Striking Hard in the Game, Timid in Reality

Wielding his great sword, Qi Yuan darted among the dudou... no, among the garment demons. He chained his minor skills without pause. Mighty Sword Skull Splitter! Xiaoxiang Sword Rain! Bloodlight Escape! EXP +300. EXP +200. ... EXP +400. Qi Yuan slaughtered to his heart's content, finally recapturing the true thrill of playing a video game. Every single thing before his eyes was an exp pack! He tore across the game world, laying waste in all directions. A sword thrust flipped a pair of oversized boxers! A cleave sliced an overcoat in two! A stab pierced right through a pair of suspenders! Qi Yuan fought with immense relish. Meanwhile, more and more garment demons swarmed around him. Trees snapped and shattered; garment demons were cleaved to ribbons. A perimeter dozens of meters wide became Qi Yuan's personal slaughterhouse. Like a god of death, the instant he drew near any garment demon, it turned into an exp bundle for him. Because it was night, the garment demons could not rally swiftly, each fighting on its own. To Qi Yuan, this was undoubtedly like a wolf unleashed among a flock of sheep. The sole reason he had been able to run rampant across the Xuanyuan Forbidden Ground back then was that the demon beasts there were completely disunited. And now, garment demons throughout the entire Robe and Crown Forbidden Ground were slowly rousing. As Qi Yuan went on his killing spree, some of the newly awakened demons, roused from deep slumber, were completely dazed. "So stampedes can happen even among demons." Seeing the distant "stampede," Qi Yuan charged straight in. A stampede among garment demons was naturally unique. Startled awake, their fight-or-flight instincts kicked in, prompting them to lash out recklessly and attack in blind panic. This in turn dragged many weaker garment demons down with them. "Die!" Embodying the god of grinding, Qi Yuan rampaged through the game. Yet after merely a few hours, Qi Yuan decided it was time to make a run for it. "No good, gotta bolt!" Although the senses of these garment demons were dulled considerably at night, the passage of so much time had allowed them to gradually form a military formation and march toward him. At a moment like this, running was the only answer. Just like before, Qi Yuan dug a hole and buried himself right in. "Not bad. Reached level 84, and my strength took another leap." After grinding for a night, he had accumulated one and a half levels' worth of experience and leveled up twice. "I'll aim to completely clear out the Robe and Crown Forbidden Ground within half a month!" Qi Yuan figured that if he pulled off a raid like this every night, he would pretty much have the forbidden ground's garment demons worn down to nothing in about two weeks. By then, he might even hit level 90. That would awaken another major skill. When that happened, his strength in the game world would skyrocket again. His clearing speed for other forbidden grounds and even death zones would pick up, bringing the spiritual items required for the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment well within reach. Thinking of this, Qi Yuan suddenly felt dejected. "Cultivation is way too hard. Just for a single Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment, I have to slaughter my way through an entire world? "Just how ridiculously strong must those legendary prodigies with a Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment be? "If I run into one in the future, I'd better steer clear." Lying in the pit, Qi Yuan shifted into a comfortable position and messaged Jin Li as usual. He recounted his night raid, wished her good night, and logged off. Lingering in the game for too long took a toll his mind could not handle. He had tested his limits: as things stood, staying in the game for more than half a day brought severe consequences. How severe? Just like a mortal suffering an acute bout of hypoglycemia, with his vision going entirely black. Hence, he rarely stayed in the game for twelve hours or longer. Yet just before logging out, he muttered under his breath, "Striking hard in the game, timid in reality." Indeed, he wreaked havoc in the game, cutting demons down in total rout. In reality, however, he walked on eggshells, unable to cut down even a single Origin Core expert. He could only wait until his knife developed sentience before he would have any hope of slaying one. And even then, it was merely a chance—hardly a guarantee. The next day, when Qi Yuan woke, he seemed to hear thousands upon thousands of quacking ducks. He opened his eyes, put on his clothes, and washed up. Stepping out into the courtyard, he looked at the three young women standing ahead and let out a yawn. "What are you all chatting about so early in the morning?" Among the three girls before him, one was his junior sister, Jiang Lingsu. Another was someone he recognized: the top-tier recruit admitted to the Divine Light Sect this year. Back when he was selecting junior sisters, he had excluded this girl. On the surface, she appeared innocent and pure, but a subtle trace of allure always flickered in her eyes. Qi Yuan remembered that his eyes had revealed her to possess a special physique, one that Old Demon Black Chicken had set his sights on. The final girl was ordinary-looking, her most noticeable feature being a generous dusting of freckles across her face. Generally speaking, cultivators rarely had freckles on their faces. "Greetings, Senior Brother." The three young women bowed. A head disciple held an exalted status. Even yesterday, when Zheng Jianghe was leading his team out, he had stopped to salute Qi Yuan before continuing on his way. Seeing that Qi Yuan looked like he had barely slept off his drowsiness, Jiang Lingsu could not resist saying, "Eldest Senior Brother, it's already midday. How is this early?" Qi Yuan looked up at the sun in the sky. It was big and round. He glanced back toward the three girls. *Ah, ah, ah... I must have spent too much time thinking about forming a golden core lately; everything I see looks big and round.* "What were you discussing that got you so worked up?" Qi Yuan asked casually. "What else could it be but the Black Mountain Sect!" the innocent-looking girl said, fury written across her face. Qi Yuan suddenly remembered that Zheng Jianghe had led the Golden Light Hall toward Rong City yesterday, which seemed to be related to the Black Mountain Sect. "What happened?" "A few days ago, a true disciple of the Black Mountain Sect named Chu Tianxiong committed atrocious crimes in Rong City. He violated several newlywed brides and wiped out their entire households! Truly abominable! "Senior Brother Zheng Jianghe led the Golden Light Hall and captured Chu Tianxiong in Rong City!" The girl grew increasingly agitated as she spoke, to the point of stumbling over her words. Jiang Lingsu chimed in, "Xiao Ran, don't get worked up. Let me explain. "Chu Tianxiong was captured by the Golden Light Hall, yet remained brazen and defiant. "Senior Brother Zheng Jianghe was just about to escort Chu Tianxiong back to the sect to face justice, but midway, an elder from the Black Mountain Sect appeared. He took Chu Tianxiong away by force and... even injured Senior Brother Zheng Jianghe!" All three girls were seething with anger. The freckled girl clenched her fists, wishing she could execute Chu Tianxiong with her own hands. Jiang Ran said, "The Black Mountain Sect has gone far too far!" The freckled girl could not help speaking up as well: "If it weren't for Old Demon Black Chicken, how would the Black Mountain Sect dare to act so brazenly?" At the mention of Old Demon Black Chicken, Jiang Ran's expression turned solemn as well. Qi Yuan, on the other hand, remarked, "I've watched plenty of television dramas. Villains never meet a good end!" The three girls looked completely bewildered, having no idea what a television drama was. Yet they understood the latter half of his sentence. A quiet fell over them. Did bad people... really never meet a good end? Jiang Lingsu still remembered that when a devilish overlord who had once slaughtered an entire kingdom visited her clan, both her father and grandfather had received him with the utmost courtesy. In the end, this was a world where strength reigned supreme. Bad people... often lived far more comfortably than good people. "Eldest Senior Brother is right. Good deeds beget good, and evil deeds beget evil. It is not that retribution will not come, but that its time has not yet arrived!" Jiang Lingsu chimed in nonetheless.