I might have been playing a fake cultivation game.

After a long while, Chen Xin'an's reply finally appeared: "I'm not as lucky as you; I failed my breakthrough."

Zhou Yun Shen paused for a moment, then typed: "It's alright. I'll rest for a few days, then try again. I'm sure I'll break through."

In this world, there is no heavenly tribulation when breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage, so there is no possibility of being struck by lightning and killed. Furthermore, for aristocratic scions like Chen Xin'an, there are precious Yuan-Stabilizing Pills to protect their souls, so even if they fail to break through, their souls will not suffer too much damage.

In this situation, failing to break through is not really a serious matter.

Just take some time to recover, and you can start over.

Chen Xin'an: "Okay, when are you free? I'll send someone to pick you up."

Zhou Yunshen: "Let's do it now."

Chen Xin'an: Okay.

After ending his conversation with Chen Xin'an, Zhou Yunshen switched the interface to the "Hell Trial Strategy Group".

The group was quite lively, and before long, there were 99+ messages again.

At this moment, the group chat is filled with a row of welcome pictures for the new members.

"So, another Foundation Establishment player has joined the group?" Zhou Yunshen also followed suit and posted a picture welcoming the newcomer, then checked the number of group members.

Goodness, it hasn't been long, and the group already has 42 members. Excluding the 3 administrators, that means there are 39 Foundation Establishment players.

He remembered that when he joined the group, there were only 33 Foundation Establishment players, including himself.

In other words, in the short period of time since he joined the group, six more Foundation Establishment players have joined.

It is foreseeable that, as time goes by, the number of Foundation Establishment players joining the group will only increase.

Administrator AnAn @Guardian Vivi: "Newcomers, please change your nickname in the group. The format should be your country name in the game, plus your in-game name."

Administrator Bai Qing tagged Zhou Yunshen: "Mr. Zhou, could you please describe in detail the appearance of the monster you saw at the end of your Hell Trial?"

Zhou Yunshen replied: "Okay."

As he carefully recalled the events, he typed: "This monster had a bird's head and a human body, wore silver armor, had black feathers, and its head resembled an eagle's. It flew with wings. I don't know if it had any weapons, because it didn't make any movement at the time. I just felt a sharp pain in my head and then lost consciousness. I personally speculate that it used a mental attack."

Administrator Bai Qing: "Thank you."

Zhou Yunshen: "You're welcome."

One hour later, in the game world.

In a quiet courtyard of the Chen family mansion in Luchuan Prefecture, Zhou Yunshen and Chen Xin'an met a Golden Core ancestor of the Chen family.

Despite being called an ancestor, this person looked to be only forty or fifty years old. He had his hair styled in a Taoist bun, and his face was somewhat thin. He was drinking tea in the pavilion, with an incense burner burning beside him, wisps of smoke rising from it.

"Ancestor, I've arrived with my men." Chen Xin'an's voice was still childish, and he simply cupped his hands in greeting to the Chen family patriarch.

Zhou Yun Shen, however, dared not be so casual. He lowered his eyes, bowed respectfully to the Chen family patriarch before him, and said, "Greetings, True Lord."

In this world, Foundation Establishment cultivators are respectfully called True Persons, while Golden Core cultivators are generally respectfully called True Lords.

The Chen family patriarch rose with a gentle expression, walked to Zhou Yunshen, reached out to help him up, and said with a smile, "Young friend, there's no need to be so polite. Ming'er has mentioned you to me more than once, saying that you are an unparalleled genius. Seeing you today, I can confirm that you are indeed extraordinary."

He paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "It is an honor for my Chen family that you would deign to serve as a guest elder in my family, young friend."

Zhou Yunshen quickly said, "Please don't say that, Master. It is my honor to be a guest elder in the Chen family."

He was astonished.

Is this Chen family patriarch so kind and approachable?

This is quite different from the image of the aloof and indifferent Golden Elixir True Lord that he had imagined.

After leaving the secluded courtyard, Chen Xin'an led Zhou Yunshen to collect the items that the guest elders could receive.

After walking along the corridor for a while, Zhou Yunshen transmitted his thoughts to Chen Xin'an, saying, "Your ancestor seems quite approachable."

Yes, divine sense can be used to transmit sound; it's just a small trick in using divine sense to allow one's voice to reach the other person's soul directly.

After hearing the telepathic message, Chen Xin'an glanced at Zhou Yunshen with some surprise.

After realizing what he meant, he chuckled and lowered his voice, saying, "Approachable? He only seems approachable in front of you. I am a reincarnation of a powerful being, and so are you. This old man dares to put on airs in front of others, but he wouldn't dare to do so in front of people like us."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yunshen's face showed a thoughtful expression.

It turned out to be like this...

At the same time, he was somewhat surprised by Chen Xin'an's caution.

Even in this secluded place, Chen Xin'an remained wary of being overheard, speaking so subtly and refusing to reveal the identities of the two players.

As a guest retainer of the Chen family, one can receive specially provided guest retainer attire.

This is no ordinary clothing; it's practically a magical artifact, impervious to swords and spears, and immune to water and fire—of course, this refers to ordinary swords and ordinary water and fire.

The robe is made of dark blue material and is embroidered with intricate patterns. The front and back are embroidered with menacing black dragons.

The black dragon is the emblem of the Chen family of Fucheng. The black dragon pattern can be found on the carriages of the Chen family and on the cuffs of the servants' clothes.

In addition to the robe, Zhou Yun Shen also received a dark blue guest elder token, which can also be considered a magic treasure, containing a defensive spell.

Besides that, there are silver and spirit stones.

The monthly salary of a guest of the Chen family was three hundred taels of silver plus three spirit stones, while Zhou Yun Shen received six hundred taels of silver plus six spirit stones.

Seeing Zhou Yunshen's doubts, the Chen family's head of distributing the money politely said, "Zhou, the patriarch specifically instructed that you are a noble person and a good friend of the young master, so you deserve double the salary."

Zhou Yunshen nodded upon hearing this and said, "Please thank the True Lord for me."

He was naturally clear about the purpose of the Chen family patriarch; this double salary was an investment in his potential.

An hour later, Zhou Yunshen returned to his own courtyard.

"Young Master." Uncle Liu opened the door for him, his attitude respectful.

Zhou Yunshen nodded and said, "Uncle Liu, have Dashan come to my room. I'll test his spiritual root."

Upon his return, he borrowed the spirit-testing platform from the Chen family, intending to test the spiritual roots of Zhou Xiaoya and Dashan.

He is now a Foundation Establishment cultivator and has the ability to arrange some things for Zhou Xiaoya and Dashan.

Upon hearing this, Uncle Liu's face immediately lit up with joy, and he quickly said, "That brat Liu Shan went to the market to buy things, I'll call him back right away."

Not long after, in Zhou Yunshen's room, a white jade plate emitting a faint glow was placed on a mahogany table.

Liu Shan and Zhou Xiaoya stood beside the table, nervously watching the white jade plate.

"Which of you two wants to go first?" Zhou Yunshen asked.