A second. Hour. Month. Hell, it might as well be a year. It was all the same here.

William recognized this place. Well, at the least, it was familiar to him.

The last time he was here, he had died inside that elevator. A ridiculously stupid way to die, now that he thought about it. Who would be so unlucky that every safety feature would fail, and he would be inside, right when it happened?

Obviously, he would. He would be that unlucky.

So he supposed it shouldn’t be a surprise that he had died again, except this time he didn’t know how it happened. The last thing he remembered was walking through the market, following Wang Xiaoling to the Jade Healing Clinic.

It was… depressing, which was an understatement.

William hadn’t realized how much he was already attached to his new life until it was ripped away, forcing him to understand that feeling. His life in the Tianxia Empire hadn’t even lasted three months. Still, he looked at it even more fondly when compared to the over twenty years he experienced in his first life.

If William had eyes... or a face, he was sure his cheeks would be wet from tears, even though his thoughts weren’t at that level of sadness. It couldn’t be. After all, he could feel only so much sorrow after thinking the same thought for the hundredth time.

At least, if his fate was to be stuck here forever, he had a remnant from the cultivation world.

[Unavailable]

The system didn’t say anything else, no matter what he tried to do, but the bright blue text was a balm for his sanity in the inky blackness around him. William had no doubt that he would still lose his mind the longer he stayed here, but it wouldn’t be as fast, which was good enough for him.

Another common thought was how William was a little ashamed that he had taken away Daoist Chen’s hope with his death. The man who saved him would never see someone use the system his master wanted to hand down. All because someone killed him from the shadows.

So much for getting that insight into Perception Dao. His senses warned him something was wrong, but he still couldn’t save himself.

“Hoh? What a surprise!”

William felt as though a thousand knives pierced his soul with every word spoken, and he would have screamed in agony if it were possible.

“I imagined the mark I left on you would activate when you were in mortal danger from an external threat. Not because you started to comprehend Dao!”

He didn’t want to know the reason. He just wanted the voice to stop talking. If he wasn’t already dead, the pain he felt would have accomplished it a thousand times over.

“What an outstanding child! But I must seal that off until your soul can handle such strain.”

William felt a loss of something, but it was quickly forgotten as he struggled to keep his sanity. It was surprising enough that he had enough room to feel anything other than pain in the first place.

“That should be enough to stop you from overachieving to death. Unfortunately, I sense that the heavens will not allow me to interfere again. This is both a good and bad thing, Wei Liang.”

He finally felt the pain stop as his thoughts blanked, blissfully happy that it had ended. He knew what the voice said but still hadn’t processed it thoroughly. That could be done after a long rest.

“The brat’s awake!”

William tensed, already prepared for the pain to return.

“What’s wrong with him?”

He breathed a breath of relief before realizing he could feel his body. He slowly opened his eyes to see Wang Xiaoling and Li Xinyue looking down at him with frowns. It took him a second to realize he was lying on a bed.

“You had us worried, Wei Liang,” Li Xinyue commented as she pressed her fingers to specific points on his body. William recognized it as areas where his meridians were located.

“You must be one of the weakest cultivators ever!” Wang Xiaoling declared, “I’ve never seen one faint without reason.”

William blinked when he was reminded of what had happened. Accidentally getting insight into Dao almost killed him because of a weak soul. With no pain blocking him from thinking coherently, he recognized the voice that spoke while his soul was tortured.

Daoist Chen.

The old monster had saved him again. From his words, he had left a mark that would alert him when William was close to death.

… And it was wasted. No, that wasn’t accurate since his life was saved, but it definitely stung that it activated because of his own fault. Especially since he would no longer have Daoist Chen to fall back on if he was once again near death if his understanding of the comment of the heavens was correct.

A silly thing to be disappointed about because William wasn’t aware that he had that safety in the first place.

“Senior Lan should be on her way,” Li Xinyue filled in the silence, “She contacted some of the Elders in the Inner Court’s Clinic for help… You’ve become close with her.”

William nodded, trying to hold back the tears threatening to fall over being able to return to this world.

“Are you about to cry?!” Wang Xiaoling blurted out with a giggle, “Cheer up! You’re going to be a rich boy! I saw what you wanted me to sell. If I wasn’t such an upright merchant, I would have hoped you would have-What?”

Li Xinyue shot the ranting Wang Xiaoling a look to stop her from talking. Still, William already understood what she was trying to say. He wasn’t even mad since he was almost sure that it was a joke… probably.

Honestly, even if she meant it, he didn’t give a damn. He was just happy that he was back to hear Wang Xiaoling’s pettiness.

“H-How much do you think it’s worth, Sister Xiaoling?” William winced at the scratchiness of his voice.

“If I sell it individually? I could easily get eight thousand Gold! Maybe even more!” Wang Xiaoling was in her element, her eyes revealing the piles of coin she was expecting.

“That’s good,” William chuckled as he tried to relax. He closed his eyes and muttered, “Really good.”

“We’ll leave you to rest, Wei Liang,” Li Xinyue said after a pause, “Come on, merchant girl.”

“Merchant girl?” Wang Xiaoling yelped, “Respect your elders!”

William opened his eyes in a snap after they left the room, realizing something terrifying.

Name: Wei Liang (William Davis)

Age: 13

Level: 13

Experience: 242/1625

Cultivation: Qi Gathering (1st Level)

Health: 800/1000

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

Spirit: 8 (6)

Strength: 20 (16)

Stamina: 10 (8)

Agility: 20 (16)

Luck: 30 (24)

Points: 0

Traits:

Soul Damage (Minor) - 19% Attribute Reduction

The laugh that escaped William’s lips was filled with relief, happy that his soul damage hadn’t regressed into something worse. By all rights, it should have after what he had gone through, but maybe Daoist Chen did some old monster things and prevented it.

“What is it that amuses you?”

William looked away from the status screen to see Lan Yin and Huang Jingyi walking toward the bed. Speaking of which, he wasn’t sure why he was still lying down. He felt perfectly fine, though some phantom pain still ran through his body from the memory.

“No need to get up, Junior Liang,” Huang Jingyi said with concern, “It might be best to relax for a few days.”

“No, it’s alright,” William shook his head as he got on his feet, “I’m not sure what happened, but it already passed.”

“Very well,” Huang Jingyi sighed, “We were unable to detect any issues either.”

“Elder Huang,” Lan Yin said as she scrutinized William closely, “Could you check again? Just to be sure.”

Huang Jingyi nodded, moving closer to check his vitals. It took less than a minute for it to finish. “Perfectly fine,” Huang Jingyi announced, “Though there is an injury, I suspect it’s from something else.”

“Er, yes, Elder Huang,” William confirmed, “That’s from when I was cultivating.”

“We can get that healed today,” Huang Jingyi nodded, “But like I said, perfect health other than that.”

“Good,” Lan Yin sighed with relief, “Thankfully, you recovered before I had to leave.”

“Leave?” William frowned, “Are you returning to the Garden, Senior Sister Yin?”

“Correct, but my brother will arrive to replace me in a week. You can go to him if you need anything. He’s also your Senior Brother, so don’t be shy. And if he doesn’t treat you right, tell me, and I’ll make it right.”

William blinked at the word vomit before nodding with a smile. Lan Yin might have seemed like the ice beauty type of cultivator at the start, but she was rather warm… once she decided you were worth talking to.

“That reminds me,” Huang Jingyi interjected, “If Junior Liang feels up to it, why don’t you show him the Qi refining rooms in the city?”

“Of course,” Lan Yin nodded, “Junior Brother, shall we go now?”

William didn’t want to since he doubted he would spend much time cultivating with the tiny reward it gave him, but it would be suspicious if he didn’t.

… Though, he supposed that could be a place where he learned his Martial Skills. After returning to that place where all he had to accompany him were his own thoughts, William was convinced that leveling would be the only thing that could help him with never having to return.

His only goal should be to completely rid himself of the soul damage, who knew what other hidden limitations it put on him. If his fate was to die, he didn’t want to, as Daoist Chen said, overachieve to death. That would likely top his embarrassing end by elevator.

“I’m ready, Senior Sister.”