Chapter 232: Female Celebrity Goes Farming
"Oh my god, this game is way too realistic..."
"I was just playing games on my phone before. I can’t believe I’m playing in full-dive virtual reality now."
"Shh, keep it down. Don’t let the others hear. This isn’t the Longevity Sect, these are all locals. It’s better to keep a low profile."
The new players could barely contain their excitement.
They were eager to express themselves but then remembered this wasn’t a player hub, so they knew it was best to stay low-key.
As they followed the Outer Door Manager into the Taohua Sect, their group was designated as Outer Disciples, and the steward began to announce the sect’s rules.
"Each person gets two plots of Spirit Field per month. Those who excel at growing Spirit Grass can receive extra Spirit Stone rewards. Normally, you’ll receive five low-grade spirit stones each month."
"The Qi Refining Middle Stage gets ten, and the Late-stage Qi Refining gets twenty."
"There will be a monthly Alchemy assessment. Those who fail the Elixir Pill quality assessment must go to the Demon Cave Valley to undergo tempering."
The Taohua Sect was a Medicine Sect, so there was basically no choice. Alchemy was a mandatory skill.
The players listened, looking at each other in dismay and scratching their heads.
’Aren’t five low-grade spirit stones a bit too few?’
After getting used to watching Han Tian’s streams, they’d seen those players with at least a dozen Mid-grade Spirit Stones. Five a month... wasn’t that just pathetic?
But only then did they truly grasp the resource scarcity and harsh reality of a small sect.
At the Longevity Sect, while the crops from a player’s Spirit Field belonged to the Sect, farming itself wasn’t mandatory.
After completing the starter quests, they could take on other quests to earn points.
And those points could even be exchanged for Spirit Stones.
But here in the Taohua Sect, tending the Spirit Field was a mandatory quest, not something you could just trade for another.
The Demon Cave Valley, a place Longevity Sect players entered willingly, served as a punishment for the disciples of other small sects.
After all, who would willingly go to be ’tempered’ when one careless mistake could cost you your life?
Fortunately, the players entering the game already knew some of the rules, so they didn’t voice any objections.
The only upside was that the Taohua Sect had its own Alchemy Furnaces. Players interested in Alchemy could go practice at any time. However, there was a quota for Outer Disciples, who were only allowed into the Alchemy Room once every seven days.
They couldn’t use Spirit Grass freely, either.
With so few resources, the resulting hardship was evident everywhere.
"Excuse me, Steward, what if we’re willing to go to the Demon Cave Valley voluntarily?"
Just then, a female player spoke up to ask the steward about other possibilities.
’If they followed this path, the first month would be brutal for new players. With no points and no Spirit Stones, they wouldn’t even be able to talk in the sect channel.’
"Go voluntarily?"
The Taohua Sect’s Outer Door Manager had a strange look on his face. "If you go voluntarily... well, it’s not out of the question. We do have a need for Demon Beast Materials, and some Elixir Pills require them. But do you have any idea how dangerous the Demon Cave Valley is?"
The female player who had spoken nodded with a sweet smile. "Thank you for the clarification, Steward. This is my first time here, so I’m not familiar with these things."
The steward noted her rare beauty and sweet, endearing smile. He paid it no mind, simply nodding in response. "The Taohua Sect doesn’t just accept anybody. Failing an assessment is bad enough, but if you aren’t diligent and careful in your daily tasks, you’ll be expelled from the Sect!"
The players exchanged glances.
’Damn, so there’s a risk of getting kicked out, too.’
They were assigned to the courtyard meant for Outer Disciples. It was an ordinary compound, and it wasn’t segregated by gender.
There was just a single, crudely partitioned room separating the men and women.
Cultivators didn’t seem to care much about these things.
After all, in a world that was truly survival of the fittest, there was no shortage of powerful female cultivators. The distinction between man and woman mattered little; as long as you were weak, you were treated as inferior everywhere.
After the steward left, another male player was staring at the female player who had spoken up.
Suddenly, the male player exclaimed in shock, "Holy crap, how’d you design your face? Why does it look so much like my goddess, Ji Xiangxue?"
"Really?" The female player looked pleasantly surprised. "It looks like her, right? I spent ages getting it just right. What a coincidence, bro! Ji Xiangxue is my goddess too. My ID is even her name, Ji Xiangxue. I’m so lucky, I can’t believe no one else in this game took the same name."
Ji Xiangxue was a famous A-list actress in the real world who had become incredibly popular in recent years.
She had a huge following of both male and female fans, was a household name, and would be recognized almost anywhere she went.
"Awesome!" said the male player. "My ID is Zhou Erfu. I originally wanted to name myself ’Xiangxue’s Dog’, but the system said the name was disgraceful. What does a system know anyway!"
Zhou Erfu didn’t notice the corner of Ji Xiangxue’s mouth twitch when she heard that.
The other players who saw Ji Xiangxue’s face also chimed in with praise. "It looks just like her! You’re amazing, girl, with that face design."
"You’re too kind," Ji Xiangxue said, waving her hand humbly.
Another female player said with envy, "I’m no good at character creation. Your design is so perfect, anyone who didn’t know better would think Ji Xiangxue herself had joined the game. But a star like her, busy with appearances all day, where would she find the time to play games?"
Ji Xiangxue nodded vigorously. "Right, right, right! I’m just a fan. I came in and thought I’d give it a try."
Ji Xiangxue quickly bonded with a few of the other players.
Naturally, she ended up rooming with that female player.
Not long after entering the room, Ji Xiangxue, who was about to start her Cultivation Heart Method, suddenly had her expression change. She then said to the female player, "Hey, sis, can you watch my body for me? Something came up in the real world."
The female player nodded. "Sure, go ahead."
Ji Xiangxue logged off. Before she even had a chance to climb out of the luxury pod, she opened her eyes to see her agent’s furious face.
"Are you crazy? You have a new commercial shoot at five in the morning, and you’re still here playing this game! Are you really trying to ascend to immortality or something?"
Ji Xiangxue climbed out of the pod, her face looking remarkably similar to her in-game avatar. "How did you know I really am doing Cultivation?" she said.
Her manager: "..."
Just as her manager’s face darkened like a thundercloud, about to erupt, Ji Xiangxue quickly said, "This isn’t just any game I’m playing! It’s Broken Sect! Do you know Broken Sect? I had to fight so hard to get a slot, of course I had to get into the game first!"
"Broken Sect?" The manager froze, an odd expression crossing their face. "You actually got in?"
A game this hot on Weibo right now, a super-tech game that was starting to explode in popularity globally—of course the internet-savvy entertainment industry would have noticed it.
It’s just that it was so far removed from their industry that the manager never expected Ji Xiangxue to actually get access to the game.
Ji Xiangxue nodded her head like a chicken pecking at rice. "You have no idea how realistic this game is! Anyway, I’m going back online. I just joined a Sect and I’m about to start tilling soil and planting Spirit Grass. Don’t bother me while I’m farming. Just get me when it’s time for the shoot. It’s just one all-nighter!"
Her manager: "..."
’You, a famous actress, are going to farm?!’