"The fourth evolution came way too quickly!" Shi Feng furrowed his brow.
A system upgrade in the Divine Realm was never good news for players, because every time the Main God System evolved, it raised the difficulty of monster hunting and made everything feel more real.
And this time was the first Shi Feng had ever seen a system upgrade take forty hours.
Normally, upgrades took anywhere from twelve hours to a full day at most. It had never once exceeded twenty-four hours.
But Shi Feng didn't have time to dwell on it. Less than ten minutes remained before he'd have to log off, and he needed to find a safe spot first.
With the death of the aberrant dragon, the gray Holy Domain that had blanketed the entire valley was gradually dissipating.
Perhaps it was because of the silver dragon's presence, or perhaps some other reason—monsters that had never been in the valley before suddenly appeared in droves, and their levels weren't low either. The weakest were level thirty, and the strongest reached forty-five. Elite monsters were among them. For players at the current stage, monsters of that caliber were still quite dangerous.
After finally locating a stream where no monsters had gathered, Shi Feng chose to log off and rest.
……
Bright morning sunlight streamed in as the virtual reality pod in the room hissed open, and Shi Feng stepped out.
Compared to when he had first entered the Divine Realm, Shi Feng's physique had become considerably more muscular, he had grown taller, and his overall bearing had undergone a dramatic transformation. He radiated a calm, comfortable presence that naturally drew people's goodwill.
"The Divine Realm's system upgrade took this long—entire game is probably going to be in chaos," Shi Feng remarked with a faint smile, and told his AI butler to turn on the television.
Everything played out exactly as Shi Feng had predicted.
Many programs on the news were already covering the Divine Realm's system upgrade.
After a period of development, the Divine Realm's influence on real-world society had begun to spread considerably. Coupled with the mass production of virtual helmets and their steadily dropping prices, more and more people were able to enjoy the experience. Gradually, the Divine Realm had become a part of daily life for the majority of the population.
On top of that, the Divine Realm's advertising had grown increasingly widespread. Its biggest selling points were lifestyle entertainment and—more importantly—extended lifespan.
Although technology was advancing rapidly, the limits of science meant human life could only be extended so far.
Yet the Divine Realm, as a game, could indirectly lengthen human life, granting people nearly double the years they would otherwise have. That alone made it immensely popular, not to mention its additional medical applications.
Modern medical technology was highly advanced. The vast majority of diseases could be cured. However, one thing still eluded treatment: disability. But once inside the Divine Realm, whether someone was blind, deaf, or missing an arm or a leg, they would be a perfectly normal person inside the game, living a normal life.
As far as Shi Feng knew, after extensive publicity, many patients had entered the Divine Realm. Some never wanted to come back out.
"And now for the latest news on the Divine Realm. Officials have stated that the system upgrade has caused widespread dissatisfaction among players, and have offered the following explanation. The reason this upgrade took so long comes down to two factors."
"First, the Main God System had collected enough data to proceed with a major upgrade."
"Second, the system has proactively integrated a mental space feature. In the future, this will allow even more people to fall in love with this virtual reality game, truly making it humanity's second world!"
When the news broadcast reached that point, Shi Feng was stunned, unable to believe what he had just heard.
"Isn't that the new system that wasn't supposed to open until the second year after the Divine Realm launched?" Shi Feng stared intently at the information displayed on the virtual screen.