The patriarchs of the four great families were furious, but it seemed they had no other choice. They didn't even have the chance to bargain.
"What should we do? If we sign these draconian terms, won't we lose all chance of turning things around?"
"Let's wait a moment. I'll ask others. For example, did the three major guilds sign the same contract as us?"
"Can they tell us the truth? What if they're trying to set us up?"
"What else can we do? What do you suggest? Even if they want to trap us, can we do anything? Are we really going to confront the Village Chief head-on? Or should we fight?"
Perhaps they could have fought before, but not anymore. They would likely be crushed to death.
They had no choice but to contact Tian Qi Huang and others. After confirming that the contracts were identical, they gritted their teeth and signed the agreements.
As the contracts were signed, their expressions did not improve. Instead, they became even more somber, as from this moment on, they would be bound by the Village Chief.
After the four of them signed the master-servant agreement, Zhang Ping Fan immediately received the news.
Zhang Ping Fan smiled. Only Zhang Ping Fan remained in the courtyard. Dou You You had already been sent by Zhang Ping Fan to level up, and he hoped she could reach level 80 as soon as possible.
[Ding! System prompt: Congratulations on successfully creating the largest faction in the mythical game. The Heavenly God Sect will automatically incorporate all members within your faction into the sect!]
[Ding! System prompt: Congratulations on your Heavenly God Sect becoming the number one sect in the world. Special reward: Sect Divine Skill, Heavenly God Sect Exclusive Skill, Heavenly God Sword Array!]
Heavenly God Sword Array: Requires five players to cast simultaneously. The strength of the players determines the power of the array. The stronger the players, the greater the power. The maximum power of this sword array can kill gods.
[Ding! System prompt: Congratulations on becoming the sect leader of the number one sect in the world. You have received a special reward, the Divine Skill, Fa Tian Xiang Di!]
Fa Tian Xiang Di: Increases your height by a hundredfold and grants a 200% attribute bonus. The effect lasts for 10 minutes. If Fa Tian Xiang Di is not dispelled within 10 minutes, the attribute bonus will gradually decrease until it returns to normal.
Zhang Ping Fan looked at the system rewards and finally felt relieved. He had obtained a skill book. In the past, it was always useless things like dogs or trees.
"Good heavens, you're finally generous for once. I finally have a skill I can use!"
[Ding! It's not an extraordinary item, but for you, it's the most basic skill you need to master!]
"This isn't powerful? Every time I face those super big bosses, they're so tall, and I'm so small. It feels unbalanced. With this skill, they won't be able to scare me anymore!"
[Ding! All main quests have been cleared. New quests will be released next!]
Zhang Ping Fan was a little at a loss. Had the main quests all ended? It felt like he hadn't completed many tasks.
[Ding! System prompt: The system has issued a new quest: Protect Blue Star, Repel the Demon Slaves!]
Zhang Ping Fan's heart sank. This must be the final stage.
"It seems we've reached the final stage. How long until the Demon Slaves arrive?"
[Ding! Soon. This day will arrive quickly. When battles appear in the sky, it will signify the advent of the apocalypse. At that time, you must break the seals and allow all players to possess the abilities they have learned, which are their abilities in the game!]
"Understood. I wish all of this were fake!"
The moment the four great families surrendered to Zhang Ping Fan, the number of members in the Heavenly God Sect surged.
"What's going on? Why are people from the four great families appearing in our Heavenly God Sect?"
"No, there are so many people! Our Heavenly God Sect suddenly has so many members!"
"Look at the system prompt, our Heavenly God Sect has become the number one sect in the world and has obtained a sect skill. Hurry up and learn it!"
"This skill is awesome. Should we go and try it out?"
"Let's go. Let's take down a boss first and test it out. I wonder if this skill is as powerful as they say!"
Naturally, everyone was eager to try out the new skill.
However, they concluded that the skill's power was greatest when five players of similar strength wielded it.
Of course, the stronger these five players were, the more terrifying the power they unleashed.
The most formidable aspect was that this sect skill had a cooldown of six hours.
Regular bosses were instantly killed. For more powerful bosses, a single use of the sect skill could deplete half their health.
This instilled in them great confidence in facing King-level Demon Slaves!
With the sect's sword array.
When facing King-level Demon Slaves, as long as five people worked together, they could generally kill them. This was also the first time they had successfully killed a King-level Demon Slave.
"Well done. We finally killed the King-level Demon Slave. This sect skill is too fierce!"
"Of course it's fierce. It's the number one sect in the world. I heard that players with high combat power who teamed up to kill high-level demon dragons were instantly killed with just one sword array!"
"Damn, this sword array is too strong. It instantly killed a King-level Demon Slave?"
"Isn't it? The King-level Demon Slaves, which were once unattainable, are so vulnerable under the Heavenly God Sword Array!"
Upon hearing about the power of the Heavenly God Sword Array, Zhang Ping Fan breathed a long sigh of relief. After all, with this array, ordinary humans should be able to protect themselves. However, he hoped they wouldn't encounter anything above King-level and wondered if the Heavenly God Sword Array would be effective against them.
As the players' enthusiasm soared, Zhang Ping Fan made an announcement within the Heavenly God Sect.
"Demon Slaves are about to invade Blue Star. The Heavenly God Sword Array is your only means of survival. I hope you will make good use of it. Quickly find your partners. The apocalypse is coming, and a new world is about to begin!"
The players were bewildered. What was going on? Why was the Village Chief saying such things out of the blue?
"Village Chief, what's going on? Will the Demon Slaves really invade Blue Star?"
"Village Chief, what you mean is that under the apocalypse, we can use the Heavenly God Sword Array? Does that mean we can bring our in-game abilities into reality? Isn't that a bit unrealistic?"
"I absolutely believe what the Village Chief says. After all, after gaining abilities in the game and being rated, do you think we're still ordinary people?"
"Damn it, Village Chief, why didn't you say so earlier? What's the point of playing games? We should be stocking up on supplies!"
"Damn, let's go and grab them!"
Zhang Ping Fan's words caused many players to start stocking up on supplies in advance.
However, the country had already made preparations. They had been preparing for this day for over two years.