Building a sect from scratch.

Chapter 10 Hardcore True Cultivation

Blue stone bricks, red tiles, vast golden farmlands, plump ears of wheat almost drooping to the ground, and rosy-cheeked farmers all speak of the prosperity of Taiping Town. Compared to the abandoned village in Han Tiaotiao's screenshot, it's as if they exist in two different eras.

"Was this what ancient times were like in the world of cultivation?"

The Jade Emperor, playing a virtual reality game for the first time, looked at everything with great curiosity and exclaimed in amazement.

"Wake up, this is a game!"

As Wang Ergou spoke, he straightened his non-existent collar, a perfect social smile curving his lips, and walked toward an old man sitting under a tree at the town entrance, enjoying the cool shade.

"Sir, do you know where people from that village to the west have moved here?"

"Villages to the west? There are plenty of villages to the west!"

The old man squinted, first scrutinizing Wang Ergou, then looking suspiciously at the Jade Emperor and Han Tiaotiao beside Wang Ergou, and asked, "Who are you? What are you doing in Taiping Town? And why are you asking about this?"

"us--"

Before the Jade Emperor could speak, Wang Ergou pulled him behind him and then launched into a spiel: "We are disciples of the Taiyin Sect from nearby. Our master sent us to Taiping Town to buy some food. We happened to see an abandoned village on the way, so we came down out of curiosity to find out what was going on!"

After hearing Wang Ergou's words, the old man stared at him without saying a word for a long time, until Wang Ergou felt his scalp tingle from the stare. Finally, he slowly spoke: "Are you cultivators?"

Wang Ergou nodded like a chick pecking at rice: "That's right, that's right, we're from the Taiyin Sect, we're from that mountain not far to the west!"

The old man said coldly, "You should inquire about matters concerning cultivators at the Immortal Abode. We mortals don't know anything about it."

Wang Ergou didn't mind the old man's bad attitude and still said politely, "I see. I'm really sorry to bother you. But I would like to ask you how to get to Xianrenju?"

"Just follow this road until you reach the end, and you'll see the tallest pavilion." The old man didn't make things difficult for them anymore, and even pointed into the distance with a sour face: "I heard that the family over there seems to have fled from the west, but that was two months ago. I just don't know if it's the village you're talking about."

"Oh! Thank you, sir!"

Wang Ergou thanked them happily, then turned to the Jade Emperor and Han Tiaotiao, raising his eyebrows and putting on a smug expression that said, "Look how awesome I am!"

Even the Jade Emperor was stunned, and quickly typed in the team chat: "Amazing, Master Er Gou!"

Wang Ergou also commented, "Looks like this game really intends for us to do cosplay! The more immersed you are in the story, the smoother the quests will be!"

The three of them exchanged tips in the team channel while heading to the house the old man had mentioned. It wasn't too far, probably only a few hundred meters away. In the distance, they could see a middle-aged woman carrying a bucket of water, struggling to walk towards the farmhouse.

"Watch out, brother!"

Upon seeing that scene, Wang Ergou had an idea. He uttered a sentence and ran over in a flash.

"Do you live around here, ma'am? Let me help you! This is such a big bucket of water, it must have been quite a lot of work!"

Without waiting for a reply, Wang Ergou grabbed the bucket and asked, "Where are you taking it? To that yard in front?"

The woman was startled at first, then her face lit up with gratitude: "Oh, oh! Good young man, I'm so sorry!"

"Hey, this is perfect timing! I'm strong, carrying water is no problem for me!"

Wang Ergou, as if in his element, launched into a chatterbox: "Grandma, didn't you dig a well? It must be so much trouble to carry water every day!"

"That's right! My husband also said he wanted to dig a well, but there's been no manpower available at Xianrenju. They reported it and said we'd have to wait another month or so! We've already waited for more than two months! Sigh, there's nothing we can do but wait!"

The woman's words contained a wealth of information. Wang Ergou pulled up the NPC dialogue log, took a screenshot, and sent it to the team channel. Then, he looked for key information in the screenshot before asking, "Do we need to find the Immortal's Abode to dig a well?"

The woman asked in surprise, "Young man, aren't you from Taiping Town? Ever since a year ago, everyone has been asking the immortals of Xianrenju to exorcise evil spirits when digging a well!" "Why is that?"

The woman looked around before lowering her voice and saying, "They say some demon has harmed the water source, and a celestial being must perform a ritual to exorcise it before we can drink it, otherwise we'll get sick and die!"

"Oh--"

Wang Ergou feigned sudden realization, then casually asked, "Then why hasn't your family dug a well, Auntie? Didn't you say you started a year ago?"

"Hi, this is a new place we've moved to. We used to live in Shixia Village to the west!"

……

Just as Wang Ergou was chatting enthusiastically with the NPC, Han Tiaotiao and the Jade Emperor watched in amazement as Wang Ergou kept posting screenshots of the NPC's conversation in the team channel, admiring his outgoing personality and superb skills in getting information out of people.

"I think Er Gou is from Northeast China?"

"Hmm... He mentioned during a previous live stream that he's from H City."

Han Tiaotiao couldn't help but exclaim, "There are so many AI people in Northeast China! They can even chat with AI!"

……

About an hour later, Wang Ergou said goodbye to the woman and left. When he found Han Tiaotiao and the Jade Emperor, he was surprised to find the two sitting upright in an inconspicuous corner with their eyes closed, surrounded by a lot of blurry and strange "mist".

"What are you two doing?"

"Practice."

The Jade Emperor opened his eyes and answered solemnly.

"Practice?"

"Take a look at the official forum; it just crashed."

Han Tiaotiao opened her eyes and explained, "A player posted a thread complaining that the game planners are inhuman. This game is so hardcore that you really have to cultivate immortality on your own. You really have to understand the manuals that the NPCs give you and cultivate according to them."

"What the hell!?"

Wang Ergou was dumbfounded. He asked incredulously, "Really cultivating?! You two are kidding me. Didn't we agree that we weren't allowed to become spirits after the founding of the People's Republic of China?"

"But this is a game world, and I don't know how this game is doing it, but it's said that it actually designed a sensing system that is different from the five senses. It can sense spiritual energy and even guide it. Uh, Lao Han, what did that person say again?"

Han Tiaotiao added, "Body tempering, this game really allows you to guide spiritual energy to temper your body. It's said to be a 'very wonderful feeling,' these are my second senior sister's exact words."

Wang Ergou was completely stunned—he had only spent an hour doing a task and hadn't had time to check the world channel, but it felt like he had been offline for a month.
"Second Senior Sister? Who is Second Senior Sister?"

The Jade Emperor looked on with envy: "She's made a remarkable breakthrough. That female player who was the first to gain the favor of the senior sister and obtain a hidden item is truly amazing. While everyone else was still trying to sense the spiritual energy, she had already drawn the energy into her body. She said it was all thanks to the hidden item that the senior sister gave her, something like a cultivation manual. Anyway, she was the first among our players to draw the energy into her body, so everyone calls her the second senior sister."

"This world has finally turned into something I don't recognize anymore. I know this game advertises absolute realism, but it shouldn't be so real that you have to actually cultivate immortality yourself. Is this some kind of game where you work every day tightening screws, and then come home to play games and still have to tighten screws? Huh?"

After venting his frustrations, Wang Ergou stared blankly with dead fish eyes and asked, "So, are you two still doing quests, or are you planning to continue your hardcore cultivation in the game?"

The Jade Emperor jumped to his feet: "Do it! Of course we'll do it! We've been waiting for you to gather information, haven't we? Besides, I'm destined to be an emperor. Introducing Qi into my body is just a matter of time! There's no rush!"

(End of this chapter)