes and recommendations)