Cultivating in Online Games

Chapter 40 - Soul Returns to the River

The refined monk cat, now fully in his elegant and monk-like appearance, excitedly said to Dugu Zhuo, “Zhuo God, the system granted me 50 points of justice. How high is this kid’s evil value? I suddenly feel that it’s worth fighting!”

Dugu Zhuo recalled that he gained only 30 points of justice for clearing out the bandit stronghold. It seemed that Qingyue Aotian, this friend of a friend, was truly walking the path of evil, destined to become a notorious figure sooner or later.

Dugu Zhuo disliked major sects like the Qiengtian Sword Sect. These sects had too many people, and even among cultivators, a large number could give rise to numerous problems. The Qiengtian Sword Sect had strict rules, but they still couldn’t prevent some individuals’ greed.

From the elder in the Core Formation stage to the Inner Disciples in the Nascent Soul stage, and even the Outer Disciples in the Foundation Building stage, each level had its own troubles. Bullying the weak and factional disputes were not uncommon. Only Ye Zhou’s Xingchui Peak stood aloof from these worldly matters, as Ye Zhou’s strength was enough to silence any unruly thoughts before him.

Despite the numerous issues within the righteous sects, they were still better than the evil cultivators. Evil cultivators massacred villages, practiced alchemy with human sacrifices, and manufactured evil treasures with resentment. If the struggles within the righteous sects could be seen as corruption within the system, the evil cultivators were unforgivable sins.

Throughout his life, Dugu Zhuo had slaughtered numerous evil sects, making it clear that he couldn’t coexist with evil cultivators. However, this was the first time he encountered a friend of a friend who was an evil cultivator, and this person had an extremely high evil value. Yet, his eyes were clear, devoid of any malicious thoughts.

It was just that the way he spoke and acted made people want to beat him to death.

Unlike the cultivation world, here evil cultivation was merely a factional choice.

Dugu Zhuo asked the black cat, “Do you know anything about the level 20 dungeon in the Eternal Night Zone?”

The black cat replied, “I don’t know. I don’t have money to buy guides. I’ve been playing games so much recently that I’m living on instant noodles every day. I’m hoping to follow the great you to earn some first-kill rewards and sell them to get through the next half month.”

Dugu Zhuo had been in the Eternal Night Zone dungeon, but he hadn’t delved deep into it. He wasn’t sure where the bronze cauldron was, let alone how to trigger the hard mode.

At this moment, Yimeng Xiaoyao resurrected on the spot, swaying her waist extensively. Although she was angry, she still endured it and asked the black cat, “So, you know Dugu Zhuo? The one with the self-created skill.”

“Of course, we went through the main storyline together!” The black cat monk raised his head proudly. He looked like someone who knew some big shot.

“Is he online? Call him over to meet.” Yimeng Xiaoyao said.

The black cat looked Yimeng Xiaoyao up and down, then said with a sly smile, “Why don’t you find Qingyue and Aotian to introduce you?”

“Isn’t it just to have our brothers try Dugu Zhuo’s skills? It’s not good to act against friends. You introduced me; I can call two more people to form a team fight, hahaha!” Yimeng Xiaoyao laughed heartily.

At this moment, roots suddenly sprouted from the ground, entwining Yimeng Xiaoyao’s legs. Several root branches forcefully took away the staff in her hand, throwing it far away. The roots binding her legs prevented her from retrieving the staff.

The roots touching the staff immediately withered, and the black cat marveled, “Is this staff not a level 20 weapon?”

“You’re too despicable. You’ve already lost, yet you still attack?” Yimeng Xiaoyao said angrily.

“This is not despicable; it’s Duel 2.0. No one stipulates that a single round determines victory or defeat. Three rounds, two wins.” Yimeng Xiaoyao said with a grin, “You can call Dugu Zhuo over, and I’ll also call one, two, three, four, five people to form a team for a group battle.”

The black cat was shocked by this shameless talk.

At this moment, the man in the straw hat beside the black cat said, “Yimeng Xiaoyao, have you been to the Eternal Night Zone dungeon? Have you entered it today?”

Yimeng Xiaoyao naturally remembered this person. After sizing him up, she said, “I’m already level 21. Of course, I’ve cleared it! I just came online today and planned to challenge the hard mode while forming a team.”

“You seem familiar with Wuhu Heishang. You also called my name just now. Are you that One Leaf Flat Boat?” The man with the straw hat lifted it slightly, revealing a contemptuous smile.

Although she was someone who never did evil, she did need to be taught a lesson. The man with the straw hat glanced at her and saw numerous evil spirit NPCs with handcuffs and shackles.

This was still in the Nether Capital.

The man with the straw hat said, “The Five Elements Sword Art can turn anything of the five elements into a sword. Among the wood, earth, water, and fire swords, their attack power is almost the same. Each has its advantages and disadvantages when used appropriately. Only the metal sword is different. The sword is inherently a sharp weapon. Taking metal as a sword makes it unstoppable.”

Yimeng Xiaoyao said, “Is that the sword technique created by Dugu Zhuo? Don’t boast too much.”

The man with the straw hat raised his hand, and his fingers quickly changed a magical technique. He said, “Although you have the eyes of someone who hasn’t done much evil, you do need a lesson.” He pointed at Yimeng Xiaoyao, and suddenly, all the metal within a hundred meters, including the chains on the evil spirits and the ironware on the Nether Capital stalls, turned into sharp swords flying toward Yimeng Xiaoyao.

Countless swords pierced Yimeng Xiaoyao, including Dugu Zhuo’s fine steel sword, which had sneaked in and disappeared into the ground. In an instant, it cut through the countless roots deeply embedded in the ground, and the black cat’s legs were also released.

“Not like this! What’s happening?” Yimeng Xiaoyao wanted to run but was pierced by countless swords, making it impossible to escape.

The black cat picked up the staff and said to Yimeng Xiaoyao, “You monster!”

“Wait, I have a use for him.” Dugu Zhuo stopped the black cat and threw a talisman at the tree demon with countless holes.

The talisman stuck to the nearly lifeless tree demon, abruptly halting its slow healing process. The roots Dugu Zhuo hadn’t cleared before also disconnected from the soil.

“What’s happening to me? Why isn’t my health regenerating?” Yimeng Xiaoyao finally panicked. His biggest reliance was his thick blood that made him nearly unkillable, and he had never encountered a situation where he was restrained like this.

Dugu Zhuo, with one hand, effortlessly lifted the now enormous tree demon. He gently weighed it and expressed satisfaction, saying, “Big enough.”

With a body larger than a white tiger, slow enough to control, it was perfect as a meat shield.

Dugu Zhuo removed his straw hat and said to Yimeng Xiaoyao, “Let’s team up and challenge the hard mode.”

After that, he sent a team invitation to Yimeng Xiaoyao and said to the black cat, “Keep an eye on him. If he doesn’t join the team, attack. After respawning, attack again.”

“This requirement suits me perfectly.” The black cat raised the staff.

“Wait!” Yimeng Xiaoyao hadn’t figured out the situation yet. “Do you intend to challenge the dungeon with just three people? You’ll wipe!”

Dugu Zhuo tried to use the tree demon to shield the black cat. Seeing that he could perfectly block both of them, he nodded and said, “It’s enough.”

Yimeng Xiaoyao instinctively sensed that something was wrong. Continuing to shout, “I remember now. Humans can’t enter the Eternal Night Zone dungeon. You can’t go!”

“Who said I’m human?” Wuhu Heishang put away the staff and transformed into a small black cat, jumping onto the branches of the tree demon. “I scratched your eyes just now. How could you forget so quickly?”

“You’re really a demonic race? I thought it was some skill of transformation just now. You… you’re also a demonic race like me? Did Wuliang Temple accept you? Did they take you in?” The tree demon felt that his worldview was being overturned by the two people in front of him.

When the black cat was added to the Tanyesiji Temple, he felt wronged, but now he was proud. “Who called me the beloved junior brother of Wuliang Temple? It suits me well.”

Yimeng Xiaoyao found the black cat’s appearance irritating and turned to Dugu Zhuo, saying, “He’s a demonic race. Can you go to Wuliang Temple? Will they accept you?”

Dugu Zhuo ignored Yimeng Xiaoyao, came to the entrance of the Eternal Night Zone dungeon—a black river with countless grudges hidden in it. He lifted the tree demon and leaped into the river.

The river was cold, and even if the pain setting was reduced to 0, it would still feel chilling. This was a game setting that couldn’t be blocked.

The river was filled with countless transparent human forms. Faces couldn’t be seen clearly, and the scene wasn’t blocked due to excessive bloodiness, but it triggered a deep-seated fear in people’s hearts.

Ye Zhou was scared out of his wits here, burying his head in Dugu Zhuo’s arms. Although he enjoyed Ye Zhou’s closeness, Dugu Zhuo swore he would never bring Ye Zhou to the Eternal Night Zone dungeon again.

Seeing that there was a living person entering the water, the transparent figures floated up one after another, continuously murmuring, “Homeland, homeland.” They surrounded the trio, dragging them into the vortex under the water—the entrance to the Eternal Night Zone dungeon.

After a moment of dizziness, the three found themselves on a plain, facing a silver-gray river without a drop of water touching them.

The water of the Yōdū Dark River was not actual water but a convergence of various emotions.

Countless twinkling lights dotted the plain, some slowly falling into the silver river, while others ascended from the river into the sky.

The starry lights illuminated the night and human hearts, revealing the Soul Returning Dark River.

The black cat widened its emerald green eyes, with a layer of crystal covering its eyeballs, reflecting a glimmering light. It raised its little paw and reached toward the sky, sighing, “So beautiful.”

“Is it really beautiful?” An invisible figure emerged from the silver river, taking on a human form once out of the water. It was a woman dressed in blood-red clothes.

Her skin was extremely pale, and her hair was jet black, intertwining the pure colors of black, white, and red to create a striking image.

This was the guide for the Soul Returning Dark River dungeon.

“Demonic race, demonic race, alien race…” The woman looked at the three with a hint of disappointment. “No ghost race? Call a ghost race, I don’t believe you.”

“Eh? Do we really need a ghost race?” Yimeng Xiaoyao exclaimed in shock.

The black cat said, “You are the only one among us who has cleared this dungeon. Who else should we ask?”

“Every time I come here, there are ghost race teammates, and she never asked us anything!” Yimeng Xiaoyao used branches to form the characters “wronged” as a substitute for his expression.

He originally wanted to form the characters for “innocent,” but the character “guilt” was too difficult to create.

Dugu Zhuo had been here before, but he came to enjoy the scenery. When the woman emerged from the river, he immediately used a ghost-repelling talisman to suppress her, without giving her the opportunity to speak or frighten Ye Zhou.

“What should we do? We’ve all entered the dungeon. How do we call someone?” The black cat asked the woman anxiously.

The woman emerged from the river, sat on the shore, hugged her knees, and muttered, “I can wait for you for fifteen minutes. After that, please leave.”

The black cat was anxious, saying, “She means we can call a ghost race friend. I’ll go right away… but I don’t have any ghost race friends. Besides the monk, I only know a few of you in this game!”

Dugu Zhuo was in the same situation.

So, the two looked at Yimeng Xiaoyao.

“I said three people wouldn’t be enough. I’ll quickly call a few more people.” Yimeng Xiaoyao seemed to know quite a few people. He quickly sent private messages, asking friends who could come to hurry.

After a while, he said, “When you need people, you realize how few friends you have. Only two people can come, and the team is still not enough. Shall I call a demon race…”

“No need.”

As soon as Dugu Zhuo spoke, Yimeng Xiaoyao instantly shut up.

To add teammates to enter the dungeon, you had to send a team invitation before the other person jumped into the Stygian River and was dragged into the vortex. They were all inside the Stygian River, and the distance was enough for teaming up. If not in a team state, the other person would enter a newly opened dungeon and not come to their dungeon.

Dugu Zhuo temporarily transferred the team leader role to Yimeng Xiaoyao, tore off the ghost-repelling talisman from his body, and the roots of the tree demon immediately grew and deeply anchored in the soil.

Yimeng Xiaoyao let out a breath and said, “What kind of item did you put on me? It’s quite powerful.”

He quickly sent messages to his friends and seized the time to send team invitations.

On the other side, they also cooperated tacitly. Dugu Zhuo and the black cat quickly saw two new names in the team list: one named Bai Yipiao Piao and the other named Títou Lái Jiàn.

Seeing these two names, Dugu Zhuo raised his eyebrows slightly, feeling that these names were quite vivid. So vivid that two figures even appeared in his mind.

After less than 30 seconds of teaming up, a girl in white and a boy holding his head floated to the surface. The girl in white said with a sinister tone, “I saw Dugu Zhuo in the team list. Wow, ever since he killed me with one move last time, I really wanted to see him again!”

“Yeah, I really want to see him again.” The boy with the head lowered even had black blood flowing from his eyes, like oil.

The black cat: “…”

Were all ghost races so stimulating?