Transcending Dreams

Chapter 44: Something Is Broken

“Welcome back,” Huang Jingyi greeted them with a smile.

“Elder Huang,” Lan Yin bowed slightly, “You remember Ren Bo. He was chosen by Elder Yu to accompany Wei Liang on his first mission.”

“Mission?” Huang Jingyi raised his eyebrow in curiosity, “No matter, that can be discussed later. Wei Liang, or should I call you Junior Liang now that you are part of my Sect?”

William bowed deeply to the man that helped him the most, even if it wasn’t strictly for altruistic reasons. “I’m fine with whatever you decide, Elder Huang.”

Huang Jingyi laughed before saying, “Then Junior Liang it is. Yue’er is waiting for you at the reception. Why don’t you meet her while I discuss some matters with Lan Yin and Ren Bo?”

William wasn’t sure why they needed him gone to talk, but he was a new entrant into the Sect, so he wasn’t too surprised some things weren’t meant for his ears. He gave another bow before leaving the room, the door closing behind him immediately as he made his way to the front of the clinic.

As expected, Li Xinyue had her head down, reading a thin booklet like it contained the secret to life… considering what she usually read, that was probably true. He glanced at her level and was surprised to see she had gained one. He decided to use Observe in curiosity.

[-5 Spiritual Energy]

Name: Li Xinyue

Age: 16

Level: 95

Health: 1900/1900

Spiritual Energy: 750/750

Spirit: 150

Strength: 91

Stamina: 103

Agility: 112

There were plenty of things that stood out to William with what Observe revealed about Li Xinyue. The most obvious was her age. He had been under the impression that she was closer to twenty, but being at her level at only sixteen made much more sense since she was called a genius.

That initial surprise at her actual age was quickly shoved to the side when he saw her ridiculous attributes. Other than Spirit, the rest of the attributes were all within expectations. Still, that high Spirit should have been impossible unless the max attribute suddenly changed at a higher level. It was too bad that Luck couldn’t be seen by using Observe.

[Use Detailed Observe? | Cost: 20 Spiritual Energy]

[Y/N]

William was surprised at the prompt and that something called Detailed Observe existed, but didn’t think of declining since there was no other use for Spiritual Energy. However, when he saw only one additional stat visible, it was disappointing yet equally horrifying.

Luck: 200

That number made no sense with his current knowledge of how attributes worked, even more so than Li Xinyue’s Spirit. However, it certainly did when thinking in terms of a xianxia protagonist. It also let him know it would be unlikely to ever get such a monstrous Luck attribute unless he could find something that helped him get to that level.

If other cultivators that could be considered a ‘genius’ had similar stats, it was hard for William to understand how he could match them when he was in a similar realm. He would have to either run for his life or act like one of the background characters to avoid attention, neither of which appealed to him.

What was the point of cultivating if he didn’t aim for the top… then again, he would probably live longer if he was low-key with his actions. It would be a decision that would need to be made, but could be postponed to another time since that would be in the far future.

If being a broken, overpowered cultivator wasn’t in the cards for him, it would be best to apply his burgeoning bootlicking skills to Li Xinyue, even more than he already was. Maybe something ridiculous like a fruit that let him learn a Dao would drop on his head while walking with her.

“Sister Li,” William called out happily, making the girl turn her attention away from her reading. He suddenly realized that Li Xinyue was basically the equivalent of a valedictorian in his old world with her love for reading.

“Wei Liang,” Li Xinyue greeted before her eyes took in his new clothing with shock, “You joined my Jade Healing Sect?!”

“I did,” William grinned, “How does it look?”

Li Xinyue chuckled when he turned in the spot to show her both sides. “Very cute, Wei Liang.”

William’s smile faltered momentarily before it came back with greater force. ‘Cute’ was the highest of compliments for a thirteen-year-old, at least going by Wang Mei’s reaction to his presence. He actually couldn’t remember what being so young would be like since his memory was spotty at best of those years in his old life.

“Thank you, Sister Li,” William felt a resistance at the way he addressed her for the first time. It was likely her age that changed it for him. “Elder Huang said you wanted to speak to me. What did you need me for?”

“Right, that,” Li Xinyue’s smile disappeared as a frown replaced it. She put down her book and led him to the door on the side, “What did you do at the Garden? I thought you went there to learn how to care for the spirit plants, not go on a harvesting spree.”

William almost choked on his breath when Li Xinyue opened the door to reveal a decently sized room filled with spirit fruits. He didn’t think taking more than a few steps into the room was possible since it was so packed.

“When did all of this arrive?” William remembered Lan Yin telling the mortals who trespassed how all their efforts would benefit him. He had honestly forgotten about it, most likely in an attempt to ignore the disastrous ending.

“A few days ago,” Li Xinyue answered with a frown that somehow got deeper, “Master had to close the clinic for an entire day while we set up the proper storage. What are you expecting to do with all of these? I hope you’re not thinking of consuming them, especially since I know you’re aware of what’ll happen.”

“I’m not doing something that stupid, Sister Li,” William assured, trying to calm an increasingly riled-up Li Xinyue, “This wasn’t even supposed to be mine. Senior Sister Yin took them away from mortals that broke the rules and handed the fruits to me.”

When Li Xinyue didn’t say anything for a few seconds, William looked away from the spirit-fruit-filled room and glanced at her to see a blank stare.

“Sister Li?”

Li Xinyue narrowed her eyes. “Senior Sister Yin? Nobody in the Sect should be allowed to address Senior Lan in such a manner. Wei Liang, are you a Sentinel?”

“… Is that a bad thing?”

Li Xinyue pouted, suddenly seeming to act her age, “I don’t see how you could get into that Path when I couldn’t!”

William blinked when Li Xinyue huffed and walked away, leaving him in front of the open door, filled with confusion. As far as he was aware, she was a genius in alchemy. Why would she want to be on a Path for combat?

Luckily, this seemed to be the sort of anger common in mood-swinging teenagers, so it shouldn’t be anything to be concerned about. It would likely resolve itself the following day… or maybe a week since this was a cultivating teenager. They were supposed to hold long grudges, so he had to account for that.

The question now was what to do with all the spirit fruits. While he definitely planned to consume as much as he safely could to save his stat points, that didn’t require the massive amount available in the filled room.

His first thought was to somehow give the majority of the fruits back to the workers that spent weeks gathering them. However, he doubted Lan Yin would be happy that her punishment was negated, though there might be a chance that she would give him leeway since he was now her Junior Brother.

If, for some reason, she didn’t mind, it still wouldn’t be possible. There was no way he could transport all of this back to the Garden. And he wasn’t bold enough to ask Lan Yin for help. That would be pushing it a little too far.

As he pondered how to ask Lan Yin without angering her, the door to the clinic burst open, and in strode Wang Xiaoling, as brash as William remembered her.

“Is the brat back yet?” Wang Xiaoling questioned loudly without bothering with a greeting. When Li Xinyue pointed at him without looking up from her reading, Wang Xiaoling beamed a bright smile, “Wei Liang! I thought I would have to hire more useless people if you stayed away longer! Come, we have goods to sell!”

William smirked when Wang Xiaoling grabbed his hand and made to drag him like she always did. He was no longer the weakling from a month ago. He was now an honored cultiva-

What?

He gaped in shock as he was pulled out of the clinic, his attempts to drag his feet completely ineffective with Wang Xiaoling’s strength.

[Name: Wang Xiaoling | Level: 3]

Her level hadn’t changed, but she somehow ignored his available sixteen Strength attribute like it was nothing. He immediately tried to use Observe.

[The skill Observe is not available on target]

William wasn’t fazed by the additional uniqueness of Wang Xiaoling. He tried Detailed Observe, though he didn’t expect it to work since he only had five Spiritual Energy.

[Spiritual Energy insufficient for Detailed Observe on target]

All he wanted was to know if it was possible. The strangeness of Wang Xiaoling’s strength would be solved after a few hours when his Spiritual Energy recovered. That was enough for William.