“So, how much longer can we keep flying?”

“My answer is the same as it was when you asked a moment ago, Brother Wei,” Ren Bo replied with an irritated tone.

“Still, it could have changed, right?” William smirked when Ren Bo ignored him.

Was it childish of him to annoy the kid on purpose? Yes, it was, but he had to do something to break the awkwardness that filled the spirit boat.

Since the moment they had left Xuanjing City, William had been the focus of two intense stares with very different intentions. It started out with Ren Bo staring at the Princess while she, in turn, stared at William like he was a plush doll. However, the kid saw that and switched from staring at the girl to glaring at him.

It was too much like a middle school drama than William would like. All this had done was reiterate that Ren Bo must be taught that he couldn’t get away with his nonsense. As soon as the spirit boat ran out of energy and they stopped flying, he intended to show the kid who was boss.

As for how? That was still up for debate.

Until then, annoying him would have to do. Besides, it was also a way to lessen the rage that was still inside him from what Ren Bo had done.

The issue was what to do for the next three hours. And how to keep Princess Jin away from him so he wouldn’t have to endure more forced coddling.

[Side Quest Completed | Visit Jade Healing Clinic 2-3 times a week (3 visits): +30 XP]

[Hidden Bonus | Train with Qin Yu: +100 XP]

[Hidden Bonus | Impress Qin Yu with your improvement: +2000 XP]

William blinked in surprise at the alerts. He wasn’t sure why the side quest was completed now, but he didn't pay it too much mind and kept track of the alerts while staring at Ren Bo, mainly to ignore the increasing desire in Princess Jin’s eyes. He didn’t want to accidentally encourage her to treat him like a doll.

The decreased experience points he was getting for the repeatable side quest was disappointing but expected with his much higher level. It would be a broken cheat if he could still get fifty experience points for each visit.

The following alerts were what William hoped would happen after he didn’t receive a side quest activation before his training with Qin Yu. There were some possibilities for the reason he didn’t get a quest alert, but the one he thought most likely was the penalty.

Training with Qin Yu could be accepted automatically since nothing would happen if he failed, but with Li Xinyue, there was a penalty to consider.

After the third alert showed a reward of two thousand experience points, William expected the bittersweet moment he would get the level-up alert. It would finally mean he was in the second level of Qi Gathering. Still, it would come along with the decreased efficiency of spirit fruits. Unfortunately, he would need to start using pills that would contribute to impurity at a much greater level.

William's thoughts about his future pill-popping and the positives and negatives they would have over stuffing spirit fruits disappeared when the expected alert for the level-up never came. He pulled up his experience point count, wondering if he had misremembered how close he was.

Experience: 4062/2375

He couldn’t help but stare blankly at the blue text. This had obviously never happened before, and he wasn’t sure what to do now.

Level: 19

And that confirmed that William was still at level nineteen. Not that it helped other than that.

“Wei Liang? Are you alright?”

“Huh?” William blinked and looked up to see Princess Jin edging closer, “I’m fine. I guess I must be more tired than I realized.”

“How about we stop at the Red Forest? It’s the closest place that would be relatively safe.”

“If that’s what the Goddess wants, then that’s what I shall do!” Ren Bo interjected loudly, much to Princess Jin’s obvious displeasure.

William didn’t particularly care where they stopped and was glad they annoyed each other for silence to return in the spirit boat.

Cultivation: Qi Gathering (1st Level)

Cultivation Technique: Horizon’s Seeker

Martial Skills (3)

Max Level: 19

Max Attribute: 30

Impurity: Stage 1 (95%)

Days Remaining

Upgrade Requirements (2):

. Spirit: 20

. Eligible for Level 20

Nothing there had changed either. With the easy route that William had taken to change from being a mortal to a Qi Gathering cultivator, he had assumed the same would happen between minor levels of a cultivation realm. While that assumption had been false, the saving grace was that his experience points were not lost due to whatever block he was experiencing.

An average cultivator that didn’t have access to the system would have to, well, cultivate to get to the next minor realm. Perhaps that was the case with him too? It was undoubtedly the first thing that William was going to try.

In fact, William was tempted to do so right now, but the slight shaking of the spirit boat as it cut through the air might cause a disaster. This was obviously inferior compared to Lan Yin's spirit boat.

“This Red Forest, how far are we away from it?”

“I would guess within an hour at this speed,” Princess Jin replied before Ren Bo could say something.

William nodded before closing his eyes, trying to see if he could sense something that needed to be done with his Qi Pathways. No more Qi could be added since he already had the max Spirit attribute. Still, his cultivation technique might have some answers he had somehow missed.

Before William could look over the manual imprinted into his mind, the spirit boat shook enough to make him tense up to stay upright. It was good that he didn’t rush to try and cultivate.

“Brother Wei!”

William’s eyes flew open as he tried to grab the sides of the spirit boat. He was being lifted out of his seat, and with the alarmed look on Ren Bo and Princess Jin’s faces, adding to the fact that they were in the same predicament as him, they didn’t expect this.

“What’s happening?!” William yelled as he tried to keep a firm grip when it felt like someone was pulling on his feet as the sound of swirling wind started to pick up. His legs began rising above his body, making him panic even more. If he fell out of the spirit boat, it would be certain death by splatter.

“Look up!”

William could feel his grip slipping and had no intention of looking away. His legs were so high above his body that he was forced upside down, and he was terrified that trying to look up would make him lose his focus on staying inside the spirit boat.

However, the shocked gasps he heard from the other two changed his mind.

Ensuring he had a death grip, William carefully turned his face toward the sky to see what had caused them to gasp, making his heart skip a beat. Hovering above them were three vortexes made from what seemed to be Qi, though it was in a form that was so dense that it seemed they would rip through his body at the thickness.

Each vortex seemed to be focusing on one person. It made William think it had to be targeted, though he couldn’t imagine what level someone must be to cause these phenomena. The suction force seemed to get significantly stronger with every second that passed. It made it obvious that unless the vortexes suddenly disappeared, they were destined to be pulled out of the spirit boat.

“Ren Bo! What the hell is this thing?!” William yelled as he tried to hug the seat he had been using. For whatever reason, the spirit boat was unaffected by the vortexes, and it was his last lifeline.

“We have to let go!” Princess Jin shouted back, “They won’t disappear until they get their target!”

“Let go?” William asked incredulously, finally securing his arms around the seat tightly, “Are you crazy?!”

“We’ll probably be safe, Wei Liang! If you delay, you might get hurt! Let’s meet up if we can wherever this leads us!”

“Goddess Princess, wait for me!”

William gaped at the two idiots when they stopped trying to fight the suction force and flew into the mouth of their respective vortexes. As Princess Jin said, they disappeared as soon as they got their targets.

That didn’t mean he would rush to follow their moronic actions. No, he did not intend to leave his death to chance when he hadn’t exhausted every option possible, even if that option was clinging onto his seat for dear life.

William was determined to ride this out until he was either unconscious or his arms were ripped out. But under no circumstance would he let go of his own volition.

It was a mistake to think that. As if the vortex heard William’s thoughts, the spirit boat started to creak for the first time in distress. It was lucky that it was built with such sturdy material to stay whole under the vortex and because the seat hadn’t been crushed under his increasingly fighting grip.

Once again, William’s thoughts were the downfall. Out of everything on the spirit boat, one thing broke off with a sharp crack.

The seat he was holding on to.

William yelled in fear as he was sucked up with a speed that was exponentially greater than what Ren Bo or Princess Jin experienced. He kept screaming as he neared the mouth of the vortex, thoughts of the empty void starting to become the only thing left in his mind.