Cultivating in Online Games

Chapter 93 - Twin Swords Unite

“Dugu Zhuo, why are you here? Just now, Black Cat sent me a message saying the figurines are selling out quickly; you need to restock!”

Ye Jian saw that Dugu Zhuo had actually come out, and the spirit of the chief planner kicked in as he quickly sent a private message to Dugu Zhuo.

Dugu Zhuo remained unfazed by the message and spoke sternly to the sixteen participants, “Today, the Wushuang Sect is openly recruiting disciples. I believe many of you may question whether we can teach skills to players.”

Upon hearing Dugu Zhuo’s words, the initially heated excitement of the participants began to cool down. Someone scratched their head and suddenly thought, “What am I even doing here?”

Why did they apply to join the Wushuang Sect? Because it seemed fun, and it was a big event with a lot of people. Moreover, this event wasn’t organized by the game but by players, indicating it might not happen again. Isn’t the point of playing games to enjoy the excitement? It would be a pity not to attend.

Most people were attracted by Ye Jian’s explosive marketing and the beautiful scenery in the videos. Did they really want to join the Wushuang Sect?

Come on, with so many game sects out there, could a player-created sect compete with the official ones? The twelve sects had their unique characteristics outlined by the officials long ago. Besides the Infinite Temple, which requires chanting Buddhist scriptures, each one seems more fun than actually learning skills from players. Would they even be able to clear dungeons later?

Except for a few non-human players who truly couldn’t join a sect, the rest were merely there to watch the excitement.

Even those initially uninterested would feel the enthusiasm of others and get drawn in. The charm of competitive events was precisely like that.

“It seems… I’m not really here to apprentice, huh!” a player voiced the collective thought.

The sixteen players laughed, and one even said, “Actually, I came here with a smurf account. Rather than apprenticing, I’d prefer to take a shot at Dugu Zhuo. Can I use weapons to hit you? Hahaha!”

Ye Jian saw the hard-won atmosphere being doused with cold water by Dugu Zhuo and hurriedly exclaimed, “What are you doing, Dugu Zhuo! If these guys go back and say it’s boring, and a dozen or so people start to set the tone against us, how are we going to continue with our activities?”

Dugu Zhuo’s gaze fell on Ye Jian. Unlike other players, he had accepted that this was a game, but still held some traditional beliefs.

For instance, respecting teachers and the way of the Dao.

As the sect leader, his chief disciple ought to be his apprentice, making this his first disciple in this life.

However, this “troublesome disciple” kept calling out “Dugu Zhuo,” ordering his master to write invitations and carve tigers.

Initially, Dugu Zhuo thought that since he couldn’t earn as much as Ye Jian, it was fine to leave everything to him. He had never been jealous of the capable and was willing to follow those who could handle tasks.

As for the matter of directly calling his master by name, considering that Ye Jian was Ye Zhou’s cousin, it was reasonable for him to call him “Xiao Zhuo.”

But now, it seemed Ye Jian was going a bit too far.

Dugu Zhuo smiled slightly and said loudly, “Your thoughts are just as I expected, but you may not have thought that Dugu is genuinely looking to recruit disciples today. To demonstrate the strength of the Wushuang Sect to you, let me show you something. Yuanhang, come here.”

Yuanhang? Who is that? Hurry up and carve the tiger! Ye Jian was anxious in his heart when he suddenly noticed everyone looking at him.

Oh, right, Yuanhang was calling for him.

It wasn’t that Ye Jian was slow, but Dugu Zhuo’s tone just now was kind yet carried a sense of authority, resembling a senior calling a junior, and he didn’t immediately react.

It should be noted that Dugu Zhuo had previously addressed him as “Brother Yuanhang” with respect.

“Ah? Me?” Ye Jian pointed at himself.

Dugu Zhuo slightly nodded, “All matters regarding the recruitment ceremony are organized by you, and this time, you have greatly contributed. Recently, I’ve been busy establishing the sect and haven’t had the chance to teach my disciple any skills. How about this? I’ll teach you a skill here, both as a reward for you and to showcase the strength of my Wushuang Sect to all players.”

“This… is unnecessary…” Ye Jian felt something was off and sensed a conspiracy approaching him.

He didn’t come to play the game to grind levels, defeat monsters, or do dungeons; he was there to enjoy being the boss. What did he need skills for?

But how could Dugu Zhuo allow Ye Jian to refuse? In a flash, he appeared before Ye Jian with a speed so quick that everyone else couldn’t even see his movements.

Not only did the sixteen players widen their eyes in anticipation of what Dugu Zhuo would do next, but even Ye Zhou and Yi Meng Xiaoyao were curious. Could Dugu Zhuo really teach someone martial arts?

The second disciple, Shen Bi Xiao Ma, was particularly excited and nervously stamped his front hooves.

Bai Yi, who had been relatively idle, also rushed over to join the excitement.

Dugu Zhuo waved his long sleeves, lightly patted the top of Ye Jian’s head, and a surge of energy flowed into Ye Jian’s Baihui point.

To the other players, it looked like a special effect! They could see a white light from Dugu Zhuo’s hand entering Ye Jian’s head.

Ye Jian felt like he had been struck by lightning; his entire body felt numb. As Dugu Zhuo pressed down with his palm, his internal energy forced Ye Jian to sit cross-legged. He then injected another stream of true energy into Ye Jian, guiding the earlier surge to circulate within him and help him absorb it.

This was a skill unlocked by the system after Dugu Zhuo became the sect leader, known as “Dihua Guanding” (a method of imparting teachings).

Dihua Guanding is a common method in the cultivation world for imparting skills to disciples, enabling them to easily learn techniques—a highly convenient method.

However, its significant downside is that the power imparted isn’t cultivated by the disciple, which could affect their future progress. The cultivation world requires the cultivation of mindset and power to be practiced together; if the mindset is lacking, having great power could lead to madness eventually.

Of course, this downside isn’t a concern in the game world. Which player would focus on having their mindset aligned with their cultivation? Everyone is lacking in mindset; even during the tribulations of the Golden Core stage, they would rely on the White Tiger, probably continuing to do so in the future, not caring about mindset at all.

Imparting skills can also harm the master; the giver will lose a portion of their true energy and will have to relearn the skills they imparted. Those who impart all their true energy and skills through Dihua Guanding typically end up dead afterward.

For Dugu Zhuo, however, he was merely imparting a technique he no longer wanted, losing a bit of true energy (experience), which could easily be replenished by running a couple of dungeons (and perhaps robbing a boss’s treasury along the way).

Overall, techniques recognized by the system can be copied and taught to disciples from the jade slips; it’s akin to copy-pasting. In contrast, Dihua Guanding is more like cutting and pasting, as the original owner will no longer possess that technique after imparting it.

The harmful Dihua Guanding in the cultivation world became extremely convenient in the game world, especially for Ye Jian.

As for what technique Dugu Zhuo imparted?

After withdrawing his hand, he secretly activated the sect’s formation to summon a giant rock from the nearby mountain, holding it in his palm like a massive boulder taller than a person.

As soon as Ye Jian absorbed the power of the technique and opened his eyes, he saw Dugu Zhuo flying into the sky with a stone even taller than him, ready to smash down heavily on Ye Jian.

Ye Jian: “!!!”

Was Dugu Zhuo really trying to kill him, the capitalist? The game wasn’t the same as reality; players could attack at any time in the game!

As Ye Jian recalled his own actions, he heard Dugu Zhuo say, “Yuanhang, why aren’t you making a move?”

At this moment, Dugu Zhuo subtly used some soul-controlling techniques, which had a controlling effect. Ye Jian was startled awake and instinctively pointed at the giant rock. His hand instinctively struck out a series of spiritual seals.

Countless sword energies were released from Ye Jian, instantly shattering the giant rock into pieces that scattered around him.

Upon closer inspection, the fallen pieces of stone had somehow been sculpted into various tiger shapes by the sword energy.

Ye Jian: “…”

The onlooking crowd saw Dugu Zhuo teaching a technique, and as Ye Jian executed his stone-shattering move, they burst into enthusiastic applause. The audience reacted very positively.

Dugu Zhuo clasped his hands behind his back and stated, “Joining my sect means you’ll learn my techniques, which I will impart to my disciples.”

The crowd: “!!!”

Dugu Zhuo was a recognized game master; learning his original skills would not make one as powerful as him, but they could probably learn around seventy to eighty percent of his abilities, right?

The players who initially came just to join in the excitement now genuinely wanted to apprentice at the Wushuang Sect. Shen Bi Xiao Ma, who had hazily joined the sect, was even happier, circling around Dugu Zhuo while making excited noises.

As for Ye Jian…

He looked at the ground covered with tiger-shaped stones and thought to himself that this was not good.

Dugu Zhuo clapped his hands, and a mighty tiger flew over from the main hall, landing in the square.

It looked heavy, but it made no sound upon landing.

Dugu Zhuo introduced to the crowd, “This is the guardian beast of our sect, the White Tiger.”

The players erupted into enthusiastic applause; the White Tiger was both majestic and adorable!

“Roar~” The White Tiger called out to Dugu Zhuo, its voice somewhat urging.

Dugu Zhuo realized that the White Tiger was urging him to go back and carve more White Tiger figurines. After the players bought the figurines, the White Tiger, whose cultivation had been somewhat slow, suddenly felt an increase in true energy and recognized that the players’ faith could help him improve his power and reach the status of a saint sooner. Thus, he was very anxious about the figurines.

Dugu Zhuo said, “As the sect leader, I naturally have to make an appearance at such a large event. However, I have already taught my swordsmanship to my ‘great disciple’ Yuanhang. All these White Tigers on the ground were carved by him.”

The White Tiger walked over to a fist-sized statue and used its paw to poke at it. Seeing the statue carved so vividly, with each whisker detailed, it nodded in satisfaction.

Ye Jian: “…”

Dugu Zhuo placed a hand on Ye Jian’s shoulder and showed a warm smile like a mentor: “Yuanhang, didn’t you just say that there aren’t enough White Tiger figurines? I’m entrusting this important task to you. The strength of our guardian beast depends on you to maintain it.”

Ye Jian: “!!!”

Upon hearing this, the White Tiger opened its enormous mouth and bit down on Ye Jian’s neck, its azure eyes scanning the area. With a swish, it sprouted a pair of pure white wings and flew off toward the back of the main hall with Ye Jian in its mouth.

Behind them, a side hall was where the White Tiger figurines were carved, and they were running low on stock.

Ye Jian shouted, “Dugu Zhuo, you…”

Dugu Zhuo waved his long sleeve, activating the protective array, which immediately muffled Ye Jian’s voice. Only the White Tiger could hear his curses. However, the White Tiger didn’t care who Ye Jian was cursing; it was only concerned about the figurines.

Ye Zhou: “…”

Actually, these days, while accompanying Dugu Zhuo in making invitations and carving figurines, Ye Zhou felt that Dugu Zhuo was under some pressure. After all, it was not easy to establish a sect, and now he still had to do manual labor. A prominent sect leader looked like someone from the logistics department.

In Ye Zhou’s mind, Dugu Zhuo should be the most dazzling person in the crowd. He initially wanted to talk to Ye Jian and prevent him from continuing to exploit Dugu Zhuo, but it seemed Dugu Zhuo didn’t need his protection.

Did he not need protection anymore? Ye Zhou looked at Dugu Zhuo, and a certain lock in his heart seemed to open.

Ye Zhou looked up at the sky and subtly stretched out his hand, as if waiting for some response.

After making this gesture, Ye Zhou was momentarily distracted. He gazed at his hands, feeling as though something within him had awakened.

At that moment, a figure in white, who had secretly climbed up to help with the reception, opened the screenshot recording interface and excitedly slapped her thigh: “I finally managed to capture Dugu Zhuo on camera this time!”

She was a gaming player who enjoyed posting short videos. After “Nine Layers of Heaven” became popular, her short video account gained quite a few followers.

The figure in white thought that Dugu Zhuo’s combat effects were more impressive than those of other players, possibly due to his self-created skills. Moreover, Dugu Zhuo’s strategy for clearing dungeons was also unconventional. She had long wanted to edit Dugu Zhuo’s videos, but they either turned out blurry or the recordings were lost. Today, she finally managed to capture him!

Once the apprenticeship ceremony was over, she planned to stay up late to edit and post the videos! She was feeling very pleased.

After sending Ye Jian away, Dugu Zhuo said to the sixteen players, “I have lifted the restrictions of the plaza array. You can fly freely, transform, and use your treasures. You don’t have to defeat us; just take down 10% of our health within five minutes. Of course, if during those five minutes, anyone’s health falls below 10%, they will be eliminated from the battlefield.”

“10%? The level difference is too much! One of your area attacks will wipe us all out!” one player protested.

Ye Zhou stepped forward and said, “We will suppress our power to level 20; our attack power won’t be that strong, so you can rest assured.”

He looked up at Dugu Zhuo and asked, “Do you still have the steel sword?”

“Of course,” Dugu Zhuo replied. He lightly tapped Ye Zhou’s shoulder, sealing his power, and then did the same for himself.

The two displayed their level information to the players, and sure enough, it read “Level 20 (special state, originally level 50).”

Players capable of winning against the dense attacks from the willow tree monsters were very skilled. Upon seeing that Dugu Zhuo and Ye Zhou had truly sealed their levels, their confidence soared.

Sixteen players below level 20 attacking two level 20 players wasn’t like fighting a dungeon boss; how could they possibly lose?

The players spent five minutes discussing strategies and, after understanding each other’s special skills and attributes, divided into three teams, forming an alliance.

The alliance was a feature in “Nine Layers of Heaven” that allowed multiple teams to unite in battle, helping avoid friendly fire during team fights. However, players from different factions could still get hurt by teammates, which could be quite troublesome.

The three teams set up their formations, laying down a net to prepare for their attack.

Dugu Zhuo and Ye Zhou exchanged smiles. Dugu Zhuo casually summoned the White Tiger figurines that Ye Jian had carved, estimating that Ye Jian had carved about ten, while the rest were unshaped stone fragments, but there were still over ninety in total.

The ninety-nine stone fragments and figurines scattered around the sixteen players, setting up a Distraction Formation.

Without spiritual energy support, the Distraction Formation only served as a tripping hazard, disrupting the players’ movements.

As Dugu Zhuo set up the Distraction Formation, Ye Zhou formed a sword gesture, using the Wind Sword from the Five Elements Sword Technique to attack the players flying above, disrupting their formation.

Dugu Zhuo transformed his palm into a finger, and countless fallen leaves lifted from the ground, enveloping the players and leaving countless tiny wounds on them.

“Ah!” Yi Meng Xiaoyao shouted.

These leaves were dropped by him during the previous battle against the players; they were all his leaves!

Realizing that Dugu Zhuo could use his leaves to attack, Yi Meng Xiaoyao was suddenly terrified and covered his head.

The players on the ground tried to dodge the willow leaves but kept tripping over the stone blocks, making their attacks clumsy. They quickly realized that the stones were problematic and began clearing them away.

Meanwhile, Dugu Zhuo and Ye Zhou seized this opportunity to manipulate two steel swords, coordinating with the Wind Sword to directly chip away 90% of the health of the four players in the sky.

Upon seeing that the health of the four players had dropped to single digits, Yi Meng Xiaoyao reached out his branches and pulled them out of the battlefield.

At that moment, Dugu Zhuo suffered a scratch on his shoulder and lost 3% of his health, while Ye Zhou sustained a leg injury, losing 2%.

Dugu Zhuo and Ye Zhou exchanged glances, and Ye Zhou used the Celestial Steps to provide energy to Dugu Zhuo, who manipulated two steel swords on his own.

He landed on the ground, and the steel swords spun rapidly around him, creating countless sword shadows that made it seem as though there were truly countless swords surrounding him.

The remaining twelve players had just finished clearing the stones when Ye Zhou activated the power of the Sun Star, surrounding the two swords with a ball of true fire.

Seeing that the moment was right, Dugu Zhuo pointed, and a circle of fire swords shot out as the two swords stabbed forward, sweeping across the twelve players.

Not only were the players pierced by the swords, but they were also engulfed in flames, their health rapidly decreasing.

These flames were inextinguishable, forcing the players to continue attacking to buy time to wear down Dugu Zhuo and Ye Zhou’s health.

Meanwhile, Dugu Zhuo only needed to dodge gracefully, as the players’ health would continue to decline due to the fire.

A minute later, all twelve players’ health had dropped to single digits, confirming their elimination.

Ye Zhou extinguished the flames, and Dugu Zhuo said, “Unfortunately, in this round of assessment, no one has passed.”

The author has something to say: At this moment, Ye Jian: Carving the tiger.

White Tiger: Roar! Your hands are crooked; be more serious!

Black Cat: We’re out of stock; can you hurry up?

Ye Jian: …