Chapter 6 - Servants

"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

320,000/320,000

—

—

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.