Invite Players to a Cultivation World

PCliver and CoDestiny have already broken though to the third stage.

It really did take them less than two hours, though it was sorta close for PCliver.

They were able to spend the time 'cultivating' also doing other productive things. PCliver has been content chopping and gathering wood, but CoDestiny's chat quickly found it too boring, so he instead decided to practice combat against the golems.

They keep respawning shortly after being defeated, so it had been good practice at first.

Eventually CoDestiny found the fights too repetitive, so he started agro-ing all three golems at once.

Those fights were certainly interesting. It also seemed like he might loose the earlier ones, but fortunately he was durable enough to withstand their attacks.

Then things got even easier once he reached the third stage. At that point there was very little he needed to be worried about. He even had to set himself the challenge of not getting hit for as long as possible while not destroying the golems.

None of this gained CoDestiny any Sect Points, but he'd stopped worrying about that. Eventually there will be a way to gain SP from combat, and he's preparing for that time.

"Hey guys. Sorry if I kept you waiting." JadeBea arrives, having spent her time harvesting Sky Pearls. "I don't think I'm as good at this as you two are, as I only just broke though."

"Don't worry about it." PCliver says. "You're the best a getting SP, and I think that's gonna be the most difficult thing at this point."

"Really? Do you know how much the next technique costs?" JadeBea asks.

"300 SP." CoDestiny says. "Cliver showed me the shop and that's what the Parallel Consciousness Technique is priced at. I don't imagine you have enough?"

JadeBea smiles. "Somehow the higher cultivation actually made it easier to harvest the Pearls. My hand dexterity and focus were better that before. As a result, I'm now at 307 SP."

"Wow." PCliver is impressed. "And how much of that is from cultivating?"

"22 SP." JadeBea answers.

"That lines up with what we observed." PCliver nods. "The Impurity Cleansing Technique earns SP at roughly 10 per hour, so we can't rely on it for buying techniques."

"It's good to see you figuring this out, but I should clarify something." Master Stone appears.

"Sect Master!" The three disciples bow.

"Very good." Master Stone smiles. "As I was saying, the rate the technique earns you Sect Points depends on how favourable the Void Fae see your use of the technique. Mostly this depends on how much impurities you are cleansing, which can be increased by staying in a place where they are of more suitable density for your strength."

"What do you mean by that?" PCliver asks.

"The higher the density of impurities, the harder it is to draw any in to be cleansed. This is because they have that annoying habit of trying to drag the impurities back. You probably already noticed this a bit." Master Stone explains. "That's why it's better to go to somewhere with barely enough density for you to constantly draw them in."

"Where can we find such a place?" JadeBea asks.

"Very far from here." Master Stone says. "Across this entire world, this forest has the highest density of impurities, being suitable for someone in the third realm, which you are far from reaching. By leaving the forest you could find somewhere better suited to you, even if it wouldn't be perfect."

"So we should be trying to go out as far as possible?" CoDestiny asks.

"That's a bit unrealistic, as the forest is much larger than you realise." Master Stone says. "That's not even taking into account the beasts you would have to fight on the way. The boar you encountered yesterday was abandoned by it's family for being too weak, and the beasts will only get stronger as you go further."

"Shouldn't the strongest beasts be the ones at the centre of the forest. Why is it the other way around?" PCliver asks.

"That's because beasts also don't like impurities, so the stronger ones have claimed the areas of lower density, forcing the weak to stay far from the edges." Master Stone answers. "But enough of that, I'm sure you are eager for the next technique." He takes out a book.

"The Parallel Consciousness Technique." PCliver says. "I saw its description, but don't fully understand how it works."

"To explain, I must talk to you as a member of Sect Tech, rather that your sect master." Rean Stone says. "The VR headset you are currently using is big and clunky, but it is necessary for you to get started. But when you purchase this technique, my team will send out a better model that is instead more of an earpiece. The problem is that this earpiece will only work if you're doing a certain mental exercise. This mental exercise is difficult to learn normally, which is why we must teach it from within the game using the Leaning Charges."

"And that mental exercise is the Parallel Consciousness Technique." CoDestiny guesses. "But what happens if we stop using the mental exercise IRL?"

"Then you log out, but this won't happen by accident as the exercise is similar to the Cleansing Impurity Technique in that it is trivial to maintain." Rean explains. "And the reason we do any of this to begin with is that when you log in with this technique, you can seamlessly control both your in game avatar, and your real world body."

"That's the part I find hard to believe." JadeBea says. "This game is really impressive, but there's no way you can accomplish something like that."

"I know it is hard to believe." Rean admits. "That's why I can only let you experience it for yourselves." He presents her the book.

"I was gonna buy it anyway." JadeBea says, taking the book and having her points deducted.

She immediately looks in the book to learn the technique, as do the other two.

When they then try the technique, nothing changes. They can certainly feel that it's working though.

"Your earpieces will probably arrive before todays appointed eight hours are up." Rean says. "Of course, once you have them you will be allowed to play for as long as you want. I will also advise you to check out the Task List I have now put up near the shop." And with that he disappears.

With nothing better to do, the disciples go to check out the task list.

What they find is a large board with tasks listed all over it.

The tasks include various gathering jobs, creating building for the sect, preparing a farm area, bringing Sky Pearl Tulips to the farm area (the entire plant, roots and all), and various other jobs.

But CoDestiny finds one of them to be particularly interesting.

Task: Kill the boar.

A boar has made its home on the other side of the nearby river. It is consuming many of the local resources and has a beast core that is valuable to the sect. Kill it using whatever method you can think of and bring its beast core to the sect.

Reward: 500 Sect Points, Precision Enhancement Technique added to shop, freedom to use the remainder of its carcass however you wish. (The hide is very durable)

Recommended cultivation: Qi-Refining fourth stage or greater

This is his chance for revenge, to show off to his audience, and to make use of the combat practice he's been getting.

"Either of you want to help me with this one?" He points to the task.

"We're not at the recommended level yet though." PCliver says. "And we don't have the respawn function unlocked yet."

"But we'll probably have that technique by the end of the day." CoDestiny says. "And considering the preparations we'll need to make, we'll be at the fourth stage by the time we're ready."

"I'll rather just continue with harvesting Sky Pearls." Jade says. "To unlock respawning we need someone to actually reach that point and buy it, so we can't all go to our deaths."

"That's fair." CoDestiny says. "How about you Cliver? I only want your help with the preparations, so you probably won't be in any danger."

"What kind of preparations are you thinking?" PCliver asks.

"Do you have any idea how to make a pit trap?" CoDestiny says.

PCliver smiles. "I think we're gonna get along very well."