All living creatures are at their most vulnerable when asleep.
So vulnerable that beings a fraction of their strength can easily kill them.
Just like now.
The black cat crouched low, eyes locked onto Chen Huaian's exposed neck.
It had only recently awakened—if it faced an adult male head-on, it likely wouldn't stand a chance.
But give it more time to recover, hunt a few more prey to replenish its energy, and soon even those four-wheeled iron boxes would no longer pose any threat.
Thinking of those four-wheeled boxes, a flicker of hatred flashed in the black cat's eyes.
Those cunning humans had hidden inside the fast-moving metal shells—when it first encountered one, it didn't know what it was and was nearly crushed to death!
Then revenge… shall begin with devouring this human!
Whoosh—!
The black cat lunged at Chen Huaian, moving so fast it became a blur. Its claws lashed out, leaving crimson trails in the air—
Aimed straight for the neck.
But just as it was about to strike—
ROAR—!
A thunderous dragon's roar exploded inside the black cat's mind, making its vision spin.
Its agile limbs instantly froze, and it collapsed to the ground like a dead pig.
[Ancestral Dragon?!]
[This aura… Impossible!]
Trembling, the black cat dragged itself back onto the bed, shaking its woozy head and staring in disbelief at the man snoring on the bed.
Just now, the blanket had slipped down, revealing half of his back—
On it, a black dragon tattoo bared its fangs and began to slowly slither, the eyes flashing with golden light, radiating majestic power.
As if sensing the cat's gaze—
ROAR—!!
Another roar blasted through the black cat's mind.
It panicked. The dragon tattoo actually leapt off the man's back!
[Oh crap! Is that really necessary?!]
The cat tried to bolt.
But a black-scaled tail with golden edges had already swept it back into the shoebox.
"PAK!" The lid slammed shut.
[AAAAAARGH! Damn it! This human is protected by an Ancestral Dragon!]
Curled up inside the box, the black cat trembled in pain. It felt like its organs were burning, and it coughed up a mouthful of blood.
It had only just awakened and was still weak.
Healing was already difficult in this barren spiritual age.
First it was hit by a speeding metal box.
Then it got grabbed by a damn bird and flown miles away.
And now it had been smacked by a dragon's tail.
Honestly, this last injury might be the worst.
[No, I have to leave. This place is too dangerous to stay…]
The black cat struggled to its feet, swaying—
Then collapsed again, completely unconscious.
Moonlight remained quiet and still.
The dragon tattoo circled the bed once, then returned to the man's back.
Sleeping soundly, Chen Huaian scratched his butt, smiled dumbly, and rolled over.
---
7:00 AM
As the alarm rang, Chen Huaian's hand blindly reached out and grabbed his phone with sniper precision, unlocking the screen before his face even emerged from the pillow—
Eyes rimmed with dark circles.
"Virtual girlfriend, online!"
Inside the cabin, the girl was still seated cross-legged, meditating.
[Status: Cultivating]
[Progress: 7631 / 9999 (Eighth Layer)]
[Remaining Lifespan: 273 years]
[Affection: 60 (Close)]
"Nice!" Chen Huaian sobered up instantly.
Even though he could only afford a mid-tier spirit gathering array last night, Li Qingran's cultivation had jumped multiple levels overnight.
So this was the terror of a Supreme-grade Dantian?
He felt truly proud.
Yes, this game was a money pit, but once you spent—boom! Instant results!
He poked Li Qingran's shoulder.
The battle pass system and a history log popped up.
With each breakthrough, rewards unlocked.
Last night, when Li Qingran jumped from the sixth to eighth layer, she unlocked three golden bags.
Chen Huaian tapped to collect. Three reward sacks appeared on her table.
[Spirit Stone Lucky Bag]
(Chance to get: 1 Spirit Crystal, 99 High-grade Spirit Stones, 999 Mid-grade Stones, guaranteed 1000 Low-grade Stones. Only Li Qingran can use.)
"Eh… mediocre." He wasn't excited about small rewards.
His eyes were on the grand prize for reaching Qi Refinement Completion.
That prize shimmered with blinding purple light—it had to be something good.
[Tideborn Sutra – Low-grade Profound-tier Cultivation Method]
"As the sea rises into the fading night, so too does spring return to the old year."
Originating from the vast ocean, this method absorbs the rhythm of tides and the mysteries of yin-yang.
At mastery, it allows internal tides of energy and resonance with natural forces for near-endless endurance in combat.
(Can be upgraded directly into 'Sea Calming Sutra' once perfected)
"Damn! That's some top-tier stuff!"
Chen Huaian stroked his chin, nodding repeatedly.
He hadn't asked what technique Li Qingran practiced, but it probably couldn't compare.
Games like this always gave trash skills by default—only cash gave the good stuff.
Opening her status page, he scrolled to her current cultivation method:
Chi Yun Sutra – Low-grade Profound-tier
Same tier, but… if Chi Yun Sutra had an upgrade path, then it wasn't worth making her scrap her current level just to switch.
Starting over meant rebuilding from zero.
"Whatever. It's still a good technique. I'll grab it and decide later."
Then he noticed—the Tideborn Sutra wasn't tagged as "Li Qingran-only."
"…Wait. I can use this too?"
A weird thought popped into his head.
Could this be like the Azure Lotus Sword Codex—did he need to learn it first before teaching it to her?
Knowing this game's twisted devs, that was very possible.
"Man, they make it feel like some real-life ascension simulator or something…"
He shook his head, amused.
---
[Your virtual girlfriend's gift has arrived!]
[Your selected loot has arrived!]
Two prompts popped up.
Her gift was, of course, the bracelet Li Qingran made.
The loot came from defeating Ye Futian—a rare item drop.
Options had included:
A fragment of an internal technique: [Demonic Heaven Manual – Part I]
A low-tier magical sword
A damaged mid-tier artifact
A handful of spirit stones
The game let him pick one for the "Reality Loot."
Which obviously meant… another gift from the devs.
Knock knock knock!
Someone at the door.
Chen Huaian blinked, then shot toward it with his crutch like a missile.
Today! He would find out who kept delivering these packages so early!
But when he opened the door—
No one was there.
"…Is the guy a parkour expert or something?"
He looked toward the dark stairwell—no footsteps.
Probably escaped through the window. If so, he'd never catch them in time.
"Tsk. Shy little courier. Fine, run off then."
He pulled his head back in—then saw two boxes at his feet.
One small box with "Qingran's Gift" written on it—just the right size for a bracelet.
The other was over a meter long and labeled simply:
"LOOT."
"Just as I predicted."
He reached down to pick them up—
But the long box was absurdly heavy. His one-handed attempt failed, and it crashed to the floor with a loud CLUNK, leaving a dent in the hotel flooring.
"Holy crap!"
He glanced around guiltily, then dragged a corner of the carpet over the dent to hide it.
Then carefully picked up the box with both hands.
Heart pounding, he whispered in awe:
"What a sword… What a sword!"
"KeKeKe(✧∇✧)…"
Chen Huaian… finally has his own sword.