Chapter 10 Hardcore True Cultivation
Bluestone bricks, red tiles, vast tracts of golden farmland, ears of wheat so full that they almost hang down to the ground, and farmers with rosy faces all speak of the prosperity of Taiping Town. Compared with the abandoned village in the screenshot of Han Tiaotiao, it seems like two different eras.
"Is this what the ancient world of immortal cultivation was like?"
The Jade Emperor, who was playing a virtual reality game for the first time, looked at all this with curiosity and was amazed.
"Wake up, this is a game!"
As Wang Ergou spoke, he adjusted his non-existent collar, pulled the corners of his mouth into a perfect social smile, and walked towards an old man who was sitting under a tree at the entrance of the town to enjoy the cool air.
"Uncle, do you know where the people who moved here from the village in the west are?"
"The village to the west? There are so many villages to the west!"
The old man narrowed his eyes, first sized up Wang Ergou, then looked suspiciously at the Jade Emperor and Han Tiaotiao beside Wang Ergou, and asked, "Who are you? What are you doing in Taiping Town? What's the purpose of asking about this?"
"us--"
The Jade Emperor wanted to speak when Wang Ergou pulled him behind him. He then spoke fluently, "We are disciples of the nearby Taiyin Sect. Our master asked us to come to Taiping Town to buy some food. We happened to see an abandoned village on the way, so we came here out of curiosity to find out what's going on!"
After hearing what Wang Ergou said, the old man stared at him without saying anything for a long time. Wang Ergou's scalp was numb after staring at him. Then he slowly said, "Are you monks?"
Wang Ergou nodded like a chicken pecking at rice: "Yes, yes, we are from the Taiyin Sect, we are in that mountain not far to the west!"
The old man said coldly: "You should go to the Immortal Residence to inquire about the monks' affairs. We mortals don't know."
Wang Ergou didn't mind the old man's bad attitude and said politely, "I see. I'm really sorry to bother you. I just want to ask you how to get to the Immortal Residence."
"Just keep walking along this road until you reach the end, and you will see the tallest attic." The old man did not embarrass them any more, and even pointed to the distance with a sour face: "I heard that the family over there seemed to have escaped from the west, but that was two months ago. I just don't know if it is the village you are talking about."
"Hey! Thank you, sir!"
Wang Ergou thanked them happily, then turned around and raised his eyebrows at the Jade Emperor and Han Tiaotiao, with a smug expression as if to say "Look how awesome I am".
The Jade Emperor was stunned and quickly typed in the team channel: "Great job, Master Ergou!"
Wang Ergou also commented: "It seems that this game really wants us to play cosplay! The more immersed we are in the plot, the smoother the missions will be!"
While the three of them were exchanging ideas in the team channel, they went to find the house the old man mentioned. The distance was not too far, only a few hundred meters away. From afar, they could see a middle-aged woman carrying a bucket of water and walking towards the farmyard with difficulty.
"Look at my brother!"
When Wang Ergou saw the scene, he had an idea and ran over after saying something.
"Auntie, do you live nearby? Let me help you! It's not easy to get such a big bucket of water!"
As he spoke, Wang Ergou picked up the bucket without hesitation and asked, "Where are you taking it? To the yard in front?"
The woman was startled at first, then showed gratitude: "Hey, hey! My dear young man, I am so sorry!"
"Hey, it's just in time! I'm strong, so it's not hard to carry water!"
Wang Ergou started chatting like a fish in water: "Auntie, don't you have a well at home? It must be so hard to fetch water every day!"
"That's right! My husband also said he wanted to dig a well, but there's no one at Xianrenju, and they reported that we have to wait for more than a month! We've already waited for more than two months! Alas, there's nothing we can do but wait!"
There was too much information in the woman's words. Wang Ergou called up the NPC dialogue record, took a screenshot, and sent it to the team channel. Then he looked for key information in the picture and asked, "Do we need to find the Immortal Residence to dig a well?"
The woman asked in surprise, "Aren't you from Taiping Town? Since a year ago, we have to ask the immortals from Xianrenju to help exorcise evil spirits when we dig wells!" "Why is that?"
The woman looked around and then lowered her voice and said, "It is said that some demon has harmed the water source. You must have an immortal perform a ritual to exorcise the evil spirit before you can drink it. Otherwise, you will get sick and die!"
"oh--"
Wang Ergou pretended to understand something, and then asked naturally, "Then why haven't you dug a well? Didn't you start digging a well a year ago?"
"Hey, we just moved here. We used to live in Shixia Village in the west!"
…
Just when Wang Ergou was chatting enthusiastically with the NPC, Han Tiaotiao and Jade Emperor were watching in amazement as Wang Ergou kept posting screenshots of NPC conversation records in the team channel, and they were full of admiration for his outgoing personality and superb skills in answering questions.
"I remember Ergou seemed to be from Northeast China?"
"Well...he said it during his live broadcast before. He is from H City."
Han Tiaotiao couldn't help but sigh: "There really are E-people everywhere 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 that they were sitting upright in an inconspicuous corner with their eyes closed. There seemed to be a lot of vague and strange "fog" gathered around them.
"What are you two doing?"
"Practice."
The Jade Emperor opened his eyes and answered seriously.
"Practice?"
"Take a look at the official forum. It just exploded."
Han Tiaotiao also opened his eyes and explained, "A player posted a thread complaining about the planner's inhumanity. This game is so hardcore that you really have to cultivate yourself to become an immortal. You really have to read and understand the secret manual that the NPC gives you and practice according to it."
"What the hell!?"
Wang Ergou was dumbfounded. He asked in disbelief, "Really practicing? Don't tease me, didn't we agree that after the founding of the country, no spirits are allowed?"
"But this is a game world. I don't know how this game works, but it is said that they have designed a sensory system that is different from the five senses. It can sense spiritual energy and can actually guide spiritual energy. Uh, Old Han, what did that person say?"
Han Tiaotiao added: "Body Tempering. In this game, you can really guide the spiritual energy to temper your body. It is said to be a 'very wonderful feeling'. These are the words of the second senior sister."
Wang Ergou was completely confused. He had only spent an hour on a task and hadn't had time to check the world channel. Why did he feel like he had been offline for a month? "Second Senior Sister? Who is Second Senior Sister?"
The Jade Emperor was full of envy. "She's making great progress. She's the first female player to gain the favor of the senior sister and get a hidden item. That player is really amazing. While everyone is still trying to sense the spiritual energy, she has already drawn it into her body. I heard her say that it was all thanks to the hidden item the senior sister gave her, the cultivation notes or something. Anyway, she is the first player among us to draw the energy into her body, so everyone calls her the second senior sister."
"This world has finally turned upside down and I don't recognize it. I know this game is advertised as being absolutely real, but it doesn't make it real enough to the point where you have to practice it yourself to become an immortal. Is this like screwing screws at work every day, and then going home to play games and screwing screws again? Huh?"
After complaining, Wang Ergou stared with dead eyes and asked numbly: "Then are you two still going to do the mission, or do you plan to continue to practice hardcore cultivation in the game?"
The Jade Emperor stood up immediately and said, "Yes! Of course we did! We are just waiting for you to get the news! Besides, I have the potential to be an emperor. It will only take time for me to draw the Qi into my body! There is no need to rush!"
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