“Are you crazy?!” William hissed as he pulled the princess back. Right before it looked like she was basically about to dive head-first into the hole she made in the embryo with her bow. “How do you know you won’t die the moment you touch this thing?”

“I don’t,” Princess Jin said far too leisurely as she tried to escape his grip, “It’s a chance one of us has to take.”

William had nothing to say to that, knowing that she was right. However, it brought up the memory of what he did to test the oasis’s water.

Without freeing the princess, he pulled out one of his low-level spirit fruits, the lightning berry, and tossed it into the hole leading to the golden heart.

Nothing happened.

“You can store spirit fruits in your storage space?” Princess Jin has stopped trying to escape him, “Is that a spatial stone?!”

“… Fuck me,” William sighed in resignation. He didn’t think this would be how she would find out. In fact, he didn’t think she would ever find out after she had assumed that all he had was the regular storage space.

“Excuse me?!” Princess Jin puffed up indignantly, “I’m an Imperial princess! Not a brothel worker!”

“I didn’t mean it like that!” William threw up his hands in exasperation, “It’s an expression, princess. Don’t flatter yourself.”

He didn’t know how it was possible, but she seemed even angrier than before. But he quickly headed any arguments off. “Can we focus on what’s important here? That spirit fruit didn’t rot after touching the flesh. You’re probably safe.”

Princess Jin obviously wanted to speak more about the newly discovered spatial stone, but eventually, she let out a puff of air and nodded reluctantly. “You’re right. I guess I was just surprised you were able to keep possession of it.”

“Me too,” William muttered, though it was likely a different reason than she was thinking. It had more to do with his complacency after time had passed. Then again, it wasn’t like there was much of an opportunity for it to be taken from him since he had been sucked into the secret realm shortly after he received the spatial stone.

“Alright,” Princess Jin turned back to the embryo, “I hope everything will go well.”

William had to stop himself from laughing. As if she needed to hope for anything with her Luck attribute. Still, it was only polite to reassure her. “I’m sure it will, princess. I’ll be here if help is needed. Oh, and store the lantern. The heart is giving off enough light.”

He thought about entering the embryo with her but figured there was no point in throwing himself in harm’s way when it wasn’t necessary. He would have a better chance of acting if he wasn’t trying to frantically save himself first.

That didn’t stop William from tensing in anxiousness when Princess Jin jumped into the hole.

His Fury of the Five Heavenly Dragons was ready to be activated in an instant. If necessary, he would have ripped through the flesh to get to the princess, or at least, he would have attempted to.

Thankfully, that wasn’t necessary.

Princess Jin stood still near the edge of the hole, waiting for something to happen, but when nothing happened, she yelled to him, “I’m going in. If you think something feels wrong, tell me.”

“Understood,” William replied immediately, “Same to you. Don’t let greed overtake you, princess. Nothing is worth giving up your life.”

He could see her nodding her head, though it was more like he saw her hair fluttering from the movement of her nodding in agreement. However, the following few seconds were torture.

The Qi he kept evenly spread out in his body pulsed erratically as his emotions fluctuated from his anxiety. He was straining his ears to hear the slightest hint of struggle, but all that accomplished was making him almost activate his martial skill when all he heard was faint steps.

“I’m close to it!” Princess Jin was yelling, but her voice was muffled due to where she was, “It’s hard to keep my eyes open. The glow is almost blinding.”

William’s entire body twitched as he held himself from acting. He saw his arms glow with the Qi roiling just underneath before it returned to normal.

“Keep talking. princess!” William yelled to her, “Tell me what you’re doing, even if it’s just taking a step!”

“Sure, you want me to talk about how I’m closing my eyes?”

William rolled his eyes at the sarcasm. “If that’s what you want to tell me, sure.”

He waited a few seconds for a reply before his paranoia rose again. “Princess?”

“I-I think I’m near it. It’s… warm.”

William frowned as he stared up at the hole she went through. The golden glow was brighter than it was a second ago.

“It’s under my hand!” Princess Jin sounded ecstatic, “W-Wei Liang! I need to cultivate!”

The moment she said it was under her hand, William decided that staying out of the embryo no longer helped anyone. He hopped up to the hole and narrowed his eyes to minimize the harsh glow coming from the heart.

He could see the outline of Princess Jin’s body blocking out some of the glow. Still, it was so minuscule in comparison that she was almost drowned out anyway. It made him question what their original plan was. It should have been obvious that the embryo's heart would be massive. Still, he had agreed, even pushing for Princess Jin to head inside alone. He found it difficult to believe she would have a way to move it by herself.

No matter. He was here now.

“Princess, do you need any help?” William fully expected her to deny him or not reply at all. He suspected the golden heart had a similar effect to the oasis’s water when she said she needed to cultivate.

It was the latter she did. Princess Jin said nothing.

He could see her slight form sitting crosslegged on the flesh of the embryo with her hand attached to the gold heart, somehow entering the required state to cultivate. William could only assume that she was required to do it with little choice left to her. He had experienced the rush when he gained an overwhelming amount of experience points, but he had the system keeping him safe.

Princess Jin did not. There was a faint connection between the glowing heart and her body, her hand slowly gaining a golden glow similar to the heart. William was afraid that she might not be able to handle the influx she might be receiving since there was nothing like the system helping her.

He took a step forward but froze instantly when the intensity of the glow increased significantly. It usually wouldn’t have been something that would have made him stop, but the princess’s cry of pain was very effective.

William wanted to ask her if she was alright, but that would be counterproductive. The distraction that might cause could turn things for the worse. However, if she actually needed help, his inaction might spell the end for her.

He didn’t have a learned skill of sensing if Princess Jin’s Qi was in havoc. More importantly, if it was causing her to lose her health. Thankfully, Sophia designed the system to provide one for him. He used Observe on the princess, hoping that he would see nothing wrong.

[-5 Spiritual Energy]

William quickly glanced at her health, noting that she wasn’t hurt. However, the problem with Observe was that it was a snapshot. It wouldn’t constantly keep him up to date.

“AHHH!”

[-200 Spiritual Energy]

The bloodcurdling scream the princess suddenly released made him instantly activate his new martial skill. There was no showing off. There was no time to announce the grand name he had given the martial skill. Flames of Qi burst into existence around William’s body, disintegrating the flesh of the embryo around him as he rocketed toward the princess.