After Wang Xiuying left, Meixiu began cooking dinner while Meifeng looked over some documents for their newly created company.
"Young Master, you'll need a disguise for your new alias," Meifeng said to him, unaware that they already have something planned.
"Yes, I know. I will be wearing a mask when I play on the stage," he said.
"A mask, huh? That's not a bad idea." Meifeng agreed.
Sometime later, after dinner, Yuan went to take a shower. Now that he can clean himself, he plans on doing so every single day.
Once it was time for sleep, Meifeng and Yuan retired to their room while Meixiu returned to her own room.
"Miss Meifeng, I have a question..." Yuan suddenly asked her as they laid in the same bed.
"What is it?"
"Do you know where I can obtain a sword?"
"A-A sword? Like a real sword? Why do you want one?"
"Self-defense, I guess…"
"Self-defense?" Meifeng looked at him with raised eyebrows.
What kind of self-defense requires a sword?
"You see, the world is getting more dangerous lately with more and more people becoming cultivators, obtaining inhuman strength that's only possible in the cultivation world, but our world is very small compared to the world in Cultivation Online, and I was worried about what might happen in the future, so I want to prepare myself."
"Cultivators may be strong, but I don't think we have to be that worried. It's not as though the world will suddenly become a lawless place. But since the Young Masters want a sword, I will try to do something about it."
"Thank you."
Meifeng fell asleep shortly afterward.
However, Yuan didn't go to sleep.
Instead, he silently got out of the bed and went to the living room, before taking a seat on the floor.
'This will be my first time cultivating in this position…' Yuan thought to himself as he started to absorb the spiritual energy in the air.
'Desperation… I am not desperate enough to reach Spirit Master?' He recalled what the handsome man told him in his dreams.
Yuan then remembered the scenes where the mother and her daughter were murdered in broad daylight. Then he recalled the betrayal of a friend. Then of the young man's lover being forcefully taken away.
After remembering these situations, Yuan subconsciously started replacing these individuals with people he knew.
He imagined Meifeng and Yu Rou getting killed before his eyes. He imagined being betrayed by Doctor Wang and Wang Xiuying. He imagined the Cultivators' Association successfully taking Meixiu away from him by force.
"You're so weak… How can you protect anyone like that?"
The handsome man's voice suddenly resounded in his head.
Yuan gritted his teeth, and somewhere within his consciousness, an invisible flame created by desperation appeared.
The spiritual energy in the area began flying towards Yuan at an incredibly fast rate.
"That's right. If you want to protect those you care about, you must be strong."
"Obtain the strength to protect your family and friends…"
"Obtain the power to defeat those who wish to covet from you…"
"Be desperate… desperate for power…"
The handsome man's voice continued to resound inside Yuan's head as he subconsciously cultivated, and before he was aware, he entered a trance-like state— he'd entered enlightenment.
Meixiu, who was just about to fall asleep, noticed the sudden change in the atmosphere.
She got out of the bed and looked peeked outside her room, and to her surprise, there was a figure sitting in the living room with his long black hair fluttering behind him like a cape before a gust of wind.
'Yuan…?' Meixiu mumbled to herself.
Even though she was clearly looking at Yuan, for some reason, it felt like she wasn't looking at Yuan at the same time, almost like she was looking at someone else and the Yuan there was merely an illusion.
Meanwhile, Yuan's cultivation that had been stuck at peak Spirit Warrior finally began to move.
His Dantian that contained all of his spiritual energy began to tremble, and it slowly began expanding in size.
Then, the golden symbol within his body that had turned into veins attached itself to the Dantian, turning it golden.
Yuan's body was currently emitting a faint golden glow, and Meixiu was there to witness it, feeling as though she was before a divine being.
Meixiu didn't want to disturb him, so she went back inside her room and returned to the bed, trying her best to fall asleep.
The following morning, Yuan stood up from the floor with a profound feeling in his body.
He was no longer a Spirit Warrior, and his body emitted the feeling of a Spirit Master.
'So this is what it feels like to be a Spirit Master in this world…'
Yuan took a deep breath, sucking in a large amount of spiritual energy.
"Good morning, Meixiu." Yuan suddenly noticed her presence and said to her.
"Did you breakthrough to Spirit Master? You feel a little different compared to yesterday." Meixiu asked him.
"Yes, I have managed to breakthrough my bottleneck." He nodded.
"How do you feel?"
"My divine sense is much stronger now, and I can keep it active for a lot longer. I haven't tried using Flying Daggers, but it should be easier to control the technique now," he said.
He then tried to use Flying Daggers, and to his surprise, he was able to control 3 kitchen knives at once with relative ease when he could barely control two before.
"Wow… The difference between Spirit Warrior and Spirit Master is so much even though it was only a single level…" Yuan was surprised by the results.
"Congratulations on reaching Spirit Master."
Yuan nodded, "Yes, now I can finally visit the Cultivators' Association."
"You're really going to do it?" Meixiu asked in a worried voice.
He smiled and said, "How else am I going to stop them from taking you away from me?"
Meixiu blushed at his words.
"I-I am going to prepare breakfast…" she said, making a quick escape.