"Third Senior Brother, thank you." After emerging from the First Senior Brother's room, the Junior Sister wiped away the tears on her face and sincerely gave Duge a bow.

"What are you thanking me for? The position of Sect Leader was something I seized," Duge glanced at her, toying with the Sect Leader token in his hand, "And from now on, call me Sect Leader Senior Brother."

"Yes, Sect Leader Senior Brother." The Third Senior Brother had willingly taken up the burdens of Sect Leader, which made the Junior Sister burst into smiles, teasing him subconsciously. But when she remembered that their decrepit sect was now down to just the two of them, and they still had to face the imminent threat of being devoured by Sky Mist Valley at any moment, her smile faded, "Third Senior Brother, what should we do next?"

"Call me Sect Leader Senior Brother." Duge continued to correct her.

"Alright, alright, Sect Leader Senior Brother." Guan Xuan's heavy heart was interrupted again, and she couldn't help but give Duge a white look, "Sect Leader Senior Brother, what should we do now? There are only the two of us left in the sect."

"Is First Senior Brother dead?" Duge gave her a puzzled look, "Or did we expel him from the sect?"

"..." Guan Xuan was taken aback, flustered in her attempt to explain, "Third Senior Brother, that's not what I meant..."

"Call me Sect Leader Senior Brother." Duge persisted with the correction.

"Sect Leader Senior Brother." Guan Xuan caught her breath, her emotions interrupted once more; facing the suddenly bizarre Duge, she momentarily didn't know what to say.

"Guan Xuan, I may have snatched the Sect Leader position from First Senior Brother, letting him lay down the burden in his heart, and he had already lost the will to live. You keep saying that there are only the two of us left in the sect---do you truly wish him dead?" Duge looked at her, his face earnest.

"I... I didn't mean that..." Tears welled up in Guan Xuan's eyes again.

"Junior Sister, the dead have passed on; there's nothing we can do to bring them back, but we cannot afford to lose a single one of those who are alive." Duge glanced at the tightly closed door of the First Senior Brother, his voice firm, "I think First Senior Brother, being such a responsible man, would not want to be a deserter."

Inside the room.

First Senior Brother listened to Duge's righteous words and quietly clenched his fists.

Indeed, his Third Junior Brother had not given up on him.

Since Third Junior Brother had not given up, he should not give up on himself either.

Third Junior Brother was right; in times of crisis, he took up the heavy burden, and as the First Senior Brother, he could not be a deserter.

Trickles join to make a sea.

At the start, one cannot afford to miss any opportunity for improvement, feeling the enhancement of his attributes, Duge continued to hold the incapacitated man in the room on a higher moral pedestal: "Guan Xuan, let me ask you again, how many people are left in the sect?"

"Three," Guan Xuan said.

"Have the Seventh Junior Brother, Second Senior Brother, and Fifth Junior Brother also been expelled?" asked Duge.

"They... they ran away, didn't they?" Guan Xuan's eyes widened.

"Who allowed them to run? Did I, the Sect Leader, agree to it?" Duge said, "Not to mention the Seventh Junior Brother is still at the sect's gate; even if he truly ran away, we need to bring him back. What does it mean by 'not a single one can be lost?' This is what it truly means to not lose a single one. Junior Sister, I don't care how First Senior Brother ran the sect, but now that I've become Sect Leader, the future Seven Star Gate will only have expulsions, no desertions..."

"..." Guan Xuan was stunned.

"Also, Junior Sister, do you know why I insist on you calling me Sect Leader Senior Brother?" Duge asked again.

"Why?" inquired Guan Xuan.

"Without rules, there can be no standards, and we are, after all, a formal sect. If the Sect Leader is not the Sect Leader, the Senior Brother is not the Senior Brother, how would outsiders view us?" Duge sighed, "Thus, even if there are only a few of us left in the sect, we must establish our rules."

What a tough job!

Third Junior Brother, you have suffered!

Inside, the First Senior Brother silently sighed once more, contributing another wave of attributes to Duge.

Guan Xuan appeared thoughtful.

"Let's go!" Duge looked at Guan Xuan and called out.

"Where to?" Guan Xuan asked.

"We need to persuade the Seventh Junior Brother to return," said Duge without looking back. A single tree does not make a forest, a single thread does not make a fabric; with just Junior Sister alone, it's simply not enough!

"Oh."

Guan Xuan responded, voluntarily following behind Duge.

Her eyes blinked curiously at the Third Senior Brother who was walking ahead. She felt that the moment he took the Sect Leader token from the First Senior Brother, it was as though he had become a different person. He became proactive, responsible, and seemed to bear the obligations even better than the First Senior Brother had...

But she had to admit, she liked this version of the Third Senior Brother, someone who seemed reliable.

Perhaps, this is what growth is all about!

Duge, walking ahead, was also contemplating the path ahead.

Just now, acting nobly did bring him certain benefits, but clearly, nobility cannot serve as the main keyword to exploit.

Nobility demands a good inner quality, magnanimity, bravery, sincerity, compassion... It sets high moral and quality standards, even more extreme than the previous 'kindness'. Indeed, such keywords contradict his nature;

To forcefully pursue nobility in this world would likely lead to an impossible journey.

The plunder of nobility would be even harder to achieve.

In comparison, the requirements for plunder are much simpler: it has no demand for morality whatsoever.

Of course.

That said, it's actually pretty challenging.

Plunder requires not just strength but also discretion. Right now, his power was enough to bully ordinary people and some nobodies, but what if by misjudgment, he robbed someone stronger than himself, how would he even know how he died?

However, merely plundering items like the Yellow Dragon Pill or the Sect Leader's token qualifies as common plunder, offering a meager attribute boost, not even enough to activate an advanced skill.

To truly profit from plundering, he must target something different or engage in robbery on a larger scale.

But large-scale robberies attract stronger enemies, drastically increasing the risks. It might even lead to exposing himself too quickly. With over a thousand candidates still on the Alien Battlefield, any one of them could have taken over a formidable figure and come after him.

This is why those with negative keywords often don't survive till the end...

If only he could awaken an advanced skill like 'Fixed Pricing', then he could customize his plundered items. Maybe then, he could seize others' keywords and skills.

Even if Pan-Universe Entertainment patched up the loophole last time he engaged in trade, preventing him from stealing keywords and skills, taking their cultivated spiritual power would work too!

Speaking of seizing spiritual power, Beiming magic power and Star Absorbing Technique are about forceful plunder of others' inner strength, right?

So does the Seven Star Gate's Big Dipper Seven Star Skill count as plundering starlight?

It should count!

This is about taking the essence of heaven and earth for oneself!

What a pity, this lousy Cultivation Technique lacks a general principle and a Body Training Method; otherwise, trying to snatch some starlight might have indeed activated a super advanced skill!

The key point lies in the advanced skills...

"Third... Sect Head Senior Brother, what are you thinking about?" Seeing Duge silent for a while, Guan Xuan couldn't help but ask.

"Thinking about which path to take in the future," Duge stopped walking, turned around and glanced at her. After thinking for a moment, he took off the load he was carrying and tossed it to his junior sister.

"..." Holding the bundle, Guan Xuan was at a loss.

"Carry it, a Sect Leader is the honor of a sect, it's not proper for a Sect Leader to carry the load while the disciples follow empty-handed," Duge said.

"The Sect Leader's token isn't even warm yet, and you're already putting on airs," Guan Xuan murmured with a pout.

"What did you say?" Duge asked.

"I said Senior Brother is right," Guan Xuan smiled and quickly put the bundle on her back, "Observing propriety starts with the smallest matters."

"Not bad, you're learning fast," Duge laughed and nodded at her.

"Sect Head Senior Brother, have you figured out the path we should take in the future?" Junior Sister Guan Xuan quickened her pace to follow behind Duge and asked.

"Almost," Duge nodded and said thoughtfully, "I've been pondering why our sect has fallen to its current state, and it's because Master took the wrong path."

The moment Guan Xuan heard Duge speak about her father that way, her instinct was to retort. But when she opened her mouth, no words came out. Her father was dead, and several brothers were either dead or had fled. If that path was reckoned as the right one, then there would be no such thing as a wrong path in the world.

"Those who cultivate go against the heavens, it's about contending with the heavens and people alike. Even our sect's Seven Star Jue revolves around taking the starlight of the Big Dipper for one's own use. Hence, the path of cultivation should be that of robbery, needing to snatch, seize, and compete."

Duge looked at her and continued, "Why has Sky Mist Valley grown so strong in just a few decades? It's because they've always been cunningly seizing what they want by any means necessary. But our Master was always benevolent and not competitive. Even when faced with enemies, he would seek help from the Supervisory Academy instead of figuring out his own solutions. That's how Sky Mist Valley exploited the loophole, leading us to a state where the sect is scattered, and people are gone..."

"But Third Senior Brother, you know that we don't have the power to contend with Sky Mist Valley," Guan Xuan was agitated, losing her composure and momentarily forgetting her status, "Facing Sky Mist Valley head-on will only get us killed faster."

"How do you know without trying?" Duge chuckled, "To cultivate, one must first establish a principle. The moment I seized the Sect Leader's token, I decided that from now on, the core principle of our Seven Star Gate will be plunder. Plunder from heaven, from earth, even from the air, and eventually, from the stars above, for our own use. Plunder is the path most suitable for our Seven Star Gate..."