'They're talking about Brother Tian?' Yu Rou listened to the conversation between her classmates without turning to look at them, as she didn't want to make it seem like she was interested.
However, Meixiu was a different case, and she listened to the conversation while looking at them with a pondering look on her face.
'Player Yuan… first place? If I remember correctly, the Young Master is also participating in a music competition inside the game…' Meixiu thought to herself.
As someone who has been with the sibling for her entire life, she knew very well the extent of Yu Tian's talents, and she found it hard to believe that someone other than Yu Tian would achieve first place in a music competition. In fact, Yu Tian has never received anything lower than first place, so it was always expected that he would achieve first place no matter what kind of competition he participated in.
'Perhaps the Young Master is participating in a different competition? After all, I heard the world in Cultivation Online is countless times larger than our own world.'
"Sister Rou!"
Someone suddenly approached Yu Rou from behind and called out to her.
Yu Rou turned around to see an innocent-looking young lady with long wavy brown hair, a slim figure, and two large meat buns on her chest standing behind her.
"Xia Jingyi," Yu Rou smiled at her.
"It's time for lunch, Sister Rou. Let's go eat."
"Okay." Yu Rou nodded and stood up from her seat before following this pretty young lady outside.
On her way outside, the other classmates in the room watched her leave without turning their heads, their gazes filled with admiration and respect.
Once they were outside the classroom, Yu Rou and Xia Jingyi went to sit at a clean table somewhere in the large courtyard in the middle of the school.
"Here's your lunch, Young Lady." Meixiu placed a large and luxurious-looking lunchbox on the table.
"Thank you, Meixiu. You can also take a seat and eat with us," Yu Rou said to her.
However, Meixiu shook her head and said, "I'm afraid I cannot act so familiar with the Young Lady at school…"
Yu Rou sighed, "Do whatever you want…"
After eating their lunch quickly but elegantly, Xia Jingyi said, "Sister Rou, I'm sure you've heard by now— about Player Yuan! He's made another appearance! A public one this time!"
A smile appeared on Yu Rou's face, and she said, "Of course. After all, everyone else in my class was talking about it. I would hear about it even if I didn't want to."
"I almost couldn't believe it when I heard it! To think Player Yuan is also a musical genius! It's almost like there's nothing in this world that he cannot do!" Xia Jingyi said in an excited voice, her admiration for Player Yuan as clear as day.
"You really admire this Player Yuan, huh?" Yu Rou said with a somewhat mysterious smile on her face.
Even though Xia Jingyi is her best friend for many years and someone she trusts fully, she never thought about revealing Yuan's real identity to her.
"Of course! Everything about his existence intrigues me! Aren't you also curious about his background? His real identity!" Xia Jingyi said to her.
"Well… I was…" Yu Rou said in a somewhat awkward voice.
"Past tense? What's that supposed to mean? Did you lose interest?" Xia Jingyi looked at her with raised eyebrows.
"Something like that." Yu Rou nodded.
And she continued, "What are you going to do if you learn his identity, anyway?"
"I don't know, but I'll probably ask him to be my friend or something."
"Your friend…?" Yu Rou couldn't help but chuckle at her words.
"Anyway, are you ready to play Cultivation Online with me this weekend? I will be playing the game for the first time tonight." Xia Jingyi asked her.
Yu Rou nodded and said, "Just let me know where you start and I'll see if we can play together."
"Okay! I'll let you know tomorrow!" Xia Jingyi said.
Sometime later, they returned to their classrooms to continue with their school day.
Meanwhile, inside the game, Yuan followed Song Ling'er to this small room somewhere inside the building.
"Since you've achieved first place and there is no second or third place, I'll give you the rewards for first place as well as second place," said Song Ling'er as she retrieved the treasures and placed them onto the table.
Fei Yuyan stared at the Divine-grade Zither and Divine-rank Zither Arts with a dazed look on her face, as this is her first time being so close to something so precious.
'Wow… So this is what a Divine-grade treasure looks like…'
However, Fei Yuyan quickly shook her head, and then she turned to look at Yuan and said, "Go ahead, Disciple Yuan. You can take the rewards for the first place and I'll settle with the second place rewards. After all, you are the only reason we've made it this far, and I am not shameless enough to ask for something so precious when I know that I don't deserve it."
"Are you sure? We entered this competition as a team, so regardless of our contribution, we should share the rewards." Yuan said to her.
"Disciple Yuan…" A sweet smile appeared on Fei Yuyan's face, but she insisted that he accept the treasure.
"I know that you're trying to make me feel better but don't— you'll actually make me feel worse and filled with guilt if I accepted the first place rewards."
"Hmmm…"
Yuan remained silent for a moment to ponder.
A few moments later, he said, "How about this? I'll take the Divine-grade Zither, and I'll also take the Divine-rank Zither Arts. However, I'll only keep the Divine-rank Zither Arts until I learn the technique, and I'll give it to you right after I am done with it so that you can use it as well. It'll only be a few days at most."
"A few days at most… But this is a Divine-rank technique we're talking about…" Fei Yuyan and Song Ling'er stared at Yuan with wide eyes filled with disbelief.