Chapter 69: New Religion

Chapter 69: New Religion "So this... is the new Vee Arr pod room?" Roughly three hours after the mess in the bathroom, Xu Tao now stood in a newly furbished location—a spacious room set up with roughly 50 VR Pods, along with two Premium Models just like Xu Tao’s. "Yes, yes, sir Master~!" The one tasked with arranging it—a fat, merchant-like figure—rubbed his hands together in excitement. "Although it was a sudden order, my Happy Lucky VR Cabin Café is more than happy to provide these items for you and Ms. Campbell at a down-low price!" he explained. "All of these are cutting-edge, second- and high-class models fresh on the market!" "Is that so?" Xu Tao nodded, not really sure what he was saying. But he could tell that all the machines present were truly outstanding. They exuded the same feel as the one he had in his room—albeit a little toned down. "Yes, sir Master~!" the man exclaimed, practically swooning over Xu Tao. "We even used top-of-the-line fiber optics to connect the machines to the network, lowering lag and increasing responsiveness. Cleaned server redundancies, and added a Q-Link Neural Phase Alignment..." He tirelessly continued sputtering out mysterious chants that Xu Tao was hearing for the first time. Still, he listened as the man spoke, trying to commit all his words to memory. Who could tell? Maybe the knowledge of those mystic terms—whatever they were for—might save his life one day. "Master..." "Hmm?" But while he was in the middle of listening, a familiar but lethargic voice reached him. Turning his gaze aside, he found his red-haired disciple walking toward him, her expression pale and her morale low. "What’s wrong, Henrietta?" he asked, slightly worried. "Are you sick? Want me to check your pulse? Not to brag, but no doctor in the entire Kunlun Mountain or the Baidu Peak could beat my healing skills." "..." Henrietta raised her gaze, staring at the confident smile on Xu Tao’s face... and sighed. "I’m fine, Master. I’m just tired..." she whispered, hiding the real reason behind her fatigue. For almost the entirety of the three hours they hadn’t seen each other, Henrietta had been busy fixing the misunderstanding the maids, Uriel, and even the guards—for whatever reason—had about them. None believed her words, thinking she was just hiding her embarrassment. But what was more mysterious was that nobody seemed against the idea of her and Xu Tao being an item. "Kuh...!" A faint blush appeared on her cheeks, recalling the scene in the bath. Now that she was calmer, she could tell how crazy she had been back then. Who would’ve thought a simple offer to wash his back would end up with her getting "slandered" with false accusations? And in the end, she didn’t even get to wash Xu Tao’s back! "What was the point of all that...?" she sighed, burying her face in her hands. Watching her cycle endlessly through sighs, head-shakes, and blushes, Xu Tao could only assume she was exhausted. "You can sit out the next session if you want to. I won’t blame you," he said, offering a hint of kindness toward her. Henrietta did have the scroll, after all. As long as she continued learning through it, she didn’t really need Xu Tao’s personal instruction. "No, Master!" But still, Henrietta didn’t like the idea of getting special treatment. "I will join in on this training session, no matter what!" she declared with a firm tone. Xu Tao was a man who respected those who showed their mettle. And with Henrietta’s stubborn insistence, he couldn’t help but allow it. "Alright. But tell me if you’re feeling unwell. I wouldn’t like for my disciple to get injured or sick from overtraining—that’d be a stain on my name as your master." "...!" Henrietta’s heart skipped a beat after receiving such heartfelt concern. But... that warm feeling wouldn’t last long anyway. ???????????? Xu Tao slowly opened his eyes. It had been a few hours since he left, and now, his character was already standing in the middle of the training ground—just as he left it last night. "Hmm... Seems like my senses get attuned to this fake body instantly," he muttered, opening and closing his fist to check. Then, he popped open his simplified Status Panel to check his current stats. [False Fisherman Lv. 22] [Cultivation: Silver Rank level 5] Xu Tao smiled. The levels were the same as he had left them last night, too. Back then, he’d learned that to raise your cultivation by 5 levels, you needed to increase your level by 10. And to add, the enlightenment gained from breaking through "Ranks" wasn’t fake either—and would greatly help cultivators in their real challenge of cultivation. "Oh, look! It’s brother Fisher!" "He’s back! Hey, bro! Thanks for the tip last night!" "We bought various cultivation scrolls IRL and tested them out in-game, and guess what? We finally managed to beat Phase 1 of the final boss!" And just as he was standing idly, a few familiar faces approached. Xu Tao remembered them as part of the crowd from yesterday who gave him various things and information. However, their current appearance was far from what he remembered. "What happened to you guys...?" he asked, seeing their chaotic states. Their cool-looking, pristine robes were now as tattered as rags. Their faces were beaten black and blue, and their eyes were red from seemingly staying up all night. However, their gazes remained firm and energized, as if this much was nothing. "Hehe, we continued challenging the boss to figure out its patterns! We’re now about to log out and begin an offline analysis meeting." "Damn right! We almost got that bastard. No way I’m stopping when we’re already a step away from victory!" "Though... setting our respawn points here in the beginner town was a mistake... We can’t get our gear fixed with the low-level facilities here." "..." Xu Tao was in awe of their dedication. ’Such passion... They’re like the sect’s inner disciples who’ve just discovered their Dao.’ Such fixation on victory was rare. Their hearts that were trained taut, refusing to give up despite failures, was also a hard-to-come-by trait for a cultivator. ’These guys... will become stronger for sure.’ He smiled, nodding. "I see. Then good luck with that," he said casually. "And remember to rest well first before you try to cultivate again. You wouldn’t want to suffer Qi Deviation due to rushing, after all." "...Huh?" Everyone gasped at his words. Xu Tao was, after all, wishing them good luck with cultivation in reality. They understood the nuance instantly... but the realization hit a bit late. "If we can bring cultivation techniques into the game..." "...We can also bring techniques in here outside!" "This level of insight... God! False Fisherman, you’re definitely a God! Add me as friend, please!" "Huh?" And just like that, a new religion began to form.