William still wasn’t sure what had just happened.

The trip to Jade Healing Clinic was far more eventful than needed, and while it somehow ended in William’s favor, the whole thing left a bad taste in his mouth. He understood that he was a weakling even among mortals, but why was it necessary to get curb stomped by people who were far more powerful.

It would be a nice change of pace if some child would insult him so William could proceed to do some classic face-slapping to get experience points. That fact hadn’t escaped his notice.

The only experience points he had earned was because of some nonsensical reason of ‘accepting his place in the world.’ William doubted that could be repeated. The status screen or HUD, whatever it was, didn’t show him what to do to get more experience.

[SAFE MODE has disabled the discovery of side quests]

William let out an exasperated sigh. With all the restrictions with this safe mode, it had made the point of having the HUD almost negligible. It made him wonder why having a damaged soul was so limiting to this strange power. The most obvious answer was that it was somehow powered by his soul. Though if that was true, he couldn’t understand how.

William put his hand in his pocket for the umpteenth time to rub the smooth surface of the jade token Huang Jingyi gave him. This was another unneeded thing he received from his visit to Jade Healing Clinic. He wasn’t keen on returning to where two temperamental cultivators worked, especially since they made it blatantly aware that they didn’t like the sight of him.

Well, at least at the start. The story William told Huang Jingyi lessened the old man’s anger considerably. Or, if not that, made him interested enough in William to give him a token and practically order him to visit the clinic.

That was both a good and bad thing. William would have to watch his actions carefully in order to keep himself alive and well during those visits. Still, on the other hand, it gave him what was possibly the easiest source of experience points.

Side Quests (3):

Visit Jade Healing Clinic 2-3 times a week (Repeatable)

The HUD refused to show the rewards William could get by completing it, but it surely had to be twenty-five points at minimum. He got that for the highly arduous task of accepting his place in this world, so it wasn’t a stretch to use it as a base.

William grunted when he was shoved to the side.

“Watch where you’re going!”

William rubbed his shoulder and scowled at the man who walked into him. All he saw was the back of the man’s head since he was already hurrying somewhere in a rush. It wasn’t the first time William was bumped into, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

The market was packed to the brim, even more than what William saw at the city entrance. There were temporary stalls set up between permanent storefronts, making the choices for prospective buyers practically unlimited. It was a sight to see at the start, but it was quickly getting old.

William had been searching for Wang Xiaoling for over an hour without luck. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was penniless and felt indebted to Li Jie for the jade token, no matter how terrible the experience in the clinic was, William would have given up looking.

It made him scold himself for being stupid enough to walk away from Wang Xiaoling without getting more details on where she would be. He wondered if her unreliableness had already infected him.

At the least, William should have glanced at the goods she would sell so he would have an idea of what to look for. Instead, he was wandering around like a suspicious person, drawing looks from the stall owners when he passed by multiple times.

William groaned loudly in frustration, getting the people around him to warily move away. He didn’t pay them any mind and pouted like a true thirteen-year-old.

“You! Are you Wei Liang?”

William winced when a meaty hand clamped down on his shoulder. He looked up to see what might be the largest man he had ever seen in either of his lives, and it wasn’t even close. It was a miracle that the mountain of meat could even walk around.

“I am. Who are you?” William shook off the hand and moved a few steps away. He learned his lesson of being in striking distance of strangers, especially one that could trip and kill him by falling on him.

“I’m Fatty Xu! Sister Wang told us to keep a lookout for a kid. I didn’t think it could be you since Sister Wang is noble and elegant in temperament, and you are the opposite! Follow me, kid!”

William never understood the nickname Fatty that some characters in cultivation novels had, but maybe it was because he didn’t imagine them right. He always thought of those characters as jolly, pleasant-looking people who were slightly on the heavier side. This Fatty Xu destroyed that image.

William winced when the lumbering man’s body made far too many noises as he slowly turned around and waddled off. William might be wary of this Fatty Xu, but the mention of Wang Xiaoling was enough of a lure to discard that hesitance.

However, there was one thing that still seemed highly suspicious. Fatty Xu described Wang Xiaoling as noble and elegant. Unless those words mean something different in this world, Fatty Xu was talking about someone else, or he was as hopeless for the crazy woman as Li Jie.

William frowned when Fatty Xu shoved his way toward the most crowded stall in the whole market. He had painstakingly navigated through this crowd on his second trip around the market. It had obviously been a failure since he continued searching for Wang Xiaoling.

William followed Fatty Xu comfortably with a shrug since the man’s bulk created enough space for him in the crowd. Even if the guy was unscrupulous, too many people were around for anything serious to happen.

“Sister Wang! Sister Wang!” Fatty Xu’s yells were like fog horns with the sheer volume he was able to produce.

“Annoying Xu? What do you want now? I’m too busy to talk to you!”

William perked up at the familiar voice and moved around Fatty Xu’s bulk to peer around him. He expected to see Wang Xiaoling squeezed in the crowd, more frazzled than usual with an angry look on her face.

William was mostly right. Wang Xiaoling was there with an angry look on her face, but that was the only thing he was right about.

She wasn’t squeezed in the crowd and definitely wasn’t frazzled. In fact, Wang Xiaoling was nearly unrecognizable.

“Sister Wang, I found Wei Liang!”

“Really?” Wang Xiaoling narrowed her eyes to see the small figure overshadowed by Fatty Xu’s large body, “Finally! Wei Liang, Get up here!”

The crowd leading up to the stall parted to let William through. Not that he noticed. He was too busy staring at Wang Xiaoling.

“What happened to you?” William stared at the completely transformed woman in shock.

William’s question was ignored as Wang Xiaoling studied him closely.

“You’re healed! Good, you can start working immediately. Help me take the orders. We only have a few more hours before my stall permit expires.”

[Side Quest Added | Help Wang Xiaoling sell her goods]

William immediately put aside his shock at how attractive Wang Xiaoling looked when she tried to look her best. There was no time to care about such frivolities.

Experience points were within reach, and he sorely needed them. William pulled up the full HUD for the first time in a while.

Name: Wei Liang (William Davis)

Age: 13

Level: 1

Experience: 25/100

Cultivation: N/A

Health: 10/10

Strength: 1

Stamina: 1

Agility: 1

Luck: 1

Points: 0

Traits:

Soul Damage (Major) - Chance of all base attributes to reset to 1 with every point added

Main Quests:

Restore your Soul! (Reach Level 10 to enable the system to restore your soul to a more complete state)

Side Quests (4):

. Daoist Chen has challenged you to become a Nascent Soul cultivator in ten years for a reward

. Return to Jade Healing Clinic and make Huang Jingyi kneel with your superior cultivation

. Visit Jade Healing Clinic 2-3 times a week (Repeatable)

. Help Wang Xiaoling sell her goods

Of all the quests available, helping Wang Xiaoling was the only one that could be worked on immediately.

“Tell me what you need me to do,” William’s eyes gleamed with desire, surprising Wang Xiaoling at the intensity.

“Good! That’s exactly what I want to hear from my best employee!”