He thought his days of being browbeaten by Wang Xiaoling were over, so why did he fearfully follow her instructions to be her helper? William was now a proud cultivator striving for immortality! Not some lackey that worked for a couple of Silver!

"Brat! You better speed up, or I will get Fatty Xu to sit on you!"

"Yes, Sister Xiaoling!"

William had been shilling the inferior spirit fruits for over three hours, and they hadn't even gotten halfway through the stock that Wang Xiaoling had managed to get. Of course, this obviously gave him the idea to partner with her to sell the spirit fruits he had obtained from the Garden. Still, whenever he tried to bring up the subject, she started to roar at him about focusing on selling.

He would have lost his temper if he hadn't gotten to know Wang Xiaoling's fanatic, copper-pinching behavior.

… It also helped that Fatty Xu acted as a massive bulk of meat to keep the order with the crowd around the stall. William usually wouldn't be wary of mortals, but after the shock Wang Xiaoling put through him, he occasionally checked the status of the mortals that came close to him, including Fatty Xu.

However, there was a big problem with that.

Fatty Xu didn't have any blue text hovering over him.

William tried to use both Observe and Detailed Observe, but the system didn't react, not even to say he didn't have enough Spiritual Energy. That brought up a vague memory of how Fatty Xu didn't have blue text over him the first time he saw him, even though, at that time, he hadn't disabled the automatic reveal of the name and level.

William had no idea what Fatty Xu was, but he had a gut feeling that he was dangerous since Wang Xiaoling seemed to trust him.

With that factor playing against him, he figured the best thing to do was sell the spirit fruits obediently. Besides, he had activated a side quest, so it's not like it would be a waste of his time.

William was almost running on muscle memory as he mindlessly fulfilled the orders, exchanging fruit for coins as he glanced at a stat he was keeping an eye on.

Spiritual Energy: 23/30 (20% per Hour)

When his Spiritual Energy reached twenty, he had attempted to use Detailed Observe on Wang Xiaoling. However, the system indicated that it was still insufficient. It appeared that her peculiarity caused Detailed Observe to need more Spiritual Energy than was required on Li Xinyue.

Still, it was just a minor roadblock. He assumed it would work once fully restored, which would take slightly over an hour.

William wanted to find out what made her tick. How could a level three mortal be stronger than a cultivator in the first stage of Qi Condensation? William ignored that he was basically a useless cultivator since he didn't know any skills yet, but still, he was at level thirteen. He should be able to stomp Wang Xiaoling on a whim, not the other way around.

There was only so much stat browsing William could do, so to get through the mind-numbing task of yelling similar words and selling fruit for coin, he made the mistake of lifting the restriction he put on the system on the blue text back when the mob of Sky Hares surrounded him.

The sudden blast of blue almost blinded him from the overload before he quickly shut it off. Not that it let him avoid blinking his eyes rapidly to get the burned-in blue text from his sight. It was curious that it affected him like actual light when the system was imprinted into his soul. Still, it wasn't enough of a discovery to warrant more thought into it. Especially since his brief slowdown got Wang Xiaoling's attention.

William shook his head slightly and abandoned his original plan. Still, he could people-watch the old-fashioned way, with only his eyes involved.

He observed as the next batch of customers approached his stall, their eyes darting from one fruit to the next. As they drew closer for their turn to buy, he paid close attention to their body language, their tone of voice, and even the emotions that were so expressive in their eyes. He noticed their eyes were focused on a particular batch of spirit fruits. And how their breathing quickened as they considered a purchase. He was able to eventually start proactively preparing the fruits he thought were needed.

While stereotypes didn't always work when he considered the quality of the clothes the customer was wearing, it was more accurate than not when predicting the quantity of fruit they were about to buy.

It got to a point where he was starting to enjoy being a peddler of poor-quality spirit fruits just to see how correct his guesses were. The next hour or so flew by as the remaining fruits started to fly off the stall.

William eyed the desperate look a woman carrying a child had as she stared at the few remaining blood oranges hungrily. He casually moved them toward her before she could say anything when he suddenly got an alert.

[Submenu Opened | Dao Insight]

[Added | Dao of Perception]

[Calculating percentage]

[ERROR | User's cultivation insufficient]

[Removed | Dao of Perception]

[Submenu Closed | Dao Insight]

William accepted the coins from the woman and handed her the blood oranges like an automaton. His mind was filled with questions that he was constantly throwing at the system, trying to get an explanation about what had just happened.

With the Dao that was just attempted to be added to his stats, it was obvious how it had come to be. Apparently, spending hours closely watching people while trying to figure out their desires by noticing minute tells was enough to gain some insight into Perception Dao. The real question was why it was even shown.

The system primarily functioned as a status display. Therefore, the alerts suggested that there could be the smallest of chances that even though he couldn't use the Perception Dao at his current cultivation, he could still gather and save the insight he gained from his actions. If true, it could give him a tremendous head start when the Dao was open to him.

"Just as I expected, Wei Liang! You've gotten even better since last month!" Wang Xiaoling praised with a beaming smile before it froze and suddenly dropped, "Are you working with another merchant? Let me tell you right now that I won't allow it!"

"Sister Xiaoling, look at my robes," William said flatly, wondering how she hadn't realized he was in Sect robes while trying to avoid the urge to observe more people to help the Perception Dao along.

"What about them? Did you spend all your earnings from the last sale on this? It's good quality, the best I've seen, actually."

The best way to get through to a Gold-drunk Wang Xiaoling was to be as blunt as possible. "I joined the Jade Healing Sect. I've been trying to tell you that from the beginning."

Wang Xiaoling blinked at him as if this was her first time seeing him. "You joined that Sect?"

William noticed the skepticism in her tone, and his lips twitched, but he didn't dwell on it. "Yes," he said. "But that's not important. I was able to get spirit fruits that are near the quality needed to be eligible for use in the Sect. As an apology for having to stop working for you, I want to let you sell the spirit fruits for me."

The greed he could see in her eyes was almost comical. Still, at least William could rest easy knowing he no longer had to think of how to deal with the massive amount of spirit fruit.

"How many are there?"

"I have no idea, but it filled an entire side room in the Jade Healing Clinic," William could practically see her eyes gleaming with Gold.

"Entire room?" Wang Xiaoling shivered before her voice sharpened quickly, "I want thirty percent of the sale! No negotiations!"

William hadn't planned to since he thought it was more than a fair offer. "Agreed."

"Good!" Wang Xiaoling perked back up, "Fatty Xu, take the coins and deposit them into the bank! Let’s go, Wei Liang!”

William walked behind Wang Xiaoling, making use of her ability to terrify the crowd and make them instinctively part ways. He hoped his share of the sale was enough compensation for Cao Rui and the rest of the workers. Enough to satisfy his guilt, at least.

As they moved through the bustling marketplace that never seemed to rest, William was overcome by an eerie sensation that crept into his mind. Although he glanced around for any suspicious figures that could be setting it off, he couldn't spot any. Without warning, a sudden pain pierced through his head, causing him to falter and almost collapse. He grasped at his temple, attempting to regain his balance as his surroundings started to spin. Before he knew it, the world went black.