William was sprawled on the bed, beyond sick with having to repeatedly scarf down the same spirit fruit for the second day in a row. He had been able to eat ten Lightning Berries today, but that would be it until his Impurity had reduced to a comfortable level.

Impurity: Stage 1 (90%)

Days Remaining

It wouldn’t be a complete disaster for him to go to stage two. Still, he wanted some breathing space for an emergency Vitality Pill if necessary in the near future. After all, the time required for his body to naturally filter out the impurities at stage two would be exponentially increased.

Unfortunately, he suspected that the Lightning Berries would soon stop having any sort of effect on his attributes. It was both a good and bad thing. Good in that he would be forced to eat another spirit fruit, and bad in that he would need to buy that spirit fruit since Wang Xiaoling had taken most that were high-quality to sell. Hopefully, the efficiency of Lightning Berries would last for at least twelve more.

Stamina: 24 (20)

Agility: 24 (20) + 10

That would be just enough for William to max those two attributes, but since when did something happen as he wished? He wouldn’t be surprised if the next Lightning Berry he ate did nothing.

He stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, willing himself to move and get the last thing to do on his list over with. With a groan that sounded like he was in worse pain than when Li Xinyue was knocking him around, he got off the bed, feeling more like a normal human than he ever did since he arrived in this world.

William supposed that the lazy feeling after being bloated by overeating was the same no matter where. He sat cross-legged on the floor and took a few breaths until his annoyance at his bloatedness was washed away and calm returned.

[+2 Spirit]

[Max Spirit Reached]

[Modified | Spiritual Energy: 130/130 (20% per Hour)]

[Trait Modified | Soul Damage (Minor) - 14% Attribute Reduction]

His lips formed a slight smile at the alerts before it quickly dropped off when he felt Qi getting released from his dantian. It was guided through the pathways, and as it neared the lung meridian, William thought of trying to lead the Qi there. However, like it was reacting to his intentions, the bright speck in that principal meridian pulsed as if warning him not to try.

He debated for the briefest moments on doing it anyway, but with the pulse increasing in intensity, he left it alone and continued to guide the Qi to his heart meridian. It was eagerly absorbed, and he could easily sense that the thin, silvery fog inside seemed slightly denser. Still, it hadn’t formed the concentrated speck of Qi that the lung meridian possessed.

William exhaled and opened his eyes, mood significantly lifted as he stared at his changed status screen.

Spiritual Energy: 130/130 (20% per Hour)

Spirit: 30 (26)

Strength: 20 (17)

Stamina: 24 (21)

Agility: 24 (21) + 10

Luck: 30 (26)

Points: 3

Traits:

Soul Damage (Minor) - 14% Attribute Reduction

Plus, he was at level eighteen, so the cap of his attributes at thirty would be lifted soon enough. In fact, the thought of having another training session with Li Xinyue was becoming rather attractive. However, if the possible penalty was Qi deviation again, he would do without it.

As for the three remaining unused stat points, there was no need to assign them to anything. William intended on using spirit fruits to raise Stamina and Agility to the attribute cap of thirty and save the points for the next level.

With everything done for today and knowing tomorrow would likely be another long day of bloodying himself, William was more than happy to recharge with a good night’s rest. Even if there was no physical benefit to such a rest, it was still good for his stressed mental state.

“Wei Liang! Open up!”

William almost stumbled in shock as he stood up when he heard Wang Xiaoling. He had given up the thought of meeting her again before leaving the city and had planned to see if there was any way to store the remaining spirit fruits in the Clinic without them spoiling.

William almost ran through the door in his hurry, unintentionally using the new speed he was capable of. He opened it to see Wang Xiaoling looking happier than he had ever seen her before.

“Here you go, brat!”

He blinked at the stack of bank notes shoved into his face before taking the offered money. With banks existing in the world, he should have assumed that there would be pieces of paper representing large amounts of coin.

Under Wang Xiaoling’s strangely bright smile, William quickly counted out the stack given to him.

“Six thousand Gold?” William asked with surprise, “Didn’t you say all the spirit fruits were worth around eight thousand? What about your cut?”

“This is what you get for trusting the future number-one merchant! A service that far exceeds your expectations!”

“… Right,” William drawled, dimming the bright smile on Wang Xiaoling’s face.

“What’s with that expression? Shouldn’t you be thanking me?”

“… Thank you.”

She huffed and pushed him aside to enter the room, making William’s eyes twitch after he checked her level. It was still at level three, and trying to use Observe and its more expensive counterpart showed the same baffling alerts.

[The skill Observe is not available on target]

[Spiritual Energy insufficient for Detailed Observe on target]

It was exactly as before, and the last time he tried to use Detailed Observe, his Spiritual Energy was nearly a fourth of what it currently was. There could be plenty of reasons why this could be the case, but they would all be pure speculation. Though, one thing was sure.

William had to make sure to stay in Wang Xiaoling’s good graces. It was already something he had in the back of his mind, but it would now rule his interactions with her.

“You’re amazing, Sister Xiaoling!” William gushed after he closed the door behind him, “Does that mean you’ll get the same amount with the other half?”

“… Why’re you being strange again?”

“What do you mean,” William asked before pointing at himself in confusion, “How am I being strange?”

Wang Xiaoling stared at him for a few seconds silently with narrowed eyes, making William think that he overdid his bootlicking.

“Well, it’s good you know this!” Wang Xiaoling laughed happily, “I have connections that’ll let me sell everything at a great price!”

William remembered how Wang Xiaoling said she had no connections when they first met, the complete opposite of what she now claimed. He supposed everything she told him was suspect, even her origins of being kicked out of her clan.

“It’s good that you returned today, Sister Xiaoling. You can take the rest of the spirit fruits before I leave the city.”

“The attendant at the Clinic told me it would close in two days. That’s why I rushed here.” It took a moment for William to realize that she was talking about Li Xinyue. “Anyway, I have a once-in-a-lifetime offer for you!”

He was suddenly reminded of the sleazy timeshare salespeople he had encountered in the past life.

“I’m starting an official Merchant House of the Tianxia Empire. The first step to making myself the number one trader in the world!” Wang Xiaoling exclaimed with sparkling eyes, “Since you were such a great help, I’m allowing you to be my only investor!”

William wondered if this was why she didn’t try to skim the profits from the sales of the spirit fruits. Still, his instincts were screaming at him to say no instantly, but he kept in mind the alerts he saw after trying to use Observe on her.

“Wow! How much did you need from me, Sister Xiaoling?”

“It’s not much, really. I thought about the amount I’m putting in and how much I’ll need from you to make it work, and it comes out to around ten thousand Gold.”

William immediately knew what she was going for. If the rest of the spirit fruits sold for approximately the same amount of Gold, he would end with just over what she asked.

“That’s a lot.”

“I know,” Wang Xiaoling agreed, “But it’ll be worth it. Besides, what do you need all that Gold for right now? If you invest it in my Merchant House, you will never have to think of money in the future!”

William agreed with part of that. He certainly didn’t need Gold for anything and doubted if he would in the future. It was Qi Stones that interested him. If Wang Xiaoling was actually telling the truth, then this might indeed be a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity,’ as she said.

However, with how she couldn’t help but greedily stare at the bank notes in his hands, notes that she had just handed him minutes ago, William was leaning toward this being a scam. Still, he would stay on her good side, even if it meant he would have to forget about the original intentions with this Gold.

The workers at The Garden who encountered a disaster in the form of Lan Yin wouldn’t be forgotten. In fact, William promised himself that he would see to it that they would be given even more riches than the Gold he had to give to Wang Xiaoling instead.

They were currently safe in The Garden as long as they hadn’t broken the rules of that place. However, he still needed to gain some sort of influence in the world he was still unfamiliar with. Even if that influence came in the form of the strange and suspicious Wang Xiaoling.

“Alright, Sister Xiaoling,” William agreed with a smile, “Could you take the rest of the Gold you need from the spirit fruits that haven’t been sold yet?”

“That was the plan!” Wang Xiaoling’s smile was so broad that her eyes were partially closed, “They should sell enough to give you around five thousand Gold, so you can give me five right now, and that will be enough.”

A few minutes later, William stood alone in his room, holding a thousand Gold in banknotes, feeling like an idiot.

“Well, at least I got something from the spirit fruits,” William muttered as he stared at the notes before his eyes grew wide. He ran out of the room, almost cracking the door at the force it swung open, and chased Wang Xiaoling.

He had forgotten about the side quest that needed a payment from her to be considered complete.