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Several members of Tianlan Valley were imprisoned and had their cultivation sealed, confined within a side hall.
Du Ge and his companions were tallying the spoils of war.
"Yellow Dragon Pill, Peiyuan Pill, Rejuvenation Pill…" The little junior sister chuckled self-deprecatingly upon seeing the medicinal pills in several bottles, "Father treasured a single Yellow Dragon Pill for me like a precious gem. Our eldest senior brother succumbed to demonic possession, without even a healing pill to his name. How unjust, to plunder the resources of others' sects! Tianlan Valley, a sect that lacks righteousness, even their ordinary disciples carry such pills on missions. Sect Leader brother, you were right, plundering is indeed the foundation of a sect's prosperity. When have we ever been this affluent?"
Watching the increasingly radical little junior sister, Du Ge smiled, "Little junior sister, plundering is a principle, not a mere method. You must distinguish between the two. Indiscriminate plundering will eventually turn you into a despised Demon Head. Seven Stars Sect is after all a righteous sect; if we fall into wicked ways, our destruction won't be far off. The art of plundering is about technique and method."
"Techniques like those of Tianlan Valley?" The little junior sister scoffed.
"No, last night I had an epiphany and learned a more profound technique," Du Ge said with a smile, "far cleverer than theirs."
"Brother, was it the technique you used last night to remotely extract a person's heart?" The seventh junior brother looked up and asked.
"That's a skill, not a technique," Du Ge corrected, "Once you comprehend our sect's core teachings, you too will be able to do it."
The seventh junior brother nodded, then asked, "Brother, can we really plunder others' cultivation?"
"The Seven Stars Technique can even capture starlight, what's so difficult about plundering cultivation?" Du Ge laughed, "However, I haven't yet figured out the method to plunder cultivation. Once I find the appropriate technique, I will teach it to you all."
"What are the plundering techniques you mentioned?" The little junior sister inquired.
Du Ge posed a question, "What are the essential conditions for cultivation?"
Both shook their heads.
"Wealth, companions, teachings, and territory," Du Ge raised four fingers, "Wealth, as you know, refers to money, spirit stones, the foundation of cultivation; without wealth, you can't even buy medicinal pills, let alone cultivate;
Companions mean Dao companions, fellow cultivators, disciples of the same sect. Imagine, if Seven Stars Sect also had thousands of disciples, even if they were all at the Qi Refining stage, would Tianlan Valley dare to target us? Would those guys dare to launch a night raid on us?
Teachings are the methods of cultivation. Without a comprehensive guide, our cultivation cannot advance, but fortunately, we're close to filling this gap;
Territory refers to our sect grounds, our Daoist arena. Why do you think Tianlan Valley is so desperate to seize our territory? It's all for their own cultivation…"
"We're lacking three of those," the seventh junior brother said with a bitter smile, "No wonder Seven Stars Sect has become more and more decrepit."
"Brother, you make a good point. But we currently lack both money and manpower," Guan Xuan pointed to the few bags of loot, "These spoils aren't enough for our cultivation. Moreover, with Seven Stars Sect's lack of fame, we won't attract disciples. And with the incident at Tianlan Valley spreading, even fewer will come."
"If we lack fame, then we'll make ourselves famous," Du Ge smiled, "Little junior sister, we must eat one bite at a time, walk step by step. Gradually accumulating wealth, believe me, one day Seven Stars Sect will become a renowned major sect."
"How do we accumulate wealth?" The little junior sister asked.
"Shares!" Du Ge declared.
"…" The seventh junior brother and the little junior sister looked at each other, confused.
"I plan to use the Seven Stars Sect grounds as collateral to gather the floating wealth from the hands of the people below the mountain," Du Ge said, having decided to plunder using the ways of capital, he couldn't think in terms of immortals and cultivators anymore.
Last night's battle made Du Ge realize that in the world of immortals, he was still far from proficient. Struggling against a few at the Qi Refining stage, let alone dealing with those at the Foundation Establishment stage in Tianlan Valley.
Even with real techniques, there wasn't enough time to train properly.
So, he had to rely on attributes.
As for the surrounding populace, they had to be plundered too.
Direct plundering was against his conscience; Du Ge rarely targeted civilians, who were just a group of people swayed by power and circumstance. Moreover, this was the real world, not the Simulation Field, making them even more pitiable.
But leading them to wealth together was no issue.
Original shares were valuable. By taking Seven Stars Sect public, using their money now and returning the bulk to them later, no one would lose out.
Moreover, Du Ge wasn't after their money, but the attributes that came with plundering.
As long as he expanded Seven Stars Sect's influence and attracted more heavy hitters, giving back a little to the original shareholders would be enough to significantly improve their lives.
Du Ge had the confidence to grow Seven Stars Sect stronger and more powerful.
"Sect Leader brother, the commoners below the mountain don't have money either!" The little junior sister frowned, "Besides, the sect's development requires spirit stones, not worldly wealth."
"Little junior sister, every little bit adds up. With worldly wealth, spirit stones will come sooner or later," Du Ge said with a meaningful smile, "With more worldly wealth, Seven Stars Sect's popularity will also rise. With people comes everything else."
"Are we not going after Tianlan Valley?" The seventh junior brother asked.
"How do we go after them? Just the three of us?" Du Ge glanced at him, "Junior brother, the people Tianlan Valley stationed to watch us have all been caught in one fell swoop. The news won't get back for now, so while they're still unaware, we should focus on developing ourselves. By the time they catch on, we should have the strength to protect ourselves…"
"But I still don't understand, how does gathering the commoners' floating wealth relate to strengthening the sect?" The seventh junior brother said, "Besides, it won't take long for Tianlan Valley to realize there's a problem here, right?"
"You don't need to understand, just do as I say," Du Ge said confidently, "Disciples of great sects enter the secular world to temper their Dao hearts after their training is complete. My situation is similar now; I must experience the mortal world to gradually comprehend the core teachings of our sect."
With that, he looked at the two, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Seventh junior brother, little junior sister, actually, there's something I haven't told you. I have a feeling that what I've realized from the Sect Leader's command is different from what our master described as the Seven Stars Sect's core teachings.
It's something profound and mysterious. It has opened my wisdom, allowing me to see many things I couldn't see before. I think it might be the essence of the Dao, or perhaps, the core of cultivation…"
"The essence of the Dao?"
"The core of cultivation?"
Both exclaimed in unison.
"Yes," Du Ge nodded, "Don't you feel I've changed from before?"
"You are different, like a completely different person," the little junior sister nodded, "The third senior brother from before didn't understand these things, nor was he so powerful."
"Which do you prefer, the me from before or the me now?" Du Ge asked with a smile.
"When my father was still here, I preferred the you from before," the little junior sister looked at Du Ge, her fists clenched, a fierce light flashing in her eyes, "But at this time, I prefer the current Sect Leader brother. The more powerful the Sect Leader brother is, the better."
The Dao?
The seventh junior brother touched the Sect Leader's command in his pocket and asked, "Sect Leader brother, why do you say what you've realized is the essence of the Dao?"
Naturally skipping over the issue of identity, Du Ge explained, "Seventh junior brother, if it were just the Seven Stars Technique's teachings, it would have clearly told me so. But it didn't. Instead, it's more like it's enlightening me, guiding me step by step to see the fundamental rules of how all things in the world operate.
If this isn't the Dao, what is?
With a mortal body, capturing starlight for one's own use, the ancestors of our sect who created the Seven Stars Technique must have been cultivators who understood the Dao of heaven and earth!
Fortunately, by a stroke of luck, I've received their legacy. Otherwise, if Seven Stars Sect were to fall, who knows how many years it would take for the Seven Stars Technique to shine again…"
Hearing this, the seventh junior brother and the little junior sister respectfully admired the unknown ancestor and ignited a burning confidence in their hearts. If the founder of Seven Stars Sect was so powerful, they could not tarnish his reputation.
Du Ge looked at them seriously and cautioned, "I wasn't planning to tell you about the Dao, but now that you know, don't let it spread. The fact that the Dao's core teachings have fallen into Seven Stars Sect's hands, if that gets out, it will truly bring us to ruin."
"Mhm," both nodded solemnly.