He had grown used to Li Xinyue's willingness to answer questions, to the point where he had, for some reason, expected that would be the same with the Lan siblings.

Instead, William hadn’t seen them since they had dropped him off at this ‘Garden.’ Which was a description that definitely should never apply to something this vast. A garden should be something that could fit on a small patch of land, not this ridiculous farm that he couldn’t see the end of whichever way he looked.

One of the few things that the Lan siblings did tell William was the shocking number of workers needed for the daily upkeep. With over ten thousand mortals and low-level cultivators toiling away daily, it was obvious that Huang Jingyi didn’t intend for William to make any true contributions. He was here purely for the experience of working with spirit plants.

… And maybe it might have had to do with making sure he felt indebted to Huang Jingyi so he kept visiting the clinic.

Both reasons were even more likely with the pass he had received when the Lan siblings left him. It let him wander around most parts of the Garden without restrictions. In fact, that had been precisely what he had been doing the past week.

That, and trying to do his damned best to activate another quest.

This place might be a perfect way for William to make practical use of the books he had been reading continuously since he arrived, but he was also in an apparent dead zone for experience points. No matter what he did or who he talked to, a side quest wasn’t activated.

William contemplated giving up and accepting that this month may only be helpful for the future. It was a better mindset than thinking of it as stagnation. In the time he spent on the farm masquerading as a garden, he would have completed the side quest to visit Jade Healing Clinic, netting him a crucial hundred and fifty experience points.

Enough to get him to the next level without considering any bonuses. Even worse was that he would miss out on three more weeks, which made his heart burn in regret.

“Master Wei, where would you like to go today?”

Another downside to the place was the people working there.

[Name: Shao Jun | Level: 99]

“Just go wherever you need to, Shao Jun. I’ll follow behind like usual.”

William did his best to keep any sign of pity off his expression as he answered Shao Jun. Still, from the slight stiffening of the old man’s lips, he probably hadn’t succeeded. Shao Jun was a typical cultivator that called the Garden home. One that had exhausted all their potential.

“Then shall we head for the Fire Plums today?” Shao Jun clasped his arms behind his back while waiting for William’s answer.

“That’s fine,” William nodded in agreement. He couldn’t help but frown when Shao Jun summoned the workers assigned to him for the stay. Over a dozen well-built men carried a palanquin over and set it down. He wished it wasn’t necessary, but his Stamina was still pathetic since he wasn’t allowed to eat any spirit plants.

When William said that the people who worked here were a negative about the place, he didn’t mean that the people themselves were terrible. Instead, it was the situation around their ‘employment.’

While he wouldn’t go as far as to call it slavery, it came damn close to that definition. The only reason it didn’t reach that level was that the workers did receive pay and were allowed to leave whenever they chose to. It sounded great in theory, except that every one of these workers had exhausted their families’ savings to reach the Garden. And brought their families along with them, making it that much harder to leave.

The Jade Healing Sect enticed cheap labor by promises of shelter and pay, along with the chance to be recruited into the Sect if lucky enough. Though, as far as William knew, there were no examples of that happening, not that it stopped the hope from continuing.

The most appalling part of this was the future of the members of these families. With how remote this Garden was from any mortal settlement, there was absolutely no way to leave without paying a ridiculous sum for transportation to the Sect itself. That meant the families that moved here would all eventually become workers of the Garden generationally.

It baffled William that the workers were all aware of it and still happily worked themselves to death. And that was meant literally. The two workers that ‘retired’ only did so because they were too old to work and were on their deathbeds.

If Li Xinyue didn’t seem to have the willingness to speak to him, William would be worried that he had been lured here to be one of these workers since the architect of this abominable system was Huang Jingyi.

The man that seemed so kind might be the scariest of them all. Instead of affecting a single person, he changed the fates of multiple generations while making them believe they got the better end of it.

“Master Wei, the sedan is ready.”

William gave an uneasy smile to the servants kneeling to allow him to climb on easily. The idiots all looked happy to serve him, as if he had any power to help them in the future.

“To the Fire Plum patch,” Shao Jun ordered, bringing the curtain down to block the sun.

The palanquin jostled a bit before the men carrying it settled into a steady jog. It surprised William the first time he experienced this, but he learned that they were fed low-quality spirit plants until they were robust enough to work the entire day tirelessly if needed.

“Shao Jun, are you sure there’s nothing I can do to help?” William asked for what felt like the umpteenth time, “I think I’d learn more if I can help to plant something. Or if not that, let me water the Dragonfruits!”

“I apologize, Master Wei,” Shao Jun said in a monotone voice, “Until Overseer Lan decides otherwise, you are forbidden to do so.”

William sighed in frustration and prepared himself for another day of observing how others maintained a spirit plant. He understood why he wasn’t allowed to touch anything, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

“Shao Jun!”

William felt the sedan suddenly halt, and Shao Jun’s blank expression gained some life as he immediately pulled up the curtain.

“Overseer Lan! What are your orders?”

“Tell Wei Liang to come out.”

William was already stepping out when he heard Lan Yin’s cold voice, curious about how it came from above. He shaded his eyes with his hand to block the bright sun to see a strangely decorated… boat? At the least, it was in the shape of a boat, but it was flying. It took William a good second before remembering that there was something called a spirit boat in the cultivation world, though it was rarely mentioned.

“Senior Lan?” William asked with barely hidden hope. Maybe she would be the one that would let him activate a quest, and if not, he could try to convince her to let him do something more to get a better use out of this trip.

“You’re coming with me,” Lan Yin commanded as she flicked her hand to pick William up without getting out of her spirit boat.

Daoist Chen and Huang Jingyi had done something similar, except when Lan Yin decided to follow in their steps, William felt like he was surrounded by a pocket of dense air. He assumed that it was because of Lan Yin’s presumably lower cultivation.

“Don’t move,” Lan Yin said before the spirit boat moved forward with alarming speed.

William couldn’t actually feel the movement, but he could see the blur of the surroundings since the boat had no cover to block his vision. It wasn’t a fun experience with the confusion to his senses.

“Elder Huang instructed that you are allowed to enter the forbidden areas as long as you diligently self-study for the first week.”

William forced himself to ignore the blurred surroundings and, luckily, had a helpful target. Lan Yin’s exceptionally beautiful face was a convenient distraction, and he had the excuse of listening to her talk to do so.

“Where are we going, Senior Lan?”

As soon as William finished his sentence, the spirit boat abruptly halted, and he found himself in a vastly different area compared to where he had just been. Instead of endless, well-kept farmland, the surroundings appeared to be overgrown and untamed, resembling a wildland.

“Unlike where you were, the Sect doesn’t depend on this part of the Garden for its harvest. Shao Jun told me you asked for more, so here is your chance.”

William yelped when he was unceremoniously pulled off the spirit boat and dropped onto the ground.

“You’re welcome to feast on whatever catches your fancy,” Lin Yi added when William looked up at her, “I’ll come back in three weeks. Make sure to live until then.”

The spirit boat began to move and swiftly vanished into the distance before William could say anything.

Frowning, William carefully surveyed his surroundings, pondering why Lan Yin had hinted at potential danger to his life. He believed there was nothing within the Garden that could pose a threat to him, considering the large number of mortals living here.

Despite a possible risk to his life, William's greed began to stir within him. After a week of being unproductive regarding his stats, a golden opportunity had presented itself.

William tried his best to dismiss the strange expressions on Shao Jun's face and the workers carrying the palanquin just before he was taken away. He didn’t know why they seemed so concerned, but he couldn’t do much about it anyway.

All he could focus on was taking advantage of this chance to buff his stats.