Unlike the classical treasury, he imagined after reading lots of cultivation novels, reality proved extremely disappointing.
Not only were no secret doors blocked by arrays and spell talismans, but the actual 'safe' room where the goods were stacked was also missing in its entirety.
Greeting the person sitting at the desk - apparently the banker - he explained his purpose and scanned his badge.
Except for some fluid resources in high demand between low-realm cultivators, nothing impressive was saved here.
[From what I can see you already have a cultivator account. Would you like me to deposit the amount of 5,000 spirit stones first and later decide what you want to do with it?](Banker)
"...please."
With shattered dreams and a heavy heart, Michael re-entered the elevator after receiving a notification from his banking app.
The stench of capitalism seemed to emanate from his smartwatch, so he closed the app. A moment later, he reopened it, transferred 2,000 spirit stones to his Mother Silvia's account, and patiently waited.
Surely enough, his smartwatch notified him of an inbound call. Caller-id: mother.
"Yes, mom? Did the transfer go through?"
[...](Silvia)
Another sixty-second uphill battle followed, in which he, fortunately, emerged victorious. Then, with 3,000 left in his account, he opened this world's equivalent of Amazon - called Mystery Realm for some reason - and searched the pill section for some goodies.
As he no longer wanted to bother his mother for pills, he had to buy them now.
Seeing the elevator doors open, he calmly exited while closing the app temporarily and then searched for his room.
"Floor 67, room 12... here we go!"
Scanning his multi-purpose badge that also served as a key, he opened the door and was greeted by the type of sight you usually see in five-star hotels or above.
The furniture was luxurious, the open kitchen was state-of-the-art, and his bedroom—just looking at the king-sized bed made him sleepy.
A large bathroom with a jacuzzi-sized bathtub and, finally, a phonically-isolated five-by-five room with only a cultivation mat in the middle.
However, something was off about it...
"Holy sweet baby Jesus! It actually has a 3rd Tier Qi Gathering array!"
He didn't know that because he 'sensed' the Qi density or whatever; instead, he read about it on the flyer left on the door handle.
Furthermore, the cultivation mat wasn't simple either, as it had a mind-clearing function, allowing for a much smoother meditation process.
Pondering for a moment, he felt it made sense. The bigshots of the Bright Moon sect must've realized the potential his Secret Realm had and decided to invest in him.
Why? Because, one, once on the market, he should be able to rake in tens of thousands of spirit stones even if the project fails, and two, if he managed to create such a monstrosity once, he should be able to do it again.
Pausing, he looked around curiously and wondered if his house was bugged. While he didn't necessarily care that much if his conversations were listened to - which they definitely were - and if there were cameras in each room to monitor his actions, he made a mental note not to talk to himself aloud anymore, as it might give away the fact that he's someone possessing this body, rather than an inhabitant of this world.
'That or they'll consider me insane. Not sure which one is more problematic.'
As for the sect attempting to steal his ideas, it wasn't likely. First, even if they were interested, once the project was recognized by the Heavenly Laws, according to the agreement made by the World Cultivation Alliance, all rights belonged to him and him alone.
In the case of his untimely death, the project will fall into the hands of his family next. And even if the sect went bonkers and killed them as well, the next 'owner' would be the World Cultivation Alliance rather than the 'local government.'
So, something like massacring someone's family for a 'treasure' was a foolish idea nobody was very interested in.
However, If the treasure was at the Ensoulment level, that's a different conversation.
Second, from a business standpoint, any 'practitioner' with a positive IQ would agree that it's better to own the Programmer rather than the Secret Realm.
Why? For the same reason, people breed chickens. Don't they lay eggs?
Yes, the meat is tender and delicious once fried, however, can a single dinner compare to eating for a month? What about a year? What about five?
Shaking his head at the foolish thoughts running amok in his mind, he unpacked his clothes and changed into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt.
After considering for a moment, he decided to call his two newly made friends and invite them over.
After getting their agreement, he also ordered some junk food and drinks. Parallel world or not, pizza still stood at the top of the junk food chain!
As for the carbonated drinks... *Cough* He was wealthy, but he wasn't willing to spend 100 spirit stones on a one-liter bottle of orange-flavored Clear Spring Water.
Even though the taste was said to be 'spectacular,' it had the same mind-clearing effect as his cultivation mat.
Nu-uh! It wasn't the time to throw money around just yet.
Showing off his cool apartment was more than enough.
While waiting for the food and guests to arrive, he reopened the Mystery Realm app on his smartwatch and began purchasing some pills needed in his day-to-day cultivation.
"First, let's grit our teeth and buy a set of Tier 3 Marrow-Cleaning pills. Let's see... 10 pieces in a bottle, price... 500 spirit stones. *Sigh* I knew what I should expect, but still..."
Marrow-Cleansing pills were a special type of 'consumables' with a limit. Once the body ingested more than ten, it would create a resistance to it, decreasing its effectiveness by 80% or more.
In Michael's case, two of the recipes Mother Silvia knew were the Tier 1 and 2 Marrow-Cleansing pills for Qi Gathering and Foundation cultivators, respectively.
The reason why he made the progress he made with his shitty spiritual roots was due to her feeding him these pills.
'Judging by the previous host's memories, after enduring excruciating pain, impurities will be expelled from your body, with a slight chance of the pills affecting the spiritual roots as well. As for that percentage... for Tier 1 pills was less than 0.1%, for Tier 2 was around 1%, and for Tier 3, 10%. In other words, I have ten 10% chances to remove impurities from my spiritual roots and possibly upgrade the grade of my shitty potential.'
If his luck couldn't keep up, he could only wait until he reached the Foundation realm and his body was able to digest Tier 4 pills.
Apparently, Tier 4 Marrow-Cleansing pills have a 20% chance of affecting the roots, making it more likely for cultivators to succeed.
Curiously searching for 'Heavens' Breath,' he found three results, each valued at 20,000 spirit stones or higher.
Cursing aloud once, he returned to his own dimension stricken by poverty and sought some high-grade Qi Gathering pills, as well as five bottles of Qi Recovery powder.
The Qi Gathering pills could help speed up his cultivation process, something he sorely needed. Even with her Tier 2 Alchemy and late-Foundation realm cultivation, Mother Silvia couldn't create anything higher than mid-grade pills.
This was mainly attributed to her low-level Alchemy Legacy, poor-quality cauldron, and cheap-grade spiritual flame.
'A high-grade Qi Gathering pill works for one hour and can improve my efficiency by 40 to 50%. As for Qi Recovery powder, I can make tea or simply mix it in water, and it will help me recover Qi 35% faster when meditating. One bottle should last me for about a week if used at a normal pace.'
The cost for a set of Qi Gathering pills was 10 spirit stones, so he directly bought 40 sets. As for the Qi Gathering powder, the five bottles are 20 a piece, bringing the grand total to 500.
Adding the Marrow-Cleansing pills he already added to his shopping cart, 1,000 spirit stones were cleared with the push of a button.
Moorosely watching as his finances decreased to 2,000 spirit stones less than ten minutes after getting his 'salary,' he couldn't help but feel the evil intentions of this world.
Fortunately, Nolan and Selina arrived, and after giving them a quick tour of the house, the food and drinks were also served.
[I gotta say, I'm surprised with how well they treat you.](Nolan)
[Mhm. I heard from my mother that the minimum duration of a contract a trainee is usually signed for is at least 25 years. Furthermore, the resources allotted to them rarely move past 1,000 spirit stones.](Selina)
"In that case, you should learn from me and break out of this boring pattern of normalcy. Unlike me, your families are much wealthier and can support you better. If I could take the risk, so can you."
Eating the pizza and drinking the beer—both made with normal ingredients—Michael felt life returning to his body.
Especially the cold drink. It felt like the nectar of the gods!
The meeting lasted about three hours, during which Michael offered advice to the two people on how to improve their Secret Realms and make them more appealing to the audience.
His advice wasn't focused on the technical details but rather on the idea they wanted to sell.
Surprisingly, after seeing his demo, Nolan wanted to try adding the option of the user commanding a small number of troops, even if the overall theme of the Secret Realm remained 'demonic invasion.'
"It's not a good idea to scrap your entire project, so I suggest focusing on a small number of people first. Like, say... five people other than the user. Then, since you can't over-complicate yourself, add the option to control the general actions of these five people with vocal commands. As for the exact actions, you decide on your own. I haven't watched a lot of videos on commanding forces on the frontlines, so I can't help you there."
[Commands... five people and a leader... something like a striking force. I can even set different missions so it doesn't get boring or repetitive, as the people only keep complaining about existing Secret Realms. Hahaha! This is great! Once I go back, I call my dad and ask him how I can make this happen with fewer resources. Thanks, Michael!](Nolan)
The feeling of being recognized and HEAVILY patted on the back by a slightly intoxicated cultivator three realms above you was... indescribable.
Selina also curiously asked for some tips, and not knowing the general direction she wanted to take, Michael suggested adding the possibility of users building small fortifications and setting traps while waiting for the demon forces to attack.
[Huh... To make things more interesting, I could decrease the number of people beside the user considerably. That way, they couldn't attempt to fight them head-on. I could even try sending the user alone to face a small battalion, where he has to use his wits and traps to decrease the number of enemies on a set route they would follow.](Selina)
Watching the grinning Selina with a strange face, Michael couldn't help but think of both tower defense and Fortnite-type games.
If she could succeed with this Secret Realm as a prototype, her next project should be something to look for.
After the two people left, Michael took the elevator to the reception desk and signed for his package. The pills he ordered were delivered swiftly, courtesy of the highly developed technology in this world.
When he returned, he was slightly worried about the Secret Realms his two friends might create and how they would probably affect his share of the market in the future.
Moments later, he smiled.
'Unlike games I recreate in this world, even if I want to play them, the feeling would not be the same as trying something entirely new. At my core, I'm not a game developer but a gamer that's copying other people's work. Am I not doing this so I can play the same games I did on Earth, but with a MUCH better resolution and game design?'
Changing back into his shorts—he would've let it all hang if not for his worry that cameras might be spying— and unpacked his goodies, cautiously removing them from the beautiful packaging.
Each Qi Gathering pill set consisted of a small bottle containing ten pills. The pills' golden color showed off their high grade, and when Michael briefly opened one of the bottles to sniff, he could instantly feel the Qi in the air much better.
The shit-brown color of the Qi Recovery powder, on the other hand... well... he would try it later.
'And finally la pièce de résistance!'
The round red pills, pretty much shining through the glass of the bottle, made Michael gulp involuntarily.
Yes, their results are incredible. However, the pain they inflict is equally ferocious.
Since it was only 3 p.m., he temporarily set the Marrow-Cleansing pills aside, knowing that once the first one entered his belly, he wouldn't be capable of working anymore today.
'Let's put some work in first. Let's focus on items today.'