William feared for her life when a massive explosion kicked up enough sand to obscure his vision.

“Princess!” He yelled in concern, speeding back to her position, something that took a few seconds with how far she had thrown him.

“When master told you to take the realm stone, I don’t think she meant it like this.”

The sand thrown up from the explosion settled, revealing a crater layered thinly with glass. And right in the middle was an unconscious Princess Jin with a small turtle casually sitting on her stomach.

“Is she alright?” William asked with worry.

“For now,” the turtle nodded its tiny head, “She is far too twitchy from being uplifted. ”

William carefully made his way into the crater, silently marveling at its size before stopping next to the princess. It was becoming far too common to see her unconscious.

“Congratulations, by the way. You actually completed my master’s task without my help. I didn’t expect that.”

He frowned in confusion. “Sorry? I wish I did, but I didn’t find the realm stone. That Magmaheart Goliath Seedling knew where it was but refused to give it to me.”

“I really thought it was already dead,” Lord Paddlington commented, “Since it still had sentience, it made sense that it refused. Giving you the stone would have killed it.”

“… But I never got the stone in the end.”

“It would be hard to when the parts needed were absorbed by this girl,” Lord Paddlington patted Princess Jin’s stomach with its flipper.

William's mind blanked before he slowly processed what that meant. However, one question was blaring to the front.

“Then why hasn’t the quest been completed?”

“Quest?” The turtle asked curiously before its tiny eyes blinked, “Ah, right! The quest! My master told me to mark it complete if you satisfied the guidelines.”

William stared at Lord Paddlington, wondering why it came to have that power.

“What is she to you?” Its flipper was patting the princess again.

“A friend?” William said unsurely before changing his tone when it seemed unsatisfied, “She’s a close friend. A blood brother… er sister. Whatever the correct term is. We are very close.”

“I see. Then, I can assume you have some type of influence over her. Which means you have control over the fragmented realm stone.”

William wasn’t sure how that made any sense, but he nodded as Lord Paddlington spoke.

“More importantly, you have removed it from this secret realm. It will soon fall apart, just as master wanted. I consider that enough.”

[Main Quest Completed | Seize control of fragmented realm stone]

[+30 Levels Awarded]

[Heaven-Tier Martial Skill Awarded | Select 1 Choice]

[Level Up | 5 Stat Points Added] x7

[WARNING | User’s cultivation forced into 9th Level of Qi Gathering]

[Level Up | 5 Stat Points Added] x9

[ERROR | Qi Gathering Realm limit reached. User cannot be forced into Foundation Establishment Realm]

[+14 Levels will be held in reserve]

[Cultivation upgraded | Qi Gathering (8th Level) —> Qi Gathering (9th Level)]

[Modified | Health Overall: 1700 —> 1800]

[Modified | Max Level: 89 —> 99]

[Modified | Max Attribute: 110 —> 120]

[New upgrade requirements available]

Upgrade Requirements (3):

. Spirit: 100

. Eligible for Level 100

. Reduce Impurity to Stage 2

[Impurity Reduced]

[Stage 3 (25%) —> Stage 3 (17%)]

“Is it always like that? I would be annoyed to see all that blue.”

William was still in shock that the quest was completed. After knowing how badly polluted his Qi pathways were, his intense desire to reach level hundred and rid himself of his soul damage had been suppressed, primarily due to necessity.

What was the point of trying to get experience points when he would only get to keep a quarter of it?

Of course, despite experience points no longer a worry, his impurity was still too high. He would need to wait around two months before he could advance, but it could be done instantly when the time came. The completed quest might have saved him months of extra effort.

“Not always,” William replied to Lord Paddlington, “This only happens when I advance a minor realm.”

He was tempted to see what martial skills were available for him, but with the turtle staring at him unblinkingly, it would be wise to wait and go through them carefully later. Plus, it would be helpful to have someone guide him while learning the skill, something he doubted the turtle would do. It was more likely it would lead him on the wrong path for its own amusement.

“That’s not too bad.”

William met Lord Paddlington’s stare, waiting for it to say something more. It never came.

“So what now? Can you send us out of the secret realm?”

“I could, but it would take some energy that is better saved.”

He sighed, knowing that should have been expected. As unhelpful as ever. “That’s fine. Can you tell me how we can leave?”

“Just wait. Once the foundations of this realm start to fall apart, the protections will activate and kick you out.”

“Oh,” William nodded slowly, “That’s convenient.”

“I suppose it is. Too bad this place will be destroyed. I might miss it.”

It didn’t look like that was the case. To William, the turtle almost seemed eager for the destruction. This was a little nostalgic, having to stay on his toes to try and be on the good side of beings far stronger than him.

The secret realm had been a nice change of pace since all he had to do was try and kill everything around him, but the last few encounters were a little too much for the continuation of his life. Returning to playing nice instead of having to use his fists was welcome.

“Couldn’t you take whatever you miss? I doubt anything could stop you. Even the serpent in the forest would find it hard.”

“Too much work to take them. And I should be insulted that you think the little snake can match me,” Lord Paddlington said with amusement, “If it wasn’t for my inability to destroy a Magmaheart Goliath with the rules my master created, I would have erased the pitiful beasts the Empire placed in this realm with ease.”

“I should have known that was the case,” William agreed instantly.

He wondered what the relation the Goliath had to the serpent. While the Seedling didn’t follow Sophia’s wishes to the letter, it still tried to follow it in a roundabout way. And it definitely hated the Empire with how often they were called traitors.

A lull of silence fell as Lord Paddlington seemed content to look around the crater as if it had never seen sand before, and William was happy to let it do so uninterrupted since he wanted to pass the time as quickly as possible. That was until he was reminded of someone he had overlooked.

“When you say we will be kicked out of the realm, does this include everyone who entered? Or just Princess Jin and I?”

“Everyone,” Lord Paddlington replied, “The protections start the removal of all that are tagged as visitors. It does not matter if you are a human, beast, or a plant.”

“Oh, good,” William said with a sigh of relief.

He hoped that Ren Bo was camped in a safe area and he would see the annoying kid when they got out. He glanced at the unconscious Princess Jin before frowning slightly. If Ren Bo continued pestering her, it wouldn’t matter that he had stayed alive in the secret realm. The princess would probably kill him by accident due to her newfound strength… or it might even be accidentally on purpose.

“You keep staring at her.”

William flinched when Lord Paddlington’s face was suddenly a few inches from his.

“Don’t get too attached. Absorbing the realm stone might have increased her cultivation, but its consequences make it too dangerous. She was lucky it was further damaged after it was fragmented. Otherwise, it would cause instant death. Still, I don’t expect her to live longer than a few days.”

“What?” William’s eyes widened in shock, “Are you being serious?”

Lord Paddlington nodded, “There should have been more than enough Qi to elevate a cultivator well into the Spirit Severing Realm. However, advancing to that realm requires far more than just Qi. The excess should still be inside her, and it will soon create problems that will kill her.”

William’s racing heart quickly slowed at hearing the good news. He knew what the turtle was talking about. That must have been how he was rewarded with those three treasures. They must have been formed by this excess Qi. He looked at the princess with admiration, wondering if her Luck had become even more monstrous.

“Hm? You are calm. Perhaps you are not as close to this girl as you say.”

Lord Paddlington sounded like someone that was fishing for gossip. He had no desire to satisfy that, and luckily, the secret realm agreed by interrupting.

William almost fell over when the ground started to shake like the world was ending, reminiscent of the time when the Magmaheart Goliaths cracked open the landscape during their fight.

“Finally!” Lord Paddlington exclaimed with bright eyes, “I can end that miserable beast’s existence!”

William watched as the turtle left them behind in the crater to meet whatever it was talking about. He noted the direction it was flying before picking up Princess Jin and jumping out of the crater, but went in the opposite direction.

He ran even faster when he glanced behind him and saw that a familiar hand was coming out of the sand. Staying behind for any reason when he knew what that Goliath was capable of was foolishness.