Chapter Seven: A New Era of Immersive Virtual Reality

The Abyssal Nightmare, if converted to cash, would fetch as much as 200 yuan—a price that left all six of them in disbelief.

“Abyssal Nightmare comes with innate attributes: attack power plus ten, vitality plus ten, movement speed plus five, and evasion plus five. What’s more, it’s a growth-type mount; every time we reach a new multiple of ten in our levels, its stats will increase accordingly,” Nightfeather explained, pointing to the on-screen image of the dark, flame-wreathed unicorn that had caught everyone’s eye.

“Should we buy it?” Huang Hong asked. Although everyone was clearly tempted, the price was steep, and it appeared the mount was limited to just two hundred units for the day. Since only players above level twenty could access the marketplace, once the rest of the player base reached that threshold, the Abyssal Nightmare would certainly sell out.

“I’m buying,” Luo Feng replied with a nod. “What about the rest of you? I plan to get this mount. It’ll definitely help us travel faster.”

“In that case, let’s buy it!” Nightfeather declared. His words carried the weight of a leader, and with his decision, the other five immediately purchased the Abyssal Nightmare as well. The world channel soon echoed with system announcements.

World System Announcement: Congratulations to player “Cool Night” for successfully purchasing the mount Abyssal Nightmare from the Xuantian server’s marketplace. This mount is available in limited quantities today only, and sales will end at 11:59 PM tonight. Only two hundred will be distributed per server; one hundred ninety-nine remain.

World System Announcement: Congratulations to player “Xin’ai” for successfully purchasing the mount Abyssal Nightmare from the Xuantian server’s marketplace. This mount is available in limited quantities today only, and sales will end at 11:59 PM tonight. Only two hundred will be distributed per server; one hundred ninety-eight remain.

World System Announcement: Congratulations to player “Great Ikkyu” for successfully purchasing the mount Abyssal Nightmare from the Xuantian server’s marketplace. This mount is available in limited quantities today only, and sales will end at 11:59 PM tonight. Only two hundred will be distributed per server; one hundred ninety-seven remain.

World System Announcement: Congratulations to player “Brother CongCongCongCongCong” for successfully purchasing the mount Abyssal Nightmare from the Xuantian server’s marketplace. This mount is available in limited quantities today only, and sales will end at 11:59 PM tonight. Only two hundred will be distributed per server; one hundred ninety-six remain.

World System Announcement: Congratulations to player “Dark Night” for successfully purchasing the mount Abyssal Nightmare from the Xuantian server’s marketplace. This mount is available in limited quantities today only, and sales will end at 11:59 PM tonight. Only two hundred will be distributed per server; one hundred ninety-five remain.

World System Announcement: Congratulations to player “Qu Xiao Zheng Dang A Dang” for successfully purchasing the mount Abyssal Nightmare from the Xuantian server’s marketplace. This mount is available in limited quantities today only, and sales will end at 11:59 PM tonight. Only two hundred will be distributed per server; one hundred ninety-four remain.

At once, the entire world channel was abuzz with shock. Every newcomer to the world of Divine Elegy had heard about mounts from the official sources. Each of the five novice servers was selling Abyssal Nightmare, but with only two hundred available per server, once the sales ended, the number would be fixed—unless servers merged or players transferred, there would never be more.

Moreover, Abyssal Nightmare was one of the few mounts capable of future evolution, ultimately transforming into a massive black dragon, its claws releasing dark flames, the scorched earth beneath it a testament to its power.

World 19, Venomous Dove: “What’s going on? Are those six together? Four humans, two demons? A fixed team?”

World 19, Clear Day on July Seventh: “Didn’t expect a fixed team already. Searched up their info, they’re all level twenty-three.”

World 19, Heaven’s Chosen Bard: “You can form a guild at level thirty. Are you planning to create your own?”

Regardless of the chatter in the world channel, nothing slowed Nightfeather and his companions. The four humans, now at the Human starting area, rode their new mounts at breakneck speed toward the quest location given by the head of the Heroic Lodge—at least twice as fast as before.

Just as the six reached the northern outskirts of Heroic Town, a sudden system message appeared before every player’s eyes.

System Announcement: Due to Divine Elegy’s novice servers adopting a new engine, novice players will be the first to experience virtual reality technology. There are five minutes left before the novice servers close. The transition and upgrade will last one hour. The new system will allow all players to truly step into a living martial world—a fully immersive and authentic experience.

Seeing this announcement, all six of Nightfeather’s group were taken aback. Only moments ago, they had discussed how the last step in Divine Elegy’s New Era update was the virtual reality world, along with a complete overhaul to the game system to support a decade of play. Clearly, Divine Elegy had long been preparing for this.

“Third, open the official site and check the top story!” Qu Zheng said excitedly, unable to conceal the joy on his face. The others quickly opened the official Divine Elegy website as well.

A bold headline, written in sweeping calligraphy, appeared before their eyes:

Divine Elegy World invites you into the virtual reality martial universe, for a fully immersive experience.

This headline dominated the entire loading page, and only after loading to one hundred percent could they proceed further. Once complete, a formal announcement slowly materialized:

“Dear Divine Elegy players: We are the Divine Elegy development team. The fact that we can pioneer a virtual reality body-sensing gameplay is proof of our strength. Our team is the world’s best, and with the arrival of the Divine Elegy New Era, the final update is the game system and the virtual reality body-sensing system. Qing City is our launch point. At the official website’s novice server player portal, you can now reserve your Divine Elegy VR Sensor—a head-mounted display device, referred to as the Divine Elegy VR Headset. Thoroughly tested, it guarantees full immersion in the game world. No more keyboards or mice; you’ll control your character with your own body.”

At this moment, the Divine Elegy website’s traffic had soared into the hundreds of millions as every player eagerly read the development team’s message.

The update to Divine Elegy’s New Era was nearing its end, and since Qing City was the first to receive the VR headset, Nightfeather’s group of six would be among the first to obtain the device. They immediately reserved theirs—every novice server player could claim one with their ID.

The game system was, clearly, an AI-driven platform, allowing players to truly experience the authenticity and depth of the virtual martial world. Only the players’ own feedback could serve as the true measure.

Qing City, China Huaxia Myth Technology Network Company.

The headquarters of China Huaxia Myth Technology Network Company was located in Qing City, spanning an enormous area. Viewed from above, the China Huaxia Myth Technology Software Park resembled a map of China itself—a bold statement to the world that China would continue to grow stronger in every field.

The company’s main building was a towering sixty-six stories tall. Entry required a security-grade ID card; apart from the cardholder, employees of different ranks had varying levels of access. High-level staff could move freely throughout all floors, and the prominent number on each badge made each one’s rank easily identifiable.

Thirty-third floor, Divine Elegy team’s dedicated conference room.

At this moment, ten people sat on each side of the long table. At the head, a strikingly young man in a jet-black suit leaned back in his chair, a confident expression on his face. His fingers were steepled before him, and the twenty staff members flanking him were visibly tense.

“The Divine Elegy VR Headset will be released first to players in Qing City, then nationwide, and finally internationally. For now, only the novice servers will support the headset, so we can gather the most objective feedback. If players approve, we’ll roll it out to all servers,” he said.

“Yes, sir.”

The man nodded slightly. “We’ve achieved a global first: letting players fully enter the game world. In every aspect, we strive for excellence, so it feels as if you’re truly in another reality. Our game system must update weekly, incorporating player feedback for continuous improvement. Our body-sensing technology team is the best in the world. Divine Elegy now dominates the search engines—we must keep it there and make it the world’s leading game.”

“And remember, to protect players’ experience, pain feedback must be limited—only mild tingling or numbness when attacked, with adjustable settings. Maximum pain level must not exceed level five on the human scale.”

“Yes, sir.”

Undoubtedly, the full launch of Divine Elegy’s New Era brought the game’s popularity to new heights, and China Huaxia Myth Technology Network Company made a major leap forward with its entry into the realm of virtual reality gaming.