When Meixiu began cultivating, a small wind picked up in her room despite the closed window, and it swirled around her as though it was trying to communicate with her.
About an hour later, Meixiu felt a refreshing sensation spread throughout her body, almost as though she just took a cool bath on a burning day.
It felt just like when she first became a cultivator in Cultivation Online, but it also felt much more intense.
"I am a cultivator now?" Meixiu looked at her own hands.
Besides feeling more energetic than before, there wasn't much change to her body.
Meixiu stood up before taking out some dumbbells from underneath her bed.
Because she has to carry Yuan whenever he needs to leave the bed or go somewhere, Meixiu has to keep herself in shape so that she would be able to lift Yuan without any trouble. Not to mention that it was also physically taxing to be a servant of the Yu Family.
Meixiu began picking up the weights to test her new profound strength, and to her surprise, she could barely feel the weight of the dumbbells, almost like she was picking up feathers.
"Even the 20kg dumbbell feels as light as a broom." Meixiu tossed the dumbbell in the air as though it was nothing.
Meixiu felt the urge to tell Yuan that she'd succeeded in her cultivation and became a cultivator, but she didn't want to disturb him, so she decided to wait until tomorrow during breakfast.
Sometime later, Meixiu returned to sitting on the floor and continued to cultivate some more.
Although it took her only a couple of hours to breakthrough multiple times in Cultivation Online, that was not the case in the real world.
Perhaps it was due to a lack of spiritual energy in the air, or perhaps it's because the cultivation techniques are not as effective in the real world, but it was clear that she would not be able to replicate her cultivation speed in Cultivation Online in the real world.
The following morning, Meixiu revealed to Yuan about her breakthrough during breakfast.
"Really? Congratulations, Meixiu! It had taken me a couple of weeks before I could become a cultivator, so you're already ahead of me in that sense." Yuan said to her.
"Thank you."
"What are you going to do now, Meixiu?" Yuan asked her.
"I'm going to spend a couple of days cultivating in the real world to catch up with everyone," she said.
And she continued, "I just saw the news. There has been a rise in crimes and violence ever since the world learned that cultivation is real. It would be dangerous if I go out there without being prepared."
"What? A rise in crimes and violence? That doesn't sound good at all. What's happening out there?" Yuan asked.
"Too many things, to be honest." Meixiu sighed.
"The most notable change would be how the government plans on dealing with cultivation and cultivators. With the existence of cultivators, the government has decided to step in to regulate it. If you become a cultivator, you will have to register as a cultivator in some database. We don't have to worry about that for now since they are still preparing for it, but it will soon become a law that all cultivators must register as one or they'll be fined or even jailed, as the government wants to keep track of the number of cultivators in the world."
"They also plan on making sure that only qualified people are able to cultivate because they don't want some people to have too much power, especially the bad people. It's only been a couple of days since people started cultivating and violence has already gone up by a lot. One can only imagine what will happen a month from now when there are even more cultivators."
"I see… It makes sense to regulate cultivation since it would definitely be bad if the violent and unreasonable ones become cultivators and start abusing their power. I have already experienced this in Cultivation Online, and it's not a pleasant experience." Yuan said.
"It's impossible for the government to stop everyone from cultivating since Cultivation Online is already widespread with billions of active players. It's not like they can stop everyone from playing the game, either." Meixiu then said.
"Anything else besides the government regulating cultivation?" Yuan asked a moment later.
"Yes. This may come as a surprise, but there are already people creating cultivation schools that are dedicated to people who wish to study cultivation or become a cultivator," she said.
"What? Cultivation schools? Like sects?" Yuan was speechless.
It hasn't been long since people started cultivating and there are already people creating sects?
"Yes, and the schools will provide cultivation techniques to all students. Of course, it won't be for free."
"Hmm… That's interesting…" Yuan said.
"Interesting? You're interested in these cultivation schools?" Meixiu asked him.
"Of course. I wonder how they'll differ from the sects in Cultivation Online."
A few moments later, Meixiu continued, "Oh, influential families around the world are also recruiting talented cultivators. They are not only giving away a large amount of money, but they also promise those who join Earth-rank cultivation techniques. Some are even offering Heaven-rank cultivation techniques."
"Not only schools but even other families are recruiting cultivators? The world adapted to cultivation quicker than I'd expected." Yuan mumbled, and he wondered if the Yu Family was also recruiting cultivators.
Sometime later, Meixiu returned to her own room whilst Yuan returned to Cultivation Online.
However, Yuan didn't stay inside the game for long, as he only went inside to let Xiao Hua and the others know that he won't be returning for a while.
After all, even if they are NPCs, Yuan didn't want them to worry about him if he doesn't show up for a few days or even weeks so that he could focus on cultivation in the real world.
"The world is changing much quicker than I'd initially thought. I must also quickly recover so that I can be there for Yu Rou and Meixiu if anything ever happens to them…"
With this in mind, Yuan took a deep breath and began absorbing the spiritual energy in the world.