After shaking hands with Xiao Hua, Yu Rou turned to look at Yuan's handsome appearance some more, almost as though she was trying to engrave his image into her soul.
"Anyway, now that we are together, what do you want to do, Yu Rou?" Yuan asked her a moment later.
"I haven't really thought about it, but I would like to raise my cultivation a little bit first. I don't want to be a burden, after all."
"You don't have to worry about that since I will never see you as a burden. In fact, I would like you to rely on me, as I can only do something for you in this world." Yuan said to her.
"Thank you, Brother…" she nodded.
"Xiao Hua, are there any quiet places we can go so she can cultivate peacefully?" Yuan then asked her.
"We can rent a cultivation room," she quickly said. "They are made specifically for these kinds of situations where Cultivators need a place to cultivate in peace but do not have a place of their own."
"A cultivation room…? That sounds very interesting," Yu Rou said. "Where can we find one?"
"There are at least one in every city, so there should be one here too."
"Let's ask around." Yuan suggested.
A few minutes later, after speaking with some of the pedestrians, they learned of a place called 'Cultivators' Haven' that was only a few blocks away, so they began making their way towards that place.
Sometime later, they stood before a large and tall building that had over twenty floors, resembling a pagoda.
Once they entered the building, one of the receptionists there noticed them and immediately waved her hands at them.
"Welcome to Cultivators' Haven! How may I assist you?" The beautiful lady asked them once they approached her.
"Hello, we would like to rent a room for cultivation." Yuan responded.
The receptionist looked at them and asked, "One room for each of you or just one room?"
"One room is fine," he said.
"Then how long would you like to rent the room for?"
Yuan turned to look at Yu Rou and asked her, "How long?"
"I don't want to spend too much time on cultivation when I am with you so a few hours is enough," Yu Rou said.
Yuan nodded and returned to the receptionist, "Four hours is enough."
However, the receptionist responded with an apologetic expression, "I'm sorry, but we cannot rent the room for less than 24 hours at a time. Though, you can leave at any time you want."
"Okay, then we'll do 24 hours." Yuan nodded.
"Thank you. Now as for the room itself, which floor would you like a room in?"
"What's the difference?" Yuan asked.
"We have a total of 21 rooms available in our Cultivators' Haven, and the higher floor you go, the more effective your cultivation will be since we have placed special arrays to improve the quality of Spirit Qi in that room. Of course, it all comes at a higher cost."
"The rooms on floors 1 to 9 will have normal-quality Spirit Qi whilst floors 10-20 will have higher quality Spirit Qi— about a 30% improvement compared to cultivating outside normally and the rooms on floors 1 to 9. As for the rooms at the peak of the building— the 21st floor, it's about a 50% improvement. There are only three rooms available on that floor, and two of them are already occupied."
"Which floor would you like a room on?" The receptionist asked him after explaining their structure to him.
"I want the room on the 21st floor," Yuan responded without hesitation, as he only wanted the best for Yu Rou and would not accept anything less than the best.
"A-Are you sure, esteemed guest? It'll cost 1,000 gold coins to use the 21st-floor rooms for 24 hours, and you'll only be using it for a few hours…" The receptionist seemed slightly taken aback.
"1,000 gold coins!?" Yu Rou's eyes widened with shock, and she quickly tugged at Yuan's sleeves. "Brother, you don't have to spend so much money on me! We'll only be here for a few hours!"
However, Yuan shook his head with a resolute expression on his face, "Nonsense. This is the only way I can repay you for your sacrifices in the real world, and I am not going to be humble about it! I will pay for the room even if it costs 100,000 gold coins!"
Yuan quickly placed the money on the counter before Yu Rou could further persuade him and repeated, "I want a room on the 21st floor for 24 hours!"
"Right away, esteemed guest." The receptionist accepted the money with a bright smile on her face, as this would reflect positively on her position as someone who managed to rent out such an expensive room.
"Aiya… Brother… to think you'd really spend 1,000 gold coins without blinking an eye. How on earth did you obtain such wealth, anyway? Most players have at most a few dozen gold coins after grinding for days, and even the richest players out there that spend real money on the game wouldn't dare to spend so lavishly." Yu Rou sighed loudly, shocked speechless by Yuan's unhealthy spending habit.
Alas, if only she knew that he'd spent 350,000 gold coins just to meet her. One could only imagine the face she'd make then.
"If you don't mind me asking for your name, esteemed guest…"
"Yua— Yu Tian…" Yuan stuttered.
"Young Master Yu Tian, right? Please give me a moment to bring you the key."
A few moments later, the receptionist returned with a circular medallion that appeared to be made from some sort of jade or crystal and handed it to Yuan.
"The time will start from the moment you open the door with the key, and once the 24 hours is up, the room will block all Spirit Qi from entering the room." The receptionist explained to him afterward.
"I see. Thank you." Yuan said to her before walking up the stairs with the group.