Chapter 199 - - 199 Seven Stars Limited Faction_1

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The few from Sky Mist Valley were sealed in cultivation and imprisoned in a side hall.

Duge and the others were tallying the captured resources.

“Yellow Dragon Pill, Peiyuan Pill, Revitalizing Pill…” The junior sister saw the elixirs inside a few pill bottles, and suddenly laughed at herself, “Dad treasured a single Yellow Dragon Pill so much that he left it for me. The eldest senior brother went mad from cultivation deviation, without even a single healing pill. With no regard for morals, Sky Mist Valley seized another sect’s resources. Their ordinary disciples carry such elixirs even when they go out on missions. Sect Head Senior Brother, you were right; plundering is indeed the foundation of a sect’s prosperity. When have we ever been so affluent?”

Seeing the junior sister’s increasingly radical views, Duge smiled and said, “Junior sister, plunder is a path, not a means. You must distinguish the difference between the two. If you plunder indiscriminately, regardless of who it is, eventually you’ll become a Demon Head despised by everyone. Seven Star Gate, after all, is one of the Righteous Sects. If it turned into an evil sect, it wouldn’t be far from annihilation. The way of plundering must be about method and means.”

“The kind of methods used by Sky Mist Valley?” The junior sister scoffed.

“No, last night I realized a deeper method,” Duge smiled and said, “It’s smarter than theirs.”

“Senior brother, was it the method you used last night to extract a heart from afar?” the seventh junior brother raised his head and asked.

“That’s a technique, not a method,” Duge said, “Once you understand our sect’s mental method, you’ll be able to do it too.”

The seventh junior brother nodded, then asked, “Senior brother, can we really plunder others’ cultivation levels?”

“The Big Dipper Seven Star Skill can even intercept starlight, let alone plundering cultivation levels,” Duge laughed and said, “But I haven’t yet worked out a cultivation technique for plundering someone’s cultivation level. Once I find the suitable mental method, I’ll teach it to you all.”

“So what’s the plundering method you mentioned, senior brother?” the junior sister asked.

“I ask you, what are the essentials for cultivation?” Duge inquired.

Both of them shook their heads at the same time.

“Wealth, partner, technique, land,” Duge raised four fingers and said, “Wealth, you all understand. It’s money, spirit stones, the basis of cultivation; without wealth, you can’t even buy elixirs, let alone cultivate;

Partner refers to a Dao partner, fellow cultivators, fellow sect members, just imagine, if Seven Star Gate also had thousands of disciples, even if they’re all at the Qi Cultivation Stage, would Sky Mist Valley dare target us? Would those guys dare to raid us at night?

Technique is the cultivation methods; Seven Star Gate lacks a general outline, can’t advance in cultivation and naturally cannot progress further. Luckily, this is about to be made up for;

Land refers to the mountain gate, the Dao place. Why does Sky Mist Valley go to such lengths to seize our mountain gate if not for their own cultivation?”

“Wealth, partner, technique, land—we’re lacking three of these,” the seventh junior brother said with a bitter smile, dejectedly, “No wonder Seven Star Gate continues to decline.”

“Senior brother, you’re making a lot of sense. But we have neither the money nor the people right now,” Guan Xuan pointed at a few money bags that they had plundered, “Even with all these things we’ve robbed, it’s not enough for our cultivation. Besides, Seven Star Gate is not well-known, and we won’t have people coming to seek apprenticeship. With the incident with Sky Mist Valley known, it’s even less likely for anyone to come.”

“If our reputation isn’t well-known, then let’s first make it known,” Duge smiled, “Junior sister, you eat a meal one bite at a time, you walk a path one step at a time. Gradually accumulate wealth, trust me, one day Seven Star Gate will become a renowned major sect.”

“How do we accumulate?” the junior sister asked.

“Shareholding!” Duge declared.

“…” The seventh junior brother and junior sister looked at each other, both completely baffled.

“I plan to use the Seven Star Gate’s mountain gate as collateral to first gather the floating wealth in the hands of the civilians below the mountain,” Duge said, having decided to plunder through capital means, he couldn’t think in the way of the Immortal Martial World any longer.

Last night’s battle made Duge realize that in the Immortal Martial World, he still had a long way to go; struggling to defeat a few Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators, let alone those at the Foundation Establishment Stage in Sky Mist Valley.

Even with a true cultivation technique, it wouldn’t be possible to train in such a short amount of time.

Thus, he had to rely on attributes.

So, the surrounding civilians, they had to be plundered too.

Direct plundering was something he couldn’t reconcile with his conscience; Duge rarely acted against the ordinary people, who were just like leaves in the wind, at the mercy of power and authority—pitiful people. Moreover, this was the real world, not a simulation, which made them even more pitiable.

But banding them together for mutual prosperity was a different story.

The original shares are quite valuable, pushing Seven Star Gate to go public. Now we take their money and will repay them generously in the future. No one loses.

Moreover, what Duge wants is not their money, but the attributes brought about by plundering.

As long as the scale of Seven Star Gate is expanded, attracting more big players, and giving back just a little to the original shareholders, that will be enough to make a qualitative leap in their lives.

Duge has this confidence, to grow and strengthen Seven Star Gate.

“Sect Head Senior Brother, those commoners at the foot of the mountain don’t have money either!” Junior Sister frowned, “Moreover, what the sect needs for its development are spirit stones, not worldly wealth.”

“Junior Sister, many a mickle makes a muckle. Once we have worldly wealth, spirit stones will come sooner or later,” Duge said with a smile, his words laden with deep meaning, “With more worldly wealth, Seven Star Gate will become more popular. People are the key to everything.”

“Aren’t we going to deal with Sky Mist Valley anymore?” Seventh Junior Brother said.

“How to deal with them? Just with the three of us?” Duge glanced at him, “Junior Brother, Sky Mist Valley was keeping watch over our people, and we’ve caught all of them in one fell swoop. The news can’t be sent back for now, and while they still haven’t realized it, we should develop ourselves first. Strive to have the power to protect ourselves by the time they react…”

“But I still don’t understand how gathering the people’s wealth relates to strengthening the sect,” Seventh Junior Brother said, “And it won’t be long before Sky Mist Valley notices something’s wrong over here!”

“You don’t need to understand, just do as I say,” Duge said, composed, “After the disciples of prestigious sects finish their training, they enter the secular world to gain experience and stabilize their Dao Hearts. My current situation is not much different from theirs; I must go through the trials of the worldly desires to gradually comprehend the essential mental method of our sect.”

Saying this.

He looked at the two of them, hesitated for a moment, and said, “Seventh Junior Brother, Junior Sister, actually, there’s something I haven’t told you. I have a feeling that what I realized from the Sect Leader’s command is different from what Master mentioned about the core of Seven Star Gate.

It’s something unfathomably profound. It opened up my wisdom and allowed me to see many things I couldn’t see before. I think that must be the essence of the Dao, or say, the grand principle of cultivation…”

“The essence of the Dao?”

“The grand principle of cultivation?”

Both exclaimed simultaneously.

“Right.” Duge nodded and asked, “Don’t you think I’ve changed from before?”

“You’ve changed indeed; it feels like you’re a different person.” Junior Sister nodded, “The old Third Senior Brother didn’t understand these things, nor was he so powerful.”

“Which do you like more, the old me or the current me?” Duge asked with a smile.

“When my father was still alive, I liked the old you,” Junior Sister looked at Duge, clenched her fists, a flash of ruthlessness in her eyes, “But at this time, I prefer the current Sect Head Senior Brother. The more powerful Sect Head Senior Brother is, the better.”

The Dao?

Seventh Junior Brother touched the Sect Leader’s command he kept in his bosom, “Sect Head Senior Brother, why do you say what you’ve realized is the essence of the Dao?”

Naturally skipping the question of identity, Duge said, “Seventh Junior Brother, if it were just the mental method of Seven Star Jue, it would have plainly told me so. But it didn’t; it’s more like it enlightened me, step by step guiding me to see the underlying rules of all things in the world.

If this isn’t the Dao, then what is?

The ancestor of our sect who, with a mortal body, captured the starlight for his own use and created the Big Dipper Seven Star Skill must have been a mighty one in the Cultivation World who understood The Way of Heaven and Earth!

Lucky for me, due to a serendipitous opportunity, I received his heritage. Otherwise, if Seven Star Gate were to fall, who knows how many years it would take for the Big Dipper Seven Star Skill to see its glory once again…”

Hearing this.

Seventh Junior Brother and Junior Sister showed their respects to that great yet unknown predecessor and felt a burning confidence in their hearts for the future. If the founder of Seven Star Gate was so formidable, they must not tarnish his legacy.

Duge looked at the two of them and earnestly instructed, “I wasn’t planning on discussing the Dao with you, but now that you know, you must not speak of it to others. Having the grand principle of the Dao within Seven Star Gate, if this news were to spread, it would truly bring disastrous calamity upon us.”

“Understood.” Both nodded solemnly.

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