Building a sect from scratch.

Chapter 71 I Don't Want to Be Bought Off

Unlike the sugarcane that has no hands or feet, the golden bamboo fox calmly walked up to Wang Ergou in a human-like posture and asked with interest, "Milk tea? Is it a specialty of your other world?"

"Another world!?"

Wang Ergou's eyes widened as he turned to Bai Chenxue and Jia Xiaoren, his pupils filled with disbelief.

You little brat, you've sold out our hometown!?

I've already sold it, fine, but you two traitors are still looking at me like idiots!?
Wang Ergou, his mind racing with inner monologue, stared at Bai Chenxue and Jia Xiaoren's clear, even slightly foolish, eyes, feeling utterly numb.

Zhu Xian shook the sugarcane leaves and began to recount the whole story: "That child said you came from another world, and that you can all be resurrected, calling us some kind of 'Ai Ai,' which is quite interesting. However, having lived for over a thousand years, this is truly the first time I've ever seen a human walking in the Guixu Realm in the form of a puppet. How interesting!"

Upon hearing what Ganzhe said, Wang Ergou breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, he inexplicably felt a sense of disappointment, as if to say, "I knew it."

Come to think of it, if he were doing a good job as a clerk on Earth, and suddenly someone appeared and told him that he was an AI from the virtual world and that all his actions were pre-programmed, he would definitely suggest that the other person go to a mental hospital for a full check-up, then download an anti-fraud app, post a "bad luck" message in Chang Shui's book club, and finally order some barbecue to calm his nerves.

"Haha, that's right, we really do come from another world. As for why we're using puppets... it's because we don't have spiritual energy there, so we can't cultivate immortality. We might as well use puppets to experience it, haha!"

After giving a vague answer to the sugarcane spirit, Wang Ergou continued to enthusiastically promote the many beverages he had brought.

"Come, come, seniors, this is honey lemon tea, made from honey and lemon, it's fragrant and sweet and sour..."

The golden-haired bamboo rat was the first to pick up the wooden cup containing honey lemon tea, took a sip, smacked its lips twice to savor it, and then drank the whole cup of honey lemon tea in one gulp, even letting out a burp.

It exclaimed, "It really tastes great!"

Then, before Wang Ergou could continue his sales pitch, he picked up another wooden cup containing a different liquid and gulped it down.

Seeing this, the bamboo fairy was extremely tempted, but it had neither a mouth nor hands or feet. Finally, it had a brilliant idea. It pulled out a few slender roots from the soil and inserted them into a row of wooden cups on the ground, drawing liquid from them.

"Hmm... a bit too sweet, but the watermelon one was good! The peach one was alright too, the rest were too sweet! Ouch—where did they go!?"

Zhu Xian, who had quickly "drunk" several cups of drinks, was commenting on the taste when, without noticing, several cups, each only a few dozen centimeters tall, were emptied.

Wang Ergou rubbed his hands together and deliberately said, "I'm so sorry, I came in a hurry. Although these milk teas aren't very valuable, they still take quite a bit of effort to make. This is all that was left when I arrived. But if you two seniors like them, why don't you settle down in our Sheyi? We prepare new products for you every day! Besides these, there are at least dozens of popular milk teas there, enough to drink for months without repeating a single one!" Zhu Xian snorted coldly and said, "Hmph, I can tell you're trying to trick us into going there. What, did someone tell you that bamboo rat meat is very valuable? Or that thousand-year-old bamboo has become a spirit and is a highly nutritious food?"

The golden-haired bamboo rat corrected, "You are sugarcane."

"No, seniors, I had no such intention!" Wang Ergou quickly pointed to the sky and swore, "Our Taiyin Sect is a legitimate sect under the Guangcheng Sect. Besides, who doesn't know that harming sentient beings will incur karmic burdens, causing heavenly tribulations during cultivation and making it difficult to attain enlightenment? How could we possibly do something so thankless!"

What Wang Ergou said was unknown not only to Bai Chenxue, but even to Jia Xiaoren—they only knew that petty theft would result in warnings and being locked in a dark room, and that committing crimes would result in account bans, so they dared not even think about things like murder (demon) or arson. This was the first time they had heard such an explanation in the game.

Thinking about it, it makes a lot of sense. Putting aside everything else, if killing and robbing are done without any consequences, wouldn't these powerful demon cultivators and monsters also be considered "natural treasures" in another sense? Wouldn't all the major sects organize demon-slaying activities every day, eating and taking things, and relying on food to cultivate immortality and prove their Dao? Then the "Ten Continents Chronicle" shouldn't be called "Ten Continents Chronicle," it should be renamed "Devouring the Ten Continents"!
Just as the two were marveling at Wang Ergou's knowledge as a game streamer, even knowing the game's world-building, Zhu Xian asked in surprise, "Huh? The Taiyin Sect is a sect under the Guangcheng Sect? How come I've never heard of it?"

“It’s a small sect, established less than half a year ago, nothing to brag about,” Wang Ergou said, taking out his disciple token and holding it high, showing the side with the Guangcheng Sect mark to the sugarcane spirit and the bamboo fox demon, adding, “This is our sect’s disciple token, and it does indeed have the Guangcheng Sect’s mark on it.”

Wang Ergou had done this method of proving his identity before when he was in Shenyou Village, so he was now very familiar with it.

The so-called sect's mark is actually a way for smaller sects to curry favor with larger ones.

Generally, sects that are registered with a sect will be given a talisman that can be used to mark objects—a kind of magical artifact whose main purpose is to mark objects with the sect's mark to distinguish their identity.

Some extremely large sects have countless sub-sects under their name, and they simply don't have the patience to remember them all. So they simply issue these talismans to these smaller sects, allowing them to stamp their clothes, weapons, or other items that can prove their identity, such as the disciple tokens of the Taiyin Sect, to express that "we are all on the same side".

This mark can be activated by inputting spiritual energy, resulting in a glowing feedback. As for its effects...

Anti-counterfeiting.

Well, that means if you infuse the mark with spiritual energy and it emits a specific color of light, it proves that it is genuine.

This "specific color" is usually "customized" by the sect that issues the mark. Some large sects even classify their subordinate sects into different levels to distinguish between close and distant relationships, and issue talismans with different flashing colors to achieve management purposes.

However, sects like Guangcheng Sect, which are not very large, don't have so many rules. Their marks flash with the most common light golden light. This color of light doesn't need much processing. Generally, the marks made by the refined talismans are naturally this color. In the game, it is commonly known as "plain skin".

Looking at the pattern that shimmered with a faint golden light, Zhu Xian chuckled, "It really is from the Guangcheng Sect!"

(End of this chapter)