Cultivation Online

”You want me to join your squad...?” Mei Xiaoyun muttered in a somewhat dazed voice.

”Is it really that surprising?” Yuan smiled at her reaction. ”In this entire world, I trust you and your mother the most, after all.”

”With that being said... since you’ve refused hundreds of invites, you’re probably not ready to join any squad yet.”

”Then why did you even ask?” Mei Xiaoyun frowned slightly.

”I wanted to let you know that option was on the table,” Yuan replied.

”Anyways, I’ll see you later.”

Yuan turned around and continued walking.

However, after taking just a few steps, Mei Xiaoyun’s voice resounded from behind, ”I’ll join your squad.”

Yuan’s movements froze at her words.

He turned around with a smile and asked, ”Can I ask why?”

”I just feel like it,” she said with a casual shrug, seemingly unwilling to answer.

”Good enough,” Yuan said, not going to question further.

”What’s the name of our squad? And how many members do we have?”

”Right now, you’re the only member besides me. As for the name... I haven’t thought of one yet.”

”So... you haven’t even created the squad yet?”

”Nope.”

”...”

Mei Xiaoyun was speechless.

”I’ll let you know once I create it. See ya.”

Yuan disappeared into the training hall the next moment.

”Why did I join...?” Mei Xiaoyun mumbled in a low voice, looking like she was puzzled by her own decision.

”Forget it. It’s not like I have plans to join another squad.”

Mei Xiaoyun shook her head and returned to her living quarters shortly after.

Meanwhile, Yuan entered Simulated Combat and began his fight against the entity on the 46th floor.

Just like before, Yuan’s Eternal Essence was just enough to overwhelm the entity’s.

”I can see it! I can see its movements properly now!” Yuan clenched his fists in excitement when the entity escaped into the void.

”Not this time, you bastard!”

Now that Yuan could follow the entity’s movements through the void, he was finally able to react in time and block its attacks.

After having its attack stopped, the entity immediately tried to retreat back into the void. Unfortunately for it, Yuan could do more than merely track its movements now, as he could also strike it while it was still inside the void.

An immense amount of Eternal Essence surged through Yuan’s arm as he swung it through the air like a blade.

The next moment, the entity was violently forced out of the void after being struck by his attack, screaming in pain.

”Hahaha! That’s more like it!”

Although the attack wasn’t powerful enough to defeat the entity in a single strike, Yuan actually preferred it that way. After being killed by it hundreds of times, he had accumulated plenty of frustration, and now he finally had the opportunity to vent it.

After several minutes and hundreds of exchanges, Yuan finally defeated the entity, clearing the 46th floor.

However, a single victory wasn’t enough to satisfy him, and he immediately challenged the 46th floor again, defeating the entity over and over—hundreds of times—until he had finally vented all of his pent-up frustration.

”Now I just need to clear it at Gaia’s Sanctum,” Yuan mumbled to himself as he left the training hall.

Although Simulated Combat functioned identically to Endless Assault, the two were completely separate systems. As a result, clearing the 46th floor here had no effect on his progress in Gaia’s Sanctum.

In other words, Yuan would still need to defeat the 46th floor in Gaia’s Sanctum before he could advance to the 47th floor and beyond.

As much as he wanted to visit Gaia’s Sanctum immediately, there were only two weeks left before the drill, so he decided to wait until afterward.

Shortly after Yuan left, a commotion broke out in the training hall when the soldiers noticed something different.

”S-Someone just cleared the 46th floor for Simulated Combat!”

”What?! Who?! Who was it?!”

Soldiers swiftly gathered at the ranking board.

[Simulated Combat Rankings]

[1. ???: 46th floor(21seconds)]

[2. ???: 45th floor(84 hours, 42 minutes, 11 seconds)]

”A hidden name? What a pity.”

”A-Am I seeing things, or does that say 21 seconds?”

”It definitely says 21 seconds, but there’s no way anyone could clear the 46th floor in such a short time, especially when the second rank took several days to clear the 45th floor...”

”So you’re saying that it’s a bug? But the system has never bugged out before.”

”When did the ranking change?”

”I noticed it a few minutes ago, and it wasn’t there half an hour ago.”

”Then that person must still be inside, right? Let’s wait and see who comes out.”

Thus, the soldiers began waiting for someone who had already left.

Since the rankings don’t update until the participant exits the waiting room, Yuan’s name did not appear after his first clear, as he had remained inside to challenge the same stage repeatedly.

”By the way, who’s in second place? Their name is also hidden.”

”This is just a rumor, but I heard it’s the Supreme General—the current one.”

”Speaking of the Supreme General, he’s retiring soon, right?”

”That’s what I heard, too.”

”There’s a reason the two Generals are going at each other’s necks right now.”

It didn’t take long for news of the updated ranking to spread throughout the military, with countless soldiers speculating about the identity of this mysterious individual. Of course, nobody guessed it correctly.

”It can’t be him, right...?” Mei Feng muttered to herself after hearing this news.

Even with Yuan’s recent achievement, for him to clear the 46th floor in 21 seconds was too far-fetched for her to believe.

Meanwhile, after leaving the training hall, Yuan made his way to create his own squad.

”Hello, is this where I create a squad?”

”Yes. Do you already have four members?”

”No, not yet.”

”Then for now, you can only register the squad’s name. To officially establish the squad, you’ll need at least four members in total. Have you decided on a name yet?”

Yuan nodded and said with a smile, ”My squad will be named Nine Heavens.”