"I plan on exploring the Lower Heavens some more with my friends before I challenge the Stairway to Heaven," said Yuan after Long Yijun asked for his plans.
"The Stairway to Heaven, huh... Well, there’s no doubt that you would be able to overcome this challenge that over 99 percent can’t surpass." Long Yijun nodded.
And he continued, "When do you plan on leaving?"
"I would like to say goodbye to a few people before I leave, but I should leave within the next few days," Yuan said.
"I understand." Long Yijun said.
"If you need anything from us, just let us know. Although you may be leaving, your contribution to the sect is worth more than what every single disciple has contributed in the last hundred years combined."
Yuan nodded, and he left with Meixiu shortly after.
Once Yuan left the scene, Long Yijun sat down and sighed, "The Dragon Essence Temple won’t feel the same without him even though he only recently joined the sect."
"At least he’s not leaving our sect to join another sect, as that would be devastating." Elder Shan said.
"I’m honestly surprised that he lasted this long, especially with how the others have treated him. If I was him, I would’ve probably left a long time ago." Elder Xuan said.
"Are we going to tell the disciples?" Elder Shan suddenly asked.
After all, if someone like Yuan suddenly disappeared from the sect, the disciples would question it, as Yuan was someone who’d obtained the Obsidian Dragon Medallion.
"There’s no need for them to know, as that would undoubtedly reach the ears of our competitions. If they know Yuan is gone, who knows what they’ll do." Long Yijun said.
"But they will find out eventually." Elder Xuan said.
"Someone as famous as Disciple Yuan, even if nobody knows his real identity or face, they will sooner or later realize that he’s missing from the sect. What are we going to do then?" Elder Shan asked.
"I am well aware that we cannot keep this a secret forever. However, the longer we keep this a secret, the more time we have to prepare for whatever comes at us."
"That makes sense." Elder Shan agreed.
"Let the other high-ranking sect elders know of Disciple Yuan’s departure. The disciples may not need to know, but it’s better if the others in the circle knew about it."
"Okay."
Meanwhile, after Yuan left the Sect Master’s headquarters, he returned to his own living quarters, but he didn’t go inside.
Instead, he went to knock on Disciple Min’s door.
"Disciple Yuan? You’ve finished already?" Min Li was pleasantly surprised to see him so quickly, as she was prepared to wait at least a few weeks before speaking with him again.
Yuan nodded and said, "I am also here to announce that I will be leaving the Dragon Essence Temple soon— probably within the next few days."
"I see..." Min Li wasn’t surprised when she heard that he was leaving, as he’d already shared this with her before he entered the Dragon Temple.
"What should I do now? Do you want me to leave the sect as well?" Min Li asked him.
"No, you don’t need to do that." Yuan shook his head and said, "You can stay in the Dragon Essence Temple and continue to train yourself. Once it’s time for me to challenge the Stairway to Heaven, I will return to take you with me."
"You promise?" Min Li said with a slightly worried frown on her face, as she was worried that Yuan might forget about her or even worse, abandon her, and her life’s basically in his hands now due to her situation.
"I promise," Yuan said in a sincere voice.
"Okay, I will trust you." Min Li nodded.
Sometime later, Yuan logged off the game with Meixiu.
After dinner, Yuan began cultivating for the night.
"Yuan, I am curious. What does cultivating in the real world look like? Do you think I can watch you cultivate a little tonight?" Meixiu suddenly asked him.
"Okay. I don’t mind." Yuan said. Now that they know about his cultivation in the real world, there was no reason for him to keep hiding it.
Thus, Meixiu went to Yuan’s room and waited for him to cultivate.
After taking a deep breath, Yuan began circulating his Dantian and absorbing the spiritual energy in the air.
"This is... cultivation?"
Meixiu was speechless when a small gust of wind suddenly picked up in the room despite the closed windows, and the wind appeared to be gathering around the bed Yuan was sleeping on.
Furthermore, there appeared to be a subtle glow around Yuan’s body that would grow brighter as he continued to cultivate longer.
Sometime later, once she’d seen enough, Meixiu returned to her own room to sleep, yet she couldn’t stop thinking about Yuan cultivating, as it was so mythical.
The following morning, after breakfast, Yuan and Meixiu entered Cultivation Online together.
"I’m going to say goodbye to Disciple Xuan and Disciple Fei today," Yuan said to Min Li when he saw her looking at him from the window.
Min Li nodded and didn’t say anything else.
Yuan decided to go see Fei Yuyan first, and on his way to Fei Yuyan’s living quarters, every disciple in the sect would either greet him from afar or approach him and greet him.
"Good morning, Senior apprentice-brother Yuan."
"Good morning, Senior Disciple Yuan."
By now, every single disciple in the sect knew about the unrivaled genius known as Disciple Yuan and his unique appearance, as Yuan would always wear a mask wherever he went.
In fact, besides a few people, nobody knew what Yuan looked like behind his mask. Although they were certainly curious, nobody actually dared to ask him to remove his mask, as they feared that it might offend him.
Once he reached the border separating the Outer Court and the Inner Court, the sect elder guarding the entrance allowed Yuan to enter the Inner Court without any problems, and Yuan continued to make his way to Fei Yuyan’s living quarters.