Transcending Dreams - D2 - Chapter 36

When Wang Xiaoling stared at him with an open mouth, he thought he finally had one over her. Unfortunately, that feeling of superiority didn’t last long.

“Only a bit of time away, and you already talked back to me?” Wang Xiaoling growled.

William wasn’t surprised that she became more aggressive. That was almost a given. What did surprise him was the headlock he found himself in.

He had initially tried to carefully escape the embarrassing situation he found himself in. He was mindful that Wang Xiaoling was a mortal, and he was a foundation establishment cultivator.

Too strong of a movement might seriously injure her. At least, that was William’s reasoning to try to be gentle when pushing her away.

“Don’t test me, brat!” Wang Xiaoling rubbed his hair roughly. “You think you’re some fancy cultivator just because you’re an inner disciple? Ha! You make me laugh!”

“What have you been eating for the past few months!” William threw away the foolish thought of being careful and put more strength into his struggle.

It did nothing.

“You disrespect me, and now you’re calling me a glutton?” Wang Xiaoling switched from rubbing his hair to digging her knuckles into his skull.

… It actually hurt.

William wasn’t sure what to think at this point. First, Princess Jin had gained a ridiculous power-up that immediately put her in the nascent soul realm. Now, Wang Xiaoling had somehow gotten strong enough to still manhandle him.

Maybe he should have insisted on accompanying Wang Xiaoling on her merchant path instead.

“Xiaoling, you might actually hurt the kid at this rate.”

William immediately took a step back when Li Jie’s warning released him from his prison, just out of reach of Wang Xiaoling’s arms. He patted his hair as he enabled the basic system status for the trio. With the strength the crazy woman showed, he needed the numbers, the exact amount of change they went through.

[Name: Wang Xiaoling | Level: 3]

[Name: Li Jie | Level: 23]

Fatty Xu still didn’t have a basic status. William didn’t expect that to change in the first place. Li Jie had gone from a mortal to the second level of the Qi gathering realm, which was an improvement but nothing close to what he had experienced in the past few months.

The issue was Wang Xiaoling. She was still at level three. There was no change at all. That should have been impossible, not with how she manhandled him.

He tried to use [Observe].

[The skill Observe is not available on target]

William already knew what would happen if he tried to use [Detailed Observe]. But he had to.

[Spiritual Energy insufficient for Detailed Observe on target]

It felt like it had been ages since he thought about the odd quirk Wang Xiaoling had. He remembered how this was similar to when he returned from the Outer Court and assumed that he would no longer be under Wang Xiaoling’s thumb, only to be proven wrong.

However, William was much stronger now compared to the last time he was thrown around by her. There was no logical explanation where this made any sense.

As for his Spiritual Energy being insufficient, that was even more laughable.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Spiritual Energy: 1055/1055 (20% per Hour)

He couldn’t—wouldn’t believe that it wasn’t enough for someone who was supposedly at level three. The only option was that Wang Xiaoling’s level must be obscured in some way. Perhaps the same way Prince Yuan had obscured his level.

“Little Brother Wei Liang,” Li Jie smiled apologetically. “It’s been some time.”

“Brother Li,” William replied with a nod, still making frequent glances at an annoyed Wang Xiaoling.

“Sister Wang knows someone so scrawny?” Fatty Xu butted in. “Hmph, I’ll introduce you to some good meals to make you healthy.”

He blinked, realizing that Fatty Xu didn’t recognize him. “We’ve met before.”

“Doubt it. I don’t associate with masochists who starve themselves.”

William gave a confused glance to Li Jie and Wang Xiaoling, not sure what this was about. He didn’t interact much with Fatty Xu other than a few sentences exchanged, but he distinctly remembered there was no mention of his ‘unhealthiness.’

“Brother Xu, maybe leave that for later,” Li Jie chuckled awkwardly. “How about we move to someplace less crowded? We’re drawing too much attention.”

He glanced around to see that Li Jie was right. Though most of the attention was on him and Wang Xiaoling, it was primarily Jade Healing Sect members that were looking.

Maybe it could have been due to the strangeness of seeing a mortal treat a foundation establishment realm cultivator like a rag doll. With the clear disregard the sect had toward mortals, seeing an inner disciple ‘letting’ a mortal have the audacity to act like that must be shocking.

Only if they knew how much of a hidden monster Wang Xiaoling was. William had always assumed that she was exceptional in some way, but it was even more significant than he had ever imagined. His resolve when he was just a mortal came back with full force.

Stay on Wang Xiaoling’s good side… though he didn’t know how that was possible when he needed to take Spirit Stones from her.

“Brother Li is right,” William nodded eagerly. “How about we go to my room?”

“Room?” Wang Xiaoling repeated, looking him up and down. “How do you have a room here? I thought those were for the elites?”

He had wanted to boast that he was one of those said elites, but that was no longer an option. No need to hint to her that he could be one of the bidders, no matter how unlikely it was to come to that conclusion.

“My mentor has it reserved for the duration of the auction. He thought it would be something for me to strive for.”

“Huh, maybe you should introduce me to this mentor. Sounds like a generous person.”

William caught the greedy look in Wang Xiaoling’s eyes. It was nice to still have something predictable about her.

Li Jie cleared his throat. “That sounds perfect, Little Brother. We can catch up there.”

“Great! Let me lead you there.”

“Wait,” Wang Xiaoling interrupted. “Xu, get the ingredients ready for tomorrow’s meals. And Li Jie, follow him to ensure he won’t overspend.”

“Yes, Sister Wang!” Fatty Xu looked like he couldn’t be happier, unlike Li Jie, who couldn’t be more displeased.

“Xiaoling, I should be there when you meet Wei Liang ’s mentor.”

“And do what?” Wang Xiaoling asked in her charming way. Meaning, it wasn’t at all. “It’ll be more helpful if you stop Xu from bankrupting us.”

Le Jie sighed before nodding, leaving with Fatty Xu without another word. He was as much a pushover as ever with Wang Xiaoling, perhaps more than ever.

“Let’s go, brat,” she ordered. “And tell me how you became an inner disciple. Did that girl from the clinic help you that much?”

William led her toward the hallway to the Red Floor. “I haven’t seen Sister Li since Xuanjing City. I do earn things on my own merit, Sister Xiaoling.”

“Really?” She didn’t need to sound so doubtful. “I suppose there must be a reason this sect accepted you.”

His eye twitched in irritation as they entered the hallway, the dull noise of the conversation disappearing behind them.

“I guess my first impression of you is too strong,” Wang Xiaoling patted his shoulder. “You will always be the failed scammer to me.”

His eye twitched. Again. “Very funny, Sister Xiaoling.”

“I know I am. Li Jie can’t stop laughing. Says I should be a comedian.”

William rolled his eyes. Of course, the pushover thought that.

He held the pass to the door and pushed it open, sighing in relief when he saw that Lan Yang wasn’t in the room. He wanted to talk with Wang Xiaoling without him as a distraction.

“Nice room, so where’s this mentor of yours?”

“He’s outside in the bidding area,” William replied, closing the door behind them. “Sister Xiaoling, I saw you standing next to the stage. Looks like you were successful in setting up a merchant house.”

“You saw that, did you?” Wang Xiaoling turned to him with a wide smile. “It’s just luck—Well, no. I worked hard and got lucky! The Rising Merchant House is on track to be one of the biggest in less than five years!”

“That’s amazing!” William cheered with her. “I didn’t think I would be such a great investor. It’s my first, and it’s already so successful. It’s all because of you, Sister Xiaoling!”

Wang Xiaoling’s smile froze for a moment before becoming even brighter, though more strained. “I did say you wouldn’t regret it.”

“You’re right about that.”