Xu Tao frowned, hearing what the veteran said.
’How did he realize I’m close to reaching Godhood?’ he thought. ’Was I releasing too much of my aura?’
Just as he was feeling wary—a new popup appeared. No, it wasn’t just one, but multiple at once.
[Player Khufra has sent a friend request. Accept?]
[Player Tang Nam Mu has sent a friend request. Accept?]
[Player Hage Jiro has sent a friend request. Accept?]
"Friend... request?" Xu Tao raised a brow, confused.
"Ah, were you the lone wolf type? Don’t worry, we won’t ask you to party with us later or anything. Just add us for easier communication and such," the first one to send the request, Khufra, smiled wryly.
Xu Tao was unsure what to do. Just moments ago, they had seemingly discovered his near-godhood, and now they were asking to be "friends"? He couldn’t help but suspect they were after something from him... some kind of trap.
’...Wait, why am I acting all scared?’
But soon enough, realization hit him.
’I’m Xu Tao, the Great Elder of the greatest sect, the Azure Dragon Sect! The strongest cultivator to ever exist! I have no reason to fear random kids like them!’
With his newfound courage, he quickly tapped the Yes button on each request before lowering his stance. ’Bring it on!’ he thought, waiting for what was to come.
"Then we’re off to our offline meeting. We’ll contact you when we’re back online! Laters~!"
"Brother Fisher, really, thanks for all the info! Just tell me if you need something, and I’ll gift it to you!"
[Friend Khufra has logged out.]
[Friend Tang Nam Mu has logged out.]
[Friend Hage Jiro...]
But to his disappointment, all of them said thanks before vanishing—logging off.
Only Xu Tao was left, in a battle stance, facing nothing but empty air... looking like an idiot.
Realizing that he misunderstood their intentions, he quickly fixed his posture and cleared his throat. Thankfully, nobody saw what he did—only the immobile NPCs around.
"...So this is what embarrassment feels like. How nostalgic," he muttered, acting cool.
A few minutes later, in front of the plaza at the center of the beginner village, multiple figures started appearing.
One... two... five... ten... A total of 50 new characters appeared at the same time.
If any of the veterans were still online, they’d probably be cheering at the sight of this rush of new players. But unfortunately, they were likely busy analyzing the last boss’s attack patterns at the moment.
"You’re finally here."
But right then, only Xu Tao was present to welcome them.
Of course, he didn’t miss the identities of this new flock of users. After all, they were—
"Master! Are we really going to train here... inside a game?"
"Ritta, don’t be rude to Master Xu. I’m sure there’s a deep meaning to this..."
—Henrietta and Uriel, and—
"So this is a VR game... first time I’ve played one!"
"Hah! I played with my son before, so I’m not a noob like you!"
"Ugh... What’s this... I... can’t feel pain?!"
—and the 48 guards of Henrietta’s mansion.
Right, it was the entire battle entourage of Henrietta’s mansion!
Though one might think it risky to have all the guards here at once, Xu Tao had already made sure it was fine. Not only did he get Carlos, Henrietta’s older brother, to hold back their enemy—the Roamita Family—
He had also prepared a defensive formation around the entire mansion.
Even if someone tried to attack, it would require them to be at least Earth Immortal Stage to even get a chance to enter. And that’s after wasting all their Qi just to open a small crack and slip inside.
A foolproof defense... but one Xu Tao kept secret from everyone else.
The reason for its secrecy? Well... they say that to fool the enemy, you need to fool your allies first. And among the "enemy," there were a few figures even Xu Tao had to be wary of—if his predictions were on the mark.
Anyway, that wasn’t the point they needed to worry about at the moment.
"Alright, enough chatter. Let’s head to the training ground and begin. Follow me!" Xu Tao declared with a wide smile.
Although they were excited by the experience, everyone was a professional. They quickly followed commands and shut their mouths, marching behind Xu Tao in clean ranks and files.
From the plaza, the training ground was just a few hundred meters away. It didn’t take them long to reach it and fall into a clean row of fives, divided into ten columns.
"Alright!" Xu Tao shouted while standing before the crowd.
"First, we’ll begin with proper Qi Gathering and Cultivation! I’m sure you all still recall the Ten-Forms Fist King Technique? Use only the breathing part of it and cultivate here, now!"
These words, of course, only applied to everyone but the two girls.
Uriel had her own breathing technique already—one she "derived" from the original taught by her previous Master... which was nearly as effective as the Natural Qi Breathing Method Xu Tao taught the rest.
For Henrietta, there was a breathing method in the first five verses she had deciphered, and she was using that instead. It was something Xu Tao had optimized for her, so its efficiency should be at least five times greater than the others.
Everyone quickly dropped into lotus position and began.
The Virtual Qi in the air began to stir... but as Xu Tao predicted, the density never dwindled below a certain level. He’d noticed this strange phenomenon when he tried cultivating himself—the Qi seemed to come from an infinite supply and never ran out.
He didn’t know that areas were assigned a number from 1 to 10, indicating the "Qi Quantity" maintained there. The Training Ground had a score of 4. It wasn’t high, but it wasn’t low either. Good for someone just starting out.
As he watched them get deeper into their meditation, observing as the Virtual Qi began to get absorbed into their bodies—he spoke.
"Now, focus on the sliver of real Qi that’s mixed with the virtual one. Make sure to grab that, and never let it go."
None replied, but he could tell they heard his command.
Especially Henrietta—the fastest of them all.
A few minutes into their training, the Qi around her began to form a whirlpool. It was almost the same intensity as when Xu Tao first cultivated here himself.
Within that whirlpool, although scattered, he could detect roughly five drops of real Qi mixed in.
Henrietta carefully gathered those spread droplets with each breath, consolidating them within her real Dantian. Minutes passed as she did, and then...
"...! I... Broke through!" Henrietta whispered, shocked.
And she wasn’t just referring to her character—her real body had broken through as well. Not even half an hour had passed, and she’d already reached Bronze Level 3 Cultivation in reality, and Level 5 in the game!
"Good job, my disciple!" Xu Tao praised her.
Henrietta felt proud to be the one progressing fastest among everyone—but soon enough, she’d come to regret her rushing.
"Now that you’ve reached your current cultivation limit, you’ll need to proceed to the next step."
"Yes, Master!" she responded heartily. "Please tell me what to do!"
"Go out there and hunt the dogs around the forest—until you’re level 10!"
Henrietta still didn’t know then... what sort of horrors awaited her.