Cultivating in Online Games

Chapter 61 - Liang Qiushan

Marriage, stealing the celestial balance scale… Dugu Zhuo had a suspicion in his heart but didn’t dare to think in that direction. He quickly dismissed the idea and focused on figuring out how to reach the Qingtian Sword Sect.

“Who’s getting married to whom?” Qing Yue fearlessly asked, completely unafraid of the disciples from the Qingtian Sword Sect, gossiping inquisitively.

“Is that any of your business to ask?” Liang Qiushan replied impatiently.

Qing Yue turned around and said, “He’s so rude. Our sect members would never treat ordinary people like that. They are all gentle young ladies with great manners. This makes me dislike the Qingtian Sword Sect instantly.”

Ye Jian said, “Whether you like them or not isn’t important. The important thing is that it seems like he has no intention of taking us to the Qingtian Sword Sect.”

After speaking, Ye Jian discreetly nudged the sect introducer, signaling, “It’s your turn.”

The introducer immediately said, “Immortal, these people also contributed to preparing the items. They are relatives of a new disciple of the Qingtian Sword Sect and are worried about the child, wanting to see him.”

Liang Qiushan glanced at the group and said, “Which disciple? Tell me the name, and I’ll inform the Hall of Affairs to let this disciple come down to meet you.”

The sect introducer said, “They said his name is Xiao Bao, the child that Immortal Lian brought up the mountain today.”

“Xiao Bao… I haven’t heard that name before. Immortal Lian… Uncle Lian?” Liang Qiushan suddenly understood, looking at Dugu Zhuo, “Are you looking for the boy that Uncle Lian just brought back from Zhulong Town?”

“Yes,” Dugu Zhuo replied.

Liang Qiushan sneered, “Don’t bother seeing him. Since he has come to the mountain to cultivate, he must sever all familial ties. Just consider him dead and stop worrying about him.”

Lingzhi Doll said, “He changes his attitude so quickly. Just now he said he could help convey the message, and now he’s saying all ties must be severed.”

Black Cat said, “I get it now. The main plot of this game is ‘There’s always a troublemaker trying to harm Xiao Bao’.”

Qing Yue said, “So how do we get to the Qingtian Sword Sect? Do we have to kneel and beg him? Is he going to come up with a bunch of fetch quests to make things difficult for us?”

Ao Tian said, “Zhuo Shen, if he won’t let us see him, what should we do?”

Dugu Zhuo knew that, with Liang Qiushan’s character, he would indeed make things difficult for them before taking them to the Qingtian Sword Sect to see Dugu Yue. However, it wouldn’t be for their benefit. Since his mother had a relationship with Dugu Yue, Liang Qiushan couldn’t neglect his mother’s relatives and would leave the decision to Dugu Yue.

This would indeed complete the task, but Dugu Zhuo didn’t like this method. He had another way.

Dugu Zhuo simply said, “Fight!”

With that, he pushed the sect introducer aside and said, “You leave quickly!”

The sect introducer immediately fled, and Dugu Zhuo kicked the door open, leading his family team into the house.

“There must be a teleportation array in this courtyard that leads to the Qingtian Sword Sect. Kill them and then strip their clothes to disguise ourselves. Then we can reach the Qingtian Sword Sect,” Dugu Zhuo said.

Ao Tian muttered, “These are experts from the Qingtian Sword Sect. Can we beat them? Oh well, if we can’t win, we just die and resurrect as heroes again.”

The group resolutely followed Dugu Zhuo into the courtyard, and Dugu Zhuo slashed at Liang Qiushan with his sword.

Liang Qiushan was a Golden Core stage expert, but they had dealt with evil cultivators of the Golden Core stage before, so they were not without hope. Moreover, Dugu Zhuo understood the Qingtian Sword Sect’s techniques better than anyone and knew Liang Qiushan’s weaknesses.

There were not only Liang Qiushan in the courtyard but also five other disciples, all under Dugu Yue. However, only Liang Qiushan was in the Golden Core stage, while the others were in the Foundation Establishment stage.

Qing Yue took half a step back and, without a word, cast “Rage for the Beauty,” buffing her teammates. Dugu Zhuo, Black Cat, and Lingzhi Doll were immune to her skill, but Ao Tian and Ye Jian could use it.

Dugu Zhuo said, “Lingzhi, Black Cat, Brother Yuanhang, you handle those five at the back. They are Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, around level 25-30. The three of you should have no problem handling them.”

The three followed orders. Lingzhi burrowed underground, while Black Cat and Ye Jian tried to bypass Liang Qiushan. But Liang Qiushan said, “Who dares to pass me? Form the sword array!”

Liang Qiushan blocked Black Cat and Ye Jian with one sword stroke. The five disciples behind him each summoned their swords and stood in the positions of the Big Dipper.

Dugu Zhuo immediately said, “Lingzhi!”

The Lingzhi Doll, hiding underground, popped up, grabbed a leg of one of the Qingtian Sword Sect disciples, and dragged him into the ground. After pulling in one leg, he quickly ran away. He didn’t need to do much, just prevent the disciples from standing steady and disrupting their formation.

At the same level, it was impossible to catch the Lingzhi Doll hiding in the ground. He played a game of whack-a-mole with the Qingtian Sword Sect disciples.

Meanwhile, Black Cat and Ye Jian were blocked by Liang Qiushan’s sword. The strike was powerful, taking away 70% of their health. Black Cat immediately said, “No way, he’s too strong. We can’t fight without a tank!”

“No worries, take healing potions to buy time. I’ll break his move,” Dugu Zhuo said.

He grasped his long sword with his hand, smearing the blade with his blood.

This sword was no longer the refined steel sword from level 20. After reaching level 30, Dugu Zhuo obtained a level 30 sword while fighting monsters, which had much higher attack power than the refined steel sword. Of course, it was still just an ordinary spirit sword.

But once stained with Dugu Zhuo’s blood, this sword would become different.

The Xuan Su Twin Swords were the ancestors of all spirit swords under heaven, and under their might, all other swords bowed in submission.

Facing a Golden Core stage cultivator and five Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, six against six, Dugu Zhuo wouldn’t dare act rashly if they were ordinary opponents. But since these were disciples of the Qingtian Sword Sect, he was absolutely confident.

Standing at the back of the group, Dugu Zhuo held his long sword, which was stained with his blood and continuously buzzed with power.

Qing Yue, seeing that he was busy with something, cast her crowd-control skill, “Nation Overturning Beauty.” Even a few seconds of control would be enough to give her teammates a chance to heal.

Under the effect of “Nation Overturning Beauty,” the five Foundation Establishment stage sword cultivators at the back were instantly controlled, becoming dazed and losing their fighting spirit. Liang Qiushan, however, was completely unaffected. He sneered, “Petty tricks.”

A Golden Core stage sword cultivator’s will was incredibly strong and could not be charmed by a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator.

With a flick of his finger, Liang Qiushan sent his flying sword directly toward Qing Yue.

Qing Yue wasn’t fast enough to dodge, and seeing the sword about to pierce her heart, Ao Tian quickly moved his broadsword horizontally, writing the word “Protect” on the blade, and placed it in front of Qing Yue.

The sword tip collided heavily with the broadsword. The word “Protect” was directly pierced by the flying sword, and Ao Tian spat black blood, falling backward.

This strike had actually killed Ao Tian, a level 30 player, in one hit!

“This boss is too strong!” Black Cat exclaimed in shock. “Can I defeat him if I use ‘Angry Vajra’?”

“You can’t use it right now!” Lingzhi Doll said. “All my healing skills are on cooldown. I can’t keep your health below 3% and still keep you alive.”

Ye Jian hadn’t learned many skills and was just waving his fan around, hardly contributing to the fight. Seeing Ao Tian killed instantly and Liang Qiushan still relentlessly attacking Qing Yue with his flying sword, he had no magical tools to use. He simply threw his scroll forward. Dugu Zhuo had said this scroll could help him cultivate to level 40, so it should be able to withstand a level 40 attack, right?

The scroll unfurled, blocking in front of Qing Yue. Liang Qiushan’s sword, which had pierced Ao Tian’s heart, couldn’t penetrate the scroll.

“What kind of evil artifact is this? You are not Xiao Bao’s family. Where are you demons from, daring to target the master of the Xuan Sword?” Liang Qiushan shouted.

He recalled his spirit sword, and with the sword in hand, he chanted a sword spell, pointing the tip of his sword at the ground and lightly commanding, “Gold!”

Just as there were escape techniques, there were also binding techniques. Liang Qiushan used the Golden Binding Technique, which could turn soil as hard as steel. The Lingzhi Doll, who was tunneling underground, was immediately stuck, unable to move, and couldn’t even reach Ao Tian to revive him.

Having temporarily dealt with the underground threat, Liang Qiushan flashed to the front of the disciples controlled by “Nation Overturning Beauty,” slapping each of the five disciples to wake them up.

“Form the array!” Liang Qiushan commanded.

The five disciples, well-trained, immediately took their positions in the sword formation as they had practiced. The five swords gathered around Liang Qiushan’s sword, and the six swords, with thunderous might, attacked Ye Jian’s scroll.

Liang Qiushan had recognized at a glance that the scroll was no ordinary item. Ignoring the other players for the moment, he planned to concentrate the power of the six swords to destroy the scroll first.

Seeing the combined power of the six swords, Ye Jian felt a chill. His instincts told him that the scroll was likely doomed.

Just as the six swords were about to hit the scroll, a long sword suddenly shot into the sky, piercing through the six swords and disrupting their formation.

It was Dugu Zhuo’s sword!

A red streak like a blood vessel ran along the blade of his sword. The spirit sword hovered in the air, lightly trembling and emitting a long, resonant hum.

The other six swords, originally under their masters’ control and aimed at the blood-streaked sword, suddenly lowered their tips, as if bowing in submission after hearing the sword’s hum.

Liang Qiushan immediately looked at Dugu Zhuo. “He’s just a Foundation Establishment stage sword cultivator. How can he have such power?”

“Senior brother, the formation!” a disciple reminded him.

Due to the presence of formations in Jiuchuan City, players and NPCs could not engage in combat within the city. Even someone as powerful as Lian Haokong could not fly within Jiuchuan City. The reason they could fight in this courtyard was not a special exception for the main storyline but because the courtyard was protected by a formation of the Qingtian Sword Sect.

With this formation, disciples could spar and train within the courtyard, and it was also convenient for disciples returning from training missions.

At this moment, Dugu Zhuo was standing at the center of the formation.

With a flick of his finger, the blood-streaked sword swept across, knocking the six swords to the ground before flying back into Dugu Zhuo’s hand. Holding the long sword, Dugu Zhuo forcefully stabbed it into the spirit stone at the center of the formation. A vast amount of true essence spread outwards from Dugu Zhuo, striking the disciples of the Qingtian Sword Sect, causing them to spit blood and fall unconscious.

Only Liang Qiushan, with his higher cultivation level, was left standing, albeit with internal injuries.

Liang Qiushan said, “You… how do you know the sword techniques of the Qingtian Sword Sect? How do you know the center of our formation? How can you use the power of the formation? Who are you?”

Dugu Zhuo didn’t respond. The long sword absorbed the formation’s power, and with his current strength, it was difficult to control such a vast amount of power. He performed a sword-controlling technique, causing the blood-streaked sword to rise slowly, emitting a sharp aura that attacked Liang Qiushan.

Liang Qiushan mustered all his true essence to resist, but his sword once again bowed before the blood-streaked sword, preventing him from fighting back with full force.

Without his spirit sword’s protection, Liang Qiushan took off his outer robe, a defensive magical garment. He poured all his true essence into the robe, attempting to block Dugu Zhuo’s attack.

He knew the robe wouldn’t withstand the sword’s power and feared the blood-streaked sword would pierce his dantian, crippling his cultivation.

As the blood-streaked sword pierced the robe, Liang Qiushan calmly closed his eyes, holding a jade talisman in his palm. He planned to crush it before dying, sending information back to the sect about his killer.

But the blood-streaked sword did not pierce his dantian; instead, it diverted and pierced his wrist.

Liang Qiushan’s hand involuntarily opened, dropping the uncrushed jade talisman, which was caught by Dugu Zhuo.

Holding the talisman, Dugu Zhuo said, “I know you’d seek help, so I can’t give you that chance. Besides, despite our differences, I have no intention of killing you.”

Dugu Zhuo absorbed the spirit energy from the sword into his body, channeling it into his palm, and struck Liang Qiushan’s dantian. Liang Qiushan felt a force similar to his true essence suppressing his Golden Core, causing him to faint.

In an instant, all six Qingtian Sword Sect disciples were knocked out and would not wake up soon.

With Liang Qiushan down, the Golden Binding Technique was nullified. The Lingzhi Doll quickly moved to Ao Tian’s side and used small Lingzhi mushrooms to revive him.

Ao Tian sprang up, ready to fight, but saw that all six opponents were already down.

“You are really something else,” Ye Jian said, putting away his scroll and looking at Dugu Zhuo in amazement.

Dugu Zhuo replied calmly, “It was just a lucky guess, knowing how to break their sect’s formation.”

“I think your sword is pretty powerful. Did you reforge it? A level 30 weapon shouldn’t be this strong,” Ao Tian asked.

“It was reforged,” Dugu Zhuo replied.

He bent down to search Liang Qiushan’s storage artifact, but Black Cat quickly stopped him. “Don’t loot the boss; your luck is…”

Before he could finish, Dugu Zhuo pulled out a lotus flower from Liang Qiushan’s storage artifact.

“This is a lotus flower blessed by ten high monks, beneficial for Buddhist cultivators,” Dugu Zhuo said, tossing the flower to Black Cat.

He continued searching and found a long knife, which he gave to Ao Tian. “Better than your current knife.”

Looting the boss was about seeing which treasures the boss might have left in their storage artifact. Dugu Zhuo now used the Qingtian Sword Sect’s techniques to open Liang Qiushan’s storage artifact, picking out items for his teammates.

He gave the Lingzhi Doll a spirit jade highly beneficial for spirit cultivators, enhancing healing effects.

Finding nothing suitable for Qing Yue and Ye Jian, Dugu Zhuo gave each of them a high-grade spirit stone, which could be sold for a good price even if not used for cultivation.

There were many other valuable items in Liang Qiushan’s storage artifact, but Dugu Zhuo only took what was useful for his teammates, leaving the rest untouched.

He kept a mask for himself, capable of disguising him as anyone.

Since Dugu Zhuo was now Xiao Bao’s uncle, he couldn’t use the Face Changing Pill anymore, so the mask was perfect. After donning it, his face transformed into Liang Qiushan’s, and the label “Xiao Bao’s Uncle” above his head became transparent.

The family team also stripped the clothes from the Qingtian Sword Sect disciples, wore them, and each donned a bamboo hat, hiding their titles.

Dugu Zhuo led them to the teleportation formation within the courtyard that transported them directly to the Qingtian Sword Sect’s mountain gate.

Each sect’s teleportation formation could only be activated with the sect’s techniques. Others couldn’t just waltz into the Qingtian Sword Sect, but Dugu Zhuo was different; he practiced the most authentic Qingtian Sword Sect techniques.

Upon arrival at the mountain gate, the system notified everyone that the task was complete and provided the next mission: “Investigate why Lian Haokong bought the Heaven-Stealing Scale.”

It was already 3 AM. Everyone was exhausted and logged off to sleep, planning to meet Ye Zhou at 9 AM the next day.

Only Dugu Zhuo remained at the Qingtian Sword Sect’s mountain gate, gazing at the sect he hadn’t returned to in years, feeling a mix of emotions.