After the promotional video came a gameplay demo video.

Compared to the promotional video, the gameplay demo was much simpler, showing Yan Qi controlling the protagonist using four different approaches—Confucian, Buddhist, Taoist, and Military—to eliminate demons in a small frontier village.

Before entering the village, the protagonist first used Taoist elixirs and talismans to apply various buffs, then set up formations to attract all nearby monsters. With these thorough preparations, he easily defeated large numbers of demons.

However, the effects of the formations and talismans couldn’t last too long, and more demons continued to emerge endlessly.

The protagonist took out a spear from his back, directly engaging the monsters using military tactics, occasionally shooting arrows that struck distant demons performing rituals.

If the earlier Taoist techniques emphasized preparation, this phase transformed into an action game requiring reflexes and skill. The protagonist used every weapon within reach to battle the demons while pushing toward the village’s core.

Then, the protagonist encountered increasingly powerful demons. Some were wrapped in layers of resentment and couldn’t be harmed by ordinary swords, so the protagonist’s Buddhist light intensified, his skin turning a pale gold color. The blazing Buddhist light made the dark demonic energy dissolve rapidly, like ice blocks under a scorching sun.

Finally, facing a powerful wraith, the protagonist activated the Confucian technique of “investigation of things” to spot the wraith’s weaknesses—the crimson horns on its head and back. Dodging the wraith’s attack, he sliced off its horns with one sword strike!

After this, other scenes briefly appeared—battlefields strewn with corpses, temples engulfed in flames, border towns resisting to the death, and the underworld path between the realms of yin and yang.

However, these scenes only flashed by briefly, without the extensive description given to the earlier content, serving merely as scene showcases.

This gameplay demo showed actual in-game combat, fully displaying the four fighting styles—Taoist arts, Buddhist methods, military tactics, and Confucian techniques—including the use of various weapons, skills, and movements.

As an experienced action game player, Yan Qi had played through this section several times to produce the most satisfying result.

However, he hadn’t revealed all the game’s best content, only selecting techniques that best highlighted the four schools’ characteristics. After all, deeper combat systems, more battle scenes and monsters, and more complex game storylines would be left for players to experience themselves after the game’s release.

Combined, the promotional video and gameplay demo gave players a general understanding of “Shuli.” Player feedback now would basically predict the situation after the game’s release.

Of course, this assumed smooth development completion with all planned content included, rather than releasing a half-finished product to deceive players.

“There’s a clear difference from benchmarks like ‘Turn Back to Shore’ and ‘Eternal Samsara.’ We’ve created our own characteristics, but I don’t know if players will like this approach,” Yan Qi felt somewhat anxious.

He also opened the promotional video on the AiLiDao website, but since it had just been published, there wasn’t much buzz yet.

Yan Qi didn’t mind and prepared to continue playing the game demo to look for bugs, planning to check back later.

This time, he and Morning Dew Gaming Platform hadn’t invested heavily in promotion, only securing some basic recommendation slots, because they wanted to see players’ genuine feedback.

If players discovered and loved the “Shuli” video, it would naturally spread quickly and generate huge buzz, proving that “Shuli” was on the right track.

Investing massive resources in promotion now might mix real and artificial buzz, making it difficult to determine “Shuli’s” true popularity and any existing problems.

After another hour, Yan Qi had submitted two bugs.

It couldn’t be helped—bug hunting efficiency was low on weekends.

Yan Qi wasn’t too concerned and returned to check the comments section of the “Shuli” video.

“There should be some buzz by now, right? After all, we did purchase some basic recommendation slots, and it was posted from Morning Dew Gaming Platform’s official account, so there should be some natural traffic, right?”

“Hmm? There is traffic, but something seems off.”

“Where did all this buzz come from?”

Seeing the video’s popularity and discussion, Yan Qi was shocked.

Just over an hour after release, “Shuli’s” video had already reached the top of the gaming channel rankings, and at this rate, reaching the homepage was just a matter of time!

Not only that, Yan Qi discovered that the #Shuli# keyword had made it to the trending searches on both AiLiDao and Weibo!

This was ridiculous!

Looking more carefully, he found that the #Shuli# keyword on Weibo’s trending list seemed to be… purchased.

The keyword was hanging at fifth place on the trending list, a position usually occupied by celebrities.

Moreover, with “Shuli’s” current buzz, it shouldn’t have reached trending levels at all. Outsiders might not know this, but Yan Qi was well aware.

“What’s going on? Did Morning Dew Gaming Platform buy trending spots for me?”

“That can’t be right, they didn’t notify me about this! Besides, they don’t even work on weekends!”

Yan Qi was completely baffled.

He had originally wanted to gauge “Shuli’s” natural popularity and determine players’ first impressions of the game, but now his plan had been completely disrupted!

Yan Qi hurriedly checked the comments section and various forums.

“Is another domestic AAA masterpiece about to emerge?”

“These scenes, these movements, this combat system—impressive! I really want to play it. When will it be released?”

“Will it be exclusive to Morning Dew Gaming Platform? Awesome! Morning Dew finally has a AAA exclusive worth showing off! Congratulations!”

“I always said that only domestic game developers could truly grasp this cultural foundation. Those foreign game companies making Huaxia-style games are all form and no substance!”

“I heard this game is still in development but lacks development funds. This video was probably released to raise money.”

“That makes sense. This team previously made mobile games, so they definitely don’t have enough money for a AAA title of this scale! Where’s the crowdfunding or pre-sale link? I want to pre-purchase a copy and contribute a little to the development of domestic games!”

“Doesn’t seem like pre-purchases are open. Maybe the developer doesn’t want to take players’ money.”

“Isn’t there any company willing to invest in such a promising project?”

“Hah, you all know the nature of these domestic investment companies. Single-player games are money pits to them—who would invest? Who would throw their money away?”

“Wait, it seems several investment companies have expressed willingness to invest in this game?”

“Aren’t those companies from the ‘anti-Tenda alliance’? Bullshit, are they really investing in ‘Shuli’? They’re obviously just trying to irritate Tenda! I don’t believe these people have such good intentions!”

“Exactly, I hope the ‘Shuli’ team doesn’t take their money… If they really need funds, they can open pre-orders from players. Taking money from companies like these means they’ll never know peace!”

“These companies said they wouldn’t interfere with the normal development of the ‘Shuli’ project. And I think we should judge by actions, not intentions. If ‘Shuli’ can’t achieve its full potential due to funding shortages, that would certainly be a loss and a shame. If these companies’ funding can give us another excellent domestic game, why not accept it?”

Undeniably, “Shuli’s” popularity had risen incredibly fast, from AiLiDao to trending searches to major gaming forums, stirring up discussion among players at a speed Yan Qi had never anticipated.

However, this discussion seemed strange to Yan Qi, as if something wasn’t quite right.

Why… did everyone’s discussion seem to focus on “investment”?

Why did everyone assume the “Shuli” project was short on money?

Logically, when normal gamers see promotional and gameplay videos, their first reaction should be to discuss the game’s art style, combat system, plot, story background, etc., and express their intention to buy the game immediately upon release.

They generally wouldn’t be particularly concerned about whether the game developer had sufficient funds.

This was normal—why would players care about that? They weren’t shareholders in the development company. Players just wanted good games and were happy to pay for them.

Moreover, the “Shuli” project didn’t lack money!

Yan Qi was puzzled about where this “lacking money” rumor had come from and why so many people were discussing it.

Could it be…

Yan Qi connected recent events and suddenly realized the issue.

The anti-Tenda alliance had been recruiting companies, and to Yan Qi’s knowledge, some gaming platforms had already joined.

A few days ago, Nie Yunsheng had personally come to Jingzhou wanting to invest in Yan Qi, but was politely declined.

And after “Shuli’s” video was released, the internet suddenly buzzed with activity, and two investment companies from the anti-Tenda alliance expressed willingness to invest in “Shuli”…

These events were too coincidental and too connected. Yan Qi wasn’t stupid and naturally made the connection.

Clearly, the anti-Tenda alliance hadn’t even tried to conceal their intentions, since their goal was to pressure Yan Qi into accepting investment through public opinion.

“Good grief, when I was begging for investment before, no one would invest. Now that I don’t want it, they’re coming to my door, insisting on giving me money?”

“This is ridiculous!”

If he had relied on these investment companies, the “Shuli” project would never have been born, let alone reached its current state.

But many things are contradictory—these investment companies never release their prey until they see the rabbit, making it impossible for them to help in times of need, but they all rush to add flowers to the brocade.

Yan Qi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. On one hand, the stark change in these investment companies’ attitudes was too obvious, revealing their ugly faces. On the other hand, the “Shuli” project truly didn’t lack money!

He had already told Nie Yunsheng so clearly, why wouldn’t they believe him?

“Fine, fine, I’ll release another announcement to clarify.”

“How many times do I have to say it before you’ll believe me—we really don’t need money!”