Name: Wei Liang (William Davis)

Age: 13

Level: 69

Experience: 140975/8625

Cultivation: Qi Gathering (6th Level)

Health: 240/1500

Spiritual Energy: 0/440 (20% per Hour)

Spirit: 90 (88)

Strength: 90 (88)

Stamina: 80 (78)

Agility: 90 (88)

Luck: 90 (88)

Points: 158

William stared at the screen as he rolled a single pill between his fingers with his left hand while the rest was held in the other. He knew he should take them immediately but still felt some reluctance even though death was at the end of the countdown of his martial skill's activation time.

There was a reason for his stupidity.

Impurity: Stage 2 (97%)

Weeks, 4 Days, 22 Hours Remaining

With a small sigh, William hoped the experience point reduction wouldn’t be horrific. He popped the pill into his mouth.

[+550 HP]

[Health: 240 —> 790/1500]

[Impurity Increased]

[Stage 2 (97%) —> Stage 3 (12%)]

[Trait Modified | Impurity Poisoning]

[Stage 1 —> Stage 2]

[10% XP Reduction —> 75% XP Reduction]

He stared blankly at the system alerts, wondering why he dared to have hope. This was much worse than his worst-case scenario. He pulled up the time required to rid himself of the trait naturally.

Impurity: Stage 3 (12%)

Month, 6 Days + 10 Weeks

The ten weeks must be the time required for stage two, with the additional one month and six days solely applicable to stage three. This meant that every pill taken right now added forty-five days to the clock.

William grimaced and stared at the pills in distaste. He still needed to restore his health.

[+550 HP]

[Health: 790 —> 1340/1500]

[Impurity Increased]

[Stage 3 (12%) —> Stage 3 (27%)]

That was it for now. If he was in immediate danger, he would be willing to take one more pill to restore all of his health. Since that didn't seem to be the case, it made his heart burn at the thought of using the pills inefficiently.

He stored the remaining pills in the spatial stone and wondered what to do now. There was an expectation in him that once the Seedling was killed, they would be freed from this place. Obviously, that was not the case.

Perhaps it was necessary to leave without the princess like the Seedling suggested at the start. But even now, he was hesitant to believe anything it said. It was hard to after the first thing it had tried to do was extract his soul.

On top of that, he had no way of knowing if this place was truly safe or if something was waiting, hidden until he had left.

“You better pull through, princess,” William murmured as he stared worriedly at her golden form. Her state had changed in the past few seconds, but he didn’t know if it was good or bad.

Her body had gone from emitting a blinding golden glow to something more viewable. It was finally possible to see her features again, but instead of a glow, her entire body, clothes included, had a golden sheen.

What gave William a slight sense of relief was her expression. She had her eyes closed, with a soft smile on her lips in stark contrast to her bloodcurdling screams the last time she had been conscious.

[-750 HP]

[Trait Added | Attribute Penalty - 25% Reduction on Strength, Stamina, and Agility]

He groaned in pain as he felt, and heard multiple bones in his body shatter. The penalty should have been expected, but it hit him at a time when his emotions put him in a state that no longer required heightened awareness.

He again drew the life-extending, yet poisonous, pills from the spatial stone. This time, it would be necessary to heal himself fully to eliminate the new trait, purely for safety reasons.

[+550 HP]

[Health: 590 —> 1140/1500]

[Impurity Increased]

[Stage 3 (27%) —> Stage 3 (42%)]

[+360 HP]

[Health: 1140 —> 1500/1500]

[Impurity Increased]

[Stage 3 (42%) —> Stage 3 (57%)]

[Trait Removed | Attribute Penalty]

William wished good riddance to that trait. He didn’t need yet another thing that dragged him down. When he first got the system, he had assumed that he would occasionally get traits that would be of help, but it seemed that every single trait he received shit on his parade, if there was one to be had.

He shook his head, getting his mind off penalties, impurities, and other bad news out of his mind. There was one positive to be happy about. Princess Jin seemed to be getting better.

If becoming less of a glowstick by the second was a good thing.

The only issue was that her skin was also gaining more of a gold tint by the second. He was tempted to use Observe on her as soon as he could, but since it was doubtful he would be able to help even if something turned out to be wrong, he held back his impulse and forced himself to build his Spiritual Energy back to two hundred.

Fury of the Five Heavenly Dragons was now his trump card, and William always wanted it as a possible option in reserve. Nobody and nothing would expect someone like him to be able to take down a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator or spirit beast.

“Let’s give it an hour, princess,” William said, mainly to himself, “Maybe something will change then.”

The time passed slowly, and the only reason he could track it in the first place was his constant glances at the amount of Spiritual Energy he possessed. Every three ticks was equal to two minutes. And he tracked that closely, primarily since he had nothing better to do.

He had been tempted many times in that hour to cultivate. The excessive amount of experience points he possessed and hadn’t been put to use was a source of irritation, especially since the next advancement of a minor realm would mean his Soul Damage trait would be rendered ineffective.

The paltry two percent reduction on his attributes would reduced to zero, and more than the actual reduction of the penalty, he wanted to know if it came along with any other surprises. Mainly the limitations that the Soul Damage put on his body and soul.

However, for once in recent memory, William didn’t let his desire for more to run his mind. He repeatedly decided that being cautious was more of a priority.

That had now changed.

After an hour of zero danger to their lives, that determination was rapidly being questioned. Seen as unnecessary. Instead of spending his time staring between his system screen and Princess Jin, he could have likely advanced two or three minor realms.

Spiritual Energy: 93/440 (20% per Hour)

Still around an hour and a half till his Spiritual Energy would reach the amount needed to activate the Fury of the Five Heavenly Dragons. And it would be even more glorious with higher base attributes.

That settled it for William.

He gave this dead place another once over before straightening his back and closing his eyes.

He slowly sank into the state needed for cultivation before circulating his Qi. His smile turned into a large frown once he sensed the new stage of impurity changed his Qi into something almost unrecognizable.