Cultivation Online

After their break ended, Yu Rou asked, "Brother, would you like to see my room?"

"Sure."

Sometime later, they entered Yu Rou and Xia Jingyi's room.

"What do you think?" She asked him.

"It's exactly as I expected it to be— neat and clean." Yuan smiled.

Once they looked around the room, Yu Rou suddenly asked, "Will you be staying with us tonight?"

"I don't want to bother White Lotus and this place any longer, so I will return to the hotel." Yuan shook his head.

"A-Actually, it's fine if you want to stay here overnight. We have plenty of guest rooms, and it would be more convenient if you intend to spend more time with each other tomorrow." White Lotus said.

"Are you sure? I don't want to intrude any more than necessary."

"It's fine, really."

"Then I'll accept your offer."

"Great. I'll have your rooms prepared right away."

White Lotus left the room shortly after.

"By the way, I have something really important to tell you later." Yuan said to Yu Rou a moment later.

"I don't like the sound of that. Is it bad news or good news?" Yu Rou frowned slightly.

"Well… It's not really bad news, but it's not good news either. It's about Cultivation Online and how it affects our lives."

"I don't get it."

"I'll explain it once White Lotus returns."

"All right."

White Lotus returned to the room about five minutes later.

"I have arranged your rooms for tonight," she said to them.

"Thank you. Anyways, now that you're here, let's continue our conversation. I wanted to tell you guys at the pavilion just now, but Fiery Queen interrupted and I'd rather keep this between us."

Yuan removed his mask and looked at White Lotus with a serious gaze, "What I am about to tell you is highly confidential, so please keep it a secret even from your family. If it's leaked to the public, there will be an outcry, and who knows how the people will react to it."

"My lips are sealed no matter what you say from this point forth." White Lotus nodded.

"Good, now listen carefully."

After taking a deep breath, Yuan proceeded to tell them the truth about Cultivation Online and the connections it has with their own world.

Although Yu Rou and Xia Jingyi already knew that treasures inside Cultivation Online affected their real bodies, this was news to White Lotus, who was shocked speechless even before the grand reveal.

"The world of Cultivation Online, also known as Nine Heavens, truly exists in this universe somewhere, and our world, Earth, used to be part of the Nine Heavens before it was split."

"Wa-Wait…" White Lotus had to stop him, as she was unable to comprehend all of it at once.

"The Nine Heavens is a real world? How does that work?"

"The consoles that we use to enter Cultivation Online actually transfers a part of our soul to the Nine Heaven, and using another method, it creates our character with our soul."

"The reason we don't die when we 'die' inside Cultivation Online is simply because we didn't experience true death. When we die, our character will transform back into its soul form."

"This is also why some people lose their ability to cultivate after dying. Their soul had probably sustained too much damage, crippling them for real."

"Furthermore, this is why we are stuck with one character no matter whose console we use to play Cultivation Online."

Yu Rou and the other two stared at Yuan with their eyes as wide as saucers.

"No way… Why would they do such a thing?" Yu Rou muttered in a dazed voice.

"I don't know, but I plan on finding out the truth." Yuan said.

"However, now that you know your character is actually your soul, please do your best to avoid getting damaged, as it could damage your soul. Your soul is basically your spirit— your very existence. If it's damaged, you'll turn into what they call a 'vegetable'. And if your soul is destroyed, you basically die without any chance of reincarnation…"

"If this is true, shouldn't we warn the public so that they could stop acting so recklessly in Cultivation Online?" White Lotus asked.

"Yes, but there's a good chance that a lot of people will stop playing Cultivation Online. I don't know what the Celestial Emperor has planned, but it clearly needs a lot of people. If a large number of people suddenly stop playing, who knows what the Celestial Emperor might do next." Yuan said.

And he continued, "A good portion of our soul is already trapped inside in the Nine Heavens. We're all basically held hostage by the Celestial Emperor until we can go to the Nine Heavens with our real body."

"But how are we going to travel to a place that we can't even locate?" Yu Rou asked.

"I already have a clue. I just need some time to figure it out."

"If you really want to warn people about the dangers of being hurt in Cultivation Online, then you must do so without revealing the truth to them." Yuan said to White Lotus a moment later.

"I understand. I will do my best. I don't want my family or the disciples of my faction to suffer because of this. Thank you for telling me the truth, Yuan. I will be seeing Cultivation Online in a new light now."

Later that night, White Lotus approached Yuan and said to him, "I have spoken to my father about buying your treasures in Cultivation Online, and he has agreed to it. If you're not busy, we can do it now. But if you insist on doing this later, I can wait."

"Let's do it now." Yuan nodded, and he continued, "I will meet you at the same place as last time in a few hours."

"Great! We have plenty of unused consoles. You can use one of those!"

"Then I will see you later."

Once he had a console, Yuan laid on his bed and entered Cultivation Online.