Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 639 - 622 The Six Major Sects

Chapter 639: Chapter 622 The Six Major Sects

It’s clearly the same game, yet the experience of zero-spenders versus heavy spenders can be so different, it’s quite absurd. Chen Tingquan felt that this old-school numerical game that said "Brothers, come and hit me" has made a comeback.

"Are you okay, Brother Quan? I still have some buffs; we can hunt for a while longer."

Instructor Ding was still somewhat reluctant to stop.

In this game, the control over numerical values is quite strict. Players’ mana value consumption and health loss cannot be quickly restored by Elixir Pills, and only a small portion can slowly recover.

But since Instructor Ding spent a lot on Elixir Pills, his stats were relatively high, allowing him to roam freely on the outskirts of the Barbaric World. After hunting a few demon beasts, his health was still quite fine.

Chen Tingquan shook his head: "It’s not about the state, the key is I found that hunting like this isn’t particularly cost-effective.

"Didn’t you notice you can’t cultivate while hunting? Didn’t your pre-planned cultivation schedule go unfulfilled too? Didn’t take the necessary Elixir Pills, did you?"

Instructor Ding quickly checked: "Damn, I really didn’t take them!"

Chen Tingquan explained: "So, it’s inherently not cost-effective!

"In the Barbaric World, you can’t cultivate or take the Nine Dragon Elixir Pills.

"So the best way is: every time you enter the Barbaric World, don’t stay too long. Complete sect missions, gather the materials you want, and leave. If you’re lucky enough to encounter rare demon beasts, fight them; if not, forget it.

"The developers are probably intentionally controlling the players’ pace of acquiring materials in the Barbaric World to stabilize market prices."

Instructor Ding nodded: "Hmm, Brother Quan, you’re right. Let’s all go back home and start cultivating!"

Clearly, this mode, similar to a battle royale or hunting game, is one of the core features of "Reverse Heaven." Here, one can hunt demon beasts and gather materials, which become part of the player’s stats.

Players can perform alchemy and enhance weapons and equipment.

Therefore, these things are definitely tradable and valuable.

Once they become valuable, inevitably many studios will exploit loopholes to farm these materials.

In other games, they might adopt relatively crude control methods, such as limiting players’ stay time in the Barbaric World, limiting the number of entries, or imposing a stamina system to strictly limit the output of the Barbaric World.

But "Reverse Heaven" adopts a different mode: exploring the Barbaric World conflicts with daily cultivation.

When players are in the Barbaric World, their cultivation won’t increase, and the Nine Dragon Elixir Pills won’t be taken on time.

From a setting perspective, this is pretty reasonable, as the Nine Dragon Elixir Pills are used during cultivation for mainly breaking down body tissues and super recovery, which needs to be paired with cultivation techniques.

It’s not feasible to fight monsters while practicing skills.

And this method nicely limits studio loopholes.

Because if you want to quickly increase your strength, you can only enter the Barbaric World for a while after completing your current cultivation tasks, ranging from a few minutes to half an hour.

If you spend more time, it will affect the training progress.

If a studio creates many accounts solely to farm materials in the Barbaric World, then these accounts will undoubtedly be weak, only able to farm low-grade materials in the outskirts, which won’t sell for much.

But to farm precious materials, the character itself needs to be strong, requiring spending on the Nine Dragon Elixir Pills and strictly formulating training plans, which studios find hard to cover in cost.

Therefore, this setting is reasonably acceptable.

For players, daily cultivation should be the top priority, while entering the Barbaric World is something to be done after completing daily cultivation.

And the goals for general players and whale players entering the Barbaric World differ.

General players entering the Barbaric World at most just complete a few sect missions, mine a bit, collect herbs, or collaborate with a whale player to divide some demon beast materials.

Sect missions are very cost-effective, as turning in these items can greatly reduce the Cultivation Loan, which is much more economical than selling directly.

For whale players, because they lack no resources, directly selling materials or using them to enhance themselves is the best option.

Chen Tingquan and Instructor Ding muddled through the first day in "Reverse Heaven."

They hadn’t completely figured out the game mechanics yet, but they could already sense that it was a unique pay-to-win game, oddly intriguing!

Though it’s a game reliant on distasteful monetary transactions for stats, it also instills curiosity about what other major events might transpire next.

...

Online discussions about "Reverse Heaven" started to heat up.

After a round of discussions, many overlooked settings gradually came to light.

First is the setting of sects!

In the game, characters have three different starting identities: ordinary villager (free), small sect disciple (198 to unlock), and inner sect disciple of a Great Sect (648 to unlock).

These three identities have very distinct differences.

Ordinary villagers, like Chen Tingquan, are born in the village and randomly chosen to be taken away by an Immortal for cultivation. After entering a sect, there are no special perks, and everything starts from scratch.

All sorts of Elixir Pills, flying swords, magical treasures, etc., have to be resolved through a Cultivation Loan.

Small sect disciples are born in a small sect, such as sects like the "Henggang Sect." Their common feature is: there’s no special sect welfare or sect Secret Technique.

However, unlike ordinary villagers, small sect disciples have some family background, meaning resources players can acquire without additional expenses or the burden of a Cultivation Loan, and their value according to official pricing exceeds the 198 cost.

As for the inner sect disciples of a Great Sect unlocked with 648, they are indeed extraordinary, and for whale players, this is the most worth it start.

In addition, there are many Great Sects in this game, and after paying 648, the specific Great Sect a player joins is random.

Each Great Sect has its own different sect perks or Secret Technique, and they are also tied to some in-game special functions.

Players have already pieced together all known Great Sects in the game.

"Erosion Spirit Heavenly Palace":

Sect Perk: The main hall of the sect is also a powerful Erosion Spirit Array, which automatically absorbs 20% of the Qi Refinement achievements from non-sect cultivators within a radius of ten thousand miles and distributes them among all sect disciples.

Sect Secret Technique - Ghost General Puppet: Can refine Ghost General Puppets using other players’ corpses, and they can be traded for money.

Disciples of this sect have higher cultivation efficiency.

"Time Wheel Zen Sect":

Sect Perk: Manages the "Time Loan" system, which shortens cultivation time, greatly enhances cultivation efficiency, and comes with a large supply of Spirit Stones. However, it will overdraw future time in double.

Disciples of this sect can enjoy low-interest or even interest-free privileges when using ’Time Loan’.

Sect Secret Technique - Cutting Karma: Can eliminate NPC hostility towards players by consuming Spirit Stones, or even used for others.

Disciples of this sect have reduced daily cultivation time.

"Wuxiang Pill Alliance":

Sect Perk: Master in making various Elixir Pills, allowing disciples to acquire Elixir Pills at cost or use materials to make them themselves.

Sect Secret Technique - Dan Poison Immunity: Enhances internal organ resistance to elixir toxins to some extent.

Disciples of this sect have slightly increased Elixir Pill absorption efficiency.

"Life Star Pavilion":

Sect Perk: Can observe the current probability of tribulation failure, with the core cultivation technique ’Nine Revolutions Fortune Seizing Tribulation’ which can convert the penalty from other players’ tribulation failure into resources for this sect.

Sect Secret Technique - Heaven-defying Fate: Can modify one’s own tribulation triggering probability by consuming a large amount of Spirit Stones and resources.

The tribulation success rate of disciples of this sect is slightly increased.

"Xuanji Immortal Mansion":

Sect Perk: Helps players form Dao partners. After notarization, partners share cultivation benefits. Sect disciples can gain additional resources based on the duration of the partnership and distribution of cultivation upon breakup.

Sect Secret Technique - Xuanji Star Plate: Unlocks a star position for each Dao partner match made, providing a 3% stat gain from the couple’s total cultivation to oneself. This gain vanishes with the breakup or with time.

Disciples of this sect receive a basic discount when purchasing social items.

"Jiuxiao Yunque":

Sect Perk: The sect offers ’Heavenly Ascension Stairs’, enabling one to ascend upon breaking through each realm. Success grants an immediate 30% of the next realm’s base cultivation. However, upon reincarnation, cultivation efficiency will drop an additional 50% compared to other players.

Sect Secret Technique - Heart Clarity Spell: Clears all organ toxicity incurred by the Nine Dragon Elixir Pills but also results in losing 70% of the cultivation gained from the pills.

This sect’s disciples have increased meditation efficiency.

These Six Major Sects hold vital positions in the game "Reverse Heaven."

Their disciples not only enjoy numerous exclusive benefits but also control some basic game functions.

For example, Xuanji Immortal Mansion directly relates to the Dao partner feature in the game. Any players wishing to form Dao partners must utilize the NPC function of Xuanji Immortal Mansion or seek help from players there.

And these major sect disciples benefit from similar features.

As for which of these six major sects is the best?

The debate among players is heated, but no definitive conclusion can be drawn at this time.

Initially, everyone thought sects like the Wuxiang Pill Alliance, capable of directly enhancing with Nine Dragon Elixir Pills, must be the best, since the game ultimately revolves around who consumes more elixir pills for cultivation.

However, upon closer inspection, other sects also have their unique skills, largely tied to game mechanisms, and can even siphon other players’ cultivation to enhance their disciples.

So, short-term understanding of the balance of these major sects is difficult; it can only be gradually examined over time.

Besides, players are allowed to switch sects.

To switch from a small sect to a major sect, two conditions are required: firstly, clear all current sect Cultivation Loans; secondly, submit an additional 500 Middle-grade Spirit Stones.

Switching from one major sect to another doesn’t require these conditions, and the original sect’s Cultivation Loan automatically transfers to the new sect.

But there’s a restriction: all additional cultivation gained from the original sect’s perks will be automatically deducted.

Switching sects entails thresholds and losses, but as long as it’s doable, it’s fairly acceptable to players.