Cultivating in Online Games

Chapter 31 – Tiangang Steps

The Eternal Night District was different from what Dugu Zhuo had originally imagined. He still had a deep impression of that first night where demons had run rampant and hunted down human beings, so he had thought that he would be attacked upon taking one step into the Eternal Night District. In that case, he could combine evasion and sword techniques to eliminate a few of those foolish players, and complete the requirements for forming a sect.

Unexpectedly, the Eternal Night District looked quite peaceful. It was filled with every variety of ghosts each trying their best to get past the system censorship, but aside from being mentally overstimulating, it was calm. 

On that first night, part of the reason why the demons and ghosts had massacred human players on the streets had been envy.

Everyone had started playing at the same time, so how come they could party it up in the daylight, offering incense and drinking tea and watching lingzhis feed themselves to NPCs, while the ghosts and demons had to be confined to a tiny dark area to fight each other over a handful of missions so they could go out and pretend to be bosses?

Qingyue and Aotian’s friend, Xiaoyao, had had it worse. At least the ghosts and demons could move about within the dark area, but Xiaoyao was stuck being a tree, and even had to watch other players enjoy themselves under his branches. He actually personally witnessed a pair of players who had somehow gotten feelings for each other within the game and were planning to fool around under the big willow tree. Fortunately, the game’s censorship system stopped that from happening, otherwise Xiaoyao would’ve gone crazy from rage.

Being suppressed tended to make people go out of control. The restrictions during the day were too harsh, so at night, the ghosts and demons went a little crazy. That was why they had indiscriminately attacked human players, in order to make them as miserable during the night as they’d been during the day.

Now that the Eternal Night District and the Eternal Day District were opened, everyone had their own territory and could gain experience freely, so the demons and ghosts calmed down a lot.

Aside from a player like Xiaoyao, who was going after the title “Wicked Yao King”, very few people would proactively attack humans.

Plus, who would see Dugu Zhuo as a player?

When Dugu Zhuo was with his party, everyone else saw the ordinary players accompanying him and thus guessed that he was a player, but while he was alone, there was still a large possibility he would be mistaken for an NPC.

The white-robed maiden also made this same mistake, and, assuming that he issued some special task, drifted over and asked, “Which sect are you from, immortal?”

Dugu Zhuo ignored her. He swept his gaze over the Eternal Night District, trying to find some easily provoked players. It would be even better if he ran into the veiled party again. They were old enemies, so surely it would be justified for them to fight again.

The white-robed maiden still thought Dugu Zhuo was a special NPC, though, and who knew how much hair the designers had lost over his model. He had to be an important character, maybe even the main storyline’s final boss!

In order to activate the main storyline, you had to speak the right keyword or perform the right action. Since the white-robed maiden had no idea what this NPC would respond to, she started trying every conversation topic she could think of.

“I logged on today immediately after the maintenance, at five in the morning, and I saw an NPC woman sweeping the streets who looked kind of like Widow Yang from the tofu stand. Since she looked so good, someone took a screenshot of her and uploaded it.”

“The tea shack at the outskirts of town is overpriced.”

“Have you been to the most expensive inn in town? Us ghosts can pass through walls, but we can’t enter that inn or Tanye Temple.”

“The old monk at the Tanye Temple healing booth has become a couple of young monks. Someone asked one of their names and apparently it was ‘Chansan[1]‘.”

Dugu Zhuo clenched a fist, wondering whether verbal annoyance could be counted as provocation, and whether he could just get rid of this ghost.

The mosaic’d player nearby had now returned to normal. He was a young man with a pale face and a gloomy countenance. He held his own severed head in his hands, while the wound on his neck was covered with black blood.

“You’re so annoying,” the beheaded boy said to the white-robed maiden. “This NPC’s a saint for not having choked you to death yet. If you bothered the Tanye Temple monks this way, they would be like ‘Ho! Wicked being!’ and send you right back here.”

“I’m trying my luck by testing keywords, duh,” the white-robed maiden said. Her eyes suddenly brightened and she revealed an eerie smile. “Do you suppose I should try phasing through his body, or possessing him?”

The beheaded boy wiped at the black liquid dripping down from the corners of his eyes and said, “You made fun of me turning myself into a mosaic to scare people, but look at you! All you think about is a bunch of terrifying things that just look okay on the surface.”

“That’s just the proper way to play a ghost character.” The white-robed maiden drifted up into the air with a foreboding smile. “Here I go.”

Dugu Zhuo glanced at her. “This counts as self-defense, then.”

Dugu Zhuo wasn’t clear on what the system meant by “footwork”. He had assumed it meant something like wind riding or flying on artifacts, but after taking a trip with Ye Zhou, the system didn’t react in any way. Maybe this was because he hadn’t killed any players, or maybe he had misunderstood.

Perhaps footwork didn’t refer to movement techniques, but to…

Since someone here didn’t value her life, he might as well use her to experiment on.

Dugu Zhuo circulated his spiritual essence. After reaching Foundation Establishment at level 20, he could already stand in the air with spiritual essence alone. As the maiden launched herself towards him, trying to pass through his body, he leapt into the air. His steps moved in a complicated way, walking over different positions in midair.

Aside from movement techniques, there were another set of techniques which could be called footwork. With them, a cultivator used heaven and earth as a chessboard, moving through set positions upon the board. Each footstep was a pawn, and these pawns invoked the powers of the stars. This was called the Tiangang[2] Steps.

Opposing it, there was also a corresponding Disha Steps which invoked the power of spiritual veins beneath the earth.

Both these two systems of footwork had myriad variations, and how much a cultivator could make use of the powers of heaven and earth would depend on their own understanding.

For now, Dugu Zhuo couldn’t sense the spiritual veins of the Eternal Night District, and it wasn’t a place with rich spiritual veins anyway, so he decided on the Tiangang Steps instead of the Disha Steps.

“Woah! He’s flying! Is he an NPC? He looks so…” Another demon player remarked to one side, as Dugu Zhuo took several steps in midair, each footstep forceful as if it was leaving a mark in the sky.

If this were day, Dugu Zhuo could invoke the sun’s power, and even if, with his current power, he could only summon a tiny amount of the sun’s true fire, it would still be sufficient to incinerate these players.

There was no sun in the Eternal Night District, though, just the moon and stars. Dugu Zhuo couldn’t command the power of the stars in a very complex way with his current strength, so he could only use the moon and the seven stars of the Big Dipper. Thus, he chose the moon.

The moon in the Eternal Night District was always full, so its power would always be at the maximum. The points where Dugu Zhuo’s feet had just fallen shone with light, which led the moon in the sky to gradually brighten.

Dugu Zhuo pointed to the moon with his left hand, while his right hand drew the design of the Tiangang Steps below him with blinding speed. He clapped his hands together. The moonlight became overpowering, linking with the glowing points under his feet and forming a reflected image of the full moon.

“It’s the moon! That guy’s stolen the moonlight!” The maiden, not sensing any danger, clapped the beheaded boy several times on the shoulder. “Quick, quick! What are you doing just standing there? Take screenshots! Record a video!”

Other people in the Eternal Night District had also noticed the commotion by now, and the vigilant ones had activated their screenshot or recording functions, but found that all of them had been disabled at this moment.

Even if someone had taken a screenshot of Dugu Zhuo earlier because of his appearance, those screenshots had now vanished without a trace.

There were no pictures of Dugu Zhuo on any forums or chatting platforms, as if there were some invisible force which deleted everything that contained Dugu Zhuo’s appearance, in order to prevent knowledge of it from spreading beyond the game.

Staring agape, the white-robed maiden watched Dugu Zhuo standing atop the reflection of the moon, which now approached her until it had trapped her and the beheaded boy, who was still messing with his screenshotting function.

The gentle and cool light of the moon illuminated them. In an instant, the two ghosts felt as if they had gained a deeper understanding of the Moon Worship Chant, and realized how to use the moon to strengthen their own abilities as well.

Feeling these sensations, they were unwilling to avoid the moon’s power, only wanting to bathe in this beautiful moonlight and never wake again.

And indeed, the two players never woke up again.

Dugu Zhuo didn’t have the power to maintain this technique for long. As the moonlight dissipated, so did the two ghosts’ forms. Real ghosts would’ve been eradicated, but these two players had just died and lost some experience and a few equipment items, spirit stones, and silver pieces. They would be fine in actuality.

Additionally, ghosts who managed to survive basking in the moon’s power would have their cultivation speed dramatically improved in the future.

On the whole, they had actually gained from this encounter, so this could be considered merciful for Dugu Zhuo.

As expected, after the two players’ deaths, Dugu Zhuo received a notification from the system, telling him he could submit a footwork technique, as well as providing him a blank jade slip.

Dugu Zhuo turned around and left the Eternal Night District. He wanted to record the technique and wait for the system’s approval together with Ye Zhou.

Very soon after he left, the two ghosts resurrected on the spot. The white-robed maiden held the youth’s head up, so they could make eye contact easier.

After they had both stared at each other cluelessly for a while, the white-robed maiden asked, “Did we just witness a god descend to earth?”

“Yeah, and he kicked our asses,” said the beheaded boy.

“What level are we?” the maiden said.

“Nineteen,” said the boy. “You said the level 20 instance was too hard, so you wanted to wait for someone else to clear it first and publish a guide.”

With eyes resolute, the maiden said, “Look for a team to challenge the instance immediately. Within ten minutes, I want to be standing in the daylight, and know everything about this NPC!”

“You’ve read too many tyrant novels,” said the boy. “Forget ten minutes. The instance can only be attempted once per day, and you might not pass it once in ten days!”

As they gathered their team, Dugu Zhuo flew back to the restaurant.

It was almost the sixth ke of Wushi, and Ye Zhou was supposed to log off at 12, which was the fourth ke of Wushi. Dugu Zhuo didn’t know if Ye Zhou had waited for him, and at this point immediately started wondering about the cost of what he had gained.

He reached their private room on the second floor in a few steps and was about to enter, when he saw that Ye Zhou had ordered a tableful of food and was currently gnawing on pig trotters with his sleeves rolled back.

Seeing Dugu Zhuo had returned, Ye Zhou put down the pig trotter awkwardly, not knowing where to put his greasy hands. “I’m just enjoying the ability to eat whatever I want in-game,” he said, a bit embarrassed.

Dugu Zhuo always behaved very properly and had eaten that roast chicken last time with propriety too, so Ye Zhou felt uncomfortable about being discovered scarfing down food by him.

However, Dugu Zhuo acted as if nothing was amiss and said. “I was worried you had logged off. What a relief.”

He sat in front of Ye Zhou and casually cast a cleansing spell. In a ripple of light, the grease on Ye Zhou’s hands vanished.

The grease on his face hadn’t been cleansed, however. Dugu Zhuo had a waiter deliver a clean handkerchief, which he then used to carefully wipe Ye Zhou’s mouth.

Ye Zhou: “…”

If he had a cleansing spell, why didn’t he cleanse Ye Zhou’s mouth as well, and insist on using a handkerchief?

Ye Zhou once again felt like Dugu Zhuo was secretly pursuing him.

However, Dugu Zhuo acted with utmost propriety and never came into contact with Ye Zhou’s lips, even through the handkerchief. After wiping off the oil around his mouth, he put down the handkerchief and picked up some chopsticks. “What do you want to eat? I’ll pick it out for you.”

Surreptitiously, he used the Five Phases Swordplay to shroud his chopsticks in a faint sword aura, which cleanly sliced the meat off the bones of that pig trotter, turning all the meat and skin into perfectly bite-sized pieces.

Dugu Zhuo put the pieces into an empty dish and placed it before Ye Zhou.

Ye Zhou wanted to say that pig trotter tasted the best when you gnawed on it, but seeing the perfectly-sliced meat, he blushed and muttered his thanks instead.

“It’s about time for you to leave. Were you waiting for me?” Dugu Zhuo looked expectantly at him.

Actually, he had wanted to eat a bit more… Swallowing down a mouthful of pig meat, Ye Zhou said quietly, “That’s part of it.”

Though Dugu Zhuo wanted Ye Zhou to be with him in the game at all times, he still said, “You shouldn’t miss your noontime nap. Log off soon. If you want to eat, I can accompany you to eat this afternoon for three hours.”

“I don’t need that long to eat.” Ye Zhou quickly scarfed down the sliced pig trotter in the dish. “Did you succeed?”

“Of course,” Dugu Zhuo said, looking indifferent, as if this was a matter hardly worth mentioning.

“That’s great!” Ye Zhou said. “Have you submitted it yet?”

“Not yet,” Dugu Zhuo said. “I had wanted to wait with you for the results.”

“But I’ll have to get off really soon.”

“Then I’ll wait for you to come online tomorrow.”

Ye Zhou suddenly felt like he couldn’t remain within Dugu Zhuo’s sight. A bit flustered, he stood up and said, “I’m logging off to nap right now. I’ll be on at the precise time this afternoon.”

After he was gone, Dugu Zhuo sat alone at the table, gazing at the empty opposite seat.

He sat like that, gazing serenely, for a whole hour. Finally, Dugu Zhuo called over the waiter, ordering him to clear the thoroughly cold food and make a new set of specialty dishes, to be delivered at Shenshi, or three in the afternoon. 

After the table had been cleared, Dugu Zhuo opened a window next to him. He rested an arm on the windowsill, his sleeve fluttering in a light breeze.

If a player outside simply looked up, they would be able to see Dugu Zhuo’s uncommonly handsome face, staring fixedly at someone else. 

Who knew what person was sitting opposite him, deserving of such a deep gaze from this man.

Meanwhile, Ye Zhou had returned to the real world, but all he could think about was Dugu Zhuo. After eating lunch without enthusiasm, he woodenly let someone set him on his bed in preparation for his afternoon nap.

He thought that he hadn’t known Dugu Zhuo for long enough, but also he couldn’t figure out what kind of person Dugu Zhuo was in real life.

Speaking of which, to start secretly pursuing him from the moment they met… then again, maybe he was just misinterpreting. If Dugu Zhuo treated everyone he met this way, wasn’t he too flippant?

Except, Dugu Zhuo didn’t treat other people the same way. Qingyue looked so pretty after leveling up, but Dugu Zhuo hadn’t shown any reaction. As for Jet Black and Aotian… actually, forget about them. One didn’t take a human form much and had become a monk, while the other was too skimpy towards his appearance and hadn’t added a single attractiveness point even at level 20. 

Was there a possibility? A notion appeared in Ye Zhou’s mind. It was a game anyway, so… maybe…

His gaze fell on his legs. There was no sensation in them, and despite people massaging them every day, they continued to atrophy and looked abnormally thin.

Ye Zhou closed his eyes. There wasn’t any possibility.