Cultivation Online

”Y-Yuan?” Mei Xiaoyun muttered with a dazed look on her face as she glared at the figure standing in front of Yuan’s living quarters.

She blinked a few times and even rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating.

A few more moments of silence passed, and Mei Xiaoyun still had trouble believing her eyes.

It wasn’t until Yuan spoke aloud that she confirmed he wasn’t an illusion but real.

”Mei Xiaoyun? Oh, it’s been a whole year since the recruitment, hasn’t it? How was boot camp?” Yuan steadily approached her with a calm smile on his handsome face, acting like everything was normal—as if he wasn’t supposed to be dead. 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

”What’s with that look on your face? You look like you’re seeing a ghost,” he remarked with a chuckle.

”Am I not?” she responded with a slight frown. ”You’re supposed to be dead, after all.”

”More like they assumed I was dead. As you can see for yourself, I am very much alive.”

Mei Xiaoyun sighed. ”Give me a moment.”

She then spent the next two minutes repeatedly rubbing her temples and letting out several deep sighs, as though trying to convince herself that Yuan was really standing before her.

”When did you return?” Mei Xiaoyun asked once she was done.

”Today.”

”What happened?”

Yuan explained the whole situation to her without hesitation.

”I see... and what are your plans now?”

”I am going to get my permit for the Black Zone and then try to get one for level 2 Black Zone.”

”Unbelievable...” Mei Xiaoyun muttered with wide eyes. ”I’ve just finished boot camp, and you’re already thinking about going into level 2 Black Zone? Did we really join at the same time?”

”The exam is scheduled in two weeks. You can come watch if you’d like.”

”I’ll think about it.”

”By the way, which division did you join?” Yuan then asked.

”The First Division.”

”The same as me, huh? Good to know. Anyway, I’m going to rest now. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to knock on my door.”

Yuan entered his building the next moment, but Mei Xiaoyun lingered outside for some time, silently staring at his building.

’I can’t believe how much his death bothered me...’ she sighed inwardly, feeling a little puzzled by her own feelings.

After lingering for a few more moments, Mei Xiaoyun left.

Meanwhile, after returning home, the first thing Yuan did was train his Void Manipulation.

’There’s only one method of training that I can think of in this environment...’

After taking a deep breath, Yuan activated Void Manipulation, entering the void.

However, instead of coming out, he remained inside, training directly within the void. Although it was incredibly dangerous, it was also the most effective.

’T-This feeling! It’s much more painful than before!’

The pain was so much worse than when he last used this training method, forcing him to emerge from the void mere minutes later.

”What is going on? I could stay in the void for days before, but I can’t last even ten minutes right now!”

After resting for a bit, Yuan returned to the void. But instead of enduring the pain, he studied it.

’No wonder it hurts so much more!’ Yuan exclaimed inwardly as he quickly realized what was happening.

The pain he felt within the void pierced directly into his soul—a sensation he was all too familiar with, considering he had once shattered his own soul.

”As I thought...” Yuan muttered in a low voice after exiting the void again.

He lowered his head to look at his body.

”This body... is an avatar, composed entirely of my soul.”

Yuan had already figured this was the case when his storage rings did not transport to this world with him, but he wasn’t a hundred percent certain until this moment.

After all, if he were inhabiting an avatar created from his soul—similar to a player’s avatar in Cultivation Online—he should have been able to summon his Soul Weapons. Yet, that wasn’t the case here.

Once Yuan realized this, he sat down to ponder what to do with the information.

”Even if I am in an avatar created from my own soul, it doesn’t change anything, as I still have no way out of this world.”

In the end, his goal to find Gaia hadn’t changed in the slightest with this new information.

Thus, he resumed training his Void Manipulation.

Although practicing Void Manipulation with nothing but his soul was far more painful, his progress was also incomparably faster than when he trained it normally.

By the time Yuan was scheduled to take the Purple Zone examination two weeks later, his mastery of Void Manipulation had already advanced by a full level.

When Yuan exited his living quarters, his gaze shifted to look at the four soldiers who had been waiting outside for over a week.

”You know you could’ve knocked on the door if you wanted to speak with me,” Yuan said.

”I told you he was fine,” said Shi Fa.

Sergeant Bing and Sergeant Quang approached Yuan together and stopped a few steps away.

Then, without hesitation, they both lowered their heads.

”We’re sorry for failing to protect you properly.”

”There’s no need for either of you to apologize,” Yuan said, shaking his head. ”Quite frankly, I never needed your protection in the first place. I only went along with it because it gave General Mei some peace of mind.”

”As arrogant as ever, huh?” Wu Wang remarked with a smile.

”Where are you heading to now?”

”I’m going to take the exam for the Purple Zone.”

”Do you plan on taking the one for the Black Zone?”

”Of course. Right after I pass this one.”

”Then I won’t bother watching this one since you’ll obviously ace it,” said Wu Wang.

”I’ll go,” said Sergeant Bing.

”Me too,” said Sergeant Quang.

”I got nothing else to do, anyway,” Shi Fa shrugged.

Thus, Yuan made his way to the examination site, which was being held at the same location as his previous examination.

At the same time, the Ironwoman returned to the military base to report the details of her investigation to Mei Feng.