William was in a zen state.

He really should be trying to figure out how to get to the second stage of Qi Gathering, but the initial hour of trying brought up an alert that made him want to become a cultivation maniac. Or, in other words, a shut-in.

William continuously circulated his Qi, unsure and uncaring of how long it had been since he started. He could sense that the process was becoming easier and easier with every cycle around his pathways. It was strangely enjoyable to feel the small accomplishment he was making with his Qi. Of course, not as enjoyable as getting experience points and seeing all the numbers increase, but very close.

If there was a lesson to be learned from this, it was that dumping his stat points into Spirit was not as magical as he thought. Sure, it was still broken as hell, but not to the extent that he had been thinking.

William wondered how other cultivators would react if they could hear his thoughts. He could be reasonably confident that they would make Li Xinyue’s pummeling look tame after they were done with him.

His brows furrowed when his Qi slowed down slightly as the stray thoughts took him out of the zen state. Luckily, he was able to sense the pathways expand just as he was distracted.

William wouldn’t say he could sense the pathways become larger or anything like that, but it seemed… shinier?

He couldn't explain it well, but it seemed to have gained a previously missing luster.

That change was immediately followed by a burst of alerts that he couldn’t have tried to ignore if his life depended on it.

[Level up! | 5 Stat Points Added]

[Cultivation upgraded | Qi Gathering (1st Level) —> Qi Gathering (2nd Level)]

[New upgrade requirements available]

Upgrade Requirements (2):

. Spirit: 30

. Eligible for Level 30

[Cultivate in a Qi dense environment for 4 hours: +16 XP]

The last alert was the reason for his zen state. Whatever this place was, it apparently qualified for the prestigious description of ‘Qi dense.’ When cultivating, it gave him four times the amount he was getting in the Outer Sect’s Qi refining room. Getting nearly a hundred experience points for a day of cultivating made it actually worth the effort.

However, he knew it wouldn’t be wise to sit in the same spot to cultivate, no matter how safe it seemed. If something like that Draebern existed, it would make sense that some bird with an equally high level also existed.

William had long since opened his eyes, studying each of the changes in the menu carefully.

Level: 20

Experience: 1687/2500

Cultivation: Qi Gathering (2nd Level)

Health: 1100/1100

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

Spirit: 30 (26)

Strength: 30 (26)

Stamina: 30 (26)

Agility: 30 (26) + 10

Luck: 30 (26)

Points: 13

However, what concerned him the most was the new attribute limits.

Max Level: 29

Max Attribute: 40

William had already expected this, but with Li Xinyue's attributes, he hoped his assumption had been wrong. On the bright side, he had reason to suspect that his soul damage was still working behind the scenes to nerf how strong he could become.

If William did nothing but increase his level diligently, he would reach his max attribute naturally. That meant either his talent was so trash that this was his personal limit, or something was holding him back.

Of those two options, William would much rather assume that the latter was true. The other option was simply too depressing.

As he tried to reassure himself, William caught sight of something that surprised him.

Impurity: Stage 1 (33%)

days remaining

He was under the impression that the amount of impurity a cultivator could take would be more or less stable until the next major realm. In his case, it would be Foundation Establishment. After a moment of confusion, he pulled out another Lightning Berry and popped it into his mouth, observing the Impurity status.

William had no expectation of actually gaining anything from the spirit fruit. Still, he certainly didn’t expect zero change in impurity. It was at thirty-three percent before, and it was the same after. That meant the Lightning Berry now had such little effect on his body that it was useless.

With a shake of his head, William put it aside, not wanting to waste any more spirit fruit on meaningless tests. Even if they were useless to him personally in terms of making him more powerful, they could still act as regular food if necessary.

Besides, instead of worrying over something minor, he could do the one thing necessary before finally exploring this place.

Max his Spirit attribute immediately.

[+10 Spirit]

[Max Spirit Reached]

[Trait Modified | Soul Damage (Minor) - 12% Attribute Reduction]

William felt the rush of Qi released from his dantian, and he was more than used to the routine that followed the action increasing his Spirit attribute.

This time, he didn’t even bother to try and add the Qi to his blocked-off Lung Meridian, but it pulsed in warning anyway as the Qi passed it. He ignored it and let the Heart Meridian absorb everything available, his mood lifting when he sensed the Qi inside the meridian gathering to the center before everything was quickly compressed into a familiar speck.

William was strangely reminded of a star being born, or at least how they showed the animation in the shows that he used to watch. Of course, the speck might be the most pathetic star in existence with its dimness, but he would work to make it shine brighter.

He exhaled slowly as he opened his eyes, realizing that even the process of guiding his Qi had been more straightforward in this environment. However, now that William’s mind wasn’t in a haze called zen state, he started to feel as if he had stepped into a place he might never leave.

There were things in cultivation worlds that were like pocket dimensions, cracks in the world, mystic realms, whatever name it was called by. They all had the same premise. Whoever could enter would find innumerable treasures as long as one could survive the danger within.

All very exciting when William was reading the novels. In fact, it might have been his favorite part, but like most that he experienced in this world, it terrified him. As it should.

The first thing he saw after waking up from a nine-day, at minimum, long coma was something called a damned Draebern. What kind of name is that in the first place? And if it was named true, didn’t that mean a dragon had somehow mated with a lower status beast? William thought dragons were supposed to be prideful in a world like this. Not sexual degenerates… unless they also had humanoid forms?

He shook his head as his thoughts started to veer off into an area he had no desire to think about.

The first thing William needed to do was try and find out what this place was. Then if there was a way out of here.

The forest was a strange place. The tree tops blocked out the sky, but somehow, the sunlight shone brightly on the ground, as if all the leaves did was magnify the sunlight. Plus, the trees themselves were reasonably spaced out, as they were all planted carefully to avoid interfering with each other.

Considering what William suspected this place to be, that might be precisely the reason behind the orderliness.

He looked in every direction, seeing much of the same. It was as if someone got lazy and copy pasted the surroundings. There was no way in hell that he would climb down the tree and get eaten alive by whatever the hells called this forest home, so one option was left.

William looked up, finding that even though he already had to be ten stories high at minimum, it seemed like there was more than double that height to reach the tree top. Then again, he was guessing since massive branches blocked most of his vision when he looked straight up. However, since all the trees seemed to look the same, the neighboring trees could be used as a reference.

Luckily, those massive branches that blocked his vision could also be used as platforms to quickly climb to the top. William bent his knee slightly and jumped, almost yelping in shock when he rocketed up, nearly ramming his head into a branch several meters higher. Luckily he had clamped his mouth shut to keep quiet, able to avoid alerting anything living close by that food was available.

The coma must have put his control over his body out of calibration for a bit, but it was quickly fixed. William made quick work of climbing the rest of the way up, being surprisingly stealthy with his light steps, before he found himself balancing himself carefully on a small protrusion on the tree’s trunk.

William held on tightly as he warily reached his other hand into the thick blanket of leaves above him, waiting for something terrible to happen. When his fingers weren’t ripped off, he mentally wished himself luck and pulled himself up.