Cultivating in Online Games

Chapter 63 - Seizing Fortune

**[Loudspeaker] Yangfan Yuanhang:** “I worked hard all night for these items, just to use them as my brother’s dowry?”

**[Loudspeaker] Yangfan Yuanhang:** “And he doesn’t even want to get married?”

**[Loudspeaker] Yangfan Yuanhang:** “That guy already has a wife and kids!”

**[Loudspeaker] Yangfan Yuanhang:** “Is your grand sect really going to arrange such a blind marriage?”

**[Loudspeaker] Yangfan Yuanhang:** “Do we have no rights in this game?”

**[Loudspeaker] Yangfan Yuanhang:** “We’re not even allowed to private message during the main storyline, with all this melodrama going on. It’s too much, isn’t it?”

**[Loudspeaker] Yangfan Yuanhang:** “It’s boring if I’m the only one complaining. You guys chat on the loudspeaker too, I’ll reimburse you.”

A series of loudspeakers revealed the turmoil inside Ye Jian. He never expected to face such a main storyline the next day when he logged back in.

He desperately wanted to send a private message, but since joining the Qingtian Sword Sect, their private message and world chat interfaces had been completely locked. His teammates exchanged glances, all feeling stifled. In the end, it was Ye Jian who sent the loudspeaker messages.

In the assembly hall, the sect leader spoke, “The masters of the Xuansu twin swords must be of one mind for them to function properly. Otherwise, the human world will fall into chaos. The best way to achieve this is to become Daoist companions. Once you form a soul contract, your souls will be intertwined, and you will be able to understand each other perfectly, resolving all issues.”

Ye Zhou simply said, “No.”

Du Gu Yue also said, “Sect leader, I have a wife and children in the secular world; I cannot marry.”

The sect leader responded, “In that case, we must use the second method.”

With a raise of his hand, the Heavenly Stealing Scale, which Lian Haokong had bought at great cost, floated before the two of them. The sect leader said, “Since neither of you is willing, we can only use this method. Ye Zhou, by taking the Heavenly Stealing Scale into your body, you can constantly steal Du Gu Yue’s fortune, which is the malevolent energy of the Xuansu sword. At the very least, it will alleviate some of his suffering from the malevolent energy. Ye Zhou, look at Du Gu Yue now; he won’t live long enough for the next Xuansu sword master to grow up.”

Du Gu Zhuo was shocked. Was this the truth of what happened back then?

During his time on Ta Yue Peak, he had often heard Du Gu Yue’s disciples mention that Elder Ye Zhou of Xing Chui Peak, although not officially married to Du Gu Yue, was undoubtedly his closest companion.

When he first arrived at Xing Chui Peak, he thought Du Gu Yue had entrusted him to Ye Zhou for discipline, and thus treated Ye Zhou with extreme disdain. Fortunately, Ye Zhou had sealed his mouth, preventing him from speaking; otherwise, in his uneducated state, he might have said many hurtful things.

It wasn’t until he had spent more time on Xing Chui Peak, learned to read, and understood more principles that Du Gu Zhuo gradually realized that Ye Zhou and his father were not Daoist companions. No Daoist couple would go a hundred years without seeing each other.

However, Ye Zhou was constantly entangled with Du Gu Yue because of the Xuansu sword. When people mentioned Ye Zhou, they would always mention Du Gu Yue as well.

In those days, Du Gu Zhuo, harboring wild ambitions, dreamt of seizing the Xuansu sword from Du Gu Yue and becoming the Xuansu sword master himself.

That way, his name would always be associated with Ye Zhou.

But Du Gu Zhuo never expected that, although Ye Zhou and Du Gu Yue had not become Daoist companions, they were forced to maintain the connection between the two swords in such a way.

Seeing this, Du Gu Zhuo instinctively touched his storage belt, which contained the broken Xuansu twin swords.

Even though he was now known as the Rebellious Demon Lord, Du Gu Zhuo never regretted destroying those two swords.

“No need,” Du Gu Yue’s voice brought Du Gu Zhuo back to reality, “There’s no need for the Heavenly Stealing Scale; I can suppress the malevolent energy.”

“But if the Xuansu twin swords’ energies don’t merge, the foundation of the lower three realms will be unstable!” the sect leader frowned. “Whatever method you use, you must find a way to merge the twin swords’ energies!”

Without waiting for their consent, the sect leader extracted a drop of Du Gu Yue’s heart blood and integrated it into the Heavenly Stealing Scale. He then knelt before the founder’s tablet, burning incense and making it clear that if Ye Zhou did not agree, he would have no face to see the founder, forcing Ye Zhou into agreement.

Ye Zhou looked at the sect leader and an image faintly appeared in his mind. He knelt before the founder’s tablet, having extracted Du Gu Yue’s heart blood to subdue the Heavenly Stealing Scale and taken it into his body to continuously steal the Xuansu sword’s fortune. From then on, he would bear all the malevolent energy of the twin swords.

At that time, he was unwilling, but years of sect teachings and his duty as the Su sword master made him accept this relatively less repulsive method.

Now, as the story unfolded, the team received a system prompt: they had completed the mission “Investigate Lian Haokong’s purpose in buying the Heavenly Stealing Scale.” The system also issued the next phase of the mission—prevent Ye Zhou from using the Heavenly Stealing Scale.

**[Loudspeaker] Yangfan Yuanhang:** “I also want to stop him from using the Heavenly Stealing Scale, but with four experts above Nascent Soul stage on the opposing side, what can a mere level 30 player like me do?”

**[Loudspeaker] Gentle Moon Love:** “I’m so engrossed in the story. It’s too melodramatic!”

**[Loudspeaker] Pitch Black:** “So what’s Little Treasure supposed to do? Du Gu Yue marries Ye Zhou, and Little Treasure, who finally found his long-lost father at Qingtian Sword Sect, is now going to see him marry someone else?”

**[Loudspeaker] Yangfan Yuanhang:** “Nobody said they’re getting married. It’s not happening. I don’t agree to this marriage!”

**[Loudspeaker] Pang Du Du:** “Big sects are such a mess.”

**[Loudspeaker] Long Aotian:** “Zhuo Shen, what should we do next? Zhuo Shen, what are you going to do? Zhuo Shen!?”

The players in the world knew they were doing the main storyline quest and were nervously watching the content on the small loudspeaker. Seeing Aotian’s message, they started wildly guessing what Dugu Zhuo would do to complete the main quest this time.

While the sect leader was arguing with Dugu Yue and Ye Zhou, Dugu Zhuo, standing behind Dugu Yue, silently mouthed to Ye Zhou: “Help me,” when no one was on guard.

Ye Zhou’s task was to change Ye Zhou’s tragic fate. He knew he couldn’t choose to become Dao companions nor steal the Sky Scale at this time. So, what should he do?

In his confusion, he happened to see Dugu Zhuo’s lip movements and immediately calmed down.

Ye Zhou tightly grasped the Yin-Yang Seal, imprinting the Taiji fish pattern in his palm, gathering all his strength, and waiting to cooperate with Dugu Zhuo.

At this moment, whether it violated Elder Ye Zhou’s character no longer mattered to Ye Zhou. He decided to fully trust Dugu Zhuo!

Seeing Ye Zhou give him a determined look, Dugu Zhuo, who had been quietly standing, suddenly dashed between Dugu Yue and Ye Zhou, grabbed the Sky Scale, and rushed out of the meeting hall.

“Stop him!” the sect leader hurriedly ordered.

Inside were masters Lian Haokong, Dugu Yue, the sect leader, and Ye Zhou. A level 30 player like Dugu Zhuo had no chance of escaping.

But just as Lian Haokong was about to attack Dugu Zhuo with his sword, a tremendous force stopped Lian Haokong and the sect leader and opened the meeting hall’s doors for Dugu Zhuo—it was Ye Zhou.

“Junior Brother, what are you doing?” the sect leader said in disbelief. “Elder Dugu, quickly stop Elder Ye Zhou!”

The highest realm in the lower three heavens was the Mahayana stage, but Elder Ye Zhou possessed the power of a divine sword, far surpassing the Mahayana stage. The sect leader and Lian Haokong together were no match for him. Only the master of the Xuan Sword, Dugu Yue, could stop him.

But Dugu Yue had previously suggested to Ye Zhou that he should not choose either option, and now that Ye Zhou had acted, Dugu Yue naturally assisted him, helping to hold back the sect leader.

Xiaobao’s family team was instantly excited. They didn’t know what Dugu Zhuo was going to do, so they blindly followed him out of the meeting hall, watching him quickly reach a side hall bedroom and rush inside.

“Xiaobao!” the black cat immediately called out upon seeing the child in the room.

Dugu Zhuo and Xiaobao were originally one person. He placed his hand on Xiaobao, and his body slowly disappeared, merging with Xiaobao.

At the same time, he tried to incorporate the Sky Scale into himself, attempting to steal Dugu Yue’s demonic energy.

As long as he stole Dugu Yue’s demonic energy, Dugu Yue wouldn’t be tormented by it, repaying his life-saving grace. With the Xuan Sword’s demonic energy, he could legitimately join Ye Zhou’s sect and seek Ye Zhou’s help in purging the demonic energy.

With a Foundation Establishment level strength, it was too difficult to subdue the Sky Scale. Dugu Zhuo spat out a mouthful of blood as the Sky Scale trembled in defiance.

Fortunately, Ye Zhou arrived at this moment. Seeing Dugu Zhuo sitting cross-legged on the bed, Ye Zhou immediately injected a vast amount of energy into Dugu Zhuo to help him subdue the Sky Scale.

With Ye Zhou’s help, Dugu Zhuo successfully subdued the Sky Scale, transforming into a ten-year-old child identical to Xiaobao, with the words “Xiaobao” above his head.

Xiaobao’s family team: “…”

Uncle Bao turned into Xiaobao himself.

At this moment, the sect leader and others arrived. The long-bearded elder, upon seeing Xiaobao, pounded his chest and said, “You actually transferred the sword energy of this Xuan Sword master to the next master. This child hasn’t even begun cultivating and can’t bear such demonic energy. Are you planning to keep him by your side at all times to help him resolve the demonic energy? Are you… planning to become Dao companions with this child?”

Since Dugu Zhuo, disguised as Liang Qiushan, had disappeared, the NPCs naturally forgot that Liang Qiushan did it and blamed everything on Ye Zhou.

Xiaobao’s family team watched the exasperated sect leader like a show.

Become Dao companions with this child? Ye Zhou couldn’t help but look at Xiaobao. Seeing Xiaobao’s face, which resembled Dugu Zhuo’s, he thought it might actually be nice to become Dao companions with Dugu Zhuo.

Thinking this, he casually said, “I will raise this child, and everything will be as I wish. What’s wrong with becoming Dao companions with him?”

Xiaobao’s family team again stared dumbfoundedly at Ye Zhou.

“This…” The luck of the two Xuan Sword masters was now concentrated in one person, and the sect leader was momentarily speechless.

Dugu Yue entered the bedroom, surprised that Ye Zhou used the Sky Scale on his son.

“Elder Ye Zhou, isn’t this too unfair to the child? Moreover, the Xuan Sword is still with me and has not been passed to him…”

At this moment, Xiaobao opened his eyes and said to Ye Zhou, “I agree.”

Dugu Yue: “…”

Xiaobao’s family team’s eyes all turned to Dugu Zhuo, surprised at this turn of events!

Ye Zhou was relieved not to be tied to Dugu Yue anymore. He could justifiably raise this child and share the Xuan Sword and the Su Sword with him, feeling an inexplicable joy.

He said to everyone, “The matter is settled. Even if you oppose, there’s no other way.”

The Sky Scale was an ancient artifact. Once it started continuously stealing Dugu Yue’s fortune, it wouldn’t stop. Eventually, the Xuan Sword would completely belong to Xiaobao, and then it would be futile to force Ye Zhou and Dugu Yue to become Dao companions.

It’s better to let Ye Zhou raise Xiaobao now, fostering their relationship, rather than facing Ye Zhou’s opposition later.

The sect leader weakly objected, “You are his elder. Where is the ethics in this…?”

Xiaobao looked at the sect leader and said, “Didn’t you force the two of them to marry initially without considering their willingness, only thinking about whether the Xuan and Su Swords could merge? Now that this problem can be solved and both Elder Ye Zhou and I are willing, you bring up ethics?”

The sect leader, seeing this farcical scene, rubbed his temples and said tiredly, “Since you have decided, you must become Dao companions with this child in the future. You absolutely cannot abandon him!”

Joy filled Ye Zhou’s heart. He couldn’t help but step forward, trying to hold Dugu Zhuo’s hand under the cover of his sleeve.

But just then, a disciple of Dugu Yue’s sect lifted his hat, revealing the title “Xiaobao’s Second Uncle,” and rushed to separate their hands, shouting, “I – do – not – agree!”

Names in this ch –

– **Setting Sail Distant Voyage:** Yángfān Yuǎnháng

– **Chubby:** Pàng Dū Dū

– **Dragon Pride:** Lóng ÀoTiān