Cultivating in Online Games

Chapter 86 - Wushuang Sect

Before Ye Zhou dripped his blood, the sword had already taken initial shape.

It was a pure black sword, with the sword body, blade, guard, and hilt all black, without any other colors. It formed quietly in the continuously boiling red magma, without any light.

When Ye Zhou’s drop of fresh blood landed on the scorching long sword, the pure black sword was instantly enveloped in a silver light. Dugu Zhuo had no idea what this sword would ultimately become, but the time to retract it had come.

Immortal swords possess spirits, and the higher the grade of a magic weapon, the more spirituality it has. Some weapons can even cultivate into humanoid forms over time; the higher the tier of the immortal sword, the harder it is to subdue.

Dugu Zhuo formed a spiritual gesture with his hand, pointing at the sword, secretly thinking: “Reel in!”

The sword remained motionless within the silver light, and Dugu Zhuo sensed its wildness, feeling that it could escape at any moment.

“Reel in!” Dugu Zhuo channeled all his true essence and attempted to retract the sword once more.

However, the sword still did not budge. Instead, it began to absorb the surrounding geothermal energy, attempting to accumulate sword qi to break free from Dugu Zhuo’s control.

Beneath the fiery light, beads of sweat emerged on Dugu Zhuo’s forehead, and his expression grew increasingly solemn.

Seeing this, Ye Zhou imitated Dugu Zhuo’s gestures and cast a spiritual technique.

Dugu Zhuo caught a glimpse of Ye Zhou’s movements out of the corner of his eye and immediately cast the technique for the third time. The two moved in perfect unison; though it was their first time casting the technique simultaneously, it appeared as if they had practiced it countless times, with their movements precise and seamless.

Under the bond of “blood oath,” the “Heart-Link Technique” activated, and their spiritual techniques intertwined in the air, condensing into the shape of two swords entangled together, imprinting onto the pure black sword.

With the silver light overwhelming, the onlooking Ye Jian and Yi Meng Xiaoyao couldn’t help but cover their eyes. When they opened their eyes again, they saw a sword with a black body and silver patterns floating between Dugu Zhuo and Ye Zhou.

The entirely black sword was adorned with countless silver patterns; upon closer inspection, these patterns resembled clouds drifting in the sky, as well as dragons. The sword guard featured two entwined branches, and the hilt had a small symbol of two crossed swords.

“It’s beautiful!” Yi Meng Xiaoyao exclaimed, excitedly clapping his hands, “Zhuo Shen, quickly check this sword’s attributes!”

In his rambling excitement, he accidentally hit Ye Jian multiple times with his flailing arms, unsure if it was truly accidental or an expression of the “summon beast’s” anger.

Dugu Zhuo grasped the long sword, his divine sense probing into it, and he was suddenly met with a surge of immense power resonating within the sword.

This power was neither pure energy nor corrupt energy, but a chaotic force that blended the two. If the user had good intentions, this sword would serve as a righteous weapon that punishes evil and upholds virtue. If the user harbored malicious thoughts, this sword would become an evil weapon that wreaks havoc on living beings.

Moreover, it was a sword that could grow. Currently, it was at the peak level of the Nascent Soul stage, but as Dugu Zhuo and Ye Zhou’s strengths increased, it would grow stronger.

“Ding! Congratulations on forging a growth-type magic treasure. Please name the treasure.”

“Liuguang.” Dugu Zhuo almost blurted it out.

As the sword was enveloped in silver light, the word appeared in his mind.

Like flowing moonlight, like the passage of time, he wondered if this sword could help preserve the fleeting youth he and Ye Zhou had long lost.

Ye Zhou’s hand rested on the Liuguang sword, feeling the hidden power within the sword body. At the moment he grasped the hilt, he suddenly sensed the extremely complex emotions and lingering affection hidden in Dugu Zhuo’s heart.

With this sword, their hearts were silently connected.

“What are the attributes? What are the attributes?” Yi Meng Xiaoyao’s head was nearly pressed against the Liuguang sword floating between the two.

Dugu Zhuo suppressed his anger and patiently explained, “It increases attack power by 50%, critical hit rate to 70%, and comes with the ‘Sword-Heart Unity’ skill. Once activated, this skill can trigger an instant kill effect as long as the opponent’s level does not exceed the user’s by five levels.”

This sword had no other attributes; it did not increase defense or speed. It focused solely on attack, pouring all its power into offense.

Ye Jian tossed the remaining sunflower seeds in his hand into the magma to destroy the evidence and nudged Yi Meng Xiaoyao, “What level is this weapon?”

Yi Meng Xiaoyao replied, “This weapon is on a level that even divine artifacts wouldn’t dare to approach. It doesn’t have any level restrictions for growth; no matter how high a player’s level is, it can enhance the user’s attack power by 50%. At least two-thirds of its attacks are critical hits, plus the instant kill effect… This isn’t just a weapon; this is a bug! How can the game system allow such an unbalanced weapon to exist? If Dugu Zhuo takes this sword to the arena, the others might as well quit; he could take on a whole team by himself!”

Yi Meng Xiaoyao grumbled about the game’s irrationality, complaining about how it allowed a mere player to forge such a balance-destroying weapon. After venting, he flashed a flattering smile at Dugu Zhuo, “Zhuo Shen, when will you reward me with a weapon that you personally forged? It doesn’t have to be as powerful as the Liuguang sword; something more ordinary would be fine.”

Dugu Zhuo replied, “Liuguang is a result of favorable timing, geographical advantages, and the right people. I fear I may never forge such a powerful weapon again. Moreover, I don’t plan to use this sword, which would disrupt the game’s balance; I’ll keep it as a protective treasure for the sect.”

“The sect? What sect?” Yi Meng Xiaoyao asked, dumbfounded.

Ye Zhou: “Do you remember when Dugu Zhuo created his unique sword technique, the system prompted that we could establish a sect? We haven’t joined any sect yet; we just want to see if we can create one ourselves.”

Ye Jian: “Now that all the conditions are finally met, can we establish a sect?”

Dugu Zhuo: “Let me return to Huxiao Mountain and rearrange the protective array with the Liuguang sword as the foundation.”

It was already noon, and Ye Zhou needed to log off.

Dugu Zhuo promised to wait for him. Reluctantly, Ye Zhou logged off to eat and sleep, his mind filled with thoughts of that sword, as black and silver gradually morphed into human forms in his dreams, with two beams of light intertwined.

Ye Zhou woke up suddenly, vaguely sensing that certain functions within his body were awakening.

Before, he couldn’t even sit up with his own strength, let alone discuss any normal physiological functions. Now, however, he sensed a hint of recovery.

The caretaker came in to check on Ye Zhou and found nothing unusual; only Ye Zhou knew that he felt different.

Before three in the afternoon, Ye Zhou could hardly wait to log back in, only to find Dugu Zhuo busily planting spirit stones at the ley line nodes of the dozens of peaks of Huxiao Mountain.

When Ye Zhou arrived, Dugu Zhuo explained to him, “The sect’s protective array is maintained by the protective treasures and the spirit veins of the sect itself, with spirit stones playing a minimal role, merely acting as a trigger. Even so, the amount of spirit stones consumed is quite alarming. We don’t have any high-grade spirit stones, so we can only use more low-grade ones for now. Later, we can replace them one by one when we obtain some high-grade ones.”

Ye Zhou casually asked how many spirit stones Dugu Zhuo had used, and the answer was astonishing: a total of seventeen peaks, with a combined total of 14,253 ley line nodes, each requiring a thousand spirit stones. That amounted to over ten million low-grade spirit stones, which is equivalent to over a million in real currency.

“Brother Yuanhang said the money in the account is still short. He’ll advance the money to cover it, and we can pay him back later,” Dugu Zhuo said. “Establishing a sect really is a mentally exhausting task. This is the first time I’ve felt so financially stretched.”

“You don’t need to owe him money. Whatever we’re short, I’ll cover it,” Ye Zhou blurted out.

Dugu Zhuo: “You don’t have to spend your money; I…”

Before he could finish, Ye Zhou placed his index finger on Dugu Zhuo’s lips, stopping him from continuing.

Dugu Zhuo looked at Ye Zhou.

Ye Zhou: “You handle the dungeons, you refine the money-making pills, you forge the treasures, and you even found the mountain gate and spirit beasts. I haven’t contributed much to our sect; it’s only reasonable for me to pitch in some money, right? Plus, I want to experience the feeling of taking care of you.”

Taking care of Ye Zhou? Dugu Zhuo recalled how Ye Zhou had taken care of him for so many years. Now, he was the one wanting to support Ye Zhou, who was like a blank slate. Who would have thought that Ye Zhou would so eagerly want to support him?

Dugu Zhuo: “Alright.”

He agreed readily. “Brother Yuanhang is enticing me with spirit stones, wanting me to arrange a leadership position for him. But in our sect, you are the elder, and I am the sect master. We only need one disciple. If he wants to become a senior of our sect, I’ll have to go find another disciple… which is quite troublesome.”

Ye Zhou: “Then let him be a disciple; it’s just a matter of seniority… It’s just a game, so we can set our own rules.”

Dugu Zhuo could already play both the roles of Xiao Bao and Xiao Bao’s uncle, so the game’s hierarchy was already chaotic.

After they agreed, Ye Zhou was unusually proactive in transferring funds, depositing all the spirit stones into Ye Jian’s account.

Meanwhile, Dugu Zhuo buried the last spirit stone and plunged the Liuguang sword into the center of the ley line. The protective array was complete!

Invisible spiritual energy shields enveloped Huxiao Mountain layer by layer, with the central peak and the surrounding peaks of several elders forming the most solid layer of the array. The outermost ring of five peaks served as the inner sanctum of the entire sect; this was the second layer, while the outer layer expanded into the third layer.

The third layer was not a defensive array but a concealment array.

Under the protection of the outermost layer of the array, the entire mountain gate seemed to vanish into thin air. The land of these dozen peaks was wiped from the game map, leaving only the mirage of “Huxiao Mountain” laid out by the white tiger using its treasure for players to pass the dungeon.

Ye Zhou stared in awe at this spectacle: “No wonder the locations of major sects are invisible on the game map; they can only be reached via teleportation arrays. Is it because each sect is protected by such an array?”

Dugu Zhuo explained: “In the cultivation world, one must both enter and exit the world. Entering means experiencing the cycle of cause and effect and the warmth and coldness of the mortal realm. Exiting means that cultivation sects must remain isolated from the world and cannot interfere with worldly affairs using powers beyond common sense. That’s why major cultivation sects need to use these methods to hide themselves; they can’t allow ordinary people to find the mountain gate at will, right? However, the power of the concealment array is generally not strong. If someone attacks, the outermost array is the easiest to break. Once the array is breached, the mountain gate will become visible.”

As he spoke, Dugu Zhuo input the IDs of the three sect disciples into the sect construction system. Sure enough, the configuration was Dugu Zhuo as the sect master, Ye Zhou as the elder, and Ye Jian as the disciple.

Dugu Zhuo: “We just need to fill in the name. After all our hard work, we’ll finally succeed.”

Ye Zhou suddenly thought of the crossed sword symbol on the hilt of the Liuguang sword. Words like “Jiu Shi Wu Shuang” (World’s Peerless) and “Tian Xia Wu Shuang” (Unrivaled Under Heaven) flashed through his mind, and he naturally spoke the name: “Wushuang Sect.”

Dugu Zhuo: “Good.”

He elegantly wrote down the name of the sect.

They were each other’s unparalleled existence.