The posts on the official website had been up for some time. Many were waiting for Chu Tian's reply.
"Ding… Global Announcement: Dragon Country player 'I am not a Druid' has become the first player in the world to reach level sixty. The system will bestow generous rewards."
"Ding… Global Announcement: Seven days from now, the 'Heavenly Dao World' will launch a new expansion pack, 'Fortress Conquest.' Powerful guilds will be able to attack and capture their own fortresses."
Suddenly, system prompts shocked the entire world. Players in the Northern War Zone checked the rankings and were met with further astonishment.
Level Ranking…
First Place: I am not a Druid, Level: 61, Experience: 1.3%, Guild Affiliation: Inverse God Alliance.
Second Place: I am not a Thief, Level: 61, Experience: 0.64%, Guild Affiliation: Inverse God Alliance.
Third Place: Dominating the World, Level: 46, Experience: 98%, Guild Affiliation: None.
Everyone's eyes widened as they stared at the two individuals who had reached the sixty-level mark.
Player A: Level sixty-one, how did they do it?
Player B: Who is that thief?
Player C: Yeah, who is he? How did he suddenly jump to second place?
Player D: Are you guys idiots? Can't you see the names? That's Brother Druid's companion.
Player E: Indeed, it seems the Thief God is about to be born!
Many nodded in agreement.
At the same time, Chu Tian, who had just cleared the Corpse Guard Warriors at his feet, also stared wide-eyed.
Fortress Conquest?
What was going on? According to the timeline of his previous life, it wasn't supposed to launch until March of next year. How could this…
Could it be that his level reaching sixty had prematurely activated this expansion pack?
"Ding… System Prompt: Congratulations on becoming the world's first player to reach level 60. As you are the president of a level six guild, the system rewards you with a set of Fortress Defense System blueprints!"
Another message hit him.
Fortress Defense System?
Was it a blueprint? If it was a design, then he'd struck gold. Even the lowest-tier Fortress Defense System blueprint, if it could be built with sufficient funds, would make him an invincible existence in an era where players were generally in their forties.
Chu Tian noticed unread messages in his mailbox, realizing the system rewards had been sent to his inbox. He couldn't check them now; he'd have to return to the city.
Players all over the world were curious about the Fortress System. Of course, some people were also coming out to condemn 'I am not a Druid.' Their arguments were that he had used illegal black technology and exploited system loopholes to farm levels. Simultaneously, they brought up the matter of 'Flowering Years Yang,' demanding that Chu Tian come forward and clarify the situation. Some even claimed they were preparing to head to the address provided by 'Flowering Years Yang' to investigate. If the address and person were accurate, they would force Chu Tian to the legal department. Others vowed to beat him up on sight.
…
A barrage of such comments fiercely attacked Chu Tian. However, their punches felt like they were landing on cotton. They received no reply from Chu Tian. The post of solemn accusation had been up for two hours. 'Druid God' not only hadn't replied but was rapidly leveling up. Level sixty-one was his response.
An hour later, the leaderboard refreshed again. Chu Tian's level was still sixty-one. His experience had increased to 4.96%. This didn't mean Chu Tian hadn't been active. On the contrary, he had just eliminated over a hundred Corpse Guard Warriors. At level sixty-one, experience points had multiplied a hundredfold. Rapid leveling like before was no longer possible!
When the system announcement came out, Chu Tian asked Dao Tian, "Why has the system started the Fortress System early? Is it because we reached level sixty?"
"You don't know?" Dao Tian, in his avatar form, retorted. Chu Tian looked at him with a questioning gaze and shook his head. Dao Tian thought for a moment and slowly said, "Oh… right, when Fortress Conquest launched, you were practically dead, lying in bed after an amputation!"
"You're the dead dog…" Chu Tian said angrily. However, he understood the reason now. No wonder, with Jian Zhi Cang Tian's help, he had escaped to Binhai and lived in that tin shack on the rooftop. When he re-entered Heavenly Dao, the Fortress System had already launched. It turned out that during that period, someone had reached level sixty, activating the system expansion.
"My level isn't increasing anymore. I'm heading back."
"Oh, right, you'd better log off and stretch your body…" With that, the avatar used a city return scroll and teleported back to the Survivor Faction. Afterward, Dao Tian relinquished control of the avatar, and the avatar went back to the mine to dig for ore on its own.
Chu Tian found Dao Tian's words incomprehensible. However, he noticed from his character's status monitor that his body was losing a lot of water. The system icon had turned red, prompting him to go offline for hydration. This situation was not normal. Standing on the stone pillar, Chu Tian chose to log off.
Exiting the game, he opened his eyes. Everything was a blurry mess, and he couldn't see clearly. A foul stench immediately assaulted his nostrils. Ugh… Chu Tian almost gagged. Forcing down his nausea, he pressed the hatch release button. The hatch opened. Chu Tian quickly stuck his head out, gasping for air. However, the entire Starry Sky Room was soon contaminated. He got up and tried to crawl out. Unfortunately, the moment he exerted himself, he felt an excruciating ache all over his body. It felt as if countless gases had been pumped into him, causing him to swell and become immobile. Chu Tian's heart sank. What was happening? He then looked at himself; he was wet and covered in a layer of sticky black mud. The stench emanated from his body. Enduring the swelling pain and weakness, he managed to heave himself out of the game pod. With a splat, he landed hard on the floor. He then struggled to crawl towards the door. After crawling slowly for ten minutes, he finally managed to nudge the Starry Sky Room door open with his head. He shifted half of his body outside, hunched over like a giant grub. Beside him was Zhao Lei's room. Chu Tian tried to call out loudly, but only a weak sound emerged. He felt his throat was so dry it was stuck together. Unable to get anyone's attention, he had to find a way himself. He used his divine soul to conjure a bottle of water from within his divine altar. Fortunately, his divine soul power hadn't disappeared. The water bottle appeared, but opening it was a challenge. He exerted himself for a long time, finally managing to open the cap using his mouth and hands, even though he got mud all over his mouth. Not caring about the mud in his mouth, he held the bottle opening with his lips, flipped over onto his back, and inserted the bottle's mouth into his own. He then drank greedily. Several times, water choked out of his nostrils, but he didn't care. After finishing the entire bottle, he began to cough forcefully. Lying there, he rested for a while. The bottle of water relieved him considerably. At least his fingers could move now. He could also sit up. He conjured more water from his divine altar space. After unscrewing the cap, he poured bottle after bottle into himself. Strangely, his stomach seemed insatiable, with no feeling of fullness. He drank over a dozen bottles before… Sss… A light sound emanated from his body, followed by steam and dark, sweaty liquid beginning to flow out. Chu Tian finally understood where the sticky black water on his body was coming from. He quickly ripped off his clothes, leaving only his underwear. He then threw his clothes far away – they stank too much! Soon, he felt his body becoming dehydrated again. The same feeling of weakness returned. Terrified, he conjured numerous super-sized water bottles, each holding ten pounds of water, and kept drinking. As he drank, he poured water over his body, washing away the layers of black liquid. After over an hour of this ordeal, his body stopped emitting heat and the black liquid ceased flowing. Instead, he felt a sense of refreshing clarity. Chu Tian, who had slight myopia and saw distant objects with a bit of a double image even without glasses, could now see clearly even in the darkness.
"How is it, kid? Does the sensation of washing the marrow feel good?" Dao Tian's voice echoed in his mind.
"Washing the marrow?" Chu Tian had already made a guess.
"Mmm… Level sixty, you see… this is the reward."
"When you enter the game, you can also activate your bloodline reward."
Chu Tian frowned and asked, "Level sixty… how strong am I now?"
"Hard to say…" Dao Tian gave such an ambiguous answer and then disappeared. No matter how Chu Tian called out to him, he wouldn't appear.
He conjured a few more buckets of water and thoroughly washed his body, then put on clean clothes. After the marrow cleansing, he indeed felt comfortable. However… He looked at the dirty interior of the game pod, accompanied by waves of foul odor. Chu Tian couldn't believe that this was what had been expelled from his body. Even his usual bathroom trips weren't this smelly… What could be done about this?