Chapter Forty-Four: Data Ahead of All Servers

The battle had naturally reached its most intense stage. With Ye Yu’s astonishingly precise and unerring command, everyone’s movements in combat became smooth and fluid.

“Huang Hong, after you attack the Ancient Heaven Titan Python (Juvenile), immediately land on the boulder beside it,” Ye Yu instructed, his left hand forming a sword gesture, purple light swirling and pulsing at his fingertips. As he pointed forward, a streak of violet light arced across the distance, tracing a faint but distinct path through the gloom. Under the dim illumination, that trace was strikingly clear.

“Huang Hong, once you’re on the boulder, look for the right moment to strike, then quickly follow the path I’ve left in purple light. Luo Wei, remotely control the Bronze Puppet to cover Huang Hong. Qu Zheng, be ready to act at the right time. Tan Cong, protect Luo Feng,” Ye Yu continued.

Huang Hong moved without hesitation, shooting forward. His spear struck the Ancient Heaven Titan Python (Juvenile) on the head, then he kicked off its massive body, using the rebound to land on the nearby boulder. The instant his feet touched down, he launched himself again, his spear sweeping across the python’s lower jaw. Without looking back, he followed the purple trail Ye Yu had laid out, moving with incredible speed.

Luo Wei’s fingers glimmered as he manipulated the Bronze Puppet, which shot forward to land a meter behind Huang Hong, matching his steps precisely. The Ancient Heaven Titan Python (Juvenile) shook its head, coiling up before launching a blindingly fast attack straight at Huang Hong.

A faint smile played at Ye Yu’s lips. His fingers swept the strings of his guqin: “Light Strings Calm the Wind!”

Two chains instantly bound the Ancient Heaven Titan Python (Juvenile). Its once-blinding speed slowed, and Luo Wei’s Bronze Puppet, both fists wreathed in searing flames, hammered down on the creature’s head.

Boom—

With a single punch, the python was knocked back. Ye Yu struck another chord on the guqin.

“Snow and Moon Cross, Plum Shadows Dance!”

This attack was clearly charged with power; it struck true, hitting the python squarely in one of its serpentine eyes. The beast let out a piercing, hysterical scream.

“Press the attack, Luo Wei!”

“With pleasure.”

A subtle smile curved Luo Wei’s lips as he directed the Bronze Puppet. The puppet’s iron fists crashed down on the python’s head with a resounding clang, sending the creature hurtling into a nearby boulder. With a dull crash, the stone shattered.

The Ancient Heaven Titan Python (Juvenile) fell into a state of complete stupor, not to awaken for a while.

A strange smile appeared on Ye Yu’s face. “As for the other two, Huang Hong and Luo Wei, split up and deal with them separately. Follow my route, and draw them in!”

Both Huang Hong and Luo Wei trusted Ye Yu implicitly, moving as he directed. As they drew the attention of the remaining two Ancient Heaven Titan Pythons (Juvenile) and followed the path he’d marked, they realized Ye Yu’s plan: to have the two monsters collide and knock each other out.

Ye Yu executed this flawlessly. While coiled for their fatal strikes, the two pythons crashed together with tremendous force, both falling into a state of stupor and losing nearly forty percent of their health.

All three Ancient Heaven Titan Pythons (Juvenile) were now incapacitated.

“When the Ancient Heaven Titan Python (Juvenile) enters a stupor, it’s essentially unable to move or attack, and any player’s attack now counts as a ‘critical hit’ on its weak point. This means massive damage—an immense advantage for us right now!”

The others wasted no time, unleashing their most powerful skills. One after another, their attacks rained down, utterly unrestrained. The air filled with cascading damage numbers as the three pythons’ health plummeted at a shocking rate.

In only a few minutes, the three Ancient Heaven Titan Pythons (Juvenile) spewed greenish-purple blood, and without even a final scream, their bodies dissolved into streams of data, leaving behind loot and experience rewards.

With the cumulative bonus at the end of the dungeon, all six reached level thirty-six in one fell swoop—a result that left everyone in awe. But what truly astonished them was the final item on the dungeon reward summary.

“New Map Unlocked—Success (100% Bonus Accumulated)!”

Ye Yu’s heart surged with excitement. His earlier guess was right: this hidden dungeon was the gateway to an unknown map, named “Ancient Heaven”—the Ancient Heaven Ruins.

Each of them received an epic-grade weapon for level forty. The attributes perfectly matched their individual classes, boosting their overall stats by at least five percent—a staggering upgrade.

“I never imagined this was a hidden dungeon to develop a new map. A full 100% bonus after clearing it—this is a huge level jump for us.”

“And we got such perfect weapons, too.”

“I just coasted along for the win this time. Old Third’s planning is terrifying,” Qu Zheng said with a helpless shrug, arms folded across his chest.

“Haha!” Ye Yu shook his head with a wry smile. “At this rate, the next step will be a new map update for the Xuantian server. All the materials we’ve gotten so far are for Ancient Heaven equipment. Judging by the fragments, there are several types of sets.”

“I got the Ancient Heaven Serpent Eye.”

“I got the Ancient Heaven Dragon Bone.”

“I got the Ancient Heaven Mystic Elephant.”

“I got the Ancient Heaven Crocodile Scale.”

“I got the Ancient Heaven Tiger Fang.”

“I got the Ancient Heaven Kun.”

The six of them suddenly realized that each had received different materials, each corresponding to the path their class had chosen. These would undoubtedly replace their starter gear.

At that moment, a system announcement swept across the world.

System Announcement: The server will shut down in ten minutes for a version update.

[World] Lv30. Summer Seventh, Clear Skies: “What’s going on?”

[World] Lv30. Claiming Not To Miss You: “Server version update? Is our server updating by itself?”

[World] Lv30. Love’s Executioner: “If that’s the case, someone must have cleared a hidden map?”

The world chat exploded. Clearly, only their server was receiving an update. In other words, someone on this server had cleared an unknown map, unlocking a new map version for the whole server.

But no one could guess which player had done it. Only after the update would it become clear. The player who unlocked the new map would be marked on the world map’s new territory. If they belonged to a guild, that guild would become the permanent lord of the new map—provided the player was still a member.

Ye Yu’s party of six was still in the Ancient Heaven dungeon. After clearing it, they received all the relevant information and shot straight to level thirty-six.

Some in the guild were asking what had happened, but no one knew the truth. No one suspected Ye Yu’s group.

“We don’t need to log out,” Luo Feng said with a smile. Since their current map was being migrated into the server, all they had to do was remain in the dungeon; nothing else would affect them. Clearing the map also granted them a special title: “Pioneers of Ancient Heaven.”

Fortunately, Ye Yu and his companions simply waited quietly in the dungeon for the server update.

…

At that moment, Guo Yuan sat before his screen, his expression grave. The monitor was now filled with streams of data, which were being imported into the first Xuantian server of the “Divine Sorrow” new player cluster.

“I never would have expected that President Feng’s map would finally be discovered,” remarked a staff member from the Technology Intelligence Department, sighing in amazement.

“With President Feng’s designs, unlocking one of his maps is no easy feat. I can’t tell if those players were just lucky or actually knew about the entrance there,” Guo Yuan mused, stroking his chin, his eyes reflecting a hint of doubt.

“This is the first server across all servers to unlock Ancient Heaven. It’s an incredibly vast map, containing the latest level content. Even the upcoming official update data has been incorporated by President Feng. In other words, this server is now ahead of all others in terms of data, and will also feature the most challenging dungeons and related gameplay.”

…