"How is the search going? Have you found any information on this player Yuan yet?" A handsome young man sat on his bed with Cultivation Online's console—the helmet— still on his head, his gaze at the middle-aged man standing by the door.
"Sorry, young master, but this player seems resolute in keeping his identity a secret. Not even our offer was able to lure him out," said the middle-aged man in a tired tone. He has gone without sleep for the past two days just to look for information on Yuan, but alas, the results came back in a box of disappointment filled with a whole lot of nothing.
"Not taking the bait? Then all we have to do is increase the temptation. Go and adjust the reward to twenty million. Unless this player is already super wealthy, then he will surely bite the bait sooner or later," said the young man casually, as though twenty million means nothing in his eyes.
"Understood." The middle-aged man then left the young man alone.
"I will have my hands on this player no matter the price. This individual is either Lady Luck's child or has connections to the game creators, allowing him to obtain things in the game that normal people will never have a chance to obtain. If I get him to join my faction, then my family's position within the ranks will surely rise!"
Similar scenes played out throughout the world with many high-standing figures doing whatever they can in their power to learn more about this player Yuan who is already light-years ahead of everyone else in the game, unaware that Yuan still has no idea how much of a stir he has created in the real world just because of a few system announcements. While Cultivation Online is just a mere game in Yuan's eyes, that was not the case for others, who have their own ulterior motives.
—
After eating breakfast, Yuan went into the game, but alas, the small figure of Xiao Hua's was still nowhere to be found.
"Did she get in trouble with her family for staying out so late?" He thought of that possibility. "Maybe she was lying about her family not worrying so we could play for a bit longer…"
Yuan sighed, missing the cheerful little girl. Without her, what else is there to do in this world? Strength, wealth, fame — Yuan was not interested in any of these. All he wanted to do was have fun and use his body normally, something he cannot achieve in the real world.
He pulled out the necklace she gave him before she left. Shaking his head, he sighed. "I shouldn't be so impatient. I will wait for her just like she had waited for my return."
Thus, he sat down to cultivate again. While it was boring at first, as he slowly grew used to cultivating, he began feeling pleasure, like getting a massage during a nap.
Time passed quickly, and the night sky appears once again.
160,000/160,000
«You have absorbed enough Qi for a breakthrough»
«You have reached Sixth Level Spirit Apprentice»
«All stats +350»
320,000/320,000
«You have absorbed enough Qi for a breakthrough»
«You have reached Seventh Level Spirit Apprentice»
«You have learned Enhanced Senses»
«All stats +400»
—
«Enhanced Sense»
«Rank: N/A»
«Description: Permanently enhances the functions of all available senses. Requires no activation.»
—
320,295/640,000
"It is taking longer and longer to advance to the next level, and the requirement needed is doubling with every level. Just how many more levels is there?" Yuan pondered, but knowing he's still an apprentice makes him worry about the later stages. "It will take a month of straight cultivating to advance one level in the later stages at this rate! This cultivation thing is such a chore…"
Just as Yuan was about to log off for tonight, an announcement appears in the sky, attracting countless gazes from below.
«Congratulations! Player White Lotus has become the world's first player to have obtained a Servant!»
While Yuan wondered what type of Servant this White Lotus had obtained, everybody else was surprised to see 'Player White Lotus' instead of 'Player Yuan' who was thought to have another shock for the world. But of course, many players were also relieved to know that Yuan would no longer be the only 'Ancestor' in the world.
'Ancestor' is a title created by the community that refers to those who have appeared in the system as a 'world's first' after Yuan's first announcement.
—
"Servants, huh." Yuan suddenly began having desires of obtaining a Servant. But how does one obtain a Servant?
After logging off the game, Yu Rou was already beside him with dinner in her hands.
"Yu Rou, how do you obtain Servants in this game?" He decided to ask her.
"Servants? Did someone obtain a Servant already?" She asked with curiosity. "Also, I don't know anything about obtaining Servants."
"It was someone named White Lotus."
"White Lotus!" Yu Rou immediately recognized that name. "She is one of the top players at the moment who has a cultivation base at Fifth Level Spirit Apprentice! Furthermore, she is actually a rich young lady in real life, too."
"Fifth Level Spirit Apprentice is considered the top?" Yuan, who is already a Seventh Level Spirit Apprentice, was surprised to hear that someone who is two whole levels behind him is at the top.
'Are they really top players? I barely cultivated and I'm already two levels above one of the top rankers!' He wondered.
"Yu Rou, who has the highest cultivation in the game as of this moment?"
"I believe it is someone known as Lightning Emperor, who is a Sixth Level Spirit Apprentice."
"Whoa, what an edgy name…"
"That's what you're concerned about?" Yu Rou chucked. "Say, what's your cultivation now? Since you spent most of your time fooling around, it should be pretty low, right? Let me take a guess… you are a Second Level Spirit Apprentice."
Yuan grinned, "Wrong!"
"First Level Spirit Apprentice?"
"Wrong again."
"What… Don't tell me… you have yet to cultivate?!"
"Yu Rou, since when have I become so pitiful and weak in your eyes? Your brother is disappointed…" Yuan said in a sorrowful voice. "Aiii, nevermind, I am just a nobody in the game, anyway. And like you have said, I have been fooling around, so hurry up and play with me so we can do things together."
"This week is impossible since I still have school, but next week for sure when summer break begins."
"School, huh. I am envious." Yuan smiled bitterly.
"Going to school is nothing to be envious about, brother. It is boring and tiring," sighed Yu Rou.
"But I still envy you and every student out there…" He sighed inwardly.
After talking for a few more minutes, Yu Rou went back to her room to sleep, and Yuan himself also went to sleep.
"If she doesn't appear by tomorrow, I should use that necklace…" He told himself before falling asleep.