Cultivating in Online Games

Chapter 67 - Rounder Face

In the afternoon, Ye Zhou had a small argument with Ye Jian. Of course, it wasn’t a heated argument, and Ye Jian didn’t dare to upset Ye Zhou too much. He just advised him not to take the game too seriously.

“I’m not taking it too seriously. It’s just a game,” Ye Zhou said, sitting up straight, stubbornly responding.

Ye Jian was very concerned and repeatedly stressed that he should hurry back to Jiuchuan City. After finishing his cross-border meeting at noon, he would join Ye Zhou to play through the dungeon together, striving to level up to 40 and tackle the Yao Ling Tiger Fang dungeon as soon as possible.

Ye Zhou wasn’t very interested in playing dungeons with his cousin that afternoon. He had many plans, such as shopping and arranging the Xing Chui Peak. He felt these tasks were more important than leveling up, and he was eager to do them.

“I’ll be online at 3:30 this afternoon after my meeting. We’ll tackle the level 30 dungeon then. Do you understand?” Ye Jian repeated when Ye Zhou didn’t respond.

“Let’s talk about it then,” Ye Zhou replied perfunctorily.

After ending the call, he tossed his phone aside and lay back on the bed, feeling resistant to Ye Jian’s words.

At this moment, the nanny and caregiver came in. The nanny placed the food on the table, and the caregiver approached to help Ye Zhou sit in the chair.

Smelling the aroma of the food, Ye Zhou realized he was hungry. He patted his stomach and, with the caregiver’s help, sat up, asking, “What delicious food did you make today?”

The caregiver, who was very familiar with how much strength was needed to support Ye Zhou, found today unusually easy.

“Xiao Zhou, don’t eat yet. Let me help you lie back down, and then we’ll get up again,” the caregiver said.

“Why?” Ye Zhou wondered but obediently allowed the caregiver to lower him back down.

When they were just 5 centimeters from the bed, the caregiver boldly let go. Ye Zhou should have naturally fallen onto the bed due to gravity. The bed was soft enough that he shouldn’t get hurt.

After the caregiver let go, Ye Zhou, instead of falling heavily into the bed, lay down as naturally and smoothly as an ordinary person would.

The caregiver helped Ye Zhou up again, but this time only halfway and without exerting force. Normally, without support, Ye Zhou should have collapsed onto the caregiver’s arm. To the caregiver’s surprise, Ye Zhou naturally sat up by himself.

Caregiver: “…”

“What’s wrong?” Ye Zhou, still not realizing he could use his torso muscles, picked up his chopsticks and looked at the caregiver with a strange expression.

“Call the doctor!” the caregiver said decisively.

The family doctor arrived quickly and conducted a series of tests on Ye Zhou, confirming that he could suddenly use his upper body.

Previously, Ye Zhou could only use his hands. The rest of his body had no sensation.

He usually used a fully automatic wheelchair, securing half his body to the chair and adjusting various buttons to help him lie down or sit up.

However, during the argument with Ye Jian at noon, Ye Zhou had no idea that while he should have been lying in bed, he sat up several times and lay back down multiple times all by himself, without mechanical assistance or anyone’s help.

The movements were incredibly natural, as if he had never been paralyzed. He felt no discomfort, so he was completely unaware.

“Why has his body recovered so quickly?” Ye Zhou’s father asked with joy and anticipation.

The doctor shook his head, “I’m not sure. His condition should be incurable. It’s good enough that it hasn’t worsened. But recently, he has suddenly regained his appetite, and now he has sensation above his waist… Have you used any new medications?”

“No,” Ye Zhou’s father said, “We have been using conservative treatment.”

The doctor said, “That’s strange. His illness is not physical. According to all tests, his bones, muscles, and nerves show no pathological changes. The problem was that his brain lost control over his body’s functions. Normal people have innate instincts for eating, sitting, lying down, standing—these are biological instincts. He seemed to have lost these instincts, and the brain did not send these commands. But now, it seems to be slowly recovering… Has he recently done something that might stimulate his brain?”

Ye Zhou’s father looked at his usually obedient son and said, “He lives a very regular life. The only change is that he started playing a new holographic game.”

The doctor looked at Ye Zhou, “Did you do anything in the holographic game?”

Ye Zhou, feeling puzzled, said, “Not much. Just like all players, I connect my brain and run and jump freely in the game. I’m physically limited in real life, so I’m really happy to be able to play in the game.”

As he spoke, he looked at his father hopefully, wishing his father would agree to let him continue playing and extend his game time.

Ye Zhou’s father had a sudden insight, “His brain lost control over movements like walking and standing, which are instinctive and cannot be taught. Could it be that running and jumping in the game somehow guided him to recover these instincts?”

The doctor replied, “There is currently no scientific evidence that holographic projection technology can assist in restoring limb functions. Such neural connection technology has been used in medicine for years but hasn’t awakened patients who have been in comas for years. This seems to be an exception.”

Ye Zhou quickly followed his father’s guess, “If I increase my game time, is there a possibility of gradual recovery?”

The doctor said, “Playing too long may cause nightmares. You must go to sleep by 10 p.m.”

“What if I play until 10 p.m.?” Ye Zhou tugged at his father’s sleeve and looked up at him.

Father: “… After logging off at 6 p.m., rest for an hour. Log in again at 7 p.m., and you can play until 9:30 p.m. You must go to sleep by 10 p.m. Try this for a week. If you have nightmares again, you cannot play during these two and a half hours in the evening.”

“Thank you!” Ye Zhou hugged his father’s arm happily.

Ye Zhou’s father also reminded the doctor that this was a personal health issue for Ye Zhou and asked him not to disclose it to others.

The family doctor, bound by confidentiality agreements with clients, naturally agreed to keep the information private and responded professionally.

With permission granted, Ye Zhou quickly forced himself to sleep at noon. In the afternoon, when he logged in, he saw that Dugu Xiaobao was still waiting for him at the same spot. Ye Zhou joyfully ran up and spun Dugu Xiaobao around, saying, “I can now log in openly from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.! I can level up and tackle dungeons with everyone!”

Dugu Xiaobao’s expression stiffened a little as he was picked up. He said as calmly as possible, “Why is the time extended suddenly? Is your health better?”

Ye Zhou didn’t tell Dugu Xiaobao the specifics of his condition, only saying he had been unwell. Although he was overjoyed, he still tried to hide his condition and simply said, “Yes! I’ve been eating well and sleeping soundly. My dad allowed me to play a little longer!”

Dugu Xiaobao smiled faintly, knowing that as Ye Zhou’s soul gradually recovered, he would become healthier and eventually be able to sit up from the wheelchair and walk and run freely.

Taking advantage of the good news, Ye Zhou naturally carried Dugu Xiaobao around the mountain. With Dugu Xiaobao nestled in his arms, Ye Zhou felt deeply satisfied.

For some reason, he felt as if he had longed to do this, and his heart was filled with the joy of fulfilling his wish.

Dugu Xiaobao’s expression grew increasingly awkward. He struggled a bit and said in an uncomfortable child’s voice, “You can put me down now.”

Seeing him struggle, Ye Zhou reluctantly let him go.

Dugu Xiaobao seemed quite embarrassed, his cheeks flushed. He turned away and, with an air of maturity, said, “Let’s go down the mountain to buy some things.”

“Oh,” Ye Zhou replied, noticing that Dugu Xiaobao’s previously disheveled hairstyle was now neatly arranged, not a strand out of place. He asked, “When did you secretly style your hair?”

“Of course, while you were offline,” Dugu Xiaobao replied, having styled his hair like an adult.

Ye Zhou chuckled inwardly and took Dugu Xiaobao’s hand to the teleportation array at Xing Chui Peak. After the second part of the main storyline, a new teleportation array had appeared at Xing Chui Peak, allowing direct travel to Jiuchuan City, as if the system had prepared it for them.

Upon arriving in Jiuchuan City, Dugu Xiaobao had grown taller and had transformed back into Dugu Zhuo.

What was once a pair of hands joined between a child and an adult now became two adults, creating a bit of awkwardness.

Ye Zhou quickly released Dugu Zhuo’s hand as if shocked, and looked regretfully at his face. “You changed back as soon as we came down the mountain…”

Dugu Zhuo sighed with relief. Clearing his throat and finding that he could produce a normal adult voice, he said, “I think, given the game’s time flow, Dugu Xiaobao’s form wouldn’t last much longer. He would grow up quickly.”

He recalled how, after arriving at Xing Chui Peak, he had grown taller and his voice had deepened, becoming more hoarse. During that period, every time Ye Zhou saw Dugu Zhuo, he would involuntarily frown, which Dugu Zhuo took to mean Ye Zhou disliked him.

Now, seeing Ye Zhou’s expression, it was identical to how Ye Zhou looked when seeing him as a teenager.

It seemed that Ye Zhou didn’t actually dislike him but was regretful—regretful that Xiaobao had grown up too quickly, as if emerging from seclusion, and that he could no longer enjoy the round face of a child.

Dugu Zhuo pinched his brow, realizing that he had a deep misunderstanding of Ye Zhou in his past life.

Had it not been for coming to this game world, this misunderstanding might never have been resolved.

Turning his face away, Dugu Zhuo said, “If it’s not too much trouble, we could train at Xing Chui Peak every morning. Our teammates rarely come online in the morning anyway. If we can’t find a team for dungeons, we might as well stay at Xing Chui Peak and enjoy the scenery.”

“Sure!” Ye Zhou agreed immediately.

They first withdrew some silver and spirit stones from two shops. Some items on their shopping list required spirit stones, while others needed silver. With Ye Jian helping them earn money, they were completely financially secure.

Dugu Zhuo checked the account and saw that they already had several million silver. However, the increase in spirit stones was much slower.

As more players reached level 30, the demand for foundation-building pills had decreased significantly since they became ineffective at level 30.

“It seems that in the future, we should make fewer foundation-building pills and add a new type of pill that improves cultivation for levels above 30,” Dugu Zhuo said.

“Are there such pills?” Ye Zhou asked.

Dugu Zhuo replied, “Of course, but relying on pills for cultivation can lead to instability in the state of mind, making it difficult to overcome the tribulations and mental demons of the Golden Core stage. This is a concern for cultivators, though it’s unclear if players face this issue.”

“Less monster hunting and unfamiliar skills might make players vulnerable during tribulations,” Ye Zhou said.

“That’s a point,” Dugu Zhuo agreed. “When I reach the Golden Core stage, I’ll personally try the game’s tribulations and mental demons and then decide whether to make new pills.”

After withdrawing the money, Ye Zhou bought not only the items on their list but also a lot of meat, seemingly planning to cook extra for Dugu Xiaobao to help him gain weight quickly.

Dugu Zhuo wanted to remind Ye Zhou that weight gain in the game isn’t influenced by eating, but considering the game system is likely part of Ye Zhou’s residual soul and can adjust NPC parameters, the system might help adjust the data if Ye Zhou wanted Xiaobao to gain weight.

It probably… wouldn’t, right?

With this question in mind, Dugu Zhuo and Ye Zhou started their daily routine: cooking meals themselves in the mornings at Xing Chui Peak and leveling up with friends in the afternoons and evenings.

About half a month later, when their friends reached level 39, Dugu Xiaobao, who was at Xing Chui Peak, looked at himself in the mirror and saw that he had indeed gained weight!

**Author’s Note:** Ye Zhou looked at Xiaobao every day: “Why aren’t you gaining weight? Hurry up and get fatter!”

System: Adjusted data. Dugu Zhuo: Gained weight!