Four hours after they left Long Chen City, Yuan and the others finally arrived at Seashell City. During their whole ride, Meixiu would try her best to avoid eye contact with Yuan, but it was nearly impossible, and every time she glanced at his handsome face that was only a few inches away from her own, she would immediately begin blushing.
They descended a couple of miles away from the city to avoid getting too much attention.
Once they landed, Yuan placed Meixiu back onto the ground before removing his mask.
"You're going to remove your mask?" Meixiu asked him.
He nodded and said, "I had to wear a mask in the sect because the players knew I was there and were actively searching for me, but now that I am no longer there, nobody will be able to recognize me as long as I don't do anything too crazy."
"I should also change out of the Golden Dragon Robe since it's quite attractive as well."
Yuan proceeded to change his clothes on the spot, replacing the Golden Dragon Robe with the plain clothes he first wore when he started playing Cultivation Online, as it looked the most simple.
"I should probably buy some casual clothes…" Yuan mumbled to himself afterward.
"Hmm? What's up, Xiao Hua?" Yuan noticed Xiao Hua staring at him and decided to ask her.
"Brother Yuan, when did your hair grow so long?" Xiao Hua said, as she'd just realized his new appearance.
"Oh, it was caused by some treasure Feng Feng gave me. I think it was called a Longevity Seed. Does it look weird?"
Xiao Hua shook her head and said, "It's not weird. Brother Yuan resembles a cultivator even more now."
Sometime later, after Yuan finished changing, they began making their way towards the city.
"Yu—"
Yuan easily picked out Yu Rou's figure despite the crowd gathered outside the city, but right as he prepared to call her, he suddenly closed his mouth.
After a moment of silence, he said, "Who's that girl beside Yu Rou? They appear to be together."
"Let me see…" Meixiu narrowed her eyes and looked at the beautiful girl standing beside Yu Rou.
"Oh, that's Xia Jingyi, Yu Rou's classmate."
"Xia Jingyi? The one who allowed me to live in her parents' apartment?" Yuan asked.
"Yes."
"I see… So that's what she looks like…" Yuan nodded with a focused expression, seemingly interested in her.
Meixiu raised her eyebrows at his reaction.
Of course, Yuan was only interested in her because he believed that he was indebted to her, who gave him a place to live when he was struggling to find a new home.
"Yu Rou!" Yuan called out to her again.
When Yu Rou heard Yuan's voice, she immediately turned to look at him, and a bright smile appeared on her face the next second.
"Brother!"
Yu Rou ran to him with her arms spread.
Yuan gladly welcomed her into his embrace.
"It's been a while, Yu Rou."
"It's been longer than just a while. It feels like forever since I last saw you," she said.
"H-Hello." Xia Jingyi greeted him in a somewhat bashful voice after catching up to Yu Rou.
"Brother, this is—"
Yuan turned to look at Xia Jingyi and smiled, "I know. You are Xia Jingyi, right? Let me thank you again for letting me stay in your parents' apartment. Thank you."
She didn't say anything and only nodded.
"I hope you don't mind letting her join us. We've been playing Cultivation Online together this entire time, and it would be rude to exclude her." Yu Rou then said.
"Of course I wouldn't mind it. You can join us whenever you want." Yuan said.
"T-Thank you."
"There's no need to be so shy, Jingyi. It's not like this is your first meeting. Look, even Meixiu is here." Yu Rou said to her.
"I-I know, but I can't help it… You know that I'm not good with men…" Xia Jingyi said.
"You'll have to get used to it if you want to come with us. I'm sure you'll be okay."
"I will try…" she nodded.
"Hello, Xiao Hua. It's been a while." Yu Rou didn't forget about her and greeted her.
"Hello."
Yu Rou then looked around and asked, "Where's Feng Feng? I don't see her."
"She's currently busy with something so she won't be with us," Yuan said.
"I see…"
Sometime later, Yu Rou asked, "What should we do now?"
Yuan shrugged and said, "I don't really have a plan since I only thought about spending time with you. What do you two usually do?"
"Well… We normally hunt monsters together and do repeatable quests."
"What about your cultivation levels?"
"I am at the second level of Spirit Warrior while Jingyi is at the first level." Yu Rou said.
"I see…"
Yuan began pondering.
Then he recalled something, "What about the Spirit Fruit you got from Feng Feng? Have you obtained a servant yet?"
Hearing his question, Yu Rou suddenly smiled and said, "I'm glad you asked, brother! Feast your eyes on my servant! Come out, Snowy!"
"Snowy?" Yuan raised his eyebrows at this weird name.
The next moment, a small, four-legged creature covered in white fur appeared before them.
"This is… a dog?" Yuan wasn't exactly sure what this creature was so he took a guess.
"Wrong! Snowy is a tiger cub... I think!" Yu Rou said.
And she continued, "We met Snowy during one of our quests near a mountain range. She was being chased by a large bear at that time, and we rescued it. After that, I gave her the Spirit Fruit because I found her really cute, and the rest is history!"
"Also, don't be surprised when you hear this, but Snowy is actually a Heaven-grade servant!" Yu Rou said a moment later.
"What? Really?" Yuan looked at the small white creature with a somewhat surprised look on his face, wondering how this small thing could possibly be a Heaven-grade servant.
Suddenly, Xiao Hua approached them and said, "This cub is a Spiritual Beast."
"A what?" Everybody there turned to look at her with wide eyes.