Chapter 235: Wuming
With a player showing such filial piety—
No, with such sincerity, Song Jiulai certainly couldn’t act as if nothing had happened.
Creating this Magic Treasure was definitely significant. If this Thunder Stone stuff could be used on all Magic Treasures, it would be a game-changer on par with the discovery of gunpowder in ancient times.
It was a free donation, and the first of its kind.
A reward of points alone seemed insufficient.
Song Jiulai thought for a moment, then rummaged through her Jiezidai and the Sect warehouse.
And what do you know, she actually found a suitable item for a reward.
Vajra Silk.
She had originally bought it from someone else, planning to refine a Second Order Mustard Seed Bag for herself.
Now that she had the Sect warehouse, a Jiezidai or Qiankun Bag wasn’t as useful to her anymore.
This Vajra Silk had just been sitting around, unused. She might as well give it out as a reward.
At this thought, Song Jiulai said, "Give him the Vajra Silk. The first Thunder Stone Treasure is significant. And based on the rewards given to the other players, add another 500 points."
System: "So generous. That’s not like you. One must stay true to their cheapskate origins!"
Song Jiulai: "..."
Song Jiulai gave the Vajra Silk to Liang Xueyao.
Liang Xueyao was not surprised by the Sect Master’s reward.
The value of Vajra Silk wasn’t necessarily greater than that of developing a Thunder Stone Treasure, but it could be used to make a Second Order Mustard Seed Bag, which was quite difficult to purchase on the open market.
The Sect Master’s gift was a grand gesture.
’Hm, it’s just as the players say: the iron rooster has finally plucked a feather.’
Of course, Liang Xueyao would never dare to say this out loud.
As the Vajra Silk materialized in his hand, Liang Xueyao’s lips curled slightly. "Thank the Sect Master for me."
System: "I’ll say ’you’re welcome’ for her."
The Thunder Stone Treasure was significant in a different way, so its creation wasn’t publicized within the Sect this time.
For now, only Liang Xueyao could craft one, but with the recent influx of new players, many promising candidates for Artifact Refining were bound to appear.
Besides, the Liuyun Sect was also an Artifact Refining Sect.
As Song Jiulai studied the Thunder Stone Treasure on the road, she found it more and more terrifying.
For now, its Level was low. But if the players could find a steady supply from a Third Rank or higher Thunder Stone Mine, taking on the Sea View Sect would still be out of the question for the time being.
However, annexing other sects would be no difficult task.
Well, ’annexing’ wasn’t quite the right word.
From the moment the main quest line tasked her with growing the Longevity Sect, she was inevitably set in opposition to other sects.
It’s just that this opposition didn’t necessarily have to lead to open war.
Powerful sects could naturally make small sects dependent on them, but the Longevity Sect’s development model was destined to require more resources and land.
The rule of the Cultivation World was ’big fish eats small fish,’ but she needed people.
Therefore, sending players to slowly influence other sects from within was the most reliable method.
This was because she could lead other sects to prosperity and power, a method contrary to the way many sects on the Yunzhou Continent operated.
Of course, whether some sects would be willing to accept this was their problem.
In these early stages, laying low was the best strategy. Song Jiulai didn’t have the power to go head-to-head with a Major Sect yet.
When you were operating right under others’ noses, you couldn’t afford to be too arrogant.
She decided to focus her attention on a few of the more impressive talents among the new batch of arrivals.
In the early hours of the morning, Qing Guo and Wuming logged on just under the wire.
One was in the Taixue Sect, the other in the Sea View Sect.
Qing Guo, in the Taixue Sect, wasn’t in a hurry to head to another sect. After cultivating her mental method and Basic Mantra, she found a seemingly safe spot within the Taixue Sect’s territory and decided to lay low for now.
The Taixue Sect wasn’t like the Sea View Sect, where demon beasts roamed the areas between sects.
It was as if the Taixue Sect had cleared out all the nearby demon beasts, making the roads to the small sects safe enough.
But there was a problem: there were no resources to be had.
Even Spirit Grass was scarce.
But Qing Guo wasn’t worried.
Outside the core Sect City of Taixue, the concentration of Spiritual Energy wasn’t as high.
Sect Cities always had ways to lock the most potent Spiritual Energy within their boundaries, ensuring that outside Cultivators couldn’t just freeload.
Still, it was much better than the Longevity Sect’s territory, which was practically on the frontier.
If she didn’t run into any trouble over the next few days, she should be able to reach the Qi Refining Middle Stage very quickly.
However, Liu Bo had already scouted the way, proving that Demon Cultivators existed within the Taixue Sect’s territory. There was no guarantee that all of them would be as seemingly foolish as Ali.
Out of appreciation for the Talented, the system offered Qing Guo a friendly reminder.
"There are Demon Cultivators in the Taixue Sect’s territory. You’d best find a place to lay low."
Qing Guo was in a desolate, uninhabited area surrounded by swampland.
She couldn’t see any demon beasts, but there were always other dangers.
It was filled with unknown challenges.
She didn’t even know which direction led toward the Taixue Sect. Everything was up to fate.
Worse still, newly initiated Cultivators still needed to eat to survive.
Qing Guo currently had nothing on her. If she wanted to eat, she would have to rely on aid from the Sect.
She had no points, so she would first have to figure out a way to earn some.
Hearing this, Qing Guo raised an eyebrow. "There are Demon Cultivators within a Major Sect’s territory?"
The system said, "Demon Cultivators can take on a perfect human form, so of course they can infiltrate the territories of other sects."
Qing Guo grew thoughtful.
The danger of the Taixue Sect lay in the unknown.
The system couldn’t provide any map information, either.
When she entered the game, she wasn’t given any information. However, she had a rough idea that an ’insider’ had entered the game before her and was supposedly doing quite well.
Of course, their tasks were different, so Qing Guo had no intention of trying to find out who this person was.
Everyone who entered the game now had a different task, which was no different from a classified secret.
Qing Guo nodded. "I’ll do my best."
She could memorize all her routes relying solely on her own memory. While doing so, she also had to figure out a way to earn some points.
Meanwhile, over in the Sea View Sect’s territory, Wuming’s starting location was rather tricky.
Because the system now had a fairly comprehensive map of the route from the Longevity Sect to the Sea View Sect, a quick glance revealed that he had logged in on the side of the Sea View Sect opposite the Longevity Sect.
It was somewhere near the Luomei Sect and a few others.
Furthermore, his Spirit Root had already been awakened, but just as he was about to find a safe place to cultivate his mental method, he ran into trouble.
A First Rank Eight-clawed Frog had set its sights on him.
The Eight-clawed Frog, as its name suggested, had eight claws and mostly lived in environments with numerous ponds.
Such demon beasts were basically never seen over in the Longevity Sect’s territory.
However, the good thing about Han Tian’s guides was that he put basically all known information about Yunzhou on the website. Wuming, having memorized this information before entering the game, recognized the demon beast at a single glance.
Eight-clawed Frog. Fast. Spits a mucus that can corrode flesh. Do not let it touch you.
Wuming’s eyes twitched. ’I just awakened my Spirit Root, and this Eight-clawed Frog is staring at me like I’m prey. I don’t know if my skills from real life will even translate to this game...’
And while he was locked in this standoff, a Cultivator spotted him.
The person didn’t step out, but upon seeing Wuming, they let out a soft "Huh?"