Chapter 289: Wizard Community Competition

The Wizard Community was now hosting its first grand event. As the creator god NPC, I truly should attend the ceremony and not be absent. While fighting tournaments had occurred before, they were privately organized. The Wizard Community had only been open for a month. This was the first large-scale fighting competition, officially organized as part of Xu Zhi's last update. It even offered a reward: entry into the Gourmet World, which was meant to fuel their intense dedication. After countless preliminary and semi-final rounds, the finals were now beginning.

If "Evolutionary Sandbox" was a niche, critically acclaimed game open to only 300 special players, then the Wizard Community was a popular mass-market game. Each player could log in for thirty seconds daily, with a total of one thousand character accounts able to log in simultaneously. In reality, over a 24-hour period, nearly three million unique users logged in and out in shifts! What did three million users mean? It was comparable to a highly popular online game currently. Undoubtedly, the social and open nature of the Wizard Community had become a part of many people's lives. Even some foreign players sought various ways to access this community game, despite it being restricted to domestic login.

"With three million users daily, each logging in for three hours, and me using various methods to encourage engagement, each person averaged 15 hours of intense play. The effect was astonishing," Xu Zhi said calmly. "Even the number of Tier 4 wizards that have cycled through is immense. The strength of the Cthulhu Evil God pet's body tissue is now approaching that of Medusa's main body, which has accumulated power over an unknown period." One should not underestimate the players' "liver-hardening" (intense grinding) capabilities. Of course, it was only an approximation. Medusa's body tissue included structures from Tier 6 or 7, as it absorbed powerful beings from various potion eras. Xu Zhi's creation, however, was uniformly Tier 4 and a true Cthulhu Evil God, devoid of self-awareness.

"When I created this Cthulhu Evil God, I never intended for it to rival Medusa. It's merely a mindless, mechanical tool pet," Xu Zhi said, looking at the Wizard Community. He stroked the head of the dark brown Rubik's Cube Orchard pet, which was happily holding its dog food. "It only has instincts. Each cube creature emits chaotic and tyrannical emotions, but its cultivation level is constantly improving. Nearly a third of these seventeen thousand cubes are complete. Perhaps I should increase its size, like Medusa, to incorporate 129,000 cubes. If I do that, its size would probably be similar to a normal human's, just like Medusa." Xu Zhi chuckled, "At that point, should I sculpt it into a personal guard puppet? No, not a puppet. Maybe a Rubik's Cube motorcycle, or even a transforming aircraft that can serve as a mount?" Regardless, a creature composed of blocks, capable of arbitrary assembly and possessing internal space, offered infinite possibilities.

The Wizard Community was undoubtedly one of the most crucial elements, so Xu Zhi still needed to attend the "Wizard Community Fighting Finals." At this moment, on this thirty-square-meter plot of land, a thousand small beings moved about, shouting and cheering around a circular, stadium-like structure resembling a bird's nest. While there were three million players, only one thousand could be online simultaneously. Those who couldn't log in normally could, during the tournament, enter a special "spectator mode," allowing them to view the event from the perspective of any of the one thousand active characters, though without the ability to control them.

Inside the venue, beautiful women, dressed in exquisite wizard robes, exuded streams of colorful magic as they performed a dance, resembling "Pure Land of Bliss," with sensual movements."So beautiful!""Tears of emotion are streaming down my face.""As expected of the community committee's bigwigs; their planning ability is incredible! Out of three million people, they managed to create a bunch of cute, dancing girls!""I'm blown away!"The sight of a group of wizard girls dancing, accompanied by various dazzling spells, sparked enthusiastic cheers from the audience. Such a splendid opening ceremony certainly excited many.

"Holy cow! In spectator mode, we can even go and watch the actual dancing girl character accounts!""Hahaha! I found that too! I can go and watch myself dance in first-person, and while dancing, I can also see you idiots in the stands!" someone exclaimed with unbridled laughter."So, during the matches, we'll be able to watch the battling contestants in first-person during their fights?!""Awesome! These are the top eight, the elite combat players among millions! We can see how they fight and switch perspectives at will. This is how you truly watch a match!"The entire game forum, usually dominated by discussions about Evolutionary Sandbox, was now flooded with content about the Wizard Community, thanks to this rare grand event.

"It's time to go and see." Just then, Xu Zhi returned from the supermarket. He put down his electric scooter at the gate, picked up a chair from the entrance, and, pulling a few apples from a plastic grocery bag, strode toward the Bird's Nest structure.

The host, Bai Xiaojun – the same person who had previously exposed the production team's painstaking efforts and a well-known figure in the Wizard Community – shouted, "This is an officially organized event! We've just received news that the Creator God himself will be attending this competition! And the officials will be releasing easter eggs and rewards! The officials have always been fair, so it's bound to be amazing!""Holy cow!""The Creator God is attending?!"Countless people were instantly overjoyed.

Bai Xiaojun continued loudly, "Ahem, I'm sure most of you know this, but I still need to explain it to our newer players. As everyone knows, our Wizard Community has three million players, but it's actually an affiliated instance for the three hundred special players of 'Evolutionary Sandbox.' According to the game's lore, the Creator God is the sole existence across all realms and worlds. In other words, by design, he is the supreme being of this game!""Blown away!"Countless people grew excited. The Creator God! They had never actually seen him before! This was because he was part of the Evolutionary Sandbox's lore, a privilege unique to those three hundred players who were spores in the Creator's dimensional courtyard. He had never appeared in the Wizard Community. "The Wizard Community is like a stepchild!" many had previously complained.

Boom! Suddenly, as everyone was discussing, a vast, hazy, glowing giant slowly approached, carrying a wicker chair."It's here! The epic artifact – the Creator God's Chair!""Wow!! That was the chair dungeon that wiped out all the players in the first beta test!""The male god is actually here! Fan club sisters, come quickly, I'm going to faint!"Countless people looked up. The immense, boundless sense of the giant, its epic majesty, which seemed to block out the sky and sun, was beyond imagination. They were all incredibly excited, as if seeing an idol.

Xu Zhi: "..."*What the heck? I just came to observe the ceremony, like attending a meeting, making a casual appearance, sitting in the front, acting as a judge... Why are you all so hyped?*He set down the chair and sat.

The entire Bird's Nest stadium was conveniently built at the edge of the sandbox, allowing him to carry his chair and sit down. The playing field lay directly at his feet. The scale was such that it seemed like a person sitting in a chair with a circular washbasin in front of them. Countless people in the Bird's Nest venue looked up, thrilled. Xu Zhi, however, sat calmly in his chair. He was accustomed to being frantically observed by these shouting individuals; his heart remained undisturbed. He even had the illusion of wanting to dip his feet into the "footbath" before him. After a commotion,

"The First Annual Wizard Community PvP Tournament Finals officially begin!" Under the Creator God's gaze, Bai Xiaojun declared loudly, "First, I want to thank all the contestants for participating. After all, for each character, thousands, even tens of thousands, of people have worked hard to compete! Some focused on meditation to raise character levels, some on alchemy research, exchanging sand coins for materials to craft alchemical equipment, and combatants honed their fighting skills, cultivated as wizards, and mastered various spells!""Now, please welcome our contestants for the finals, the top eight! First up, Di Qi!" Amidst applause, a figure named Di Qi slowly walked out, hands clasped behind his back.

"Please state your declaration of war."With his hands clasped behind his back, Di Qi surveyed the scene, perfectly imitating the demeanor, and declared, "What's yours is mine, and what's mine is still mine!"*Whoosh!*The arena instantly erupted."666! Boss is awesome!""Stealing the Heavenly Emperor's style, truly number one in the world!""Di Qi must be utterly confused! 'Someone's secretly learning from me?'""If the real Di Qi saw this, this imposter trying to steal his style would be beaten to death!"

The next contestant to enter was Liu Wenjian, the Sword Immortal, who was currently immensely popular – a beautiful woman holding an alchemical longsword. Since the Wizard Community had significantly improved, players could now pay a substantial amount of "sand coins" to modify a character's appearance, provided a majority of the character's collective users requested it. Naturally, at this moment, everyone wanted to embody the latest and most popular Mortal Heavenly Emperor!"The Sword Immortal is truly the best in the world!""A mortal with rebellious intent, the story of this mortal girl truly strikes a chord with me!"From the audience, many cheered and shouted.

"Someday, I want to go in and join the Shushan Sect myself.""Oh, come on! That requires severing an arm!""Hahahahaha! I'm not afraid! I'm most afraid that losing an arm would make this Sword Immortal less handsome. I'd choose to cut off my leg to forge a sword, stretching it into a furnace for a thousand hammers and a hundred refinements, then severing it to cultivate an immortal sword and strike enemies thousands of miles away!"*Whoosh!*The venue instantly fell silent. Many people who had been lively turned their heads from their seats, staring at the young man as if he were a pervert.The young man: "..."He realized he had gotten too excited and revealed his inner thoughts.

One by one, popular characters emerged, cheered on by countless fans. Many were highly excited, feeling that this was a golden age for players, a rare moment of such joy. "They are indeed talented, though mostly in combat," Xu Zhi thought, sitting high above and looking down. He pulled out an apple he had just bought from the supermarket and took large bites.The entire stadium erupted again."Holy cow! It's here! The legendary classic scene: the Creator God eating an apple!"Xu Zhi ignored them. Too much "liver-hardening" (grinding) and mental exertion could understandably lead to a state of irrationality.

"The next contestant is..." Bai Xiaojun's voice grew stiff. He looked up at the Creator God, who was eating an apple, and paused. "...The next contestant: Creator!"A contestant, shrouded in hazy light, trembled as they walked out, nervously glancing at the vast, majestic giant in the sky, who was munching on an apple. The contestant's face was ashen.Bai Xiaojun's voice was hoarse and tense as he held the microphone to the contestant's mouth. "Contestant, please state your declaration."The contestant stood stunned. Their planned declaration, meant to ignite the crowd, now felt agonizingly difficult. Unprepared for the Creator God's sudden appearance, they could only slowly take out an apple and put it into their mouth, their expression a mix of discomfort and embarrassment, on the verge of tears. They secretly looked up at the sky and stammered, "I am the Creator, and... and I love to eat apples!"Xu Zhi, munching on his apple, stared at him. "..."