Chapter 363: If I Don’t Enjoy Life Now, What’s the Point of Cultivating for Immortality?

When Mrs. Gu woke up, she came out and grabbed Gu Jia’s wrist, asking excitedly, "Your brother’s awake? Quick, take me to the hospital! I want to go to the hospital to see your brother!"

Gu Jia calmed his mother down. "He’s awake, yes, but it’s not what you think."

He had his parents sit down and briefly explained what was happening inside the game. To make it easier for them to understand, Gu Jia had also taken the time to learn quite a bit about the game himself.

"So that’s the situation. If we want to contact him, we can pass messages through Ah Xi. She got back to me and said our brother is in the game, and we can get in touch whenever we want."

Mr. and Mrs. Gu couldn’t understand at all. "How is that possible? How could Gu An be ’alive’ in a game?"

Mr. Gu still thought Gu Jia was joking. "What kind of game can accomplish something that even modern medicine couldn’t? A game did it? Stop messing with your mother and me!"

Mr. Gu could be stubborn about certain things, and Gu Jia understood his disbelief. "I’ll send a message to Ah Xi," he said. "We’ll see if we can get our brother to start a livestream for us. We can see and talk with him that way. We can’t meet him face-to-face yet, not unless we enter the game too."

This was where the game’s livestreaming feature came in handy.

Other players started livestreams to show off the scenery of the Yunzhou Continent.

Gu An could start a livestream through the game to let his family see his state.

However, Gu Jia had also learned that the credentials for livestreaming weren’t easy to obtain; the required game points would cost someone in the real world a hundred thousand.

For a new player in the early stages of the game, this represented a considerable amount of support.

But transactions could be made in the real world, so Gu Jia could simply have Gu Yunxi buy the credentials for Gu An.

*

Inside the game, the large batch of new players who had just entered were all being guided by veterans.

Jingque True Man also happened to return at this very moment.

Jingque True Man hadn’t maintained a youthful appearance. She had lived for a very long time, and on the surface, she looked like a kind, benevolent middle-aged woman.

She wasn’t stunning, but she possessed an air of serenity and peace.

When she returned to Wang’an County, she was astonished.

The Wang’an County of today was nothing like it had been.

Aside from the dusty gray city walls, the entirety of Wang’an County had been completely remodeled on an urban scale.

For now, there were no fantastical designs; instead, a standardized layout had been adopted, dividing every district with neat, orderly streets.

It was standardized to the point of resembling rows of tofu blocks.

Shops of various sizes lined every street.

The original residents of Wang’an County were now concentrated on two main streets, while the rest of the land had been requisitioned by the Longevity Sect for building various workshops and public facilities.

The entire place therefore had the bustling feel of a massive infrastructure project.

In truth, however, most of the construction was already complete.

The two main streets were wide, and the shops retained a neat, classical style, mostly built from natural wood.

The dark brown timber lent the area an authentic, traditional atmosphere.

But modern elements were also integrated. For instance, walking into some of the eateries, one could see various shelves fully stocked with goods.

All of which customers could pick up themselves.

Supermarkets had also opened—amenities designed for the convenience of the local residents.

As Jingque True Man stood there, she could understand most of what she saw; it was simply difficult to process all at once.

The changes in Wang’an County since she had left were simply immense.

The message she had received summoning her back had included the urgent news about Su Huanli’s trouble, and it had also mentioned in passing that Wang’an County had undergone great changes and was now basically managed by the Longevity Sect.

The Longevity Sect, in Jingque True Man’s memory, was just a subsidiary sect established by that disciple—who had only been in the Foundation Establishment Stage at the time—to pursue his own dream.

’It’s... actually developed this much?’

She had sensed something from the message, but it seemed she hadn’t prepared herself enough.

And clearly, the Sect had hidden quite a few things from her as well.

Yet Jingque True Man wasn’t angry, because she could sense that these changes weren’t necessarily a bad thing.

She walked into a barbecue restaurant and found that the chef in charge of the grill was, to her surprise, a Cultivator.

She couldn’t tell from his clothing whether he was a disciple of the Longevity Sect or the Feique Sect. As Jingque True Man approached, he greeted her enthusiastically. "Welcome, welcome, valued guest! What can I get for you? We just got in some grilled giant squid, and of course, we have the classic grilled lamb skewers, chicken skewers, and more..."

There was no seafood anywhere near the Feique Sect.

There wasn’t even an ocean, so where would seafood come from!

It was all thanks to the players who managed to ’smuggle’ their way out, leading to a disciple discovering a sea region and shipping the seafood back from there.

And it wasn’t easy to get, either. The ocean regions were even more dangerous for Cultivators. One disciple had managed to infiltrate a small sect stationed by the sea and was now able to get his hands on large quantities of seafood.

And this particular disciple was one who had joined the Taixue Sect.

Players were foodies; for a delicious bite, they could summon a hundred times more motivation than they ever did for their Cultivation.

And thus, grilled squid appeared.

Jingque True Man hesitated. ’I understand ’barbecue’... it’s just grilled food.’

’She’d had grilled chicken before, and the taste was quite ordinary.’ She then said, "Give me one low-grade spirit stone’s worth of grilled squid and lamb skewers."

"You got it!"

The player replied cheerfully.

Jingque True Man noted that his cultivation wasn’t low. ’A disciple in the Foundation Establishment Stage is actually working as a mortal chef here?’

’It was truly absurd,’ she thought, so she asked aloud, "You’re in the Foundation Establishment Stage. How can you be working as a Mortal World chef here?"

The player had clearly heard this question before. "It’s no big deal. I just enjoy it."

The skewers were ready in no time, and the rich aroma scattered Jingque True Man’s thoughts.

Grilled squid was difficult to transport and available only in small quantities, so its price was currently quite high. Three skewers of squid and five skewers of lamb cost one low-grade spirit stone.

For perspective, a single low-grade spirit stone had enough purchasing power to feed a mortal family for ten to fifteen days.

To make transactions easier, the players had already invented a form of scrip for use within the Feique Sect, though it hadn’t yet been mass-produced.

Once trade routes between several sects were opened, these tokens would begin to be issued on a larger scale.

The overwhelming aroma kept Jingque True Man from thinking too much. The moment she took a bite, she discovered it was unusually delicious.

It was pristine seafood, untouched by modern industrial pollution, so fresh that one couldn’t detect the slightest fishy smell. It had been prepared perfectly.

Paired with modern seasonings, it was a total game-changer.

Jingque True Man was utterly stunned.

"I already told you, when the Sect Master gets back..."

Su Huanli was coming out of a cake shop with Shui Ping when she saw Jingque True Man, and her words died in her throat.

Jingque True Man also recognized them as disciples from her own sect.

Shui Ping, who had only recently been found, was melancholically chewing on a cream bun. Su Huanli, by contrast, was in high spirits.

She instinctively hid the cake she was eating behind her back—

Due to some of the strict rules of the Cultivation World, disciples weren’t supposed to have excessive contact with mortals—a rule they had now thoroughly broken.

Disciples of the Feique Sect, who in the past might not have left the mountain even once in a fortnight, were now buying huge bags of snacks just to go out and fight a demon beast.

And don’t even ask why. The answer was always what the Longevity Sect disciples said: If you don’t enjoy life while you have it, what’s the point of Cultivation and seeking longevity?