Cultivating in Online Games

Chapter 44 - Ascending to the Upper Three Realms

White robes fluttered as they timely wrapped Black Cat in white silk, holding the cat in their arms before the attack arrived, casually patting it.

“Don’t tear off the awakening talisman on your heads, and don’t touch randomly!” Black Cat reminded and protested.

“It’s slightly obstructing the view,” Titou Laijian said, “but it’s fine. At least it won’t attack teammates.”

“It seems following Dugu Zhuo indeed has its strategies. Where did you get these talismans? They’re practically artifacts for the hard mode.” White robes blew on the paper strip on their forehead.

Black Cat said, “I don’t know either. Zhuo Shen, what if we can’t save Liu Shu Yao?”

“Then don’t save him,” Dugu Zhuo said.

“He’s quite troublesome, you know!” Black Cat exclaimed.

Dugu Zhuo pressed his hand on the bronze cauldron, the hot oil inside still boiling. He looked at the cauldron thoughtfully, then suddenly said, “Has the cooldown time for White’s skill passed?”

“With the blessing of being controlled, not only is the cooldown time reset, but my spiritual energy is also replenished. What are your orders, boss?” White robes said.

Probably to create trouble for players progressing through the level, players controlled after being attacked immediately regain full health and status, all skill cooldown times reset, and enter a frenzied state, doubling their critical hit rate. It’s very difficult to deal with. However, similarly, if control can be lifted at this time, the player also receives a healing and skill recovery.

Dugu Zhuo said, “Control the specters again, it’s best to bind them together this time.”

“I can’t bind them together, I can only make them dizzy,” White robes said.

Black Cat transformed back into a little monk, raising his hand. “As long as their evasion speed decreases, I can use my prayer beads to bind them.”

Titou Laijian said, “What about Yimeng Xiaoyao? We can’t find his head.”

Dugu Zhuo said emotionlessly, “Bind them all together.”

The three didn’t know what Dugu Zhuo was planning, but they decided to blindly follow his orders.

White robes once again cast out a wide range of white silk, enveloping all opponents including Liu Shu Yao, depriving them of their sight, smell, and hearing.

The little monk exerted force to throw out his prayer beads and silently recited Buddhist scriptures. The string of prayer beads grew longer and longer in the air, long enough to bind all the specters.

Black Cat expended spiritual energy to finally bind these headless specters, panting as he said to Dugu Zhuo, “My prayer beads can only target one entity against demons. It would be fine for dealing with Liu Shu Yao alone, but now that I’ve bound so many specters, I can’t take them all out at once. I can only trap them for 10 seconds.”

“Enough,” Dugu Zhuo said.

White robes and Titou Laijian looked at Dugu Zhuo with interest, wanting to see how he planned to break the situation.

It shouldn’t involve that sword. If he wanted to use that sword, he would have already done so; there’s no need for this much trouble.

Sure enough, Dugu Zhuo, seemingly unafraid of the heat, gripped the scalding bronze cauldron. With a forceful movement of his arm, the enormous cauldron was lifted by Dugu Zhuo.

White robes guessed what Dugu Zhuo was going to do and said incredulously, “No way.”

Dugu Zhuo shouted, “Get out of the way.”

The three immediately moved far away, and Black Cat reverted to its original form, afraid that its size would be too large, trying to shrink its form as much as possible.

Dugu Zhuo hoisted the cauldron high, his true energy flowing from his dantian to his palm. With a forceful exhale, the cauldron, weighing who knows how many tons, was pushed by him, aimed at the bound specters and Yimeng Xiaoyao, and slammed down.

Yimeng Xiaoyao: “…”

Countless scalding hot oil poured down with a “sizzle,” drenching everyone. The specters were drenched in the hot oil, emitting a mournful ghostly cry, which made the three nearby couldn’t help but sympathize with the little monsters.

However, Dugu Zhuo’s heart was as cold as iron. After the oil was emptied, he ruthlessly smashed the bronze cauldron down, crushing the last trace of the specters’ blood.

As the specters disappeared, their resentment automatically entered the mysterious sword, and Yimeng Xiaoyao was also released from control, with only 4% of his health remaining.

Yimeng Xiaoyao didn’t revert to human form but instead rummaged out a pile of health potions, crazily stuffing them into his mouth, and deeply rooted his roots into the soil, absorbing nutrients to regenerate health.

After recovering about 60% of his health, Liu Shu Yao transformed back into human form and sat down on the ground, sighing deeply, “Refreshing!”

To experience something like this in one’s lifetime, and still without pain in the game, it’s truly an indescribable pleasure!

“I’ve already recorded the video. When I upload it online, I’ll definitely emphasize that it’s a dangerous move, and kids should absolutely not try to imitate it,” White robes said.

Titou Laijian removed the awakening talisman from his body, and the talisman burned and disappeared automatically. He approached the bronze cauldron, reverently poking the cauldron and said, “Dugu Zhuo is truly extraordinary, not following the usual path.”

Liu Shu Yao also applauded, saying, “Indeed, Zhuo Shen’s thinking is broad. How come we didn’t think of using the bronze cauldron? Actually, if you think about it, we just need to form two strong demon races, one with the ability to control specters like White, and I can use branches to bind the specters. The demons can then lift the bronze cauldron, pour oil, and smash the cauldron. This move is truly divine!”

“So the solution to the hard mode was given long ago, we just didn’t discover it,” White robes looked at Dugu Zhuo and said, “Boss, I truly admire and respect you this time.”

It’s not about special props or self-created techniques, but rather Dugu Zhuo’s unconventional thinking, daring to think what others dare not, which is truly impressive.

“But where did the awakening talismans come from?” Liu Shu Yao asked, “Zhuo Shen, could it be you stumbled upon a treasure?”

Several players looked at Dugu Zhuo together, wanting an answer. After all, with the game open to this point, Dugu Zhuo’s displayed strength far surpassed that of an ordinary player.

Dugu Zhuo, unwilling to lie to Ye Zhou, didn’t mean he couldn’t make up a story. He applied herbs to his burnt palm caused by the bronze cauldron and slowly said, “Perhaps in the future, I might become a boss of a certain dungeon.”

“Hahaha! You’re really joking,” Yimeng Xiaoyao laughed heartily for a while, but seeing Dugu Zhuo’s serious expression, he suddenly felt awkward and shut his mouth.

“Is it true?” White robes asked.

Dugu Zhuo thought for a moment. With so many people doubting him now, it’s better to push everything onto his friend Bai Hu.

“I once accidentally entered the 40th level Yao Ling Hu Ya dungeon. Since I hadn’t reached the level to trigger the dungeon attack, I met that white tiger by chance and unexpectedly obtained the cultivation techniques and talisman diagrams he looted. I tried them out and didn’t expect them to be useful,” Dugu Zhuo said.

“Why did you accidentally enter a 40-level dungeon? Are you making up stories?” White robes questioned.

“Because I was in Peng Lai Town… Oh, no, it was in the original Zhulong Town, where I found this sword,” Dugu Zhuo pointed to the mysterious sword, “This is the sword of the best friend of that white tiger, so I was dragged into the dungeon.”

“Is there such a good sword? Isn’t a sword that can take out all the specters with one strike a bit too powerful?” Titou Laijian asked.

“It’s not impossible, actually,” Black Cat scratched its ear, “Back then, players couldn’t enter the Tan Ye Temple, but I could come and go freely, and the monk NPC inside even called me junior brother.”

“Speaking of which, you’re also quite unique. Are your Zen staff and prayer beads level 20 weapons and accessories?” Liu Shu Yao questioned.

“This is a weapon that can only exert its full power in the Golden Pill stage. My master lent it to me when I left the mountain. I can only exert 30% of its power, and I have to return it after the mission is over,” Black Cat explained.

The Golden Pill stage is equivalent to level 40, so Black Cat has also had quite an adventure.

With Black Cat sharing the burden, Dugu Zhuo’s suspicion diminished significantly. He explained everything to Black Cat and then went to focus on the bronze cauldron.

He had just tried to put the bronze cauldron into his storage magic treasure, but he couldn’t do it. Now, however, he had a feeling that he could.

With a thought, the bronze cauldron was stored in his storage belt.

Was it because the hot oil was poured out? No.

Dugu Zhuo looked at his healing palm. Just now, when he was burned by the bronze cauldron, it seemed that his flesh and blood were imprinted on the cauldron.

[System: Team] Dugu Zhuo obtained [Bronze Cauldron].

The system announcement was made in the team channel, and teammates could see the properties of the bronze cauldron. Several people clicked on the prompt and saw it written on it:

【Bronze Cauldron: A well-crafted bronze cauldron made of high-quality brass, capable of withstanding the fire of Yuan Ying stage, with strong defensive capabilities. The usage method is to invert the bronze cauldron and hide inside it, which can resist attacks of the Yuan Ying stage level. However, if the opponent can lift the bronze cauldron, the defense power will be zero.】

Everyone: “…”

Yimeng Xiaoyao: “Is this bronze cauldron very useful?”

“Not really,” White robes said decisively, “Can you carry the cauldron and fight with people? Can you hide in the cauldron without others opening it?”

Titou Laijian: “After completing the difficult mode level, did we only receive a useless cauldron?”

Black cat: “It may not necessarily be useless. Perhaps it will come in handy somewhere in the future? Just like Zhuo Shen’s sword, it was rusty and looked like junk at first, wasn’t it?”

White robes: “Oh, right, is it because you have a hobby of picking up junk that you have so many adventures?”

Dugu Zhuo said lightly, “Perhaps.”

After defeating the specters, the woman in red resurrected on the spot. She said, “Thank you, young heroes, for helping me transcend these suffering specters. I will take you on board now.”

Yimeng Xiaoyao said with a smirk, “Is she sure those specters weren’t suffering when they were transcended?”

Titou Laijian: “You have the most say in this matter.”

Yimeng Xiaoyao remembered the feeling of being drenched with oil earlier and shivered, no longer speaking.

The group followed the woman in red onto the ship and continued on their way.

The next dungeon was relatively simple, all experiences they had gone through before. The woman in red led them to find the person releasing resentment, and they subdued the person without Dugu Zhuo having to take action. 

Originally, after subduing the person, they would vanish into thin air. However, after completing the difficult mode, the woman in red didn’t let everyone finish off the person. Instead, she came to the final boss and asked, “Why did you put that bronze cauldron there?”

The man in black armor, quite sturdy in appearance, glanced at the woman in red and said, “Those are the resentful souls flowing into the Nine Desires Abyss. I sent them up.”

“How could resentful souls enter the Nine Desires Abyss? This shouldn’t be!” the woman in red exclaimed.

“The master of the mysterious sword has not lost a soul, and the boundary of the Nine Desires Abyss has ruptured. Many resentful souls sneaked in, and resentment is constantly overflowing. Now, it’s entering the River Styx, and soon the entire Underworld will be filled with resentment,” the man in black armor said.

“How could this be?” the woman in red couldn’t help but shed tears.

Black Cat couldn’t bear to see this and couldn’t help but interject, “Then you shouldn’t have harmed Little Bao, such a pitiful and obedient child!”

The man in black armor said, “All the resentment in the world is attributed to the Nine Desires Abyss. What sin does the Nine Desires Abyss have? We gatekeepers have been selected to guard the formation boundary of the Nine Desires Abyss since birth, enduring a lifetime of torment from resentment. The master of the mysterious sword still has the Primordial Sword to purify resentment. What about us? You sympathize with the master of the mysterious sword, shouldn’t you also pity us?”

Black Cat didn’t know what to say. He scratched his ear in silence.

“The Upper Three Realms allow impurities to flow into the Middle Three Realms, which then enter the Lower Three Realms as resentment, flooding the Underworld and the Nine Desires Abyss. The resentment in the Nine Desires Abyss is resolved by the Creation Twin Swords. This has been the case for billions of years. We are just following the natural order. Is there anything wrong with that?” the man in black armor questioned.

“It’s not you who are wrong, it’s the Upper Three Realms. It’s the unchanging order for billions of years,” Dugu Zhuo stood with his sword in front of the man in black armor.

“You are…” The man in black armor looked at Dugu Zhuo in shock, wanting to say something, but the words were stuck in his throat and couldn’t come out.

Because he saw through the world, Dugu Zhuo had decided to destroy the Heavenly Pillar, releasing all the pure air enjoyed by the Upper Three Realms down to the world.

Coexistence of purity and impurity, resentment slowly dissipated by the spiritual energy of the world, this is how the world should be.