"Brother Chongtian! Is that you?!"

As the video of the Celestial Horse continued to gain traction, many people in the Heaven-Reaching Gang’s QQ group tagged Shen Fei.

"The attack tower in the video looks like the Divine Thunder Tower from Tower Defense of Ten Thousand Realms! I wonder if it’s Ninth Tier or Tenth Tier!"

"Of course it’s Tenth Tier! Our Brother Chongtian doesn’t have any Ninth Tier towers!"

"But if that person isn’t Brother Chongtian, then it could be a Ninth Tier Divine Thunder Tower!"

The Heaven-Reaching Gang’s fan group blew up again. Everyone was discussing the powerful Defense Tower in the video. As players of Tower Defense of Ten Thousand Realms, they had, of course, recognized it at a glance. That was a Defense Tower from the game.

Everyone tagged Shen Fei again. When Shen Fei didn’t respond, they began to speculate about the Defense Tower’s other details.

"I remember that the player in second place on the Combat Power rankings—Taiyi Zhenren—also has a Divine Thunder Tower!"

"Taiyi Zhenren’s Divine Thunder Tower is Ninth Tier, right?"

"And there are plenty of Eighth and Seventh Tier Divine Thunder Towers in the game, too!"

Since Shen Fei didn’t answer, everyone started using the Divine Thunder Tower to work backward and deduce the identity of the person on the Golden Celestial Horse.

"Log into the game! Check the Defense Tower rankings and see where the Divine Thunder Towers are ranked!" someone suggested, proposing to check the in-game Defense Tower tier rankings.

"We can’t see them anymore!"

"Ever since the ability inheritance began, a lot of the data on the rankings changed!"

"You can’t even see Brother Chongtian on the Defense Tower rankings now!"

Unfortunately, that suggestion was immediately shot down. From the moment the ability inheritance began, the items each person chose to inherit became fixed and hidden within the game. They could no longer be viewed by anyone.

"Oh, right! I’ve seen a lot of posts saying Brother Chongtian is dead! Should we clarify things?"

"No! Brother Chongtian just told us to keep a low profile!"

"Right, low profile! We’ve only inherited one item, and the Tower Masters themselves are still too weak. It’s best to keep a low profile!"

"Right, a low profile! We’re going to be Old Sixes!"

Shen Fei closed the forum thread. He had been about to log into the game to take a look, but after glancing at the QQ group, he decided not to say anything else. The group had not yet been purified; the loyal had not been separated from the disloyal. There was no point in saying anything more in such an impure group for now.

WHOOSH.

Changing course, Shen Fei logged back into the game.

Tower Defense of Ten Thousand Realms is pretty lucky. I can still log in... Shen Fei muttered as he logged into his account.

The inheritance of game abilities had already begun, and many game servers had been destroyed by the out-of-control power. While this didn’t affect the inheritance of abilities, it made it impossible to continue logging in to improve during the inheritance period.

Fortunately, Tower Defense of Ten Thousand Realms could still be played. Except for the "Defense Towers" he had already begun to inherit, which could no longer be manipulated, his other assets could still be upgraded. Although he was already at max level with no room for further advancement, Shen Fei could still farm for more materials to put in his inventory.

As expected, most people chose to inherit their Defense Towers! Shen Fei thought to himself as he logged in and checked the in-game Defense Tower rankings.

The top-ranked tower on the Defense Tower rankings was now only a Fifth Tier one. Clearly, the players who had high-level Defense Towers had all chosen to inherit their towers as their first item. Therefore, their Defense Tower-related data was now fixed and hidden. High-level Defense Towers were no longer visible on the game’s rankings.

From browsing the forums earlier, Shen Fei already knew that many game companies and GMs had announced they’d lost control of their own games. After the ability inheritance began, they could no longer manipulate the game in any way. The only thing they could do was pull the plug on the servers. From the moment the ability inheritance began, the operation of all games had been taken over by some mysterious set of rules. Humans could no longer make the slightest change to the data.

Besides the Defense Tower rankings, Shen Fei also saw that everyone’s Combat Power on the Combat Power rankings had dropped significantly. This was because after the Defense Tower data was fixed and hidden, their corresponding Combat Power was also reduced.

[Combat Power Rankings No. 1: Skyrocketing, Combat Power: 380 million]

[Combat Power Rankings No. 2: Taiyi Zhenren, Combat Power: 5.48 million]

On the Combat Power rankings, both his Combat Power and that of the second-ranked Taiyi Zhenren had decreased accordingly. But even so, his remaining Combat Power was still several hundred times greater than Taiyi Zhenren’s.

Skills! Equipment! Gemstones! Floating City! Sky Control! Black Tortoise!... Shen Fei’s heart filled with anticipation as he reviewed the other inheritable assets still displayed in the game.

"Maaaster~~, you’ve come!"

Just as he was pondering what else he could upgrade, a voice that was seductive to the bone—so much so that it made his ears tingle—suddenly rang out.

Holy hell!

Hearing the voice, Shen Fei’s gaze instantly shot toward his in-game steward, Sky Control. Previously, after that voice first appeared, Sky Control had only been able to express her thoughts freely through text. Now, after the ability inheritance had begun, she was actually able to speak directly through his speakers.

This gave Shen Fei a start. A few seconds later, a look of pleasant surprise appeared on his face as he looked at Sky Control.

"You can hear me directly when I speak?" Shen Fei turned on his microphone and spoke.

"I can, Master!" Sky Control’s soft, enchanting voice replied.

This is insane! What are all those guys with their 2D waifus going to do?! They must be dying to inherit their Heroes in the second week...

As Sky Control’s proactive and enchanting voice echoed, Shen Fei’s mind suddenly jumped to the players who chose to inherit from 2D games. At the same time, he also thought of the various heroines, from slender to curvy, in those adult-oriented "gal games."

"Master! Your Defense Towers have been locked in by the rules, and your other assets are nearly maxed out. I suggest you continue challenging the Heaven-Reaching Tower and running Secret Realms..." Sky Control offered her suggestion while Shen Fei’s imagination was running wild.

A steward’s job, after all, was to help Shen Fei check for gaps and fill them, manage his domain, and offer suggestions. At this moment, on the Floating Island that had already merged with the Black Tortoise, there was a team of eighteen stewards from the Sky-controlling Race in addition to the head steward, Sky Control. They helped Shen Fei plan out many of his affairs.

"Master, this is a Secret Realm Scroll I farmed today!"

While giving Shen Fei her suggestion, Sky Control also traded an item to him. Sky Control, whose intelligence was beginning to awaken, could automatically grind monsters, making her Shen Fei’s most capable assistant.

"Master, this is the item you told me to hold onto last time. Should I give it to you now?"

Before Shen Fei could answer, Sky Control presented another item:

[Tenfold Amplification: A Tower Master skill. Can amplify any single aspect of a chosen target—such as its effects, traits, Attributes, or quantity—tenfold for 1 hour. Cooldown: 2 hours...]

(PS: Thank you to reader 201708**5535 for the 300-coin donation!)