"Wow… You're actually a big snake? This is my first time seeing something like this. How cool!" Yuan said to her in an excited voice after a moment of silence.
"C-Cool? Me?" Lan Yingying was taken by surprise after hearing such words. This is also her first time encountering a human who doesn't show even the slightest feeling of fear even after seeing her true form.
Although there have been humans who didn't express fear towards her true form before, she knew they were nervous and fearful of her inwardly, and they were just too scared of expressing it, fearing that it might anger her and be the end of their lives.
"Do you think I can touch your body?" Yuan suddenly asked her.
"Eh? S-Sure…" Lan Yingying nodded after a brief moment of hesitation.
Hearing her approval, Yuan immediately approached her and caressed her beautiful white scales with his hand.
"Wow… It's so smooth…" Yuan mumbled after feeling its unique texture that was unlike anything he's touched before.
"..."
Lan Yingying felt a little bit embarrassed at this moment even though she didn't feel any shame when she was half-naked in front of Yuan before, as this is her first time letting a human being touch her divine scales.
"How does your transformation work? I know a phoenix who is also in human form, but her situation is a little bit unique." Yuan then asked her.
"Y-You know a phoenix?" Lan Yingying's body shuddered after learning this.
"Yes. We're good friends," he said.
"Well… All magical beasts have the ability to transform into humans after they reach a certain cultivation level, but this requirement differs with each species as some magical beasts can transform much earlier than others. However, Divine Beasts such as myself usually require a much higher cultivation base to transform into a human since our bodies are somewhat unique."
"With that being said, my species is also unique in this sense since we can transform into humans as early as reaching Spirit Master." Lan Yingying explained to him.
"What about your human body? Are they any different compared to normal humans?"
Lan Yingying shook her head and said, "No, there aren't any differences as far as I'm aware. We have the same internal organs and reproductive systems as normal humans when we transform."
After a brief pause, she continued, "Actually, there is one thing that's different— our Dantian. Even if we can transform our bodies, we cannot transform our core Dantian or spiritual energy, and that's how people usually tell us— well, normal magical beasts— apart from real humans. Divine Beasts are different and can imitate human spiritual energy almost perfectly so most people can't tell the difference between Divine Beasts and humans."
"I see… How amazing… The cultivation world is truly a mythical place where anything is possible." Yuan expressed his awe for the cultivation world again.
Sometime later, Lan Yingying asked him, "What do you want to do now, Yuan? I have to return to my grandparents to warn them about the situation so I won't be able to accompany you any further."
"I'll come with you," Yuan said.
"Are you sure? This is a fight between demons and Divine Beasts… You will get hurt— even die." Lan Yingying warned him.
As much as she wanted Yuan to help them with his sealing techniques, she couldn't bear to see him die because of their situation.
"I'm sure. I can't just leave you alone, especially not after what that demon said." Yuan sighed, recalling how the demon talked about drinking her parents' blood.
After a moment of silence, Lan Yingying nodded and said, "Get on my back. I'll let you ride me. We'll travel faster this way, too."
"I can ride you?" Yuan's eyes flickered with excitement, as he has never imagined riding a massive snake like a mount before.
Lan Yingying nodded.
Seeing her approval, Yuan jumped on Lan Yingying's back.
"I'll move slowly at first so you can get used to it." Lan Yingying said as she began slithering her massive body across the ground gracefully.
"Oh?" Yuan was surprised when he could barely feel Lan Yingying's body moving despite her movements, almost like there was some sort of invisible force keeping him stable and safe.
It was so stable that he could probably take a nap without falling off.
Lan Yingying increased her movement speed every few minutes, and after some time, she was moving faster than flying swords.
"Are you okay, Yuan?" She asked him just in case.
"Yes! This is awesome!"
"We should return to my grandparents' home in a few hours." Lan Yingying said to him.
"Okay." Yuan nodded.
Meanwhile, in the real world, Meixiu sat before her laptop with a cup of cold water in her hand.
There was only a couple of hours left for the Frozen Jade Zither auction before it officially ends, and the 411 million had increased to a grand 525 million dollars.
[Yu Family has bid 526,100,000!]
[Anonymous has bid 526,200,000!]
[MusicGenius has bid 526,300,000!]
Meixiu watched as the price for the Frozen Jade Zither skyrocketed, albeit at smaller increments.
Although it may seem crazy that someone would be willing to spend so much money on a virtual item in a video game, when the world is dominated by video games with the majority of people in the world playing games actively, the abnormal slowly becomes the norm, especially with how hyped and popular Cultivation Online has been.
Furthermore, spending astronomical amounts of money on video games has long become the norm ever since the creation of the Legacy Families.
530 million… 540 million… 550 million…
The number grew closer and closer to 600 million, and the number of viewers on the website has returned to its peak numbers when the auction first started, as everyone there wanted to witness and be part of history when the most expensive in-game item is being sold.
When there were only 10 minutes left in the auction, the number stopped exactly at 600 million without any more bids.
As for the highest bidder, it was the Yu Family that had plenty of money to spare.