“He’s so precious!” Wang Mei had her hands extended to William’s apparently pinchable cheeks, and she would have been doing that if Lan Yin hadn’t been holding her back.

“I’m sure you mean handsome,” Lan Yin corrected after noticing William’s mortified look, “Right, Wang Mei?”

“Huh?” Wang Mei blinked in confusion before seeing what Lan Yin hinted at, “Right! Your Junior Brother is so handsome!”

William mentally cursed his unmanageable emotions as he tried not to feel emasculated. Wang Mei treating him like a plush doll was bad enough, but Lan Yin trying to soothe his embarrassment was even worse. Still, he had to admit neither of them was incorrect.

Unsurprisingly, William had avoided looking in the mirror ever since he had dreamt the memory of his death. He would remember the dead eyes of this body before his soul had been shoved into it every time he had glanced at a mirror, but that had apparently been fixed.

Perhaps it was the two human lives he had taken with his own hands that made him somewhat desensitized, or maybe being the butcher of bunnies and its gory result helped him accept death.

Whichever reason it was, William could stare at himself in a mirror without his dead eyes pushed to the forefront of his mind. He observed his appearance carefully for the first time since he arrived in this world and had to admit that Wang Mei was right when she said he was precious.

William didn’t know how to feel about having the delicate appearance he had commonly seen with the male cultivators. At the very least, the baby fat on his face was disappearing to reveal the sharp lines that would be defined when he became an adult. It was obvious that he would grow into a handsome man… or maybe that was his bias talking.

However, the one thing that wasn’t biased was that the Sect’s robes looked fantastic on him. He still looked like a child dressed up in formal clothing, but that didn’t mean he looked terrible. It was the same soft green shade as the one Lan Yin and Wang Wei were wearing, but the symbol on his shoulder was different.

William had a gold, unfilled circle on his right sleeve, while Lan Yin and Wang Mei had two filled circles.

“What does this mean?” William asked while pointing at the gold circle.

“It shows your cultivation level,” Wang Mei answered, “Each gold circle is a major realm, while the gold filling shows which stage you are within the major realm.”

William took another look at the two circles on the older women’s sleeves and finally knew how strong they were. They were at the peak of Foundation Establishment, making him wonder how long a cultivator’s lifespan was. He had assumed that Lan Yin was hundreds of years old, but wasn’t that kind of lifespan reserved for higher realms?

“This is the pass that will let you access most areas of the Outer Court,” Lan Yin handed William a polished, red jade card engraved with a lotus flower with green petals, the symbol of the Jade Healing Sect. “However, remember that only you are allowed to use the pass. It can and has been taken away from past disciples after abuse.”

“Yes, Senior Sister Yin,” William said while pocketing the pass like it was a treasure, which it likely was.

“Good,” Lan Yin nodded at William before turning to Wang Mei, “I have to finish showing Wei Liang around the Sect, but I’ll visit before leaving for the Garden.”

After the two shared another hug, and William endured another round of cheek-pinching from Wang Mei, they left the small building for their next destination.

“You’ll be picking a cultivation manual next,” Lan Yin commented as she led William to the Library, “As future Sentinels, we have no limitations on what we can pick, but there are three manuals that the Core Elders will recommend for you. The Sect will not stop you from choosing others, but be mindful that it will be hard to stay relevant with slow progression.”

William knew it was time to ask Lan Yin what he had been wondering about. “Senior Sister? How many disciples are on the same path as us? And why do we get so many benefits compared to the alchemy path? Won’t it cause jealousy?”

Lan Yin stopped and turned to stare at him incredulously, a first for William to see on her. “Did Elder Yu not explain what selecting this path meant for you?”

William wanted to say that he was forced into it, but with the affection Elder Yu showed towards Lan Yin, it would likely get back to her that he tattled on what happened. Besides, it was already done, so what was the point?

“I was too eager, Senior Sister. I made my pick before Elder Yu could say anything.”

Lan Yin sighed and shook her head. “Luckily, you are best suited for it, or you would have made a grave mistake. We are to be the protectors and enforcers of the Sect, and in return, we are greatly supported. The Sect used to accept many disciples on our path, similar to the alchemists, but it resulted in too many mediocre cultivators. A few centuries ago, the Elders decided to only nurture elite disciples to gain true pillars for the Sect.”

That made all too much sense to William. It was shockingly similar to how professional basketball teams in his old world worked. To gain an advantage over their competitors, they would put all their resources into one person, hoping to result in a superstar that would carry them to victories.

“That sounds like it’s almost too good to be true, Senior Sister Yin,” William said suspiciously. While something like this might seem generous, he had to look for the catch in a cultivation world. He had already been caught off guard at times when the result should have been obvious.

William was mainly talking about Cao Rui, who Lan Yin killed with a smile on her face. He couldn’t be blamed for being suspicious when Lan Yin was happily telling him the benefits the Sect would give him.

“That’s not for you to worry about at the moment, Junior Brother. When you reach the Core Formation realm, the Sect will tell you the duties they expect from you, but that is at least over a century away.”

William hid his thoughts as Lan Yin mentioned for him to follow her after thinking she had reassured him. While she might be correct in assuming that the disciples the Sect accepted in the Sentinel Path would take that long to reach the Core Formation realm, William would be different. Had to be different.

Side Quests (3):

Daoist Chen has challenged you to become a Nascent Soul cultivator in ten years for a reward

While that side quest didn’t have any penalty for failure, the reward a cultivator would give right before ascending would be beyond priceless. It would weigh heavily on him if he couldn’t get that accomplished.

Though, with how difficult Lan Yin made it seem to get to Core Formation, William was starting to wonder how much time he could spend under the safety of the Jade Healing Sect’s shade without it being a detriment.

They quickly arrived at the Library, making the eyes on the disciples who were congregating near the entrance locked onto Lan Yin.

“Senior Lan!”

“Senior Lan, who’s the kid?”

“Goddess Lan! I love you!”

William’s eye twitched at the familiar voice and turned to the direction where it came from. As expected, the foolish Ren Bo was staring at Lan Yin with a pink face.

“As I said, Junior Brother, three manuals are of the most use for you. I’ll bring you to look at them first, and if you prefer something else, I can help you with that too.” Lan Yin commented as she ignored the shouts for attention around them.

William followed after Lan Yin like a duckling as she easily moved through the small crowd without slowing. If she could ignore this, it made sense why Ren Bo staring at her like a besotted fool at the clinic didn’t phase her.

Lan Yin entered the Library and walked to the right instead of going to the main floor. “Hold your entry pass on this.”

William pulled out the red jade card and pressed it against the outline on the wall, making it rumble momentarily before sliding up to reveal a winding staircase.

“This will take us directly to the floor reserved for the Outer Court disciples on the Sentinel Path,” Lan Yin said as she started to climb the stairs, “With you being the only disciple under Foundation Establishment, it can also serve as your private study room if you desire.”

“… Sweet,” William muttered as he followed her up.

“Sweet? I don’t see how that has anything to do with what I said,” Lan Yin stopped to look down at him in confusion.

“Ah, it means good, Senior Sister,” William explained, wondering when he would stop using words in a way that only made sense in his old world.

“Hm,” Lan Yin narrowed her eyes before shrugging and pushing the matter aside, “I suppose your occasional strangeness will fit in nicely with most of your Senior Brothers and Sisters.”

William wondered if she included herself in that, but of course, it wasn’t something to be asked out loud.