Cultivating in Online Games

Chapter 90 - Organizing Activities

There have been two major events in *Nine Heavens* recently.

The first is the opening of the guild system. As long as there are three or more players above level 20 who apply to the guild administrator in the game, they can establish a guild.

At first, the game grants players a small piece of land and a dilapidated house to serve as the guild hall. To build a more impressive guild, players not only need to invest money, but they also have to continuously complete tasks, which is quite exhausting.

However, once a guild is established, various guild battle activities will emerge in different scenarios, greatly increasing the game’s playability. Many players have become so busy trying to sustain their guilds that they feel like they are working non-stop.

The other significant event is that the first player-created sect in the game, *Wushuang Sect*, is planning to hold an open recruitment event for disciples.

This operation began with Ye Jian.

Dugu Zhuo ignored all applications from players wishing to join the sect, but the players’ enthusiasm was extremely high, with the number of applications reaching thousands. It was unclear whether they genuinely wanted to become disciples or were just there for the spectacle.

After accepting the magical brush from Little Horse, Dugu Zhuo originally intended to recruit a few alien disciples to help them harness the power of the artifacts.

However, the sheer number of applicants made it too cumbersome; a few pitiful alien candidates were mixed in among the applications, and Dugu Zhuo couldn’t even be bothered to look at them.

He had planned to delete them all at once, but Ye Jian stopped him.

The reason was that the sect was simply out of money for construction.

Ye Zhou and Ye Jian weren’t short on cash; any problem that could be solved with spirit stones was not an issue. But the construction workers demanded silver; they wouldn’t accept spirit stones, and the labor costs were exceptionally high!

To earn money, Dugu Zhuo had raided several dungeon bosses. Whenever he encountered a wealthy-looking boss, he would take advantage of his bug-like status, skipping proper dungeon runs and repeatedly plundering their lairs. This led to a flood of complaints on the world channel from players lamenting that the drop rates in dungeons had plummeted, with many unable to get good loot for several days.

Even so, the amount of money earned was only enough to complete the main peak’s construction, and the other peaks remained unresolved. The White Tiger was growing increasingly impatient, waiting for its statue, and was about ready to bite Dugu Zhuo.

It was Ye Jian who noticed the construction workers entering and exiting the sect freely, even with formations in place, and curiously asked Dugu Zhuo, “Aren’t they supposed to be outsiders? How are they passing through the teleportation array?”

Dugu Zhuo explained, “The game has granted the sect leader the authority to send invitations. Those who receive an invitation can teleport directly to the sect gate, but the invitation is one-time use only, so I have to issue new ones to the workers every day.”

“What is this invitation made of? What do you need to do to create one?” Ye Jian asked.

Dugu Zhuo replied, “The invitations require some sturdy paper, and I need to use cinnabar to draw a simple teleportation rune on the back, then inject a bit of true energy into it.”

“What’s the cost per invitation?” Ye Jian asked.

Dugu Zhuo calculated, “The true energy consumption is minimal, as I can recover it with a bit of rest, so that’s not counted in the cost. The sturdy paper is not a special paper for drawing runes, so it’s not too expensive. I can buy a thousand sheets of this paper for about a thousand taels of silver, and the cinnabar can be purchased with spirit stones, which is also not much. Around a hundred spirit stones can yield enough cinnabar to create over ten thousand invitations.”

Ye Jian quickly did the math: “A hundred spirit stones cost about ten taels, so the cinnabar for each invitation only costs one cent. The cost per invitation would be one tael plus one cent, and if we put a nice cover on it, selling it for a thousand taels per invitation shouldn’t be unreasonable, right?”

Dugu Zhuo replied, “I don’t want my sect to be crowded with people every day.”

He just wanted a small home with Ye Zhou; why were more and more people coming to this home?

Ye Jian said, “Of course, we wouldn’t let them come every day. It’s a one-time event, right? Let’s hold an open recruitment fair. They want to join the sect, so each person can pay a thousand taels for an invitation. We can set a date and invite all players to come apply in a day, and then we can choose which players to accept as disciples all at once.”

This is somewhat like the public recruitment of disciples in large sects.

Large sects like the *Qingtian Sword Sect* have countless young disciples from small cultivation families or those who have suddenly attained enlightenment, all wanting to join the sect. Every ten years, the *Qingtian Sword Sect* holds a public recruitment where they open the array in front of the main hall and select qualified disciples.

Ye Jian continued, “A thousand taels is a bit pricey, but every player can afford it. Plus, it’s not spirit stones, and it doesn’t involve real currency, so the players won’t be as resistant to it. This way, those willing to pay will likely be serious about wanting to join the sect, allowing us to filter out those who are just there to watch or have ulterior motives.”

Dugu Zhuo countered, “Our sect has just been established; who would be willing to spend money to join?”

Ye Jian replied, “It’s all about marketing! Our main peak looks impressive, the scenery in the mountains is beautiful, and there’s a tiger that can change size.

“Then you can show off those stunning moves of yours; I’ll record a few videos and post them on the game’s official forum, highlighting that this is the first player-created sect, with a spirit tiger guarding it, welcoming everyone to come and learn.

“Oh, and we must add that even if they can’t become disciples, the scenery of Tiger Roar Mountain is gorgeous, and the big tiger is lovable. A thousand taels is not real money; they won’t lose anything by coming, and it’s more cost-effective than a free tour.

“There are at least tens of millions of players in *Nine Heavens*; if we attract just ten thousand, that’s ten million taels!”

Upon hearing the number of ten thousand players, Dugu Zhuo felt a headache coming on. He remembered how the *Qingtian Sword Sect* had been swarmed with applicants over the years and couldn’t help but shake his head, saying, “That sounds too troublesome.”

“It’s not troublesome at all! We can stagger the timings. One thousand per batch, and we’ll finish each batch in an hour; it’ll be quick.” Ye Jian assured him.

Dugu Zhuo was still a bit displeased and was about to refuse when Ye Jian added, “The sales of Foundation Establishment Pills are declining, and Qi-replenishing and Health-replenishing Pills aren’t considered top-tier after players reach level 40. The sales of Beauty Pills have passed their peak, and now making fifty thousand taels a week would be considered good. Our main peak alone cost over ten million, and at this earning rate, it’ll take at least half a year to build the other peaks.”

Dugu Zhuo could only stare blankly.

Ye Jian continued, “Holding a public recruitment, along with promoting a few shops, should quickly earn us fifteen to twenty million taels. By then, we’ll have enough for several sects.”

Dugu Zhuo was left speechless.

“This is the fastest way to make money; otherwise, you’ll have to wait for half a year,” Ye Jian said, spreading his hands.

It’s hard to make a hero out of a penny, and ultimately, Dugu Zhuo had no choice but to agree painfully.

Ye Jian immediately went to threaten the White Tiger to perform a few shows, wanting them to be impressive because he planned to shoot videos to post online.

The White Tiger refused. As the guardian beast of the mountain and a creature of sacred blood, how could he do something to please the players? He resolutely declined.

Ye Jian, who usually wasn’t very bright and couldn’t even remember the cooldown time for skills when it came to fighting monsters, turned on all his firepower when it involved making money. He appealed to the White Tiger with reason and emotion and even threatened him with a statue. A person as steadfast as Dugu Zhuo could be persuaded by Ye Jian, let alone the White Tiger.

For the sake of the statue and wanting to be worshipped by others, the White Tiger had no choice but to reluctantly strike a few appealing poses and even conjured wings to soar gracefully in the air, allowing Ye Jian to film from multiple angles.

After all this, the White Tiger looked completely deflated, transforming into a pitiful little tiger curled up in Ye Zhou’s arms, as if all its energy had been drained by Ye Jian.

Ye Zhou felt a bit sorry for the White Tiger and said to his cousin, “Brother, you don’t have to be so enthusiastic. We’re only looking to build a place where everyone can play together; we don’t have that much ambition.”

Ye Jian looked at the small White Tiger and stroked his chin, suddenly having a flash of inspiration: “It’s hard to find big chunks of jade, but aren’t small pieces of jade everywhere? And they’re quite cheap. We could find someone to carve small White Tiger figurines. Players who fail to get hired could purchase one at a ‘low price’ before leaving.”

Ye Zhou: “…”

White Tiger: “…”

“Finally caught you; you also have a task, so don’t just sit around. Don’t you know the Five Elements Sword Technique and the Tiangang Step Technique? Those two skills have very impressive visual effects. Show me a few,” Ye Jian said when he saw Ye Zhou.

Ye Zhou had originally come to persuade his cousin but inexplicably became a laborer, recording videos all afternoon. Ye Jian recorded so many videos that Ye Zhou suspected he could edit them into a movie.

After filming the videos, Ye Jian contacted his summoning beast, the Willow Tree Demon. Yi Meng Xiaoyao was a top player in the game, known by many and with quite a few enemies; he was a great messenger. Ye Jian instructed him to spread the word.

Others like the graceful figure in white, the head-bearer, Light Moon, Proud Sky, Black Cat, and Lingzhi Doll couldn’t sit idly by either; they had to mobilize everyone they knew to help with the promotion. Ye Jian planned to create a buzz around the event and make the invitations seem like hot commodities, recruiting people to be scalpers and resell high-priced tickets. After all, the unparalleled general was a game merchant, so he would be the best choice for a scalper.

Shen Bi Xiaoma, the second disciple, was very nervous about encountering such a grand event right after entering the school. He followed Ye Jian closely, already showing the demeanor of a senior brother and second disciple.

“I feel like my cousin is turning this sect into a large-scale pyramid scheme,” Ye Zhou sighed as he sat beside Dugu Zhuo.

Dugu Zhuo was drawing invitations. Ye Jian told him to only draw a maximum of ten thousand invitations for a limited sale, so they could sell each at a higher price.

However, even these ten thousand invitations were exhausting to produce; drawing too many would give him a headache. Luckily, Ye Zhou was there to accompany Dugu Zhuo. As Dugu Zhuo drew one invitation, Ye Zhou would slip one into the cover, and the two of them working together didn’t feel too tiring.

Dugu Zhuo put down his pen, and Ye Zhou stood up to wipe his sweat, concerned, “Are you getting a headache?”

He gently pressed his fingers on Dugu Zhuo’s temples, but Dugu Zhuo grasped Ye Zhou’s hand and said, “You should be the one doing this; take care of the invitation covers.”

Ye Zhou gave his forehead a light slap: “You’ve taken all the work; are you just going to let me sit and watch? Everyone else is busy, and I don’t want to be a bystander.”

“I’m afraid you’ll tire yourself out,” Dugu Zhuo said, feeling distressed.

“Putting together some covers isn’t tiring, and I actually quite like this collective activity,” Ye Zhou replied. “My situation is unique; I never went to a collective school, so I’ve only seen such activities on TV. Now that I can participate in and organize something like this myself, it’s quite lively and interesting.”

Upon hearing his words, Dugu Zhuo suddenly recalled how busy everyone was during the public recruitment for new disciples, with even the sect master among them, while Ye Zhou would sit quietly on the main peak, observing the bustling scene below.

Occasionally, Dugu Zhuo would see Ye Zhou secretly drinking wine while watching the selection for disciples.

Dugu Zhuo, as the nominal disciple of Taye Peak, would help during those times. However, he wouldn’t act with the Taye Peak disciples; instead, he was responsible for the entrance assessments for everyone. He would perform a large-scale attack technique, and those who fell after one strike were deemed not resolute enough and would be eliminated, while the remaining ones would be sent to other challenges for further assessments.

Dugu Zhuo faced many people, but he wasn’t particularly busy and had plenty of free time.

He often turned around to sneak a glance at Ye Zhou, seeing him dressed in white, quietly sitting on the rooftop, looking down at everything.

The scene of Ye Zhou sitting on the rooftop contrasted sharply with the lively crowd below.

Looking back now, in Ye Zhou’s position, if he didn’t want to be involved in the public recruitment, who could force him to?

Was he sitting there because he envied such liveliness?

Dugu Zhuo was originally not enthusiastic about the public recruitment but changed his mind at this moment.

“I’ll arrange for you to be an examiner,” Dugu Zhuo tapped Ye Zhou’s forehead.

Ye Zhou rubbed his hands together in anticipation: “Then I’ll take the recruitment seriously!”

Author’s note: Ye Jian: The sect I join must be the most powerful in the game. Let’s stir things up and get lively! You employees can’t sit around; get to work!

The face of the evil capitalist is clearly revealed.