Another week has pa.s.sed since Yuan asked Feng Yuxiang and Xiao Hua to look for treasures, and w.a.n.g Xiuying arrived at their apartment for another weekly checkup.
"Yuan, I have consumed a couple of Earth-grade treasures and even one Heaven-grade treasure, but none of them affected my real body." w.a.n.g Xiuying said to him.
"What? You have already acquired the treasures? That was quick." Yuan said to her.
"Well, it's not hard when you're one of the most prominent disciples in the Spirit Healing Academy." w.a.n.g Xiuying said in a prideful tone.
"My master usually gives me all of the resources I need if I ask nicely and it's a reasonable amount," she continued.
Before joining the Spirit Healing Academy, w.a.n.g Xiuying had to undertake their disciple examination, and to their surprise, she pa.s.sed it with flying colors, even obtaining a high score that their sect hadn't seen in a very long time.
Thus, w.a.n.g Xiuying had instantly become the Spirit Healing Academy's treasure— one of their most valued disciples, and this gave her a lot of privileges and benefits, one of them being that she almost had unlimited resources to supply her growth.
As a result, in just a single month, w.a.n.g Xiuying's cultivation base soared to the peak of Spirit Warrior, becoming a top player in Cultivation Online.
Of course, w.a.n.g Xiuying wasn't the only player to experience significant progress and growth, as Lightning Emperor, the other player who ascended with her, also experienced similar growth.
"So treasures below Heaven-grade don't work, huh… Maybe we need to consume Divine-grade treasures." Yuan mumbled.
"Who knows. Maybe it really works but with a much lower chance, and higher grade treasures will have a higher chance for it to transfer to our real bodies." w.a.n.g Xiuying said.
After a moment of silence, she continued, "Hey, Yuan, this may sound like an odd question, but do you think the world inside Cultivation Online actually exists somewhere in this seemingly boundless universe? Like another world?"
"Cultivation Online… exists?" Yuan mumbled in a dazed voice.
Although he never mentioned it to anyone fearing that they might call him crazy, he has indeed had such thoughts before.
"I mean, how else can you explain the cultivation phenomenon and other things? I am not the only one with such thoughts. There are many people questioning why cultivation techniques in Cultivation Online work in our world, and there are already plenty of theories about the cultivation world being real."
"I kind of believe it, but it's also quite unbelievable at the same time. What do you think?"
A smile appeared on Yuan's face as he spoke in a longing voice, "If the world of cultivation truly exists, how nice would that be? I mean, if you ignore the unreasonable people, the cultivation world is such a wonderful place that's filled with mysteries and miracles. I wouldn't mind it at all if it really exists."
"Yes, I think so, too." w.a.n.g Xiuying said.
Sometime later, right before w.a.n.g Xiuying left, Yuan said to her, "I am going to log in today to see if the others have returned yet. I'll let you know the results soon."
"Okay. I'll be waiting." w.a.n.g Xiuying said.
After w.a.n.g Xiuying left, Yuan asked Meixiu, "How's your cultivation?"
"I should be entering the sixth level in a few days," she calmly responded.
"I see… Can you enter the game with me today? I am doing an experiment," he then said.
"What kind of experiment?"
"Whether or not treasures inside Cultivation Online will affect our real bodies."
"What…?" Meixiu mumbled in a dumbfounded voice.
"I know it sounds crazy but hear me out…" Yuan proceeded to tell Meixiu about the impurity incident as well as the recent rumor regarding the topic.
"If this is true… I cannot even imagine what could happen…" Meixiu said afterward.
"Right? Therefore, we're going to test it out— using our own bodies."
"This is crazy…" Meixiu sighed.
What if these treasures actually work? Will there be any side effects afterward?
In the end, Meixiu gave up and entered Cultivation Online with Yuan.
Inside Cultivation Online, Yuan went back upstairs to meet up with Meixiu, as he was forced to leave before by that fierce girl.
'Hopefully, she's gone by now…' Yuan sighed inwardly as he approached the top floor.
"Feng Feng, Xiao Hua, can you hear me?" Yuan tried to speak with them through their servant-master connection.
"Yes, I can hear you, Young Master. Are you still at the Cultivators' Haven? I will be there in a minute." Feng Yuxiang responded a moment later.
As for Xiao Hua, Yuan has yet to hear a response from her even after Feng Yuxiang showed up.
"Xiao Hua is not with you?" Yuan asked her.
Feng Yuxiang shook her head and said, "We went our separate ways."
"I see… Then she's probably too far away to hear my voice. I hope she's okay." Yuan said.
"There's nothing in the Lower Heavens that can harm her so you don't have to worry," said Feng Yuxiang.
"I hope that's the case."
Sometime later, Yuan entered one of the cultivation rooms with Meixiu and Feng Yuxiang.
"Here you go."
Once they had some privacy, Feng Yuxiang proceeded to retrieve the treasures she had acquired at the Golden Phoenix Bazaar.
Yuan and Meixiu were shaken when they saw the number of treasures Feng Yuxiang had acquired.
"Y-You obtained this many treasures with the number of spirit stones I gave you?" Yuan asked her in a trembling voice.
Feng Yuxiang showed a stiff smile and said, "Y-Yes… I went to speak with my friends, and I managed to get them at a discounted price because they owed me."
"Even if there was a discount… I still can't believe that you'd obtained this many treasures with the spirit stones I gave you! Look at this! There's even a Divine-grade treasure in here! Are you telling me that you got everything here for less than 1,000 spirit stones?! That's only worth around 10 million gold coins!" Yuan said to her, clearly doubting her claims.