Chapter 2
As Expected, an Evil Cult! Taking Advantage of Me When I Wasnât Looking!
Guixi Sect.
Lin Qingfeng was in a surprisingly good mood today.
For the first time since the sectâs founding, the sect channel finally popped up with a proper mission.
[Mission: The Guide]
Description: A new sentient being wishes to join the Guixi Sect. Senior Brother Lin Qingfeng, please go and receive them, and familiarize them with the sect.
Qualification: False spiritual roots of the gold, wood, water, and earth elements â cultivation prospects grim, aptitude dull, bones of the lowest grade.
Rewards: +100 Sect Contribution, +500 Cultivation, +10 Sect Reputation.
Lin Qingfeng stared at the mission panel.
The rewards werenât much, but he couldnât stop grinning.
Finally! After all this time since the server opened, an NPC took the bait!
Sure, the aptitude was trash⌠but it was still the first one!
Excited, Lin Qingfeng leapt off his Cold Jade Bed.
The game âAshes of Heavenâ offered two very different paths at the start.
The first path: [Born Native].
Players choosing this would begin as ordinary mortals in a vast cultivation world, starting from scratch.
They had to wander around searching for opportunities â
either joining an NPC sect (and competing with countless other players for limited slots and quests),
or living as rogue cultivators with no protection or resources, but total freedom.
This path frustrated many rich players who couldnât just throw money at it â
but for those seeking immersion and realism, it was the perfect choice.
The second path: [Found a Sect].
This path was clearly designed for player guilds and the whales of the world.
With enough real-world money at the start, players could directly create their own sect.
When a sect reached level three, the founder would unlock the Sect Master Transfer Stage,
and once the beginner protection phase ended,
the system would automatically appoint the founder as the official Sect Master â
granting top-level permissions and unlocking advanced gameplay.
Of course, the drawbacks were also obvious.
Once protection ended, any threat of extermination meant total annihilation â
unless you paid a mountain of spirit stones (real money) to summon the âformer sect masterâ NPC Elder back into action.
But if you didnât become a sect master,
you couldnât join the âDemon Suppression Grand Ceremonyâ event,
nor explore the wider world.
More importantly â
a sect master got to control all sect resources and distribute them within the guild.
No loot left for outsiders!
Plus, each sect came with functional NPCs â
skill instructors, alchemists, blacksmiths, quest givers, and more.
This massive difference in experience caused a flood of guilds to rush in at launch,
each staking out its own mountain in the cultivation world.
And thus, a whole bunch of bizarre sects appeared:
The âUnderpants Sect.â
The âPalworld Sect.â
The âBeggar Sect.â
Even a âCombat Mage Sectâ with utterly chaotic aestheticsâŚ
These names were so ridiculous that even stray dogs in the area would probably walk around them.
Because low-level sects were restricted to their spawn mountains,
they couldnât wander far enough to recruit local NPCs â
leaving many guilds stuck at the very first mainline sect mission.
But their Guixi Sect was different!
Just listen to that name â
Guixi Sect â âReturn to Dawn.â
So elegant! So orthodox! So steeped in that traditional immortal flavor!
(Also, a sly pun â âReturn to the Westâ â i.e., dead and gone.)
Lin Qingfeng couldnât be prouder.
To attract even a single native NPC disciple, their guild had spared no expense â
even constructing late-game buildings like the Demon-Sealing Tower and Path-Seeking Stairway ahead of time.
But months passedâŚ
and not even a ghost showed up.
Meanwhile, their neighbor âForget-their-Son Qiao Family Sectâ didnât get any NPCs either,
but they went viral online by standing at their gate, all wearing masks and singing together!
They even started holding masked concerts in real life â
charging more for tickets than A-list celebrities!
So unfair!
Their sect was serious â
as proper and dignified as a real immortal sect could be â
and yet they couldnât even get a splash of attention!
To make it worse, the upcoming âDemon Suppression Grand Ceremonyâ event required sects to reach level 3 to qualify.
But without native NPC disciples, they couldnât complete the main quests.
Without quests, no level-ups.
A perfect deadlock.
If they couldnât recruit anyone soon,
they wouldnât even qualify for the preliminaries!
Though Lin Qingfeng said nothing, he was already panicking inside.
Now, finally â
a miracle!
Even if this new recruit was weakâŚ
this was the first native disciple to join them â
a small step for the NPC, but a giant leap for the Guixi Sect!
Wasnât this the takeoff moment?
Woohoo!
Until now, their sect was populated only by players â
plus one system-issued emotionless NPC: Qian Buyu.
This guy had multiple jobs: sect master, instructor, quest elder, registration officer â
basically any role that needed an NPC to stand there looking decorative.
Heâd even bug out sometimes â
getting stuck halfway through a wall,
or gesturing and talking to empty air.
Sometimes quest rewards glitched into gibberish,
and once he even teleported everyone back to the spawn point by accident.
By now, everyone was used to it, posting screenshots of âQian Buyu bugsâ on the forums for laughs.
But today was different!
This time, the mission explicitly mentioned a âHigh-Intelligence Interactive NPC.â
That meant â
a self-thinking, responsive junior disciple who could actually interact!
Heart pounding, Lin Qingfeng rushed toward the sect gate,
rehearsing lines in his head â how to act wise and impressive,
how to make this new disciple feel that joining Guixi Sect was the best choice of her life.
At last, he arrived at the gate.
And saw⌠her.
A thin girl in red, standing at the threshold,
repeatedly stepping in â and then out.
In, out, in, out.
Left foot in, right foot in, left foot out, right foot outâŚ
Her expression shifted from shock to confusion â
and even a hint of fascination?
Lin Qingfengâs smile slowly froze.
The excitement in his chest cooled halfway.
What the heck was this?
Was her model stuck on the map boundary?
Or did she trigger some bizarre bug?
Where was the âhigh intelligenceâ in this?!
Refund! Now!
Watching her hop back and forth at the doorway,
he sighed helplessly.
Well⌠she looked dumb, and her aptitude was garbage â
but she was still their first native NPC disciple.
Even if he had to lie through his teeth,
heâd recruit her!
You got this, Lin Qingfeng!
He took a deep breath, straightened his robes, put on his best âsenior brotherâ smile,
and walked up.
He was ready for anything â
even some eldritch horror whispering strange phrases.
But as he neared, the girl suddenly stopped.
She stood motionless inside the gate, seemingly deep in thought.
Huh?
Did she unfreeze?
Maybe that weird walking was just her model loading?
Lin Qingfeng perked up, quickening his pace.
âHello, future junior sister! Welcome to Guixi Seââ
The girl didnât react.
She kept her head lowered, as if she hadnât heard a word.
Lin Qingfengâs grin faltered again.
Seriously?
Iâm right in front of you!
Canât you see me?
Did her hearing module break too?
Or is she still loading?!
Great â
a bugged body, broken brain, and deaf ears.
This wasnât âhigh intelligence,â this was âhigh malfunction!â
A vein popped on his forehead.
Suppressing the urge to storm the forums and rant about the devs,
he stepped closer and tapped her shoulder gently.
âYouâre here, right?â
âJunior sister? Can you hear me?â
âAAAAAAAHHH!!!â
A scream pierced the air, nearly rupturing his eardrums,
echoing across the mountain gate.
Even Lin Qingfeng jumped from fright.
The girl, as if electrocuted, stumbled back three full steps,
staring at him with terror â
her hands instinctively covering her chest.
âYouâyouâyouâ
What are you doing?!
Why did you suddenly appear beside me?!
What⌠what did you just do to me?!â
Sure enough â
a demon cultivatorâs reaction!
In broad daylight, and she accuses me of impropriety?!
