"Watch it!" William hissed through his teeth when Ren Bo carelessly poked him with a needle, "I swear you're doing this on purpose!"

"Brother Wei, you're making me feel sad," Ren Bo stated flatly as he continued his work like nothing happened.

Whatever happened between Ren Bo and Elder Yu apparently ticked off the boy enough for him to take his frustration out on William. Not that he could prove it. William had to admit that Ren Bo's mistakes were no more than what he experienced in the Outer Court's Clinic.

However, that didn't mean there wasn't suspicion niggling in the back of his mind.

[+50 HP]

William felt more of the lingering pain that came from his training disappear. Huang Jingyi had offered to let him heal with a Vitality Pill, but he had become wary of taking unnecessary pills. Sure, it might not be an issue currently, but it would be impossible to tell when he would be desperate to take another.

And he did not want that desperate action to affect him negatively by giving him another addict trait. Since there was no need to heal quickly, William asked for a slower way, which brought him to this situation.

"Almost done, Brother Wei," Ren Bo said as he concentrated on guiding William's Qi to the areas that were damaged. It was a fascinating way to heal someone, and apparently, it was not at all common, at least from Li Xinyue's words before she left them alone.

[+25 HP]

"There we are!" Ren Bo exclaimed brightly as he pulled away with beads of sweat forming on his forehead, "You're fully healed!"

Health: 1000/1000

William glanced at his health and nodded with a smile, "Thank you, Ren-"

He cut himself off with a hiss when Ren Bo abruptly started to pull the needles from his body. This, he knew, was on purpose. When he first arrived at the Sect, this was the step that Ren Bo had no issues performing smoothly, but suddenly it caused pain during the removal? No, this was too obviously intentional.

"Brother Wei," Ren Bo said with narrowed eyes, "Why must you treat me so coldly. We are of the same Sect. Call me Brother Ren."

"… My mistake, Brother Ren," William acquiesced readily, relaxing when Ren Bo started to remove the needles without causing pain.

"So when are we heading out of the city?" Ren Bo asked when he was finished.

William got out of bed and draped his robes over his shoulders while contemplating the answer. Although he couldn't provide an exact timeframe, he could estimate how long it would take him to learn the martial skills to a level he would be satisfied with.

One thing was for sure. He had no intention of leaving the city before he fixed the issue with focusing his Qi. Unless it was possible to attack without waiting like an idiot for a second, it would likely be suicide.

"How about a week, Brother Ren?" William asked after some thought, "Unless you prefer sometime later?"

"A week is fine," Ren Bo shook his head, "I wanted to know how long I have with Goddess Li before we have to do that stupid thing."

William stared at Ren Bo blankly before sighing in resignation. At least this new obsession wasn't as suicidal as getting attached to Elder Yu.

… Unless it was even worse. William assumed that Elder Yu wouldn't be so quick to harm a promising member of the Sect. Unlike the cold Elder, he distinctly remembered Li Xinyue wanting to kill him due to her assumption of his leering, which had been false in the first place.

What would happen with Ren Bo, who would actually leer at her blatantly and likely interrupt the bookworm as she tried to study?

"You're hopeless," William patted Ren Bo on the shoulder, "Try not to get in trouble before the mission, Brother Ren."

Without bothering to pay attention to his response, William proceeded to exit the room and headed towards the reception area, where he unsurprisingly found Li Xinyue engrossed in her papers.

"Sister Li, I'll be staying at The Golden Lotus," William skipped the pleasantries, "And can you tell Wang Xiaoling to meet me there if she comes back?"

"Sure, Wei Liang," Li Xinyue said distractedly, "Take care."

William gave her a wave that he was confident she didn't notice and walked out of the Clinic, wanting to get some privacy to use his stat points. Besides, lingering had no benefit. Lan Yin was busy talking with Huang Jingyi, and Wang Xiaoling had apparently taken half of the spirit fruits stored in the side room and disappeared, claiming that she had a buyer for them.

William didn't want to doubt her, but when it involved money, that was his only option. The Golden Lotus would still be the place she roomed in, having nagged the proprietor into lowering the prices, so in case she wanted to avoid him, that would be the place for him to stay.

More than the spirit fruits, William wanted to complete that side quest. Anything to get him to level up would now be considered priceless and of top priority. The faster he reached level hundred to rid himself of the soul damage completely, the more peace of mind he would have.

With the barest of insight into Dao of Perception nearly killing him, there should be something else his soul couldn't handle. How ridiculous would it be that he gained a natural treasure but died because his damn soul was too weak?

[COMPLETED | Visit Jade Healing Clinic 2-3 times a week (2 visits): +40 XP]

[HIDDEN BONUS | Visit The Garden: +200 XP]

[HIDDEN BONUS | Observe the maintenance of spirit plants: +400 XP]

[HIDDEN BONUS | Access the forbidden zone of The Garden: +200XP]

[HIDDEN BONUS | Consume 10 spirit plants: +400 XP]

[HIDDEN BONUS | Consume 30 spirit plants: +1000 XP]

[Level up! | 5 stat points added]

[HIDDEN BONUS | Kill your first spirit beast: +100 XP]

[HIDDEN BONUS | Kill 10 spirit beasts: +400 XP]

[HIDDEN BONUS | Kill 30 spirit beasts: +1000 XP]

[Level up! | 5 stat points added]

[HIDDEN BONUS | Gather 200 Qi Stones worth of spirit plants: +2000 XP]

[Level up! | 5 stat points added]

It took a good second for William's brain to register the boon that had been dropped on his head. With the system alerts becoming a regular occurrence, he had been rather good at skimming over them so quickly that it no longer looked as if he was empty-minded. The mass of alerts he had just received reverted him to that dull state.

It suddenly made sense why he couldn't trigger a quest while he was at The Garden. Everything he did was already being logged under an existing quest, though that fact was more than a little terrifying. If he had chosen to stay in the Outer Court instead of returning to Xuanjing City, wouldn't that have meant he would have missed out on all the experience points?

Speaking of which, he had somehow received enough to level up three times. The laugh that escaped him following that thought drew wary looks from the mortals passing by, but he didn't give a damn. It was three levels!

Name: Wei Liang (William Davis)

Age: 13

Level: 17

Experience: 232/2125

Cultivation: Qi Gathering (1st Level)

Health: 1000/1000

Spiritual Energy: 12/30 (20% per Hour)

Spirit: 8 (6)

Strength: 20 (16)

Stamina: 10 (8)

Agility: 20 (16)

Luck: 30 (24)

Points: 20

The best way to assign those stat points would be to dump them into Spirit so he wouldn't be limited to six attacks. He could already see the gloriousness of being able to use his martial skills twenty times in a row, causing havoc to his enemies… as long as his Stamina would be sufficient.

Perhaps the wise choice would be to use the spirit fruits to raise his other stats before depleting his unused stat points. His Stamina certainly wasn't high enough for William to be happy about it. While Strength and Agility seemed sufficient, he never had a proper fight with a cultivator to be confident about it.

William's mind immediately went to Ren Bo as a training partner. The boy was the only one that he was comfortable trading blows with, which, on second thought, was stupid. He seemed to have extreme mood swings between sadist healer and bumbling idiot. It wouldn't bode well if that transferred to fighting.

With an extra skip in his step, William ignored the confused mortals and happily made his way to The Golden Lotus. While pleased with the multiple surprises, he didn't miss what the last alert really meant.

Two hundred Qi Stones were worth approximately twenty thousand Gold, not the eight thousand that Wang Xiaoling claimed she could sell them for. William would let her think he didn't know right till the end.

He might not be able to overpower her… for some reason, but he would be able to enjoy the despair on her face as she handed over the Gold she thought of as hers.