So in certain fields, virtual screens still dominate, while only specific areas truly belong to virtual reality. Not everyone likes that unreal, illusory feeling.

David Parker, feeling a bit dizzy, appeared at the main hall location of Sanxitang.

‘Shaolin Temple’

Every time he saw this plaque, David Parker always felt the urge to laugh. Even though he had participated in the design and planning of Sanxitang’s virtual reality environment back then.

He didn’t know who insisted on designing the main hall as a temple. And not just any temple, but such a famous one. The classical and elegant environment was nice, but it just looked a bit silly.

Sanxitang’s space was roughly divided into six major sections: the surrounding mountains and rivers, the central building area, each member’s private space, the main hall’s grand martial arts arena, the forbidden zone, and the outer connection port that every information center area must have, which was designed like an ancient website homepage.

For ability education, David Parker chose ‘virtual design’, so three years ago when Sanxitang was being re-planned, David Parker participated. However, the design theme wasn’t set by him. Now, applying for virtual space is inexpensive, and the standard of living in society is quite good. At China Wide-Area Space Company, applying for ten million square kilometers of virtual space costs only six hundred international currency units per year.

Since Sanxitang kept its membership streamlined, even though it also applied for China Wide-Area Space Company’s package deal: ‘Ten years, only 4,500 international currency units for ten million square kilometers of virtual space,’ it only opened up 1,800 square kilometers of virtual space near the main hall.

But even though only a tiny fraction was opened, for Sanxitang with just a few hundred members, it was more than enough.

Stepping onto the bluestone steps, David Parker hadn’t even entered the mountain gate when he happened to see ‘Uncle’ strolling out. ‘Uncle’ was his nickname, not because he was actually that old.

At first, David Parker liked machine driving and extreme racing virtual games. The places he frequented weren’t here, but the Photon United Guild, the predecessor of the Virtual Sports Grand Alliance. But now he was more obsessed than anyone with so-called ‘ultra-modern martial arts research’. That was because it was ‘Uncle’ who had dragged David Parker into Sanxitang in the first place. He could be considered his mentor, so later on, Uncle always called himself David Parker’s ‘instructor’ in front of others.

‘Uncle’ was not only one of the earliest founders of Sanxitang, but also one of the thirteen members of Sanxitang’s highest decision-making body, the ‘Elder Council’.

‘Hehe! David Parker, what brings you here? I really missed you! What about the thing you promised to give me last time?’

‘Huh? We’ll talk about it later. I need something from you.’

David Parker felt a headache just looking at Uncle’s immortal-like appearance. He knew that the so-called ‘Uncle’ was just what everyone liked to call him. In reality, ‘Uncle’ wasn’t that old, because David Parker knew for sure that ‘Uncle’ was only two or three years older than him.

Just as Uncle stroked his beard, David Parker made a stop gesture.

‘Even though your avatar looks like a man in his fifties or sixties, don’t try to fool me, I’ve had enough.’

‘Heh! You’re never satisfied with my classic martial arts master look. I’ll design a few more next time.’ Uncle was also a master of virtual avatar design and had contributed to Sanxitang’s construction and planning. It’s just that David Parker never really agreed with his taste.

‘David Parker, just tell me what you need, I’ll definitely help you. Do you want me to lend a hand in a fight? Just say who, and with Uncle’s skills...’

‘Stop! Stop!!’

‘It’s this nagging of yours that really makes you seem old. I want to enter the forbidden zone, make the arrangements. Only you thirteen elders have the authority to open it.’

‘Oh? You’ve turned seventeen?’

‘Uncle? What’s wrong with you?’ Seeing the seemingly absent-minded ‘Uncle’, David Parker hurriedly called him back.

‘Huh!? Oh, nothing. I was just contacting a friend, I have something to take care of. I’ll give you the access code, but you can’t change it. And? No one else can know about it either. I’m off.’

Although Uncle was indeed only a few years older than David Parker, he had already left his student days behind. It seemed he had work to do, so Uncle left in a hurry.

‘Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!’

David Parker was overjoyed.

David Parker’s Sky Eye received a set of codes, which he immediately stored in his own intelligence core. Watching Uncle disappear into the void, David Parker had no time to worry about the ‘old man’s’ business and strode into the main hall of Sanxitang.

The advantage of virtual space is that you don’t have to worry about real-world environment or funding issues. A building covering six hundred square kilometers would be enough to go down in history in reality, called the XXth wonder. But in the virtual world, it was just an insignificant little ‘information center area’.

David Parker, who was extremely familiar with this place, found Uncle’s secret room in just a few turns. Although he ran into a few acquaintances along the way, they just greeted him as he came in, and no one bothered him.

The Grand Hall, the Sutra Library, the Arhat Hall, the Bodhidharma Hall—walking along, David Parker actually felt like he was on a sightseeing tour. Even though he knew that the template here was neither the Putian Shaolin Temple nor the Songshan Shaolin, but the illusory worlds from various martial arts novels.