Lan Yin had accompanied him to the Qi Refining Rooms as a last gift before she was to leave tonight. Though, he suspected it had more to do with Prince Yuan and the Treasure Pavilion, not that he had any proof.

Nonetheless, her help was crucial in allowing William to quickly get closer to the level he wanted before he set out of the city into possible danger. But a significant issue was that the training couldn’t last for long since his Spiritual Energy was pathetically small.

After twelve Qi-infused strikes, it had been exhausted to nothing. And since William needed around thirty minutes to recover enough Spiritual Energy for each attack, he reluctantly left the place with Lan Yin, cursing himself for not having used more stat points on his Spirit attribute.

That would be rectified immediately, now that he was back in The Golden Lotus, right after he consumed some of the spirit fruits he had taken from the Clinic.

William didn’t blink as he idly chewed on the Lightning Berry. However, he did have the occasional urge to flinch, expecting a shock to run through his body, but that was all it was, an expectation.

Even though he was only in the first level of Qi Gathering, it was already beyond obvious that the spirit fruits had a far less noticeable effect on his body. Even after forgetting that the Lightning Berries no longer shocked him due to their decreased effectiveness, the benefits they gave him were reduced significantly.

When William was still a mortal only days ago, each Lightning Berry gave him a point for his Stamina and Agility attributes. That was no longer the case.

It only contributed to one attribute and with only one point per berry. The saving grace here was that it seemed to be allocated to the lowest attribute, so every berry he had eaten so far had been added to his Stamina.

[+1 Stamina]

William grimaced and rubbed his stomach, slightly bloated from the eight Lightning Berries he had eaten. He had been worried about the impurity that would rise after eating so many spirit fruits. However, eating enough for that to be a problem wouldn’t be possible unless he forced himself to choke down more berries.

He glanced at the small pile of Lightning Berries and Blood Oranges and almost hurled at the thought of having to eat more. That pretty much decided that it was enough for the day. Besides, it wasn’t like he needed to leave the city tomorrow. There would be more than enough time to bring his attributes to a level he would prefer.

Stamina: 18 (15)

That was far better than before, though he still had no real idea if it was viable in a fight since he hadn’t been in one. The plan to ask Ren Bo for a spar didn’t exactly work out since Mei Lingxi kidnapped him early in the morning. It was something William would try again tomorrow. Still, before he went to sleep, he would bump his Spirit attribute before there was a chance he could regret it again.

[+13 Spirit]

[Trait Modified | Soul Damage (Minor) - 15% Attribute Reduction]

[Modified | Spiritual Energy: 120/120 (20% per Hour)]

William closed his eyes when he felt the rush of Qi released from his dantian. A brief thought entered his mind before he had to focus on concentrating the Qi into his lung meridian.

How did the Qi randomly appear when he increased the Spirit attribute?

But that question was quickly thrown to the side when he was forced to guide the Qi to where he needed it to go. William had only done this a few times in the past, but he was confident enough that there would be no issues as long as the process hadn’t changed.

He guided the river of silvery Qi through the pathways in his body before reaching the lung meridian into which he had been pouring all the Qi. This time would be no different. He could sense the tiny yet bright speck of concentrated Qi that would be getting a massive infusion.

William subconsciously took a deep breath as the speck absorbed the offered Qi ravenously. At the rate it took all the Qi, he started to wonder if his other principal meridians were destined to stay dry.

Of course, something changed just as that thought appeared in his mind.

The speck in his lung meridian had become slightly brighter than before, enough that William didn’t have to wonder if he was imagining things. Especially when it pulsed.

His command over the Qi was broken briefly, but it had luckily dwindled enough to a point where it didn’t cause any backlash. He reasserted his will on the scattered Qi and tried to push it back into the lung meridian, only for the same thing to happen again.

The speck of light pulsed, expelling the Qi that William was trying to add. He was prepared for it this time and quickly redirected it to another principal meridian nearby.

The Qi was quickly accepted by the heart meridian. However, with the minuscule amount that was remaining, it wasn’t enough to form the concentrated speck of light similar to what was in the lung meridian. The only thing it did was make the previously dry meridian gain a slightly silvery fog that seemed to fill the space thinly.

William circulated his Qi just like he would have if he was cultivating, nervously waiting for something to go wrong, but luckily, nothing happened after nearly an hour of constantly cycling his Qi through the pathways.

He slowly exhaled as he opened his eyes, visibly confused about what had happened. His cultivation technique clearly mentioned that the principal meridian must be filled to the brim with Qi before moving on to the next. However, that didn’t match what he sensed in his body.

The sheer amount of empty space William could sense in the lung meridian suggested that even when his Spirit attribute was over a hundred, the Qi he would have wouldn’t be enough to fill it.

Elder Yu had already left Xuanjing City, so there was nobody he could ask. Lan Yang, Lan Yin’s brother, who would arrive tomorrow, was also a possibility, but William didn’t hold much hope there. He was at the same level as Lan Yin, and she had no knowledge of his technique whatsoever.

William slowly stood up from his seated position on the floor, carefully checking the condition of his body since he still didn’t trust what his senses were telling him.

What he feared most wasn’t the physical condition he was in. In fact, William would be strangely happy if he happened to cough up blood that would take away a significant portion of his health.

At least that would mean it wasn’t likely that his soul damage was playing a role in the strangeness happening with his principal meridians.

William’s mind kept bringing up the fact that he didn’t have Daoist Chen’s mark anymore, almost like some sort of masochistic taunt. Reminding himself that the next time he visited the void, it would be permanent.

Just that thought itself was almost enough to drive William mad with fear. He could feel his heart rate speeding up and quickly distracted himself with his status screen.

Name: Wei Liang (William Davis)

Age: 13

Level: 17

Experience: 232/2125

Cultivation: Qi Gathering (1st Level)

Health: 1000/1000

Spiritual Energy: 120/120 (20% per Hour)

Spirit: 28 (24)

Strength: 20 (17)

Stamina: 18 (15)

Agility: 20 (17) + 10

Luck: 30 (26)

Points: 0

Traits:

Soul Damage (Minor) - 15% Attribute Reduction

William's mood lifted slightly when he saw the slight increase in every stat. The two percentage point reduction in his soul damage effect was evident with the increased numbers across the board, even though it was only one point.

He kept that in his mind as he shrugged off his robes and collapsed on the bed, trying to keep ahold of the happy feeling of seeing his stats increase while he attempted to lull himself to sleep.