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Chapter 1: Cultivation Online
"Brother! I got the game you wanted!" The teenager said cheerfully next to the young man laying on the bed. In her grasp was a large helmet that looked like a bike helmet, but with more of a sci-fi look.
The young man's eyes were closed, seemingly asleep, but the girl continued to speak: "Here, let me help you put it on…"
The girl climbed on the large bed that could fit an entire family of four, and she lifted his head, putting the helmet she had prepared on his head.
"Thank you…" The young man finally spoke in a hoarse voice after she gently laid his head back down.
The girl smiled, tenderly caressing his hair so it wouldn't bother him. "Brother, although I will be busy with school this week, next week for sure, I will play with you."
"Un…"
"I will come back later, so until then, have fun!" After those words, she went to touch the button on the side of the helmet and waited a few moments before leaving the young man alone.
—
It only took a few seconds after the button was pressed for the young man's body in the real world to fall into a state similar to slumber. He could no longer smell the aroma that was unique to his room or feel the weight of the blanket pressing down on his body. Instead, he could feel himself standing, something he didn't have the opportunity to experience for many years.
The world before him was mostly black, like the night sky without stars, and he could see white numbers floating above him, slowly counting down.
«10:01»
«10:00»
«09:59»
"I can see… I can feel my limbs… I… am no longer blind or a cripple…" The young man broke down in this darkness, becoming emotional and falling to his knees.
He was born with an incurable illness that left him blind at the age of 7 and crippled at the age of 13. He is now 18 years old, and for the past 5 years he would lay in his bed, unable to do anything else besides just laying there; it was a gruesome and unimaginable life that one wouldn't even dare to imagine themselves in.
However, for this young man who has spent more than half of his life living in a world void of light, he was able to continue living without giving in to despair because of his caring younger sister, who supported him every day without any complaints.
"So this is the world's first VRMMORPG with 100% immersion, huh."
When he first heard of the game from his younger sister, he almost couldn't believe it.
A game that operates inside the mind of the individual, allowing that person to live in another world without the need to move a single limb — who would believe that such an incredible and advanced technology could exist? Not to mention that this high-tech technology was announced to be affordable enough for even the most common families to enjoy.
It was unimaginable at first, but experiencing it firsthand, the young man can only believe it.
«02:19»
«02:18»
The countdown continued to lower as the young man tries to familiarize himself with the feeling of moving his limbs. Although it was difficult at first, even tripping after every few steps, he gradually became familiarized with his body again.
«00:03»
«00:02»
«00:01»
«00:00»
«Welcome to Cultivation Online!»
As the system's notice appeared, the black space quickly brightened, becoming a bright white room. And right before the young man, a crack appeared out of thin air, looking like a glass window being cracked.
Crack. Crack. Crack…
The crack grew larger and larger — until it was large enough for an adult to fit.
Suddenly, the large crack broke apart entirely, revealing the darkness behind it, and a beautiful woman with a graceful and elegant body slowly walked out from within the cracked space, looking like a goddess appearing from another world.
"This is…" The young man could only watch in a daze as the beautiful woman who just came out of the cracked space began looking at him from top to bottom with a seemingly cold expression on her otherwordly face. Dressed in unfamiliar red and golden robes, her figure was supple and graceful. Her facial features are sharp, symmetrical, and peerless. All in all, she looked like an otherworldly goddess. However, despite all of her perfect features, her gaze was anything but friendly.
She stared at him with her golden eyes that overflowed with a feeling of dominance, and her aura radiated with a tyrannical power that the young man cannot comprehend.
"Mortal, place your hand on this." The beauty spoke to him with a cold voice that was fitting for a ruler, and the young man watched as she pulled out a crystal ball from thin air.
"Okay." Believing that she was an NPC, the young man followed her instructions and placed his hand on the crystal ball without thinking about it too much, and words began appearing inside the crystal ball.
Name: ???
Cultivation: None
Legacy: None
Bloodline: None
Physique: Heaven Refining Physique
Physical Strength: 34
Mental Strength: 275
Soul Strength: 1,210
Physical Defense: 10
Mental Defense: 1,121
"?!?!" The beauty's expression suddenly changed upon seeing the information in the crystal ball, her clear eyes filled with disbelief.
"Heaven Refining Physique!" Her hands trembled along with the crystal ball in her grasp. "Not to mention his Soul Strength is at the rank of Spirit Warrior despite being only a mortal with no cultivation — No, that is nothing when compared to his physique!"
The beauty has never been this shocked before, even to the point of her body trembling.
"Is something wrong?" The young man asked her upon seeing her silence and excited expression.
She lifted her head to look at him, thinking to herself: 'I must rope him into joining my faction before the others find him…'
"What is your name?" she asked him with a serious expression.
"You can call me Yuan."
"Take this token and keep it with you until we meet next time." The beauty retrieved a jade medallion from thin air and suddenly tossed it to him. "I don't have much time left here. Make sure you don't lose the token, I will see you again."
"Huh? Wait, I have some…" Before Yuan can even ask her any questions, the beauty walked back into the cracked hole, disappearing alongside the crack in the air.
"What an odd NPC. What should I do now?" He looked around the empty place.
«Character evaluation complete. Teleportation will occur in 10 seconds.»
«00:02»
«00:01»
As the timer reached zero, Yuan's vision suddenly twisted, giving him a slight headache. When he blinked and opened his eyes, he found himself on some kind of stage where many people that wore the same white robe as him were gathered in a spacious area.
"This is… Cultivation Online?" His eyes widen when he saw mountains floating in the sky above the clouds and what appeared to be houses built on these floating mountains.
"Welcome, Mortals! I am Elder Song, in charge of making sure that before you all leave this place and adventure this vast world that you will have a goal of what you want to do here set in your mind." An old man in blue robes suddenly greeted everybody with a booming voice, causing everybody there to look above them.
"He's flying! He is really flying while standing on that sword!" The people exclaimed the obvious.
Elder Song smiled and said: "I will answer your questions later, but first, let me explain to you about this world — the world of Cultivation."
"First and foremost, this is the Heavenly Continent, and we are currently at Mountain #96. Before you were transported here, everyone should have met a representative from our world that gave you an evaluation. That is your character status; it tells you almost everything about yourself."
"We will start with the basics. In this world, humans and monsters cultivate their bodies and mind with Spirit Qi that allows them to obtain supernatural powers. We call people like them Cultivators, and the higher the cultivation you reach, the stronger you will be in this world. Legacy and Bloodlines are special features that can be obtained later on if you are fortunate enough. As for Physique, everyone here should have one. Whether or not it is useless, this will tell you."
Elder Song waved his long sleeves and thousands of talisman flew towards the people there.
"Activate it with your thoughts," said Elder Song.
The crowd followed his instruction, and loud exclamations resounded soon afterward.
"It says that I have an Earth-ranked Physique! What does that mean?"
Elder Song looked at the young man who just spoke and said to him, "There is a one in ten thousand chances one is born with an Earth-rank Physique. Congratulations. You are what we call 'talented'."
"Elder, how many ranks of Physiques are there?"
"The rank for Physiques consists of Mortal, Earth, Heaven, and Divine."
"Elder, what does having a Mortal-rank Physique mean, and what is the difference between the ranks?"
Elder Song remained silent for a moment, before speaking with a grin, "Having a Mortal Physique means you are only ordinary, but having an Earth Physique means you are talented. The difference is obvious — you are naturally inferior to those who have a better physique than you! The more talented you are, the easier it will be for you as a Cultivator!"
His words caused many faces to sink, especially those with a Mortal Physique.
"Can our Physiques be changed?" Someone suddenly asked.
"Physiques can be changed, but the process is a long and painful one, so most people just accept their fate."
The people sighed in relief after hearing that their Mortal Physique can be changed.
"Does anyone here happen to have a Divine rank Physique?" Elder Song's eyes flickered with expectation, but when nobody replied to his question the light in his eyes dimmed.
'The chances of someone having a Divine Physique is one in a hundred million, a genius above genius that knows no equal, so it isn't surprising that such a prodigy wouldn't appear amongst a mere thousand people.' He shook his head inwardly.
"Elder, I have a Heaven-ranked Physique." An individual suddenly said out loud, causing everybody there to look at him.
"Hoh? The chances of a Heaven Physique appearing is one in a million. You are a very fortunate one, young genius. What is your name?"
"My name is Shen Ming," replied the handsome young man.
"Shen Ming? Isn't he the eldest son of Shen Li, the CEO of Royal Entertainment?"
Some people there recognized the handsome young man whose face looked exactly the same as he does in real life.
"Did you receive something from the representative who did your evaluation?" Elder Song asked him with great interest.
"Yes, I did." Shen Ming did not hide that fact and told him the truth. "I received this pouch from the representative."
"Oho… That is a storage pouch used to store items, there may be a few things in there that could benefit you. However, only cultivators are capable of using it. Additionally, if you can meet the person who gave you that gift again, they might even recruit you as a disciple for their Sect."
"Sect? You mean like guilds?"
"A Sect is a place created by one or a group of people for the purpose of nurturing its disciples to become powerful Cultivators — a school for Cultivators, basically." Elder Song briefly explained. "Is that it? Does nobody else have a Heaven Physique?"
After a moment of silence, Elder Song shook his head and thought to himself, 'What a pity that there is only one person out of the thousands here worth investing in. But even then, I don't know who had given him that storage pouch. It'd be rude of me if I were to steal away their target, and I might even offend someone I cannot afford to offend.'
"I have one question for everybody here before I let you leave… What do you desire to achieve in this world? Strength? Status? Wealth? Handsome men? Beautiful women? Tell me, Mortals from another world!"
"I want to fly like you!"
"I wish for power!"
"I want to be famous!"
"I want enough money to make a mountain!"
"I want to walk around with beautiful women in both my arms!"
"I want handsome men to pamper me!"
Elder Song smiled upon hearing the masses' desires. "If you want to survive in a world such as this, then you must have power! In this world, the strong rules the weak! Wealth and fame will naturally come if you are strong! People will flock to you if you are strong! Remember my words, young ones — this world looks down on the weak and the inferior, respecting only the strong! Having strength means you have everything!"
"Who do you think have the most power in this world?" Elder Song glanced at the people below with a narrowed gaze, sending chills down their spine.
"Cultivators! We, Cultivators, are a symbol of power, wealth, fame, and respect — we are the rule of this world!"
"Cultivators, is that some sort of class?" The people wondered.
"Elder, how do I become a Cultivator?"
Elder Song smiled. "It's simple, really." He suddenly waved his sleeves, and thousands of glowing orbs appeared out of the blue and flew towards the people and directly at their forehead, submerging into their brain.
"I have just given you all the method to cultivate. It is now up to you to decide whether you want to cultivate or remain as a mortal." Elder Song waved his sleeves again, and four portals appear not too far away from the group. "Each portal represents a Continent. In this world, we have Four Great Continents not including this Heavenly Continent. Once you step inside, it will take you to a place within one of these Four Great Continents randomly, but even I will not know exactly where you'll land so it is up to your fate."
«You have learned: Basic Qi Gathering Techniqiue»
«Rank: Mortal»
«Mastery Level: 1»
«Description: Absorbs 1 Qi every second. Can only be activated when sitting in the lotus position.»
"Now, scram. I have spent too much of my precious time dealing with you mortals. You will learn more about this world as you travel. Even if I use the remaining of my longevity, I won't be able to explain to you everything about this world."
With another wave of his sleeve, everybody there began flying towards the portal as though they were being pulled towards them.
"Ahhhhh!!!"
Shocked cries resounded, and those who entered the portal would soon appear in this vast and unknown world at random.
—
After being thrown into the portal, Yuan felt the slight dizziness again, and before he was aware, he was in the middle of a forest.
"Where is this? Is there a map I can use?"
Suddenly, a large map with four large continents separated by water appears before him.
"Eastern Continent?" That was the only information he could gather from the map. Everything else was blacked out.
Yuan tilted his head to look at the bright sky and sighed. "I didn't get to ask him about my Physique. That old man said that there only exist four ranks of Physiques: Mortal, Earth, Heaven, and Divine, so why does my Physique not belong to any one of these four ranks? Do I have a special body?"
In his grasp was a talisman with the following words on it:
«Heaven Refining Physique»
«Rank: Celestial»
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Chapter 2: Mysterious Little Girl
"Character status." Yuan activated the system command through his mind as he did with the talisman.
Name: Yuan
Cultivation: None
Legacy: None
Bloodline: None
Physique: Heaven Refining Physique
Physical Strength: 34
Mental Strength: 275
Soul Strength: 1,210
Physical Defense: 10
Mental Defense: 1,121
"What do these stats do?" He pondered and pondered, but alas, without a guide or someone to teach him, he was clueless. "From what the creators of this game said, there will be no guides or manuals, leaving us, the players, to learn about this game for ourselves…"
"There should be a leveling system in these types of games, but where is the experience bar? What is my level? This feels more like reality than playing a game." Yuan opened and closed his hands into a fist.
Bang!
Suddenly, he punched a nearby tree.
"Ah! It really hurts! Does it hurt because this game is sending pain signals to my brain, making it believe that I am actually hitting a real tree? That's… scary no matter how I think about it."
What if he got stabbed by a sword? What would that feel like? He didn't want to think about it.
"Umm… excuse me, the brother over there…" A sweet voice suddenly resounded behind Yuan, making him turn his head.
"Huh?"
Standing right behind him was a cute little girl in red robes who looked to be around 10 years old, hugging a red ball in one arm and a book in the other.
'How did she get so close behind me without making a single sound? I didn't even notice her presence! And what is such a young girl doing here, in the middle of nowhere? Perhaps there is a city nearby?' Yuan became curious.
"Are you an NPC or a Player?" He asked her, who tilted her head sideways with a puzzled expression.
"NPC? Player? Xiao Hua is Xiao Hua," replied the little girl.
"So your name is Xiao Hua, huh. My name is Yuan."
"How did Brother Yuan manage to get in here?" She suddenly asked him with a curious gaze, almost like it is her first time seeing another person in her life.
"Get in here? We are outside, aren't we?"
She shook her head and said, "We are inside my family's garden."
"Huh? Garden?" Yuan looked stupefied at her answer. "This forest is your garden…?"
She nodded.
If this place that looks like a forest is her family's garden, then how big was the house itself? He couldn't imagine it. While it sounded unbelievable, it also explained why such a small girl like her would appear here.
"Sorry for intruding, but I was teleported here by some old man against my will…" He tried to explain without sounding too crazy. "I'll leave immediately, so can you tell me the way?"
But out of his expectations, the little girl shook her head. "Brother Yuan, since you are already here, why don't you play with Xiao Hua?"
"You want me to play with you?" He did not expect such a request from her.
"Xiao Hua is always alone and it is boring to play with herself."
"What about your family?"
"They are always busy and cannot play with Xiao Hua."
"Is that so…" Yuan felt sorry for her. He himself would be an outcast if it were not for his younger sister, so he knew very well what it feels like to be alone.
"Okay, this big brother will play with you!" He patted his chest with confidence. Due to his illness that left him unable to move even a limb, he did not have the leisure to play with his younger sister when she was young, so he saw this as an opportunity to experience what it would be like if he wasn't born with that illness.
"Really? You will play with Xiao Hua?" Her eyes glittered like the tiny stars in the sky, and her bright expression was adorable enough to soften the hearts of even the cruelest killers out there.
"Un. What do you want to play?"
"Then Xiao Hua will throw the ball to you, and you will throw it back, okay?" She placed the book down and showed him the ball.
"Let me get some distance… Okay, I am ready."
And without further ado, the two began playing throwing ball, and soon after, the merry laughter of a joyous little girl would echo in the forest.
—
While Yuan was spending his time entertaining a mysterious little girl, other Players would either be strengthening themselves or trying to gain more information about this world. Everybody rushed to surpass their friends and rivals in this new game that just came out, especially those who wish to become a professional and are required to be ahead of everybody else.
Minutes quickly turned into hours, and while everyone was grinding in their own ways, Yuan continued to play with the little girl.
'What monstrous stamina this little girl has! We have been throwing this ball back and forth for many hours, yet there is not a drop of sweat on her face! Even her small body shows no sign of fatigue!' Yuan smiled bittered, his entire body drenched in sweat. How could he, a young man, get worn out before a little girl that's half his age while playing throwing ball? Although he has not moved a muscle for many years in the real world, this was virtual reality; he shouldn't even be sweating, let alone feeling fatigued!
"What's wrong, Brother Yuan? You do not look so good… Are you sick?" Xiao Hua's words dealt significant damage to his pride.
"No… I am… just a bit… tired…" he said in an exhausted voice.
Hearing his words, she no longer threw the ball at him. "Then do you want to take a rest before we resume?"
"You… you still want to play?"
"Un!" she nodded vigorously, nearly making him cry.
"Okay… but let me rest for a bit…"
He sits down at a nearby tree, and Xiao Hua follows him, sitting beside him.
"Where is Brother Yuan from?" she asked.
"I am from a faraway place called Earth."
"Earth?"
Seeing her glittering eyes, Yuan smiled. "Do you want to hear about my homeland? Although it is not much, I still have memories of the places I went as a child."
"Yes! I want to hear stories about this Earth!"
"Very well, then…"
Yuan began telling stories to Xiao Hua of the things he has done as a child, and she quickly became engrossed in his stories.
After an hour of nonstop storytelling, when he ran out of both breaths and stories to tell her, Xiao Hua opens the book in her grasp and spoke, "Since Brother Yuan played with Xiao Hua and even told her stories, Xiao Hua shall also tell you stories," she said. "This is Xiao Hua's gratitude to you, Brother Yuan!"
Yuan did not refuse and humbly accepted her appreciation.
However, when she began reading the book in her hands, he was surprised to find out that he wasn't able to understand a single word coming out of her mouth. It sounded more like chanting than a story!
But he didn't want to be rude to her, so he continued to listen. Soon, without being aware, he closed his eyes. After closing his eyes, he began feeling more relaxed and comfortable, almost as though he was experiencing some kind of hypnotization.
The weird chanting from Xiao Hua became less gibberish — he was beginning to comprehend her words, and information he never knew was being fed into his head. This continued for a whole hour before a sharp sound would suddenly wake Yuan from his meditative state.
«You have learned Heaven's Secret Art»
"Heaven's Secret Art…?"
Xiao Hua smiled gently upon hearing Yuan's mumble.
And suddenly, above the sky for every player to witness, a grand system notice appears.
«Player Yuan has become the world's first player to have learned a Divine-rank Skill! Congratulations!»
The announcement shocked every witness there, especially those Players at the top. The game has not even been out for a day, yet someone has managed to obtain a Divine-rank Skill already? Who was this Player 'Yuan', and what did he do to obtain it?
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Chapter 3: Becoming a Cultivator
"What's wrong, Brother Yuan?" Xiao Hua asked him, who looked dazed while staring at the sky.
"Oh, the announcement…" He pointed to the words in the sky.
"I don't see anything, though?" She said.
"Hm? You cannot see the words in the sky?"
She shook her head, prompting Yuan to ponder. 'Perhaps NPCs cannot see the game's notifications?'
—
«Heaven's Secret Art»
«Rank: Divine»
«Mastery Level: 1»
«Description: There are nine heavenly stages for Heaven's Secret Art. Each new stage will unlock a new ability.»
—
«Heaven's First Secret Art — Consuming Heaven Technique»
«Rank: Divine»
«Mastery Level: 1»
«Description: Absorbs 5 Qi per second. Can only be activated when sitting in the lotus position.»
—
"Xiao Hua, what is Qi?" Yuan decided to ask her, who he believes to have more knowledge than him regarding this world.
"Qi is the essence of this world; it is what people use to cultivate."
"Cultivate, huh. That old man had said the same… Let me try this…" he closed his eyes and positioned himself to sit in the lotus position before activating the skill.
Ding!
«You have cultivated for the first time, unlocking Qi Experience»
«5/5,000»
«10/5,000»
«15/5,000»
His Qi Experience increased by 5 for every second he cultivated. Additionally, when he activated the Consuming Heaven Technique, his breathing naturally became calm and rhythmic, and his entire body felt refreshed, almost as though it was breathing through every existing pore.
Within just a few minutes, Yuan suddenly felt his entire body explode with a cool feeling, almost like he had been thrown into a pool of cool water on a hot day.
«You have succeeded in breaking through your mortal shackles, becoming a Spirit Apprentice!»
«All stats 100»
'All I have to do is sit here and cultivate to grow stronger in this game? How boring!' Yuan ignorantly thought to himself. 'But it does feel pleasant, almost like I am relaxing in a warm bath or something of sorts.'
—
Name: Yuan
Cultivation: First Level Spirit Apprentice
Legacy: None
Bloodline: None
Physique: Heaven Refining Physique
Physical Strength: 134
Mental Strength: 375
Soul Strength: 1,310
Physical Defense: 110
Mental Defense: 1,221
—
"Congratulations on becoming a Cultivator, Brother Yuan." Xiao Hua said to him with a smile.
"It is all because of you, Xiao Hua. You have my gratitude."
"Then let's continue to play!" She stood up with the ball already in her hands, ready to be thrown.
Yuan smiled bitterly, but he didn't refuse and continued to play with her.
Surprisingly, when he stood up, all the fatigue he had just moments ago was gone; he had fully recovered all of his exhausted energy the moment he became a Cultivator.
The two began playing again, but the speed the ball was being thrown seemed to be at a much faster pace than previously.
—
Meanwhile, the world was in turmoil from the game's first world announcement.
Rich and powerful companies in the real world began looking into this player named Yuan with hopes to find his real identity. However, it was a near-impossible task due to the way the game handled the players' privacy.
Unlike other games where one can see the players' names at glance, Cultivation Online did not have that feature. Unless the individual allows it, nobody would be able to see their name, not even their friends.
After spending many resources and time looking for Yuan, people quickly came to a realization that unless Yuan willingly revealed himself, his identity would remain unknown forever. But that alone was not enough to force these people into giving up on trying to find him.
The internet, game forums, even newspapers, people began offering real money for information on Yuan, even outright paying thousands for the person himself to reveal himself.
Virtual reality has become so deeply involved in the real world that it would not be an exaggeration to say that professional gamers and top rankers have more fame and respect than even the top celebrities in the world.
Some professional gamers, in fact, earn seven digits every month just from advertisements alone!
In fact, even casual gamers can earn more money than people with normal jobs just by selling in-game items for real money!
With so much advertisement and appeal, it would only be obvious for people to want to become a gamer where they can have fun and earn money instead of choosing work that involves labor.
Furthermore, according to last year's gaming report, at least half of the world's population is a virtual gamer!
—
After throwing the ball for a few hours without breaking a sweat, Yuan suddenly stops.
"What's wrong? Are you feeling tired again?" Xiao Hua asked him.
"My sister is calling for me; it is time for dinner," he said.
"You are going to leave?" Her expression instantly turned gloomy upon hearing his words, feeling reluctant to let him leave. She was afraid that he wouldn't come back once he had left.
"Don't leave Xiao Hua alone!" She hurriedly said, almost breaking into tears.
Yuan patted her head with a smile. "I will be back to play with you later, I promise."
"…You promise?"
"If I break my promise, then I shall swallow ten thousand needles!" He swore clearly in a loud voice.
"Okay… then Xiao Hua will wait for Brother Yuan here." She took a seat by the same tree and closed her eyes to rest.
"Log off!"
Yuan's vision blurred, and the warmth in his limbs gradually disappeared. Darkness surrounded his view, and he could no longer see nor feel anything.
—
"Brother, how was the game?" His sister's voice resounded beside him.
"It was… fun." He showed a gentle smile, but deep inside, he was reluctant to leave that bright and colorful world where his body was not useless.
"What's for dinner today?" He asked her despite already knowing the answer.
"Chicken soup!"
Yuan smiled bitterly. He has been eating nothing but soup for the last few years, after all.
"Here, let me help you up." She took off the helmet on his head before lifting his head and adjusting his body to a sitting position.
She began feeding him warm soup with a spoon soon later. "How is the temperature?"
"Perfect…"
The room became quiet with Yuan drinking soup being the only sound that could be heard.
After Yuan finished dinner that was only one large bowl of soup, she laid him back down on the bed. "I will be right back for your cleaning," she said.
Moments later, she returns to the room with a towel, a bucket of warm water, and new clothes.
"Excuse me, brother." She said before stripping him completely naked.
"…Yu Rou…"
"What is it?"
"I'm sorry…"
"…"
The room instantly turned silent.
"What are you saying now? You are being weird, brother," she chuckled, breaking the silence.
"I know, but I am — Mmm?!" His words were interrupted by a warm towel pressing down on his face.
"You don't have to worry about me, brother. When you cure your illness one day, then you can pay me back."
"…Un…" An indescribable feeling welled up in Yuan's heart.
'Will such a day ever come?' he wondered inwardly.
"Okay! You are all clean now, brother! Even your precious little thing! Hehe…" Teased Yu Rou with a sheepish laugh.
"Ah! You little! Don't play around with my body because I can't feel anything!"
"Eh? What are you talking about? I definitely did not touch anything!"
"You definitely did!"
Laughter filled the room.
"Yu Rou, thank you." Yuan suddenly said, "I will repay you one day, this I promise…"
Putting his clothes on for him, Yu Rou smiled, "I won't be humble when that time comes."
—
"Alright brother, we are done for tonight. I will be back in the morning."
"Ah, can you put the helmet back on before you leave?"
"You want to continue playing? What about sleep?"
"I don't think I can sleep tonight, and playing the game is already considered sleeping, you know?"
"What am I going to do with you if you get addicted? Only tonight, okay?"
"Un."
—
"Brother Yuan, you're really back!" Xiao Hua instantly stood up with a happy expression upon seeing him appear out of nowhere like a ghost.
"I did make a promise to you," he patted her, who was poking her head at him with clear indications.
"What do you want to do now that the stars are already out?" he then asked.
"Play games!" She answered without hesitation.
"I figured." He nodded with a smile.
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Chapter 4: Hidden Ques
Yuan continued to play with Xiao Hua throughout the night without a care in the world. Meanwhile, other Players were either trying to find the best way to strengthen themselves or were already in the process of grinding their strength.
The Players also grew addicted to their new profound strength, with the power to smash rocks with mere fists and skip meters into the distance; it gave them a sense of superiority, and it made them feel really good about themselves.
However, for someone who is crippled and blind in the real world, Yuan wouldn't mind spending all of his time just playing with Xiao Hua, who has many resemblances to his younger sister.
The world under the night sky seemed still, with the only thing moving being two shadowy figures and a ball.
"Xiao Hua, will you be fine with playing out here till so late? Won't your parents be worried if you don't return soon?" Yuan asked her after noticing that she has been out here playing with him for nearly the entire day.
"It is okay. Xiao Hua is always out here playing by herself, so they are used to it."
"…" His pity towards her increased with every passing moment he spent with her. "Xiao Hua, how about we take a rest from playing and let me tell you some more stories?"
"Stories?" Her eyes began flickering like the stars in the night sky upon hearing the magic word, and she instantly sat by the tree.
Yuan followed and sat beside her. "The stories I will be telling you today are fairy tales from my homeland."
"Fairy tales? Like mythology and legends?"
"Well… not exactly. Fairy tales are more short stories made for entertainment rather than legends and such. They are pure fiction, so it's not real."
"What's the difference?"
"…You will know when you hear it."
Yuan began telling her famous and classical fairy tales from Earth that he's heard when he was young such as a certain individual poisoning a girl who awakened due to a kiss from a prince, mermaids in the ocean, and pirates fighting in the sea.
While it has been many years since Yuan has heard of these stories, he was still able to recall them clearly and greatly entertain Xiao Hua, who was not used to this genre of stories.
"These people… are they all mortals?" She suddenly asked him.
"To my knowledge, yes."
"This is nothing like stories of mythical beasts ruling the world or immortals overturning Heaven. It is normal, yet it brings so much entertainment." She didn't know mortals could be so entertaining despite being the focus of these stories.
"Do you have any more fairy tales to tell Xiao Hua?" She asked.
"Unfortunately, that was all I could remember. But I will find some more to tell you later."
"It's a promise!"
"It's a promise." Yuan smiled.
"Okay, then it is Xiao Hua's turn to read." She opened the same book she used to teach him Heaven's Secret Art.
"That's…" Yuan wondered if she was going to teach him another skill.
"Although Brother Yuan has already learned the technique, you have not fully mastered it. However, with your powerful comprehension skills, Xiao Hua believes that Brother Yuan will master it in no time."
Thus, she began reading.
However, this time around, Yuan was only able to understand everything from the beginning only to lose comphrension later on. It felt like he was listening to a story with a plot that quickly deepens as it progresses, becoming more mysterious and profound.
—
It took Xiao Hua nearly an hour to finish reading the book that was only a dozen pages thick.
When she finished, she looked at Yuan to see the expression he was making. He was sitting still with his eyes closed, and on his face was a calm expression, looking as though he was in a trance.
'Brother Yuan is truly a genius' she mumbled to herself, 'What takes others many tries to comprehend takes you only one time. What takes others many years to learn — you learn in just a few hours.'
Her gaze stared at his face nonstop, seemingly enchanted by his expression. 'Who are you, really?'
—
«Your comprehension for Heaven's Secret Art has greatly increased»
«Heaven's Secret Art Mastery Level has been increased(1 -» 2)»
«You have learned Heaven's Second Secret Art — Heaven Splitting Sword Strike»
—
«Heaven's Second Secret Art — Heaven Splitting Sword Strike»
«Rank: Divine»
«Mastery Level: 1»
«Description: Consumes 10,000 Qi. Must wield a sword to activate. Creates a pillar of light that will destroy everything that dares to block its path.»
—
When Yuan opened his eyes again, Xiao Hua was resting her head on his lap, and the night sky had already long passed with the sun peeking in the horizon.
"It's already morning?" He wondered how long he had been in that trance state.
"Oh… You're awake, Brother Yuan." Xiao Hua rubbed her eyes and casually sat up. "Did you learn anything new during your enlightenment?"
"Enlightenment? Is that what that feeling was?"
"Un."
"I see… Right, I have reached the second stage of Heaven's Secret Art and learned Heaven Splitting Sword Strike."
Xiao Hua looked at him with her eyes slightly widened more than usual, seemingly filled with surprise.
"Good job, Brother Yuan." She gave him a thumbs up a moment later. "But your cultivation base is lacking, so you will not be able to use it right away."
"Right, it says I need 10,000 Qi for its activation. Is it the same Qi as the one I absorb when cultivating?"
She nodded to his question.
"It says I have 5,010/10,000 Qi right now. If I max it out and use the skill, won't my Qi be depleted and I will have to cultivate until I gain it back?"
"Your depleted Qi will naturally recover until it returns to its original state so you will not have to cultivate every time you use a technique. However, recovering Qi naturally takes time, and it will slow down your cultivation. That is why Cultivators do not use their Qi pointlessly." Xiao Hua explained to him as though she was an expert. "Additionally, if your Qi falls below a certain point, then your body will be in a weakened state until you recover your Qi. In extreme cases, you may lose consciousness or even the ability to Cultivate."
Yuan took his time digesting all of the information. "So if I have 100 Qi and I use a skill that requires 10 Qi, my remaining 90 Qi will naturally recover back to 100 without the need to cultivate?" He asked her just in case.
Seeing her nod, Yuan fully understood the system. "So it is just like any other game but with a slight twist that requires more management. Qi is required for skills but also for a breakthrough in cultivation; it would be unwise to use it unless necessary."
"Thank you, Xiao Hua. If not for you, I would still be clueless right now."
"Brother Yuan, gratitude is shown with action, not with words." She patted her own head, causing him to laugh.
"Right, right. Thank you very much…" He said with his hands on her head.
—
After Xiao Hua was satisfied, Yuan stood up and said, "It is about time for me to leave again, but I will be back later."
Xiao Hua didn't stop him this time and nodded. "Bye-bye, Brother Yuan. Play with Xiao Hua again when you get back, okay? Here, you can use this to call me." She handed him a necklace that she had just removed from her neck.
Yuan accepted the necklace without much thought. "Then, I will see you later." He waved at her before disappearing from the sunlight like a ghost.
After Yuan left, Xiao Hua stared at where he stood before logging off, seemingly in a daze. "Thank you, for playing with Xiao Hua…" Her body suddenly began to flicker, and her body glowed with beautiful light.
"It was fun… really, really fun…" Her body slowly broke down into tiny lights resembling fireflies before floating towards the clouds and disappearing.
«Congratulations! Player Yuan has completed the world's first Hidden Quest!»
"Brother Yuan…" That night, a sweet and childish voice echoed across the starry sky.
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Chapter 5: Death Penalty
"Good morning, brother."
"Morning."
"I have breakfast with me," she said, placing the bowl of soup on the adjustable table on the bed.
"Yu Rou, can I ask you for a favor?" Yuan asked her as he's being fed like a patient in a hospital.
"What is it?"
"I'd like to hear some fairy tales tonight." His words dumbfounded her, who wasn't expecting such a request.
"Why fairy tales?" She asked in a worrying tone, afraid the illness might have finally messed up his mind.
"I made a friend in the game, and she happens to be a young NPC. I promised her that I'd tell her more fairy tales," he explained.
"You are telling fairy tales to NPCs? Brother… what are you doing, really?" Yu Rou sighed, thinking how silly he was being.
"Don't let the fact that they are NPCs fool you into thinking that they are not worth your time. They move, think, react, and speak like real Players. You wouldn't know if they are a real Player or not unless you ask them.
"Yeah, yeah. Just don't do anything weird to her, alright?"
"W…Weird? Why would I do anything weird?" Yuan asked.
"Haven't you heard? There have been plenty of perverts getting killed for touching NPCs inappropriately. The penalty for death is extremely harsh in this game from what I heard."
"Perverts touching NPCs? You can do that in this game?" Yuan lifted his eyebrows in surprise. What a profound game!
"Ah! You're thinking about doing something perverted, aren't you!? Don't even think about it, brother! I prohibit you from doing that as your sister!"
"That only works if you are the older one, no?" He smiled.
"Then… then I will stop taking care of you! Hmph!"
"Aiii… Do you think your brother is some kind of pervert that likes to touch NPCs? Unlike some people, I have morals, you know." He sighed, and continued to speak, "Anyway, what is this death penalty, and what happens if you die?" He was more interested in that than the perverts in the game.
"According to those who have died, some became unable to cultivate after death while some have even lost their cultivation base entirely, requiring them to restart from scratch."
Yuan pondered. "So you basically have to start from the beginning… That is indeed very harsh for a game."
"Additionally, some people have already tried to buy new consoles to start fresh but guess what? They still appear in the game with the same character!"
"So we are limited to one character no matter what?" Yuan cannot comprehend the game creators' motive for creating such a system; it's almost as if they want humans to live in another world with life as realistic as possible.
"Ah, brother, it's time for me to go to school. I will pick up some fairy tales on the way home," she said before leaving.
"Thank you."
—
"She's not here…" Yuan looked around for a small figure, but Xiao Hua was nowhere to be found. "I guess she went home."
He decided to sit down and cultivate to wait for her. Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes turned into hours. Until night came, Yuan sat there like a stone statue, cultivating and unaware that time had passed by so quickly.
10,000/10,000
«You have absorbed enough Qi for a breakthrough»
«You have reached Second Level Spirit Apprentice»
«All stats 150»
10,005/20,000
20,000/20,000
«You have absorbed enough Qi for a breakthrough»
«You have reached Third Level Spirit Apprentice»
«All stats 200»
20,005/40,000
40,000/40,000
«You have absorbed enough Qi for a breakthrough»
«You have reached Fourth Level Spirit Apprentice»
«All stats 250»
80,000/80,000
«You have absorbed enough Qi for a breakthrough»
«You have reached Fifth Level Spirit Apprentice»
«All stats 300»
148,550/160,000
Yuan did not stop cultivating until it was time for him to eat dinner. "We couldn't play today but that's fine. At least I will have stories ready for the next time we meet." He stared at the night sky for a moment before logging off.
—
After feeding Yuan and getting him cleaned, Yu Rou began reading fairy tales to him like a mother would tell stories to her child before bedtime, but her voice was still too immature to sound like a real mother.
"How was my narration?" she asked him in a cheeky tone.
"It sucked…"
"What—Fine! You can read it yourself next time!"
"Ah! I'm sorry, Yu Rou. I was only joking." Yuan hurriedly corrected himself, "Your voice was so heavenly that I thought you were a real fairy!"
Yu Rou blushed. "It was embarrassing to read these childish stories out loud, you know?" she said later, "I will remember this debt you owe me!"
"Yes yes, I will even give you my life, so find me a few more fairy tales, okay?"
"…"
"Yu Rou?" He called out to her after receiving no answer.
"Brother, please don't say things like that ever again," said Yu Rou with a serious expression on her face, her voice somewhat sorrowful.
Yuan quickly realized that he had screwed up. "I'm sorry…" he apologized right away.
"As long as you understand…" Yu Rou left his side to close the light, "Brother, it is getting late, you should go to sleep now."
"Un. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, brother."
—
Inside her room, Yu Rou surfed the internet on her phone for some time before sleeping like always.
"This player Yuan is very mysterious and baffling. In just two days since the game's launch, he was able to become the first Player to obtain a Divine-rank skill and finish a Hidden Quest. Is he even human?"
Despite not being able to play the game due to school and Yuan, she would still keep up with the newest information about the game so when the time comes for her to play, she wouldn't feel too lost. "Meanwhile, my brother is fooling around with a young NPC…" she smiled bitterly at that thought.
"Wow, his bounty has increased to five million already!" Her eyes widened at the effort and money others were willing to put out just to find this one player.
"So much fame… how envious…" she turned the phone off and closed her eyes. "Brother too… used to be flickering with lights under the spotlight…" she sighed before slowly falling asleep.
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Chapter 6: Servants
"How is the search going? Have you found any information on this player Yuan yet?" A handsome young man sat on his bed with Cultivation Online's console—the helmet— still on his head, his gaze at the middle-aged man standing by the door.
"Sorry, young master, but this player seems resolute in keeping his identity a secret. Not even our offer was able to lure him out," said the middle-aged man in a tired tone. He has gone without sleep for the past two days just to look for information on Yuan, but alas, the results came back in a box of disappointment filled with a whole lot of nothing.
"Not taking the bait? Then all we have to do is increase the temptation. Go and adjust the reward to twenty million. Unless this player is already super wealthy, then he will surely bite the bait sooner or later," said the young man casually, as though twenty million means nothing in his eyes.
"Understood." The middle-aged man then left the young man alone.
"I will have my hands on this player no matter the price. This individual is either Lady Luck's child or has connections to the game creators, allowing him to obtain things in the game that normal people will never have a chance to obtain. If I get him to join my faction, then my family's position within the ranks will surely rise!"
Similar scenes played out throughout the world with many high-standing figures doing whatever they can in their power to learn more about this player Yuan who is already light-years ahead of everyone else in the game, unaware that Yuan still has no idea how much of a stir he has created in the real world just because of a few system announcements. While Cultivation Online is just a mere game in Yuan's eyes, that was not the case for others, who have their own ulterior motives.
—
After eating breakfast, Yuan went into the game, but alas, the small figure of Xiao Hua's was still nowhere to be found.
"Did she get in trouble with her family for staying out so late?" He thought of that possibility. "Maybe she was lying about her family not worrying so we could play for a bit longer…"
Yuan sighed, missing the cheerful little girl. Without her, what else is there to do in this world? Strength, wealth, fame — Yuan was not interested in any of these. All he wanted to do was have fun and use his body normally, something he cannot achieve in the real world.
He pulled out the necklace she gave him before she left. Shaking his head, he sighed. "I shouldn't be so impatient. I will wait for her just like she had waited for my return."
Thus, he sat down to cultivate again. While it was boring at first, as he slowly grew used to cultivating, he began feeling pleasure, like getting a massage during a nap.
Time passed quickly, and the night sky appears once again.
160,000/160,000
«You have absorbed enough Qi for a breakthrough»
«You have reached Sixth Level Spirit Apprentice»
«All stats 350»
320,000/320,000
«You have absorbed enough Qi for a breakthrough»
«You have reached Seventh Level Spirit Apprentice»
«You have learned Enhanced Senses»
«All stats 400»
—
«Enhanced Sense»
«Rank: N/A»
«Description: Permanently enhances the functions of all available senses. Requires no activation.»
—
320,295/640,000
"It is taking longer and longer to advance to the next level, and the requirement needed is doubling with every level. Just how many more levels is there?" Yuan pondered, but knowing he's still an apprentice makes him worry about the later stages. "It will take a month of straight cultivating to advance one level in the later stages at this rate! This cultivation thing is such a chore…"
Just as Yuan was about to log off for tonight, an announcement appears in the sky, attracting countless gazes from below.
«Congratulations! Player White Lotus has become the world's first player to have obtained a Servant!»
While Yuan wondered what type of Servant this White Lotus had obtained, everybody else was surprised to see 'Player White Lotus' instead of 'Player Yuan' who was thought to have another shock for the world. But of course, many players were also relieved to know that Yuan would no longer be the only 'Ancestor' in the world.
'Ancestor' is a title created by the community that refers to those who have appeared in the system as a 'world's first' after Yuan's first announcement.
—
"Servants, huh." Yuan suddenly began having desires of obtaining a Servant. But how does one obtain a Servant?
After logging off the game, Yu Rou was already beside him with dinner in her hands.
"Yu Rou, how do you obtain Servants in this game?" He decided to ask her.
"Servants? Did someone obtain a Servant already?" She asked with curiosity. "Also, I don't know anything about obtaining Servants."
"It was someone named White Lotus."
"White Lotus!" Yu Rou immediately recognized that name. "She is one of the top players at the moment who has a cultivation base at Fifth Level Spirit Apprentice! Furthermore, she is actually a rich young lady in real life, too."
"Fifth Level Spirit Apprentice is considered the top?" Yuan, who is already a Seventh Level Spirit Apprentice, was surprised to hear that someone who is two whole levels behind him is at the top.
'Are they really top players? I barely cultivated and I'm already two levels above one of the top rankers!' He wondered.
"Yu Rou, who has the highest cultivation in the game as of this moment?"
"I believe it is someone known as Lightning Emperor, who is a Sixth Level Spirit Apprentice."
"Whoa, what an edgy name…"
"That's what you're concerned about?" Yu Rou chucked. "Say, what's your cultivation now? Since you spent most of your time fooling around, it should be pretty low, right? Let me take a guess… you are a Second Level Spirit Apprentice."
Yuan grinned, "Wrong!"
"First Level Spirit Apprentice?"
"Wrong again."
"What… Don't tell me… you have yet to cultivate?!"
"Yu Rou, since when have I become so pitiful and weak in your eyes? Your brother is disappointed…" Yuan said in a sorrowful voice. "Aiii, nevermind, I am just a nobody in the game, anyway. And like you have said, I have been fooling around, so hurry up and play with me so we can do things together."
"This week is impossible since I still have school, but next week for sure when summer break begins."
"School, huh. I am envious." Yuan smiled bitterly.
"Going to school is nothing to be envious about, brother. It is boring and tiring," sighed Yu Rou.
"But I still envy you and every student out there…" He sighed inwardly.
After talking for a few more minutes, Yu Rou went back to her room to sleep, and Yuan himself also went to sleep.
"If she doesn't appear by tomorrow, I should use that necklace…" He told himself before falling asleep.
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Chapter 7: Heaven Splitting Sword Strike
"Xiao Hua, where are you? Your favorite brother is here to play with you!" Yuan shouted loudly in the forest the moment he logged into the game.
"Aiii… What am I doing?" He sat down afterward, his hand reaching for the necklace around his neck.
Despite it seemingly made out of steel with a piece of jade attached, the necklace was as light as a feather, nearly weightless.
«Xiao Hua's Necklace»
«Grade: ???»
«Description: Obtained from Xiao Hua.»
"Even though she said to use this to call her… how do I use it?" He played around with the necklace as he pondered.
He tried poking it, caressing it, commanding it to open, even licking it, but alas, the necklace remained unchanged. After many minutes and many failures later, Yuan decided to stop trying to activate the necklace.
"Oh, Xiao Hua. How can you give me something so complicated without explaining its functions?" He sighed loudly.
Suddenly, as though the heavens heard his sigh, the earth trembled.
The sound of metal clashing resounded, followed by loud cursing.
"Eat my Coiling Sword Strike, you bastard!"
"Courting death!"
Boom! A loud explosion appeared in the distance, startling Yuan. What just happened? Why did the earth tremble the way it did just now? Did someone drop a bomb?
Clang! The sound of metal clashing resounded again, and a gust of wind suddenly swept the place, nearly lifting Yuan into the air.
"Devil Meng Li! If I don't kill you today, then I am not Zhan Xuegang!"
"Ahahaha! A mere half-step Spirit Grandmaster like you think you can kill me? Today will be the day you will realize your foolish existence — in hell!"
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Visible ripples filled with profound power swiftly swept the sky after every clash, sending chills down Yuan's spine every time it swept past him.
"It is actually two people fighting against each other that is causing this phenomenon?!" Yuan was shocked, to say the least. "To fight in someone else's garden, how disrespectful!"
Soon, two figures could be seen fighting each other in the air from where Yuan stood. One with long red hair and one with long black hair. They were flying back and forth, throwing powerful sword strikes at each other that would create ripples upon being blocked by the other person.
"They are flying, just like that old man!" Yuan recalled Elder Song, the old man who gave him and thousands of other players a brief explanation about this world while standing on a sword in the air.
The fight in the air lasted for many minutes without either one gaining an advantage over the other; they seemed to be equally matched.
However, as they were getting closer and closer to where Yuan stood, the destructive ripples created by their sword clashes also became painful to bear for him.
Despite not being apart of the fight, Yuan could feel a dominating pressure making it difficult for him to breathe, and his body felt as though it was carrying a large rock.
"Die for me! Seven Earthly Sword Strikes!"
"Ahahaha! Too weak! Way too weak! Bloody Sword Strike!"
A ripple far superior to the previous swept through the place until it could no longer be seen on the horizon.
Cough! Yuan could no longer resist the pressure and coughed up a mouthful of blood. "Damn! This is really uncomfortable!" He wiped the blood from his mouth with his hand.
"I can even taste the iron-like taste of blood…" Yuan was completely immersed at this moment. The pain in his body and the realistic features of this game temporarily made him forget that this was just a game.
"If they get any closer, I will definitely die from collateral damage!" He began running away from the two, but the clashes between them were also getting stronger.
"Nine Earthly Sword Strikes!"
"Devil's Blood!"
Boom! Trees fell and the clouds scattered from the impact, and Yuan was sent flying towards a tree, losing consciousness a moment later.
—
"Hahahaha! Zhan Xuegang, what's wrong? Didn't you say that you will kill me today?" One of the figures began laughing while pointing at the other person who was missing an arm. "The Prime Disciple of the Profound Sword Sect is only so-so—just like that junior sister of yours… Hahahaha!"
"I will… I WILL KILL YOU!" Zhan Xuegang roared, his eyes turned red, and his cultivation base suddenly increased dramatically.
"What!?" The eyes of Devil Ming Li widened from shock. "You… you had a breakthrough in the middle of our fight?!"
"I will avenge Junior apprentice-sister Xia today by killing you even if I have to lose all four of my limbs and become a cripple!" His eyes and nose began bleeding, and veins appeared all over his body.
"Was she your lover by any chance? Then let me tell you something important before you die… her body was amazing! It is truly a pity that she had killed herself so quickly or else I would have surely enjoyed her body even more! Hahahaha!"
"MENG LI, GO TO HELLLLLL!!!!" The blue sword in Zhan Xuegang's grasp glowed a dark blue light, and killing intent soared beyond the clouds.
"SPIRIT BLADE!"
"Trying to bring me down with you? Just because you are now a Spirit Grandmaster like me does not mean we are on equal standing, you fool!" Meng Li's red hair glowed a crimson color along with his eyes, looking like a real devil from hell.
"Hell's Fire!"
Suddenly, before the two of them could release their techniques, a little girl in red robes appeared in-between them like a ghost, and in her grasp was a necklace covered in fresh blood.
"For disturbing the peace of our place, your cultivation base shall be crippled as a punishment." The little girl waved her sleeves, and Meng Li and Zhan Xuegang felt their entire cultivation base collapse an instant later.
Without any cultivation to support them, the two were no longer able to control their attacks or fly, and they fell straight to the ground, breaking many bones upon hitting the earth.
"Who are you?!" Meng Li cried out loud as he laid on the ground, experiencing major pain across his body. To cripple him, a Spirit Grandmaster, with a mere wave of her sleeves, her background must be shocking.
As for Zhan Xuegang, he could only stare at the little girl in the air with wide eyes. He was too shocked to think.
"What did we do to offend you?! Answer me!" Meng Li shouted again after receiving no answer from her.
However, the little girl ignored him, descended from the sky to a nearby tree, and walked to where Yuan's unconscious body laid.
"That's the trash who was watching us fight…" Meng Li was aware of Yuan's presence and that he had been watching them, but because he was too weak to affect them, Meng Li treated Yuan like an ant and ignored him. The same goes for Zhan Xuegang.
The little girl kneeled to wipe the blood off Yuan's lips, her hands trembling slightly. "For injuring him… you shall be punished with death…"
After wiping the blood from Yuan's lips, the little girl stood and turned to face the two figures lying on the floor, her expression grim and filled with killing intent.
"Heaven Splitting Sword Strike…" The world suddenly trembled, and the heaven dimmed, almost turning into night. And a sword made from a golden light appeared in the grasp of the little girl.
"Heaven Splitting Sword Strike?! Impossible! What are you doing here in the Lower Heavens?!" Zhan Xuegang recognized the technique being witnessed, and his heart nearly stopped from shock.
The little girl ignored his question and suddenly slashed the sword downwards, and the heavens seemed to have split into two at that moment.
BOOM! A massive earthquake shook the entire Eastern Continent, shocking many experts within the continent, even alerting many ancient experts around the world.
—
Yuan slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing that he noticed was the obviously large earth fissure in front of him with an end that he cannot physically see, looking as though it separated the earth in half.
"What—Did those two cause this?! This is ridiculous!" Yuan's back was soaked in cold sweat upon seeing the earth fissure that seemed endless. He couldn't imagine the power that was required to cause this much destruction. This earth fissure was more than enough to change the geography of this world!
Suddenly, Yuan's heart jumped. He slowly turned his head, and it was this moment he realized that he had been sleeping on the soft lap of this little girl.
"Xiao Hua!" He was pleasantly surprised to see her sitting beside him, even allowing him to sleep on her lap. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
Yuan felt relieved upon seeing no injuries on her.
Xiao Hua suddenly pulled his head back down to her lap. "Master, you shouldn't move too much. You are injured."
"Eh?" Yuan became dumbfounded. "What did you just call me? Master? What kind of game are we playing this time?"
"This is not a game. Xiao Hua has accepted Brother Yuan as her Master." She showed him the necklace covered in blood with a serious expression.
"That's the necklace you gave me—Oh… so that's what you meant by using that to call you… to summon you as a Servant?" He facepalmed upon realizing the real meaning behind her words, making a loud slapping sound. "Xiao Hua… you… Aiya!" He sighed loudly.
"Do you not accept Xiao Hua?" Her expression saddened. "Is Xiao Hua a bad girl?"
"That's not it. I really like you, but… to keep you as a Servant is too much… since it will cause many unnecessary misunderstandings…"
"Misunderstands? Xiao Hua does not mind…"
'But I do!' Yuan replied inside his head.
After a moment of silence, Yuan finally said to her, "Brother Yuan."
"Huh?" Xiao Hua looked at him with a puzzled expression on her face.
"As long as you call me Brother Yuan like normally, then there will be no misunderstandings." He explained to her.
"Then…" Her eyes began sparkling. "Brother Yuan!"
She suddenly hugged him, hiding the bashful smile on her face.
«You have accepted Xiao Hua as your Servant!»
Name: Xiao Hua
Servant Grade: Divine
Master: Yuan
Cultivation: Third Level Spirit King
Legacy: Supreme Heaven's Legacy
Bloodline: Divine Bloodline
Physique: Purple Mist Physique
—
«Heaven's Secret Art»
«Rank: Divine»
«Mastery Level: 4»
—
«Heaven's First Secret Art — Consuming Heaven Technique»
«Rank: Divine»
«Mastery Level: 5»
—
«Heaven's Second Secret Art — Heaven Splitting Sword Strike»
«Rank: Divine»
«Mastery Level: 4»
—
«Heaven's Third Secret Art — Heavenly Domain»
«Rank: Divine»
«Mastery Level: 2»
—
«Heaven's Fourth Secret Art — Heaven Sealing Technique»
«Rank: Divine»
«Mastery Level: 1»
—
«Fly»
«Rank: Earth»
—
«Superior Senses»
«Rank: Heaven»
—
«Qi Manifestation»
«Rank: Earth»
—
«Purple Mist»
«Rank: Divine»
—
«Congratulations! Player Yuan has obtained the world's first Divine grade Servant!»
When the announcement appeared above the sky, countless cries of shock resounded around the world, and rumors of Player Yuan being a cheater quickly began spreading like wildfire on this day.
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Chapter 8: An Overwhelming Advantage
"What the hell! This player Yuan is clearly already at endgame while the rest of us are still picking herbs just to earn barely enough money for a common weapon!"
"The game hasn't even been out for a week and he is already obtaining things that will probably take months, even years of grinding!"
"Can he even be considered a player at this point anymore? He is ahead of the entire player-base—and not by a small margin!"
"At this rate, couldn't he potentially rule over everybody at some point?"
"This asshole must be cheating! There is no way he can obtain all these things so quickly. Even the current best players are nowhere near him, and I refuse to believe that some no-name can possibly be so far ahead of everyone else without cheating!"
"That's right! He's clearly cheating! Where are the admins? What about the game creators? He needs to be punished!"
"He either has balls that are hard as steel or he's completely nuts. To cheat so openly, does he think it wouldn't raise even a little bit of suspicion?"
Rumors of Yuan cheating in the game began spreading like wildfire across the internet.
Cheaters nowadays, especially in popular games, are punished more severely than older times where cheating would only be frowned upon but nobody really tries anything major to stop them.
Furthermore, if you are caught cheating, then there is a high possibility of receiving a fine that is more expensive than ten years of rent for housing, and there are even many cases of cheaters being jailed for up to four years.
With so many risks involved, only those who are rich and really don't care would be willing to cheat.
However, even these types of people wouldn't cheat so openly. So in Yuan's case, people could only assume that he was completely nuts to be so obvious in the current most popular game in the world!
—
"Cheating, huh. What do you think, White Lotus? Do you also believe this Yuan to be a cheater?" A handsome young man in purple robes kicked the decapitated wolf head by his feet to the side. In his grasp was a steel sword with a black handle, and blue lightning snakes would coil around the blade every so often that was dripping with fresh blood.
Beside him stood two other people, both beautiful ladies.
The beautiful young lady with elegant features by his side silently stared at the announcement in the sky. "Whether he is cheating or not does not concern me," she said a moment later, her gaze switching from the announcement to the large black cat beside her. "But I am interested in what a Divine-rank Servant would look like…"
Her Two-tailed Black Cat is a normal monster without a grade, but it has great agility and powerful attacks. If compared to Cultivators, then its power would be equivalent to a Fourth Level Spirit Apprentice.
"This Divine-grade Servant… with this, his influence within and outside the game is massive and can no longer be ignored, and his actions could very well greatly impact the world…"
"What's this? Is the Lightning Emperor, ranked third in the Legacy Ranking, feeling pressure from a no-name?" The other beautiful lady laughed charmingly.
"Do you feel nothing regarding our situation, Fiery Queen?" Lightning Emperor looked at her with a serious expression. "This is not a joking matter. Forget about me, the entire Legacy Ranking may be thrown into disorder because of this Yuan."
"I'd be lying if I say I am not interested in this Player, but the entire Legacy Ranking? That's an exaggeration. He's is probably just another cheater."
"What if he turns out to be the real deal, someone with extreme luck and skills? What will you do then?"
The cheerful expression on Fiery Queen's face turned serious after his question. "Then I will obviously do what I have to and recruit him."
"Hah! Do you think you are the only one with that thought? Forget about the Feng Family who is currently ranked first, every family within the Legacy Ranking is actively looking for him even as we speak!"
"Che. I know that already. But it doesn't matter how many are looking for him. As long I find him first, then he will be mine!"
Lightning Emperor only snorted at her words. "Talking to you is a waste of breath."
—
"We're here… the Skeleton Graveyard." Lightning Emperor readied his sword, his awareness alert.
In front of the current three top players was a large graveyard with many skeletons walking around awkwardly, like wooden puppets with stiff movements.
"Let's quickly finish this. I am feeling sick just from your presence," said Fiery Queen.
"You willingly followed us…"
"Only because we happen to have accepted the same quest."
"Che. Let's go. They have already noticed us."
Fiery Queen retrieved her weapon, which was a long whip. White Lotus followed, holding a normal-looking sword in front of her.
Despite being top players, neither of them had any chance to obtain weapons with a grade, so they can only put up with these normal weapons with no grade.
"Lightning Element." Lightning Emperor caressed his sword, causing the lightning snakes to return, coiling around the blade as though it was dancing.
"Body Enhancement—Speed." Fiery Queen's supple body glowed blue, and her body could no longer feel any weight, feeling as though she has become as light as a feather.
"Xu Hei." White Lotus said softly, and the black cat stood in front of her.
"Let's go!" Lightning Emperor kicked his feet, flying towards the skeletons at a quick speed.
"Don't order me around!" Fiery Queen also charged forward, followed by White Lotus and her Servant.
—
"Xiao Hua… you…" Yuan was shocked upon seeing her character status. Although he doesn't understand what they meant, they were obviously not ordinary.
"To have a companion this powerful so early on in the game… Isn't this technically cheating?" Yuan was aware of the advantage he currently has over all the other players, but because he isn't playing for competitive reasons, he doesn't on planning to use this advantage.
"Say, Xiao Hua. Compared to a Spirit Apprentice cultivator, how much stronger are you as a Spirit King?" He asked her so he could better comprehend the differences between them.
"…" Xiao Hua looked at him weirdly for a moment before saying, "one thousand… ten thousand…? Brother Yuan, they cannot be compared because the difference is too vast."
"The difference is too vast? How so?"
"Hmmm… That mountain over there… Xiao Hua can make it disappear with one attack." She pointed at the large mountain at the horizon and said casually.
"Disappear with one attack?" Yuan's eyes popped when he heard her confident words. If what she said was true, wouldn't that make her a walking bomb with destructive power equivalent to a nuke? One that can be used multiple times? How could she possibly be a mere Servant? Wouldn't her existence be considered a bit unbalanced for a game? Or are all cultivators this powerful once they reach a certain stage?
Yuan couldn't help but wonder what the game creators were thinking when they thought that giving such a small girl like her so much power would be a great idea.
"Xiao Hua, do not use your powers recklessly, okay? I don't want to see you accidentally destroy a city or a piece of land—" He suddenly turned to look at the earth fissure, his eyes wide open.
"X…Xiao Hua… did you do this?" He asked her after having a feeling that it wasn't the two cultivators who had created this mess.
"Un." She nodded calmly, seemingly thinking nothing much of it.
"Aiii!" Yuan sighed loudly. "What if you had accidentally hit somebody with that? Xiao Hua, listen up. Do not use your power unless I give you permission, okay?"
"Un." She accepted his request quite easily.
"Good." Yuan looked at the earth fissure one more time before turning away with a bitter smile on his face. "Let's go, Xiao Hua. It'd be bad if someone were to see us here right now…"
Thus, the two began walking further from the crime scene.
—
"Xiao Hua, what will you do now that you have become my Servant?" Yuan asked her, still unsure of what the purpose of Servants is in this game.
"Xiao Hua will follow Brother Yuan wherever he goes," she answered quickly. "And she will lead you to the next realm."
"Huh? Lead me to the next realm?"
"Un."
"Well… nevermind that for now. What about your family? What will they say if you decide to leave home to follow me?"
"Brother Yuan is Xiao Hua's family now, so there are no problems." She looked at him with flickering eyes.
"I don't think that logic would work…" He shook his head, unsure of what to do with her.
Taking a child who he met only a few days ago away from her family would cause countless problems if this was the real world, but Yuan recalled that he was in a game and she is only an NPC, so there shouldn't be any problems.
"Alright, do as you wish, Xiao Hua." He finally said with a forfeiting smile.
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Chapter 9: Jade Frog
«Congratulations! Player Lightning Emperor, Player White Lotus, and Player Fiery Queen has become the first players to have cleared Skeleton Graveyard!»
The sudden announcement shocked many players, but it was not because they were the first to clear this dungeon but because three different families from the Legacy Ranking were grouped together! In other words, they were cooperating, something that is rarely seen by the public, if ever.
"Holy shit! Three of the top 10 families within the Legacy are actually cooperating to clear a dungeon together!"
"Perhaps they have decided to make an alliance to bring down this Player Yuan?"
"That is a possibility…"
Many players gossiped about the new announcement online, some even making conspiracies. The Legacy Ranking is a system in the real world — or a real-world ranking so to speak, where professional players fight each other competitively to obtain a spot within the Legacy Ranking.
There can only be 100 players in the Legacy Ranking, ranked one to one hundred. Being a part of the Legacy Ranking brings countless profits and almost no downfalls. Wealth, fame, authority, power — one can obtain all that just by being in the Legacy Ranking. Additionally, once a player becomes a part of the Legacy Ranking, regardless of their rank, their family will also become a Legacy Family, allowing them to recruit talented players to help them remain or climb the ranks within the Legacy Ranking, almost like a guild or clan in games.
Countless players, young and old, fight in worldwide tournaments just to obtain the qualifications to challenge someone who is within the Legacy Ranking to steal their spot. Furthermore, only one game would be chosen every decade as the focus. Because of this, the rankings would usually have major changes every decade, except for those at the very top of the ranking.
The game the Legacy Ranking had chosen to be the main focus for this decade was obviously Cultivation Online, the hottest VRMMORPG in the world to date.
—
Moments after the announcement, another one appears above the clouds.
«Congratulations! Player Xiong Lu has obtained the world's first Spirit grade equipment!»
"He's finally appeared, huh." Lightning Emperor narrowed his gaze at the name on the announcement.
Xiong Lu of the Heaven's Divinity, standing at the top of the Legacy Ranking as the number one Player in this world. He is a major figure even in the real world, owning one of the biggest gaming companies out there.
"Even an unsurpassable monster like him could only obtain the lowest grade equipment in this game after so many hours… yet this Yuan…" Fiery Queen sighed loudly.
—
"Xiao Hua, what are the grades for equipment?" Yuan asked her after the announcement disappeared.
"Spirit, Earth, Heaven, Divine, each broken into four tiers of quality: Low, Medium, High, and Peak. There are other grades higher than Divine, but there is no need to worry about that since you can only find them in the higher realms."
"Realm… you also mentioned that before. What did you mean by bringing me to the next realm?"
"Brother Yuan is currently in the lowest realm — the Lower Heaven. Xiao Hua's job is to help Brother Yuan reach the highest realm — the Supreme Heaven."
"Your job?" He questioned. Why and who would give her such a job?
"Xiao Hua accepted the Supreme Heaven's Legacy, so it became her job to find a successor."
"…What a deep game." Yuan looked at the sky, "How do we get to the next realm?" he asked.
"Brother Yuan is too weak right now and should only worry about getting stronger. After that, we can challenge the Realm Guardian for access to the next realm."
"So it's that kind of game, huh." Yuan became more understanding of the goal of this game.
"Is there a reward for getting there? The Supreme Heaven," he asked out of curiosity, not expecting anything too much.
"Everything," she answered after a moment of silence, "The winner shall obtain everything this world has to offer… so… they become this world's God."
"Eh?" Yuan totally did not expect such a generous reward. "Allowing Players to become God? So the game creators are essentially giving admin powers to those who reach that point? How generous of them."
'But I have no use for such power, so I will enjoy my life to the fullest and leave it to others to fight for that reward.' Yuan thought to himself. He was content with just having the ability to use his eyes and limbs as he wishes.
—
After walking for some time, Yuan finally realized that they were walking aimlessly without a destination. "Xiao Hua, where should we go now? Or rather, what should we do?" he asked her, who seemed to be the one leading this journey.
Xiao Hua looked at him with a nonchalant expression and said, "Help Brother Yuan get stronger."
"And how will we do that?" Although he doesn't really desire strength, it wasn't something he would refuse either.
"That…" Xiao Hua suddenly pointed to the distance where there was an open field, and in this middle of this open field was a large figure at least 5 meters tall.
"That's… a frog?" Yuan quickly blinked a few times nonstop when he saw the massive frog with jade-like skin sitting in the middle with its eyes closed, seemingly sleeping.
"That is a Jade Frog; it has power equivalent to a Ninth Level Spirit Apprentice cultivator."
"Ninth Level Spirit Apprentice?! I am only a Seventh Level Spirit Apprentice! Are you telling me to go kill myself?!" Yuan nearly cried upon hearing her words.
"Although the Jade Frog is two levels above Brother Yuan's cultivation base, it shouldn't matter because Brother Yuan has cultivated the Heaven Consuming Technique, allowing him to be stronger than most Cultivators at the same level."
"Is that really how it works?"
"Un."
"But I also don't know how to fight — Ah… it noticed us." Yuan suddenly pointed at the Jade Frog, its head turned towards their direction with killing intent radiating from its gaze.
Whoosh! The Jade Frog suddenly leaped and appeared dozens of meters into the sky, almost as though it was trying to touch the clouds.
"Watch out!" Yuan instinctively grabbed Xiao Hua by her waist with one hand and jumped back to avoid the shadow. Seconds later, the Jade Frog lands at where they originally stood, creating a dent in the ground.
"That was close…" Yuan wiped the invisible sweat from his forehead when he saw the hole on the ground. They could've been meat paste if he didn't dodge that.
"Brother Yuan, good luck." She gave him a thumbs up and casually walked to the side to watch, dumbfounding Yuan.
Thinking that she was just an ant, the Jade Frog ignored her and kept its gaze on Yuan.
"You… How am I supposed to fight this monster without any weapons?!" he cried out loud.
"Then Brother Yuan can use this…" Xiao Hua retrieved a small pouch from her robes, pulling out a steel sword from inside.
However, when she pulled out the sword, it also alerted the Jade Frog, causing it to leap towards her. In the Jade Frog's eyes, Xiao Hua, who has a weapon, was more of a threat than Yuan who was empty-handed, so it ignored Yuan and went for her instead.
"Xiao Hua! Watch out!" He shouted to warn her, but Xiao Hua only watched it fall on her with a calm expression.
Boom! The ground slightly shook when the Jade Frog landed on Xiao Hua's small frame.
Yuan's eyes widened, and his jaw dropped from shock. In his mind, Xiao Hua has most likely turned into a pancake after being squashed by the Jade Frog's massive body and weight.
Suddenly, purple mists began seeping out from beneath the Jade Frog, almost like it had farted, and Yuan returned to his senses.
The purple mist distanced itself from the Jade Frog and gathered beside Yuan, before forming into the figure of a small girl.
"Xiao Hua!" Yuan was baffled by what he'd just witnessed. What just happened?
"What's wrong, Brother Yuan?" she asked him in a normal voice as though she did not just get flattened by the Jade Frog.
"You… what happened just now?"
"Xiao Hua's Purple Mist Physique?"
"Yes… but I am also talking about why you just stood there to take its attack! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"But Brother Yuan said Xiao Hua cannot use her power until Xiao Hua has permission, and Xiao Hua did not have permission…"
Yuan looked at her with wide eyes, his expression perplexed. "Are you an idiot?!" he suddenly yelled at her.
Startled, Xiao Hua shrunk her head like a scared turtle.
"Even if you didn't want to use your powers, you could've just dodged! There was no reason for you to stand there and take the hit!" Yuan was upset, but mostly at himself for telling her to do something without thinking about it.
Xiao Hua is just an NPC, someone programmed to act and do things a certain way, so if Yuan told her to sit, then she will sit without questioning him, her 'master'. But Yuan didn't take into consideration that she was an NPC, who is also his Servant, and treated her as a real human, hence why he believed that she would have some logic in her when he told her to not use her power recklessly.
"Sorry…" Xiao Hua apologized.
"Aiii!" Yuan facepalmed when he saw her sad face. "I should be the one apologizing, Xiao Hua… I had told you to do something without thinking… I'm sorry."
"?"
"When I told you to not use your powers, I didn't mean to completely seal off your power and be a punching bag… If you are in danger or feel like you need to use your powers, then just use it."
"What about Brother Yuan's permission?"
"Forget I had ever said that and use it according to your judgment. What I am trying to say is there's no need to crack an egg by smashing it with a large rock, and think about your surroundings and the environment before you decide to use it."
"Xiao Hua understands." She nodded.
"Good. Now, give me that sword. I have a debt to settle with this damn frog."
The moment Yuan grabbed the steel sword by the handle, information about the sword appeared in his head.
«Spirit Sword»
«Grade: Spirit»
«Quality: Peak»
«Physical Strength Required: 900»
«Mental Strength Required: 1,500»
«Sharpness: 1,000»
«Description: Cuts metal like butter.»
"Good sword!" Yuan instantly took a liking to it after swinging it a few times in the air.
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Chapter 10: A Natural Prodigy
The Jade Frog remained unmoving, its gaze seemingly filled with confusion as it stared at Xiao Hua, who didn't even bother to return its gaze, as though it was nothing in her eyes. How did this insignificant-looking little girl escape unscathed after being crushed by its massive weight, it wondered.
Yuan walked forward in a calm manner, his gaze deeply focused on the Jade Frog. Although he has never been in a fight before, he felt oddly calm at this moment, as though it was only natural.
"I have never been in a fight before, let alone use a sword. I have spent the majority of my life in a bed, silently rotting away. However, as powerless I may be outside of this world, I can use my limbs and eyes to the fullest in this world! As long as I am here, I feel as though I can achieve anything, even defeating this giant frog!" Yuan suddenly dashed towards the Jade Frog, alerting it. His speed was faster than even the fastest man on earth, and he arrived in front of Jade Frog in the blink of an eye.
"Witness! Remember! Learn! Execute!" The fight between the two cultivators flashed inside his head, and his hands moved accordingly.
Slash! The sword in his grasp had easily sliced the skin of the Jade Frog, causing blood to gush out from its stomach. The Jade Frog screamed from the pain, and it jumped back to avoid him.
Xiao Hua's eyes widened when she witnessed the movements of Yuan's sword. "Although it was stiff and seemed like the swing of an amateur… it was clearly a sword technique."
Yuan did not chase after the Jade Frog and only looked at the sword in his grasp, and on his face was dissatisfaction. "Che. I moved exactly as that guy did, but something about it did not feel right…"
"Brother Yuan… you…" Xiao Hua could only be shocked. What she just witnessed was the technique of one of the two cultivators she had killed. Did he learn it just from watching them fight for a brief moment?
For someone to learn and execute a technique only after watching it once and only for a few moments, Yuan could only be described as a prodigy.
"I executed the movements perfectly and it had hit the target, but there was something missing…" Yuan pondered. "Perhaps… Qi?"
As though he had received enlightenment, Yuan smiled, and his gaze returned to the Jade Frog. "This time, I will slay you!" he exclaimed with confidence, his sword pointing at the trembling Jade Frog.
The Jade Frog was confused. The human looked incredibly weak and vulnerable just moments ago, yet the moment he grabbed the sword, everything about him changed. His weak aura became sharp like the sword, and his gaze showed dominance, even a hint of arrogance. What had happened to him that caused this change?
Even Xiao Hua was also a bit baffled by his change. It was as if he had gone from a mortal who knew nothing about the world to a profound swordmaster! Even the aura he emitted has changed entirely!
Yuan dashed towards the Jade Frog while it was dazed, and his hands maneuvered the sword in his hands with the same movements but with more precision and speed. The sword in his hand suddenly glowed red —
"Bloody Sword Strike!"
Sha! The Jade Frog instinctively leaped back, but its movements were too slow when compared to Yuan's sword strike, and it split in half in mid-air, causing organs and blood to fly everywhere.
«You have learned Bloody Sword Strike»
—
«Bloody Sword Strike»
«Rank: Earth»
«Mastery Level: 1»
«Description: Consumes 900 Qi. Must wield a sword to activate. A technique from the Blood Sect.»
—
«Player Yuan has become the world's first player to have learned an Earth-ranked skill! Congratulations!»
«Player Yuan has become the first player to have killed the Elite Boss: Jade Frog!»
Two announcements appeared, back to back, for the world to see.
—
After the Jade Frog died, Xiao Hua ran up to Yuan and asked him, "Brother Yuan, where did you learn that technique?"
The sharp aura around Yuan disappeared the moment he heard Xiao Hua's voice. "Hm? Oh, it was a skill used by that red-haired dude fighting in the sky," he said casually.
Xiao Hua silently looked at him with her eyes flickering with admiration. "No wonder Brother Yuan comprehended the Heaven's Secret Art in such a short time…" she mumbled to herself.
"Anyway, I feel like I have gotten stronger from that fight just now. It also felt great to use my body in such a way!" Yuan laughed, "Perhaps I have a talent for fighting? Hahaha!"
"Brother Yuan is a genius, no doubt." Xiao Hua nodded with a serious face.
"Stop it… you're embarrassing me with your flattering…"
"Xiao Hua is not flattering. Brother Yuan's ability to comprehend things is otherworldly. Such talents are rarely seen even in the higher heavens, let alone this Lower Heaven…"
Yuan shook his head, "I was able to beat that frog with ease only because of the powerful sword you gave me. Thank you, Xiao Hua." He patted her head.
"Then when Brother Yuan becomes strong enough, Xiao Hua will give Brother Yuan more powerful weapons!" she said cheerfully.
"You have equipment stronger than this sword? What are you, a walking weapon shop?"
"Un. But Brother Yuan is too weak to wield any of them, so Xiao Hua can only wait until he gets strong enough to wield them without exploding to death."
"E…Exploding to death?" Yuan shivered upon hearing her cruel words. "Surely you must be joking…"
"Unlike normal weapons without a grade, Spirit-grade and above weapons are called Spiritual Weapons that have the ability to gain their own consciousness. If one tries to wield a Spiritual Weapon stronger than their own strength, then the conscious in the weapon may try to kill that person depending on its personality." Xiao Hua explained to him.
"How dangerous… it's almost as if everything in this game will try to kill you if you are too weak…" Yuan thought to himself.
"Weapons, monsters, even humans… it does not matter… if it is strong, then it will dominate the weak. That's why Brother Yuan has to become strong, so he will not be bullied by the strong."
"I will be fine as long as I have you, Xiao Hua." Yuan tried to praise her, but she only turned solemn.
"Brother Yuan, Xiao Hua is only strong in this Lower Heaven… In the higher heavens, Xiao Hua is only an ant when compared to the real experts…" she sighed.
"Only an ant?" Yuan cannot imagine how powerful the cultivators in the higher heavens are when Xiao Hua is already strong enough to destroy an entire mountain.
Xiao Hua suddenly walked away and towards where the dead Jade Frog laid.
"Where are you going?" Yuan followed her.
"When monsters die, some of them will drop a monster core." Xiao Hua shoved her entire arm into the Jade Frog's corpse without flinching and pulled out a small crystal a moment later. "Monster cores are very important to Cultivators because they can greatly assist them in cultivation with Qi stored inside."
"Here you go, Brother Yuan." She handed Yuan the monster core.
"What about you? Don't you also need to grow stronger?" He asked.
"The amount of Qi inside this monster core is too little to have any effect on Xiao Hua, so Brother Yuan should use it."
Yuan nodded, and he threw the monster core into his mouth without hesitation. "Taste like candy…" he thought.
"Ah! Brother Yuan!" Xiao Hua shouted loudly, looking baffled and scared at the same time when she saw Yuan throw the monster core directly into his mouth.
"Hm? What's wrong?" Yuan looked at her casually.
"Monster cores are not meant to be swallowed like that!" she said urgently, "Hurry up and spit it out!"
When Yuan saw her panicking face, he also panicked. What will happen to him now that he ate one?
Cold sweat soaked Yuan's back, but there was nothing he could do because the monster core had melted in his mouth the moment it touched his tongue and have already entered his stomach…
"I… already swallowed it…" Yuan spoke in a stiff tone. "I know it is already too late, but what happens if someone swallows a monster core?"
Xiao Hua dropped to her knees and said, "Monster cores contain the entire cultivation base of its retainer before death, so if someone tries to swallow so much Qi in one go… they will explode to death…"
"Exploding to death again!?" Yuan's jaw dropped from shock. There are too many things in this game that will cause him to explode to death!
Suddenly—
«Heaven Refining Physique activated»
«1,280,000 Qi has been refined from the Jade Frog's monster core»
«You have absorbed enough Qi for a breakthrough»
«You have reached Eighth Level Spirit Apprentice»
«All stats 450»
—
"…"
"…"
"…."
"Brother Yuan, did you just have a breakthrough?" Xiao Hua asked after a long silence, her voice filled with disbelief.
"I did…" he answered with a weird smile.
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Chapter 11: A Priceless Treasure
Xiao Hua looked at Yuan with a pondering gaze. "Brother Yuan's cultivation base was only at the early stages of Seventh Level Spirit Apprentice before consuming the Jade Frog monster core. Even if Brother Yuan consumes the entire Jade Frog monster core, he shouldn't be able to break through to Eighth Level Spirit Apprentice right away and would only be halfway there…"
"Additionally, Brother Yuan also directly absorbed the entire monster core and did not receive any backlash but had a breakthrough instead… Xiao Hua has never seen anything like this before…"
"Perhaps it had something to do with my physique?" Yuan said.
"Brother Yuan's physique?"
"It's called Heaven Refining Physique," he said, hoping she'd know something about it.
However, Xiao Hua only tilted her head. "Heaven Refining Physique? Xiao Hua has never heard of it before…"
"But if it has something to do with why Brother Yuan was able to consume that Jade Frog monster core, then we can obtain some more monster cores to experiment."
"Hmm…" Yuan suddenly retrieved the token given to him by the goddess during his character evaluation and showed it to her. "Then do you know what this thing is, or its purpose?"
Xiao Hua's eyes instantly widened with shock when she saw the jade token in his hand. "Ancient Spirit Jade! And so big!" she exclaimed loudly, "Where did Brother Yuan obtain this!?"
"It was given to me by some beauty. I don't know her name, though. What does it do?" Yuan became curious when he saw her shocked expression, looking as though she just witnessed the heavens collapse before her.
"This is a Spirit Jade; it is somewhat similar to a monster core but holds far more Qi within. Even a pebble-sized Royal Spirit Jade of low quality, the lowest grade, is extremely valuable in the higher heavens… since it can awaken or bestow bloodlines…" Xiao Hua forcefully swallowed her saliva and continued, "The Ancient Spirit Jade in Brother Yuan's grasp is three grades above the Royal Spirit Jade… and is probably of high quality… Not to mention it is the size of a palm-sized rock…"
The presence of the Ancient Spirit Jade was enough to make the usually calm Xiao Hua tremble uncontrollably — it was just that valuable of a treasure.
"Hmmm… So I can consume this and obtain Qi like monster cores, right?" Yuan licked his lips when he thought about how sweet the Jade Frog monster core tasted. "I wonder how much stronger I'll grow if I were to eat this…"
Xiao Hua nearly received a heart attack when she heard his words and hastily grabbed his hands. "You mustn't! If Brother Yuan consumes this, even if you have a unique physique, you will surely explode to death! Even a peak Spirit Emperor would not dare to imagine consuming it!"
Yuan chucked when he saw the anxious face she made, "Relax, Xiao Hua. I won't consume it. Such a valuable item, how could I consume it before I find that beauty to ask her why she gave me this Spirit Jade?"
'For that person to have this Ancient Spirit Jade, she must have a shocking background… Maybe someone from the Supreme Heaven?' Xiao Hua thought to herself.
"Xiao Hua, here."
"?"
"!!!"
Xiao Hua's soul nearly abandoned her body when Yuan suddenly threw the Ancient Spirit Jade at her. Barely catching it, she looked at him with a baffled expression. "Brother Yuan…?"
"It'd be wiser if you were to keep this Ancient Spirit Jade for me until I become strong enough to protect it," he said.
"Xiao Hua cannot hold something this valuable!" She instantly refused while shaking her head, her hands already trembling from the invisible weight coming from the Ancient Spirit Jade.
Yuan frowned, "If you don't want to hold it, then who will? I am aware of my weak existence in this vast world, so having me hold something like that will only bring endless trouble. If I could, I would just throw it away, but now that I know its value… You know what I mean, right?"
Xiao Hua clenched her fist and nodded with a serious expression. "Xiao Hua vows to protect this Ancient Spirit Jade even at the cost of her life!"
"Wrong!" Yuan said loudly. "No matter how valuable that Spirit Jade is, it is only an object and will never be as valuable as your life! If it ever comes to losing your life or that Spirit Jade, then you will choose to lose the Spirit Jade!"
"But…"
"No buts! This is an order!" Yuan was adamant about his decision. In his eyes, there is nothing in this world that can be as valuable as Xiao Hua's life.
"…Xiao Hua understands…" She reluctantly nodded before storing the Ancient Spirit Jade in her storage pouch.
With the Ancient Spirit Jade gone from her sight, the atmosphere was no longer as heavy and suffocating.
'I was unable to learn more about that beauty or why she'd give me such a valuable treasure… How unfortunate.' Yuan sighed inwardly.
—
"Where do we go to obtain more monster cores?" Yuan asked her with the steel sword still in his grasp, his blood still heated from the battle with the Jade Frog.
"Any monster with a cultivation base of Seventh Level Spirit Apprentice and above will have a chance to drop a monster core," she said.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get hunting!"
Xiao Hua began leading Yuan around to find monsters for him to fight. With her cultivation base, it was an easy job for her to locate monsters within a thousand-meter radius.
"There's a middle-level monster 200 meters to the north."
Low-level are monsters between levels one to three, middle-level between levels four to six, and high-level are monsters between levels seven to nine.
"Eh? If it isn't at least at a Seventh Level, what point is there for us to hunt them if they don't drop monster cores?"
"Brother Yuan, no matter how talented an individual is or how many heavenly techniques they have, without the experience to use them properly, they will still be regarded as someone weak."
"I cannot argue against that…" Yuan nodded.
Thus, the two began slaughtering every monster that crossed paths with them… or more precisely, every monster that was unfortunate enough to be in that area.
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Chapter 12: Heaven-Defying Physique
«Player Fire Red, Player Poisoned Fiend, Player Mad Dog, and Player Get Creamed has become the first players to have cleared Burning Cave for the first time! Congratulations!»
An announcement hung above the clouds as Yuan elegantly danced around with the steel sword in his grasp, quickly decapitating the four silver wolves surrounding him. The wolf corpses plummeted to the ground, but Yuan did not stop his sword movements and continued to dance, slaying the two wolves that were trying to run.
Xiao Hua, who was watching him at a distance clapped, like a spectator watching a street performance. "Brother Yuan's growth is simply astonishing, like a sponge absorbing water, he easily comprehends everything from his own weakness to his strength. In just a few mere hours, his swordsmanship and Qi manipulation has increased by leaps and bounds."
Her gaze suddenly flickered with regret. "If only Brother Yuan grew up in Supreme Heaven instead of this Lower Heaven where the Qi lacks in both quality and quantity…"
After slaying the last silver wolf, Yuan retrieved all monster cores he had collected during this grind.
"Only seven had dropped after killing dozens of monsters, huh." Yuan cried inwardly at the small amount of monster core he has obtained after spending so much time and effort into slaying monsters.
"Seven monster cores is considered a pretty successful hunt…" Xiao Hua said to him upon seeing his disappointment. "If used properly, seven monster cores can last a month of cultivation."
"But in Brother Yuan's case…"
"This wouldn't even last a minute for me, let alone one month!" Yuan suddenly throws one into his mouth, and sure enough, it startled Xiao Hua again.
«Heaven Refining Physique activated»
«560,000 Qi has been refined from the Silver Needle Wolf's monster core»
«You have absorbed enough Qi for a breakthrough»
«You have reached Ninth Level Spirit Apprentice»
«All stats 500»
1,519,395/3,840,000
—
"Brother Yuan… you…" Xiao Hua looked at Yuan like he was a ghost, her gaze filled with shock and bewilderment.
"Taste like candy." Yuan licked his lips and said, "Although it did not have as much Qi as the Jade Frog's monster core, it is still very beneficial towards my cultivation."
"B…B…Brother Yuan…" Xiao Hua called him, but she didn't know what to say after that.
"What's wrong?" He looked at her with an innocent gaze, seemingly unaware of how amazing his ability is.
"When a cultivator absorbs the Qi within a monster core, they can only absorb a limited amount of Qi from the monster core depending on the quality of the monster core. However, even a high-grade monster core will only allow one to absorb at most 50% of its total Qi before the rest dissipates back into the world. This is a rule set by Heaven itself and cannot be defied. But… from Brother Yuan's situation… perhaps his Heaven Refining Physique can ignore this rule and defy the Heavens?" Xiao Hua trembled at the thought that Yuan could possibly have a heaven-defying physique.
"Defying the heavens, huh…" Yuan thought of his real body in real life. "If only I had such an ability in my other life, too…" he sighed inwardly.
Suddenly, Xiao Hua turned her head, and her gaze narrowed. "Brother Yuan, there are people near us…"
'Hm? People? Are they players or NPCs?' He wondered. Since this will be his first encounter with other people besides Xiao Hua since he started playing this game, he wanted to see them.
"Three people — two Seventh Level Spirit Apprentice and one Eighth Level Spirit Apprentice, and they are fighting a peak-level Fiery Lizard."
"I am interested," said Yuan. "Let's go take a look."
"Un."
—
Three young adults, two male, and one female stood a few meters away from a giant lizard with red scales that had black lines spread across like burn marks from a lightning strike. Their gaze flickered continuously with fear and nervousness, and underneath their clothes was a body covered in sweat. They have been fighting this Fiery Lizard for many minutes, yet none of them was able to break through this Fiery Lizard's defense.
"Shit! This thing's scale is as hard as steel! Senior apprentice-brother Mo, we need to leave now before we exhaust our Qi!"
"Junior apprentice-brother Wang is right! We cannot beat this beast with our current abilities! Let's leave before it's too late!"
The eldest among the three there, Mo Zhou, bit his lips as he stared at the Fiery Lizard before him. He has already exhausted all his techniques on this Fiery Lizard, yet there were only scratches on the surface of its scales. "I refuse!" he suddenly shouted.
"Senior apprentice-brother Mo!" The other two became anxious when they saw the stubbornness on his face.
"You two can leave, but I will stay here until either one of us dies! My life depends on this Fiery Lizard's monster core!" Mo Zhou bit his lips until it bled, but he continued to look at the Fiery Lizard with narrowed eyes filled with determination. "Either I die here or I return to the sect and die there! Since I will die either way, I might as well put everything on the line at this moment!"
"Then die here! I only helped you out of pity!" said the male before he turned to run away from the fight.
"This wouldn't be happening if you didn't offend Senior apprentice-brother Ren!" The female also abandoned the fight. Neither of those two was willing to risk their lives for him despite being friends for many years.
Mo Zhou sighed at his junior apprentice sister's words. "Junior apprentice-sister Ling is right… but I couldn't ignore my heart no matter what… not even knowing that I will be offending a Chosen by doing so…" He lifted his sword once again to face the Fiery Lizard. "Come, you trash!"
—
"Hmm? Xiao Hua, you said that there were three, but why is there only one here?" Yuan pointed at Mo Zhou, who was fighting the Fiery Lizard with fierce eyes and a bloodied robe.
"They left before we could arrive," she replied calmly.
"What about him? Do you think he'll win?"
Xiao Hua shook her head. "His cultivation base is almost dried up; it will only be a matter of time before he collapses due to Qi Deprivation."
"He is the only other person I have met so far besides you, Xiao Hua. It'd be a shame if he were to die here…" Yuan suddenly jumped into the fight with his sword raised. "Bloody Sword Strike!"
The Spirit Sword easily penetrated the unsuspected Fiery Lizard's steel-like scales and directly pierced its heart, instantly killing it with one strike. "Are you okay?" Yuan looked at the dazed Mo Zhou, who was staring at him like a dumb chicken, his mouth wide open and all.
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Chapter 13: Flying Sword Sec
"T…T…T…This…" Mo Zhou stuttered like a baby who just started speaking. He has never seen anyone penetrate the scales of a Fiery Lizard known for its nearly impenetrable defense with a single sword strike, let alone with such ease!
Yuan suddenly extended his hand for Mo Zhou, who had fallen to the ground from shock. "So? Why did you continue to fight that thing despite the obvious conclusion?" he asked as he pulled Mo Zhou off the ground.
Mo Zhou's expression stiffened upon hearing his question. "I will die if I fail to obtain a Fiery Lizard monster core, so I might as well die trying…" he sighed in a sorrowful tone.
"Why would you die if you cannot obtain one?" Yuan became interested in his situation.
Taking another deep sigh, Mo Zhou said, "Because I had offended a Chosen from my sect…"
"Chosen? What's that?"
Mo Zhou looked at him with a weird expression. How can anyone not know what a Chosen means?
"A Chosen is someone who is favored by the mighty heaven; they are all born with great talents and are respected by everyone."
"Favored by the heavens, huh…" Yuan nodded, "So you mean to tell me that you are going to die because you had offended this one guy? What did you do, kill his parents in front of him?"
Mo Zhou shook his head violently at his words. "No way! All I did was court senior apprentice-sister Xing… but because senior apprentice-brother Ren also fancies her… my actions angered him…"
"Are they dating?"
"No…"
"Aiya!" Yuan facepalmed, making a loud slapping sound. "He wants to kill you because you went ahead and confessed your love to this Xing girl? What kind of unreasonable man is this senior apprentice-brother Ren of yours?"
Mo Zhou became dumbfounded by his words. "But… this type of situation happens all the time…?" he thought to himself.
Yuan glanced at the Fiery Lizard corpse. "You need that, right?" he asked while pointing.
"…Yes."
"Take it."
"Eh?" Mo Zhou looked at him with a face full of surprise. This Fiery Lizard monster core is no doubt a valuable treasure that even the sect elders would covet, yet this young man was willing to give it to him, who he just met, just like that?
"Really…?" Mo Zhou mumbled in a doubtful tone. "But it was you who killed it…"
"Then I'll just take it for myself–" Yuan turned to walk towards the corpse.
Seeing his actions, Mo Zhou quickly panicked. "Wait! I want – No, please let me have it! I, Mo Zhou of the Flying Sword Sect, will be forever in your debt!"
"Brother Yuan is really kind. If it were anybody else, they would have definitely kept it for themselves." Xiao Hua thought to herself as she watched Mo Zhou fall to his knees to kowtow to Yuan as a way to show his gratitude.
"If there is anything this savior needs from this Mo Zhou, he will do it without fail!" Mo Zhou said loudly with tears falling off the corner of his eyes.
Having never been in such a situation, Yuan didn't know how to react to Mo Zhou's actions. "No need to be so humble. If I can exchange a mere monster core for someone's life, of course, I will do it without hesitation," he said.
"Thank you! Thank you very much…" Mo Zhou stayed kowtowing. "Not only did you already save me once from the Fiery Lizard… you are also giving me this Fiery Lizard monster core… In such a short time, you have already saved my life twice! Please, accept this as my gratitude…"
"It is awkward seeing a grown man such as yourself in this position while crying… hurry and stand up already…"
–
It took a moment, but Mo Zhou eventually calmed down.
"I haven't gotten your name yet…"
"You can call me Yuan."
"Then, fellow Daoist Yuan, once again, I am Mo Zhou, an outer disciple of the Flying Sword Sect." Mo Zhou stretched his hands for a handshake.
"Flying Sword Sect? What's a sect, again?" Yuan asked, forgetting that he'd already heard of such a word when he first arrived in this world.
Mo Zhou instantly became dazed at his question.
"Brother Yuan, a Sect is an organization dedicated to the practices of cultivation, where people go to study cultivation." Xiao Hua explained to him.
"So in other words… a school for cultivators?" Yuan looked at Mo Zhou, and a profound light flashed in his eyes. "Hey, Mo Zhou, can you give me a tour around your Flying Sword Sect? I have never been to a sect before, you see…"
Mo Zhou trembled, waking up from his daze. "So you really are a rogue cultivator…" he mumbled in a voice of disbelief.
"Rogue cultivator?" Yuan looked at Xiao Hua with a question mark floating on the top of his head.
"They are independent cultivators that do not belong to any sect."
"Oh, I understand. But why do you look so shocked?" He turned to look at Mo Zhou.
"I can tell that Daoist Yuan is a Ninth Level Spirit Apprentice, but he was able to slay that Fiery Lizard that even Third Level Spirit Warriors would have trouble, and you even killed it with such ease…"
"What he is trying to say is Brother Yuan, who does not have the support of Sects, shouldn't be this powerful," Xiao Hua intervened.
She looked at the dumbfounded Mo Zhou and said, "Brother Yuan is special. Don't compare him with these geniuses. Even these so-called Chosen are nothing in front of Brother Yuan."
"Ah, you are making me blush with such a bashful statement…" Yuan sighed in a low voice, his face slightly red.
"No – as arrogant as it may have sounded, I believe it… that Daoist Yuan is no doubt a genius." Mo Zhou said with a serious expression. "As for visiting my Flying Sword Sect… I will have to get permission from my sect elder before I can say for sure…"
"Really? Then what are we waiting for?" Yuan said cheerfully. He didn't expect that he'd have the chance to go to school in a video game, something he did not have the luxury of doing in the real world due to the limitations on his body.
"Ah! Give me a second to retrieve the monster core…" Mo Zhou said hastily, nearly forgetting about it.
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Chapter 14: Thousand Swords Formation
"Bloody Sword Strike!"
A red arc of light swept through the forest and directly beheaded the three meters tall ape without alerting it.
«Your comprehension with Bloody Sword Strike has reached a new level»
«Bloody Sword Strike Mastery Level (1) (2)»
«Bloody Sword Strike»
«Rank: Earth»
«Mastery Level: 2»
«Description: Consumes 90,000 Qi. Must wield a sword to activate. A technique from the Blood Sect.»
When Yuan noticed how the Qi consumption had increased a hundred folds with a single mastery level increase, his jaw dropped from shock. Wouldn't his Heaven Splitting Sword Strike require one million Qi to activate at mastery level 2 at this rate?
"Fellow Daoist Yuan is really… incomprehensible…" Mo Zhou trembled in shock as he watched Yuan slay high-level monsters with ease, and all in a single strike. "Even that high-level Spirit Apprentice Bull Ape was slain in a single strike…"
Ever since they met and decided to visit the Flying Sword Sect, Yuan would hunt down every monster in their path, collecting a few more monster cores.
"Eleven so far, huh…" Yuan counted the number of monster cores he had obtained, and the bundle of glistening monster cores in Yuan's grasp dumbfounded Mo Zhou to the core, who thought he was in an auction house.
"So many monster cores!"
Mo Zhou exclaimed loudly. Monster cores are all valuable resources that greatly assist cultivators with their cultivation, and they are greatly desired by cultivators from all levels. And because they can only be acquired through high-level monsters, they are considered rare and hard to obtain. But now in front of his eyes, there are a dozen of them all gathered on one man's palm.
"You consider this many? It won't even fill the gap between my teeth if I eat them all…" Yuan sighed.
"What?"
Mo Zhou couldn't comprehend the meaning behind his words, but he had a premonition that he would regret it if he knew, so he decided to ignore it.
–
"We have been running into a lot of high-level monsters, haven't we? That was already the sixth one…" Mo Zhou pondered as another high-level monster falls to the ground with its head detached from its neck.
"You really like beheading things…"
"It's efficient and easy, after all." Yuan smiled casually: "Tch. No monster core from this one…"
"Easy, huh…"
Mo Zhou inwardly compared Yuan with the Chosen in his sect. Would they be able to say such bold words so casually? Would they also be able to behead high-level monsters with such ease? Most likely not.
A thought suddenly appeared in Mo Zhou's head: 'Since he is a rogue cultivator… there is a chance I can rope him into joining our Flying Sword Sect…?'
If the Flying Sword Sect accepted a genius like him into their ranks, they will surely be overjoyed. Hell, they may even consider him a candidate as a future Sect Leader!
"Say, Daoist Yuan… have you ever considered joining a Sect?" he decided to ask him.
Yuan thought about it for a moment and shook his head: "I did not know of the existence of these so-called 'Sects' until today, so no, I have never thought about it."
"Then… would you be interested in joining my Flying Sword Sect? I am sure the Sect will welcome you with wide arms."
"…"
While Yuan pondered, Xiao Hua decided to open her mouth and speak: "Brother Yuan, there is no need for you to join a Sect; it will only hinder your growth. Xiao Hua believes that Brother Yuan will grow stronger much faster when together with Xiao Hua as a rogue cultivator."
Mo Zhou's mouth dropped when he heard Xiao Hua's words. Because she has been silent, he didn't really pay much attention to her. He wondered about their relationship.
"If I ever join a Sect, it'd only be for fun," said Yuan. "However, it is still too early for me to join any Sect, so I will have to refuse that offer for now."
"Is that so…"
While Mo Zhou was dispirited due to Yuan refusing his offer, he understood that there was still hope for him to join the Flying Sword Sect in the future. "Then, if you ever feel like joining a sect, please come to my Flying Sword Sect."
"I'll keep that in mind."
–
After walking for a few more hours, the group finally arrived at a vast valley surrounded by high mountains.
"This is the Flying Sword Sect?" Yuan was mesmerized by the scene of the thousand swords hovering in the air above the valley, looking as though there was a roof made of swords covering the place.
"That's the Thousand Swords Formation; it is a Heaven-ranked battle formation. If activated, they will all attack at once, like a rain of arrows. Though, it has been over 100 years since it was last activated." Mo Zhou wanted to leave a deep impression on Yuan with the Sect's power, hoping it would increase the chances of him join the Sect.
Mo Zhou's words and the magnificent scene indeed left a deep impression within Yuan, who has never seen anything like this before. As for Xiao Hua, she only glanced at it for a second before looking away.
"Please wait here for a moment while I go ask for permission to give you a tour around as a guest."
"Un." Yuan nodded and waited outside for him.
"A genius rogue cultivator, you say?" An old man sat in his exquisite wooden chair, his gaze as the young man standing before him.
"That's right, Elder Jiang. He managed to slay a high-level Fiery Lizard with a single sword strike, even piercing its steel-like scales known for its impenetrable defense!" Mo Zhou shared his experience with Yuan to the old man before him.
The old man was Elder Jiang, a sect elder of the Flying Sword Sect, who was also in charge of the administration for the sect.
"If this young man is really as good as you praised him to be, then I'd like to meet him myself." Elder Jiang stood up and walked towards the door. "What are you waiting for? Let's go."
"Yes!"
Mo Zhou led Elder Jiang outside the sect where Yuan and Xiao Hua waited patiently.
"Fellow Daoist Yuan! Thank you for waiting… umm…"
"Hmm… Ninth Level Spirit Apprentice… how old are you, young man?" Elder Jiang could tell Yuan's cultivation base with a single glance.
"You seem to be around Mo Zhou's age… not bad for a rogue cultivator who cultivated without any proper guidance." He nodded with approval.
"You are…?"
"This is Elder Jiang, he is in charge of the sect's administrations for the Outer Court disciples." Mo Zhou introduced Elder Jiang to Yuan.
"I see. Nice to meet you, Elder Jiang."
Elder Jiang gently brushed his white beard and said, "I will get straight to the point, do you want to join my Flying Sword Sect as a disciple? The Sect provides countless benefits and resources to its disciples to help them grow. If you join, then your cultivation base will definitely rise faster than before. Perhaps you may even qualify to become an Inner Court disciple one day."
"Inner Court disciple?" Yuan wondered if Inner Court disciples meant being something like an upperclassman.
"You…"
Elder Jiang frowned and looked at Mo Zhou.
"Elder Jiang, you see… Daoist Yuan has actually never been aware of the existence of sects until today, hence why he wanted to visit our Flying Sword Sect…" Mo Zhou explained to him with a bitter smile.
"What…? How is that even possible?" Elder Jiang doubted his words, but even an idiot could come up with a better excuse.
Elder Jiang looked at Yuan again, and he sighed. "Whatever. I do not care about your circumstances. Well? What is your answer? I will accept you as an Outer Court disciple right this moment if you so wish."
Mo Zhou saw the chance and urged Yuan. "Daoist Yuan, you are really lucky! Under normal circumstances, one would have to pass the entrance exam before they get admitted into the sect as a disciple. However, Elder Jiang here has the authority to accept you into the sect without any of that hassle! This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance that anyone would be willing to die for!" he said with excitement.
"…" Yuan turned silent for a moment.
However, despite the enticing offer, Yuan still shook his head. "Although I appreciate the gracious offer, I will have to decline…"
"Why?!" Mo Zhou exclaimed. How could anybody let such a chance go to waste? This could be his ticket to becoming an Inner Court disciple of a great sect such as the Flying Sword Sect – a chance every Outer Court disciple like Mo Zhou would die for!
"Like I have already said… I am not yet ready to join any factions. I am currently waiting for someone, and until she arrives, I will not make any big decisions," said Yuan.
Xiao Hua glanced at Yuan when he mentioned that he was waiting for someone. Who could this person be?
"…"
"…"
"…Very well…" Elder Jiang said with his eyes closed, "If that is your decision then so be it. However… do not come back one day and ask for my generosity again as you have already lost it once."
Mo Zhou sighed. All of his efforts were wasted in such a short amount of time. Perhaps the reason Elder Jiang did not put any real effort into pursuing Yuan was that he still doesn't fully trust his words – that Yuan was a prodigy that even Inner Court disciples may not be able to match.
"Umm… about the tour… am I still allowed to see your sect?" Yuan asked with a sly expression; he still wanted to see the inside even after all that he's said.
Mo Zhou looked at Elder Jiang with the corner of his eyes, waiting for his answer.
Elder Jiang coldly snorted and said, "Let him see what he's missed out."
He walked away afterward.
"…"
Yuan was speechless. Refusing Elder Jiang's offer must have offended him.
Mo Zhou sighed again and said with an apologetic expression, "Don't worry about it too much, Daoist Yuan. It was my fault to begin with… If I hadn't spoken so highly of you in front of Elder Jiang with the intention of recruiting you then this would've never have happened."
Yuan shook it off and said, "I don't mind it. He's just a grumpy old man, after all."
"G-Grumpy old man… Daoist Yuan… please don't ever let him hear you say that in front of him or else he will definitely kill you…" Mo Zhou, with a terrified expression, turned to see whether or not Elder Jiang had heard Yuan. When he couldn't see Elder Jiang's figure, Mo Zhou sighed in relief.
"Forget about him and let's hurry and go inside. I have been itching to see the inside since the sight of the Thousand Sword Formations!" Yuan said in an urging tone.
Mo Zhou smiled bitterly and said, "Alright… follow me…" He turned around and led the two inside, where disciples could be seen bustling around.
"Wow… they all carry swords with them…" Yuan's eyes flickered with excitement. He couldn't be more excited at this moment. In his eyes, this place was just begging for him to explore!
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Chapter 15: The Stone Tablets
"That building over there is the cafeteria for Outer Court disciples like me. The Inner Court disciples eat at a separate building." Mo Zhou explained as he guided Yuan around the Flying Sword Sect.
"Un. Un." Yuan nodded his head in excitement.
"Do you see that open area over there? That is where disciples go for lectures from Sect Elders once a week."
"That tall building is where disciples train to sharpen their sword techniques," said Mo Zhou as he pointed to the pagoda that was in the distance.
"What a unique shape for a building…" Yuan silently admired the elegant tower.
"Do you think I can go inside for a closer look?" he then asked Mo Zhou, who quickly shook his head in an apologetic manner.
"I'm sorry, Daoist Yuan, but visitors are not allowed inside any building with a ceiling…"
"Che. What a stinky place. How will you attract new disciples if you block off everything?" Yuan shook his head in pity.
"Uhh…" Mo Zhou didn't know how to refute his ignorant statement and could only smile awkwardly. Because normally, one wouldn't tour around a Sect before deciding whether they want to join or not.
"Forget it." Yuan suddenly said. "Let's continue with the tour."
Mo Zhou heaved a sigh of relief when Yuan didn't continue the topic.
"Okay, then let me show you what disciples of the Flying Sword Sect deem as the most important thing in this Sect!"
"Ohh?"
Hearing his words, Yuan instantly became curious about this place.
After walking for a few minutes, they stopped in front of three tall stone tablets sitting beside each other.
These three stone tablets were perfectly rectangular and had dozens of names engraved on it, resembling a memorial for the dead. However, unlike the other two, the middle stone tablet only had a few names on it, and they were much bigger and sharper than the rest.
"What's this? A memorial for the dead?" Yuan opened his mouth to ask without thinking.
"Wha—" Mo Zhou looked at him with a scared look. He then looked around to see if anybody was there to hear his words.
After seeing that the place was empty, Mo Zhou heaved another sigh of relief.
"Daoist Yuan, even though I am aware of your ignorance about Sects, what you'd just said had greatly offended not only me but also every disciple in this Sect!"
"What?" Yuan looked at him with a baffled expression.
"This is not a memorial for the dead but a ranking for the entire Sect! Every name on these three tablets represents a genius within the Sect, and they are all respected by the thousands of disciples in this Sect! If others besides me had heard your words, they would've jumped at you with their swords raised, as that was extremely disrespectful to the individuals that have poured their sweat and blood just to be on that ranking!"
"I-Is that right? I had no idea, but I will still apologize for my rude remarks… Sorry." Yuan said in an apologetic tone.
Seeing his sincere apology, Mo Zhou nodded with an approving smile. "It's fine. I know you didn't mean it."
He then turned to the three stone tablets again and said: "Every stone tablet except the middle one holds forty-five names, with the middle having only ten, adding up to a total of one hundred names."
"These hundred names are the names of the strongest disciples within the Flying Sword Sect— not including the Sect Elders and the Sect Leader. And every single one of them receives the Sect's full backing, allowing them to enjoy almost an unlimited amount of resources provided by the Sect. Ah… and everybody in the middle stone tablets is given the title 'Core Disciple'."
Mo Zhou's eyes sparkled with admiration as he stared at the three stone tablets, especially when his gaze met with the middle one, seemingly mesmerized.
"Every disciple in this Sect— including me— desires to have our own names engraved on the stone tablet."
Suddenly, as Mo Zhou ended his words, the last name on the third stone tablet disappeared. And a few seconds later, another name engraved itself on the very same spot.
When Mo Zhou saw this, his eyes flickered with excitement.
"Look! Someone just replaced the 100th name!"
"Eh? How did the names on the tablet change itself? Aren't they engraved into it?" Yuan was more curious about the phenomenon than the event itself.
—
After staring at the stone tablet for a few moments, Yuan suddenly noticed the name 'Ren Fuchen'.
He pointed to the first stone tablet and asked Mo Zhou in a curious tone: "Hey, that Ren Fuchen… is he the same as the Ren that you had offended?"
When Yuan mentioned Ren Fuchen, Mo Zhou's complexion noticeably paled.
He then nodded in a dispirited motion, confirming Yuan's curiosity.
"His name is ranked… 14th. He's the 14th strongest disciple in this place?"
Mo Zhou nodded again but even slower this time.
"What about the girl you were courting? Is she also on the ranking?"
Hearing his question, Mo Zhou silently pointed to the last name engraved on the middle stone tablet.
"Xing Aiying… ranked 10th…" Yuan then turned to look at Mo Zhou with a surprised look. "You actually courted someone that has her name on the ranking — the middle one, no less? How bold and aspiring!"
"…"
Mo Zhou could only smile bitterly at Yuan's words that were seemingly filled with admiration and praise.
"Anyway, this is pretty much all there is to see, for guests like you at least," Mo Zhou said.
"Now I have to give this Fiery Lizard monster core to senior apprentice-brother Ren…" Mo Zhou sighed in a dejected manner.
"Do you really have to give it to him? You didn't do anything wrong, so there's no reason for you to listen to his nonsense," said Yuan.
Mo Zhou shook his head and said, "You don't understand, Daoist Yuan. This is a world where the strong makes the rules and the weak obey their rules, even if such rules are unreasonable and full of nonsense."
"And I'm telling you that only an idiot would follow such rules," Yuan shrugged. "You are the one who doesn't understand here."
"A-An idiot?" Mo Zhou looked at him, who'd unknowingly called everybody in this world an idiot, with a weird expression on his face.
"How about I come with you to meet this Ren guy?" Yuan suddenly said, dumbfounding him.
"It's fine," Mo Zhou said a moment later with a bitter smile, "This is my own problem, I cannot drag you into it, especially not after all that you've done for me already."
Yuan turned silent and looked at him with a calm expression.
"Is that so? Then—"
Suddenly, a loud voice resounded from the distance.
"Hey, isn't that the kid who tried to court senior apprentice-sister Xing and ended up offending you?"
Both Yuan and Mo Zhou turned to look in the direction of the voice, and Mo Zhou's face paled the instant he saw the two handsome young men in the distance looking at him.
"S-Senior apprentice-brother Ren! Senior apprentice-brother Zhen!"
When Yuan saw how Mo Zhou's legs were shaking like jello, he knew just how fearful he was towards these two individuals.
"Mo Zhou, you bastard! How dare you make me walk to your living quarters to look for you!" The handsome young man on the right approached Mo Zhou with an angry expression, his hands grasped tightly into fists.
"Where have you been hiding? Didn't I say that today was the last day for you to bring me a monster core from a Fiery Lizard or else—?!"
"I have it! I have a Fiery Lizard monster core with me! Here you go!"
Mo Zhou pulled out a small red crystal from his robe pockets and showed it to Ren Fuchen.
'That brat really managed to obtain a Fiery Lizard monster core!' Ren Fuchen's eyes widened upon seeing the crystal. He did not think that someone as weak as Mo Zhou would have the ability to slay a powerful beast like the Fiery Lizard, yet there was its monster core in his grasp.
"How did you get it? Don't tell me you bought it?"
"It doesn't matter how I obtained it! I have gotten what you asked, so leave me alone from now on!"
"Hahahaha!" Hearing his words, Ren Fuchen burst out laughing. "You really are an idiot! You really think that I'd leave you alone just because you somehow managed to obtain the monster core? That was only an excuse for me to beat you up!"
"What?!" At this point, Mo Zhou's heart was filled with bitterness. "You promised that you'd forget about me courting senior apprentice-sister Xing if I give you the Fiery Lizard monster core!"
"Of course, I will honor my words and forget about your disgraceful act of courting senior apprentice-sister Xing. However, after you give me the Fiery Lizard, it will no longer be about that. How dare a lowly trash such as yourself have feelings for senior apprentice-sister Xing! Just your feelings are enough for you to get beaten!"
Mo Zhou trembled uncontrollably upon hearing those words. Just his love for his senior apprentice-sister Xing is enough to get beaten? Where is the justice in that? But alas, he was weak and Ren Fuchen was a Chosen — their status in this world was simply too far apart.
"Wow, what a statement!" Yuan suddenly said loudly, causing Mo Zhou's body to mysteriously stop trembling. "Beating someone up just because they love the same person as you? What a messed up personality you have there." Yuan laughed out loud, almost like he was watching a funny movie.
"And who the fuck are you? You are clearly not a disciple of this Sect, so how did you get in here?" Ren Fuchen finally noticed Yuan and Xiao Hua standing by the side.
"Who am I? I am the person who gave him that Fiery Lizard monster core," said Yuan, his expression calm.
"Daoist Yuan!" Mo Zhou looked at him with wide eyes.
"Hoh? So you are the one…" Ren Fuchen looked at Yuan with narrowed eyes.
"Why did you give him something as precious as the Fiery Lizard monster core? What did he offer in return?" he asked.
"He didn't give me anything, nor do I want anything from him. I gave him it simply because I felt like it," Yuan casually replied.
"…"
Although he didn't know who Yuan was, Ren Fuchen was wary of him. After all, what kind of normal individual would give away something as valuable as a Fiery Lizard monster core for free?
"And? What do you want?"
"I'd appreciate it if you stop bullying him," said Yuan with a smile.
"And what if I said no?" While Ren Fuchen didn't want to offend someone as mysterious as him, he wasn't afraid of him. Not only is he a Chosen but they are still inside the Flying Sword Sect, where he has protection in every direction.
"Of course, you will refuse…." Yuan turned to look at Mo Zhou and said, "I have already saved his life once, it won't be weird if I do it again, right?"
"You…" Ren Fuchen instantly frowned at his words.
"Daoist Yuan!" As for Mo Zhou, he looked at Yuan with tears in his eyes, his gaze filled with admiration, and his heart filled with gratitude.
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Chapter 16: A Battle Maniac
"I do not know which hole you crawled from, but consider this is your last warning!" Ren Fuchen said as he unsheathed the sword by his side, causing the aura around him to change.
Yuan looked at Ren Fuchen with a smile. Instead of worrying that he might have to fight another human for the first time, he actually found this situation to be pretty entertaining.
"You wanna fight? Let's go! I have been wanting to test my sword on something that's not monster for once!" Yuan also retrieved his sword.
When Ren Fuchen saw Yuan's sword that was emitting a powerful and sharp aura, his eyes widened with shock.
"A Spirit-grade sword… and it's even peak quality! He actually has a peak quality spiritual weapon!"
Any weapons with a grade are considered precious treasures, as they are always many times stronger than normal weapons, especially weapons with higher quality.
And although Yuan's sword is only at the lowest grade, Spirit-grade, a peak quality weapon is something that even someone like Ren Fuchen, who is ranked 14th overall in this entire Sect, does not have.
Ren Fuchen frowned deeply after realizing that Yuan had a peak quality weapon whilst he only held a medium quality weapon. His attitude also changed, and he no longer looked at this situation as calmly as before. After all, he is already at a disadvantage before the fight even started! Compared to Yuan's peak quality weapon, his medium grade quality is akin to a wooden stick!
"What are you standing there for? If you don't want to fight then just say so." Yuan said to him when he doesn't move even after many moments, his voice with a hint of provocation.
'No! Although he has a superior weapon, I have the advantage in terms of Cultivation base! He's only a ninth level Spirit Apprentice whilst I am a fifth level Spirit Warrior! There's no way I could lose even if he has a peak quality weapon!' Ren Fuchen encouraged himself with such logic.
Even if Yuan has a peak quality weapon, if he does not have the Cultivation base to use its full potential, it will actually burden him instead.
"If you hand over that weapon as an apology, then I don't mind forgiving you for everything you've done up to this point, and I will even stop bothering Mo Zhou. How does that sound?"
Before Yuan could even open his mouth to speak, Xiao Hua opened her mouth for the first time, "Brother Yuan, this will be good practice for you. Although you have familiarized yourself with beasts, you have yet to fight another human and to be honest, you will most likely be fighting more humans than beasts in the future."
Yuan nodded and raised his sword to stand in an offensive stance. He had no intention of avoiding this fight, as he already considered this as an in-game event.
"Good! Then I shall take it off your dead body!"
Ren Fuchen roared as he charged towards Yuan with the sword in his grasp raised high in the air.
"Triple Sword Strike!"
Ren Fuchen connected three attacks together in the blink of an eye, making it seem as though he attacked three times with a single movement.
Yuan's eyes widened at his approach, but he was not shocked. Instead, he was watching Ren Fuchen's attack closely, almost as if he was analyzing it.
In the next instant, Yuan raised his sword, blocking all three strikes with a single move.
"What?!"
Ren Fuchen exclaimed in surprise after Yuan perfectly blocked his attack.
However, despite blocking it perfectly, Yuan was pushed back slightly from the power created by someone five whole levels above him.
"Amazing…"
Yuan looked at his trembling hands with a wide smile on his face.
"This tingly and numbing sensation… What a great feeling!"
Yuan, whose real body cannot feel anything, was excited to experience such a feeling for the first time, and it made him feel alive.
"Is he crazy?" Ren Fuchen looked at Yuan's smiling face and thought to himself.
"Come! Let's fight even more!"
It was Yuan's turn to be aggressive this time.
'Could Brother Yuan be a battle maniac?' Xiao Hua wondered to herself.
"Bloody Sword Strike!"
The blade of the sword suddenly glowed red, and killing intent filled the place.
"?!?!?!?!"
Ren Fuchen nearly crapped his pants when he realized that Yuan had just used an Earth-grade sword technique.
"Impossible! You are clearly only a Spirit Apprentice! How could you possibly use an Earth-grade sword technique!" He gasped in shock.
Ren Fuchen hastily raised his sword to block the incoming attack.
Bang!
The moment their swords collided, Ren Fuchen felt as though he was clashing against a mountain, and his knees were forced to the ground by the tyrannical pressure pressing down on him!
The next instant, Ren Fuchen noticed cracks appearing across his sword.
"Not good! At this rate, he will break my weapon!"
"Help me!" he suddenly called out to his fellow disciple that had been on standby.
In the next moment, the disciple retrieved his sword and approached them at high speed.
"Daoist Yuan! Watch out!"
Mo Zhou couldn't react in time to block the disciple and yelled out loud to warn Yuan of the incoming danger.
However, Yuan did not even turn to look at the disciple and swung his sword, throwing Ren Fuchen many meters into the distance.
Once Ren Fuchen was out of the picture, Yuan turned to face the second disciple.
"Bloody Sword Strike!"
He activated the same skill and quickly swung his sword, sending an arc of light towards the surprised disciple.
The disciple, who was not the least prepared for such a strike, could only watch as the arc speed towards his direction and separate one of his limbs.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!! MY ARM! MY ARM!!!"
The disciple dropped on the floor and screamed in agony while clutching the right side of his body.
"Oops…"
Yuan had acted purely on instinct and did not really mean to cut off the disciple's arm, even feeling bad for him afterward.
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Chapter 17: Blood Sec
'H-He should be fine, right? This is just his reaction as an NPC, right? His arm will regrow as if nothing happened after I leave, right?' Yuan tried to convince himself so that he'd feel less guilty for cutting the disciple's arm.
"Y-You bastard! I will fucking kill you!" Ren Fuchen roared in anger, but he was secretly fearful of Yuan's tyrannical strength. Even now, his arms are shaking from Yuan's strike.
"It's not my fault he jumped into our fight," Yuan directed the blame towards the disciple, which caused the disciple to cough up a mouthful of blood upon hearing his words.
"AHHHH! HELP ME! I'M BLEEDING TO DEATH!"
The disciple continued to yell at the top of his lungs, but the nearby disciples did not assist him, as they did not want to be caught up in their ruckus.
Eventually, the disciple's voice reached Elder Jiang's ears, who was sipping tea not too far from the place.
Throwing his tea down, Elder Jiang leaped into the air and approached the noise. The way he jumped from rooftops to rooftops made it seem as though he could control the gravity around him, allowing him to be weightless.
When he arrived, Elder Jiang's eyes widened with shock at the puzzling situation. He then quickly reacted by stopping the blood from spurting out of the disciple's arm.
Once he fixed the problem by placing some sort of seal around the disciple's arm, Elder Jiang wiped the sweat from his forehead and turned to face Mo Zhou.
"What the hell is going on here, Mo Zhou?!"
He directed his anger towards Mo Zhou, who was trying his best not to piss his pants from listening to the disciple's agonizing screams.
"T-T-This… T-They confronted us with hostility, and in order to protect me, Daoist Yuan sparred with senior apprentice-brother Ren… When senior apprentice-brother was on the verge of losing, senior apprentice-brother Huang tried to back-stab Daoist Yuan, which resulted in this situation…"
"Daoist Yuan? That child?!"
Elder Jiang turned to look at Yuan, who was trying to hide the bloody sword in his hand behind his back while awkwardly smiling at him.
"This child, who is only a ninth level Spirit Apprentice, defeated not only Huang Ding but also Ren Fuchen, one of the top Inner Court disciples?"
Elder Jiang couldn't believe his ears. Although Cultivators achieving victory against people with a higher Cultivation base is not that uncommon, such a large skip in level is unheard of!
"It doesn't matter who is right or wrong here right now, but is this how you repay my generosity for letting you inside as a guest? I don't care what background you came from, prepare to face the consequences for attacking a disciple of the Flying Sword Sect!"
Elder Jiang began approaching Yuan, who felt something amiss here. They are clearly the ones in the wrong for confronting him, and he even defended one of their disciples from getting bullied, yet he's going to be punished?
Sure, he did slice that disciple's arm off, but that was an accident that could've been prevented if he didn't jump in the middle of their match.
"It doesn't matter who is right or wrong? Although I do not belong here, don't I have the right to be safe as a guest in your house? One of your students provoked me into fighting him, but you don't care about that. Your own students are being bullied by their fellow students in plain sight, yet nobody even bothered to prevent it. If this is how you act as a teacher of this place, then I don't think you should be a teacher!" Yuan said what was on his mind without saving any face for Elder Jiang.
"How dare you! Who are you to lecture me?!" Elder Jiang's eyes turned red from anger, clearly provoked by Yuan's words.
Seeing Elder Jiang emit faint killing intent, Xiao Hua also silently prepared herself. If Elder Jiang so much as tries to hurt Yuan, she will not hesitate to kill him.
Just as Elder Jiang prepared himself to punish Yuan for speaking out of line, a sudden voice resounded in his ears.
"Wait."
Elder Jiang instantly halted his movements and turned to look behind him.
When he saw that it was a middle-aged man with sharp features and a dominating presence standing behind him, his eyes widened with shock.
"S-Sect Leader!"
Not only Elder Jiang but everybody there exclaimed loudly.
"Step back, Elder Jiang. I will personally take care of this."
"What?!"
Elder Jiang was shocked speechless, but he didn't dare refuse and silently nodded.
Once Elder Jiang stepped back, the Sect Leader stepped forward.
He then looked at Ren Fuchen and Huang Ding and spoke, "I have been watching since the beginning."
His words dumbfounded the two, causing them to tremble in fear.
"How pathetic. Not only did you lose a two on one but you also had the audacity to attempt a back-stab. Where did you learn to fight like cowards? I do not recall teaching this type of swordsmanship in my Sect! I will surely discipline both of you afterward."
Ren Fuchen's expression paled upon hearing the Sect Leader's words. Knowing his character, they will surely be experiencing hell after this. As for Huang Ding, he directly fell unconscious after hearing the Sect Leader's words.
"What is your response?!" The Sect Leader suddenly roared.
"Y-Yes, Sect Leader!" Ren Fuchen replied in a cracked voice.
"Hmph." The Sect Leader coldly snorted.
He then turned to look at Yuan. "That technique you used just now… You must be from the Blood Sect."
'The Blood Sect?! That evil place?!' Elder Jiang cried inwardly.
He didn't expect someone innocent-looking like Yuan to be apart of that vile place! If he'd known, he would have never allowed him inside this place!
"I do not want any trouble with you or your place, so please just leave us alone. As for this incident, it was our fault, so you don't have to worry about anything."
"…"
Everybody there was speechless watching their domineering Sect Leader act so humble before someone way younger. Not many of them even have heard of this Blood Sect, so they were also puzzled.
"Uhhh…" Yuan was also speechless. He didn't expect the situation to make such a turn and was at a loss of what to do.
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Chapter 18: Mo Zhou"s Gratitude
After standing there and pondering for a moment, Yuan decided that it would be better for him and Mo Zhou to just acknowledge being a disciple from the Blood Sect.
"That's right, I am indeed from the Blood Sect," he said with a confident voice.
"And I don't mind pretending what happened today did not occur, but you have to promise me that my friend, Mo Zhou, will no longer be bullied by his fellow disciples."
"Daoist Yuan!" Mo Zhou couldn't believe his ears and began crying. Why would Yuan go this far for him when he didn't do anything to really deserve this treatment?
"Mo Zhou, huh?" The Sect Leader turned to look at Mo Zhou for a moment before saying, "You will be my disciple starting today! Anyone who dares to touch you will have to answer me!"
"What?!"
When the Sect Leader made his announcement, everybody there gasped in shock, Mo Zhou included.
"Greet your new Master!" The Sect Leader continued.
Mo Zhou immediately kowtowed on the ground and bowed to him.
"This disciple greets Master!"
"Good! Starting today, you will be training under me!"
"Yes!"
Mo Zhou replied with enthusiasm in his voice.
Although Yuan did not expect such an outcome yet again, he was more than satisfied.
"Then I will be taking my leave," he said.
The Sect Leader nodded and looked at Mo Zhou again, "Go guide our guest to the exit!"
"Yes, Master!"
Thus, Mo Zhou brought Yuan and Xiao Hua away from the crowd.
Once they were gone, Sect Elder Jiang spoke, "Sect Leader… making Mo Zhou your disciple is a little bit…"
"Hmph!" The Sect Leader coldly snorted. "If you hadn't noticed by now, the sword technique used by that child is one of the Blood Sect's most powerful technique!"
"What?! Does this mean—"
"That child is definitely not just your average disciple from the Blood Sect. Judging from his prowess and ability to fight those many realms above himself, I won't be surprised if his Master is the Blood Sect's Master himself, Lord Blood!"
"Lord Blood!" Elder Jiang trembled in fear just by hearing his name.
"And if someone like him calls Mo Zhou his 'friend', then there's a high possibility that the Blood Sect will help us if we are ever in danger because of their relationship. If that's the case, then I won't hesitate to make him my disciple, even if it will make many disciples unhappy!"
Elder Jiang stared at him with a gaze filled with admiration. 'To think that the Sect Leader would be thinking so far ahead just to keep his Sect safe! It's no wonder why he's the Sect Leader!'
"Sect Leader is sharp and wise, to think I doubted your decision even for a moment. Please, forgive me."
"If you want to be forgiven, then take care of the rest of this mess!" The Sect Leader said before walking away.
The news of Mo Zhou, a mere Outer Court disciple, suddenly becoming the Sect Leader's disciple came out of the blue and shocked every disciple within the Flying Swords Sect, especially those already at the top.
"What?! How could a nobody like Mo Zhou be chosen as the Sect Leader's disciple when the rest of us have been working our asses off just for that spot?!"
"The Heavens are unjust! This world is unfair!"
No doubt many people began to despise Mo Zhou because of his luck and bullshit, but alas, with the Sect Leader behind his back, who would dare to touch him now?
–
Outside the Flying Sword Sect, Mo Zhou dropped to his knees and kowtowed to Yuan, who was slightly taken back by his behavior.
"What are you doing?" Yuan tried to lift him off the floor.
"Daoist— No! Brother Yuan! Everything you have done for me, I do not know if I will ever be able to repay you but I will do my best as the Sect Leader's disciple and will one day return this debt!"
Yuan smiled and casually waved his hands, "Don't worry about it. Like I'd already said many times, I am not doing this because I want any reward."
"No! This is not a reward! I am doing this because I want to, just like you!" he quickly responded.
Yuan could tell that Mo Zhou will not change his mind no matter what he says at this point so he only shook his head inwardly and accepted the outcome.
"Fine, do whatever you want."
"I will!"
"And good luck with that girl you fancy, I'm rooting for you."
"R-Right…" Mo Zhou began blushing.
"Then, I'll be leaving. I have already caused too much trouble in your place."
Yuan began walking away.
"Take care, Brother Yuan!" Mo Zhou waved at him from the Flying Sword Sect.
A few moments later, after Yuan left the Flying Sword Sect, messages appeared before his eyes:
«Congratulations! You have unlocked the Bond System!»
«'Mo Zhou' has been added to your Bond!»
«Mo Zhou's Bond level has increased to Acquaintance!»
«Mo Zhou's Bond level has increased to Friend!»
«Mo Zhou's Bond level has increased to Brotherhood!»
«Congratulations! Your Bond level with Mo Zhou has reached Brotherhood!»
«You have gained the following effect from Mo Zhou's Bond level: 'Mo Zhou's Gratitude'»
«Mo Zhou's Gratitude: Increases Sword Mastery by 25% and Sword Damage by 10%»
«Sword Mastery: Increases your control when wielding swords»
«Sword Damage: Increases your damage when wielding swords»
«Congratulations! You have unlocked Associations!»
«'Flying Sword Sect' has been added to your Associations!»
«Because of the drama you've caused there, your relationship with 'Flying Sword Sect' has decreased drastically!»
«Because of your bond level with 'Mo Zhou', Prime Disciple of 'Flying Sword Sect', your relationship with 'Flying Sword Sect' has increased greatly!»
«Congratulations! You have unlocked Fame!»
«Due to your actions at 'Flying Sword Sect', your Fame has increased by 10!»
«Fame: Increases as you make a name for yourself.»
Yuan nearly received a headache from the number of notifications being spammed.
"Where should we go now?" Yuan asked Xiao Hua as they left the area.
"Hmm…" Xiao Hua pondered as their figures entered the forest.
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Chapter 19: Spirit Warrior
As they traveled further away from the Flying Sword Sect, Xiao Hua thought to herself, 'It's only been a few days since Brother Yuan became a Cultivator, yet he is already powerful enough to hold his own against Spirit Warriors, even though he's only a Ninth Level Spirit Apprentice. This kind of growth is unheard of and is terrifying, to say the least. His experience with the sword is also increasing at a frightening rate, almost like he's the reincarnation of a Sword Emperor.'
"Besides wandering around aimlessly for valuable resources and collecting monster cores, there is really nothing else to do."
"Additionally, because Brother Yuan is already a Ninth Level Spirit Apprentice, he has to attain enlightenment before he can make a breakthrough and become a Spirit Warrior."
Xiao Hua turned to look at Yuan and spoke, "Brother Yuan, what would you like to do? Even if you keep consuming monster cores to fill your Qi, once you reach the peak of the Spirit Apprentice realm, you will not be able to gain more Qi unless you become a Spirit Warrior."
"How do I become a Spirit Warrior?" he asked her.
"To become a Spirit Warrior, you must comprehend the enlightenment that will come naturally once you reach the peak of the Spirit Apprentice realm. However, whether you will really gain enlightenment or not will depend on your fate and talent."
"What do you mean by that?"
Yuan expressed puzzlement.
"Although most people are born with the capability to cultivate, their max potential is predetermined before birth. For example, whilst Brother Yuan may be able to reach the peak of the Spirit Apprentice realm with ease, you might not gain enlightenment that is required to breakthrough to the Spirit Warrior realm, thus forever remaining a Spirit Apprentice."
"That being said, albeit valuable and hard to find, there are plenty of treasures out there that can help one exceed their limit and rewrite their fate."
Although she did not say it, Xiao Hua actually has a few of these treasures on her, so even if Yuan is destined to remain as a Spirit Apprentice forever, she can help him escape such a fate.
Yuan looked at his Qi Experience as he listened to Xiao Hua speak.
1,519,395/3,840,000
"If I consume 3 more monster cores, it should be more than enough to max out the Qi Experience…" Yuan thought to himself.
Suddenly, without thinking too much about it and excited to experience this enlightenment, Yuan retrieved three monster cores and threw them into his mouth all at once.
«Heaven Refining Physique activated»
«900,500 Qi has been refined from the Blood Ape's monster core»
«895,415 Qi has been refined from the Vampire Wolf's monster core»
«730,650 Qi has been refined from the Scaled Boar's monster core»
3,846,000/3,846,000
«You have absorbed enough Qi for a breakthrough»
«Because your Qi Experience is already full, you will not be able to receive anymore Qi until you reach the next realm»
The notifications disappeared for a few seconds before returning.
«You have met the requirements for a breakthrough»
«You have reached First Level Spirit Warrior»
«Your 'Enhanced Senses' has developed into 'Advanced Senses'»
«You have learned Enhanced Strength»
«All stats 1,000»
—
«Advanced Senses»
«Rank: Mortal»
«Description: Sharply enhances the functions of all available senses permanently. Requires no activation»
—
«Enhanced Strength»
«Rank: N/A»
«Description: Greatly enhances your strength and stamina»
Once Yuan has reached the Spirit Warrior realm, he could feel a large amount of profound energy expanding in this body; it made him feel as though his body had increased in size despite having no changes made to his actual body.
"…"
Xiao Hua stared at Yuan with eyes as wide as two round eggs, her cute and round face filled with shock and disbelief.
"B-B-Brother Yuan… Y-Y-You…"
She couldn't believe what she'd just witnessed!
Although the Spirit Warrior realm is nothing special in her eyes and could be easily disregarded, Yuan had actually managed to become a Spirit Warrior without any enlightenment! Such an achievement was unprecedented even in the higher Heavens!
"B-Brother Yuan… what did you just do?" she asked him in a trembling voice.
"Hm? But I didn't do anything? Just like before, I had enough Qi for a breakthrough, and before I could even react, I had already become a Spirit Warrior."
Yuan responded, sounding somewhat disappointed that he did not get to experience this 'enlightenment'.
"Unbelievable…"
Xiao Hua still couldn't believe it. Just what kind of cultivating prodigy is Yuan? Hell, calling him a prodigy is still an understatement considering what he'd just accomplished!
While Xiao Hua was dumbfounded by his achievements, Yuan looked at his current stats.
Cultivation: First Level Spirit Warrior
Legacy: None
Bloodline: None
Physique: Heaven Refining Physique
Physical Strength: 3,734
Mental Strength: 3,975
Soul Strength: 4,910
Physical Defense: 3,710
Mental Defense: 4,821
Qi Experience: 3,846,000/38,460,000
"38 million?! I need 38 million Qi for the next level?! This is ridiculous!"
Yuan felt slightly dizzy after seeing the long numbers and sudden spike in the Qi required for the next level.
"I might as well eat the rest of the monster cores right now!"
Yuan retrieved all of his remaining monster cores and tossed it into his mouth.
However, what happened next dumbfounded him greatly.
«Heaven Refining Physique activated»
«Because you have consumed a monster core that is not suitable for your cultivation base, the overall absorbed Qi will be reduced by 90%»
«88,000 Qi has been refined from the Blood Ape's monster core»
«82,500 Qi has been refined from the Vampire Wolf's monster core»
«70,500 Qi has been refined from the Scaled Boar's monster core»
«85,000 Qi has been refined from the Vampire Wolf's monster core»
«65,000 Qi has been refined from the Hairy Serpent's monster core»
«66,700 Qi has been refined…»
«54,650 Qi has been refined…»
Qi Experience: 4,500,000/38,460,000
"W-W-What the hell?! Why am I barely getting any Qi from the monster cores now?!"
Xiao Hua's voice responded to his puzzlement a few moments later, "Because Brother Yuan is now a Spirit Warrior, any monster core that is not from a Spirit Warrior beast will no longer be as effective."
"N-No way… but that makes no sense!"
"Brother Yuan's existence also makes no sense…" Xiao Hua sighed.
After calming down and thinking about it for a moment, Yuan realized that such a system was actually quite logical and fair, as it would prevent those with power that far exceeded this area's level range from taking advantage of the weak too much and force them to hunt stronger monsters.
"Well, this is a good time to take a break from cultivation, since I am starting to get tired of all this hunting… mentally…" he thought to himself.
"Xiao Hua, can you lead us to the nearest city? We can talk about our plans after we take a break."
Xiao Hua nodded and said, "The nearest city is 10 kilometers away."
"10 kilometers… let's run there."
Having never felt this energetic before, Yuan suggested running there.
"Okay." Xiao Hua easily agreed.
Thus, the two began running towards the nearest city.
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Chapter 20: Spirit City
After half an hour of running, Yuan and Xiao Hua could finally see the city walls.
«You have discovered 'Spirit City'»
"This place seems to be called Spirit City," said Yuan after reading the system notification.
"Spirit City is one of the four Great Cities within the Eastern Continent, and it's ranked third in terms of influence." Xiao Hua quickly explained.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Yuan and Xiao Hua approached the city gate.
"What are they doing?"
As they approached, Yuan noticed the crystal ball in one of the guards' grasp.
"It's to inspect the visitors. Unless Brother Yuan is a wanted criminal, you don't have to worry about it."
Yuan nodded.
A few minutes later, they reached the guards at the gates.
"Entrance fee is 1 silver for each individual," said the guard once they got close enough.
"Uh… Xiao Hua, do you have any money?" Yuan, who was penniless, looked at her with an awkward expression, feeling slightly embarrassed to be asking such a little girl for money.
But alas, Xiao Hua shook her little head.
"What the hell. Do you want to enter this place without money? Where did such beggars come from?" The guards sneered inwardly when they realized that they were dealing with penniless people.
"If you have no money, then I cannot allow you inside," said one of the guards. "Get out of the way already! There are people behind waiting for you!"
Yuan sighed and prepared to leave.
However, before he could even take a step, the person standing behind him spoke, "If you want, I can pay for your entrance fee."
Yuan turned to look at the person who just spoke; it was a pretty young lady wearing a pair of fine robes.
"If you don't mind…" Yuan spoke with an embarrassed face.
"Young Lady, we shouldn't bother ourselves with these two beggars…"
The old man standing beside the young lady suddenly mumbled into her ears, unaware that his words were heard by Yuan, who has enhanced senses.
"…"
However, Yuan decided to ignore the old man's disrespectful remarks.
"As the young lady of the Xuan Family, how could I ignore people in need of help? And it's just two silvers."
The young lady shook her head at the old man, looking disappointed by his words.
"Excuse me, this will account for their entrance fee, too."
The young lady then handed four pieces of silver coins to the guards.
After a quick glance, the guard nodded and retrieved the crystal ball.
"Place your hands on it," said the guard.
Yuan placed his hands on the globe.
A few seconds later, it glowed a green light.
"You may pass."
The guard then turned to Xiao Hua, who also passed with a green light.
A few moments later, once they have passed the inspection and entered the city, Yuan bowed to the pretty young lady.
"Thank you. Although it's not much, please accept this as my gratitude."
Yuan pulled out a Monster Core and placed it in front of the young lady, who immediately covered her mouth in surprise.
"B-Blood Ape Monster Core! This is simply too much for two mere silvers! I cannot accept this!" The young lady quickly refused.
Most Blood Apes are around the Eighth Level Spirit Apprentice Realm, and their monster cores would usually fetch at least 100 gold coins in the market place! If she accepted this monster core, it would make her feel guilty for taking advantage of Yuan.
"Don't worry, I have no more use for this quality of monster core, and it's only something I picked up during my travel here." Yuan understood the reason for the young lady's hesitation but continued to urge her to accept it.
The pretty young lady looked at Yuan's honest face and the shiny monster core in his hands and forcefully swallowed.
"Since you insist, I will accept it…" she accepted the Blood Ape Monster Core with trembling hands.
Once the monster core was off his hands, Yuan said to Xiao Hua, "Let's go."
"W-Wait! What's your name? I am called Xuan Wuhan!"
"You can call me Yuan," he responded.
"Thank you, Yuan! If you need help with anything, you can find my Xuan Family in Spring City!" Xuan Wuhan then handed Yuan a medallion made of metal and imprinted with the word 'Xuan'.
Yuan casually accepted the medallion without thinking too much about it.
«'Xuan Wuhan' has been added to your Bond!»
«Xuan Wuhan's Bond has increased to Acquaintance!»
"Then, I will see you around," he said before leaving with Xiao Hua.
After Yuan left, the old man beside Xuan Wuhan spoke, "Young Lady, why did you give him the family medallion? That is not something strangers should hold."
"That young man… despite his young age, there was a formidable aura around him. He's most likely a genius cultivator from some large family. If I can be friends with him, it will benefit our Xuan Family, not to mention his honest character. I like people like him."
"Are you sure about his background? He wasn't able to take out two silvers just now…" The old man remained doubtful.
"Were you even watching just now? He handed me a Blood Ape Monster Core worth over 100 gold coins without batting an eyelid because I gave him two silvers! That is not something even I would do! He must be testing people on purpose!"
"B-But why would he do something like that? What would he accomplish by testing others?"
Xuan Wuhan shook her head and spoke, "Just like my grandfather, the more profound and powerful the individual, the less sense they make. It is not something people like us can fathom."
"Are you saying that the young man just now is as powerful as the Ancestor, who is a Spirit Master? That's a bit…"
"Of course, not. I am just saying." Xuan Wuhan said. "Anyway, let's go. We cannot miss the auction, or we will have to deal with my father's angry shouting later."
Meanwhile, Yuan and Xiao Hua wandered around the city aimlessly.
"Xiao Hua, we need to earn some money. How about we sell the monster cores we hunted on our way here? They seem quite valuable," he said.
"Un. One monster core will easily sell for over 100 gold and will last us for a while, and we still have four of them."
"Then the question now is where to sell these monster cores…"
"If you want the most money out of the monster cores, we can look for an auction house. Although it might take some time, we will get the most profit out of it. If you do not mind selling them for much cheaper, any regular store that deals with monster cores will do the job," said Xiao Hua.
"An auction house, huh? That sounds kind of fun. I have never been to one before. But where can we find one?"
"Most big cities will hold an auction every few weeks, not to mention this Spirit City, one of the four biggest cities on this continent. We should find one with relative ease if we ask around."
Yuan nodded.
"If it won't take too long, I will use the auction house to sell my monster cores. But if we have to wait a few weeks, I'd rather just sell them for cheaper."
After deciding their next course of action, Yuan began asking around in hopes to find an auction house to sell his monster cores, as he did not want to experience today's humiliation any more in the future.
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Chapter 21: Azure Phoenix Auction House
After walking around for half an hour and speaking to many people about the auction houses in this city, only one name came up repeatedly.
"This Azure Phoenix Auction House seems very popular. Let's give it a look," said Yuan.
Xiao Hua nodded and followed Yuan to the location of this Azure Phoenix Auction House.
According to the people Yuan spoke with, the Azure Phoenix Auction House is one of the wealthiest and most influential auction houses within the Eastern Continent. What's more, they are backed by the Azure Phoenix Sect, one of the most powerful backgrounds in this world.
"We are really fortunate to have arrived in this city right on the day it opens, right, Xiao Hua?"
"En." Xiao Hua nodded her little head.
The Azure Phoenix Auction House only opens once every three years because they have to stock up valuable treasures, and coincidentally, they came at the exact day it would open.
After walking around the Spirit City that occupies miles of land for many minutes, Yuan and Xiao Hua have finally arrived at the Azure Phoenix Auction House's entrance.
"Wow, this large place is the auction house?" Yuan couldn't help but become amazed by the luxurious building before him that took up an entire street.
"Excuse me, is this the Azure Phoenix Auction House?" Yuan asked one of the people there just in case.
Once he confirmed that they were at the right place, Yuan approached one of two pretty young ladies standing silently by the entrance, assuming she was one of the workers here.
"Hello, do you work here?" he asked.
"I do," she replied with a gentle voice.
"Great! I came here today because I would like to sell something here."
"…"
The young lady looked at Yuan with a weird face after hearing his words.
"Umm… I'm sorry, but we stopped accepting things for the auction a month ago," she said a moment later.
"What…?"
Yuan stood there with a dumbfounded look.
The young lady chuckled and spoke, "Is this your first time at an auction house?"
"Yes…"
"Then let this sister teach you something about them. If you wish to sell something using auction houses, you must let them know ahead of time so they can put it on a list to let the guests know. People won't go to auction houses if they don't know what will be sold, you know? They have to prepare, too."
"I see… that makes sense…" Yuan sighed, feeling disappointed and slightly frustrated.
"Looks like I will have to sell these monster cores elsewhere…"
'Spirit Apprentice Realm monster cores?' The young lady noticed the monster cores in Yuan's hands and shook her head inwardly.
Even if Yuan was in time to sell his monster cores, the Azure Phoenix Auction House wouldn't accept something so insignificant. In fact, even if he brought Spirit Warrior Realm monster cores, the Azure Phoenix Auction House wouldn't even give it a glance.
The young lady did not want to disappoint Yuan anymore, who was clearly ignorant of many things, so she remained quiet.
However, the other worker there, who has been watching them since the beginning, burst out laughing, "Hahaha! Does this kid actually want to sell that trash at our Azure Phoenix Auction House?! This is hilarious!"
"Lian Rong! Why must everything that comes out of your mouth be so foul? He's clearly very young and ignorant! There's no need to mock him!"
The young lady beside Yuan frowned at her fellow worker's unsightly behavior.
"Hmph! I am only speaking the truth! And the earlier he learns, the faster he will grow up! Why are you even protecting a beggar like him, Na Ying?" Lian Rong coldly snorted, her gaze filled with mockery.
"Don't mind her, little brother. It's not a crime or disgraceful to be ignorant at times. " Na Ying tried soothing Yuan, acting like his next-door friendly sister.
"What's wrong with you, Na Ying? Are you perhaps charmed by this kid? Hahaha! I wonder how the disciples at Azure Phoenix Sect will react once they learn of this!" Lian Rong continued laughing.
"…"
Although Yuan did not mind Lian Rong's mockery, the little girl standing beside him was boiling with anger.
'This insignificant little ant has no idea who she's mocking! Brother Yuan is a genius among genius — a prodigy that will shock even the Upper Heavens! One day, Brother Yuan will become a figure that stands above all! I cannot allow him to continue being mocked!'
"Are you done embarrassing yourself yet? Even I am starting to feel ashamed just by being beside you!" Na Ying shook her head.
"You—! Are you looking for a fight, Na Ying?!"
"Oh? Do you want to fight me? Are you sure about that, senior apprentice-sister?" Na Ying narrowed her eyes, and the cultivation base of an expert at the peak Spirit Warrior Realm emitted from her body.
A bead of sweat appeared on Lian Rong's forehead after feeling Na Ying's pressure.
"J-Just you wait! Once we return to the sect, I will—"
"What's with the commotion here?!" A strong voice suddenly resounded.
A few seconds later, an old woman appeared in front of them with an annoyed face.
"Senior Chang!"
Both of the girls immediately stopped their argument and bowed to the old woman.
"Do not forget where the two of you are right now! Regardless of your status at the Azure Phoenix Sect, you are working for me now! And I will not tolerate this kind of behavior at my Azure Phoenix Auction House!"
"I am sorry…"
They quickly apologized.
"Enough. I will deal with you two afterward. The guests are already seated. Close the doors and come inside," said Senior Chang.
"Wait!"
Just as Senior Chang turned around, a cute but overbearing voice stopped her steps.
"X-Xiao Hua?" Yuan looked at her with wide eyes.
"What are you doing?" he whispered in her ears.
"Don't worry, Brother Yuan. Xiao Hua will deal with this," she responded with a smile on her face.
"Who the hell is this little girl?" Senior Chang frowned when she sensed a profound aura surrounding Xiao Hua's tiny body. It gave her a dreadful feeling.
"Are you the owner of this place?" Xiao Hua suddenly asked.
"That's right. And who are you?" Senior Chang responded.
However, Xiao Hua did not immediately respond and pulled out her storage pouch.
Then, right before their eyes, Xiao Hua pulled out a blue dagger from the pouch.
The instant the dagger was revealed to the world, an unfathomable presence suddenly appeared and enveloped the place.
"This presence—!!!" Senior Chang stumbled backward and nearly fell on her butt when she saw the dagger and sensed its aura.
"This dagger is a Heaven-grade weapon at the peak quality — Heavenly Frost Dagger," said Xiao Hua, and she continued in a calm manner, "Who I am is not important right now. What is important, though, is that I had planned to sell this dagger at your Azure Phoenix Auction House. However, because one of your workers mocked Brother Yuan and angered me, I am now having second thoughts."
After a moment of silence, Senior Chang's stiff body began trembling.
"Who?! Who dared to offend you?! I will kill that bastard for you!" Senior Chang's attitude took a sudden turn, shocking both Lian Rong and Na Ying, who has never seen her this agitated before, acting as though someone had just killed her son.
Even Yuan couldn't help but look at Xiao Hua with wide eyes. Since when did they come here to sell that dagger? And why does she feel so different right now?
"That girl over there!" Xiao Hua wasted no time pointing her small fingers.
Senior Chang turned to look at Lian Rong, who was as pale as a ghost right now, looking like all of her blood had just been drained out of her body.
"What have you done, Lian Rong?!" Senior Chang roared at her with a furious expression.
"I…I…I…"
Unable to respond and filled with despair, the young lady named Lian Rong fell to her knees, even pissing her pants due to fear.
Na Ying covered her mouth from shock as she witnessed this unexpected turn of events.
What's going to happen now?
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Chapter 22: VIP Room
"Senior Chang, this is what had happened…" Na Ying began explaining to her the events that took place right before she'd arrived.
"You… you foolish thing!" Senior Chang was speechless.
To think that Lian Rong, someone usually with keen eyes and great intelligence to misjudge a hidden expert due to her arrogance.
"There is nobody you can blame but yourself for being so arrogant and failing to recognize Mt. Tai!" she shook her head.
"Please! Senior Chang! You can't kill me! I am an Inner Disciple from the Azure Phoenix Sect!" Lian Rong began begging for her life.
"I am not the one who will decide whether you live or die today! You are begging the wrong person!"
After hearing Senior Chang's words, Lian Rong immediately ran to Yuan and kotowed before him, and she begged him with a face filled with tears and snot.
"Please, Young Master! This lowly one has failed to recognize someone as prestigious as you!"
"…"
Yuan was speechless. This is the first time he'd seen a young lady begging for him to spare her life.
"Young man, although she has wronged, I would also like to request for your forgiveness. After all, she is an Inner Disciple of the Azure Phoenix Sect. If you kill her, they will surely…"
Yuan suddenly raised his hand and stopped her sentence.
"Wait a moment. I never said anything about killing her. You were the one who spoke such words. Do not try to act as though I was the one who wants her dead."
"I… I understand. Lian Rong! Be grateful! This young man has decided to spare your life!"
"Thank you, benefactor!" Lian Rong cried.
"…"
Yuan couldn't but help find these peoples' behavior weird and unnecessarily exaggerated. Why must she be executed for mocking him? If he was to kill anyone that has offended him, who knows how many people will die.
'I hope this won't become a trend amongst NPCs…' Yuan silently prayed.
"Ummm… now that everything has been settled… are you willing to sell your Heaven-grade dagger at our auction house? I promise you that you will not regret it! 80… no! You will receive 90% of the revenue, and we will only take 10%! Normally, it would be 75/25, but because we have troubled you today, I am willing to make it 90/10!" Senior Chang suddenly said.
In fact, Senior Chang did not care about the revenue of the Heavenly Frost Dagger. All that matters to her was the reputation that would come from selling it.
The last time a Heaven-grade weapon was sold at the Azure Phoenix Auction House was one hundred years ago, and it was only a low-quality weapon at that time! As for a Heaven-grade weapon at the peak quality — this would be the first one in their thousands of years of history!
Once the world learns of this, the Azure Phoenix Auction House will surely skyrocket in popularity, and they will receive much more attention and guests in the future!
"You are asking the wrong person. I am not the owner of that weapon — she is." Yuan pointed to Xiao Hua, who was casually holding the dagger as though it was a normal weapon.
"En. I am willing to sell it but only under one condition." Xiao Hua said. "You must also sell his monster cores at your place."
"Okay! I accept that condition!" Senior Chang immediately accepted without even needing to think about it.
Even if the Azure Phoenix Auction House loses a bit of face or becomes a laughing stock for selling Spirit Apprentice level monster cores, the Heaven-grade weapon will make up for it and more!
"Xiao Hua…" Yuan smiled warmly after realizing her intentions. To think that she'd be willing to sell such a precious item just for him, he couldn't thank her enough.
"Are you sure, Xiao Hua? That's a precious item, right? You don't have to force yourself to sell it. I can sell the monster cores elsewhere." Yuan said to her.
When Senior Chang heard Yuan's words, she felt the urge to beat him up and seal his mouth shut.
"It's only a Heaven-grade weapon, Xiao Hua has many more of them. And Brother Yuan does not use daggers, so it would only continue collecting dust." Xiao Hua said, dumbfounding Yuan.
'How can one have so many rare items but no money at the same time?' he wondered where she got all of these items from.
A few moments later, Xiao Hua handed the Heavenly Frost Dagger and the four Spirit Apprentice level monster cores from Yuan to Senior Chang.
"If you steal anything, I will destroy this place." Xiao Hua gave Senior Chang a stern warning before following Na Ying, who was assigned to serve them, to one of the VIP rooms.
After they left, Senior Chang sighed a breath of relief.
"Even though she's a little girl, her attitude and presence are beyond normal, almost like that of an Immortal's! Not to mention that she actually dared to take out a peak quality Heaven-grade weapon out in the open! Even idiots would not dare steal from her…" Senior Chang felt the chills just thinking about her.
Just as Senior Chang began walking, she noticed that Lian Rong was sitting on the floor with a dazed face.
"Use this chance and change that arrogant attitude of yours. Even if you are an Inner Disciple of the powerful Azure Phoenix Sect, there are countless people in this world that you shouldn't offend."
"Yes, Senior…" Lian Rong nodded.
"Anyway, hurry up and return to work. I'm not paying you guys to stand around and be depressed all day," said Senior Chang before disappearing into the auction house.
Meanwhile, Yuan and Xiao Hua just stepped into the VIP room, where there were several other individuals.
"Kids?"
The people there turned their attention to Yuan and Xiao Hua, seemingly curious about their identity.
"Who are these kids? I don't recognize them."
"I don't know them, either."
"How could strangers enter this VIP room? They must have a shocking background that we are not aware of."
"I don't mean to brag, but I am familiar with every background that is capable of entering the VIP room, and even I don't know them."
It seemed as though nobody in the VIP room recognized Yuan, but that was to be expected, as he does not belong to any background and arrived in this world only recently.
"Yuan! I did not expect to see you so soon again!"
Suddenly, a pretty young lady approached him.
"You are… Xuan Wuhan?" Yuan also did not expect to see her here, especially when they were together not too long ago.
"If I knew that you were coming here, we could've come here together!" she said.
"Hahaha… I did not plan on coming here at first. It's only a coincidence."
"Coincidence or not, we are together again. Come here and sit at my table."
Yuan nodded and followed Xuan Wuhan to her table, where the old man from before and two unfamiliar handsome young men sat.
"The Young Lady was right… to enter this room, his background is not so simple after all." The old man was surprised to see Yuan in the VIP room.
"Who are they?" One of the young men asked after seeing Xuan Wuhan return with strangers.
"Friends I recently made," she said.
"Hmmm…"
The two handsome young men looked at Yuan with a pondering gaze.
"Which noble family are you from? I am Du Bai from the Du Family," said the handsome young man on the left.
"I am Du Hai, his twin brother," said the one on the right.
"Uh… I am not from any family," Yuan casually responded as he sat down beside Xuan Wuhan.
"What?"
They all looked at him with a surprised expression.
"Then you must be a disciple of a powerful sect. Which sect do you belong to?"
"I am also not a part of any sect. I'm a Rogue Cultivator," he said.
"…"
Once Yuan said those words, the entire room went silent, as everyone in the room was paying attention to him trying to figure out his identity.
"A… A Rogue Cultivator, you say? Hahaha… what a good joke…"
A few moments later, the entire room burst with laughter.
"There's no way some Rogue Cultivator would have the privilege to enter this VIP room!"
"Hahaha! He must really want to keep his background hidden!"
"Too bad that only makes me more intrigued!"
"…"
It was Yuan's turn to be speechless. He did not understand why they were laughing at him or why they couldn't believe his words. But regardless of the reason, since they don't believe him, there was nothing he could do. And it's not as though he cared whether they believed him or not.
"Just ignore them, Yuan." Xuan Wuhan said to him.
And just as she said those words, the lights in the room suddenly dimmed.
"The auction is finally starting," said Xuan Wuhan as she pointed to the large stage that was right below their VIP room.
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Chapter 23: Beginning of the Auction
"Hello, esteemed guests! Welcome to the Azure Phoenix Auction House! I will be your main host today, Qing Qing!"
A beautiful young lady appeared on the stage with a dazzling smile and a cheerful attitude, brightening the atmosphere despite the dimmed lights.
"Before we begin, allow me to remind you of the rules for this auction house! First of all, once you have made a bid on an item, it will be final and you cannot reclaim the offer! Rule number two, you are not allowed to pressure others with your background! This is an auction house, not the streets! After one warning, we will ask you to leave! And lastly, if you bid on an item and cannot afford it in the end, we will take whatever you have on hand until it's enough to pay the debt! If the debt is not paid, we will hold you until someone pays the debt!"
After announcing the rules, Qing Qing clapped her hands. A moment later, another beautiful lady appeared on the stage while pushing a cart covered by a thick cloth.
"Then without further ado, let me reveal the first item for today's auction — an Earth-grade medium quality chest plate made of silver metal, allowing it to have nearly no weight while retaining high defenses! As long as this armor is on your body, all damage dealt by those below the Spirit Master realm will be reduced in half!"
As Qing Qing announced the item, her assistant removed the cover on the cart and revealed the silver armor under it.
"50% damage reduction as long as their Cultivation is below the Spirit Master level? How powerful!" Yuan gazed at the armor with wide eyes. If he had such equipment, it would greatly increase his survivability in this world!
Xiao Hua noticed his desire for the armor in Yuan's eyes and spoke, "Brother Yuan, although it may sound powerful, it'll only work if your opponent is below the Spirit Master level. With your talent, you'll be fighting Spirit Masters in no time! What's more, with Xiao Hua here, nobody will be able to hurt you, even if they are a Spirit Grandmaster!"
Yuan chuckled at her confident face and nodded.
Meanwhile, the Du Brothers sitting on the other side of his table were glaring at the silver armor with drooling eyes.
"This is a must-have item! As long as we have this, we will be near-invincible within the Inner Court!"
They laughed loudly.
"Relying on treasures too much will affect your Cultivation, Du Bai, Du Hai." Xuan Wuhan reminded them after seeing their excited expressions.
However, as though they did not hear her, the Du Brothers continued to stare at the armor.
"The starting price for the armor will be 100,000 Gold!" Qing Qing announced.
"100,000 Gold!" Yuan could feel his heart skip a beat after hearing the price, and it was just the starting price. It's no wonder why they refused to accept his Monster Cores that would only sell for a measly 100 Gold.
"110,000 Gold!" The Du Brother immediately bid.
"115,000 Gold!"
"118,000 Gold!"
"120,000 Gold!
"130,000 Gold!"
The price went up by thousands with each call, and within minutes, it raised to 280,000 Gold!
"280,000 Gold… Even if there are players here, I doubt they'll have enough money to buy it…" Yuan thought to himself.
"280,000 Gold going once… going twice… and sold!"
"Yes! We got it!"
The Du Brothers hugged each other with joy after winning the bid.
"Their family must be filthy rich…" Yuan thought as he watched them celebrate.
"We will keep the item for now. After the auction ends, the winners may retrieve the item after paying the debt," said Qing Qing as she called for another assistant to go onto the stage.
"The next item will be a Spirit-grade Martial Technique, Fire Lotus Palm Strike! The ability packs devastating power and will also burn everything it touches! The starting price will be 10,000 Gold!"
"A single Spirit-grade skill costs over 10,000 Gold?!" Yuan was shocked.
Since all of his skills were either self-taught or taught by Xiao Hua, they were all free. He simply cannot imagine paying for an Earth-grade skill, much less a skill at the Divine-grade.
"Ummm… how much would a Divine-grade skill normally cost?" Yuan decided to ask Xuan Wuhan.
Xuan Wuhan looked at him with wide eyes. "Divine-grade? You cannot buy that kind of technique even with all of the money in this world! Hahaha!" she laughed afterward.
Yuan's jaw dropped to the ground after hearing her words. Cannot be bought with money? To think Xiao Hua would be so generous that she'd give out something like that for free! He suddenly felt the urge to wrap his arms around her and embrace her tightly!
A few minutes later, the Fire Lotus Palm Strike was bought by an old man in the VIP Room for 48,000 Gold.
"The third item is a Tier 3 pill, Soul Strengthening Pill with 80% purity, crafted by the renowned 3-Star Alchemist, Bai Ming!"
"Xiao Hua, what's an Alchemist? Do they turn things into gold?" Yuan asked her.
"Alchemists are medical experts that craft special medicine with their Cultivation, usually in the form of pills. Every pill has a different effect. Some can increase your strength while others can boost your stamina. Pills are usually expensive, so it's not an exaggeration to say they make gold…"
"I see…" Yuan nodded as though he understood something.
"Soul Strengthening Pill… it has a mind-calming effect, allowing you to achieve greater results during Cultivation. I want this!" Xuan Wuhan gripped her hands into a fist.
"Senior Bai personally crafted 15 Soul Strengthening Pill for today's auction, enough to fill three pill bottles, and we will be selling them separately. For the first bottle that contains 5 Soul Strengthening Pills, the starting price will be 5,000 Gold!"
Yuan's eyes nearly popped out of its sockets after hearing the price.
"Mother of fortune, 1,000 Gold for one tiny pill?! If I want to earn money quickly, it seems like becoming an Alchemist is the only way!" Yuan's interest in alchemy was piqued. He thought that if one day he has a chance to learn alchemy, he would definitely give it a try.
However, Xiao Hua also noticed this and quickly lowered his expectations of being an Alchemist by saying, "Although pills can be sold for good money, it's also incredibly hard to craft pills, and they usually end in failures unless you are a very skilled Alchemist. Even a single Tier 1 pill will require hours of effort to complete, not to mention that the supplies needed to craft the pill will also cost a lot of money. What's more, even geniuses will need to train for years before they can become a proper Alchemist. If Brother Yuan wants to become an Alchemist, you will need a lot of money, talent, and patience."
"…" Yuan's hype for Alchemists immediately dipped after hearing Xiao Hua's 'encouraging' words.
'Life is hard even inside a game, huh…' he sighed inwardly.
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Chapter 24: Heaven-grade Treasure
"6,000 Gold!" Xuan Wuhan immediately bid for the Soul Strengthening Pill once the auction began.
"6,100 Gold!"
"6,200 Gold!"
A few minutes later, Xuan Wuhan managed to secure the Soul Strengthening Pill for 7,500 Gold.
"Yes! Now I will be able to breakthrough to the third level Spirit Warrior Realm!" she made a victorious fist.
However, Xuan Wuhan was not satisfied with just a single bottle, so she proceeded to bid on the other two bottles.
After a few more minutes, two more bottles of Soul Strengthening Pills were handed to Xuan Wuhan, and she ended up paying 25,000 Gold for all three bottles.
"Hey, Yuan." Xuan Wuhan suddenly called for him.
"What's the matter?" he turned to look at her.
Xuan Wuhan smiled and opened one of the pill bottles to retrieve a Soul Strengthening Pill.
"Here you go. It's not much but I hope we can be friends for years to come!" she said while handing it to him.
Yuan accepted the pill with slightly widened eyes.
"Thank you!" he said with a smile on his face.
When Yuan held the Soul Strengthening Pill in his hands, the system automatically analyzed it for him.
[Soul Strengthening Pill] [Tier 3] [Purity: 82%]
[Effects: Permanently increases Soul Strength by 1,000]
[Description: A Spiritual Pill concocted by Bai Ming.]
[Limit: 3]
"It increases my Soul Strength permanently! And by 1,000!" Yuan exclaimed.
Xiao Hua then spoke, "Most pills have a limitation on how many you can consume before it no longer benefits your body. These Soul Strengthening Pills can only be eaten 3 times before it stops benefiting your body. With that being said, even if it won't improve your body, it still has other benefits such as calming your mind during Cultivation, hence why she bought so many of them."
"I see…" Yuan nodded.
"Hey, why don't you give us one of those pills too, Lady Xuan. Aren't we also friends?"
The Du Brothers asked her after seeing her give one to Yuan.
"If you wanted some, why didn't you even try to buy it?" Xuan Wuhan asked them.
"That's because you were very eager to have them, so we didn't fight for them with you," said Du Hai with a cheeky smile.
"Are you saying that I only won because you allowed me to win?" Xuan Wuhan narrowed her eyes at him.
Du Hai's cheeky smile quickly became an apologetic one and said, "T-That wasn't my intention…"
"Then forget it!"
"…"
After Xuan Wuhan turned her eyes away from him, Du Hai looked at Yuan with narrowed eyes, almost like he blamed Yuan for being responsible for the situation.
Sometime later, after ten more items were auctioned, Yuan's monster cores finally made its appearance.
"Umm… for our next item, we have a few monster cores…" Qing Qing sounded less confident and somewhat embarrassed by her own words.
"Monster Cores? Could it belong to a Beast that was at the Spirit Master level?" The people were slightly surprised by the appearance of monster cores, as they are rarely sold in Auction Houses.
"They are Spirit Apprentice level monster cores," said Qing Qing with a weird tone.
"Spirit Apprentice monster cores? Did the Auction House mess up? How could they sell such trash here?"
"There must've been a mistake. I cannot imagine the Azure Phoenix Auction House purposefully selling trash."
"The Azure Phoenix Auction House does not make mistakes. Although I don't know the reason, these monster cores were approved by Senior Chang herself," said Qing Qing, and she continued, "The starting price for all four of these monster cores will be 500 Spirit Stones."
However, nobody made a bid even after many minutes. It was an unprecedented event for the Azure Phoenix Auction House.
"Just take those trash away from our sights! Are you mocking us with them? Nobody wants it!" Du Bai shouted loudly.
"That's right! What kind of joke is this? Even if you are the Azure Phoenix Auction House, there is a limit."
Following Du Bai, other guests also began complaining. To sell something worth so little in this high-end Auction House with treasures worth tens of thousands of Gold was akin to selling street meat in a luxurious restaurant. The guests were feeling as though they were being mocked by the auction house.
"What should I do…? Senior Chang told me to sell these even if we have to lose face!" Qing Qing cried inwardly.
Meanwhile, in the VIP Room, Yuan was slightly trembling from anger. Even though the complaints were directed at the auction house and Qing Qing, he felt as though they were all directed at him, who wanted to sell these monster cores.
Xuan Wuhan noticed the irritated expression on Yuan's face and wondered if the monster cores belonged to him. After all, he gave her one of them at the city's entrance.
"It's just a few hundred golds. If these monster cores really belong to him, it'll definitely benefit our relationship, and he might even owe me for giving him face. It might also be another one of his tests…"
Thus, Xuan Wuhan spoke the next moment, "I will bid 600 Gold for these monster cores."
"Lady Xuan! Why would you bid for the monster cores? They are just trash! Don't waste your money on them. If you want, I can give you some at the Spirit Warrior level for free as a gift!" Du Hai said to her.
"Shut up! Do I need your permission if I want to buy something? I just happened to need these monster cores, so I am buying them!" she coldly snorted.
"…" Yuan looked at her with wide eyes.
'Not only did she give me a Soul Strengthening Pill worth hundreds of Gold but she's also buying my monster cores… I will definitely thank her properly in the future…' he thought to himself with a warm smile on his face.
"Would you like to pay for the monster cores now?"
An assistant from the auction house asked Xuan Wuhan after she easily won the bid due to a lack of competitors.
Xuan Wuhan retrieved 600 Gold and handed it to the assistant. "I want it now," she said.
"Understood."
The assistant accepted the money and returned a few minutes later with the monster cores.
Meanwhile, on the stage, a new item was already being auctioned.
"For the next item, we have this piece of crystal that is of unknown origin. Although we cannot tell you the purpose of its existence, it has a large amount of Qi flowing within like a monster core. In fact, if it was a monster core, it would be comparable to one at the Spirit Grandmaster level." Qing Qing showed them the cobble-sized piece of crystal to the guests.
"Comparable to a Spirit Grandmaster monster core!"
The people were shocked, as monsters at the Spirit Grandmaster level were exceedingly rare and terrifying, and they have the power to wipe out a large city like this Spirit City with ease. In fact, the last time a Spirit Grandmaster monster appeared in this world was 1,000 years ago, killing millions of people and nearly destroying the world if not for the Spirit Grandmasters that sacrificed their own lives to kill it.
When Xiao Hua saw the cobble-sized crystal, her eyes slightly widened.
"Brother Yuan, that's a Spirit Crystal."
Xiao Hua's voice suddenly resounded in his head.
"Spirit Crystal? Like the Ancient Spirit Jade I have?" he asked.
"No, it's not real Spirit Jade. Real Spirit Jade, even at the lowest quality, would have more Qi. And even though it's not comparable to Spirit Jade, it'll still provide a big boost to your Cultivation. It can also be used as a currency in the upper Realms."
'I wonder how much Qi I would get from consuming it,' he pondered.
"Brother Yuan, you should bid for it." Xiao Hua suddenly said.
"What? But I don't have any money."
"We may have no money now but we will have plenty once we sell the Heavenly Frost Dagger. It'll be more than enough to buy something like this Spirit Crystal, and the people here seem to be unaware of its true value."
Yuan pondered for a moment and asked, "Are you sure? It's still your money."
Even if Xiao Hua allowed him to use the money from selling the Heavenly Frost Dagger, Yuan was not shameless enough to accept it. In fact, if he accepts it despite everything that she's already given him, it'll make him feel guilty instead.
"Buy it, Brother Yuan." Xiao Hua nodded with a resolute face.
"Okay, if you say so."
"I must get this piece of crystal that is overflowing with Qi! If I can cultivate the Qi inside, I might even breakthrough and become a Spirit Master in no time!"
Xuan Wuhan's eyes glittered with excitement.
"There's no way something that contains so much Qi is not a treasure! It must be a treasure with a powerful ability!"
Not just Xuan Wuhan but Du Brothers and the others in the VIP room were also trembling in excitement.
"Since we do not know its true value, we will let the guests decide. The auction begins now!" Qing Qing announced loudly.
"10,000 Gold!"
"30,000 Gold!"
"100,000 Gold!"
The people immediately began bidding, and the price fluctuated quickly.
Within mere minutes, the price for the Spirit Crystal reached half a million Gold.
"Xiao Hua… it's already at 500,000 Gold. Are we still going to buy it?" Yuan asked her.
Xiao Hua did not hesitate for a second and nodded.
"500,100 Gold!" Yuan made a bid for the first time in this auction and in his life.
"This brat… he's not a simple one, as expected…"
The people in the VIP room glanced at Yuan with the corner of their eyes.
'You want to buy something when I am here? Then you will have to ask me for permission first!' Du Hai coldly sneered in his heart and raised his hand.
"510,000 Gold!"
"510,100 Gold." Yuan calmly responded.
Du Hai gnashed his teeth and spoke loudly, "Are you purposely trying to provoke me by adding so little every time?!"
Yuan raised an eyebrow at Du Hai's words, as he truly didn't understand why Du Hai would be upset about that. "Is there something wrong with that?"
"…"
Du Hai trembled in anger at Yuan's response, thinking that he was being mocked.
"520,000 Gold! This is how you bid in an auction! What is the point in adding so little?!"
"520,100 Gold. What if I add too much and waste money? I'd rather play it safe." Yuan innocently shook his head.
After all, it was not his money that he's using to bid.
Xuan Wuhan chuckled after hearing Yuan's words, which only fueled Du Hai's rage even further.
"Good! Since you want to play that game, then I will also play!"
"520,200 Gold!"
"520,300 Gold."
"520,400 Gold!"
"520,500 Gold."
After a few minutes of bidding back and forth, Du Hai was finally unable to endure it and burst with anger, "You mother fucker! How dare you play with me like this!"
Seeing Du Hai lose control of his temper and preparing to strike Yuan, Na Ning, who had been standing in the background in silence stood forward and spoke, "Esteemed guest, please behave yourself. If you continue any further, we will have to ask you to leave."
"Du Hai, sit back down!" Du Bai grabbed Du Hai's robes with a frown.
"Che!" Du Hai coldly snorted and returned to his seat. However, his narrowed gaze remained on Yuan even after many moments later.
"We cannot afford to offend the Azure Phoenix Sect! And give up on this treasure. Our money won't last till the end if you spend so much at once. If you want to deal with him, we can do it after the auction." Du Bai whispered in Du Hai's ears afterward.
"Yuan, the Du Brothers are unforgiving people. They will surely try to cause trouble for you afterward. I will speak to them later." Xuan Wuhan whispered in Yuan's ears when she noticed their suspicious gazes.
"Thank you for the warning. " Yuan nodded.
Although he was not afraid of them, he'd rather not have to deal with them.
A few minutes later, Yuan won the bid with 550,000 Gold.
"Esteemed guest, would you like to pay for the item now, or would you like to pay for it afterward?" Na Ning asked him with a polite tone and a respectful demeanor.
"You can subtract it from that item afterward." Xiao Hua said to her.
"I understand." Na Ning nodded and walked away.
Xuan Wuhan raised her eyebrows at Xiao Hua words, and she pondered. 'That item? Did they put something else besides the monster cores up for auction?'
After selling the Spirit Crystal, a few more items were sold.
"Before we start the auction for the final item we have today, allow me to introduce the owner of this auction house, Senior Chang!" Qing Qing suddenly said, dumbfounding the people there.
"Madam Chang will be making an appearance today? How rare."
The people thought.
A few moments later, an old lady appeared on the stage with a wooden box in her hands.
"Thank you all for coming to my auction house today. Since the last item we have for today is a little bit special, I will be conducting the final auction." Senior Chang spoke in a low voice, yet her voice echoed in every corner of the room.
After saying those words, Senior Chang opened the wooden box and revealed the beautiful dagger resting inside.
"T-That aura! It's a Heaven-grade treasure!"
Without even needing Senior Chang to introduce the Heavenly Frost Dagger, the people there were already able to tell what kind of treasure it was from the profound aura that was shrouding the blue dagger.
"It's really a Heaven-grade treasure! Hahaha! I have lucked out by coming here today!"
"Even though I won't be able to afford it, I am already satisfied to witness something so valuable with my own eyes!"
The crowd went into an uproar after the appearance of the Heavenly Frost Dagger, as the last time something this precious appeared in the public was 100 years ago!
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Chapter 25: End of the Auction
"Elder Jia, we must buy this Heaven-grade treasure at all cost!" Xuan Wuhuan said to the old man beside her with a serious expression.
"I agree with the Young Lady. Although it might get expensive very fast, Heaven-grade treasures do not appear very often in this world, and this one appears to be of great quality, too."
"Du Hai, this treasure…"
"Of course, we are going to try and bid for it! Even though we might not win, we cannot simply sit here and do nothing while there is such a treasure before us!" Du Hai spoke with a regrettable face.
Although the Du Family has decent wealth, compared to the other esteemed guests in the V.I.P room, their wealth is nothing significant. However, even if there's the slightest chance they could buy the Heaven-grade treasure, they will surely try.
The V.I.P room quickly became chaotic, and everybody there looked at the Heavenly Frost Dagger with lustful eyes.
Even if they have to use all of their money and replace the food on their dinner table with water for the next ten years, they felt that it would all be worth it if they obtained the treasure.
Once the anticipation within the auction house was at its maximum, Madam Chang spread her arms and spoke with a wide smile, "Then without further ado, let the bidding for this peak quality Heavenly Frost Dagger begin at 10 million gold!"
Despite the outrageous price, the people at the auction house began bidding like animals.
"11 million gold!"
"11.5 million gold!"
"13 million gold!"
Within minutes, the minimum price for the Heavenly Frost Dagger increased to 21 million gold.
"21 million gold…" Yuan listened to the biddings with a dazed face, seemingly in disbelief.
He cannot even begin to imagine what he could do with that much wealth.
"25 million gold!" Xuan Wuhuan suddenly shouted.
The sudden high bid by Xuan Wuhuan slowed the bidding pace briefly, but after a few moments, it returned to normal.
When the bidding reached 30 million gold, the pace finally slowed down permanently, as only very few individuals there could afford to bring out so much money.
"30.5 million!"
Of course, Xuan Wuhan, whose family belonged to the business circle, was one of these rich individuals.
"31 million!"
"31.5 million!"
After a few more minutes of bidding from the same three people, a new voice suddenly resounded.
"40 million gold."
The voice was profoundly calm, causing everybody in the V.I.P room to turn to look at the person who just spoke.
However, that person had not been in the V.I.P room since the beginning, and the people there wondered when this person arrived.
"T-That's Qi Jiguang from Heaven and Earth Palace! What's he doing in this place?!" Someone there exclaimed after realizing his identity.
"What?! The Heaven and Earth Palace?!" Although most people there were unfamiliar with the name Qi Jiguang, they all gasped in shock after hearing the name 'Heaven and Earth Palace'.
"That man is at the peak of the Spirit Grandmaster. He's considered as a peak expert in the Lower Heavens." Xiao Hua mumbled to Yuan, who seemed to be dazed by the profound aura surrounding this Qi Jiguang.
"I wonder what it would be like to fight someone as powerful as him…" Yuan said in a low voice.
Xiao Hua looked at him with raised eyebrows. "As expected of a battle junkie. In this entire room, you are probably the only one thinking such a thing, Brother Yuan. But at your current cultivation, you won't even last a second against a single finger from him. You'll die instantly."
"Hmm?"
When Qi Jiguang noticed the two of them looking at him, he also looked back.
Although there was nothing out of the ordinary about Yuan, he could sense an invisible yet formidable aura coming from Xiao Hua.
'That little girl… I cannot see her cultivation base, but she's without a doubt an expert like me.' Qi Jiguang thought to himself.
While her presence piqued his interest, he did not want to involve himself with another expert at his level without any good reason, as that might lead to unnecessary confrontation.
Many moments have passed since Qi Jiguang bid 40 million gold for the Heavenly Frost Dagger without anyone else trying to outbid him.
'Damn it! Why did someone like him have to appear here today?!' Xuan Wuhuan cried inwardly. While she had the ability to continue bidding, she did not want to fight against someone from the Heaven and Earth Palace and accidentally offend him, as that would be devastating for her family and its business.
"Since there doesn't seem to be any more bidders, the bid for this Heaven-grade treasure shall come to an end! Congratulations to the esteemed guest for winning this exquisite treasure!" Madam Chang clapped with smiles all over her face, as she just earned 4 million gold from this transaction alone.
After the auction ended, Xuan Wuhan said to Yuan, "If you ever need anything, come find me at Spring City. You can show anyone the medallion I gave you, and they will lead you to me. I hope to see you again later, Yuan."
The Du Brothers glanced at Yuan with narrowed eyes for a moment before leaving the place.
Sometime later, Na Ying approached them after the auction ended and said, "Esteemed Guests, please follow me to claim your sales."
Yuan nodded and proceeded to follow her to a private room at the top of the auction house.
"Madam Chang will be here in a few moments with your earnings, please relax in the meantime." Na Ying said to them as she poured them a cup of spiritual tea.
«You have gained the following effect from consuming Phoenix Blossom Tea»
«Increased Qi Absorption Rate by 10% for 12 hours»
«Soul Strength 500 permamently»
Yuan gained some stats after drinking the tea.
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Chapter 26: Wealth Leaderboards
"What wonderful tea…" Yuan mumbled after sipping the tea, feeling a little bit stronger after just a single sip.
"I'm glad you like this tea, Esteemed Guest. It's called the Phoenix Blossom Tea, a spiritual tea made by the Azure Phoenix Sect. Usually, only Elders within the Sect are allowed to enjoy this tea, but Madam Chang specifically wanted you to try it." Na Ying said to him with a smile.
A few minutes later, Madam Chang entered the room and bowed to them.
"Thank you for being patient with this one, Esteemed Guests. I have just finished organizing your sales."
She then placed a ring made of jade and a small red pouch on the table before them and continued, "I have already deducted the auction house's 10% share and your purchase worth 550,000 gold from the income, so there are 35 million gold and your purchase in the Spatial Ring from the Heaven-grade treasure and 540 gold in the Storage Pouch from the monster cores."
"And you can keep the Spatial Ring and the Storage Pouch as well. Although it's nothing significant when compared to the Heaven-grade treasure, please consider it as a small gift from the Azure Phoenix Sect."
«Spatial Ring»
«Grade: Earth»
«Mental Strength Required: 5,000»
«Description: A mythical ring that contains its own space, allowing you to store things inside and retrieve them with a thought.»
«Storage Pouch»
«Grade: Spirit»
«Mental Strength Required: 500»
«Description: A pouch that contains its own space. Although there's not much room inside, you can fit a few watermelons inside.»
Yuan picked up the jade ring and the red pouch, and a notification appeared before him.
«35,450,560 gold has been received»
«You have unlocked the Wealth Leaderboards»
«Congratulations! You have reached first place in 'Wealth Leaderboards', becoming the wealthiest player in Cultivation Online»
«Congratulations! You have obtained the unique title 'Rich Young Master'!»
«Fame 100»
When Yuan saw that he'd become the richest player in Cultivation Online, he didn't express any surprise. In fact, it would be more surprising if he wasn't in the first place!
"Xiao Hua, here, take this."
After receiving the Spatial Ring, he handed it to Xiao Hua, who looked at him with a puzzled face.
"Why are you giving it to me, Brother Yuan? It's your money."
However, Yuan shook his head and said, "To begin with, it was your treasure that was sold, and I will feel bad for accepting this much money when it doesn't even belong to me."
"Xiao Hua belongs to Brother Yuan. Everything in Xiao Hua's possession is also Brother Yuan's possession, so it's not weird."
"I know, but it still doesn't feel right with me, getting so much wealth when I didn't do anything to deserve it. Keep it. But when we really need that money, we can use it." Yuan was adamant about not accepting the 35 million gold.
He felt that it was too much money for him at his current level and that it would take away all of the fun in the game if he could buy whatever he wanted with such ease.
In fact, he even feels slightly guilty for having an overpowered companion such as Xiao Hua by his side.
However, obtaining a massive amount of resources without working for it and earning these resources by himself are two entirely different matters. Furthermore, as someone who could only rely on others to help him survive for almost his entire life, he did not want to rely too much on Xiao Hua, who resembled his real younger sister, hence why he refused the gold.
Seeing the stubbornness in Yuan's eyes, Xiao Hua ultimately nodded her head and accepted the Spatial Ring and all of the money inside.
However, after taking the Spatial Ring, she transferred the money inside the Spatial Ring to her own Storage Pouch, before handing the Spatial Ring back to Yuan.
"Brother Yuan, I will take the money, but you should keep the Spatial Ring. It'll be very convenient for you since you can carry many things with you without the burden of carrying its weight that way."
Yuan nodded and accepted the Spatial Ring without much thought, completely oblivious to the fact that the Spatial Ring itself was valued at a few hundred thousand golds.
Meanwhile, outside of the Azure Phoenix Action House, a large notification was hanging above the clouds with countless eyes staring at it.
«Player Yuan has become to first Player to unlock the Wealth Leaderboards by accumulating over 1,000,000 gold»
"Somebody has already earned over one million gold?! How is that even possible?!"
"Look! It's that alleged cheater, Yuan!"
"Holy shit! If you convert that amount of gold into real-life money, that's over ten million dollars at the market's current rates!"
Since Cultivation Online is a video game — a very popular one at that — there would obviously be people using the game to make profits in real life by trading in-game currencies for real-life currencies, and at the current state of the game, a single gold coin was worth around ten dollars in real life.
This type of business is usually called Real World Trading, RWT for short, and is against the terms of service for most online games out there. However, despite being against the terms of services, there are many people who would rather go out of their way to use such services to strengthen themselves in-game than to waste time and effort to earn them fairly.
Furthermore, this type of business is not limited to only in-game gold, as people buy in-game treasures and resources with real money, too.
With all that being said, RWT is not against Cultivation Online's terms of services, as such terms never existed in the first place, so there are already many players using their real-life money to buy Cultivation Online gold and vice-versa.
If Yuan were to convert all of his in-game gold to real-life currency, he'd have over 350 million dollars right now. But of course, Yuan is oblivious to such a business market, thus such thoughts never crossed his mind.
"If you ever need to sell anything to our Azure Phoenix Auction House, please come by again."
Madam Chang handed them a badge with the auction house's name on it.
«You have obtained Azure Phoenix Auction House Diamond Pass»
"As long as you have that pass, you can enter any auction house in this world that is owned by the Azure Phoenix Sect."
"Thank you."
After accepting the pass, Yuan and Xiao Hua left the auction house.
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Chapter 27: Stuffing His Face With Food
Once Yuan and Xiao Hua left the auction house, they wandered around the city aimlessly.
"What should we do now, Xiao Hua? Now that we have enough money, maybe we should better gear ourselves for the future."
However, Xiao Hua merely tilted her head in a puzzled manner and spoke, "But Xiao Hua has plenty of treasures you can use."
Yuan showed a bittersweet smile and said, "While that is true, I cannot rely on you for everything. I want to work hard and earn my own equipment, too."
Xiao Hua remained puzzled, and she asked, "Xiao Hua has noticed this for a bit now, but why does Brother Yuan want to work so hard? If it were someone else in your shoes, they would surely take advantage of the situation and not do so much work."
Yuan chuckled after hearing her words and said, "Although it may not seem like it, I have lived the majority of my life as a cripple, where I cannot even use the bathroom without help from someone else. I hate the feeling of being so powerless and useless, and despite breathing, I never felt alive. But now that I can finally use my useless body again, I want to enjoy life to the fullest and experience what it means to be alive."
"Brother Yuan… you must have lived a difficult life…"
"Past tense?" Yuan laughed in a dispirited tone, "Even though I may appear fine now, I am actually still living that pointless life."
"…"
"But Brother Yuan is no longer a cripple! He's even a cultivation genius!" Although Xiao Hua does not know his situation, she could feel a sense of loneliness and desperation within his tone.
"That may be true in this world, but once I log out, I will return to being a cripple in that dark and still world. Anyway, let's leave this depressing topic behind and enjoy ourselves with our newfound wealth." Yuan said as he continued walking around the city.
Meanwhile, Xiao Hua silently stared at him with a pondering gaze, seemingly in deep thoughts.
'Maybe there's something Xiao Hua can do to relieve Brother Yuan's pain…' she thought to herself.
Sometime later, they arrived at what appears to be an equipment shop.
"Welcome to the Dragon Armory!" The middle-aged man behind the counter said to them after noticing their presence. "We have all sorts of Spirit-grade weapons and armor! If you are looking for something specific, just let me know!"
"I will," Yuan said as he began looking around.
«Bone Sword»
«Grade: Spirit»
«Quality: Medium»
«Physical Strength Required: 300»
«Mental Strength Required: 600»
«Sharpness: 300»
«Description: A sword made from the bones from a Spiritual Skeleton»
«Price: 30,000 Gold»
«Fiery Lizard Scale Armor»
«Grade: Spirit»
«Quality: High»
«Physical Strength Required: 500»
«Mental Strength Required: 250»
«Physical Defense: 5,000»
«Description: Crafted with highly durable scales from a Fiery Lizard»
«Price: 80,000 Gold»
'Good lord, the equipment here is so expensive!' Yuan's eyes widened when he saw the price for these Spirit-grade weapons. It made the 540 Gold he'd earned completely insignificant!
"It's expensive, right?" Xiao Hua could read his expression and said with a smile. "Unless you are from a noble family or have the backing of a powerful Sect, nobody would come to these places to look for equipment."
"Why didn't you tell me before we walked in here? Now I feel like a beggar walking into a jewelry store…" Yuan sighed. "Let's leave and get something to eat instead."
When the middle-aged man saw that they were leaving after looking at just two items, he sucked his teeth in disdain, "Che! To think I'd wasted my breath greeting these poor bastards."
"…"
Hearing such words, Yuan stopped walking and turned around to look at the middle-aged man with a frown.
"What? Are you going to hit me for speaking the truth?" The middle-aged man remained nonchalant and even continued to insult him. "This store is owned by the Earth Dragon Sect. Hit me if you dare."
"…"
Yuan's eyebrows twitched at the irritating tone coming from the middle-aged man, but he had nothing to say, as he was truly poor. Furthermore, he didn't want to cause unnecessary trouble inside a shop owned by an NPC because who knows what the NPC might do.
However, Xiao Hua was not as kind as Yuan, and she despised people looking down on Yuan, her beloved Master. A moment later, she retrieved her storage ring and pulled out two peak quality Heaven-grade treasure—one in each of her small hands.
When the middle-aged man realized that she was holding two Heaven-grade weapons and was even treating them as though they are mere toys, his eyes rolled back from shock, and he collapsed the next moment.
'That's what you get for bullying Brother Yuan.' Xiao Hua sneered inwardly before putting away the Heaven-grade weapons and leaving the store with a satisfied expression on her cute face.
Once they left the store, Yuan and Xiao Hua went to a nearby restaurant, where they proceeded to fill their stomach with delicious food.
'Oh my god! This food is crazy delicious! I can't believe how real it tastes inside a game!' As though he'd turned into a starving beast, Yuan stuffed food into his mouth and down his throat, and both of his hands were occupied with food at all times.
Meanwhile, Xiao Hua watched him eat like an animal with her jaw hanging. This is the first time she has seen anyone eating so frantically. It was almost as though he'd never eaten anything before today.
"The food isn't going anywhere, Brother Yuan. If you don't eat slowly, you might choke to death," she said to him.
"I can't help it! My hands are moving by themselves! After all, I have eaten nothing but soup for the last few years!" Yuan said in a stuffed voice as he continued to mercilessly shove food into his mouth with tears flowing down his fat cheeks.
Xiao Hua merely shook her head before she began to eat her own plate of food with elegance.
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Chapter 28: Cooking Techniques
After spending nearly three hours stuffing his face with food in the restaurant, Yuan was finally satisfied with his stomach, which was fully bloated at this moment, making him appear fatter than normal.
"Unbelievable… Brother Yuan's stomach is a true mystery. Not only can you consume monster cores and feel perfectly fine, but you can also eat enough food to feed ten whole families…" Xiao Hua stared at him with wide eyes.
"Hahaha… I don't usually eat so much, but for some season, when I swallow the food, it feels as though the food disappears before it even reaches my stomach." Yuan said. "And my Qi has increased significantly, too."
After consuming so much food, his Qi Experience has increased by 1 million, comparable to the Jade Frog's monster core.
"That's because of the food Brother Yuan ate. It's not ordinary food, but spiritual food, which is cooked from monsters and contains spiritual energy."
"Is that why it also tasted so good? Man, I should eat more of these so-called spiritual foods." Yuan said as he rubbed his stomach.
However, when the bill appeared sometime later, Yuan immediately regretted eating so much.
"500 gold coins?! That's nearly everything I have! Why the hell is it this expensive?! Did they miscalculate the bill?" Yuan exclaimed with a terrified expression.
"Brother Yuan… did you order the food without looking at the prices? Spiritual food is considered luxury food… of course it would be expensive… and you ate so much of it…" Xiao Hua said to him.
Yuan sighed and spoke, "If it's like this, I'd rather hunt and cook my own food."
"That's an option, too." Xiao Hua nodded. "After all, it's just cooked monster meat."
"Then it's decided! In order to save money, I shall learn how to cook spiritual food!"
And he continued, "By the way, are there any techniques that teach you how to cook?"
Xiao Hua nodded and said, "It'll cost you a few gold coins, but you can find these kinds of techniques in any Cultivator market."
"Great. Then let's go shopping again after this."
After paying the massive restaurant bill that depleted almost everything he's earned from selling the monster cores, Yuan and Xiao Hua returned to strolling in the streets.
Sometime later, they approached a store with a large sign that read 'Cultivator Essentials'.
"Welcome to Cultivator Essentials! How may I assist you, Young Master?" A pretty lady greeted him with a warm smile after noticing their presence.
"Hello. Do you sell cooking techniques in this place?" Yuan asked her.
"Cooking techniques, huh? Give me a moment to check."
The pretty lady then went to the back of the shop.
A few minutes later, she returned with three books in her hand.
"We have three cooking techniques. Pick whichever is to your liking."
"Hmm…" Yuan looked at the three techniques before him.
"Thousand Knife Techniques… Heavenly Fire Control… Senior Wu's Recipes…"
Yuan made a weird expression after reading the title of these three books. "Are they really cooking techniques? They look more like fighting techniques… And the last one… it's only a recipe book, right?"
The pretty lady behind the counter chuckled, and she said, "I can assure you that they are cooking techniques. If you aren't convinced, I can let you read a few pages for yourself."
"Really? Then excuse me…"
Yuan picked up the techniques and began reading them one at a time.
A few minutes later, a notification appeared.
«You have learned Thousand Knife Technique»
«Thousand Knife Technique»
«Rank: Mortal»
«Mastery Level: 1»
«Description: Consumes 100 Qi. Must wield a knife or dagger to activate. A common knife technique for chefs around the world.»
«You have learned Heavenly Fire Control»
«Heavenly Fire Control»
«Rank: Mortal»
«Mastery Level: 1»
«Description: Consumes 10 Qi per second. Allows you to control and adjust temperatures of regular fire with your spiritual energy.»
«You have read Senior Wu's Recipes»
«Your Cooking knowledge has increased significantly»
«You have learned Cooking Skill»
«Cooking Skill»
«Mastery Level: 1»
«You have learned new cooking recipes»
«You can now cook Tier 1 spiritual food»
"Uh…" Yuan did not mean to learn the techniques without paying, and he turned to look at the pretty lady with a worried face, but she appeared to be oblivious of what just happened.
"How much are these techniques, again?" he asked her with a shaky voice.
"Ten gold coins each!" she quickly responded with a bright smile.
"…"
Not wanting to feel like he'd just committed a robbery, Yuan decided to pay for these techniques even if it will cost him all of his remaining money.
"I will buy them…" He said in a sighing voice, before taking out 30 gold coins and placing it on the counter.
"Thank you very much for your purchase, Young Master!" The pretty lady immediately accepted his money with her face full of smiles.
After buying the three cooking techniques, Yuan and Xiao Hua left the shop.
"Haaa… I only have 10 gold coins left…" Yuan sighed deeply after taking a look into his empty wallet.
"Should Xiao Hua give you some money? After all, she made Brother Yuan pay for her own share of food in the restaurant." Xiao Hua said to him after seeing his saddened face.
"No, it's fine. You have already done enough for me. And it's about time for me to start helping you, even if it's as small as paying for your food…" Yuan said. "And if I really need money, I can just farm some more monster cores and sell them again."
"Don't mention it, Brother Yuan. It's only natural for Xiao Hua to assist you as your servant. It's her responsibility, after all."
Yuan showed a gentle smile on his face and said, "Thank you, Xiao Hua. But instead of a servant, you are like a little sister to me."
"Xiao Hua… Brother Yuan's little sister? Really?" she looked at him with sparkly eyes.
"That's right." Yuan nodded. "That's why you should stop calling yourself my servant."
Xiao Hua quickly nodded with a blissful smile on her face, "Okay! Then Xiao Hua will be Brother Yuan's little sister starting now!"
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Chapter 29: Leaving Spirit City
"Xiao Hua, it's about time for me to log off for dinner. I will be back later." Yuan said to her sometime after leaving the Cultivator shop.
"Where will you go during my absence?" he then asked her.
Xiao Hua pointed to the necklace around his neck, and she said, "You can call Xiao Hua using the necklace whenever you are back."
After saying those words, Xiao Hua's body began glowing, before being absorbed into the necklace.
"What a profound necklace…" Yuan mumbled to himself before logging off.
After logging off the game, Yuan patiently waited for Yu Rou to bring him dinner, and he felt as though time had stopped.
Unlike the colorful world in the game, the real world was pitch black, almost like he was living in the void, and his body felt nonexistent.
'Haaa… If only I could live inside Cultivation Online forever…' Yuan sighed inwardly.
After familiarizing himself with the world inside the game, his perception of the real world became even worse, and it felt even more lonely than usual.
Inside the game, whether it be the pedestrians or just the noises nature made, it was always lively. However, whenever he returned to his own room, the only thing he could hear was the sound of his own heart beating and very rarely subtle noises from outside his room, a world he hasn't stepped foot in for many years.
After waiting around for a few minutes that felt like hours, he could finally hear footsteps approaching his bed.
However, he could immediately tell that it was not Yu Rou, as these footsteps were too heavy to be Yu Rou's, so it was someone else in his room.
"Who's there…?" Yuan asked in a hoarse voice.
"Young Master, the Young Lady is currently busy with the Masters, so I will be taking care of you for today." A voice belonging to a middle-aged woman responded.
"…"
"For today's dinner, we have beef soup with—"
"It's fine…" Yuan suddenly interrupted.
"I am not hungry today…"
"Even if you say that… I have a job to do…" The person sighed in a troubled tone.
"I won't… repeat myself…"
"…"
Silence filled the room, and a moment later, the middle-aged woman spoke, "I understand. Please rest well, Young Master."
The door closed a few seconds later, and Yuan could barely hear the person who just left coldly snorting in disdain.
"With that useless body, it's a miracle that he hasn't been tossed out of this house already…"
"…"
'I can still hear you, you know?' Yuan smiled bitterly.
Since the only functioning part of his body were his mouth and ears, he has to rely on his hearing more than normal people, allowing him to hear things people normally wouldn't be able to.
'Perhaps my voice, even my ability to hear might abandon me in the future, just like the rest of my body had…'
Sometime later, Yuan returned to Cultivation Online.
However, he did not immediately call for Xiao Hua, as he had spent a few minutes silently staring at this colorful world.
'What am I doing? I don't have the time to be depressed! Every second I spend idling around is a second lost in this beautiful world! I may be useless and crippled in the real world, but I am not like that in this world!'
After calming down, Yuan summoned Xiao Hua using the necklace.
"You're back already, Brother Yuan?" she looked at him with a pondering gaze.
Despite Yuan's efforts to hide his emotions, Xiao Hua was able to notice the sadness within his eyes at a single glance.
"Are you okay, Brother Yuan? You seem a bit sad." She asked him.
"Don't worry about it. It's nothing I can't handle, and it'll quickly go away after I slay a few monsters!" He said.
Although she was worried, Xiao Hua did not want to force him.
"If Brother Yuan needs somebody to talk to, Xiao Hua will always be by your side."
"Thank you, Xiao Hua. I will keep that in mind." Yuan smiled.
Xiao Hua nodded, and she said, "Then let's continue Brother Yuan's training. Although you won't gain much from Monsters Cores at the Spirit Apprentice levels, you can still improve your sword techniques. And once you are more experienced in combat, we can start looking for monsters at the Spirit Warrior realm."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's start training!"
Yuan and Xiao Hua began making their way out of the city.
Sometime later, once they were a few miles away from the city, Xiao Hua spoke in a low voice, "Brother Yuan, we are being followed."
"Could it be the Du Brothers from the Auction House? Xuan Wuhan did warn me that those two might be up to something before we separated."
Xiao Hua nodded and said, "Yes, but I can sense another person with them. He's a Cultivator at the peak of the Spirit Master realm."
"Spirit Master? That's one realm above me…" Yuan showed a worried expression, completely forgetting about the Spirit King walking beside him.
"Don't worry, Brother Yuan. If they try to do anything funny, Xiao Hua will take care of them. Let's just continue acting like we are unaware of their presence."
Yuan nodded, and the two of them delved deeper into the wilderness.
After walking for a few more miles, a familiar-sounding voice resounded.
"Stop right there, you little bastard!"
Yuan and Xiao Hua stopped walking and turned around, and standing a few meters behind them were the Du Brothers and a tall middle-aged man with a bulky frame.
"Following me all the way out here, what do you want from me? I doubt it's anything good, though." Yuan asked them with a frown on his face.
"Since you dared to ruin my face in the Auction House before so many people and even directly in front of Lady Xuan's presence, I will have you pay for it with your life!" Du Hai spoke loudly, his face filled with anger.
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Chapter 30: One Against Two
"Wait a second, what do you mean I ruined your face? Your face looks perfectly fine! I didn't even touch you!" Yuan said with a bewildered expression. "If you are going to lie, at least do it better!"
"Th-That's not what I mean! Are you making fun of me, you bastard?!" Du Hai stomped his feet in anger, and he continued, "Because of you, my reputation was ruined! You even embarrassed me in front of Lady Xuan! I won't forgive you even if you die!"
"What an exaggeration. If you are going to kill someone just because they embarrassed you a little bit, you'll have to kill a lot of people in the future. That's going to be a hard lifestyle." Yuan shook his head, and he was unable to comprehend the thought process of these kinds of people.
"So what?! I have already killed tons of people for messing with me, and it'll only get easier in the future! This is a world where the strong eats the weak and where the weak has no privilege to complain!"
Yuan frowned and said, "I don't care what kind of psychopathic world you live in, but I am not in a good mood today, so you should leave me out of it before I get angry."
"Hahahaha!"
The Du Brothers burst out laughing at his words, and they spoke, "So what if you get angry?!"
"What are you going to do to us?!"
"What CAN you do to us?! You are a mere single Spirit Warrior, and we have two Spirit Warriors and one peak Spirit Master!"
"Hahaha! I cannot believe that a nobody like you could be so entertaining!"
"Well, since you made us laugh, we'll give you a quick and painless death."
The Du Brothers withdrew their swords and pointed them at Yuan.
"…"
Yuan silently stared at the Du Brothers with a grim expression, his aura slowly growing sharper and sharper, almost like a sword.
When the Spirit Master saw this, he frowned and said to Du Brothers, "Young Masters, don't underestimate him. He's emitting a powerful aura that doesn't suit his level. He might have the strength to fight those above his own level."
"So what if he can fight people above his own level? We can also do the same!" Du Bai scoffed.
"Are you looking down on us? Even though you are at the Spirit Master level, you are still just a mere guard that's hired by my family!"
Meanwhile, on the opposite side, Yuan asked Xiao Hua, "Do you think I will be able to win against those two?"
"Both of them are in the fifth level Spirit Warrior realm. Although they are slightly better than the disciple you defeated before, it shouldn't be a problem for Brother Yuan."
"That's all I need to hear." Yuan nodded before retrieving his own sword.
"Oh? You also have a peak Spirit-grade weapon? I guess you really didn't wander into the VIP Room by accident! Hahahaha!"
"However, unfortunately for you, having that sword won't change the outcome!"
The Du Brothers then sheathed their swords and pulled out two peak Spirit-grade swords a few seconds later.
"I am going to warn you two one last time! Do not force my hands!" Yuan shouted at them with the sword in his hand tightly grasped.
"Enough bullshitting! Let's get him, Du Bai!"
Du Bai nodded, and the two of them began rushing at Yuan.
"This will be fun!" A wide grin appeared on Yuan's face as he also stepped forward.
A moment later, the three of them clashed, and Yuan maneuvered his sword like an expert, blocking both their sword strikes at once.
"Let's see how long you can keep this up!"
The Du Brothers began releasing a torrent of sword strikes at Yuan.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
However, Yuan either deflected their attacks or perfectly blocked them, albeit barely.
'This is much more difficult than I'd expected! If I want to win this fight, I will have to be the aggressive one!"
After being on the defensive side for a few more strikes, Yuan suddenly stepped forward and began attacking the Du Brothers, catching them off guard.
'What powerful blows!'
'He's not an ordinary one!'
The Du Brothers began sweating after tasting just a few of Yuan's sword strikes.
Meanwhile, Xiao Hua was not even paying attention to their fight, and she had her eyes on the Spirit Master this entire time, as she was prepared to kill him the moment he even tries to interfere with Yuan's fight.
'Just who is this brat? Which Family does he belong to? To think he'd be able to fight the Du Brothers by himself! And it even looks like he's slowly defeating them!' The Spirit Master watched their fight with wide eyes filled with disbelief, and he began worrying that they might have picked the wrong person to fight with.
"…"
The longer the Spirit Master watched Yuan's fight, the more shocked and worried he became.
'This young man is a genius! He's not only fighting back the Young Masters, but he's even growing stronger as he fights! He's a freaking monster! I cannot allow this to continue any longer, or the Young Masters will be in danger!'
The Spirit Master prepared to interrupt the fight, but he suddenly noticed an immense pressure not too far away, causing his eyes to shift to the small figure a few meters away, who was staring dagger at him.
'That little girl… she's an expert like me!'
The Spirit Master's back was instantly soaked in cold sweat after this realization. Anyone would think she was Yuan's little sister at glance, but to think that she would be his guardian instead! It was truly a shocking revelation!
And he was certain that this little girl's cultivation base was much more formidable than his own, as not even Spirit Grandmasters would be able to emit such a terrifying invisible pressure.
However, he cannot just stand there and watch the Du Brothers die to Yuan, as their parents would surely kill him for failing to protect them.
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Chapter 31: Negotiations
"Young Lady, why don't we talk about this?" The Spirit Master took the initiative to speak with Xiao Hua, as he was certain that he would not be able to defeat Xiao Hua in a fight, and if the Du Brothers continued fighting Yuan, they would also lose to him sooner or later and lose their lives.
With no more options at hand, he could only resort to pleading for their forgiveness, hoping that they would at least spare the Du Brothers' lives.
And he said, "Why don't we negotiate? If you let the Young Masters leave this place in one piece, the Du Family will compensate you for the trouble they have caused for your Young Master."
"Let them go… you say? But they were the ones who willingly jumped at Brother Yuan." Xiao Hua responded with a nonchalant expression.
"I won't deny that the Young Masters are the ones at fault here, but you gain nothing by killing them. In fact, if you kill them, regardless of your background, the Du Family will do everything in their power to avenge their deaths, and I'm sure neither of you would want the entire Du Family chasing after you."
"The Du Family? I have never heard of them before." Xiao Hua said.
"…"
The Spirit Master was dumbfounded. Although the Du Family is not the most powerful family in the world, they are considerably famous in the Cultivation world with multiple experts at the rank of Spirit Grandmaster within their family, and even if someone does not know of their achievements, they would at least know of their reputation.
"Furthermore, if I kill all three of you, how will the Du Family know who killed you? Even if one of you managed to escape, do you even know who we are? How are you going to find us?" Xiao Hua asked him with a cold gaze that did not fit her childish appearance.
The Spirit Master's complexion immediately paled after hearing Xiao Hua's word, and he began to realize the gravity of their situation. If Xiao Hua kills the Du Brothers including him, who will tell the Du Family about the culprits? Unless they can talk to ghosts, they will never find out the truth!
"P-Please, have mercy, Young Lady! There is no need to spill blood over such a minor complication, right? At the end of the day, those two are only Juniors who allowed their arrogance and pride to go to their head! There are many people like them out there, and I'm sure that even your Young Master has made mistakes before!" The Spirit Master began pleading, and if not for Xiao Hua's pressure on him, he would've kowtowed to her.
"Don't compare Brother Yuan to those two bullies! He's a kind brother who played with Xiao Hua when nobody else would!" Xiao Hua suddenly shouted, accidentally emitting killing intent, which suffocated the Spirit Master.
"I… can't… breathe…!" The Spirit Master began choking.
Meanwhile, right as Yuan knocked the Du Brothers to the ground, he noticed the ominous aura behind him, causing him to turn around and look.
"Xiao Hua!"
When he saw the unpleasant expression on Xiao Hua's face, his initial thought was that the Spirit Master had done something to her, so he ignored the Du Brothers and immediately rushed to her side.
"Are you okay, Xiao Hua?!"
"Hm?" Hearing Yuan's voice, Xiao Hua snapped out of her rage and turned to look at him, who was staring at her with a worried expression.
"Are you hurt anywhere?!" he asked her, and she nodded.
"Xiao Hua is okay, Brother Yuan."
"Is that so? That's great to hear," he sighed in relief.
After knowing that Xiao Hua was safe, Yuan finally noticed the Spirit Master that was laying on the ground, who was heavily panting, almost as he'd just ran a marathon.
"What happened to him?" he mumbled to Xiao Hua.
"Xiao Hua doesn't know." She casually shrugged.
After catching his breath, the Spirit Master spoke, "Please… I beg you… don't kill us…"
"That is not for me to decide." Xiao Hua said, and then she turned to look at Yuan, who appeared to be dumbfounded.
"What is he talking about? Why would I kill them?" Yuan asked.
"Eh? You're not going to kill us?" The Spirit Master looked at him with wide eyes filled with shock.
"Of course, not. While I am slightly angry about everything today, I am not like some people, who would kill another just because they were offended. However, that isn't to say I would never kill anyone because even I have a limit." Yuan said to him.
"T-Thank you, Young Master! Thank you for having mercy! I will immediately leave with those two, and we will never appear before you again!" The Spirit Master kowtowed to him with tears in his eyes.
"Wait a second! Who said you can leave so fast?" Yuan suddenly said.
"Huh?" The Spirit Master looked at him with wide eyes.
"I have unexpectedly used up most of my energy after fighting with those two, and I'd spend 500 gold coins filling up my stomach not long ago. Now I feel like I wasted my money. How are you going to compensate me for this tragedy?" Yuan said to him with a frown.
"…"
Not just the Spirit Master, but even Xiao Hua was staring at him with wide eyes filled with shock.
"O-Of course… Although this isn't much because the Young Masters had already used most of it, I will give you all of it…"
The Spirit Master quickly retrieved his money pouch and offered it to Yuan as though he was giving an offering to a God.
'I never thought a day where I would become a victim of extortion would come—and it's even to a mere Spirit Warrior Junior!' he cried inwardly, feeling his pride as a Spirit Master shattering into a thousand pieces.
Yuan cleared his throat and accepted the money pouch without a hint of shame on his face, and he spoke afterward, "Thank you for the donation."
'Donation, my ass!' The Spirit Master retorted inwardly, but he didn't dare to complain out loud, as he feared that Yuan might change his mind and kill all of them.
"You may leave now."
After receiving Yuan's permission, the Spirit Master immediately went to grab the Du Brothers and quickly left the scene.
"W-Wait a minute! Where are you taking us?! We haven't lost to him yet!"
"Let me fight him! I won't be able to sleep tonight if I don't beat him up!"
The Du Brothers struggled to escape the Spirit Master's grasp, but being an entire realm below him, they were effortlessly taken away by him, disappearing a few moments later.
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Chapter 32: Sword Aura
After the Spirit Master and the Du Brothers are long gone, Xiao Hua spoke, "Brother Yuan, why did you let them leave? Knowing their personalities, the Du Brothers definitely won't forgive you for what happened today, and they will surely come back even stronger for revenge one day."
"Xiao Hua is aware of Brother Yuan's kind personality, and Brother Yuan only very recently became a Cultivator, so killing people might still be difficult for you, but there are people in this world that are better off dead. Because even if they no longer pose any threat to you, they will surely be a threat to someone else."
"The Cultivation world is a place where if you do not consume your enemies, they will eventually consume you instead. So you must become the one who consumes others, not the other way around."
Hearing Xiao Hua's lecture, Yuan sighed, "I know that I may be naive, perhaps even a fool in your eyes, and that these people are only NPCs within a game, but I do not wish to kill another human being unless absolutely necessary, as I am afraid that it might affect my mind negatively, since there has already been a few times where I forgot that I am actually inside a video game, treating this world as though it's the real world."
"…"
Xiao Hua listened to his words in silence. And although she only understood half of it, she knew what he was trying to say, and she said afterward, "Brother Yuan, what you have experienced today is barely the tip of the Cultivation world and very common in our world. There will be many more people like the Du Brothers out there, and there will even be people with far worse personalities. You will also encounter similar situations in the future, sometimes more than once in a single day. And unless you are strong — strong enough to handle any situation that comes your way, you will always be bullied by the strong and powerful ones."
A bitter smile appeared on Yuan's face.
"I guess living life as a Cultivator isn't as easy as I initially thought. I just hope that I won't become someone without morals or someone who is apathetic to other peoples' life like the Du Brothers."
"Don't worry, Brother Yuan. If you ever walk astray in your Cultivation path or feel like you are becoming a different person, Xiao Hua will be there to help you return back to normal."
"Thank you, Xiao Hua. I will also try my best to familiarize myself with this new world and lifestyle as a Cultivator without being a burden for you."
"People will always change, but it's how they change that truly matters. As long as Brother Yuan remains the kind brother that he is right now, it will be fine even if you change a little." Xiao Hua said to him.
"Hahaha… You are really like my little sister, who is actually more mature and intelligent than she appears." Yuan chuckled, feeling as though he could see Yu Rou in Xiao Hua's shadow.
"Anyway, how's Brother Yuan feeling? Were you injured during your fight with the Du Brothers?" Xiao Hua asked him sometime later.
"Besides having a few superficial scratches and feeling a little bit hungry again, I'm perfectly fine." He said with an energetic expression.
Xiao Hua nodded and continued to speak, "Brother Yuan's experience and insight have increased significantly from the fight. If we continue at this rate, Brother Yuan should be prepared to fight monsters at the Spirit Warrior level in no time."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's continue training!" Yuan said with enthusiasm.
"Brother Yuan really likes to fight, huh?" Xiao Hua said with a smile.
"Of course, since I feel like I am actually alive when I fight. I also enjoy moving my body, swinging a sword around, and the thrill that comes from fighting." Yuan nodded.
The two of them began walking deeper into the wilderness shortly later, and Yuan would continue sharpening his sword skills while Xiao Hua assisted by locating all of the monsters for him.
After many hours of training with the sword, a notification appeared before Yuan.
«Your mastery with the sword has improved significantly»
«Your understanding of swords has reached a new level»
«You have met the criteria to learn 'Sword Aura'»
'Sword Aura…?'
Yuan raised his eyebrows at this new term.
"Xiao Hua, what's Sword Aura?" He decided to ask the only expert available.
"Sword Aura?! Has Brother Yuan's swordsmanship reached the level where he can already learn Sword Aura?!" Xiao Hua looked at him with a shocked face.
"I don't even know what that is… But after listening to your tone, I'm guessing it's something impressive?"
"Of course, it's something impressive! Only true swordsmen can learn Sword Aura! And it's not something one can learn just by training with a sword, as you can train with a sword for your entire life and not understand Sword Aura, whilst some people can do it within a few years of training! People with Sword Aura are also called Swordmasters! However, Brother Yuan has only trained with the sword for only a few days! If people learn of your talent, there will be countless Swordmasters who will beg you to become their disciple!" Xiao Hua said to him with excitement.
"You're praising me too much, again… It's making me blush…" Yuan said with a slightly rosy face.
"Then can you teach me how to use this Sword Aura?" he asked her a moment later.
Xiao Hua shook her head and said, "That's not possible for Xiao Hua because she is not a Swordmaster, so she does not understand Sword Aura."
"I see… Then how do people normally learn Sword Aura?"
"Through training, Brother Yuan. Once you grasp the understanding of Sword Aura, it's only a matter of time before you learn it. In fact, all Swordmasters will eventually learn Sword Aura as long as they keep training with the sword." Xiao Hua said.
"Then I don't have to do anything special?"
Yuan asked, and Xiao Hua shook her head.
'I wonder how long it'll take for me to learn Sword Aura…' Yuan pondered to himself as he stared at the sword in his hand with a dazed expression.
'If the Du Brothers really decide to return for revenge, I will be ready for them, and I won't let them escape a second time.'
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