Chapter 33 - 33: 033, [This Setting is so Damn Sweet]
Players still remember the heated discussions sparked on the forum when they found out that the concept of Ascension did not exist in “Heavenly Dust”.
After intense debates and considering the usual attitudes of NPCs in the game, players thought this setting made sense.
They asked themselves, in such a vast world, could anyone truly live without worries?
If the purpose of cultivation was to ascend and leave this world behind, severing all ties, then the stronger the cultivator, the more heartless they might become.
Yet on the contrary, the cultivators in Heavenly Dust Continent indeed transcended the ordinary, but if you remove their cultivation base, they are not much different from mortals.
Simply put, cultivators are just individuals with cultivation.
You might not believe it, but even the arrogant and domineering Demon Sect…
takes holidays!
The disciples are allowed to return home for holidays, especially during the New Year. Those with a home would return, and for those without one, the Demon Sect served as their home.
Not only the Demon Sect, but most Cultivation Factions operate this way.
The reason is simple.
Once someone steps into the realm of cultivation, they gain extraordinary skills and a lifespan beyond ordinary people.
Even if they only entered the first realm, living for more than a hundred years would be easy.
Ordinary mortal, with their relatively short lifespans, are destined not to be able to accompany cultivators for their entire lives. They will eventually leave and disappear from the world of cultivators.
Since not everyone can cultivate, it’s normal for cultivators to have mortals as parents, siblings. Departures are unavoidable.
A minority of cultivators take this basis and believe that “forgetting emotions” and “obliterating one’s nature” are the ultimate Dao!
But in fact, most cultivators in the Heavenly Dust Continent take the opposite approach.
Because departures are inevitable, everything becomes more precious.
The “human touch” and “worldly atmosphere” are the main reasons why countless players are immersed in the game “Heavenly Dust”.
In the eyes of many players, it is like a real world. For Lu Xun, it has indeed become the real world.
So for him, he naturally hopes that cultivators can act more like normal people, so life can be easier.
Having nothing better to do, Lu Xun sits cross-legged and begins to cultivate again.
Although the experience points gain isn’t much, a small mosquito is still meat, and the feeling of cultivating is quite addictive!
Soon, his body began to itch, and then it started to ache slightly.
In return, he saw his experience points grow slowly.
After several small circulations, he opened the experience bar and saw his current experience points were [110 / 1000].
He could roughly cultivate one Grand Circulation per day, equivalent to ten small circulations, and gain 20 experience points.
So without factoring in other variables, relying solely on cultivation, he would need just 44-5 days to level up. Hahaha!
The practice of the Qi Consumption Technique isn’t really challenging. Someone talented could reach the Great Perfection level in no time.
“It seems besides the Prestige Value Tasks, I need to find other ways to gain experience, ” Lu Xun thought to himself.
Meanwhile, in a small-city tavern far away from the Demon Sect, a storyteller is passionately narrating a story.
He appeared middle-aged, wearing a plain white robe and resembling a poor scholar who failed to pass his examinations.
There are many such people. The lucky ones marry a woman willing to support their studies, allowing them to continue their studies even in old age. Those less fortunate typically find jobs to support their families.
The middle-aged man stood beside a table, a closed folding fan in his left hand, and narrated tales of cultivators.
The audience loves these stories. After all, people are often drunk in things removed from their own lives.
The storyteller is highly skilled, his tone leisurely. The narratives he weaves are deeply engaging, creating vivid pictures in listeners’ minds.
However, his left hand, the one holding the fan, his pinky slightly raised, gave him a somewhat dainty air.
At the climax of his story, he seemed thirsty. He stopped, leisurely took a sip of tea, and leaned on the table, his gesture flamboyantly elegant.
The listeners began to urge him to continue. Who could stand such suspense?
Seeing everyone urging him to go on, the storyteller smiled graciously, cleared his throat and resumed the story.
After finishing the narrative, a man in black with a dark complexion, collected donations from the audience with a tray in hand.
Having a broad face and towering figure, the man resembled a diligent farmer. His simple smile, perhaps from constant laughing, showed a lot of crinkles around his eyes. His deep forehead lines made him seem old-fashioned and rustic.
This is a small city shop and the audience can’t compare with the affluent men in large taverns. However, the storyteller’s narrative was indeed compelling, and some generous listeners gave handsome tips.
Before tipping, the listeners couldn’t help but praise, “Your storytelling is excellent, but it was a bit short!”
“Long enough, long enough,” the storyteller smiled, bowing his thanks to every tipper.
Since he isn’t the permanent storyteller of the tavern, and used the place for only a couple of days, he had to share a portion of the tips with the tavern. So, he didn’t get much in the end.
This was the last day. Even though the tavern owner urged him to stay, the storyteller and the rustic man courteously declined and left.
Two days of storytelling was enough for the storyteller.
The rustic man walked with vigorous strides, while the storyteller took small steps. To be precise… they looked very much like mincing steps.
After leaving the tavern, the rugged man asked, “Master, are you sure you don’t want to go back to the mountain?”
“What for?” the scholar in the white robe asked.
“Don’t you want to see our little junior brother?” the man said as he walked.
“What’s there to see, could he be exceptionally good-looking? Doesn’t he have two eyes, two ears, one nose and a mouth just like everyone else?” The middle-aged scholar fixed his slightly wrinkled robe. Passing a stall selling bronze mirrors, he didn’t forget to check his reflection.
The rugged man knew deep down that the master was vain. Though the master was not exceptionally handsome, he was incredibly vain.
Apart from being vain, the master was also very jealous. Therefore, he didn’t like men who were too good-looking.
Thus, Shen Yan was able to claim the position of Sect Master of Demon Sect. In addition to his supreme cultivation base, and being the most respected among his peers, he was also very short and unattractive, with no hair on his head…
The master was very satisfied.