Mark wasn't in a hurry to head to the Enchanted Woodlands. Although his endurance stat was already high, he wanted to make sure that he would be prepared for unforeseen situations.
"I should cultivate for the next 2 days and wait until I become a Second Level Body Strengthening cultivator before heading out to the forest. At that level, I should be able to preserve my life even if I encounter a strong mystical beast." After making a decision, Mark went into a meditative position. He began to absorb the Qi around him.
+ 1 Qi
+ 1 Qi
+ 1 Qi
In the next two days, Mark was focused on cultivating. He only took short breaks when it was time to eat.
After two days, a prompt appeared in front of him.
[You have absorbed the required Qi for a breakthrough!]
[You have reached the Second Level of Body Strengthening!]
Mark impatiently checked his attributes after reading the notification.
Player IGN: Wolf of the Grassland
Cultivation: Second Level Body Strengthening
Physique: Mortal
Qi: 0/200
Wealth: 388 —> 330
Vitality: 1.7 —> 2.7
Endurance: 5.1 —> 6.1
Strength: 2.1 —> 3.1
Stamina: 1.7 —> 2.7
Speed: 1.5 —> 2.5
Spirit: 2.9 —> 3.9
Cold Resistance: 1.3
Heat Resistance: 1.3
Damage: 1.7
His wealth dropped to 330 after spending 58 Orbes on his meals. Meanwhile, all six of his main stats increased by one point.
Mark stood up and clenched his fists. He could feel strength coursing through his body. He even felt that he could smash the wall with his fists, a feat that was impossible for his real body. This was simply a unique experience and he didn't even want to return to his real body.
"I still have a few hours left before I will be forcibly logged out of the game. I should head to the market to buy some food and hunting supplies." Mark muttered to himself. Last time, he didn't bring any food with him which embarrassed him in front of his teammates. Luckily, they were kind enough to offer him their extra food or he would have to forage some food from the forest to get something to eat.
Mark spent 150 Orbes to buy a week's worth of food and supplies. His wealth quickly dropped to 180 Orbes, making him smile helplessly.
"It's fine. This is just an investment. I can earn back everything after I hunt some mystical beasts." He consoled himself.
[You have been forcibly logged out from the game!]
Mark returned to reality and the familiar feeling of weakness made him smile bitterly. He took off the gaming headgear and stood up in front of the mirror.
Upon seeing his reflection, Mark shook his head. "This won't do. I have to at least train my body to a more optimal condition. If I continue with this sedentary lifestyle, I might be afflicted with a serious illness in the future." He muttered to himself.
Thinking about this, Mark grabbed his phone and searched for some training equipment online. He still had a little bit of cash. Although he was unwilling to use his money, he felt that it was necessary to invest in his health after seeing the condition of his body.
He still had eight thousand dollars left in his bank account, but after ordering a bunch of gym equipment, he was only left with a little more than five thousand dollars. His last salary from his job in the pastry shop would be sent soon so he wasn't worried about his bills and expenses for the next month or two.
Since he had decided to start his physical training, Mark followed the routines of a famous online celebrity. He didn't have any equipment at the moment so he only did the most basic exercises like pushups, situps, planking, and a few others.
This was the first time he had exercised after a long time. His body wasn't used to it and he was quickly exhausted. Even so, he pushed through his limits and completed the whole routine.
The muscles on his body felt like they were going to break. His legs wobbled with every step and he even almost lost his footing. "Dammit! I never thought that exercising was this hard!" He gritted his teeth as he prepared his lunch.
After eating his lunch, Mark went to the bathroom and took a cold bath to help his muscles recover faster. Of course, he learned this from the online celebrity. The guy was famous and he had a good reputation as a professional bodybuilder so Mark followed his advice.
To his surprise, his muscles no longer felt as sore as they were earlier. Although there was some slight discomfort, it was now manageable.
Mark went to the official website of Ethereal Co. to check the player forum. More and more players posted their experiences in the game. According to the data posted on the website, the number of players had already reached a staggering 550 million! Only three days have passed since the game was released. The speed of its growth stunned everyone and even those who were hesitant to try the game were having second thoughts. If this trend continues, Mark believes that the number of players might surpass 1 billion next year!
Suddenly…
"What the hell!" He exclaimed in shock. His eyes were glued to the screen of his phone. He noticed that the value of Orbes had already risen to 700 dollars per 1000 Orbes!
Mark could no longer afford to remain calm. He knew that this was only happening because the game was still in its early stages. Once the players earn more Orbes and become more familiar with the game, the value of the in-game currency would drop significantly.
Mark had to earn more in-game currency while its value was still high or it would be too late for him to earn a lot of money.
Thinking about this, Mark decided to check if someone had any information about the Enchanted Woodlands.
After typing in the words 'Enchanted Woodland' in the search box, several posts appeared on the page.
Mark carefully read each one of them, hoping that he would discover something valuable. However, most of the posts were only about the adventures of the players. They didn't even say anything about the mystical beast they encountered or the spiritual plants they discovered. Only some posts had relevant information.
There was one post from a player called Choas 1996. He said that he discovered a spiritual plant in the form of a flower. It was icy blue in color. Its most distinctive feature was its eight petals that were shaped like swords. He said that the closer he got to the flower, the colder the temperature dropped. He even described it as if he was inside a freezer. Choas 1996 said that he wanted to get the flower, but it became increasingly harder for him to get close to it because of the cold temperature. In the end, he gave up on taking the flower and left that part of the Enchanted Woodlands. He wasn't very specific with the location of the flower, but he did mention that it was near the central part of the Enchanted Woodlands.
Mark furrowed his eyebrows upon reading this post. "Is this true? If it's true, that means this guy was teleported in the central part of the Enchanted Woodlands. His luck is even worse than mine, but did he manage to escape that treacherous forest?" He knew that there were numerous powerful mystical beasts in the central parts of the Enchanted Woodlands so it was impossible for a low-ranking cultivator to survive that place.
There were many comments on the post saying that Choas 1996 was just lying, but for some reason, Mark felt that the guy was speaking the truth.
"If it was me, I wouldn't post it online since it would expose my location to many people. Unless he wants to lure other people… Just what is this guy planning to do?" Mark was bewildered, but he was certain that Choas 1996 had some motives for posting this online. Whatever it was, it had nothing to do with him since he didn't plan to head deeper into the forest.