A Fated Encounter

"B-Boss Xian Yu, I'm getting the hang of it!"

"Keep it up, the song's almost over."

Xian Yu watched on as Xiangling could be seen using a spear-like blade of light, although it lacked a head, so it was more just a long pole than anything. At this time, she was moving quickly, slashing down the red and blue blocks that rapidly approached her.

It didn't take long at all for Xiangling to get the general idea behind Beat Saber, it wasn't exactly a difficult game to understand after all. She did use the normal two swords at first, but she was obviously more proficient with weapons like polearms.

Unlike in the normal version, there were three more difficulty levels added to this version. The difficulty levels in this new version were as follows.

● Easy

● Normal

● Hard

● Expert

● Expert+

● Master

● Insanity

● Hell

To describe the three added levels, Master would require someone with some superhuman reaction and movement speed, so lower-end Vision holders who have above-peak human physical abilities. Insanity would require more experienced and powerful Vision holders, and Hell steps into the realm of Adepti and gods.

If you were just a normal human being, even with a lot of experience in Beat Saber, you probably wouldn't be able to even last any more than three seconds max within the Master difficulty level.

At the present time, Xiangling was playing through a Master difficulty level. Even for her, who had been trained by one of Liyue's adepti, was being hard pressed as her arms were beginning to tire very quickly under the ridiculous barrage.

While there were a number of blocks that managed to get passed her, there weren't enough to the point that she'd fail the level. Looking towards the timer, Xian Yu could see that she had only a few seconds left before the song was over.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"I did it!" Xiangling gave a loud cheer as the storm of blocks finally ended. Her arms dropped down as they dangled side to side, despite it being a virtual body, she could feel the exhaustion. "B-Boss Xian Yu, I finally managed it!"

"Congrats, it's honestly impressive it only took you four tries." Xian Yu smiled as he congratulated her. He then watched as Xiangling exited the game, thus her real-life self waking up and taking off the visor. "So, how do you feel about the game?"

"It's amazing!" Xiangling smiled brightly as she responded. Getting up from the chair, she took out her membership card before blinking curiously. "What are these GGC Tokens? I was told in the game that I earned four after leaving."

"Oh, those tokens will be very useful in the future. Just keep a hold on them." Xian Yu chuckled as he gave his vague answer. Though, it did seem to ignite Xiangling's curiosity. "You get a single token for every hour you play."

"I see... wait, hour?! I've been here for four hours?!" Xiangling seemed to widen her eyes in shock before dashing towards the window. Looking outside, she could see that the sun had indeed shifted a good amount. "Ahh, my dad's going to be angry! I gotta go, Boss Xian Yu!"

"Will I be expecting you again?"

"Definitely! I'll come back whenever I can. Bye, Boss Xian Yu!"

"See ya."

With that, Xian Yu watched as the cheerful chef rushed out of the store with haste. He could only chuckle before walking back over to his desk, his first customer since coming to this world was certainly an interesting one.

"I wonder if any others will come today..."

Xian Yu honestly wasn't too concerned if there weren't. He knew a business had to start slow, it was only a matter of time. All he needed was something to get the ball rolling, and perhaps Xiangling will turn out to be that ball.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

True to his thoughts, Xian Yu didn't see any other customers coming in for the day. Though as stated before, he wasn't at all deterred, it was just a matter of time. For now though, he had one thing he wanted to focus on.

And that was his cultivation.

At the current time, his body was no better than that of the average human male, and it felt honestly uncomfortable being so powerless. Therefore, he could currently be seen seated on top of his bed, which was located on the second floor of the store.

He was seated in the typical lotus position, his eyes closed as his body didn't appear to be moving even a centimeter. This was because he was in deep focus, his attention entirely on trying to unlock his spiritual veins.

Spiritual veins were essentially the roots of both the person's body and soul, the very foundation on which cultivation can be done. If you can't even unlock them, then there was no hope for that person to start cultivation.

It didn't take long at all before various golden lines began to appear on Xian Yu's body, they faded into existence before gradually beginning to glow brighter and brighter. They easily shone through his clothes, and the sheer number of them was a headache to count.

"Just like master said, a reincarnator's veins shine a brilliant gold..." Xian Yu muttered as he opened his eyes to inspect his body. He could feel the faint traces of Qi flowing through meridians. "I wonder how fast I can progress now..."

From what he knew, when an individual manages to reincarnate, they're gifted with special veins that allow for easier and greater cultivation. He could tell that these veins far surpassed his previous ones, so he was naturally curious.

Closing his eyes once more, Xian Yu immediately began to take in the surrounding Qi within the atmosphere. He was pleasantly surprised to find that the amount of Qi in the air was quite abundant, though he supposed that shouldn't be a surprise since he doubted cultivators existed here, or at least not many.

Though, if they weren't going to use it, then he'd be happy to oblige.

As the rivers of Qi were sucked into his body, Xian Yu could feel his cultivation rising rapidly, and after only a few moments of meditation, he could already feel himself reaching the peak of the first stage of cultivation, the Qi Condensation realm.

As for the refinement of the Qi he absorbed, it was a simple task for him as he had done so many times in the past. Of course, refining Qi within the later stages naturally becomes harder, but in early stages like this, it was a complete joke for him.

Before he knew it himself, he had reached the breaking point as his eyes snapped open, revealing a pair of pure golden eyes that flashed continuously. His whole body then gave off a bright flash, though it only lasted a few seconds as the air around him became a bit chaotic.

"Already broke through, huh? These veins really are ridiculous..."

In his past life, he was already considered quite the genius prodigy, but even then it took him a whole week to finally break through the first realm. Yet here he was, having already accomplished that in mere seconds of cultivation.

He didn't stop there though, Xian Yu continued to absorb the available Qi within the area here to the point that it had begun to dry out completely. He continued doing so before he already found himself reaching the breaking point of the second stage.

During this uprising, he simultaneously refined all of the Qi to properly mold itself into his body, greatly strengthening his overall foundation. If their foundation is too weak, they could suffer greatly if they overload themselves with too much Qi.

"Just enough..."

Xian Yu's eyes opened again as the same burst of light as before erupted from his body, causing the winds around him to become violent as they violently shook multiple items within the room around.

Once it all calmed down, Xian Yu stepped off of his bed before looking down at the great golden aura that radiated off of it from every limb that made up his body. In tandem with the even brighter visible veins, he truly looked majestic.

His body too had gone through a few changes, his hair had become far smoother and slowly fluttered in an invisible wind. On top of that, his skin had become far clearer and smoother, along with his muscles becoming more compact and defined.

"There was just enough to break through the second stage." Xian Yu voiced as he then suppressed the energy around him. The aura around him quickly disappeared, along with his veins. However... "I need to get rid of these impurities, breaking through twice within doing so the first time was a bit of a mistake..."

Xian Yu wrinkled his nose a bit as he saw that, despite suppressing his energy, strands of purple and black mist were coming off of him. He could feel it gradually disappearing, but he'd rather just get rid of them quickly.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Xian Yu woke up very early in the morning, not because he had something important to do, but because it was just the time that he had always been used to waking up at. The same seemed to be true for the residents of Liyue as well.

Looking around, he could see a number of other people who had woken up just as early as himself, perhaps even earlier. Considering how business-oriented this nation was, it wasn't too surprising to see people up and early to prepare their stores.

At the present time, Xian Yu stepped out of the shop before making his way over to the restaurant next to his shop. This was of course the restaurant belonging to Xiangling's family, he had told Xiangling he'd visit her place of work at some point, so might as well do so to get a bite to eat.

"Good morning, I hope I'm not too early."

"Not at all, please take a seat!" The person that responded was a middle-aged man with slicked-back black hair, along with having a few wrinkles on his clean-shaven face. "You wouldn't happen to be Xian Yu, are you?"

"Hm? Do you know me?"

"Actually, it was my daughter that told me about you when she returned yesterday. You look exactly like she described." The man responded as he looked at Xian Yu curiously. "Oh, my apologies. My name is Mao, a pleasure to meet you."

"You already know my name, but for proper etiquette, it's Xian Yu. The pleasure is all mine, sir."

"Xiangling told me some strange things about your shop, some unbelievable things as well. Though, my daughter isn't one to lie, so your business must truly be unique." Xian Yu didn't give a direct response, merely shrugging his shoulders with a smile. "In any case, what would you like?"

"Hmm... just give a specialty of yours. I haven't been in Liyue for long, so surprise me."

"Of course! I'm sure you won't regret it!"

"Dad, are there customers?"

"Oh, Xiangling! Come on out, your friend is here!" After Mao said this, the familiar face of Xiangling popped up from the back area of the restaurant. Her eyes blinked in confusion. "This young man is the one you mentioned, right?"

"Oh, Boss Xian Yu!" Xiangling immediately perked up upon seeing who the visiter was. She quickly skipped on over before placing her hands on the counter. "I'm so glad you came! Would you like to try my new slime dish?!"

"Slime dish?"

"Xiangling, please do not start feeding your new friend your strange creations!" Mao quickly interrupted with an uneasy look on his face. With a sigh, Mao then gestured toward one of the tables. "Why don't you get him seated? I'll immediately start preparing his order."

"Okay." Although a bit disappointed, Xiangling nodded her head. She then felt a tap on her leg, to which she looked down to see a familiar cream-colored bear, one that was no taller than a child. "Oh, Boss Xian Yu! This is my good friend Guoba!"

"Lululu~!"

"Oh? Nice to meet you, Guoba. I'm Xian Yu, a pleasure to meet you."

Hearing this, Guoba merely smiled cheerfully before nodding.

Xiangling quickly guided Xian Yu over to one of the empty tables, which wasn't at all difficult considering he was literally the only customer right now at the restaurant. After getting comfortable, Xian Yu looked to see Mao already working in the kitchen.

While he had gotten used to eating in more luxurious restaurants in the past, he had to admit that eating in a common restaurant like this felt quite peaceful. The morning wind along with the silent atmosphere right now really made him feel at peace.

"Oh, Ganyu! Here for breakfast again?"

"Y-Yes, please excuse me."

Curiously, Xian Yu turned his attention upwards upon hearing the voices. When he did, he saw Xiangling guiding another female who looked more his age over to one of the other tables, one of the ones that seemed to be more hidden away from the others.

The female wore an exotic pair of clothes, though he couldn't care less about that, his attention was more drawn to the pair of horns he saw on her head. While a bit hidden by her long light-blue hair, they were still quite visible.

'Wait, this Qi...' Xian Yu couldn't help but widen his eyes as he felt the breath of this girl's Qi radiating off of her. His eyes narrowed slightly as he cupped his chin curiously. 'It feels similar to the Qi used by immortals, but her power doesn't match with that status.'

He was no stranger to immortals, in fact, he was previously one. The Qi he felt from this Ganyu person had a similar breath to the immortals he knew, but the level of power he felt didn't match, it felt way too weak to be an immortal.

If he were to gauge it, this person's power matches more to that of a cultivator at the mid to late stages of the Spiritual Refinement realm, which was the fifth out of six realms within the Mortal echelon.

'Perhaps cultivators in this world are fundamentally weaker than in my old world...' Xian Yu thought to himself. After all, he didn't know everything about this world, not at all. 'Whatever the case, this person doesn't seem to have any nascent souls either. Was she unable to form any nascent souls? That would explain her poor level of cultivation, though that doesn't explain the immortal Qi...'

Whatever the case, Xian Yu decided to ignore it for now as he turned his attention down before closing his eyes. As soon as he did, Ganyu happened to then turn her attention over to him after Xiangling finished her talk with her.

Ganyu seemed to widen her eyes after sensing the faint trace of familiar power coming off of the young man sitting a few tables away from her, and if she were to compare it to somebody... it was similar to the energy Shenhe had.

While Ganyu hadn't interacted much, if at all really, with her junior. Her few encounters with the disciple was enough for Ganyu to remember her energy, the mortal energy that allowed Shenhe to utilize adepti arts despite not being an adepti herself.

'Did one of the other adepti take on a disciple?'

From what she knew, the only ones who have taken on disciples were obviously Cloud Retainer and Madame Ping, otherwise known as Streetward Rambler. If any others have, then she certainly hadn't heard about it.