Chapter 2001: Yu Rou's True Feelings

Chapter 2001: Yu Rou’s True Feelings

“Brother!”

Unable to contain herself, Yu Rou subconsciously threw herself into his arms, wrapping him in a tight embrace, years of longing and emotion pouring into that single, desperate gesture.

“Y-Yuan?!” Bai Lianhua exclaimed in a shocked tone, her eyes wide with surprise.

Xia Jingyi swallowed nervously, her face slightly red after seeing Yuan’s handsome face.

“I’m sorry it took this long to see you guys again,” Yuan said as he caressed Yu Rou’s back, who was only a head shorter than him now.

“…”

Yu Rou didn’t respond—she simply held him tighter, burying her face into his robes as if afraid he might vanish if she let go.

“You were unable to log off Cultivation Online for several years, right? How is your body right now?” Bai Lianhua asked since it seemed like Yu Rou wasn’t going to speak.

“My body is fine. If I weren’t a cultivator, it would’ve been dangerous.”

“So that is your real body, correct?”

“Correct,” he confirmed.

“Does this mean we won’t be able to see you on Earth again?” Bai Lianhua continued to ask.

“For now, but it’s not like I cannot return to Earth ever again. Unfortunately, I don’t know when that will happen. It could take years if not decades before I get to return safely.”

Yu Rou’s body trembled at such words.

Yuan noticed this and looked down, but he wasn’t sure what to say.

Yu Rou suddenly lifted her face from his chest and looked at him with tears flowing down her face.

“Brother… What if I want to come to the Nine Heavens?” she asked.

“That’s…” Yuan became speechless.

While he was certain the Celestial Emperor would do everything in his power to prevent him from returning to the Nine Heavens if he visited Earth, he wasn’t sure how the Celestial Emperor would respond to others attempting to enter the Nine Heavens.

After a moment of silence, Yuan finally spoke. “That’s not a decision you make on a whim. Choosing this path means giving up the life you’ve known—it’s not something to take lightly.”

“I know that!” she shouted.

“…”

After a brief pause, she continued softly,

“When you first left home with Meixiu, I realized just how much I hated being apart from you. Every day felt like a small ache. But I endured it, because, back then, I could still see you often enough.”

“But after you moved to Dragon Spiral Mountain and I joined the Eternal Lotuses… we’ve barely seen each other at all. Then you couldn’t log out of Cultivation Online… and now it’s been over half a decade since we last saw each other.”

Her voice trembled as she continued, “I can’t do this anymore, Brother. It’s become too much for me to bear. You’re the only family member I have left…”

“Yu Rou…” Yuan didn’t know what to say.

He shifted his gaze to the others, who shook their heads in silence.

After a moment of silence, Yuan sighed and said, “If that’s what you really want, I won’t stop you. However, it’s going to take some time to open the gateway between our worlds again, so you’ll have to wait until then. In the meantime, I’ll try to visit you as much as possible.”

Yu Rou nodded.

“Okay…” she mumbled.

Once Yu Rou had calmed down, they gathered around a table, and Yuan began recounting his experiences over the past few years, sharing the long and winding journey that had kept them apart.

However, aside from Yu Rou, the others struggled to focus, still caught up in the weight of her earlier outburst. None of them had noticed her pain before since she had always carried herself with quiet strength, acting composed and independent.

Even Meixiu, who had always been the closest to Yu Rou, had failed to see the loneliness hiding behind her calm demeanor. It wasn’t until recently, when Yu Rou had finally stopped pretending, that Meixiu began to see her pain.

Once Yuan finished recounting his journey, Yu Rou and the others began recalling theirs.

Bai Lianhua would spend most of her time and effort growing her faction both on Earth and in the Nine Heavens, while Xia Jingyi focused on improving her zither techniques, even joining a music sect for three years.

As for Yu Rou, cultivation had become her only escape from the loneliness she carried. She immersed herself in it for most of her days, using it as a shield against the emptiness, hence why her cultivation had surpassed even Bai Lianhua, being at the 7th level of Spirit Lord. On occasion, she took on monster extermination quests—not for merit or recognition, but simply to vent the emotions she kept buried inside.

“Brother, it’s been a while since you last saw Snowy, right? Do you even remember her?”

“Oh, that tiger cub from back then? I remember.” He nodded.

“She’s grown a lot since then, and she even saved my life many times.”

“Come out, Snowy.”

Yu Rou suddenly called.

In the next moment, a towering figure emerged from Yu Rou’s dantian and appeared at her side. No longer the small, adorable cub from years past, Snowy had grown into a majestic white tiger—massive in size, and with a fierce and commanding presence.

“Wow, you’ve really grown.”

Surprisingly, Snowy’s cultivation was at the peak of Spirit King, an entire realm stronger than her own master.

“…”

However, the moment Snowy laid eyes on Yuan, she instinctively shrank back, her massive form trembling ever so slightly—an involuntary reaction born of instinctual reverence.

“Snowy? There’s no need to be afraid. This is my brother. Don’t you remember?” Yu Rou was quite surprised by Snowy’s reaction. In fact, she’d never seen Snowy acting nervous before, much less afraid.

Seeing this, Yuan smiled and said, “She must be reacting to my bloodline.”

He suddenly retrieved a glass vial that contained his blood and offered it to Yu Rou.

“Feed her this. It’ll help her grow.”

“This… is blood?” Yu Rou looked at the vial with interest and confusion, wondering why Yuan wanted her to feed Snowy blood.

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