'So Brother Tian is actually the mysterious Player Yuan, huh…' Yu Rou thought to herself with a subtle smile on her face as she rested her head on Yuan's chest as they soared across the sky on a flying sword. 'No wonder why I was so interested in his identity. Maybe I somehow knew that it was my brother, hence why I took interest in him in the first place…'
'As for Player Yuan being a little girl, it must be Xiao Hua that they're talking about since they are always together. How did they even mistake her for my brother?'
'If mother and father learn about this, they will probably be shocked… but I cannot tell them, or they might try to take advantage of brother again, and I cannot allow him to suffer anymore…'
Yu Rou lifted her head slightly to look at Yuan's handsome face again, and he looked much better than before, as he felt as though the invisible mountain on his shoulders had disappeared after telling Yu Rou the truth.
'Player Yuan… the only player in the world with a Divine-grade and Heaven-grade technique… He also has a Divine-grade servant… Hmm?'
Yu Rou suddenly realized something, and she opened her mouth to speak, "Brother, you have a Divine-grade servant right? What does it look like? Can you summon it for me to see later?"
"Uhh…" Yuan turned to look at Xiao Hua and said, "I'm pretty sure you have already met her…"
Yu Rou also turned to look at Xiao Hua, her gaze filled with shock.
"What?! Xiao Hua is the Divine-grade Servant?! Humans can also be Servants?! I had no idea that was even possible!" Yu Rou exclaimed after learning this shocking information.
"No wonder why she's following you around despite her crazy cultivation level! You sure are lucky to find someone like her, brother!" Yu Rou said to him.
However, Xiao Hua shook her head and said, "No, Xiao Hua is the lucky one to have met Brother Tian."
"You can call me Yuan again, Xiao Hua," Yuan said to her.
"Okay, Brother Yuan." Xiao Hua nodded, feeling more familiar with this name.
"Brother, can you tell me about your adventures as Yuan?" Yu Rou asked him sometime later, and she continued, "I would love to know the story behind Player Yuan's achievements."
Yuan nodded and said, "Of course."
He proceeded to tell her about his adventure since he started the game. He began the story with how he met Xiao Hua. Then he told her about his encounter with these two experts fighting each other in the sky before his adventures at the Flying Sword Sect. Then he recalled what happened at the auction house and how he managed to unlock the Wealth Leaderboards, becoming the richest player in the game instantly. He told her about the dangers of this world and how he encountered and killed the Demonic Spider. And lastly, he spoke about what happened at Pang City and how he defended the city from tens of thousands of monsters, eventually slaying the Mountain Lord and becoming the hero of an entire city.
Yu Rou held a shocked face as she listened to his ridiculous story that sounded like a fantasy, yet her heart was filled with admiration for Yuan, who managed to achieve so many unbelievable things in such a short time.
"What a crazy adventure you've experienced, brother. It's like you started your adventure in the endgame while everyone else started from the very beginning. If not for you, I would still be doing gathering quests right now and probably for the rest of the week."
"What about your goals, brother? What do you hope to achieve in this game?" Yu Rou then asked him.
"I originally wanted to just explore this world at my own pace and have fun together with you, but now…" Yuan paused for a moment before continuing, "I want to become strong and raise my cultivation base so that nobody can bully us like what happened when those players tried to rob us."
"Then my goal is to become strong enough so that I won't slow you down, Mr. Player Yuan!" Yu Rou chuckled.
Yuan smiled and said, "Like I said, Yu Rou. You don't have to worry about that. I'll play with you regardless of how far you are behind, and I am also going to do my best to assist you."
"Un! Now that I know your real identity, I won't be humble about it any longer!" she laughed.
A few hours later, they reached Nature City, landing a few miles from the city because Yu Rou didn't want them to attract too much attention with their flying abilities.
After paying the entrance fees, Yu Rou asked the guards by the entrance, "Do you know where Pagoda of Tranquility is?"
"Yes, if you walk straight down this road, you will arrive at this 3-story pagoda in about 10 minutes." One of the guards quickly answered her question with a slightly bashful expression on his face after seeing Yu Rou's pretty face.
"Thank you!" Yu Rou said with a blinding smile, and the guard felt as though an arrow had pierced his heart.
Once they knew which way to go, Yuan and the other two began making their way to the Pagoda of Tranquility.
Sometime later, they arrived at this luxurious pagoda that gave a similar atmosphere to Cultivators' Haven.
"Let's go inside," Yuan said as he entered the building.
"Welcome to Pagoda of Tranquility! How many I help you all today?" The receptionist behind the counter waved at them.
"I'd like to rent a room," Yuan said.
"Which floor would you like a room in? The higher floors will have a higher quality formation, improving the effects and your concentration."
"The best room you have available," Yuan responded without hesitation.
"We have three rooms available on the third floor, and that would be 10 gold coins per hour." The receptionist said.
'Only 10 gold per hour? This is much cheaper than Cultivators' Haven!' Yuan thought to himself.
"Let me get 2 rooms, 10 hours each," he said a moment later.
"That would be 200 gold coins," said the receptionist.
Yuan nodded and handed him the money.
"May I know your names?"
"Yu Tian, Yu Rou, and Xiao Hua," he said.
A few moments later, after writing their names down, the receptionist handed them two keys.
"Thank you for coming to our Pagoda of Tranquility." The receptionist bowed to them before they went upstairs.
Once they were on the third floor, Yu Rou said to Yuan, "Brother, I am going to spend 4 hours and see if I can learn it by then."
"Don't worry, Yu Rou. You can spend as much time as you need, and knowing your talents, I am confident that you'll learn it in no time," Yuan said to her.
Yu Rou nodded and went into one of the available rooms that had a wooden door instead of a boulder this time, as learning techniques did not require as much peace and silence as one would during cultivation.
Once Yu Rou was inside the room, she immediately sat down on the floor and retrieved the Wind Blade technique from her storage pouch, and she began studying it with a serious expression on her face.
Meanwhile, inside Yuan's room, he was sitting in the lotus position as Xiao Hua recited Heaven's Secret Art for him. Even though he does not have any new techniques to learn, he was nowhere near mastering the Divine-grade technique, and he wanted to take this chance to improve his understanding as much as possible.
'If I have a better understanding of this technique, I might be able to finally cultivate in the real world, too.' Yuan thought to himself as he closed his eyes and listened to Xiao Hua recite the technique for him.
Four hours passed in the blink of an eye, and Yu Rou knocked on Yuan's door.
"How did it go, Yu Rou? Did you learn the technique?" Yuan asked her after opening the door.
"No," she shook her head, and she continued, "But I am getting very close to understanding it! I just need a few more hours!"
"Take as long as you need, Yu Rou. If 10 hours isn't enough, I'll pay for more." Yuan said to her.
"It's alright, brother. I should learn the technique with the remaining 6 hours left!" She spoke with confidence written all over her face before she returned to her own room and continued to study the technique.
Yuan also returned to listening to Xiao Hua's voice shortly later.
A few hours later.
«Your comprehension for Heaven's Secret Art has reached a new level»
«Heaven's Secret Art Mastery Level (2) → (3)»
«You have learned Heaven's Third Secret Art — Heavenly Domain»
Heavenly Domain
Rank: Divine
Mastery Level: 1
Description: Holding absolute authority within your domain, dominate the battlefield, and pressure your enemies with the Heavenly Domain!
"Heavenly Domain…" Yuan mumbled in a low voice after learning this technique.
"Congratulations, Brother Yuan. You are only in the Spirit Warrior realm, but your understanding of Heaven's Secret Art is already near Xiao Hua's level. It's almost like this technique was made for you." Xiao Hua said to him afterward.
"Thank you, Xiao Hua. This array below us is amazing. My mind is much clearer than normal, allowing me to concentrate even more." Yuan said to her.
"Anyway, even though there's still some time before our time is over, let's leave for now and wait for Yu Rou to finish."
Yuan and Xiao Hua left the room shortly later and proceeded to stand outside Yu Rou's room, patiently waiting for her to finish her last hour inside the room.