This Is Not a Bug but a Game Feature-Chapter 69: Quasi-Immortal Emperor and the Immortal Emperor Tribulation
The process of opening an online store isn’t complicated.
To put it bluntly, nowadays anyone can open their own online store on an e-commerce platform, the entry barrier is quite low.
Of course, stores in different fields require different security deposits. Particularly for special fields like food and medicine, the security deposit is significantly higher than other fields.
But that’s the thing.
These are the worries of regular personal sellers. Someone like Chen Ba, who isn’t short on money and has the qualifications, can directly use company credentials and pay a sky-high security deposit to open a flagship store.
When Xianyu Digital began normal operations, because it was a new store, Chen Ba and Yang Dong, among others, decided not to rush for profits and first attract customers to the store with discounted prices.
This is standard procedure!
Actually, when shopping online, one doesn’t necessarily have to go for "established brands"; some reliable new stores offer a lot of discounts to boost their popularity and traffic, and their product quality isn’t bad either.
On the contrary, established brands, because they aren’t short on business, might provide poor customer service and often have issues with not delivering as promised.
Chen Ba really enjoys browsing new stores.
But he also knows that not all new stores are reliable. If he encounters an unreliable new store that just wants to scam people, there’s nothing he can do but consider it a learning experience.
Apart from low-price promotions to attract traffic, Xianyu Digital, backed by Tianba Studio, also spends money on traffic packages and search rankings as a standard practice.
Chen Ba rented another space.
Not only that, he also hired two in-office customer service reps and packaging and shipping specialists, with the workspace located above Tianba Studio.
"Why separate them?"
Lu, chewing gum, couldn’t understand why Ba wanted to separate Xianyu Digital from Tianba Studio and hire extra people.
Simple tasks like customer service and packing and shipping, they could do it themselves too!
"The new store doesn’t have many transactions yet, we could handle it ourselves for now."
Chen Ba rolled his eyes and said, "But what if the store’s transaction volume increases and we’re packing and shipping all day? Are we still going to make games?"
Ah, well...
Lu Jing hadn’t thought it through, he was just offhandedly teasing Ba for spending money randomly.
But after Ba’s explanation, he had an epiphany: Right! We’re a gaming studio, spending all day packing and shipping and dealing with customer inquiries, what kind of serious gaming studio would we be?
"It’s wise to avoid conflicts of interest, separating them is good."
Yang Dong found it quite reasonable. Tianba Studio is purely a gaming studio, dabbling in online stores is just a way to open up new financial avenues and shouldn’t overshadow their main business.
This is probably why Ba named the online store "Xianyu Digital" instead of "Tianba Digital"!
It wouldn’t sound nice if word got out.
Competitors would think, "Why is Tianba Studio so weird? As a game studio, you don’t do in-game purchases or DLC, but you venture into e-commerce?"
Ba still has a reputation to maintain...
The store traffic for Xianyu Digital, besides low-price promotions and direct links on websites, also comes partially from the in-game channels of "Star Emperor."
In the new version update, "Star Emperor" added a store called "Xianyu Digital" near the Stone Workshop on Dubhe.
Players can enter the store and choose from various graphics cards.
After selecting a suitable graphics card, clicking to buy it will redirect them to the Xianyu Digital online store page, essentially an in-game advertisement.
This wave of updates initially startled the players.
Everyone thought that Tianba Studio was being too blatant. Not only selling Source Stones for skins in the online mode, now they were directly setting up an in-game mall to sell all kinds of game items.
But after entering the game post-update, everyone realized they had wronged Tianba Studio.
An in-game mall, yes!
But this in-game mall, how come there aren’t any game items or skins for sale, but just graphics cards?
Alright then, if that’s how you’re going to play it...?
...
Qian Xin woke up early in the morning to find an update package for "Star Emperor" had been pushed.
After clicking to update, he didn’t bother to check the update notes and went downstairs to buy breakfast.
By the time he came back with breakfast, the update package was installed. Holding a big meat bun in his mouth, he swiftly used his mouse to start the game.
He was just one step away from becoming a Supreme Immortal Emperor!
Since the official release of "Star Emperor," the ranking system was removed from Path to Immortality; Immortal Emperors and Immortal Kings became special titles, no longer shown as ranks.
Of course!
The way to obtain these titles has also changed. Previously, it was through non-stop ranked matches; accumulate enough rank points and you’d rise up.
Now it’s different; obtaining a title has become notably harder, not just requiring match frequency and win rate but most importantly, you have to overcome the "Celestial Tribulation."
What’s a Celestial Tribulation?
It’s simple: take Qian Xin, for example. He is currently at the "Immortal King" level.
He has met the win rate and match frequency requirements at the Immortal King level, thus meeting the basic conditions for promotion to "Immortal Emperor." At this stage, the player community defines him as a "Quasi-Immortal Emperor."
Similarly, there are Quasi-Immortal Kings.
For someone like him at the Quasi-Immortal Emperor level, he is just one step away from being a true Immortal Emperor, and that step is the Immortal Emperor Tribulation.
The so-called Immortal Emperor Tribulation is where the matchmaking system, after detecting your meet the required win rate and match frequency, pairs you against opponents beyond the Immortal King level, that is, Immortal Emperors.
To overcome the Immortal Emperor Tribulation, you must defeat an Immortal Emperor.
If you cross the tribulation successfully, you’ll advance to Immortal Emperor; fail to cross the tribulation, and you’ll remain a Quasi-Immortal Emperor...
After Old Huang’s 40 series new card was released, the Path to Immortality saw an influx of demons and monsters, making Qian Xin’s 3080 somewhat outdated.
Previously, he was sure he could become an Immortal Emperor.
But now there are too many strong contestants in the 40 series. Although his 3080 can maintain his position in the Immortal King arena, it’s not enough for him to rise to Immortal Emperor.
"Failed again..."
Once again, failing to cross the tribulation, this time engaging in over 20 exchanges, yet the 12G VRAM couldn’t hold up, leaving Qian Xin rather helpless.
Reaching the Quasi-Immortal Emperor status and still not aspiring to become a true Immortal Emperor with just one final leap, that’s impossible.
But ultimately, his foundation was too shallow.
Shaking his head, Qian Xin decided to take his mind off these vexing matters. Glancing at the "Source Stone" quantity in the top right corner, he planned to cut a few stones at the Stone Workshop.
Playing ranked matches and traversing the Path to Immortality can both earn you Source Stones, gathering up to 100 allows you to cut stones at the Stone Workshop for skins. It’s been ages since he last cut stones, his account had over ten thousand Source Stones.
"Huh! What’s that?"
Controlling his character to walk near the Stone Workshop on Dubhe, Qian Xin instantly noticed the majestic, palace-like "Xianyu Digital."
So that’s the update?
Curious, Qian Xin walked in, and upon entering, he was stunned by the Immortal Artifacts exuding radiant divine light, constantly emanating divine glow.
"This is..."
The Immortal Artifact before him, exuding divine glow and impressive power, was the Daren Shuo 4090 Raptor he had coveted for a long time; beside it, flashing with seven-color rainbow light, was the Desolate Rainbow 4090 Water God.
Are the cultivators on Dubhe all this trendy? The 40 series just launched, even on Blue Star not many stores have stock, yet Dubhe is already selling the 4090?
