Chapter 515: A cultured hooligan |
Trash skill!
The first thought that broke into Du Ge's mind was this.
After all.
This skill required him to deliberately induce, and the result of the induction was merely to make someone have evil thoughts.
Who knows what kind of evil thoughts might arise?
However, very quickly, Du Ge snapped awake, damn, a divine skill!
Before, when he tried to deceive people, he had to consider many factors, and if he encountered someone with their own ideas, deviations could occur.
With this skill, he could precisely direct them. If he wanted someone to be kind, he wouldn't guide them towards malice. If he wanted them to turn bad, he would lead them down the evil path, just like dealing with Brother Niu and others.
As long as they committed evil, he could punish the wicked and promote the good, and when being ruthless, he would have no psychological burden. In the eyes of the world, no matter how ruthless he was, he would still be seen as righteous.
In this orderly world of the three realms, this skill was truly a divine skill.
In the previous Alien Star Battlefield, Du Ge wanted to save more people, but in this Alien Star Battlefield, he started off with difficulties. Looking around, from the natives to the Alien Star warriors, all were enemies, so the primary goal became survival. Only by surviving could he have a chance to resist.
...
"What are your names?"
Du Ge asked.
The Free and Unfettered Sect truly lived up to its name, taking disciples without even asking their names first. Brother Niu sighed, "Senior, my formal name is Niu Changyi, but everyone just calls me Sanbao."
"Senior, I'm Liu Chun," said Old Five.
"I'm Zhao Sheng."
"I'm Liu Cai."
"I'm Jiao Dawen," said the young man whose stomach Du Ge had cut open.
"I see you've got a ranking system, with Old Four, Old Five, Old Seven and such?" Du Ge glanced at them and asked, "So, how many of you are there?"
"Reporting to Senior, there are nine of us brothers in total," Brother Niu said. "A year ago, my eldest and second brothers and I went out to make a living and encountered a tough guy. As a result, my eldest and second brothers died on the spot, and I was left with a scar on my face. Now, there are only seven of us left.
Earlier, the one driving the carriage was Old Six, and the one covering for you was Old Eight. They still have to keep an eye on the beggars in the street and will bring them back after dark."
Du Ge continued to ask, "How many people do you control?"
"Including adults and children, there are more than twenty," Brother Niu said. "On each street, there are three to four people. Any more and we can't get enough money."
"More than twenty beggars to support you seven?" Du Ge frowned.
If it were a righteous hero, Brother Niu would never reveal the inside story of their trade, as that would be no different from seeking death.
But this master in front of them, who betrayed his master and ancestors, was a complete demon head. Compared to him, Brother Niu felt that what they did was nothing, and he spilled everything like beans from a bamboo tube: "The money the beggars get is only for daily expenses. We mainly rely on collecting protection fees, and sometimes we kidnap lone women to sell to high-class brothels, or capture children to sell to high-ranking officials..."
Truly a scum gang!
Du Ge muttered in his heart and asked, "How much money can you make from these trades in a year?"
Brother Niu thought for a moment, "Reporting to Senior, throughout the year, we can make about eight hundred to a thousand taels of silver!"
"So little?" Du Ge sneered disdainfully, "That's not even as much as the silver I casually give away..."
Brother Niu's heart trembled again, and he chuckled dryly, "We're just small-time, naturally we can't compare to Senior."
"More than twenty people, enough to support me," Du Ge said with an old-fashioned air. "As you can see, in my current state, it's not suitable for me to show my face. If people find out, and it reaches the ears of my rebellious disciple, it will bring unnecessary trouble. So, Brother Niu, you will continue to handle the usual affairs, including my food, clothing, and expenses."
"Of course," Brother Niu said.
"You know how to talk to your two brothers, right?" Du Ge asked.
"I know, I'll persuade them," Brother Niu said.
"Persuasion won't work. When they return, have them meet me, join the Free and Unfettered Sect, and endure the necessary hardships," Du Ge said. "Cultivating the sect's divine skills often requires motivation from being incomplete. The human heart is hidden, and a normal person might run away at any moment, which would be a disaster for us."
As soon as he finished speaking.
Old Four and Old Seven's faces changed, and they knelt again, "Senior, we won't betray you."
"Won't you?" Du Ge snorted, "Who was it just now that said they wanted to trick me into teaching them the cultivation technique, and then seek revenge once they mastered it?"
The two of them simultaneously looked at Brother Niu.
"Don't look at him, look at me," Du Ge said. "I was in a worse state than you, so how did I manage to kill my master?
Because my sole focus was to restore my body, to seek revenge. Otherwise, I would have been a cripple for life. It was this determination that drove me, pushed me, and allowed me to master the divine skills step by step.
If I were a complete person, at any point, if I had a change of heart and gave up, the divine skills would have been forever out of my reach.
Without being incomplete, where's the motivation?
Think carefully, if you two and Brother Niu and Old Five were to cultivate at the same time, who would be more diligent?"
Old Four and Old Seven paused.
Old Four licked his dry lips and said in a low voice, "Naturally, it would be Third Brother and Old Five."
Brother Niu, deep in thought, looked at his severed hand and felt his motivation grow stronger.
"Do you want to master the divine skills and dominate the world?" Du Ge asked again.
Old Four and Old Seven hesitated, not daring to speak. The Free and Unfettered Sect had masters who skinned and dismembered their disciples, and disciples who hunted down their masters. Cultivation required breaking limbs, not exactly an appealing sect!
Anyone in their right mind wouldn't want to live such a miserable life.
"Do you think the people of the Free and Unfettered Sect are miserable?" Du Ge saw through their thoughts and asked with a cold smile.
Old Seven involuntarily nodded.
"Fools, do you know how old I am?" Du Ge asked.
Old Seven shook his head.
"As of today, I am seven hundred and eighty-three years old," Du Ge said, placing his hands behind his back with pride. "I met your grandmaster at twenty-five, mastered the skills at thirty, betrayed my master at forty-one, and lived freely for hundreds of years before being defeated by my rebellious disciple.
During this time, I traveled to famous mountains and rivers, tasted exotic delicacies, served as a general, became a prime minister, slept with princesses, played with heavenly immortals, and organized the grandest heavenly sea banquets..."
Du Ge reminisced with a look of nostalgia, "Do you know how happy I was during these hundreds of years? Do you know what a deep-sea golden cauldron is? Do you know what a white jade capital roulette is? Do you know what stir-fried red pills are?"
Seeing the two of them dumbfounded, Du Ge snorted with pity, "If it weren't for me, you probably wouldn't even have heard of these names, right? Do you know how fragrant a celestial maiden is? Are you willing to wallow in the mud all your life, sleeping with those dirty and smelly high-class brothel women?
You can't even imagine my happiness!
I've opened the door to a new world for you, and you want to close it with your own hands, even build a brick wall to block the way completely. I've never seen such fools as you...
To trade a few years of pain for hundreds or thousands of years of pleasure, what more could you want?"
Gulp!
Old Four and Old Seven's throats moved, clearly swayed by Du Ge's vision of the future. Of course, more so by the influence of his skill, their evil thoughts were fully stirred.
"Senior, we were wrong," Old Four said, his eyes bloodshot. "We have failed to appreciate your painstaking efforts."
"Incomplete or not?" Du Ge asked.
"Incomplete," they nodded firmly.
"Then what are you waiting for?" Du Ge sneered.
Old Four and Old Seven exchanged a glance, found the steel knife from earlier, exchanged another glance, closed their eyes, roared, and each severed their left hand.
They returned with their bloody wrists, "Senior, we have completed it."
"Go treat your wounds!" Du Ge nodded approvingly, "Remember, only through hardship can one become a superior person. Today's sacrifices are for tomorrow's rewards. One day, when you have mastered the divine skills, you will thank your determined selves of today."
"Yes."
Old Four and Old Seven looked at Du Ge, nodded forcefully, and went to the back courtyard to tend to their wounds.
...
Having tested the power of his skill on them, Du Ge chuckled to himself and shook his head. A bunch of fools, that's all they amount to.
"Senior, is your rejuvenation a result of body possession?" Brother Niu snapped out of the beautiful vision Du Ge had painted and cautiously asked.
"Body possession is such a low-level technique, it's an insult to our Free and Unfettered Sect's techniques," Du Ge said. "This is limb regeneration. After being ambushed by my rebellious disciple, my body was destroyed, and I only escaped with an arm. This child's body is derived from that arm..."
"An arm?" Liu Old Five instinctively asked.
"An arm is nothing," Du Ge glanced at him. "The 'Eternal Youth and Longevity Art' is said to allow rebirth from a drop of blood at its deepest level, not much weaker than the Blood Demon's 'Heavenly Demon Disintegration'."
Blood Demon?
Another new term.
Brother Niu's heart surged with excitement, more convinced than ever that Du Ge was indeed a super big shot. He smiled and continued to ask, "Senior, how long will it take for your power to recover?"
"It all depends on my state of mind," Du Ge said. "If my thoughts are clear, it might take three to five months. If not, it could take eight or nine years, and if my rebellious disciple finds me, it might be delayed even further..."
Three to five months!
There's hope!
Brother Niu licked his lips again and asked, "Senior, has your disciple also mastered the divine skills?"
"Afraid?" Du Ge glanced at him and smiled.
"Not afraid, just asking," Brother Niu said.
"Yes, he has mastered the divine skills, not weaker than me," Du Ge said. "His talent is stronger than mine. It took me five years to master the divine skills, and he only took three. Anything else you want to ask?"
"Not for now!" Brother Niu shook his head.
"Don't think too much. Before my power is restored, I won't teach you the divine skills," Du Ge snorted. "The techniques of the Free and Unfettered Sect emphasize the state of mind, but they also require an introduction. Without my power restored, I can't plant the seed in your dantian. Even if I teach you the techniques, you won't be able to learn them unless you have the talent of the sect's founding grandmaster."
"Dare not, dare not," Brother Niu chuckled. "Senior, focus on recovering, we're not in a hurry."
"Brother Niu, let me ask you, how will you explain your injuries to outsiders?" Du Ge smiled and asked.
"If anyone asks, we'll say we were punished by a righteous hero for our many misdeeds," Brother Niu thought for a moment and said.
"All of you are seriously injured, how will you maintain control?" Du Ge asked again. "What if the beggars you control take advantage of the chaos to rebel?"
"This..." Brother Niu looked at his pitiful brothers and thought of how they usually oppressed those people, unable to come up with an answer.
"Fools," Du Ge glared at him, "buy books!"
"Buy books?" Brother Niu was stunned, not expecting such an unrelated answer from Du Ge.
Liu Old Five also looked at Du Ge with a puzzled expression.
"The Free and Unfettered Sect roams the world, relying not only on the martial arts passed down by the grandmaster but also on extensive knowledge," Du Ge said. "Without knowledge, you don't understand the principles of the world's workings. Without understanding, your mind is blocked, and if your mind is blocked, you won't even know when you're being tricked. How can you be free and unfettered?
Every disciple of the Free and Unfettered Sect is proficient in the four arts: music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Only then can they truly roam the world and do whatever they want.
Otherwise, if you obtain a secret manual and can't even read it, how can you cultivate and integrate its essence into the sect's divine skills?
Remember, the Free and Unfettered Sect has always emphasized understanding. Clear thoughts, clear wisdom, understanding one method leads to understanding all methods..."
Old Four and Old Seven, having just treated their wounds, returned and heard Du Ge's reasoning. Their faces fell. They looked at their bloody wrists and suddenly felt their hands were cut for nothing.
Whoever heard of a demon head needing to be cultured!
Brother Niu's eye twitched violently. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, "Senior, if we could understand books, we would have taken the imperial exams long ago. How could we have ended up like this?"
"Not understanding means you're not pushing yourself hard enough," Du Ge said. "You've only lost one hand. Lose a foot, and you'll naturally be able to read. If you still can't, then lose another..."
As he spoke.
His gaze shifted to between Brother Niu's legs.
Brother Niu shivered violently, clamped his legs tightly, and involuntarily took a step back, fearing Du Ge would directly take drastic measures.
"Can you learn now?" Du Ge asked.
"We can learn, we can learn," Brother Niu and the others nodded quickly. "Rest assured, Senior, we can learn anything."
"The Free and Unfettered Sect's grandmaster was right, pain and pressure are the driving forces for progress. Passed down for thousands of years, it truly never fails," Du Ge sighed. "Sanbao, a hooligan isn't scary, but a cultured hooligan is.
You've already lost so much. Without putting in more effort than others, you'll never regain what you've lost.
One step forward, and the world opens up. One step back, and it's an abyss.
Remember, what's pushing you forward isn't just your incomplete body, but also me. If you can't learn, there's no reason for you to exist.
I won't let anyone who might pose a threat to me live in this world."
Iron Head's memory had no knowledge of this world's writing. To find a suitable learning path for himself, Du Ge was going all out.
With his powerful mental power, attending school would be a waste of time and too conspicuous, not conducive to hiding.
This way is better, both ruthless and persuasive, gaining attributes while learning, without missing anything...