Name: Wei Liang (William Davis)

Age: 13

Level: 62

Experience: 2550/7750

Cultivation: Qi Gathering (6th Level)

Health: 250/1500

Spiritual Energy: 189/440 (20% per Hour)

William stopped looking at the screen after seeing the amount of spiritual energy he had left. He needed eleven more to activate the Fury of The Five Heavenly Dragons again.

That would take a little over seven minutes to recover.

He might as well be dead.

William reached for his spatial stone, intending to take out much-needed Vitality Restoration Pills to give himself more time. The Seedling was a major realm above him, and even a glancing blow would take away more health than he had left. He no longer had the robustness given to him by the martial skill increasing his Strength attribute by five times.

Unfortunately for him, it seemed that the Seedling was not keen on letting him pull out the pills.

“Fuck!” William gasped as he awkwardly dodged the spray of blood shot right at him. The way it melted small holes into the ground made him extremely happy he hadn’t been hit by that. It would have meant death with his low health.

“If you move, I will end your life.”

He honestly wasn’t more concerned about his life after that ultimatum. That wouldn’t be possible. It was over whether he restored his health or not. He only wanted to take those pills to increase the chance of living by a minuscule percentage.

“What is this place?” William spoke to the Seedling for the first time. He had to try something, anything, to buy some time.

“You refused to leave. Why?”

He didn’t mind that his question was ignored. As long as the thing kept speaking to him, it was fine.

“I’m not sure what you mean,” William said obliviously. Anything to waste more time. The Seedling didn’t appreciate that.

He felt a surge of pain in his legs as he put pressure on them to frantically avoid the blood thrown at him.

“Why?” The Seedling repeated calmly. As calmly as was possible in its rumbling voice.

William winced as he adjusted his position before shutting out the pain. He avoided looking at the damage since all that would accomplish was to make him think about the pain he should feel. The Seedling slowly making its way to him made that unwise.

Even though it had an awkward gait, it made steady progress toward him. It would take no more than a minute to reach him. Far less than the time required to recover enough Spiritual Energy. And he knew from the Seedling's quickness during their fight that if it was necessary to move faster, it would be more than capable of doing so.

“I couldn’t leave her behind,” William admitted, no longer trying to avoid the question.

“She would have been safe,” the Seedling sounded puzzled, “You had my word.”

“How was I to know you would keep that promise?” Even as William asked that question, he wondered if his greed made him reject the offer. However, that was only a brief thought that lasted only a fraction of a second.

William knew he would have gladly taken it if there had been a way to escape with Princess Jin.

“You have the mark, but you seem oblivious to it. You were offered freedom, but you denied it. You were given another opportunity, but you chose to reject it… again.”

William flinched, feeling all the more foolish at the disappointment he could hear. At least, that’s what it sounded like to him. Having the thing that he was trying to kill talking down to him in such a way brought up a feeling of ultimate shame.

“Not only have you spit on the mark you are fortunate to possess, but you go as far as allying with that spawn to destroy my lady’s efforts.”

“Your lady?” He frowned in confusion before he continued while showing respect, “Do you mean Empress Sophia?”

“Good. At the very least, you know my lady’s name. However, this makes your actions even more sacrilegious.”

The Seedling had closed the distance and had stopped less than twenty feet away. It was far too close for him to have any hope of dodging any attack.

Spiritual Energy: 191/440 (20% per Hour)

He still needed around six minutes to have any hope for survival. He certainly couldn’t hope for continued life if it was left to the Seedling, which was understandable given that he did his best to kill it. But there was something more than a personal grudge it seemed to have against him, which was made obvious with the repeated questioning.

“Did Empress Sophia give me this mark you keep mentioning?”

“If you were unaware, it must be for a reason. You will not enlightened by me. There is no reason to with your body about to be consumed.”

[-10 HP]

William grunted in surprise when vines wrapped around his arms and legs before lifting him around twenty feet in the air. He looked up in shock, having thought that he and the princess had destroyed all of them. When he saw that the vines seemed to have regenerated where they took the most damage, he quickly glanced at the rest, expecting much of the same.

Thankfully, it was not. It was a small comfort that they were still lifeless. If he was still living in six minutes, it would be nice to not have to deal with vines attacking him from above.

What concerned him the most was how easily the vines overpowered him. It confused him as to how they suddenly had such strength when they were so easy to destroy previously. Perhaps the Seedling no longer in an embryo state was the factor.

William tensed when he saw the beast slowly make its way to where Princess Jin was located. “Wait! What are you going to do to her?”

He was ignored, which made him struggle even more against the vines futilely. Plenty of things were running through his mind at the moment, mostly how Princess Jin had finally changed her mind about continuing and how he was the one who wanted to push on.

It was all due to the rewards that were promised to him. Instead of the treasures he desired, he would be gifted with the sight of Princess Jin getting killed or, worse, devoured for nutrients, as this beast mentioned. That would soon be followed by the same fate falling upon him.

“Empress Sophia is her ancestor! Why would you be so eager to kill her descendant if you hold her in high regard?”

“DESCENDANT?” The Seedling stopped, turning to glare at him with fiery eyes, “My lady will thank me for ridding the world of filth such as her. An Empire of traitors, picking apart my lady’s gifts like vultures and seeking to usurp the laws she placed on the world.”

William had no idea what the beast was talking about. Princess Jin practically worshiped Sophia, and from the little he knew about the Tanxia Empire, they still protected the mortals from wanton slaughter. However, it wasn’t like he knew the inner workings of the Empire.

“I don’t know about what the Empire has been doing, but the princess loves Empress Sophia,” William saw it didn’t change the Seedling’s glare, “And she was helping me complete a task the Empress assigned to me!”

“Task?”

He grabbed onto the one thing that seemed to have caught the beast’s attention.

“Yes, task!” William nodded rapidly, “Empress Sophia commanded me to take control of a fragmented realm stone. To stop people from breaking apart this secret realm.”

When the Seedling’s red eyes dimmed, as if its anger had lessened, he thought there might be an opening to save their lives.