Transcending Dreams - D2 - Chapter 50

William followed Elder Yu out to see Wang Xiaoling and Mei Lingxi getting along like old friends. Xiu Jing didn’t seem nearly enthused as she stood to the side with a bored look on her face.

“—the city council. The sect will be able to get us a favorable meeting.”

“Attendant Mei, please refrain from making promises that you might not be able to keep,” Elder Yu reprimanded dryly.

“Elder Yu!” Mei Lingxi had been so engrossed in her conversation that she hadn’t realized a new audience was listening. “The sect can’t help?”

“It doesn’t matter if the sect can or cannot. Confirm with me before you make Merchant Wang any assurances.”

“Of course,” Mei Lingxi acquiesced. “However, arranging a meeting with the Qingyun City’s council is necessary for most of our plans to be effective. Preferably with the support of a near majority of the sitting members.”

“Any sect dealings with outside organizations must go through the sect master or the elder council. Minor matters such as this can be done under my name, so avoid any connection with the sect to be safe.”

“As you say, Elder Yu!” Mei Lingxi agreed happily, turning to a far less exuberant Wang Xiaoling. “Sister Wang, looks like we can get started immediately.”

“So it seems,” Wang Xiaoling nodded with a slight smile.

William assumed the conversation with Elder Yu was still weighing on her mind. Wang Xiaoling’s expression had become reserved the moment she saw them walk out. He decided to save her.

“Sister Xiaoling, I was going to head back to the auction. Why don’t you and Sister Lingxi come with me? We might catch the end of it.”

Mei Lingxi perked up. “That sounds like an excellent—”

“You must pass on that, Attendant Mei,” Elder Yu interrupted. “I’ll need the details of your plan of action.”

“Ah,” Mei Lingxi, to her credit, didn’t get flustered. “I’ll join you soon, Young Master. Sister Wang, may our cooperation be fruitful!”

William waved at them before they entered Elder Yu’s office and noticed that Wang Xiaoling was visibly more relaxed.

“Follow me,”

Xiu Jing didn’t seem to be in the mood to make small talk as she led them back to the mountain’s edge.

“Thank you, Senior Xiu,” William offered as a farewell when they reached.

“Hm.”

He blinked at Xiu Jing’s retreating back. That was rude.

“Sister Xiaoling, did we somehow offend her?”

“Hm?” Wang Xiaoling stared at him, clueless. “What was that?”

“… Nothing,” William let it go. He wanted to speak with her about her being a living furnace, but that wasn’t wise with them walking through the common grounds.

That was for the best since Wang Xiaoling clearly wasn’t in the mood to talk in the first place. He would give her some time before bringing it back up. It wasn’t like she would be far from the sect… he didn’t actually know that for sure.

“Will you be staying for a while?” William asked, expanding when Wang Xiaoling looked at him curiously. “You were talking to Sister Lingxi and seemed to have come to an agreement.”

Wang Xiaoling finally seemed to regain the spark she had while speaking to Mei Lingxi. “Maybe for a month or two until it’s time to move into Qingyun City.”

System alerts popped up immediately, but he was experienced enough by now to know he couldn’t just stare at them in the middle of a conversation.

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“That’s great, Sister Xiaoling!” William smiled. “You’ll be safer here anyway.”

“Hm.” She didn’t look enthused at the idea. The uninterested reply also told him that she preferred not to speak.

William took that the sign to read his alerts.

[Side Quest Completed | Fatty Xu makes delicious food with miraculous effects. Keep him nearby]

[You now have access to Fatty Xu’s cooking]

[+3000 XP]

[Level Up! | 10 Stat Points Added]

He had completely forgotten about that side quest, and he was surprised that such a small amount of experience points could push him to the next level. Come to think of it, he couldn’t remember the last time he had looked at his stats.

William supposed the safety of staying in the sect played a large part. Still, he was curious about it now.

Name: Wei Liang (William)

Age: 14

Level: 117

Experience: 248/14625

Cultivation: Foundation Establishment (Early Stage)

Health: 2100/2100

Spiritual Energy: 1080/1080 (20% per Hour)

Spirit: 216

Strength: 110

Stamina: 110

Agility: 120

Luck: 150

Points: 232

Most of what he saw didn’t surprise him. He had been vaguely aware of where his stats were at, even if the exact numbers were unknown to him.

However, the thing that shocked him wasn’t something he generally paid attention to. After all, it had never changed since he came to this world.

His age.

At some point during the time William ignored his stats, he turned fourteen. He mentally queried the system about the exact time, but as was typical, he was ignored.

“Something wrong?”

He glanced at Wang Xiaoling, seeing that she was asking the question with no real interest. He never thought that he would miss being called ‘brat’ or whatever other slightly insulting thing she deemed fit, depending on mood.

William had to remind himself she was likely going through an upheaval. Time would let her recover.

“It’s nothing,” he waved off her show of concern. With how easily Wang Xiaoling accepted it without grilling him like she usually would, he could confirm she didn’t really care.

He pressed his lips together and turned into a smaller street leading out of the residential area. He would need to find a place where she wouldn’t be disturbed while she was out of it. The hotel wouldn’t do. Maybe the dwelling he would be assigned in the common grounds.

William shoved that out of mind, resolving to deal with it when it came up. There was one more thing he had ignored in addition to his stats. The quests that he had active. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been surprised by completing one of them unintentionally.

Side Quests (6):

1. Daoist Chen has challenged you to become a Nascent Soul cultivator in ten years for a reward

2. Mission: Investigating Strange Occurrences

3. Kill Zheng Tao and the cell he belongs to

4. Visit the Jade Cauldron Peak

5. Become a martial arts expert

6. Help Rising Merchant House gain a foothold in Qingyun City

Of all the quests, the first two could be put on the lowest priority. The first was a quest that wouldn’t be completed for years, so nothing to pay attention to. As for the second, he still wasn’t sure if completing it was worth the effort.

The reward was only a hundred points, an equivalent of the same in Qi stones. If William ever did the mission, it wouldn’t be for the reward since that amount was far too little. His eyes had been opened during the auction to what real wealth was… and he had been given numerous Spirit Stones by Xu Feng.

He didn’t think much of measly Qi Stones anymore.

As for the other four quests, two were more long-term. Becoming a martial arts expert looked like it would take him a while to accomplish, and killing Zheng Tao, as good as it would feel, might take even longer.

William didn’t forget that a Core Formation realm cultivator personally retrieved him. To be safe, it would be better to assume there were multiple cultivators at that level around Zheng Tao. He might feel a burning hatred toward the boy, but that didn’t mean he was also suicidal in that hatred.

That left the side quests for Rising Merchant House and the Jade Cauldron Peak. The former was already in progress with Elder Yu’s help, and he intended to visit the latter as soon as the auction ended.

William skimmed the rest of the system screens to see if he missed anything else. There wasn’t.

However, one thing did bother him a little.

Main Quest:

N/A

It wasn’t like he could force something to be a main quest, but being without one for so long made him feel like a rudderless ship with no clear direction.

William knew that wasn’t true, of course, but with the system playing such a significant role in this life, it still made him feel anxious. The problem was that he couldn’t fix it with a snap of his fingers.

Perhaps a visit to the mission hall would help. Something to do after visiting Jade Cauldron Peak.

They turned into another mostly vacant street to see a familiar building in the distance.

“We’re almost there, Sister Xiaoling.”

“Hm.” Wang Xiaoling sounded like she couldn’t care less.

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