How to Cultivate a Game

Zha Dong was an inner disciple of the Bones Devouring Sect. It was a relatively big sect that practiced demonic arts.

After 200 years of the Sect's hiding, the Bones Devouring Sect was now ready to unleash its evil once more to the world.

"Hmmm... as a cultivator in the Spirit Mystery realm, I was quite confident that no one is a match against me in these parts of the province..." Zha Dong extended his Spiritual Senses, gauging his surroundings for any particular threat.

The Spirit Mystery Realm was at the major 4th stage of cultivation. He had gotten the hang of the Spirit Mystery Realm, and only needed to stabilize his power. He flew on his sword, excited at the prospect of murder and gathering sacrifices to stabilize his cultivation. His figure streaked from the clouds with rapidity. Only cultivators at the 4th stage could fly on swords, making him a powerhouse in this low-level province.

"Like I said, this place was filled with weaklings… hehe… I guess it won't hurt to have fun while I am at it."

Zha Dong maliciously whispered to himself as he flew in his sword at a steady pace.

He was now on his way to a village further south from here. In order to reach the top once more, his Sect was seeking materials for their demonic arts— there was plenty of work to be done since their Sect Master returned from his closed-door cultivation.

Tasked to gather bones by any means possible, he made villages his primary targets for this excursion. Human bones were the best materials to create undead and artifacts. He wouldn't even specifically need the bones of high-level experts. Even mortal bones would do, and the strength of their Sect would be easily elevated.

Still, there are exceptions. It is also possible for the bones of beasts to be used as materials in their arts. Though the requirements are more constrained, that doesn't stop Zha Dong from becoming ambitious.

"If I could catch a beast with unique traits, it would definitely be a great help for us."

Using his Spiritual Senses, he searched for the nearest village on his way. From his Sect, he decided to go east and then south. So far, he had no luck and wasn't able to find any village. The villages around their hideout were long either annihilated or converted.

The Bones Devouring Sect's Master after his 200 years of closed-door cultivation had reached a new realm of strength. With this, the sect was confident of taking a big bite of the Kingdom of Blood and Iron, commonly known as the Biron Kingdom.

Biron was a small kingdom south of the continent. Top experts rarely came to this place because of the thin atmospheric qi. That was why Zha Dong loved this place.

As a bloodthirsty cultivator in the Spirit Mystery Realm who reveled in trampling the weak, this place was heaven to Zha Dong. Cultivators here rarely overcame the third stage of cultivation which was the Will Reiforcement Realm.

"In this place, I was invincible. I might as well have fun while I am here! Definitely!"

Zha Dong suddenly felt strong turbulence of qi. Judging from its fluctuation, it is at least in the Martial Tempering realm.

"I'm feeling confident today, how about I check it for myself? I could also relieve some of my stress by bullying those fellas! Heheheh..."

The bones of cultivators were certainly better than mortals. Greed momentarily flashed in Zha Dong's eyes as he locked on the qi that he sensed.

~~~

*RUUUMBLE!

The boar bellowed with intensity. Its bulk was menacing and imposed fear.

*TANG!

*TANG!

*TING!

Crisp sounds of steel met the boar's tusks. The rabbit was quite proficient in wielding its spear-like weapon.

Zha Dong flew with caution towards where he felt the qi. Zha Dong smiled at the sight of two Martial Tempering beasts duking it out. 

It was a boar and a rabbit. Zha Dong watched for a moment, taking his sweet time to measure the strength of the two. The forest was surely filled with life. It was teeming with vitality, so it was no coincidence that there were two Martial Tempering Realm beasts here. If these beasts could advance their cultivation further, they would have developed either as demonic beasts or sacred beasts.

"Oho, beasts with cultivation, huh? Not bad. They are a little bit better than ordinary humans. Moreover, they are easier to catch than human cultivators of the same level. These unintelligent beasts will be too easy a game."

Zha Dong more than feeling confident was feeling very lucky today. With an explosive dash, he instantaneously appeared at the boar's side.

*SWUUUUNG!

Zha Dong drew his steel mercilessly cleaving the boar in half. The boar was already heavily injured, so its death was inevitable.

"That's a nice spiritual artifact you have there, rabbit... Hehehe..." Zha Dong menacingly gazed at the stunned rabbit. "Try not to die quickly..."

Zha Dong kicked the soil, once again instantaneously appearing at his prey's side.

*STAB!

It was quick and deadly. The rabbit's skull was cleanly pierced. It was an instant kill.

Zha Dong happily looted his kills. First, the boar's bones, and testicles, then came next the rabbit.

"Was this a fork? Nevermind..."

Zha Dong unceremoniously placed the fork into his dimensional ring. He approached the rabbit, flexing his carving knife with excitement.

He started to cut it from head to toe in an unhealthy vigor. There was a reason why the demonic arts were called 'demonic arts'.

It was because they were evil!

They distorted the minds of the practitioners and made them walk a demonic path. Basically, any demonic or evil cultivator had fucked up heads because of what they were cultivating. The general Evil Cultivators had it better since they were simply evil, but those who had fallen to their demonic urges had truly become demons in human flesh. They were essentially the same, evil or demonic, and the only reason they were being distinguished from each other was because of the more prevalent demonic races, and the differences between demonic factions and evil factions and chaotic factions.

When Zha Dong was about to pull the bones of the rabbit, the rabbit suddenly turned to ash and vanished into the wind.

The horrid sight was eerie.

And Zha Dong could not help but panic at the sight!

In the gaps of his fingers was the ash of the dead rabbit, it flowed like sand, and a mysterious power still lingered in the air. But what induced more fear in Zha Dong was the sudden vanishing of the fork-like weapon of the rabbit from his dimensional ring.

He felt it— as if there was a tug in space almost imperceptible to his Spiritual Senses… The only reason he could feel it was because whoever was behind it must have no plans of being subtle. It was as if someone had threatened him that they would be coming for him!

"What the hell was that!?"

There must be a godly expert around here, these were Zha Dong's thoughts. And the rabbit he just killed must be one of the godly expert's people.

"Did I just fucked up big time?"

Zha Dong immediately flew with his sword, eager to get out of this place.

As a responsible member of a sect, however, he still had to complete his mission. As such, he had no choice but to rush to the village that he sought to harvest. He was enthused that a village was only a few kilometers from him!

The faster he can finish his job, the better.

~~~

Bi Yuan felt terrible. She eagerly rushed to the forest to accomplish her class advancement, but she just had to encounter that ferocious disgusting obnoxious dirty bad smelly annoying ape!

The said ape wore a black robe and wielded a sword drenched with evil aura. It was natural for Bi Yuan to feel hate for the cultivator as her nature had centered on the path of righteousness. That disgusting man was responsible for her death.

Bi Yuan, the little bunny, wasn't even able to react as the sword cleanly penetrated her skull.

It was a terrible wound that robbed her of her life in an instant. She felt it, her very life essence leaking from her, denying her existence— it was beyond scary. The fear could not compare to the intimidation she felt from the croc under the creek.

Bi Yuan grimaced at her inevitable death. She regretted being cocky and doing things as she liked. She realized she wasn't so invincible after all. Chilling coldness enveloped her as her life flashed before her eyes— the white ape, her first hunt, and everything. It was slowly fading to black.

Then... she died.

There was darkness and chilling silence. It was maddening for her.

But... a ball of light suddenly found her.

The little bunny found the ball of light inviting. She touched it, only to realize the next second that she was now back in the realm of the living.

~~~

[Name: Fu Shi

Quintessence: 84

Players: 0/1]

With a thought, I used my quintessence to resurrect Bi Yuan. It was easier than I imagined, only consuming a single quintessence throughout the process. I was lucky that Bi Yuan died only recently, and her soul had not yet left the mortal plane.

Ping! -1 quintessence.

Was life that cheap for the system? I felt cheated even though it was I who benefitted.

The rays of light gathered into a rainbow, and coalesced in front of me, into a shape, then into a familiar figure. Bi Yuan was resurrected in front of me. The sight of her clean white fur and lively eyes brought me immense joy.

[Name: Fu Shi

Quintessence: 83

Players: 1/1]

~~~

Meanwhile, the little bunny was confused… but thankful.

"Yuan'er! You are alive! HA—! YOU ARE ALIVE!" The White Ape called to her with a joyous tone. He was happy that she was alive.

Knowing this, the little bunny learned the warmth of having someone on her back. It felt comfortable to her. The most unbelievable thing, however... is how is this even possible?

"Kyu?" Finally, the thought hit her… but still, she could not believe it!

Bi Yuan cannot believe it! It was too heaven-defying!

"Ky-yu? KU-KYU!"

Did she just return to the world of the living!? Yes, she actually did! She might be a bit ignorant as a mere little bunny, but she at least knew how miraculous was it for her to be resurrected! This was a Gift! A Gift of Immortality!

Bunny and man reunited, and they hugged each other.

Bi Yuan looked to the one responsible for her resurrection, the White Ape. She wanted to express her gratitude but wasn't able to. The words would not come out of her mouth, but that was fine.

Her small chirping and affectionate nuzzling are all the White Ape needed to learn the feelings of the little bunny. But Bi Yuan could not really tell if the white ape was really happy.

"Ku~kuyuuu?" The White Ape's aura was just too scary.

"It's fine. Stay here in the cave abode for the meantime Yuan'er." The White Ape told her in a gentle manner.

~~~

I didn't know what Bi Yuan was thinking, but she looked scared to me. I swore I would make the one responsible for her death pay dearly a thousandfold of hurt!

"I am going to deal with this personally."

I then left my cave with livid fury.