Chapter 56: Calamity Version
Inside the Mushroom House, Jie Zilong cleared the table and chairs to make a large open space, then beckoned to Jie Yuanshao, “Come.”
Across from him, Jie Yuanshao held a longsword in her hands.
She first pushed the sword guard away from the sheath opening, then drew the longsword completely.
Throughout the entire process, there was not a single screech of friction between the blade and the sheath, showing how cautious and skilled she was—fast, yet orderly.
As she completed this peculiar sword-drawing ritual, a shade of ghostly blue emerged from the blade, coating the longsword with a venomous sharpness.
This ghostly blue even merged with Jie Yuanshao herself, nullifying the weight of her body and making all her movements lighter.
This was the power of the Second-Stage Rare Token: Hidden Blade of the Return Vault.
Unlike most “instant-activation” tokens, the Hidden Blade of the Return Vault required the Messenger to complete a sword-drawing ritual to awaken its power.
The downside was obvious, but the benefit was that the more elaborate, solemn, and lengthy the ritual, the more terrifying the power.
If one were to conduct a three-day-and-night sword-offering ceremony, its power could be enhanced tenfold, far exceeding even Third-Stage levels.
Though it was rarely possible to have that much preparation time, the Jie Family had long discovered the most efficient sword-drawing method.
This was precisely Jie Yuanshao’s “Silent Draw,” which took nearly two breaths to perform, allowing her to unleash thirteen and a half percent of the sword’s power.
“Careful.”
The moment the words landed, Jie Yuanshao transformed into a lone white blur and slashed past Jie Zilong with a single sword strike.
Most people, seeing her as a woman using such a light weapon as a sword, would assume she specialized in maneuvering and strategy.
They had no idea her combat style was the most valiant, aiming to shatter weapons, break shields, and take heads—thunder roaring without end!
Before Jie Zilong could turn around, Jie Yuanshao slashed a second time, then a third!
Each sword strike was like lightning moving through this narrow space.
The third strike astonishingly returned to the starting point.
By now, the ground beneath her boots had six scorched black marks, as though thunder had walked through.
“Your Hidden Three Strikes are already comparable to your father’s. At your age, he could only take a second step with his Thunder-Walking Boots.”
Jie Zilong touched the two blood streaks on his face.
“But your precision is still lacking a bit.”
Jie Yuanshao said nothing, merely touching her neck.
Jie Zilong paused and slid his finger along his own neck—his fingertip was stained with blood.
“Well done.”
He raised his eyebrows.
“That brat Qun Yushu can’t compare to you. Among this generation in Great Liang, no one surpasses you—maybe in a few years, even no one from my generation will surpass you.”
“Still far from enough. If I had fully mastered the Hidden Sword Technique, I should’ve struck the same spot with all three strikes just now. At the very least, I could’ve pierced through your Heartguard Mirror’s triple defense.”
She sheathed her sword.
“Besides, the most outstanding one of this generation is no longer me.”
“Are you conceding?”
“No, I’ve accepted it. I’m not arrogant enough to think I’m the best in the world,” Jie Yuanshao said.
“I’m not disheartened either. On the contrary, I’m more ambitious than ever.”
“I want to see—between her and me, who will first touch the path of Foundation Building.”
“You think highly of her.”
“Don’t you think highly of her too, Uncle?”
“To evaluate someone, you must consider both talent and character,” Jie Zilong sighed.
“Not everyone has a future.”
Jie Yuanshao frowned.
“I believe her talent is so great that our clan should protect her with full force.”
“Even just for the future returns from Mansu Woodland, it’s worth giving her the highest honor.”
“When you activated the Power of Calamity, did you feel anything different?” Jie Zilong suddenly changed the subject.
“There was wind.”
Jie Yuanshao answered seriously:
“When I unleashed the Hidden Three Strikes, I felt a very pleasant wind brushing against me.”
“It was as if… the entire woodland was helping me.”
“Seems like your Power of Calamity only works within the woodland.”
“But we’ll only know for sure once you leave,” Jie Zilong muttered.
“Did you notice when exactly you gained the Power of Calamity?”
“No, but it’s not hard to guess,” Jie Yuanshao said.
“Yesterday, after passing the second trial, we didn’t have the Power of Calamity.”
“Today, after clearing the fifth trial and defeating the Fourth-Stage Demon, we did.”
“The fifth trial, huh…” Jie Zilong touched the blood mark on his throat.
“Too bad your Power of Calamity is still too weak.”
“Unless it hits the eyes, it’s not very useful in real combat.”
“Fortunately, your Power of Calamity is weak enough that everyone isn’t too tense.”
“What do you mean?” Jie Yuanshao asked, puzzled.
“Are you all wary of the Power of Calamity? Is it because it’s too strong? Or because it brings disaster?”
“You’ve read too many novels,” Jie Zilong said, speechless.
“What power ever truly brings disaster—”
“Even if it does, as long as it’s strong enough, disaster becomes a bearable cost.”
“As for the Power of Calamity…”
“Yes, it’s powerful. But can it be stronger than a Foundation Messenger?”
“If a Foundation Messenger slapped you, wouldn’t that be a calamity?”
“Besides, the Power of Calamity often comes with significant limitations—it’s hard to activate without the right timing, location, and people.”
“What we fear isn’t the Power of Calamity itself.”
“What we fear is that its appearance often heralds the arrival of calamity.”
“You think Jiang Ten will attract a calamity?” Jie Yuanshao felt a bit amused.
“Although I’ve heard stories about the Power of Calamity since I was a child, they always described it as an ominous omen, and I thought it was something adults made up to scare kids... What exactly is this so-called Calamity?”
“I don’t know.”
Jie Zilong shook his head.
“Strange, right? The Power of Calamity clearly exists.
Children’s rhymes and stories can even accurately describe its specific effects, yet when it comes to the Calamity itself, the most important detail, they all coincidentally remain silent.”
“All I know is that those who possess the Power of Calamity are often skilled at exploring Secret Realms.
And the Power of Calamity has always been taboo throughout history.
Lu Xiaoqi is probably rushing to report this to the Ministry of Appointments and the Taiji Palace.”
“Even His Majesty is being alerted?” Jie Yuanshao widened her eyes.
“Has there really been some earth-shaking Calamity before? Then why haven’t I seen it recorded in any historical texts?
If a real Calamity had occurred, it wouldn’t be completely undocumented, right?”
“I don’t know either.” Jie Zilong spread his hands.
“I only came to know a bit about the Calamity while stationed at the Qingmao Mountain Secret Realm.
Detailed information is likely only known to the royal family and the heads of the Seven Great Clans.
But while I don’t understand the Calamity, I do understand us.”
“As a Messenger clan whose top priority is survival, we worship the strong, submit to tyrants, and follow sages.
As long as you’re stronger than them, they’ll willingly abide by the laws you make.”
“For such a thing to be so feared by Messenger clans—so much that it’s been kept secret for generations, and the whole world tacitly erases traces of these people—it can only mean that this so-called Calamity touches a bottom line that they cannot compromise—”
“Secret Realms.”
...
…
Calamity.
Yan Qing put down the Bingzi Pepper Forest and picked up a towel to wipe his sweat.
The towel, specially provided by the Shang family, was indeed much softer than those in the Pingcheng Military Camp.
During the past hour of blade training, as Yan Qing emptied his mind, he finally remembered why this term had triggered a response in his cerebral cortex.
Because it was the theme of the version after the next in The Messenger.
He didn’t know about other games, but the way The Messenger operated was that once a brand-new version was released, the next version’s main content would already be completed and in bug-testing, while the studio began producing the core content of the version after that.
Back when Yan Qing was snacking in the break room, he overheard the bald, aging planners swearing in the smoking room.
They said the lead designer had lost his mind for insisting on making this “Calamity” mode.
It was hard to implement programmatically—though they weren’t programmers, so that wasn’t their problem.
But the bigger issue was how hard it was to balance the values.
It needed tons of auxiliary content to serve as a sink, and it couldn’t be auto-generated by AI.
They were hand-crafting it so much that they were about to puke...
That was all Yan Qing could recall.
After eating his snacks, he had happily gone to the toilet and missed hearing what the actual gameplay for the Calamity version was.
Did the upcoming Calamity version have anything to do with the Calamity that the people in Mansu Woodland talked about?
Yan Qing thought about it and felt it was unlikely.
The Messenger was a very traditional “endgame is the beginning” kind of game.
Even if a new version didn’t require players to hit max level, they at least had to keep up with the main player base to experience the newest content.
Before his transmigration, the current version was already the “Great Era” version, which significantly reduced the difficulty of ascension.
Most players could easily reach the Seventh-Stage.
Therefore, content from the next version and the one after that would require players to be Seventh-Stage or higher to access.
People in Great Liang having even one Sixth-Stage was considered the pinnacle.
How could they qualify to experience the hottest, latest Calamity version?
Besides, what Qian Gongyu just triggered was clearly true damage.
He didn’t know why they called it the Power of Calamity.
But then again, the main city’s safe zones were called “Divine Shelters,” so calling true damage the Power of Calamity didn’t seem that strange.
Ding dong.
The Naise game console chimed with a notification.
Yan Qing picked it up and saw that Qian Gongyu was approaching.