It took less than a second for William to reach the princess, but that short amount of time was enough for everything to change.

The almost blinding golden heart disappeared, with the harsh glow now coming from Princess Jin herself. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her face protruded with greenish-brown veins that looked far too much like the vines that had been attached to the embryo. She was writhing uncontrollably, making it almost impossible for William to keep her in his arms when he picked her up.

The only thing that didn’t change was her screams. The same bloodcurdling scream that made him forget about everything and rush to her continued without pause.

William struggled to keep Princess Jin in his arms while being hyperaware of his surroundings. He wasn’t sure if the Fury of the Five Heavenly Dragons was causing the embryo's rapid disintegration or if it was the princess interacting with the heart. In the end, it didn’t matter.

Getting out of the embryo was the priority. Even the fraction of the second he spent picking Princess Jin up caused the embryo to melt around him, making his feet sink into the flesh he was standing on.

William propelled himself with a strong jump, ripping apart the melting flesh beneath his feet. The Qi surrounding his body helped immensely to stop the flecks of blood from splattering his exposed skin, but since he was actively turning the flesh around him into slop with his movements, it didn’t stop enough.

By the time he escaped the flesh of the embryo, William was painted red with blood, but the princess was strangely clean compared to him. However, that was no boon. It was because of whatever happened between her and the heart.

Princess Jin was still shining a harsh gold, but the intensity had increased drastically to a point where William couldn’t even tell her features apart. It was impossible to see her individual fingers, let alone anything on her face. The only reason he even knew that the princess still had a human-shaped body was due to him carrying her.

Her screams had stopped shortly after William left the deteriorating embryo, but that scared him even more than what she was trying to destroy her vocal cords.

[-5 Spiritual Energy]

Name: Princess Jin

Age: 14

Level: 58

Cultivation: Qi Gathering (5th Level)

Health: 1400/1400

Spiritual Energy: 664/830

Spirit: 166

Strength: 38

Stamina: 44

Agility: 45

“Princess?” William’s voice broke the silence, adding to the odd gurgling the embryo was making as it deteriorated, “Do you hear me?”

Using Observe on her gave him a sense of relief. She was still alive and in full health. Of course, it wasn’t a great sign that she was unresponsive to his question, but it reassured him that it might be able to save her… somehow.

And William didn’t miss how Princess Jin had increased her level by twelve and entered the next minor realm, with all the extra stat points she gained added to her Spirit attribute. While it was good to know he was right about what the benefit of the heart would be, this seemed to be woefully lacking.

This minor benefit was not worth the pain the princess had gone through, though as far as he knew, she might still be feeling that nightmarish pain.

“Fuck me,” William cursed softly, “What the hell do I do now?”

He impulsively used his martial skill, depleting his Spiritual Energy. Princess Jin’s state was out of his control. And even more worryingly, the side quest to help her extract the embryo's heart hadn’t been completed.

William glanced at the embryo, finding it was quickly shrinking in size but not in the way he had assumed. Instead of it deteriorating like he had thought, it was more fitting to describe it as all the mass being compressed into something more compact.

He spat out a curse and disappeared from his spot, using his massively increased attributes to get as far from the embryo as possible. A few seconds later, he came to a spot near a wall made out of bark, just like the ceiling. He turned to see how far he ran and frowned when he saw the embryo a little over a mile away. Not as far as he had hoped.

However, the glow coming from Princess Jin’s body was bright enough to clearly illuminate it at this distance.

Forgetting that concerning feature that the princess seemed to be stuck with, he went over the hastily drawn-up plan to avoid letting the embryo complete whatever it was in the process of.

William remembered what it said before the princess threw her tokens at it. Specifically, the word it was cut off from completing.

Repent.

He expected another fight for his life, and he hoped to every higher being that existed that the embryo would finish whatever it was doing soon.

Around twenty seconds had passed since William activated the Fury of the Five Heavenly Dragons. It seemed like far too much had happened in that amount of time. Still, it felt to him like it wasn’t enough.

Only around forty seconds left before the martial skill deactivated, and he was left with his default strength.

William did not want to be left with that when the embryo of an apocalyptic-level being, at least to him, didn’t seem to be dead. He could do nothing, hoping it would all turn out in his favor, but he didn’t have a death wish.

“Princess, I’m going to leave you here until I know it’s safe,” William glanced over her body before having to look away from the bright golden glow, “Wish me luck.”

He didn’t waste any more time and shot back to the collapsing embryo. His palm was open and ready, and his eyes showed murderous intent. A stark difference from when he hesitated to get himself dirty. There was none of that now, though it might be because he was already covered in bloody slop.

William let out a guttural roar, something he didn’t even know this body was capable of, as he thrust his palm with every ounce of power the Fury of Five Heavenly Dragons gave him. Since he wanted to pulverize the embryo into meat paste if possible, he would have loved to use his other martial skill, Thunderous Palm, to layer with his attack, but it was impossible due to the fact that every bit of his Qi was in use through his body.

His palm crashed into the soft flesh wall, shockwaves rippling from where his attack landed as the embryo exterior shook wildly. He could hear the aftermath of his attack ripping apart the embryo internally, but that was just the beginning.

The force behind William’s palm caused it to pierce into the flesh, and he fully expected his entire body to shoot through the embryo like a bullet. He predicted that at the start since he knew how soft the embryo was.

However, instead of his entire body piercing through the embryo and causing havoc, William was blasted back by a massive explosion.

He rag-dolled through the air for a second before he found himself, quickly righting his body to land on his feet. It was a relief that his mouth had been sealed shut during the explosion. Because if it hadn’t, a significant amount of rancid flesh would be taking up space in his mouth.

William held back the reflex to gag as he quickly wiped his eyes to rid himself of the blood caked on them.

[Name: Weakened Magmaheart Goliath Seedling | Level: ?]

He stiffened at seeing the system information above the humanoid being standing in the middle of where the embryo had previously been. The only thing left now was a circle of blood spatter surrounding this… seedling.

“I said you would repent. I offered you freedom as respect to the one that provided your mark. You spat on it.”

William shuddered, the rumbling voice only adding to the sense of urgency that was lit inside him. It was already there before when the embryo hadn’t died, but now it had been raised to another level.

This beast was in a higher realm. It was likely in the Foundation Establishment Realm, and there was no chance he would live after his martial skill was deactivated after that one-minute time limit.

That meant there would be no pleasantries exchanged. He couldn't afford it. William had to destroy it without delay.