After spending another hour inside the cultivation room, Yu Rou entered the second level Spirit Apprentice realm.
«You have absorbed enough Qi for a breakthrough»
«You have reached Second Level Spirit Apprentice»
«All stats +75»
Two more hours later, she entered the third level Spirit Apprentice.
«You have absorbed enough Qi for a breakthrough»
«You have reached Third Level Spirit Apprentice»
«All stats +100»
"Brother, I have cultivated enough, let's do something else." Yu Rou said to him afterward.
"Are you sure? You can cultivate some more if you want," he said to her.
"Honestly, I want to continue cultivating because I don't want to waste the 1,000 gold coins you'd spent to rent this room, but I also don't want to waste time cultivating here…" Yu Rou sighed with a perplexed expression on her face.
"I'm telling you, it's only 1,000 gold coins. I can earn that much by killing a few monsters and selling their monster cores," he said to her.
"Really? You can earn that much money from fighting monsters?" Yu Rou looked at him with suspicious eyes. If one could earn money using that method, wouldn't everyone be rich with gold coins by now?
"Of course." Yuan nodded.
"Anyway, if you want to leave, let's go buy you some equipment. We cannot have you leaving the city barehanded," he said to her.
Yu Rou nodded and followed Yuan outside the room. But before they could leave, they had to pull a lever next to the door so that it would open.
After leaving the room, Yuan took the key from the stone tablet and walked downstairs with the others.
"There are still 20 hours left. Give it to the next person that comes here." Yuan said as he handed the dumbfounded receptionist the key.
"Esteemed guest! You can simply keep this key with you and use it the next you come to our Cultivators' Haven. Furthermore, we have many branches across the Eastern Continent, and as long as you have this key, you can rent a room in any of the other branches." The receptionist explained to him.
"Really?" Yuan raised his eyebrows, "Then I'll give it to my little sister here. She can use it in the future."
Since he can cultivate by consuming monster cores, he didn't need to use niche places like the Cultivators' Haven to improve his cultivation.
"I would also like to spend 30,000 gold coins to buy more time in case she needs it in the future," Yuan said as he handed the money to the surprised receptionist.
"R-Right away, esteemed guest!" The receptionist quickly accepted the money and ran to the back.
"Brother!!!" Yu Rou suddenly called out to him.
"What?" He turned to look at her with an innocent-looking face.
"30,000 gold coins!? Even if you have that much money, you shouldn't have spent it on me!" she quickly lectured him.
30,000 gold coins were worth about 300,000 dollars in the real world— it was a massive fortune to spend on anything, much less renting out some cultivation room.
"Trust me, Yu Rou. It's only 30,000 gold coins. Your brother has plenty left. And it's a good investment in case we cannot play together and you want to improve your cultivation in a safe environment. Although it may seem overboard, you are already behind the majority of the players in terms of cultivation, and this will help you catch up even if it's only a little."
"..." Yu Rou was speechless, mostly because what Yuan said made sense. There will definitely be days where they won't be able to play with each other, and if she wants to improve cultivation during such days, she can simply go to the Cultivators' Haven and cultivate safely and peacefully, as she didn't like fighting or shedding blood.
A few minutes later, the receptionist returned with a new key and handed it to Yuan, "Esteemed guest, there is 40 days worth of time in this key. Please keep it safe."
"Huh? 40 days?" Yuan raised his eyebrows, as the math didn't add up.
"Yes, we have decided to give you 10 days as a bonus for doing business with us." The receptionist said with a smile on her face.
«Cultivators' Haven has been added to your Associations!»
«Your relationship with Cultivators' Haven has slightly increased from doing business with them!»
"I see… Thank you…" Yuan accepted the new key before giving it to Yu Rou.
"Thank you, Brother…" She accepted the key.
"Oh, I happen to have an extra storage pouch here. You can take this and keep your items inside." Yuan said as he handed her a storage pouch. Since he also has a spatial ring, he didn't need a storage pouch.
"You also have a storage pouch? Just how on earth did you obtain such a rare treasure? Only a handful of players have a storage pouch, and they are all top players!" Yu Rou looked at him with wide eyes. Did he really just play around this entire time? There was simply no way that a casual player would have so much money at this point of the game, much less a storage pouch. Just what on earth has he been doing in this game?
"Ah, it was given to me as a gift," Yuan said.
"A gift!? Whoever gave you this must be incredibly rich and generous." Yu Rou sighed in admiration.
"Anyway, let's find a store and get you some equipment," Yuan said a moment later.
"I feel bad for making you waste so much money on me, Brother… You are spoiling me too much."
"I am only getting started," he responded with a proud expression, feeling refreshed that he can finally be of help to Yu Rou. "In fact, I am going to spoil you until I am satisfied!"
Yu Rou merely shook her head and spoke with a bittersweet smile, "Although I am grateful, don't blame me when you are out of money…"
"I can simply hunt a few monsters and sell their monster core at that time!" He said with a bright smile on his face, and they began walking around Spring City in search of an equipment store.