He watched Zheng Tao search for a suitable target among the hopeful mortals with distaste. It was more than a little stomach-turning when he saw the heart-wrenching depression that fell on the mortals’ faces when the older disciple walked past them.

William first left the Outer Court several days ago to get out of the university-like atmosphere and had been met with similar expressions. Since he had ventured out on his own and knew zero healing techniques, he had been entirely useless in being of any help with any of the severe illnesses. The guards stationed had been equally useless when he asked for help.

He supposed the next best thing to do was get a disciple who was actually a healer, but he hadn't been thinking straight at that moment, rendering his mind mostly useless, too.

However, he was very useful when it involved force. And among mortals, he might as well be a god. If he wished for something to happen, it would.

While the mortals begging to be healed were all pitiful from William’s point of view, he quickly learned that there was a hierarchy that was in place. One that was based on a combination of wealth and social standing, no matter how little of it was there. It had promptly come into existence with the mortals left to their own devices by the sect as long as there was no rioting.

The cultivators in the sect could not be bothered to care for the mortals in any real sense. The generosity of providing access to the archway was enough in the sect’s mind, and anything else was a burden. At least, that was what William understood it as.

That understanding was reinforced when Zheng Tao, the most dutiful disciple in the Outer Court, looked at the mortals like they were annoyances when they moved too close to him. He supposed that any cultivator, even decent ones, had been separated from mortals for long enough that they started to look at them as lesser beings.

William wasn’t able to do the same. At the bottom of this makeshift hierarchy were the lone children. Ones that, for some reason or another, had no support in this mass of pitiful beings. The day he left the Outer Court to get some air was the best day for a few of these children.

The archway no longer affected him since his cultivation was too high, but for mortals, it had a heavenly impact. It could bring them back from the edge of death to full health. That was most evident with the younger children.

They would visibly get healthier by the hour, which made sense since the system showed they only had three points overall at most in their Health. The archway added one point every day they were in range.

William thought it was unfortunate that only thirty or so people could be healed at once. However, he couldn’t change that. What he could change was who received the healing.

With liberal use of Observe, he was able to find the ones that were most in need and use his strength to get them in range of the archway. Unfortunately, he could only use Observe a little over a hundred times on the mortals before his Spiritual Energy was depleted, so he couldn’t keep it up for long.

He had plenty of unused stat points to dump into his Spirit attribute, but he didn’t dare use them haphazardly before picking his heaven-tier martial skill. Not even for the children who stared at him with hope, no matter how much it hurt him to do so. He couldn’t compromise his future.

It made him understand why the sect didn’t care much about the mortals. There were too many.

He could see himself falling into the same indifference from being overwhelmed. It didn’t matter that he saved the forty or so children that day. There were still scores more in need, just in the crowd. And that number increased exponentially when considering the masses that arrived each day.

One person couldn’t make enough of a difference, so what was the point in trying? William shuddered when that thought appeared in his mind just as a boy stared at him pleadingly while supporting an older woman, likely the mother, to stay on her feet.

“You have a bleeding heart, Young Master.”

He didn’t look at Mei Lingxi as he replied, “You feel nothing when you see all this misery?”

The silence that followed was an answer in itself. It wasn’t surprising.

“Mortals have their own lives, with their own worries. It is not our place to interfere with their fates.”

This time, William looked at her. “That’s a strange thing to say when our sect has clinics in mortal cities. Not to mention all this.” He motioned at the crowd of mortals, “They are being saved from death, are they not?”

“Both of those have a cost,” Mei Lingxi pointed out, “Very few mortals can afford to pay for the services in the clinics. As for this, they have to survive the trip here, and after they arrive, they have to get lucky enough to be one of the few to get healed.”

“And the rest deserve to die?” William asked a little heatedly.

“I didn’t say that,” Mei Lingxi replied calmly, “Their fates were altered when you interfered, Young Master. There is a reason we do not solve all the problems that mortals have. The karma that forms between you and a mortal you save will be minuscule, but once there are enough ties, it will affect you.”

“Karma?” William stared at Mei Lingxi blankly, “Why have I never heard of this before?”

“It is usually nothing to worry about before the Nascent Soul Realm. It wouldn’t be something you would be aware of until you gained a Master.”

“How do you know this?” His frown grew as he came to a realization, “Is this why you wanted to accompany me?”

“Yes,” Mei Lingxi admitted freely, “Elder Yu wished for me to do so. Please avoid a repeat of your last time here, Young Master.”

William clenched his teeth in frustration before deciding to find out precisely what this karma was and why the cost of accumulating it was so dangerous that cultivators didn’t dare risk it. He had thought that it had both a positive and negative side, but Mei Lingxi made it sound like there were no positives at all.

“Fine, as you say, Sister Lingxi,” William said reluctantly, ignoring the eyes that were still on him.

“I apologize, Young Master,” Mei Lingxi sounded sincere, “There are better ways to help the mortals without having to be involved personally. Those will be open to you in the future when you gain more influence.”

William nodded in acknowledgment. She was trying to console him. He appreciated it, but it wouldn’t work at the moment.

“Brother Wei! There are some people that we can help in the surrounding forest!”

He stared at the approaching Zheng Tao, who had a sheepish expression, then at Mei Lingxi, who avoided his gaze. The mentioned forest could barely be seen on the horizon, even with his enhanced eyesight.

“Let me guess,” William said blankly, “Brother Zheng, somehow, you called Sister Lingxi when I told you I wanted to head outside the Outer Court.”

Zheng Tao broke quickly. “I’m sorry, Junior Brother. Senior Mei told me to do so. Most Elders also mentioned what you did in the lectures and warned us not to do the same, so I thought it best to listen.”

He had wondered why most of the disciples had given him strange looks recently. He hadn’t attended any lectures, so he had been clueless till now.

“What are we really going to do in the forest, Brother Zheng?”

Zheng Tao cleared his throat, “I figured it would be good to apply what you learned and see if you can name the species we see.”

William wanted to reject his plan. The system would tell him the name of anything useful, and while it wouldn’t give him any description or use of the spirit plant, that could be easily memorized. Still, Zheng Tao’s anticipatory expression made him hesitate.

He still needed to break the news that he was to be an Inner Disciple soon. Tolerating a monotonous task is the least he could do as a farewell to their easy camaraderie.

“Very well, Brother Zheng. Lead the way.”