Cultivating in Online Games

Chapter 52 - The Mysterious Painting Scroll

For some reason, Dugu Zhuo felt uneasy today.

Perhaps it was because Ye Zhou didn’t log in during the afternoon. Not knowing what to do, Dugu Zhuo idly looked through the shop’s ledger in the alchemy store in Jiuchuan City.

At 5 PM, Lingzhi Doll invited Dugu Zhuo to join the Ruanzanggang dungeon near Jiuchuan City, but Dugu Zhuo declined. Ye Zhou would log in at 6:50 PM, and Dugu Zhuo needed to wait for him at the auction hall at 6:30 PM. Though an hour and a half was more than enough time for the dungeon, Dugu Zhuo didn’t want any unexpected complications. He told Lingzhi Doll they could do the dungeon after the auction at 9 PM.

Lingzhi Doll was also in Jiuchuan City. Hearing this, she ran to the shop to plead with him. The dungeon was easier before 7 PM, with manageable monsters. After 9 PM, the monsters’ attack and defense would increase significantly, making it almost impossible to clear.

Dugu Zhuo’s heart was cold as iron. Even when a three-year-old doll hugged his leg and cried, he remained unmoved.

Just then, Ye Jian logged in to check the business and saw the chubby doll at Dugu Zhuo’s feet, learning about the situation.

Ye Jian had already reached his limit for entering the painting for training today. With two hours left before the auction, he thought it would be inefficient to waste this time, so he decided to clear a dungeon.

Although he found gaining experience through dungeons, monster hunting, and quest chains very inefficient, he had no other effective leveling methods now that he was at level 30.

Considering Ye Jian’s ability to make money and his status as Ye Zhou’s cousin, Dugu Zhuo took his request seriously. With two hours to spare, it seemed feasible to complete a dungeon and return in time, so he agreed.

Dugu Zhuo usually didn’t need a full team for dungeons, but given the time constraints, he decided more people would be better. Lingzhi Doll then called Qingyue, Aotian, and Black Cat.

These players didn’t know Ye Jian. After adding each other as friends, they learned that Ye Jian was related to Ye Zhou, making them all friends.

Qingyue, a standard face-enthusiast, found Ye Jian even more charming after he reached level 30 and took the initiative to greet him.

Having trained with the Su Nu Sect, Qingyue’s beauty had increased. She was no longer just a cute little beauty but now had skin like jade and a face like a peach blossom, her red dress making her appear as bright as a flame. The Su Nu Sect emphasized etiquette, and Qingyue had trained diligently, gaining not just beauty but also poise, continually moving toward becoming a great beauty.

Ye Jian was also very friendly to Qingyue. Noticing her appreciation for looks, he solemnly recommended the beauty-enhancing pills from his shop. Qingyue was tempted but didn’t have enough silver. The Su Nu Sect was an expensive sect, with players needing to buy their own cosmetics and accessories. Qingyue spent all her money on makeup.

“You can earn money!” Ye Jian said, as if it were obvious. “With your looks and poise, why not find ways to get NPCs to pay you?”

Qingyue was immediately wary. “Are you suggesting I use charm techniques to seduce NPCs for money?”

She implied that some sect disciples already did this.

Ye Jian shook his head. “You’ve misunderstood. I don’t mean seducing male NPCs. I mean teaching female NPCs how to be more beautiful and elegant, and earning money that way.”

Qingyue’s eyes lit up. “Is that possible?”

“Not only that,” Ye Jian said, “you can easily enter inner courtyards. You can promote our beauty-enhancing pills among the women in major cities and sects. I’ll give you a 10% commission and a monthly salary of one beauty pill. How about that?”

Qingyue, excited by the pill’s effects, exclaimed, “Brother, this pill is so good. We don’t even need to leave the Su Nu Sect. Our sect elders alone can buy a lot. They have plenty of money.”

Ye Jian extended a friendly hand. “Welcome to our sect’s sales department. You get a 20% discount on beauty pills and a 10% discount on battle pills when buying from our sect.”

Qingyue enthusiastically shook Ye Jian’s hand. After their discussion, she couldn’t help but think it odd. Why did playing a game lead to getting a sales job?

Dugu Zhuo was very satisfied with Ye Jian’s ability to promote and recruit talent and didn’t stop Qingyue from befriending him, which directly led to a tragic dungeon journey.

The Ruanzanggang dungeon was usually easy. Despite Jiuchuan City’s good security, many homeless people and loners who died without anyone to bury them were dumped in Ruanzanggang by soldiers. Over time, it became a den of ghosts.

Players would receive a task from Jiuchuan City’s security officer to escort a corpse to Ruanzanggang. Upon arriving, carrying the NPC corpse would draw them into the ghost den.

First, they fought a group of ragged ghosts, followed by headless ghosts and ghostly beauties. The final boss was a ghost infant, an unborn child that had absorbed most of the yin energy in Ruanzanggang, making it very powerful.

After a fierce battle, the ghost den was purified, and all vengeful spirits went to the Netherworld, ending the dungeon.

This was a routine dungeon without a hard mode. Dugu Zhuo had once sought the Illusion Heart Bead, choosing to run the dungeon at night, but didn’t get a hard mode first kill notification.

It seemed the hard mode and Illusion Heart Bead were only available in special dungeons, making them hard to obtain.

Thinking about this, Dugu Zhuo felt even more distressed about the 10-point drop in White Tiger’s favorability. To this day, he still didn’t understand why White Tiger’s favorability had decreased.

What was supposed to be a simple dungeon run turned complicated. Everyone was strong, Black Cat’s Buddhist techniques were the nemesis of ghosts, and Lingzhi Doll could heal players. At this pace, they could clear the dungeon in an hour.

The problem lay with Qingyue and Ye Jian. After accepting the sales position, Qingyue walked with Ye Jian, learning techniques to earn money from NPCs. Their conversation shifted from selling beauty-enhancing pills to how Ye Jian once sold rotten vegetables and eggs at high prices. Qingyue then asked Ye Jian why he got pelted with eggs, leading Ye Jian to mention the painting scroll.

Everyone was intrigued. They didn’t care about how many people Ye Jian had trained or been trained by. They were interested in game easter eggs and the beauty scroll. After defeating the first boss, the headless ghost, they urged Ye Jian to show them this magical item.

There was some time before the next boss appeared, so Ye Jian generously took out the scroll. As soon as he opened it, Qingyue disappeared.

Everyone was speechless.

They clearly saw a woman identical to Qingyue appear in the beauty scroll. Just like that, a player had been sucked into the painting!

“What’s going on?” Aotian asked, holding the scroll. “Zhuo, why did she enter the painting? Why didn’t we? She won’t be trained inside, will she?”

Dugu Zhuo, who had always allowed Ye Jian to recruit Qingyue, didn’t expect this. As he carefully examined the scroll for a way to rescue Qingyue, the second dungeon boss, the ghostly beauty, attacked. Before they could act, the beautiful ghost was also sucked into the painting.

Everyone was speechless again.

Black Cat asked, “Does this painting suck in all attractive players and NPCs?”

Lingzhi Doll said, “Then why didn’t it suck me in?”

Ye Jian said, “I think Dugu Zhuo should ask that, not you, chubby doll.”

Aotian said, “It only absorbs women. Does it only take beautiful women or female ghosts?”

The players knew this was just a game, so they weren’t worried about Qingyue. They found the situation amusing. Even the dungeon boss got absorbed; this painting was too interesting.

Aotian sent a message to Qingyue through a paper crane, “Where are you? Are there any beautiful people inside? Remember to take screenshots!”

The system notified Aotian, “Your message could not be sent.”

“Huh? Why can’t I send a message? How can this game have an out-of-service area? Hahaha!” Aotian laughed.

Dugu Zhuo’s expression grew more serious. He glanced at Aotian, who was still laughing, and said, “Qingyue sent me a message.”

Aotian: “?”

Dugu Zhuo opened the message and played it for everyone to hear. They heard Qingyue shout, “Help! There’s a really indecent-looking man here who wants to make me his furnace!”

Aotian said, “How come you can receive her messages? Do you have a higher favorability with Qingyue than I do? No, I should have a higher score.”

The other teammates also tried messaging Qingyue, but none succeeded. Only Dugu Zhuo’s paper crane could reach her.

“What’s with this painting?” Ye Jian said, without a trace of concern.

Dugu Zhuo placed his hand on the scroll, and it was immediately sucked in. His heart sank.

The feeling of his hand entering the painting was like being pulled into another world… The world inside the painting wasn’t the game; it was his original world!

This explained why others couldn’t message Qingyue, but Dugu Zhuo could receive her messages. Because in this game, the only person from another world who was also a player was Dugu Zhuo!

Since he could communicate with people like Master Tan Ji and Jiao Yan from the cultivation world, he could also cross space to receive Qingyue’s distress call.

At this moment, Qingyue sent another message. Dugu Zhuo opened it and played it for everyone: “Come save me! I can’t beat this guy. He says he’s a Golden Core stage evil cultivator. Isn’t that a level 40 boss? And he doesn’t have any pixelation; it’s so disturbing!”

The lack of pixelation confirmed Dugu Zhuo’s suspicion. Qingyue must have inadvertently entered the cultivation world, still thinking she was in the game.

Dugu Zhuo said seriously, “I’m going into the painting to rescue Qingyue. You all stay outside and guard the scroll. Don’t leave it alone in the dungeon.”

With that, Dugu Zhuo leapt into the painting. Aotian, Black Cat, and Lingzhi Doll all followed him in.

Dugu Zhuo: “… I told you to guard the scroll.”

Aotian said, “Ye Jian can guard it. Besides, didn’t Qingyue say she encountered a level 40 boss? No matter how strong you are, you can’t defeat a level 40 boss alone. We’re here to help!”

Black Cat and Lingzhi Doll nodded in agreement, with Lingzhi Doll adding, “I can revive teammates!”

Dugu Zhuo: “…”

Do you even realize what kind of world you’ve entered?