“Good day, sirs,” William winced internally as he walked past the gate guards. That didn’t sound like what a thirteen-year-old would say.

Luckily, most of the guards ignored him as they kept watch over the incoming populace. The most significant reaction was a glance and a grunt. William would take that.

The tension in his body was lessened with every step he took through the archway. A part of him genuinely felt terrible about leaving Ren Bo behind. Still, he could handle only so much stupidity before he was forced to cast off the burden. Ren Bo had gone well beyond that point with what he had done.

Besides, it was likely that there was a protector that was watching over the perverted kid. If William’s knowledge about these types of things were reality, it could be possible that he would be used as fodder to help Ren Bo escape if danger actually struck. Of course, he recognized that the spatial stone hanging off his neck signified that he might be considered even more critical to the Sect than the kid, but there was no way he would bet his life on that.

William's long exhale when he walked out of the shadows of the grand archway was exhilarating. He recognized a few problems that would need to be rectified immediately. And first and foremost, he had to find a map that would let him know where Xiao Yuan Village was. The long line of merchants waiting to enter the city would likely have that for him.

“Little friend, could you wait for a moment?”

William froze in his tracks, making a few mortals curse when they bumped into him on their way into the city. Being called a ‘little friend’ wasn’t good news, but at the very least, it wasn’t ‘Junior.’ Still, whoever spoke to him was a higher-level cultivator, likely in the Core Formation realm at minimum. The Foundation Establishment cultivators generally called him ‘little brother’ or other such nonsense.

He looked around for anyone noteworthy, but all he could see were mortals due to being too short to look over them.

“I have made an agreement with your Sect’s Elder Zhiqing to allow my family’s junior to accompany you on this mission. Treat it as a way for her to gain experience with the world.”

William caught something on the edge of his vision and glanced up to see someone standing on top of the grand archway, but before he could use the system to see who it was, the figure disappeared. For one to have the guts to do such a thing, it was almost assured that it was a Core Formation cultivator or likely higher. He was fortunate the spatial stone was undetectable.

He had no idea who this Elder Zhiqing was, and neither did anyone from the Sect mention that name, so he did the only thing that soothed his mind at the moment. Blame that stupid kid, Ren Bo. His status in William’s mind was quickly reaching an irritant of the level similar to a Sky Hare.

“Brother Wei! Why did you run away!”

The sea of mortals blocking his vision parted to reveal Ren Bo walking towards him with a happy smile and a nicely shaped bruise on his cheek that looked like it would purple beautifully. Of course, that was only if Ren Bo didn’t heal himself. William wasn’t paying attention to him anyway, but the girl that accompanied him with a scowl on her face.

“So you’re alive,” William stated blankly as he avoided looking at the princess, “Do you know someone called Elder Zhiqing in our Sect?”

“Elder Zhiqing?” Ren Bo repeated, “He’s an Inner Court Elder. Why did you ask, Brother Wei?”

“I was just informed by a Senior that we will have someone coming along with us for the mission, and Elder Zhiqing allowed it.” William hoped the person the Senior mentioned wasn’t the princess staring at him like he offended her. It was likely that it was, but he hoped, for once, that something went to his liking.

“That’s great! Goddess Princess, we don’t have to convince Brother Wei!”

William ignored Ren Bo, nodded to the girl, and said, “I’m sorry you had to deal with him. Are you sure this is the best idea? I can promise that he won’t get better.”

“If he tries anything, I’ll cut off what makes him a boy.”

It was said in a tone so cold that William should have been scared for his fellow Sect disciple, but with what had happened, he felt the opposite. “And I’ll gladly help you. Still, are you sure this is alright?”

William held the princess’s stare to show his seriousness, which seemed to amuse her. With a small smile, she said, “At least you aren’t as stupid to try and touch me like this idiot did.”

“Touch you?” William asked, taken aback by the claim, “What do you mean?”

“He tried to grab my hand,” Princess Jin sneered, “So I taught him a lesson.”

Even though he was being talked about negatively, Ren Bo continued to stare at the princess unblinkingly, making William snort in disgust. There went his hopes of having a competent partner. Plus, Princess Jin would make it nearly impossible to use the spatial stone freely.

Since William’s soft tries to make the princess back out of her own didn’t work, he would have to deal with her presence the best he could. It wasn’t like he could go against what a supposed Elder of the Sect agreed with another high-level cultivator of the Empire.

“This thing is called Ren Bo,” Princess Jin pointed at the mentioned Ren Bo, “But I still don’t know your name. Who are you?”

William’s lips twitched as he replied, “Wei Liang. And how may I address you?”

“Good manners,” She said with a nod before proudly saying, “I am Princess Jin!”

William took the chance when she wasn’t paying attention to use Observe.

[-5 Spiritual Energy]

Name: Princess Jin

Age: 14

Level: 34

Cultivation: Qi Gathering (3rd Level)

Health: 1200/1200

Spiritual Energy: 230/230

Spirit: 46

Strength: 38

Stamina: 40

Agility: 45

He didn’t understand why her name was shown as Princess Jin instead of her full name. Come to think of it, he realized that Prince Yuan was the same. Perhaps it was customary for the Imperial Family in the Empire to use their title instead of an actual name.

Other than that, William was relieved he hadn’t met another monster disguised in the package of a cute girl like Li Xinyue. Though, he supposed adorable would fit the description better since Princess Jin was only fourteen. If William had a death wish, he would be tempted to pull a Wang Mei and tease the girl, but it would likely result in losing his hands.

“So, Princess Jin, why do you want to come with us?”

“It’ll be fun!” She perked up, “I never left Xuanjing City before. Grandfather always refused to let me, but when I asked this time, he said yes!”

“Oh… great,” William replied with a strained smile, “I hope we can work well together.”

Princess Jin stared at him before squealing loudly and rubbing his head, “You look so cute when you try to act like an adult!”

William sighed as his expression fell when he saw Ren Bo scowl in the corner of his eyes. This was still a disaster even if he ignored the humiliation of being stared at by the numerous mortals, guards and civilians alike. He would have to deal with Ren Bo’s stupid jealousy for the foreseeable future.

Perhaps it was time to start using the strength he had just gained to pound into Ren Bo's head that he was the leader. Princess Jin was here just for fun, so she likely wouldn’t care. He didn’t foresee too many issues.

The challenge was to do it in a way that didn’t sour Ren Bo’s view of him. Of course, if William couldn’t find a way to make that happen, he would take the loss of the relationship in return for never having to experience the nonsense he just did due to Ren Bo.

After Princess Jin backed away from him, William tried to straighten his hair back into something respectable and asked, “Brother Ren, shall we depart?”

Ren Bo grunted in agreement and walked off to the side, away from the crowd, before a spirit boat appeared out of nowhere.

“Let’s go, Brother Wei,” Ren Bo stressed before smiling at their new companion, “Goddess Princess.”