223 Accept Your Punishment, Gloria! [Three-in-One: Please Subscribe!]

There are many types of cultivation pods.

There are large, semi-virtual cultivation dojos that typically require at least a hundred square meters—ten by ten meters—simulating various authentic environments through holographic five-sense light screens, allowing physical entry for cultivation. This type offers the best results.

There are also helmet-style mini cultivation pods that simulate various cultivation environments through light-electric signals from retinal and brain-computer interfaces. These are much like video games; the cultivation effect is average, at best allowing one to gain insights into a "Dao" or quickly pick up a specific skill. They only form cerebral memory, not muscle memory.

The cultivation pods on the *New Leonin* fall somewhere between the two. They are three translucent hibernation pods containing brain-computer interfaces, acupuncture-style muscle chips, and spiritual pulse interfaces connected to the navel dantian. They can form cerebral memory, muscle memory, and dantian spiritual pulse memory—cultivating the heart, the body, and the Dao!

In a small room of no more than ten square meters, three vertical cultivation pods can be easily laid out. Though their cultivation effect is not as good as a virtual dojo, their small footprint and far superior performance compared to cultivation helmets make them the most common training equipment on high-end long-distance starships.

The cultivation pods on the *New Leonin* are located right next to the bathing cabin. People must bathe both before and after cultivation. Lu Chen was escorted to the bathing cabin by Golia, who kept her sword pointed at him the whole way. Golia and Aili had already finished their showers. Lu Chen was also eager to begin.

Golia sheathed her sword. "You go take a shower first. Aili and I will head into the virtual pods to wait for you. Tonight is a beautiful night, and I will perform a little surgery on your behalf, courtesy of the Madam, that you will never forget for the rest of your life."

Lu Chen snorted coldly, not intimidated in the slightest. "Hah, no one can defeat me in the virtual world. I’m going to turn you into a real woman in the cultivation pod!"

Golia slammed the door as she left. Lu Chen hurriedly showered, got dressed, and arrived at the cultivation pods. By this time, Golia and Aili had already stripped off their clothes, wrapped themselves in a layer of pale cyan cultivation film, and entered their pods, floating in the translucent cultivation fluid. Their bodies were pierced with various fine needles, and cyan and red intertwined spiritual patterns flickered between the needles and the inner walls of the pods.

Lu Chen stood before his pod, carefully observing Golia and Aili. He hadn't expected them to be so "cyberpunk." Not wanting to be outdone, he immediately put on his cultivation film. His pod automatically laid flat. Lu Chen opened the protective cover, closed his eyes, and sank into the cultivation fluid. The cover closed, and various needles pricked into the back of his neck, his limbs, and his navel. The pod then automatically shifted to a vertical position.

A white, translucent light screen appeared before Lu Chen's eyes. "Welcome to the Lianzhong Cultivation Pod!"

As far as Lu Chen knew, Lianzhong was the third-best-selling cultivation pod brand in the Empire, but it lagged far behind the top two giants, which was why it offered free collaborations with civilian ships like the *Feiangdi*.

"First time entering, please enter your cultivation name."

Lu Chen moved his consciousness and filled in the blank: "Lu Chen."

"Would you like to use your real-life image to begin cultivation?"

"Yes."

"Are there any weapons you need to synchronize into the cultivation pod?"

"The Demon-Slaying Sword and a laser gun."

"Demon-Slaying Sword and laser gun replicated... Connect to the Wide Area Internet?"

"No."

"Accept Golia's local area connection?"

"Yes."

Immediately, the welcome page slowly dissipated like dust. Lu Chen skipped the virtual lobby used for selecting cultivation sites and entered directly into the Yunlan Sect where Golia and Aili were. According to the settings, the Yunlan Sect was an ancient cultivation sect and reportedly the most popular map in Lianzhong cultivation pods.

The Yunlan Sect consisted of seven peaks that pierced the clouds: Sword Head Peak, Spirit Mastering Peak, Myriad Law Peak, Vajra Peak, Alchemy Peak, Artifact Casting Peak, and Soul Refining Peak. The main practices were Sword Dao, Beast Mastering, Spells, Body Techniques, Alchemy, Artifact Crafting, and Soul Arts.

The place where Golia had dragged Lu Chen was the Sword Terrace on the back mountain of Sword Head Peak. Golia and Aili, dressed in sky-blue Daoist robes, had been waiting there for some time. Lu Chen arrived wearing indigo robes. He looked around. Clouds swirled, cranes flew, and the other six peaks were vaguely visible amidst the clouds. The Sword Terrace was large, paved with bluish-white marble, backed by a bamboo forest, and facing a solitary pine tree and a sea of clouds.

The autumn wind was chilly, bamboo leaves danced, and the sound of the wind was constant. Lu Chen felt a slight coolness and the presence of spiritual energy penetrating his skin. He felt exceptionally refreshed. He squinted for a long time, but could not see any jagged edges or pixel points with his naked eye; he couldn't find a single detail flaw in the virtual world. Yet, for some reason, he still felt a bit like he was daydreaming... he felt somewhat lightheaded.

Golia, in her blue robes, stood with her long sword in her arms, possessing the heroic temperament of a female swordsman. Reasonably speaking, voluptuousness is the antithesis of "immortal" grace, but she was tall enough, with a sturdy and well-proportioned figure that perfectly suited the attire and the surrounding immortal mountains; she was breathtakingly ethereal. Golia’s gaze was haughty, swirling with ethereal sword energy.

"If I don't beat you two into the ground today, you won't know who the head wife is on this ship, and who the big sister is!"

Beside them, the petite Aili looked like a cute, newly initiated apprentice. "I'm just here to watch you and the Captain spar, Sister Golia."

"Call me Senior Sister!"

Lu Chen felt as if he had entered a brand-new game, but his mind was not on the two women. "Isn't the first thing you do upon entering a server to explore the map?"

Aili patiently explained, "Captain, this is a cultivation pod, not an online game. The area we can move in is very small, but within this local range, the simulation of our physical strength, spiritual power, and five senses is very high, which facilitates more efficient cultivation."

Lu Chen remained curious. "Even if the range is small, we should still look around, right? Since it's a cultivation map, there should be a master or a library or something, right?"

Golia rolled her eyes at him. "That’s a paid service for online connection."

Lu Chen could tell by her expression that she would never spend a penny on that. However, if he put in some effort, he might be able to get it for free. He didn't lock horns with Golia immediately but wandered around Sword Head Peak. On the entire mountain, only a few small maps were open: the Sword Master Pavilion, the Sword Technique Pavilion, the Sword Repository, and the back mountain Sword Terrace. Everything else was just exquisite wallpaper.

On the Sword Terrace, besides the three of them, there were a few fellow disciples of Sword Head Peak practicing. Among them were a Level 50 Senior Brother, a Level 40 Senior Sister, and a Level 30 Junior Brother. The three could serve as free sparring and challenge targets. Their modeling was exquisite, and their movements were lifelike. Unfortunately, as long as the challenge or sparring mode wasn't activated, they were just wooden dummies. They wouldn't answer any questions or provide feedback on your actions.

However, the basic physics engine was online. To test this, Lu Chen walked up and touched the Senior Sister’s fair hand and her not-so-imposing chest. Though the Senior Sister remained indifferent, Lu Chen felt the realistic sensation.

"Physics, full marks!" Lu Chen said excitedly. Mentally indifferent, but physically reactive—this perfectly matched some of the