Cultivating in Online Games

Chapter 59 - Family

“Why did he buy this? Is he jealous of Xiao Bao Xuanjian’s luck and wants to steal it from him?” The Black Cat wrote indignantly, his handwriting both ugly and immature, making him look like an impatient youth.

Dugu Zhuo lightly shook his head at several teammates who were concerned about Xiao Bao, silently mouthing: Impossible.

Stealing Xuanjian’s luck? Even if Lian Haokong had the audacity, he wouldn’t know what’s coming for him.

Not to mention the formidable luck of the past Sword Masters who could control divine swords. Even if he didn’t have such strong luck, what need would there be to steal from Xuanjian, who was born under an ominous star?

Some things aren’t meant to be taken.

Lian Haokong was at the peak of the Nascent Divinity stage, just a step away from the Great Vehicle stage. He wasn’t an ignorant young cultivator and couldn’t be unaware of this.

If that’s the case, why did he leave Xiao Bao halfway back to the sect and come here to bid on the Heavenly Balance?

As Dugu Zhuo pondered this, he heard the auctioneer announce, “2.2 million! Client number 250 bids 2.01 million spirit stones!”

Number 250? Dugu Zhuo glanced at his own number; he had entered later and was number 253, so 250 should be among the few ahead of him…

Ahead of him were Ye Jian, Qing Yue, Proud Heaven, Black Cat, and Lingzhi, one of them?

Dugu Zhuo suddenly looked at Ye Jian, who adeptly raised his sign and bid once.

Proud Heaven and Black Cat sitting beside Ye Jian quickly pressed down their number plates, not caring if Lian Haokong heard them, murmuring through gritted teeth, “What if he really wins?”

“If he wins, we buy it,” Ye Jian said. “This is a divine artifact. Even if we don’t use it this time, when we encounter a monster far beyond us in future fights, we can use the Heavenly Balance to exchange the luck of a dying teammate with the boss, who will collapse in a single move. Even in PK against other players, when we’re losing, we can turn the situation around in minutes with the Heavenly Balance.”

“You really are a genius!” everyone thought.

“Then it’s 220,000, 220,000!” Proud Heaven excitedly emphasized.

“What’s wrong with 220,000? This kind of artifact that can completely turn defeat into victory. After I challenge a few more players and build its reputation, I can sell it for 300,000,” Ye Jian said.

Several games on the market already have million-level artifacts. This holographic game is so well done that it’s bound to catch fire sooner or later, and it will definitely fetch a good price. Even if it doesn’t sell, Ye Jian doesn’t think 220,000 is expensive.

Ye Jian, who spared no expense, persuaded everyone. At the same time, it also attracted Lian Haokong’s attention. He turned to look at several players in the back row, recognizing them as the ones who had just rolled down from upstairs.

Lian Haokong raised his number plate expressionlessly and bid 3 million spirit stones, clearly indicating his determination to win.

Ye Jian was about to raise his sign again when Dugu Zhuo stopped him with one hand and shook his head to indicate he should not act rashly.

Dugu Zhuo vaguely felt that the focus of this main storyline was not obtaining the Heavenly Balance, but rather understanding who would use it.

He looked up at the second-floor box and saw Ye Zhou, not only showing his clothes, but also resting his entire arm outside the window, seeming very interested in this auction.

Suddenly, Dugu Zhuo thought of something. If the system required Ye Zhou to pretend to be Ye Zhou, did this mean that this auction scene had happened before?

Lian Haokong came to buy the Heavenly Balance, while Elder Ye Zhou watched quietly on the second floor. What was he watching? Why did he come to watch this auction?

After Lian Haokong bid 3 million spirit stones, there was a moment of silence. The auctioneer was about to finalize the deal when a hand with distinct knuckles reached out from the window of Ye Zhou’s box and casually dropped a wooden sign, accurately hitting the auctioneer on the head.

“6 million spirit stones!” The auctioneer, holding the wooden sign, exclaimed excitedly. “Client from box 6 on the second floor bids 6 million!”

Lian Haokong stood up directly, looking up at the second-floor box, his powerful sword intent surging towards it.

However, with a light pat, that hand dispersed Lian Haokong’s sword intent.

“It’s you?” Lian Haokong obviously recognized the person’s identity, his tone slightly annoyed. “Elder, I came to buy the Heavenly Balance because you never agreed. Now that it’s come to this, are you also competing with me for this? Elder, are you planning to betray the Sword Sect?”

No one in the box spoke, and the players also gathered to watch this century-old drama unfold. Upon hearing the words “Sword Sect,” experienced players realized they might be encountering a main storyline and eagerly took photos and videos, causing chaos in the world channel.

“I remember that Ye Jian and Dugu Zhuo were also there before, right? Are they encountering another main storyline? Why do all the good things happen to them? Did they found this game?”

“They completed the first main storyline, so it’s possible there’s a clue to the second one. Meeting them isn’t surprising.”

“I don’t care. You can only complete the main storyline of this broken game once. After Dugu Zhuo and the others completed the first part of the storyline, no one else knew what it looked like. I absolutely can’t miss the Sword Tomb series’ main storyline this time!”

“So how do you participate in the main storyline?”

“First, you need money. It can’t be less than 600,000 RMB. They seem to be bidding for a divine artifact, and it’s up to 6 million spirit stones now.”

“You’re outdated upstairs. Client number 16 just bid 8 million.”

The soaring prices silenced the world, leaving only a few players broadcasting live from the scene.

Qingyue and the others all turned to look at Yejian. Lingzhi Doll whispered softly, “Do you guys have 600,000?” 

“1 million,” Aotian’s tone grew more humble. “Just now, Bianzhou bid 10 million spirit stones, and applause has already started in the venue.”

Yejian, who was known for his extravagance, fell silent as well. He said, “Money is not an issue.”

With this amount of money spent, Yezhou might have to bid farewell to the game. His second uncle and second aunt would definitely think he was neglecting his health for his hobbies and would be furious.

Everyone was focused on the outcome of this century’s auction, while only Dugu Zhuo looked up at the second floor, thinking about the conversation the two had just had.

Unexpectedly, this Sky Thief Scale was not bought privately by Lian Haokong. The Sky Sword Sect and Night Ship both knew about it, and Night Ship obviously opposed what the Sky Sword Sect was about to do.

“Are you trying to compete with the Sky Sword Sect in terms of financial strength?” Lian Haokong said, “I’m afraid you won’t be able to match them. 20,000 spirit stones.”

“Oh…,” the host was in a difficult position, “Did I hear correctly? This esteemed guest, 20,000 spirit stones, did I misunderstand?”

How could there still be a price reduction? Moreover, the starting price of the Sky Thief Scale was already more than 20,000!

Lian Haokong said, “You heard me right. I said 20,000 spirit stones, top-grade spirit stones.”

The entire NPC audience was in an uproar, while the players were discussing it one after another.

They only knew that it took 100 lower-grade spirit stones to exchange for one middle-grade spirit stone. Previously, the starting price for one immortal-grade spirit stone was already 100,000 spirit stones. Thus, a single top-grade spirit stone in between was probably worth tens of thousands of lower-grade spirit stones. What was most frightening was that this item had value but no market; there were simply not so many top-grade spirit stones on the market.

Before Yezhou could even bid, the host quickly concluded, “20,000 top-grade spirit stones. Our esteemed guest on the second floor, if your bid isn’t with top-grade spirit stones, even if you offer 30, 40, or 50 million lower-grade spirit stones, we will still choose to sell to guest number 16. The value of top-grade spirit stones and lower-grade spirit stones cannot be calculated by quantity.”

Upstairs, Yezhou remained silent for a long time. At this moment, Yezhou also had no means to support his younger brother. They simply could not buy top-grade spirit stones.

Lian Haokong successfully bid for the Sky Thief Scale. Aotian and the others downstairs were both regretful and relieved. They really couldn’t afford such a sum of money.

And so they waited until the auction ended. Lian Haokong followed the staff to the backstage to retrieve the Sky Thief Scale, while Dugu Zhuo and the others wanted to follow but were stopped by the staff.

“What should we do?” Black Cat said, “He’s definitely going to harm Xiao Bao. How can we stop him?”

Dugu Zhuo had a sudden inspiration. He looked up and said, “Ye Zhou has accepted a system mission. The system will surely give him some information prompts. Let’s go ask him.”

“Will he just leave us downstairs?” Ye Jian asked nervously.

Dugu Zhuo replied, “Of course there’s a way. We can’t expose his identity. We must give him a reasonable excuse to help us.”

With that, Dugu Zhuo took out several Disguise Pills and handed them to his teammates.

Ye Jian said, “Disguise Pills. I remember these can change your appearance to look like enemies during battles, causing monsters to attack the wrong target for about fifteen seconds.”

“That’s during battles. When used normally, it’s similar to a Face Preservation Pill, where quality multiplied by time of the day. The Disguise Pills I refined are of quality 120, capable of altering appearance for ten days,” Dugu Zhuo explained. “If we want to approach Ye Zhou, we can’t be ourselves, but someone else.”

After saying this, he swallowed a pill and transformed into a man somewhat resembling a laundress.

The others also took the Disguise Pills, each assuming a mundane appearance, and followed Dugu Zhuo as he sprinted upstairs.

The room on the second floor was already empty, but Dugu Zhuo and Ye Zhou had a “blood oath” connection, allowing him to sense Ye Zhou’s whereabouts at any time. He led the group, tracking Ye Zhou’s path from the second-floor door.

Within Jiuchuan City, there were array restrictions prohibiting sword flight, a rule that applied not only to players but also to NPCs.

As a result, both Lian Haokong and Ye Zhou were not running fast. Finally, behind a guesthouse courtyard, Dugu Zhuo caught up with Ye Zhou.

“Who are you people?” Under the moonlight, Ye Zhou spoke coldly, his gaze unfamiliar.

Nevertheless, he subtly blinked at Dugu Zhuo, indicating recognition through their blood oath.

Ye Zhou maintained his previous demeanor while subtly hinting at Dugu Zhuo about his true character in private. This made Dugu Zhuo feel conflicted, often having hallucinations that the previous Night Ship had the same personality but had never discovered it.

“We are Xiao Bao’s family. I am his eldest uncle,” Dugu Zhuo coughed lightly, “We heard Xiao Bao was taken by that immortal elder to the sect. We want to visit the sect and see how Xiao Bao is doing. If they treat him well, we’ll be relieved.”

Ye Jian followed Dugu Zhuo’s lead and added, “I am Xiao Bao’s second uncle.”

Aotian chimed in, “Third uncle.”

Qingyue said, “Aunt.”

Although Black Cat changed his appearance, he still wore monk robes. He scratched his head and said, “Xiao Bao, my cousin, has been frail since childhood and was raised in a monastery.”

Lingzhi Doll clung to Ye Jian’s leg and said, “I’m his cousin… no, I’m his cousin!”

Almost forgot about his gender; he’s a hermaphrodite, sad.

Author’s note: Ye Zhou: I’m here on the scene, almost laughing to death.