[-5 Spiritual Energy]

Name: Princess Jin

Age: 14

Level: 46

Cultivation: Qi Gathering (4th Level)

Health: 1300/1300

Spiritual Energy: 530/530

Spirit: 106

Strength: 38

Stamina: 44

Agility: 45

Using Observe told William nothing about what was wrong with Princess Jin, making him fear that hearing the corrupted beast's voice had caused her to go into a coma-like state. Deadweight was not something that could be taken care of at the moment.

He was still jittery as he checked for Princess Jin’s pulse, frequently looking around to ensure the corrupted beast wouldn’t return to finish the job.

After William detected her pulse steady, he picked her up in a princess carry and immediately started to sprint back to the entrance. He glanced at the penalties he would incur, but as bad as it seemed, it had almost become mandatory to accept.

[Penalty | Decreased reputation with Princess Jin | Impurity increased to Stage 3]

William’s Impurity was already at the edge of stage two. It was almost guaranteed to be a lost cause, so the only actual loss was his reputation with Princess Jin.

It was a shame but something far more acceptable than the death awaiting them if they stayed here.

He retraced his steps while keeping an eye on his surroundings, almost wishing for the manageable spirit beasts to show up. That near-fatal encounter taught him that anything below level seventy could be killed in a single attack when he was using a martial skill. Anything above that could be an issue.

It also taught him that spirit beasts in the sixth level of their Qi Gathering equivalent were goldmines for experience points.

William almost wanted to bash his own head into the wall from frustration. There had to be around ten of those types of beasts in the mob before the corrupted beast had casually wiped them all out.

What he needed most for survival at the moment was higher attribute limits. He had intended to stock up on experience points and hold them in reserve without raising his minor realm, mainly because of what Sophia mentioned.

Sophia had said that the lower his cultivation, the better. However, that would be no longer feasible if he wanted to live. Thankfully, she had mentioned that anything below the Foundation Establishment Realm was acceptable.

William would have to meet that corrupted beast again, and more worryingly, there would be two more that he would have to kill. There was absolutely no way to accomplish that without being significantly stronger.

“W-Wei Liang?”

William glanced at Princess Jin, finding she was peering at him with confusion, coming back to consciousness slowly.

“Look who’s awake,” William said roughly before forcing himself to control his emotions. He was taking out this disaster of a quest on her for no reason. “We’re abandoning the tree, Princess. This was suicide to even try.”

“What!” Princess Jin yelped, squirming in his arms to try and free herself. It was unsuccessful.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” William said drily, doing his best not to sound fed up, “I should have decided to stay after we were almost killed by that corrupted beast.”

“What?! How!?” Princess Jin then saw the surroundings and gasped, “How long have I been unconscious?”

“Long enough to miss everything,” William slowed his pace slightly, narrowing his eyes in the distance, “You conveniently went to sleep when I started to fight for both our lives, and now that I somehow managed to get you out of there, you seem to want to go back.”

“Obviously!”

William twitched in irritation when Princess Jin started to scratch at him. He was getting more concerned about what he saw in the distance, so he let her go.

“I wasn’t prepared for the beast to know how to attack by sound, but-”

“That wasn’t an attack,” William interrupted her spiel, “It was some sort of language. All it was doing was speaking.”

He thought that would get her to see reason, but he shouldn’t have known that would have been too easy.

“Even better!” Princess Jin said excitedly, “I have just the thing to help with that.”

William saw her motion at her storage pouch but couldn’t bother with her anymore. His suspicions were confirmed. The corrupted beast was back.

He had been staring at a spot on the ceiling in the distance where there seemed to be an odd-shaped protrusion. The paranoia paid off when that protrusion turned into a corrupted beast. To make it worse, it had brought along a friend.

William threw Princess Jin over his shoulder, ignoring her indignant squawk, and legged it back into the depths until he was far beyond the reach of the corrupted beast’s red beam.

During all this, the princess was suspiciously quiet. It wasn’t in her nature to do so, but he got his answer when he stopped sprinting.

“Keep going! We’re going to be surrounded again!”

William could feel Princess Jin hitting his back with her fists, and he could see why after he turned around. His question about where the mob of spirit beasts appeared from was answered.

They came from the corrupted beasts.

They acted like some sort of portal, which made little sense to William when he considered their levels. Space Dao needed the practitioner to be a true cultivation monster. While the corrupted beasts meant death to him, in the grand scheme of things, they were nowhere near that level.

“Wei Liang, are you trying to kill us both?!”

“Hmm?” William blinked, realizing he was rooted to the spot, staring at the abundant spirit beasts below level seventy but above sixty. His Goldilocks zone. “Princess, tell me how to use your life-saving measure.”

He set Princess Jin back on her feet, keeping an eye on the corrupted beasts while also noting the number of spirit beasts above level seventy.

“Here!” Princess Jin thrust a round piece of jade into his hands, “All you need to do is break it, and my grandfather’s spiritual pressure will break down the spirit beasts.”

“Perfect,” a smile slowly stretched across William’s face, “They will only focus on me, so stay far away, Princess.”

He heard Princess Jin squeak something affirmatively before running away. That was one less of a thing to pay attention to.

William rolled the jade ball between his fingers and made a vague plan. He needed to take out as many spirit beasts in his Goldilocks zone as possible before switching his focus to those above level seventy.

Of course, the moment either of the corrupted beasts made any sort of movement, it would be time to run.

He regretted not taking advantage by killing as many of the beasts as he could, and now that he had another chance, it wouldn’t be wasted.

Willam flinched when a scream that sounded like shattering glass hit his ears. It wasn’t damaging, but the sound was something he would never expect coming from a spirit beast’s mouth.

[Name: QiMoth Wisp | Level: 76]

It was a new type of spirit beast and one that could fly.

He didn’t like that. At all.

Nor did he like that this spirit beast almost seemed ethereal. It wasn’t that difficult to see now that he was aware of the QiMoth Wisp’s existence, but that was mainly because of Princess Jin’s lantern.

If she lost consciousness again, it would be a headache to deal with.

William switched his target from the fodder spirit beasts to the QiMoth Wisp. It must be eliminated as quickly as possible to avoid another horrible situation.

He bent his knees slightly, wisps of Qi appearing along his forearms as he prepared to amass experience points from the coming slaughter. What was to be done after that, since the corrupted beasts would be next, was a problem to be dealt with by the jade ball.