Glancing at the time, it was nearly four in the morning. Maintenance was usually scheduled between nine in the morning and noon. Since Jiang Yuan had no classes the next morning, he could sleep straight through until noon!
"Alright, finally hit level 120. Sweetheart, go get some rest!"
Jiang Yuan pulled the hamster pudding into his arms, gently kissed her forehead, and said with a smile.
"Mhm! You should sleep too, you've worked hard!"
The hamster pudding nodded in Jiang Yuan's arms, then pecked him lightly on the lips like a chick pecking at rice before logging off.
"Bro Cangsheng, I'm logging off too. Keep it up!"
After watching the hamster pudding log off, Jiang Yuan opened his friend list, greeted Wen Ding Cangsheng, and gradually withdrew his consciousness from the game.
"I've never pulled an all-nighter in the game before. So tired!"
As his consciousness returned to his real-world body, Jiang Yuan felt a wave of deep fatigue wash over him and couldn't help but yawn.
He quickly washed up in the bathroom, stripped off his clothes in a flash, leaving only his boxers, and crawled into bed.
Within ten minutes, the rhythmic sound of Jiang Yuan's snoring filled the single dormitory.
...
The next day, Jiang Yuan opened his eyes, grabbed his phone, and saw it was already 12:30 PM!
"Damn! Did the servers open?"
Without even bothering to get dressed, Jiang Yuan jumped to the computer wrapped in his blanket, turned it on, and logged into the official *Ten Thousand Realms* website. He let out a sigh of relief!
The update notice read: Due to the large content size of the Celestial Realm expansion, the update time has been extended. Servers are expected to open at 2:00 PM.
Seeing there was still time before the servers opened, Jiang Yuan leisurely got dressed, washed up, and headed out to buy himself lunch.
About ten minutes later, Jiang Yuan returned to the dorm from the snack street outside the university's south gate, carrying a serving of sweet and sour pork ribs over rice.
Sitting back at the computer, Jiang Yuan ate his rice while carefully reading the update notice.
**Celestial Realm Expansion Update Notice:** 1. The Celestial Realm map is now open. Players who have reached level 120 can obtain the ascension item "Nirvana Golden Seal" by accepting the ascension quest. 2. The item "Celestial Crystal Orb" has been removed. The item "Creation Orb" has been added as a material for ascended players to acquire Celestial Foundations. 3. The item "Primordial Spirit Orb" has been added, allowing ascended players to level up their primordial spirit. Every 9 levels of primordial spirit upgrade will trigger a heavenly tribulation! 4. The artifact system is now available. Ascended players can purchase artifacts from the Celestial Realm NPC "Artisan Master" or buy the lottery item "Artifact Blessing Pouch," with a chance to obtain the rare item "Artifact Divine Scroll," which can be exchanged for top-tier artifacts at the Celestial Realm's Artifact Fairy! 5. The flying sword gameplay has been added. Ascended players can purchase flying swords from the Celestial Realm NPC "Skyward Fairy" or buy the lottery item "Dragon Soar Secret Record," with a chance to obtain the rare flying sword "Dragon Soar"! 6. Upon ascending to the Celestial Realm, players will automatically leave the four mortal alliances and can freely join any of the four Celestial Sects: "Azure Cloud Sect," "Imperial Hall," "Qianyuan Sect," or "Longevity Hall."
...
After reading the notice, Jiang Yuan found that besides the new Celestial Realm gameplay, the update also modified some game rules.
Two changes surprised Jiang Yuan the most. First, summoners could no longer ride their own mounts, meaning after the update, Jiang Yuan would need to buy a new mount. Second, a currency settlement system was introduced, allowing game currency to be withdrawn into Dragon Country currency at a certain ratio!
"Wow! Game currency can be converted into Dragon Country currency. Now you can really make money playing games!"
Jiang Yuan had to admit that *Ten Thousand Realms* had put a lot of thought into attracting more players. He could imagine that once the update ended and the servers opened, the newbie village would soon be flooded with tens of thousands of new players!
After barely making it to 2:00 PM, Jiang Yuan immediately started updating the game. The update package for the Celestial Realm expansion was a whopping over a dozen terabytes—no wonder maintenance had taken so long!
By the time Jiang Yuan finished updating the game, another hour had passed. He quickly put on his helmet, eagerly entered his account and password, and a familiar, crisp female voice reached his ears.
"Honored warrior, welcome to *Ten Thousand Realms*! The Celestial Realm expansion has launched spectacularly—hurry in and take a look!"
When Jiang Yuan entered the game and reappeared in the Kunlun Immortal Realm, he looked up and was completely startled!
Above him in the clouds, faint groups of majestic buildings were visible, and ethereal celestial music drifted down from the clouds, giving a sense of transcendence.
"Wow, is this the Celestial Realm?"
Gazing at the world revealed in the clouds above, Jiang Yuan felt a surge of excitement, eager to step onto the clouds and enter!
"Ding! Detected that the player has reached level 120. Do you wish to accept the ascension quest?"
Just then, Jiang Yuan heard the system prompt. Having pulled an all-nighter, he had finally reached the chance to ascend to the Celestial Realm, so he immediately accepted the quest!
"Ding! The ascension quest has been accepted. Please proceed to the Kunlun Immortal Realm's Supreme Moral Lord to receive the subsequent ascension quest!"
Another prompt sounded, and Jiang Yuan couldn't help but grin. The NPC for the ascension quest was actually in the Kunlun Immortal Realm—lucky he had logged off right there last night, hehe!
Opening the mini-map, he checked the location of the NPC "Supreme Moral Lord" and found it was in the northwest of his current area, a place called "Three Pure Preaching Platform."
Following the path past Yingzhou Immortal Mountain, over Penglai Immortal Mountain, and through an area called "Yuan Garden," Jiang Yuan finally crossed a winding stone bridge to reach the Three Pure Preaching Platform.
By now, quite a few players from the four alliances who had fought through the night to reach level 120 were already gathered at the platform, most of them from the top twenty on the level leaderboard.
"Jiang Yuan, I'm over here!"
The hamster pudding in the crowd spotted Jiang Yuan and called out loudly, waving at him.
"You got here so fast? Did you sleep well last night?"
Jiang Yuan quickly walked over to the hamster pudding, took her soft, boneless hand, and asked with a smile.
"Mhm! It was okay. I slept for a few hours. Had a meeting around ten in the morning, then dozed off at noon. Just in time for the update to finish, so I came!"
The hamster pudding smiled, gently scratched Jiang Yuan's palm, and made a playful expression.
"Perfect, let's do the ascension quest together and aim to ascend at the same time!"
Jiang Yuan smiled at the hamster pudding, held her hand, and accepted the ascension quest from the Supreme Moral Lord!