William was saved from himself when the Grand Elder returned with Ren Bo after dismissing the guards.

It baffled him that Kai bothered to waste the energy to give him a look before leaving, but with the system not bothering to acknowledge the man's existence by giving him a quest to humiliate him, he tried to let it go.

Keyword was tried.

He narrowed his eyes slightly at Kai as they locked eyes. Not enough to seem uncouth in front of the Grand Elder, but plenty to show the guard that he wouldn’t be cowed. He idly wondered if the secret realm raised his tolerance of risk. Kai was likely a Core Formation Realm cultivator, and could easily punt him out of existence.

“There’s no reason to stay here any longer,” the Grand Elder announced, “Both of you are in need of recovery, and I’m not keen on letting my sect’s children remain in such a state when unnecessary. Return to the Outer Court with Elder Yu. I will go to the Inner Court and call on the needed Elders for healing.”

William was confused. He thought there would be a questioning. And he wasn’t the only one who was confused, so he was happy not to have to voice that confusion.

“Senior Lian, what am I to say to the Lord Protector?”

He had almost forgotten that Princess Jin’s grandfather was still present, and he was convinced that he wasn’t alone in his forgetfulness. The Grand Elder gave him a look of surprise and said, “I suppose Brother Feng would give you trouble if I skipped the formalities.”

“Grand Elder?” William was starting to think he never intended to ask questions.

“Come now, you didn’t think I would expect you to know why the Empire lost contact with the Shard, did you?” The Grand Elder paused before putting on an exaggerated look of suspicion, “Unless you do know?”

William shook his head, not wanting to talk himself into a blunder.

The Grand Elder beamed, “There we go. Brother Feng is under pressure, so he is willing to look into every avenue, no matter how slim.”

He stayed silent as the Grand Elder assured the nervous Prince of Xuanjing City that everything would be fine before dismissing him. It brought up the question of how influential the Grand Elder of the Jade Healing Sect really was.

It seemed to William that the man had a tremendous amount of sway over the Imperials, to the point where he casually discarded an order by the Lord Protector.

“Good. Now that this is settled, let’s get you both back to the sect.”

The Grand Elder raised his arm, pointing at nothing in particular before bringing his arm down in a smooth motion. It would have looked silly if not for the tear in space opening as if his finger sliced it into existence.

“Even now, creating portals amazes me,” the Grand Elder commented as he looked at them with a slight smile, “Step through. It will lead you directly to the clinic.”

“Thank you, Grand Elder!” Ren Bo didn’t delay and practically jumped in, looking eager to escape.

William took a moment to give the slightest of bows to Princess Jin’s grandfather before asking, “Can I be updated on the princess’s status? She may be far beyond my cultivation now, but our experience in the Shard caused us to form a close bond.”

“… Yes,” the Prince replied stiffly, “Though it would be better to ask Senior Lian. He will be able to get far quicker updates from the capital compared to me.”

He bowed again in thanks, confused why the old man seemed displeased at him, before turning to the Grand Elder with questioning eyes.

“That won’t be an issue, Disciple Wei,” the Grand Master said with a chuckle, “But focus on your recovery first. I have no doubt the Empire will spare nothing to prevent your princess from withering away. There will be a long rehabilitation ahead for her. Surviving the heavenly tribulation is only the start. She will then need months to heal the damage from the heavenly lightning before they dare to call it a success.”

“Oh,” William flushed red, suddenly realizing why the Prince of Xuanjing City was displeased. His words implied far more than just friendship with the princess. He was just trying to seem familiar to her. Even Elder Yu had a slight smile on her lips at his blunder.

“Thank you, Grand Elder,” William decided to copy Ren Bo before he tried to be clever and find a new way to fail. He stepped through the portal and found himself staring at the clinic in the Outer Court.

He looked around, taking in the peaceful atmosphere with groups of disciples walking across the well-maintained landscape to their destination. His lips formed a smile as he thought of staying here for the foreseeable future.

It wouldn’t be as busy as living in a mortal city, but after what William had been through, being busy was the opposite of what he wanted. With how concerned the Elders were about his impurity build-up, they would probably be amenable to his desire to turtle up inside the sect.

“Little Brother Wei?”

William stopped admiring the comfortable, campus-like atmosphere to look at the person who called his name. He was familiar.

[Name: Zheng Tao | Level: 74]

The memory snapped into place. This was the disciple who told him to be safe and pick a farming mission, preventing Ren Bo’s flaky friend, whose name he couldn’t remember at all, from dragging him to a mission that was above him at the time.

“Brother Zheng,” William greeted warmly, “Good to see you again.”

“What happened to you?” Zheng Tao looked him over in concern before rattling off more questions, “This is from a mission, isn’t it? What mission did you pick? Didn’t I tell you to pick farming as your first?”

“I was too greedy, Brother Zheng. Thankfully, I’m fine now.”

“So you say.”

William and Zheng Tao flinched at the unexpected voice and turned to see Elder Yu staring at them with a portal closing behind her.

“Zheng Tao, I see you have met the sect’s newest disciple before.”

“In passing, Elder Yu,” Zheng Tao said with his hands clasped together as he bowed, “I met this Little Brother at the Mission Hall.”

“Yes, I heard,” Elder Yu said drily, “Did you also know he has taken around twenty Vitality Restoration Pills? And they were in the third grade?”

“Twenty? Third grade?” Zheng Tao looked more horrified with each word, “Little Brother, what made you take so many pills meant for Core Formation Realm cultivators? Do you want to cut off your cultivation path?” He paused before looking like something struck him, “Did you already succeed in doing so??”

At this point, William was worried that Zheng Tao might have a heart failure. He remembered the older disciple coming off as responsible at first impression, but he had underestimated how much.

“He has not,” Elder Yu cut in, stopping Zheng Tao from going into a spiral, “Not yet, at least. I will soon be checking to see how much damage has been done, but I need your help.”

Zheng Tao was still looking at William with a horrified face. Still, he nodded. “Of course, Elder Yu.”

“I need you to ensure Wei Liang’s education is complete.”

“That goes without saying, Elder Yu,” Zheng Tao puffed up with pride, his large, bulky body combined with his naturally fierce face making it look a little funny, “I’ll prepare a lesson plan right now!”

William was surprised when he immediately started to speed walk towards the library without another word.

“Zheng Tao might not be the most talented disciple, but he is hard-working and reliable. I expect you to learn from him seriously.”

“Yes, Elder Yu,” William wouldn’t do anything else. He intended to hole himself up in the Outer Court to study anyway, and this was an even better option to learn the fundamentals.

“Good. Elders from the Inner Court should arrive soon to check your body’s condition. Let’s hope you have somehow gotten lucky and escaped the worst effects.”

William followed Elder Yu into the clinic. He wondered what she would say if she knew how he had survived so far. It was all luck. Someone else’s luck, but it was still luck.