William had seen the palace plenty of times from afar. It was hard to miss it, with how visible it was every time he looked up. However, it quickly became a background decoration over the few weeks he stayed in the city. He supposed a large part of it was the areas he frequented.

When William first arrived in this world, he spent most of his time at the Golden Lotus and Jade Healing Clinic, both of which were at the same distance from the palace. His only goal was to gain easy experience points, and there was no need to go anywhere other than the Clinic. Well, there was the Phoenix's Nest, the restaurant where Li Xinyue treated him to a meal, but that was even further from the palace than the Clinic.

So he felt that he deserved a little break when he constantly snuck glances at the breathtaking architecture of the building. Not that Lan Yin gave it to him.

"You might be the second coming of the Sect Master." Lan Yin commented as they walked through the packed, narrow streets. Though, the mortals seemed to instinctively give a wide berth to them.

William quickly looked away from the gold glinting on the palace's facade to see Lan Yin staring at him, thoroughly unimpressed.

"What do you mean, Senior Sister?" William thought being similar to the Sect Master would be good, not something that would make her frown in distaste.

"Sect Master Guan Feng has a… taste for mortal metals. You must tell me, Junior Brother, if you feel such a desire. I will be able to fix it before it becomes an issue."

William quickly nodded, wondering how bad it was for Lan Yin to sound so severe. And what did she mean by the Sect Master having a taste for the metals? The first thing he thought of was a handsome cultivator eating gold like a delicious cake, but surely that wasn't it... Unless there was a cultivation technique that required him to do so.

Either way, William could confidently assure Lan Yin that she didn't need to worry. "I don't have a great desire for gold, Senior Sister. It was the palace as a whole that interested me. It must have taken decades for them to build this."

Lan Yin laughed, making some mortals around them stare, and said, "For something like this? It is simply a building made of mortal materials. If the palace was constructed by mortals, then it might have taken that long, but the Imperial Family has plenty of cultivators whose sole reason to exist is to construct residences for the family. If I remember correctly, this one was built within a year."

William goggled at Lan Yin before gaping at the enormous palace with an even greater shock. He couldn't imagine the wealth and power the Imperial Family held to have cultivators dedicated to such a task.

"Don't be so surprised," Lan Yin continues, "Our Sect has the same resources."

"… But wouldn't it be a waste of talent?" William asked the obvious, wondering why a Sect with a selective process wasted manpower.

"What talent do you speak of?" Lan Yin asked blankly, "It's impossible to truly know most disciple's latent talent until the Foundation Establishment Realm. For the ones that break into that realm, the Sect deems their talent sufficient to invest in. As for those stuck at the bottleneck, they must work in other ways to pay off their debt to the Sect."

"… Like the managers at the Garden?" William immediately thought of Shao Jun, who was at level ninety-nine yet utterly subservient to him because he had Lan Yin's attention. It hadn't even mattered that he had been a mortal then.

"Correct," Lan Yin nodded slightly with a small smile, "That is one option they can choose."

That was… smart. William supposed that was better than kicking out the disciples that failed for whatever reason. And it was honestly comforting that the Sect gave failed disciples such cushy positions. However, it did seem like it might come with stripped dignity, with how Shao Jun constantly bowed to him.

But that could be more of a personal issue rather than a Sect mandate.

Thinking of Shao Jun made William wonder about something he had been curious about for some time. While the Garden was impressively large, it still didn't seem enough for the Sect to do what Lan Yin claimed it did.

"Senior Sister, you mentioned that the Sect provides pills to the Empire and the Kingdoms surrounding it, but the Garden doesn't seem large enough for such demand. Do we have other farmland?"

William blinked when Lan Yin patted his head as an apparent reward. With a bright smile, she said, "Clever! You're right. While we can cover a quarter of the demand with the Garden, the rest of the spirit plants are sourced from the Imperial Family."

He fell silent as he slowly understood why the Imperial Family allowed the Sect to sell to the neighboring states. They could stop the flow anytime they wished by cutting off the Sect's access to the spirit plants. He thought it was a brilliant act of allowing independence while keeping firm control where needed.

William shook his head, it was interesting to know, but he was currently a useless cultivator. He didn't need to consider the dynamics between his Sect and the Empire. What he needed to do was learn Martial Skills so he could complete the mission and get some experience points. Anything more was out of his control.

"Ah, I should remind you that using Qi within the city walls is strictly forbidden unless given prior approval," Lan Yin stated suddenly as they turned from the main street, "This includes using it for running, so don't be impatient, Junior Brother."

He wasn't sure why Lan Yin said that, but he nodded in acceptance.

"So you're Sister Yin's Junior Brother!"

William was taken aback by the familiar way the man, who appeared out of nowhere, addressed Lan Yin. He half expected her to immediately cut the man down for being presumptuous.

"Prince Yuan," Lan Yin gave a stiff nod, "A little early in the day to visit a brothel."

That got William's attention. He looked behind the so-called Prince to see an opulent mansion that looked like a residence to a wealthy family, if not for the women peering out the windows at the Prince as if it would lure him back inside.

"It's never too early!" Prince Yuan laughed loudly, causing titters to leave the lips of the women watching, "I am far too active for the time of day to matter, Sister Yin! Perhaps I can show you what I mean?"

This was it, the point where William expected the Prince to lose his head. It was disappointing that the first Young Master he met would already die. Still, now that he knew they existed, there would be chances in the future to gain some benefits. After all, weren't Young Masters supposed to be great stepping stones? Before this one died, he quickly looked at this Prince Yuan with the system.

[Name: Prince Yuan | Level: 10]

"I will have to decline, Prince Yuan," Lan Yin replied calmly, "Perhaps the multitude of women behind you will be enough to satisfy you."

It took all of William's willpower to stop himself from gaping in shock at how respectful Lan Yin still was when she spoke to Prince Yuan. Was the status so great that she couldn't do anything about it? As far as he knew, Imperial Families such as the one ruling the Tianxia Empire could populate small cities with the princes they had, so a cultivator was generally of higher status.

"One day, I'll convince you into my bed, Sister Yin," Prince Yuan said with conviction while blatantly running his gaze over Lan Yin's body. It was so over the top that it made William have to hold back a shudder of disgust. However, that didn't stop him from using Observe.

[The skill Observe is not available on target]

[The skill Detailed Observe is not available on target]

"Sister Yin's Junior Brother, if you ever want to taste life's best pleasures, mention my name when you visit the Thousand Petals. I will pay for everything!" Prince Yuan laughed boisterously before wandering back inside with a careless wave of his hand.

"Come, Junior Brother," Lan Yin commanded tersely, "Let's not wait for him to change his mind."

William matched Lan Yin's faster walking speed as he wondered why his Observe failed. When they were far enough from the brothel, he asked, "Why did you let him be so disrespectful, Senior Sister?"

"… He is the genius of the imperial family," Lan Yin ground out, "At only eighteen years of age, he has reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm. The lecher has low-level cultivators feeding him information about where I am whenever I visit this city. Why else would he be in the brothel so early?"

William could practically feel the hatred emanating from Lan Yin and figured it was best to stay silent while nodding in agreement. But he wasn't too focused on that. He was stuck on her comment about Prince Yuan being in Foundation Establishment.

That was impossible at level ten.

There were some explanations for what William saw. The system was malfunctioning, there were things that could confuse the system, or Prince Yuan was somehow pulling off a con. All three of those possibilities were concerning, though, at a regressing scale.