Cultivating in Online Games

Chapter 91 - Depends on Fate

As the only holographic game on the market, *Nine Heavens* boasts industry-leading technology, unmatched by any other game.

Its holographic experience is unique in the world, and its slow pace, including the difficulty of logging in, is actually a perk. Some players who can’t stay online for long will find, after waiting for a weekend to log in, that even after a week, the highest-level players are only five levels ahead. This relaxed mentality makes it easier to keep playing.

Moreover, in *Nine Heavens*, discussing levels is the most meaningless thing. The game has a span of 20 levels, where a level 40 player can crush all players level 39 and below. However, if a level 20 player gets good equipment and puts effort into increasing their combat power, they may even counter-kill a level 39 player.

The unique characteristics of the various races and the combination of skill attributes are simply dazzling, making group battles as flashy as they can be.

Despite the high cost of the holographic helmet, the game being less convenient than mobile games, time-consuming, with a main storyline that’s released daily and still not fully open, and the game company seemingly bent on exploiting players, countless new players continue to flock in.

In the first three months of *Nine Heavens*, daily helmet sales exceeded ten thousand, meaning over ten thousand new players joined each day.

With such a large player base, the mere ten thousand invitations from Wushuang Sect were far from sufficient.

At 10 AM on Sunday, the first batch of players to attend Wushuang Sect’s public disciple recruitment ceremony clicked “use invitation” and were promptly teleported to the front gate of Wushuang Sect.

Since the teleportation array on the invitation allowed players to arrive at Wushuang Sect without needing an introducer from the sect, they didn’t realize how many others were arriving at the same time. Upon arrival, they were startled: “Wow! So many people!”

What does one thousand people look like? Imagine a high school, with ten classes per grade, and thirty students per class—three grades together would total nine hundred people. A thousand people is like a high school sports day!

A crowd began chatting loudly in front of the sect’s gate—

“Of course there are a lot of people. If there weren’t, would they need to divide us into ten groups?”

“With so many people, I probably won’t be able to find a master.”

“You really came to find a master? We’re all just here to check out the scene, see what the first player-created sect in *Nine Heavens* looks like. I spent a thousand taels of silver for a one-hour tour.”

“Your invitation only cost a thousand taels? I spent three thousand taels to buy mine from the Absolute God General Studio! That markup is insane!”

“I only spent a thousand because I applied to join Wushuang Sect before the event. Although Dugu Zhuo didn’t approve my request, he replied saying if I spent a thousand taels on an invitation, I could attend the recruitment ceremony.”

“Wow! You’re so lucky!”

“At the time, I thought a thousand taels was a rip-off, enough for a banquet at the best restaurant in Jiuchuan City. Now I see it was wise to buy one—it saved me a lot of money!”

“I heard that initially only four to five thousand people applied to join the sect, and they could buy invitations at the lowest price. But many of them didn’t buy one, so Dugu Zhuo handed the invitations to Absolute God General Studio to distribute.”

“Absolute God General really marked up the price that much?”

“Well, not just them—the forum’s promotional video for Wushuang Sect was so good that lots of people started buying invitations, driving up the price.”

“The guy who spent three thousand taels got a good deal. Later, when all the invitations were sold out, some who bought them for a thousand taels resold them for five thousand. Some who sold theirs for two thousand after hearing about the three-thousand-tael price now regret it.”

“All the invitations are gone now. I logged in at 9 AM and saw someone in the world chat offering ten thousand taels for one, but no one was selling.”

“How did an invitation start to feel like the stock market?”

“Well, let’s see if Wushuang Sect is worth the price.”

“Stop chatting—someone’s coming! Wow, a beauty!”

The players were greeted by two female players. The one on the left wore a red dress, with a jade hairpin adorned with pomegranate-red pendants in her hair, silver bracelets on both wrists, and a whip wrapped around her waist that burned with crimson flames.

It was unclear what material the whip was made of, but it surrounded the beauty with fire without harming her, making her even more stunning.

The one on the right held a parasol, dressed entirely in plain white with no decoration. Her skin was incredibly pale, making her look almost transparent. The occasional glimpses of her shoulders and wrists revealed stitched scars, giving her a chilling appearance.

In terms of looks, the white-clad woman couldn’t compare to the red-dressed one. But her mournful air evoked a sense of pity, making onlookers want to take off their coats and shield her from the wind and rain.

In *Nine Heavens*, the male-to-female ratio is 7:3, with more male players. Today, in this first batch, there were about six hundred male players and three hundred female players.

The contrasting charms of the two beauties—one in red and one in white—left all the players wide-eyed. The female players were even more excited than the males. Since they were all low-level players without masters, many opened their screenshot functions, frantically taking photos and recording videos, imagining themselves one day becoming as beautiful as these two.

The red-dressed woman was Qingyue Love, and the white-dressed one was Bai Yi Piaopiao. Both had been dragged here by Ye Jian to help.

Even though the crowd was divided into ten groups, Wushuang Sect, with its mere five members from the master down to the disciples and mountain guardian beast, could not possibly handle so many players. So Ye Jian, ever the opportunist, called on everyone he knew, including those he’d teamed up with before, to help without pay.

Qingyue and Piaopiao’s wages for the day were a White Tiger figurine. They were allowed to touch the White Tiger, and if dissatisfied, each could take a single shed hair as a souvenir—an incredibly stingy reward.

But the two of them really wanted to see the White Tiger in person outside of a dungeon and visit Dugu Zhuo’s newly established sect. So even without pay, they would have come to help anyway.

Ye Jian, the miser, had them working from 9 AM, telling them they couldn’t touch the White Tiger until the work was done and that if they didn’t do well, they wouldn’t get to touch it at all. It was outrageous.

To earn the privilege of touching the White Tiger more than once for good performance, Qingyue and Bai Yi Piaopiao had no choice but to endure Ye Jian’s exploitation, striking their most elegant poses in front of the players and even allowing two minutes for everyone to take pictures.

Bai Yi Piaopiao glanced at the players below and sent a message via paper crane to Qingyue: “So many strong humans. Their yang energy must be abundant. Out of this batch of ten thousand, there must be at least three thousand human males, right? If I absorb them all, I might reach level 59.”

Qingyue: “…”

Qingyue, being part of Dugu Zhuo’s original team, hadn’t participated in the first kill of the Tiger Fang Spirit dungeon, but afterward, Dugu Zhuo had taken Qingyue, Aotian, Lingzhi Doll, and Black Cat to clear the dungeon again, helping them transcend the heavenly tribulation and advance to the Golden Core stage.

Building the sect, constructing the main peak, marketing, and preparing for the event took over twenty days, and by the time it was all done, everyone had reached level 50. Yi Meng Xiaoyao, one of the most diligent players, had already hit level 55, securing first place on the leaderboard.

Qingyue Love, staying true to her style, had always put all her attribute points into appearance since the beginning of the game. For this event, she’d even been given a Beauty Retention Pill by Ye Jian, making her look stunning—on par with the beauties in the game’s official promotional videos.

After waiting patiently for the players to finish taking pictures, Qingyue raised her voice and said, “Players, please form two lines and enter in an orderly manner.”

The front gate of Wushuang Sect was twenty meters wide, making it easy for the players to swarm in. However, with two different beauties standing on either side of the gate, these mostly low-level players obediently lined up—not out of a sense of order but because sticking close to the pillars meant getting near the beauties. Crowding into the middle meant missing out.

Those who liked national beauty and elegance stood on the left, while those who favored the melancholic, Lady Nie Xiaoqian type stood on the right. Some greedy players couldn’t decide between Qingyue or Bai Yi and anxiously jumped between lines.

As the players entered, some tried to take advantage of their proximity to Qingyue and Bai Yi to sneak a touch.

One player, as he passed Qingyue, tried to brush against her delicate white hand, only for his hand to turn to ashes the moment it touched her clothes, without even a chance to make contact.

Qingyue lazily said, “This disciple’s character is unworthy. Disqualified.”

The five fingers of the person in white on the opposite side had just moved away from the head of a player who had been drained of their Yang energy. She casually tossed the player into the middle and said indifferently, “This disciple’s conduct is improper, eliminated.”

What a joke. How could something so unethical happen at Wushuang Sect’s disciple recruitment ceremony?

The person in white, both powerful and a demonic path player, was the senior sister of Beimang Mountain. She eagerly awaited players to come to her, offering experience points.

Qingyue had allocated all her attributes to her looks, leaving her other stats a complete mess. Ye Zhou was worried that she wouldn’t be able to intimidate the players, so he asked the White Tiger to lend her the Fire Spirit.

The whip around her waist, blazing with flames but not harming Qingyue, was transformed by the Fire Spirit. Upon the white tiger’s request, the Fire Spirit temporarily made a one-day spirit pact with Qingyue to help her maintain appearances.

The Fire Spirit was the boss of a level 40 dungeon. Any player below level 20 who encountered its single attack would turn to ash just by touching it.

Now, in the eyes of the players, these two were no longer delicate women easily taken advantage of, but living incarnations of the Queen Mother of the West! Everyone had to show them respect.

Of course, there were also ambitious players thinking, “That flame power from the one in red hasn’t been seen in the game yet. Could it be a secret technique of Wushuang Sect? Is it possible that the faction this player established can master unparalleled skills?”

Originally, players had come with a casual attitude, but suddenly the idea of joining Wushuang Sect didn’t seem so bad! Their attitudes immediately became more enthusiastic.

Some female players even carefully asked Qingyue as they passed by, “Beautiful miss, can I shake your hand?”

Qingyue replied, “It will slow down the entry of players behind you. Let’s wait until everyone is inside.”

“If I join Wushuang Sect, can I become as beautiful as you?”

Qingyue: “I’m actually a plain woman…”

Ye Jian, the event’s chief planner, had been observing in secret and immediately sent a private message to Qingyue, sensing danger: “No advertising for other factions! Show some professionalism. You can promote the Youth-Preserving Pill.”

Qingyue took a deep breath and energetically said, “You can purchase the Youth-Preserving Pill produced by our sect at the exit when leaving. The official price is ten thousand taels per pill, with a 20% discount on the day of the disciple recruitment ceremony.”

Players: “…”

This Wushuang Sect disciple recruitment ceremony felt more like the opening of a new shopping mall.

Under the guidance of Qingyue and the person in white, nearly a thousand players finally entered the gate and gathered on the platform below the steps.

These hundreds of steps were no longer stone. Dugu Zhuo had spent a fortune to have them completely refurbished. They were now paved with white marble, flawless and solid, with a fine texture. After the renovation, the steps looked grand and imposing. Ye Jian had also asked Dugu Zhuo to use his magic to place some clouds on the uppermost four or five steps, making it look like a celestial ladder.

It was so ethereal! It looked even better than Xuantian Sect, the largest faction of the human race! The players went crazy, taking pictures non-stop.

At this moment, a man in fine clothes holding a fan appeared from the clouds above. With a single step, he was instantly transported to the bottom of the steps, a remarkable sight.

The man adjusted his position on the steps, making himself appear half a head taller than everyone else, and said in a loud voice, “Welcome, esteemed guests, to Wushuang Sect. I am your examiner for the first trial, Yangfan Yuanhang.”

This man was none other than Ye Jian, the chief planner.

He was responsible for the most critical and potentially disliked part of the event—filtering the thousand disciples down to a manageable number.

Such a difficult task was best suited to Ye Jian.

He shook his fan and asked, “Everyone, what is the most important thing for us cultivators?”

The crowd responded:

“Roots! Aptitude!”

“Conduct!”

“Looks!”

There were all sorts of answers, but Ye Jian shook his head mysteriously and said, “No, it’s fate.”

Everyone: “…”

After privately discussing what “fate” meant, they all came to the same conclusion: It’s just luck!

Indeed, the best way to filter a large group of disciples was through probability! There was only one hour—how could you possibly test each one individually without exhausting the interviewers? The most efficient way was to use a probability of one in a thousand.

“Seriously? We paid so much for a ticket, and now you’re just going to make us draw lots?” a player protested.

Ye Jian waved his fan and said, “Of course, it’s not a lottery. I told you, it’s fate, not luck.”

Fine, since you’re the boss, if you say “luck” is pronounced “fate,” then it’s fate.

Disheartened and already thinking about going to the forums to curse Wushuang Sect, the players waited for the drawing slips. But Ye Jian didn’t play by the rules. He waved his arm, and a scroll flew over the crowd, slowly unfurling.

Then Ye Jian pushed a glass lamp into the air. The lamp floated in front of the scroll, and its light illuminated the painting. From the painting, countless beautiful men and women flew out.

Everyone: “!!!”

Ye Jian smiled and said, “There are 49 handsome men and beautiful women in this painting, all without physical form. Each of them holds a drop of ink, which will randomly be flung at a player. If the ink lands on you, you’ve been chosen. This is your fate with them!”

The beauties in the painting were game-grade censored, making them all unbelievably gorgeous. This type of elimination test was so novel that the players immediately got excited again.

Yes, yes, you’re right. It’s the fate between me and this beauty from the painting—fate!

For a moment, the players enthusiastically waved at the figures in the painting. The figures spun in the air, while Ye Zhou, standing high above, painted 49 water swords with ink. Disguised by the figures in the painting, he randomly tossed the swords into the crowd.

“Ah! I got selected!”

“Me too!”

“…”

In an instant, the thousand players were reduced to forty-nine. Though the eliminated players were disappointed, they became even more determined, shouting, “Ahhhhh! There are still nine more rounds. I’m going to get invitations from everywhere! Even if it’s 20,000 a ticket, I’ll pay!”

Hearing this, Ye Jian immediately sent a private message to Dugu Zhuo: “Quickly paint another hundred invitations and get them out in the market. We can sell them for a high price!”

Author’s note: Ye Jian: I’m going to make a fortune, hahahahaha!