On open beta day, a thread surfaced in the Weibo Super Topic section for Turbulent Spring and Autumn.

A blogger named “Tianxia Wuwo” posted a guide introducing the 12 Solar-tier cards available in the Novice Banner.

Since the official team sent 20 pulls directly to every player’s in-game mailbox, and the Novice Banner guaranteed a Solar-tier card within 20 pulls, every player could obtain at least one of these 12 cards right at the start. Those with exceptional luck might even score a “Double Gold,” obtaining two.

Many players were asking: “Is the hero I pulled strong? Is it worth investing in?”

Tianxia Wuwo stated: “For Novice Banner cards, if you pull primary DPS heroes like Bai Qi, Wei Qing, or Huo Qubing, or the healer Bian Que, upgrade them without second thought! They are all incredibly strong heroes! Especially Bian Que—he can heal a teammate to full health in one turn and even revive fallen allies. If you pull him, he’s an absolute must-build.”

“If you pull Cao Cao, you need at least two copies to unlock his Signature Skill before he becomes viable. Cao Cao is paper-thin in the early game and needs Goujian to protect him closely. If you don’t like playing counterattack teams or can’t pull two copies of Cao Cao, please give up on this hero.”

“If you pulled Zhuge Liang, Zhang Liang, Fusu, Sun Quan, or Lu Zhi in the Novice Banner—congratulations, you’ve pulled super difficult-to-use cards. Just switch servers and start over directly. Don’t even hesitate.”

Underneath this Weibo post were thousands of comments.

Players who pulled top-tier DPS heroes or Bian Que were ecstatic. Meanwhile, players who pulled other heroes began to agonize… Should they really switch servers?

Is what this blogger saying actually accurate?

Some easily influenced players actually listened to the guide and switched servers.

In online games, having numerous servers and switching to a new one after a rough start was quite common.

This time, Turbulent Spring and Autumn opened dozens of servers at launch. Because holographic pods and mobile clients shared real-time connectivity, the system restricted each ID-linked account to creating characters on a maximum of 3 servers to prevent malicious “server hoppers” from constantly rerolling and cluttering resources.

Free-to-play (F2P) and light-spending players who didn’t pull easy-to-use heroes right off the bat were deleting characters and hopping servers in droves.

Some players ran to streamer Xia Kucao’s live stream to ask for advice.

“Xiao Cao, I saw a guide online saying that if you pull Zhuge Liang in the Novice Banner, you should switch servers and restart immediately? What should I do if I got Zhuge Liang? QAQ”

“I saw that too. It said that those who pulled Bai Qi, Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, or Bian Que can build them blindly, while everyone else is advised to switch servers.”

“I pulled Jing Ke, and now I’m hesitating on whether to switch servers and start over.”

Xia Kucao was stunned for a moment, then said sternly: “Who’s talking nonsense out there? This is way too misleading!”

Hearing this, many viewers in the stream chat began to vent.

“It’s the guide from the Super Topic, right? Everyone is saying something different; I don’t know who to believe!”

“There are even people saying Bai Qi’s AoE damage is like tickling and that you shouldn’t build him under any circumstances.”

“I pulled Han Xin, and he doesn’t seem to deal much damage either?”

“Everyone is switching servers to see which server gives them a Double Gold, and then settling there! Accounts like that are luckier and have higher pull rates!”

As the very first combat game centered around recruiting historical heroes, Turbulent Spring and Autumn had all kinds of self-proclaimed guides flying around on launch day, leaving rookie players completely baffled.

Who should I actually believe?

Some of these so-called “guides” were even self-contradictory, giving everyone a massive headache!

Switching servers meant re-customizing their faces, and popular servers required long queue times. Players who hated hassle didn’t want to switch servers outright, but they were also terrified that their initial account was “unlucky” and that their starter hero would be useless.

As a result, a massive number of players fell into a dilemma.

Xia Kucao said: “There’s no such thing as a weak hero among Solar-tier cards—they just serve different functions. Pulling a DPS hero at the start makes clearing the main storyline a bit easier, but you’ll finish the main story in a few days anyway. The person who wrote that guide probably only cleared the story mode during closed beta, didn’t play much PVP Arena, and probably never even touched the Military Strategy Abyss.”

He paused, then continued: “Take Zhuge Liang, for instance. Switch servers and restart just because you pulled him? Stop joking around! Let’s take a look at his skills.”

Xia Kucao had whaled to collect every card in the pool. He opened his recruitment roster and selected Zhuge Liang to showcase to everyone.

Zhuge Liang

Skill 1: Star Observation(Observing the heavens to know great events. When Zhuge Liang takes his turn, he can observe the battlefield situation and adjust the deployment order of allied heroes.)

Skill 2: Sky Lantern(The sky lanterns invented by Zhuge Liang were often used to pray for blessings in ancient times. Upon entering battle, Zhuge Liang automatically summons a Sky Lantern. While the Sky Lantern exists, all allies gain +10% Effect Resistance and can see through all stealthed targets. The Sky Lantern inherits 30% of Zhuge Liang’s HP; once destroyed, re-summoning has a 2-turn cooldown.)

Skill 3: Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse(Transport tools invented by Zhuge Liang. Upon entering battle, automatically summons one Wooden Ox and one Flowing Horse. Each turn when Zhuge Liang acts, he can order the Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse to transport specified targets’ buff/debuff states. The Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse inherit 30% of Zhuge Liang’s HP; once destroyed, re-summoning has a 3-turn cooldown.)

Xia Kucao explained: “A lot of players haven’t understood Zhuge Liang’s skills. Upon entering battle, he automatically summons three tools/pets. The Sky Lantern provides Effect Resistance and Stealth Detection, making it a fatal counter against control teams and stealth teams. The buff transport of the Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse can counter many status-debuff teams. Not to mention Star Observation—it’s an absolute god-tier PVP skill.”

“Let’s head into the Training Ground for a live combat demonstration. Just like Cao Cao, Zhuge Liang also needs two copies to unlock his 3rd skill. The Zhuge Liang in my hands is a complete form with his 3rd skill unlocked.”

Xia Kucao opened the Training Ground from the top-right menu.

In training mode, several minion mobs would spawn on the opposing side, allowing players to control designated characters to test out battles.

The moment Zhuge Liang entered the field, he came with three “pets” attached.

A beautiful Sky Lantern floated behind him, while a four-wheeled, ox-shaped “Wooden Ox” and a two-wheeled, horse-shaped “Flowing Horse” stood on either side of him.

…Holy crap, he’s a summoner!

Many players who had never seen Zhuge Liang before were instantly stunned.

Entering battle with so many tools built-in? Awesome!

Xia Kucao said: “This hero involves a ton of micro-management, and his mechanics are quite complex, making him not very beginner-friendly—but he is insanely useful. The four wheels of the Wooden Ox can transport enemy buff states over to our allies, while the Flowing Horse can transport our allies’ debuff states over to the enemy.”

“Once built up, this hero can shatter many team lineups. Of course, Zhuge Liang is afraid of AoE attacks; heavy continuous AoE bursts will wipe out all his summoned tools. But no matter how powerful a hero is, they all have weaknesses and counters—that’s precisely the charm of strategy games.”

Xia Kucao paused and added: “Let’s talk about Lu Zhi next. Anyone who says ‘switch servers if you pull Lu Zhi’—I doubt they even understood her skills.”

Lu Zhi

Skill 1: Ruling Behind the Curtain(Lu Zhi was the first Empress Dowager in recorded Chinese history to rule behind the curtain. While Lu Zhi is in the party, all ‘Han’ faction allies gain +10% Critical Damage and +10% Effect Hit.)

Skill 2: Consort Power(Lu Zhi forcibly steals the next enemy target’s action turn and designates any allied character to act immediately.)

Skill 3: Recuperation and Rest(Lu Zhi advocated the strategy of non-action and letting the people rest and recuperate. Under the ‘Recuperation and Rest’ state, all allied Han faction characters cease actions, while simultaneously becoming immune to all crowd control and attacks for 1 turn. Signature Skill, limited to once per battle.)

Xia Kucao explained: “This hero is absurdly powerful. Stealing the enemy’s turn and directing a teammate to act immediately completely counters enemy characters who rely on awakening burst skills. At the same time, it guarantees allied synergy, allowing you to instantly burst down the opponent’s core and create a numerical advantage. ‘Recuperation and Rest’ can anticipate enemy burst turns, allowing your entire team to gain invincibility and dodge damage.”

“At the same time, her team buffs for Han faction characters are insane—Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, Han Xin, Zhang Liang, and Liu Bang are all Han faction heroes, and more Han faction characters will be released in the future. You get it now, right?”

Players in the chat: “…”

There’s actually a playstyle like this?!

These team synergies sounded incredibly fun!

Who would have thought that heroes dismissed as “useless” on the internet would look so absurdly dominant after Xia Kucao’s breakdown?!

Xia Kucao summarized: “Due to limited time, I won’t go through the other heroes one by one today. I’ll post a detailed guide on Weibo later. This game’s combat system is the richest I’ve ever seen. I dare say this will be Yangfan Studio’s key flagship project, operating for at least several years. There’s really no need to rush in the early game.”

Hearing Xia Kucao’s explanation, many players felt a huge weight lifted off their shoulders.

No matter which card they pulled, it would have its uses in the late game, so there was no need to switch servers at all.

That “closed-beta player’s” guide was truly misleading for beginners. Every game had people like that—having a shallow understanding of game mechanics yet acting all arrogant and blabbering nonsense.

To prevent more players from being led astray, Xia Kucao logged into his Weibo and posted a comprehensive guide.

This was summarized from his extensive experience clearing dungeons and playing PVP Arena during closed beta.

The guide detailed which heroes were suited for PVP Arena, which were great for PVE dungeons, which were strong right out of the box in the early game, and which required late-game investment to shine.

A guide from a renowned streamer was undoubtedly a reassuring pill for beginners.

Initially, the Super Topic area was flooded with posts like “delete account and switch server” or “reroll if you’re unlucky.” Once this guide dropped, many players who had pulled support heroes and were feeling hesitant finally settled down to focus on the story mode.

Anyway, PVP wouldn’t unlock until late game—might as well enjoy the main storyline first!

Meanwhile, video creator Uncle Feixiong had just finished Chapter 5 of the main story: “Shang Yang’s Reforms.”

Shang Yang was the boss of Chapter 5. After clearing this stage, player levels reached Level 10, unlocking various social features.

Players could speak in the World Chat channel, add friends, and create or join alliances.

The Achievement System featured milestones like “Speak in World Chat once,” “Add 5 friends,” and “Join an Alliance.”

Feixiong opened the chat window and saw the World Channel packed with dense streams of text from players.

[Monkey King]: Hit level 10! Looking for a wave of friends~

[Ten-Pull Must Gold]: I’m playing on the holographic pod. Any mobile players around?

A huge crowd of mobile players popped up behind saying “+1”.

[Rookie No. 3]: Excuse me, is pulling two Solar cards in a ten-pull considered normal?

[Annoyed]: You’re banned from pulling cards! My Solar cards were all stolen by you!

The World Channel was extraordinarily lively, with messages scrolling so fast it was dazzling.

As the very first cross-platform connected game between holographic pods and mobile devices, Turbulent Spring and Autumn‘s launch popularity shattered all previous single-platform records. Dual-end real-time networking was an epoch-making technological leap, and many players wanted to personally witness this historical milestone in gaming technology.

Feixiong opened the chat box, intending to send a random message to complete the achievement.

However, he was instantly captivated by the emoticons in the chat box—the game’s stickers were custom-designed by the dev team, featuring cute Q-version (chibi) avatars of various heroes paired with text, complete with adorable animated expressions.

Bian Que holding a bowl of herbal medicine, captioned: Time to take your medicine.jpg.

Lian Po offering a birch branch on his bare back, captioned: I’m sorry.jpg.

The emoticons in the chat box spanned several pages, totaling over a hundred animated chibi stickers. Playing a game by Yangfan Studio for the first time, Feixiong was thoroughly blown away by the dev team’s attention to detail.

There was really no need to draw so many emoticons!

It was something “icing on the cake” rather than an absolute necessity.

Even without emoticons, players could still chat in-game. Yet Yangfan Studio’s art team had drawn an entire set of original hero stickers, which undoubtedly added a massive amount of workload.

Crucially, all emoticons were completely free to obtain—players unlocked them automatically at Level 10 without any prerequisites.

If it were certain other game companies, this set of stickers would definitely be tied to top-up rewards or sold in the cash shop…

Feixiong remarked with emotion: “This set of chibi emoticons is so cute, and it’s free in-game. I wonder if the official team could release a WeChat version for daily chatting?”

Many players in the live stream chat echoed their agreement.

Some even ran to LittleSailboat’s Weibo comment section, hoping for a public download link for the emoticons. To everyone’s surprise, Xie Yunfan actually replied warmly: “Suggestion received, arranging it right away! ^^”

The player who left the comment was ecstatic.

LittleSailboat, you really are a planner who listens to advice!

Feixiong opened his personal profile and said: “My ID is AC47896. Players in Server 44 can search and add me as a friend. Adding friends gives achievement rewards too!”

Fans watching his live stream happened to be on the same server. The moment he announced his ID in the stream, countless friend requests popped up in the bottom-right corner.

Feixiong accepted the requests and sent out stamina gifts with one click.

This simple sequence completed several beginner achievements, rewarding him with another 1,500 Spiritual Charms (10 pulls). Combined with the 20 recruitment scrolls sent earlier via mail, 30 pulls were now sitting in his inventory.

Feixiong resisted the urge to pull cards and said: “Let’s continue with the main story.”

Just as he clicked on the next chapter, a prompt popped up in front of him—

System: Main Story Chapter 6 will unlock when My Lord reaches Level 11.

System: Daily quests and main story quests reward My Lord EXP.

Feixiong froze: “Huh? Level-gated?”

He flipped through the game system menu. Today’s daily quests were already completed, and even after claiming the EXP, he was still just shy of Level 11. It was clearly an intentional level cap by the developers to make everyone come back for the story tomorrow.

This was quite standard—if developers didn’t implement level gates, hardcore grinders would stay up all night clearing the entire storyline in one go.

Rushing through too much story at once was like swallowing whole without chewing.

Slowing down the pace allowed everyone to explore other gameplay features in the game.

Just then, the guide NPC appeared again: “My Lord, you have recruited many heroes. Hurry over to the Manor to visit them!”

The Manor was the player’s residence in the game. It was huge, with many rooms that could be upgraded and expanded. Manor upgrade materials could be earned from in-game dungeons.

Guide NPC: “These heroes have traveled thousands of miles to come here. Would you like to arrange accommodations for them?”

The Manor system opened up, displaying the position and status of each hero.

As Feixiong assigned rooms to his recruited heroes, he chuckled: “Why do I suddenly feel like a dormitory manager? Hmm… Xishi is the only female character so far, so of course she gets a VIP single room. Lian Po and Lin Xiangru are best buddies, let them share a room. Goujian and Fan Li know each other, so they get a double room. As for Cai Huangong and Shang Yang, they can share a room for now. We need to save some rooms for future heroes.”

Seeing this, many viewers excitedly spammed bullet chat:

[This system is so fun!]

[How is this any different from running a hotel?]

[Casual players can upgrade the Manor and play it as a cozy simulation game!]

[Are room assignments completely free? Can we put mortal enemies together in the same room?]

Feixiong said: “I don’t have many heroes right now, so I’m not sure what happens if you assign them randomly. This game has a ton of depth and mechanics to explore. Let’s try out the Visit System the NPC mentioned first.”

After assigning rooms to the heroes, the Visit System officially unlocked.

Players could visit their recruited heroes up to 3 times a day.

Feixiong went to visit Xishi and unlocked parts of her backstory—such as her origins, her feelings and experiences while acting as a spy beside the King of Wu, and other lore not mentioned in the main storyline, acting like “character side stories.”

Through visits, players could gain a deeper understanding of the heroes they had recruited.

After the visit, Xishi’s favorability toward the player increased.

The guide NPC continued: “The Banquet System is now officially open! My Lord works hard in battle; in your free time, you can host banquets to thank the heroes you’ve recruited. The timing is up to you, up to three times a week. Now, please send invitations to the heroes you wish to invite.”

This banquet was a free starter gift from the system, outside the three-per-week limit.

Feixiong sent invitations to all seven of his heroes. Soon, all seven arrived. Feixiong picked out some food and drinks from the system menu and set up a table, enjoying afternoon tea with his heroes.

Stream viewers: “…”

And here they thought this game only had complex strategy battles!

Who would have thought a tactical strategy game would feature such a heartwarming, cozy scene?

Casual players declared: I love this so much!

What about players who couldn’t figure out complex combat mechanics but loved the game’s art style and character designs?

They could simply pull cards, raise heroes, and invite them over to drink tea and chat.

The release of casual systems retained a massive number of non-hardcore combat players.

In particular, players who migrated over from Millennium Love commented: “In this game, you can not only raise ‘husbands’, but also ‘wives’—the female characters are all gorgeous!”

The current female roster in the pool—Xishi, Lu Zhi, Xia Ji, Yu Ji, etc.—were each uniquely stunning.

Discussions regarding Manor upgrades and hero room arrangements quickly flooded the internet.

Manor upgrades had dedicated dungeons for farming materials like timber and stone bricks. By constantly upgrading their Manor, casual players could house all hundred-plus heroes they recruited.

Playing “dorm manager” in a game had its own unique charm.

Moreover, the hidden easter eggs in the Visit System exceeded player expectations by far.

Someone posted: “I pulled Bian Que in the Novice Banner and got Duke Huan of Cai from the main story, so I paired them in the same room. Guess what? When I went to visit, Bian Que was trying to persuade Cai Huangong to see a doctor and take his pulse! Cai Huangong’s face was so dark, HAHAHA, I choked on my drink!”

Another player said: “I whaled and got Lu Zhi and Liu Bang. Aren’t they husband and wife? I thought I’d put them in the same room. As a result… they literally started throwing hands in the room! Holy crap! I’m sitting here eating popcorn watching the drama!”

“I discovered that even without spending visit attempts, holographic players can freely walk around inside the Manor! Some heroes are reading books, some are practicing martial arts, and others gather to play chess. Watching their daily routines is so entertaining!”

“Does anyone know what’s up with Zhuge Liang? I wanted to host a banquet this afternoon and sent him an invite, but he wasn’t at home! He left a letter saying he went off to travel the world for a while?!”

“Pro tip: Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei from the ‘Peach Garden Oath’ banner get double favorability gains when living together as three brothers!”

“Stop putting Liu Bang and Empress Lu in the same room, guys, it’s utter chaos in there…”

“Bai Qi and Lian Po are hilarious. As two of the Four Great Generals of the Warring States, whenever they live together, they insist on dueling to settle who’s stronger. I had a blast watching them fight.”

More and more discussions about “room assignment easter eggs” surfaced online.

Players pleasantly discovered that the Manor and Visit systems weren’t just shallow casual gimmicks where you click a button to complete a dialogue.

This massive system possessed rich, intricate character relationships and worldbuilding.

These heroes had their own distinct personalities and preferences.

For instance, Zhuge Liang frequently wandered the world, and only after you visited him three times (“Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage”) would he permanently reside in your Manor.

Bian Que loved treating patients; in his spare time, he’d wander around taking the pulses of other heroes in the residence. If you went to find him, he’d kindly ask: “My Lord, are you feeling unwell anywhere? Would you like a checkup?”

Yu Ji and Xiang Yu shared deep romantic bonds. If you pulled both heroes and housed them together, you could see Yu Ji dancing gracefully for Xiang Yu.

Mobile players could view hero dialogues through their screens.

Holographic players experienced an even deeper level of immersion—they could interact with these heroes up close, witnessing their diverse charms firsthand.

They had thought Turbulent Spring and Autumn was purely a tactical combat game, but unexpectedly, its casual gameplay breathed a deeper “soul” into the game.

Yes—this was what made the game feel so vivid and alive.

The Manor and Visit systems ensured that all these heroes were no longer just a collection of cold data code.

They had joys, sorrows, forgotten pasts, and unresolved burdens.

They came to life in the holographic world.

Players chatted, drank tea, and discussed history with these lifelike characters, feeling as though the alternate world of the Huaxia Continent—a realm where countless historical heroes converged across time and space—truly existed somewhere in the vast universe.