While Yu Rou lost track of time as she was engrossed with the internet talking about her brother, Yuan was silently cultivating on the bed, slowly absorbing the spiritual energy in the room.
His cultivation speed compared to the game was incredibly slow, and it had taken him nearly two hours to enter the next level whilst it only took less than half an hour to reach second level Spirit Apprentice in the game.
’What are the cultivation stages in the real world, anyway? I doubt it’s the same as the game. However, since I have no other references, I’ll just follow the cultivation stages in Cultivation online,’ Yuan thought to himself as he continued to cultivate even when Yu Rou entered the bed and went to sleep.
One hour... two hours... three hours...
Yuan spent the entire night cultivating, and by the time morning came, he had managed to breakthrough only two times, reaching third level Spirit Apprentice.
"Good morning, Yu Rou." Yuan greeted her the moment she woke up and rubbed her eyes.
"Brother...? You’re awake early today..." she said to him in a drowsy voice.
Yuan merely smiled at her words, as he obviously didn’t sleep the entire night. However, despite not getting any sleep, he was as energetic as ever— even feeling better than he normally would after a good night’s sleep.
After spending a few minutes resolving herself to wake up, Yu Rou eventually left the bed and went to prepare for the day.
Yu Rou returned to the room an hour later with two bowls of soup and a wet towel to wash Yuan’s face.
"Brother, I cooked two bowls of soup for breakfast today. If you cannot finish it, don’t force yourself," she warned him before she began feeding him.
However, to her surprise, Yuan managed to finish both bowls of soup to the very last drop.
"Two bowls of soup... For some reason, I am still not full..." Yuan said in an awkward voice afterward.
"What? You’re still not full? How is that even possible?" Yu Rou looked at him with wide eyes.
Why did his appetite suddenly increase so drastically? Is this somehow related to what has happened to him recently?
’I should let Doctor Wang know about this just in case there’s something wrong... I also need some advice on his diet if it remains like this,’ Yu Rou thought to herself.
"Brother, I know you’re not full, but I am afraid of overfeeding you, so I’ll have to ask for Doctor Wang’s advice before I decide to feed you anymore, okay?" Yu Rou then said to him.
"Yes, that’s fine. Like last night, while I am not full, I am also not hungry either," Yuan said.
"Okay, I’ll let him know now before I go to school."
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Sometime later, on her way to school, Yu Rou called Doctor Wang and explained to him about Yuan’s situation.
"The Young Master’s appetite suddenly increased, huh? This might actually be a good sign because that means his body is requiring more energy to function, and that usually happens when their body is growing stronger. I suggest you continue to feed him two bowls of soup for a few more days to see if his growing appetite is permanent or only temporary." Doctor Wang said to her through the phone.
"If the Young Master’s appetite is permanent, I suggest you increase his diet slowly without overfeeding him so that his body is getting the energy it requires. I will come to check on him once a week to monitor his body’s condition just in case."
"I understand. Thank you, Doctor Wang."
Meanwhile, Yuan returned to the world of cultivation.
"Are you going to partake in the disciple examination at the Dragon Essence Temple now, Brother Yuan?" Xiao Hua asked him after he returned.
"That’s right." Yuan nodded.
"Even though Brother Yuan will progress his cultivation base faster outside?" Xiao Hua asked him.
"My purpose for going to the Dragon Essence Temple is not to improve my cultivation base. Instead, I wish to expand my knowledge and experience with Cultivators so I can better deal with them in the future."
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"I acknowledge that I am still far too naive in this world regarding Cultivators and their nature, and I want to understand this world more. Although it’s important to improve my cultivation base it’s also important that I enjoy this world, as that has been and still is my intention since the beginning."
Xiao Hua turned silent after hearing his words.
’Brother Yuan is indeed lacking experience when it comes to Cultivators. Although he might be fine now with Xiao Hua and that phoenix protecting him, who knows what might happen in the upper heavens, where there exists Cultivators much stronger than us. It’ll definitely benefit Brother Yuan in the long run the earlier he familiarizes himself with the competitive nature of Cultivators and realizes the brutal nature of the cultivation world.’
"Okay, Xiao Hua will no longer stop Brother Yuan from going to the Dragon Essence Temple now. However, it would lose all meaning if Xiao Hua is besides Brother Yuan the entire time while he’s a disciple, so Xiao Hua will let Brother Yuan live his disciple life by himself. Of course, Xiao Hua will still protect Brother Yuan when he’s in danger." Xiao Hua said to him.
"How are you going to protect me if you’re not there?" Yuan raised his eyebrows.
Xiao Hua then pointed at the necklace around his neck.
"Oh, that’s right. You can go into the necklace like Feng Feng can enter my body," Yuan finally recalled.
"Anyway, do you know where the Dragon Essence Temple is located? Do you think we’ll make it there before the examination begins? Although I can enter the sect without participating in the examination if I spoke to Xuan Wuhan’s grandfather, I still want to experience it like how people normally would."
"The token given to you should tell you the location," Xiao Hua said, and she continued, "Just activate it with your spiritual energy, and its location will appear inside your mind."
Yuan followed her instructions and retrieved the Dragon Essence Temple Exam Token before activating it with his spiritual energy.
A few seconds later, an image of the Dragon Essence Temple and its location appeared inside his head like some sort of map.
However, Yuan immediately frowned when he realized just how far away this place was.
"It’s over 100,000 miles away from our current location... Even the flying sword won’t be fast enough. Unless we take the Teleportation Device again, I don’t think we’ll make it in time for the examination," he sighed.
"Allow me to help, Young Master."
Feng Yuxiang’s voice suddenly resounded, and a small ball of golden flames emerged from his chest a second later.
"Feng Feng?" Yuan looked at her with raised eyebrows.
"I can carry the Young Master to the Dragon Essence Temple. It’s only 100,000 miles. And I can fly much faster than a flying sword." Feng Yuxiang suggested to him.
"You’ll... carry me?" Yuan looked at her with wide eyes.
"Unless the Senior wants to carry you, but with the difference in your sizes..." Feng Yuxiang looked at Xiao Hua whose head could not even reach Yuan’s shoulders. She cannot imagine someone so tiny carrying Yuan who was almost twice her height. Actually, she can, but it would be an incredibly hilarious sight, but alas, laughing at Xiao Hua will definitely get her killed.
"..."
However, Xiao Hua still frowned after hearing Feng Yuxiang’s words, as she hated her height being mentioned more than anything else.
Feng Yuxiang immediately began sweating after noticing Xiao Hua’s narrowed gaze.
"A-Anyway... since I am also a phoenix, I can fly faster than Cultivators normally would be able to. 100,000 miles— we can arrive by tonight."
"By tonight?" Yuan began pondering.
’If we can reach there by tonight, it’ll save us a lot of time— time I can use to cultivate in the real world...’
After pondering for a moment, Yuan nodded his head and said, "Okay, I’ll have to trouble you for this one, Feng Feng."
"Don’t even mention it, Young Master. My body is already yours— there’s no need to thank me every time you use it," Feng Yuxiang said with a shameless smile on her face.
"Are you ready to leave now, Young Master?" Feng Yuxiang asked him a moment later.
"Yes."
"Then if you’ll excuse me..."
Feng Yuxiang suddenly lowered her body and picked up Yuan, carrying him like a princess.
And before Yuan could even react, two massive fiery wings suddenly blossomed from Feng Yuxiang’s back.
When the people around them saw this, they were immediately shocked.
"T-That’s Madam Feng! What’s she doing here?! And who’s that young man she’s carrying?!"
Feng Yuxiang ignored the uproar she caused and immediately flew towards the sky with Yuan screaming out loud like Yu Rou did when she first experienced flying with the flying sword.
"Which direction should I go, Young Master?" Feng Yuxiang asked him after they were above the entire city and nearly touching the clouds.
"That direction," Yuan pointed to the east according to the map in his head.
Feng Yuxiang nodded, and her fiery wings flapped once before they began soaring towards the east, leaving a trail of golden fire in the sky.
Meanwhile, Xiao Hua followed them from behind. However, even with her Spirit King cultivation base, she had to put a lot of effort in order to keep up with their speed. Though, that was to be expected, as phoenixes are known to dominate the heavens with their flying techniques.