In the side courtyard, a cloud of smoke swirled within the small space. The black mist formed a mass, while white mist, resembling mysterious symbols, was imprinted upon it. The intermingling of black and white gave it the appearance of a cloud, making it seem exceptionally enigmatic.
"Beep..."
As soon as he approached, a dialogue box suddenly popped up before Ye Yun's eyes. Inside the box were ten miniature display windows, each showcasing an item and its corresponding price.
Ye Yun turned to look at Xiao Tian, his mind filled with confusion. "These are all automatic vending machines, what need is there for a shopkeeper?"
"City Lord, let me tell you, this mall has some good stuff. Look at this, a Seven-Star 'Glazed' Dao Rune. You can use it on your territory's buildings to make their hardness comparable to the hide of a Seven-Star Savage Beast," Xiao Tian said, seeing Ye Yun looking at her, and quickly introduced.
"Of course, this is just the literal meaning. But if City Lord can spend a few of these Reality Manifestation Cards, this item can be used on buildings in the real world. Although the defense will only be equivalent to the hide of a Seven-Star Flood Beast, it will cause that building to undergo a certain mutation."
"Mutation? What kind of mutation?" Hearing Xiao Tian's words, Ye Yun was greatly shocked. Not only did she know the effects within the game, but how did she also know about things in the real world? And the impact of the changes it would cause in reality!
"It will generate spiritual energy! Products of Dao Runes above Five-Star will, more or less, cause buildings to become treasures that release spiritual energy. Although the spiritual energy released is not much, compared to City Lord's real world, it's like timely rain after a drought," Xiao Tian said with a sweet smile.
To dispel Ye Yun's doubts, Xiao Tian revealed a shocking secret.
"No, how do you know about my real world? Aren't you just an NPC in this game world?" Ye Yun was greatly alarmed. This woman actually knew what his real world was like; that was preposterous.
"Hehe, City Lord, in your eyes, this is your game world. But in our eyes, the natives here, this is a real world," Xiao Tian said with a gentle smile, and then uttered something even more unacceptable to Ye Yun.
"But the real world you imagine is, in the eyes of us natives, also just a game world."
"You, you all? What exactly is going on?" Ye Yun was utterly bewildered. Was this game glitched? The program was wrong.
"You have ten cosmic worlds, why can't there be an eleventh world?"
"You mean, this 'Heavenly Dao' game is the eleventh world?" Xiao Tian's smile remained sweet, but Ye Yun felt a chill down his spine!
Living by 'Heavenly Dao,' these natives had long been endowed with immense power by 'Heavenly Dao.' But if this were truly a relative plane of reality, it would mean these natives could also kill players to level up, and this was merely the simplest means for them to increase their strength.
It was known that all cities in the 'Heavenly Dao' world, except for the nearly a hundred beginner villages that Ye Yun had discovered, were almost entirely controlled by these natives. They not only possessed terrifying and stable income but also controlled the direction of player quests and skill learning. It could be said that players were, without their knowledge, being held in the palms of these natives.
"Hehe, City Lord need not be too flustered. The Eleventh Cosmic World is merely how we, who have initially awakened, position this world. As for the specifics, we will have to wait for more people to awaken to determine the outcome," Xiao Tian seemed to know Ye Yun's thoughts and spoke directly.
"Initially awakened?"
"That's right. Among us natives, from me onwards, fewer than a hundred have awakened in total, across eleven different races. I am human, and thus I was assigned to be the shopkeeper of the Myriad Things Mall, in front of the strongest human player among the异人. I believe the remaining awakened individuals will also gradually arrive and serve their respective races."
"According to the game's rules of 'Heavenly Dao,' perhaps in three years, our natives will begin to appear in your so-called real world, just as you appeared in 'Heavenly Dao.' City Lord, perhaps we might meet in your real world then," she added with a sweet smile.
Xiao Tian seemed to imagine meeting Ye Yun on Blue Star, unaware that Ye Yun was stunned by her words.
Three years! Another three years!
In his past life, three years later, an alien race descended upon Blue Star, and the first impact alone caused the population of the entire Blue Star to be reduced by more than half. Ye Yun himself died a violent death during that first collision, so he knew nothing of what happened afterwards. Perhaps more alien races descended, it was possible.
However, if Xiao Tian's words were to be believed, Ye Yun could not even imagine what kind of human purgatory Blue Star would become then! And if, as Xiao Tian said, Blue Star became their game world, the awakened natives, would that mean these natives could also revive after being killed, just like himself, on Blue Star?
"Aren't you afraid I'll kill you? Or kill all of you awakened ones?" Ye Yun wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at Xiao Tian, a killing intent stirring in his heart. Having been to Immortal Cities and walked through Divine Realms, Ye Yun knew how terrifying the destruction these awakened natives could wreak upon his real world once they awakened.
"I am human, your human, and will only fight for our human race. The difference is merely from different cosmic spheres, isn't it?" Xiao Tian seemed not to notice the killing intent in Ye Yun's eyes, still smiling. Simultaneously, she gently waved her right hand, and a golden item flew out of a display window, hovering in front of Ye Yun.
"Origin Returning Pill Furnace, priced at 9999 Primordial Chaos Points. Consider it a gift to City Lord, and also a token of my loyalty to my human identity, what do you say?"
Ye Yun pondered for a moment, then put away the 'Origin Returning Pill Furnace.' His heart was churning.
"Does this Myriad Things Mall only operate on the New Mortal Continent?" After several minutes, Ye Yun slowly regained his senses. He combined Xiao Tian's words with his experiences from his past and present lives, calculating the potential impacts on the real world based on his current understanding of the game.
"This mall was originally exclusive to you, the Great City Lord. As long as you are willing to spend some Primordial Chaos Points, where you want to open it is up to you, isn't it?" Xiao Tian's expression had not changed much from the beginning, and she still smiled sweetly.