Chapter 56
Chapter 56: Insulting the Sect Master, One Point Deducted
“How did he die?” Song Jiu Lai nearly screamed.
She’d expected accidents—poison, ambushes, mistakes in battle.
She hadn’t expected someone to die from falling.
A cultivator. Falling to death.
It was absurd enough to be funny, except it wasn’t funny at all.
The System’s voice stayed flat. “He went up the mountain to draw a resource map. He slipped and fell.”
Early Qi Refining Stage cultivators didn’t really know how to fly. Not properly. Not reliably. And the falling sensation was real—heavy and honest, a stomach-lurching plunge that didn’t care what world you were in.
That cliff was truly high.
So he truly died.
Song Jiu Lai stared into the air for three seconds, then lifted her hand and tapped her brow, then the sides of her head, like a tiny, clumsy rite. “My condolences.”
As Sect Master, that was all she could do: mourn online.
But her mourning wasn’t the point. The point was that once Zhen Wei Da died, the entire sect received the broadcast.
[Ding!
Player “Zhen Wei Da” has fallen into the abyss and died. Let this be a warning to all players.]
Su Da Qiang froze. “Huh?”
Zhou Xiao’s eyes went wide. “Holy shit—you can die from falling?”
Han Tian sounded genuinely startled. “That counts as death? Seriously? That’s vicious.”
The moment he spoke, his livestream chat exploded.
“What happened?”
“Who died?”
“Are you saying someone actually fell to their death?”
Yeah.
Who would believe it?
The players didn’t. Not at first.
Some people logged off immediately, like shutting their eyes could shut away the possibility.
And in the group chat, Zhen Wei Da was already flooding the screen.
[Zhen Wei Da: Holy shit—HOLY SHIT! I died from falling!]
[Zhen Wei Da: My account really got banned! I can’t log in! I’m finished—I’m done!]
[Zhen Wei Da: I’m going to buy cigarettes right now. No elevator, no stairs—I’m walking the edge!]
[Zhen Wei Da: Trash game! Appeals don’t even work! I went up the mountain to measure coal data—how the hell does that count as me dying?!]
He ranted like a man drowning, grabbing at anything. The punishment—death equals a permanent ban—was too severe to swallow.
No one twisted the knife. They let him vent.
But inside, everyone grew sharper, more cautious.
So it was real.
Death meant a ban.
And it was this unforgiving.
Even falling counted. Who would ever think of that?
Su Da Qiang remembered the time he’d been poisoned, and all that had happened was his skin turning a strange color.
Thank goodness.
Thank goodness.
He patted his chest again and again, like he could knock the fear out of his ribs.
Not dying was a gift. From now on, he swore he wouldn’t run his mouth.
When Zhen Wei Da finally ran out of breath, Su Da Qiang jumped in.
[Su Da Qiang: Coal mine?
What coal mine were you measuring?
Wangan County has coal?]
[Zhen Wei Da: Yeah! Natural terrain—how could it not have coal? If I wasn’t looking for this stuff, I wouldn’t have climbed the mountain.
I’m so pissed. My grand plans died before they even started. I got wiped before I could do anything!]
[Yang Mei Mei: You’re hunting coal—what, you’re really planning to industrialize?]
[Zhen Wei Da: I heard their teleportation array is insanely expensive. Below Golden Core Stage, you basically can’t afford it.
Transport routes are slow, but they’re cheap.]
[Yang Mei Mei: Not realistic. Big sects split things up to keep the bottom from climbing. Even if we build it, you think they won’t crush us?]
[Zhen Wei Da: That depends on what Sect Master decides.
But that’s not the point—I’m dead!]
[Yang Mei Mei: My condolences.]
[Su Da Qiang: My condolences.]
[Wu Da Hu: R.I.P.]
[Zhen Wei Da: Condolences my ass—R your ass!
I’m lonely in the real world. Hurry up and come keep me company!]
No matter how loudly he screamed, the result didn’t change.
Zhen Wei Da was dead in the game. His ban was final.
And he was furious about it.
No one knew when the next recruitment slots would open. He could only swallow his rage and go watch Han Tian’s stream, where the chat was already mocking the idea of a cultivator dying from a fall as “unscientific” and “stupid.”
Zhen Wei Da just stared.
Yeah.
Who could have imagined it?
Who could have imagined it would happen to him?
At least he still had teammates—partners—outside the game. He could contact them in reality. Whether they’d stay motivated now was another question.
His death was a brutal blow to their plans.
But it would also make everyone else careful.
Maybe that was the only comfort.
Song Jiu Lai had no idea what Zhen Wei Da had been planning. If she had, she might have softened enough to try to slip him a slot next time.
A pity.
In First Mountain, with sect supplies backing her, Song Jiu Lai and the players beat demon beasts in ways that barely resembled normal cultivation life. Too rich. Too fast. Too reckless.
Then she received what counted as good news.
With only a few days left in the welcome event, the first mid Qi Refining Stage disciple appeared.
Mu Qiu.
She was a terrifying sort of person—choosing to fight alone from the beginning. She’d even run into a battle where three demon beasts teamed up, and she still forced her way through.
She used pills too, like Song Jiu Lai. But her combat instincts were sharp, her timing clean.
It made sense she reached mid Qi Refining Stage first.
Song Jiu Lai always rewarded first place. Cultivation mattered most of all, so after thinking it over, she granted Mu Qiu one hundred points.
[Ding. Congratulations to player Mu Qiu for becoming the first disciple in the sect to reach mid Qi Refining Stage. Reward: 100 points.]
Back with the Daoist group, people nearly jumped out of their skin.
“What the hell—she’s that strong?”
“Mu Qiu,” Wu Da Hu said, recognizing the name instantly. “Second-ranked talent big shot. Don’t mess with her. First place makes sense.”
Ma Little Bird frowned. “I thought it’d be Big Shot Han’s group. Isn’t the top talent with them? Too bad you can’t watch streams in-game. Otherwise we could see their speed.”
Wu Da Hu sucked in a breath. “Groups kill faster, but you don’t get room to go wild. Mu Qiu went solo. In a game where death means a permanent ban? That guts alone is insane.”
The Daoist’s eyes sharpened. “We can’t just sit behind everyone forever.”
Ma Dash laughed under his breath. “We already latched onto a thigh. If we’re not improving as fast as them, that’s normal.”
They weren’t as strong as the big shots.
But they had a cheat code.
They killed demon beasts—lots of them.
Wu Da Hu was still muttering, half awed, half bitter. “One hundred points. Who knew Sect Master would actually cough up something.”
The System chimed, colder than snow. “Insulting the Sect Master. One point deducted.”
Wu Da Hu froze. “…Hey! What?!”