[Heaven Refining Physique has activated]

[??? Qi has been absorbed from the Demon Core]

[You have absorbed enough Qi for a breakthrough]

[You have reached first level Spirit Grandmaster]

[+25,000 Stats]

[Your body has cleansed the impurities from the Demon Core]

[Your skill 'Perfect Regeneration' has improved slightly]

[You have absorbed enough Qi for a breakthrough]

[You have reached second level Spirit Grandmaster]

[+26,000 Stats]

[You have absorbed enough Qi for a breakthrough]

[You have reached third level Spirit Grandmaster]

[+27,000 Stats]

Yuan's cultivation soared all the way to the third level Spirit Grandmaster after consuming the demon core.

"Heavens, Young Master. You're almost at my level… At this rate, you'll definitely surpass me." Feng Yuxiang mumbled in a dazed voice as the aura of a Spirit Grandmaster emitted from Yuan's body.

"Actually, if you consume the other demon core, you'll definitely surpass me. However, if you do that…"

Yuan smiled and said, "I will leave the other demon core for when I don't have to worry about ascending in the Spirit Heaven."

Sometime later, Yuan said, "I'm going to take a good rest before I enter the Dragon Temple."

"Take a good rest, Brother Yuan. You deserve it." Xiao Hua said to him before returning to her necklace.

"I'll let you rest as well, Young master. Call us if you need anything." Feng Yuxiang said.

"Thank you for everything. I look forward to working for you, my Lord. Rest well." Lan Yingying said, turning herself into a bracelet on his wrist.

"What should we do now?" Meixiu asked him.

"We can log off for the day," he said.

"Okay. I will start preparing for dinner." Meixiu said before logging off the game.

Yuan followed her and logged off shortly after.

In the real world, Yuan continued to cultivate his cultivation. Although he took a slight break to focus on the Mystic Realm, his progress didn't slow down too much, and in just a single night, he had a breakthrough, reaching the sixth level Spirit Warrior.

And with this breakthrough, Yuan could feel and move his body slightly better.

'It's only a matter of time now! Perhaps if I reach Spirit Master, I will be able to move properly again!' Yuan used this motivation to help him cultivate through the night despite finding cultivation somewhat boring at times due to its repetitiveness.

The following day, Yuan decided to skip cultivation online and continue to improve his cultivation.

And since Yuan wasn't playing, Meixiu also took a break, using her time to surf the internet for more information about the game and other things instead.

"There's already 5 billion people on this forum… It was only 4 billion just a week ago, and this doesn't even take into account those players who don't use this forum. This game sure is growing at a crazy rate." Meixiu mumbled to herself.

Although she has seen her fair share of video games growing popular quickly, none of them could hold a candle to Cultivation Online that has more than half of the world's population actively playing the game.

"At this rate, the entire world is going to be playing this game…"

Meixiu began looking through the forum, and sure enough, it was littered with threads about Player Yuan and the Mystic Realm.

[Player Yuan slaughters over 50 participants at once!]

[Player Yuan has obtained an Ancient-grade Servant!]

[What could an Ancient-grade Servant possibly look like?! Click here to find out!]

[Player Yuan refuses to ascend to the Spirit Heaven!]

[Player Yuan takes first place in the Mystic Realm, achieving ten million points!]

The majority of the forum was talking about Player Yuan, which wasn't surprising after what happened at the Mystic Realm, one of the biggest events in the Lower Heavens.

Unfortunately, only a handful of players were able to participate in the event due to the limiting slots, or the Mystic Realm would've been an even hotter topic.

After losing track of time surfing the web, Meixiu was snapped out of her daze when her phone suddenly began ringing.

"Yu Rou?" Meixiu picked up the phone after seeing her name.

"Meixiu! Guess what!" Yu Rou's excited voice resounded from the phone.

"What?"

"My father has announced to all of the players in the company that whoever meets the requirements to wield the Frozen Jade Zither gets to use it!" Yu Rou said.

"Is that something to be excited about?" Meixiu asked.

"Of course! This means I will also have a chance to obtain it!" Yu Rou said.

"But do you even have the time to play the game? Considering your schedule, it'll be incredibly hard if not outright impossible for you to beat the others who have much more time on their hands." Meixiu said.

"Hehe… I kept the best news for last. Listen up, Meixiu. Because of Cultivation Online's massive popularity and potential, there have been a lot of students and even teachers skipping school just to play the game. Therefore, the principal has decided to cut school short this year!"

"What…? They can do that?" Meixiu mumbled in a dazed voice.

"Of course, the principal asked all of the parents for approval, and to my surprise, the majority of parents agreed, since they also want their kids to start playing the game!"

"Unbelievable… How is that going to work, anyway?"

"Well, the school will try to cram all lessons that would've been taught throughout the year into a single month, so starting next month, I will be able to play the game seriously!" Yu Rou said.

And she continued, "You know what's the crazy part, Meixiu? Our school isn't the first to do this! In fact, plenty of schools have already closed due to Cultivation Online! A new era of gaming is upon us! I can feel it!"

Sometime later, Yu Rou asked, "Is brother available right now? I would like to speak with him."

"He should be available since he's taking a break from Cultivation Online. I'll go knock on his door now." Meixiu said.