Princess Jin seemed more concerned about disintegrating the falling debris than trying to find a way out. Of course, it wasn’t like William knew what she was thinking, so that could just be what it looked like from his point of view.
He was completely helpless, with everything depending on what the princess did next. She was holding him in her arms so tightly that the most he could move was his head. Still, even that was limited due to the sudden changes in speed the princess made as she went on a merry destruction spree. Likely having fun with her newly gifted cultivation.
William had experienced plenty of times in this world when he was powerless. The demonic cultivators that had been about to sacrifice him to get that woman a slight boost in cultivation. Daoist Chen effortlessly making an illusion so realistic that it might as well be reality itself. Lan Yin slicing off Cao Rui’s body in half due to his thoughtlessness and cowardice.
There were many more that could be listed, but somehow, having Princess Jin have him in a princess carry nearly topped all of that.
William narrowed his eyes when he saw a small movement in the void, his shame quickly forgotten as he smiled widely.
“Princess!” William said with excitement, “We’re saved!”
“Huh?” Princess Jin casually extended the Qi shroud to vaporize a mass of vines near them, “What do you mean?”
He took a moment to be envious of the princess’s imperious look. Clearly, she didn’t care about the ceiling crumbling above them. Nor the familiar void that was the cause of the deterioration.
William had initially thought it was more trouble, hence his fear, but that changed when he saw the faint outline of a little turtle appear briefly. He only wished the turtle would succeed instead of causing more problems like last time.
“Don’t do anything that’ll make it angry,” William warned before pointing up, “Your ancestor’s creation is here to get us out.”
He saw Princess Jin frown in confusion before looking to where he was pointing.
“What do you mean by crea… THE TURTLE?”
William was gaping in surprise, along with Princess Jin. The Lord Paddlington he knew was a tiny, foolish-looking thing, which made it easy for him to forget the power it contained. That became near impossible when, for some reason, the size of the turtle changed dramatically.
When Princess Jin looked up, it had been at the perfect time to see Lord Paddlington’s face staring down at them. Only, it was no longer in the tiny form that looked harmless. Its face spanned the entire width of the void, which had expanded to take up every bit of the space the ceiling had to offer.
Even though William was fairly confident Lord Paddlington meant to help them, it didn’t stop his heart from skipping a beat in fear. It wasn’t looking at them with its signature gummy smile. There was a severe look on its face. Another thing that he never expected to see on the turtle.
“Is this the same thing that dropped me here?” Princess Jin’s Qi flared around her before she took out her bow and pointed it at Lord Paddlington.
“What are you doing?!” William hissed, “Even if that heart made you stronger, I can assure you that it is far beyond you!”
Princess Jin scoffed, “You think so? Watch this.”
“What the hell!” William yelped as he shut his eyes, turning away from the bow to avoid the searing light from blinding him. The arrow her Qi created looked like it could demolish a large city block, more similar to an artillery attack instead of something from a tiny bow.
The fact that Princess Jin’s bow could handle the power of her new cultivation realm shocked him almost as much as her audacity in trying to attack Lord Paddlington. Her family must have strongly believed in her future to give such a weapon to a cultivator in the Qi Gathering Realm.
Too bad that belief didn’t take into account the princess going stupid once she got some power.
“I DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR THIS.”
William felt like his ears exploded from the sheer loudness of Lord Paddlington’s voice. He had thought the Seedling was loud, but at least the way it communicated was with some sort of telepathy. Lord Paddlington definitely did not.
He opened his eyes when Princess Jin let out a pained grunt to see a massive flipper reaching down from above. As if that wasn’t alarming enough, seeing Princess Jin fighting against the suppression she was obviously feeling, if the dimmed Qi signified anything, made him want to smack her head for being foolish.
“Princess!” William yelled over the roaring Qi around them, “Back down! It doesn’t mean any harm!”
He was ignored. He could only watch helplessly as she used the bow and bolts made of Qi struck the flipper with thunderous cracks.
“YOU WERE FORCEFULLY LIFTED INTO YOUR REALM. THIS WILL NOT HARM CORE FORMATION WEAKLINGS, LET ALONE ONE SUCH AS ME.”
William almost fainted from the length of that sentence. If Lord Paddlington’s personality stayed true to what he experienced, it was playing with the princess. Talking when unnecessary was the definition of wasting time.
When Princess Jin still seemed resolved to resist till the end, and the turtle’s flipper somehow slowed its descent, he had to say something to save his ears and sanity.
“Lord Paddlington!” William yelled from the princess’s arms, “Take us out of here!”
Princess Jin looked at him, almost as if she was betrayed.
“FINE. RUIN MY FUN. I SUPPOSE IT IS NEARLY TIME FOR THE ABOMINATION TO SURFACE.”
William saw the massive flipper disappear, showing a regular-sized Lord Paddlington waving at them with a gummy smile. The next thing they knew, a void opened beneath them.
Princess Jin tried to use her new cultivation to fly away, but her inexperience, along with the void dragging them in, made that impossible. He was happy about that. He didn’t blame her distrust of the turtle, and honestly, he didn’t trust it either, but it was better than being stuck.
They dropped into the void, and the next instant, they were standing on a very familiar surface. After dealing with a fiery hell followed by endless dark tunnels, the desert seemed akin to paradise.
“Er, could you let me down?” William asked after a second when he found himself stuck in the princess’s arms.
Princess Jin almost dropped him as she glared. “So you actually knew the turtle.”
“Obviously,” William said, pleased to use his legs again, “I wouldn’t have told you to stop attacking it otherwise. It’s not like I wanted to die after all the work I did to keep us alive.”
Princess Jin stared a little longer before sighing. “I apologize for not listening. The only thing I could think of was how it took me away from my conversation with the ancestor.”
William pressed his lips thin to avoid smiling and clenched his hands. Even though the princess seemed a little silly, especially if her previous foolishness of attacking the turtle was considered, she was now someone with far higher cultivation. It wasn’t wise to tousle her hair like he wished to.
“It’s alright,” he waved her off, “Lord Paddlington didn’t seem to mind.”
“So… Lord Paddlington, was it?”
William shared a smile with her. It was a ridiculous name, no matter how strong the turtle was.
“It is indeed Lord Paddlington. A name that my master gifted me.”
He stiffened, his smile quickly vanishing as he warned the princess to relax with his eyes. However, he assumed she didn't get his hint when she grabbed him and tossed him away.