“Are formations really something you should be focusing on?”

William sighed as his hope of being unnoticed vanished. He hadn’t actually been trying to hide, but a little space from Zheng Tao would have been welcome.

As much as the older disciple was helpful, he was also a nagging mother hen who was in his ear constantly about his studies. It felt like he was back in the earlier days of schooling when being micromanaged was a daily thing.

“Brother Zheng, I told you I was taking a break today.”

“You know this isn’t in my control, Junior Brother,” Zheng Tao sounded as exasperated as William, “Elder Yu will demote me back to being a training disciple if you don’t pass tomorrow!”

William finally looked away from the manual to stare at the bulky disciple. “Elder Yu told you this?”

That didn’t sound like her. In fact, it sounded like the exact opposite.

“Ah, not exactly,” Zheng Tao admitted sheepishly, “It was a punishment I put on myself while Elder Yu was present.”

“You need to stop this, Brother Zheng,” William found that the responsible Zheng Tao had a bad habit of putting pressure on himself in the form of questionable self-punishments.

The few days when they started these tutoring sessions were focused on memorizing the details of the hunting areas within the Tanxia Empire, something essential for the gathering of alchemic materials and combat experience for younger cultivators. Elder Yu had then casually given an approximate timeline of two weeks before William had to turn his focus on other things, mainly the preparation to become an Inner Disciple.

Zheng Tao took that as gospel.

“Impossible,” Zheng Tao said fiercely, “I will not allow you to be punished further, Junior Brother!”

William winced internally at the often-heard reason for the seriousness. He might have let Zheng Tao believe that he was being forced to study due to his recklessness, after which the timeline Elder Yu suggested suddenly became a deadline with harsh repercussions if expectations were not met.

This could be easily rectified if William told Zheng Tao the test was mainly a crash course on what to expect after going to the Inner Court. Not that he would.

He wanted to enjoy the casual way they spoke to each other. That wouldn’t be possible if he revealed that he was already a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator. It wasn’t due to anything nefarious. Rather, it was based on what he observed on the very first day of the tutoring.

Zheng Tao showed that he idolized higher-level cultivators far too much, and Inner Disciples even more so. It wasn’t hard for William to realize that it would be unwise to tell someone who was tutoring him that he was one of the people that was idolized.

That was the reason initially, but William grew rather attached to Zheng Tao, nagging and all. He was the first person who was a peer who didn’t have any odd quirk in personality or hidden agenda.

He supposed it wasn’t hard when the only people who qualified as a peer while also being close to him were Ren Bo and Princess Jin.

Princess Jin wasn’t bad, but she was the definition of a peer with a hidden agenda. Then again, she had somehow lucked into a ridiculous cultivation boost, so she couldn’t exactly be considered a peer anymore... she was now just someone with a hidden agenda, not that it was necessarily harmful to him.

While it was fantastic that she chose to go against her family and Empire by keeping the events in the secret realm, well, a secret, it was hard to believe she did it out of gratitude. William didn’t doubt that played a part, but she must have her reasons.

As for Ren Bo, the less said about him, the better. The boy needed to get out of his unlimited perversity phase before it killed him. He had also run in the opposite direction whenever he saw William, so they didn’t interact much in the recent weeks.

Thankfully.

So yes, there was a reason he appreciated Zheng Tao’s company. He would enjoy the last moments of normal interaction before Elder Yu arrived. Besides, it was time to reveal what would happen tomorrow so Zheng Tao wouldn’t be blindsided in front of Elder Yu.

“I still don’t agree, but how about we head outside the sect? Hoping some mortals can be a type of review,” He ignored the words of protest and gently closed the manual before returning it to the shelf where it belonged.

Zheng Tao still looked mutinous when he turned around. “Junior Brother, this shouldn’t be a negotiation! It’s just one more day! This stubbornness is ridiculous!”

“Yes, it is,” William agreed, “But you aren’t going to change my mind.”

He had to stop the chuckle from escaping when Zheng Tao looked like he was about to get an aneurysm.

“Fine,” Zheng Tao sounded defeated as he followed William out of the library, “I’ll take what I can get.”

They leisurely walked to the Outer Court’s exit. Well, William did. Zheng Tao was still grumbling under his breath the whole time.

He let the older disciple be, letting him release his frustration without interruption. Instead, he took one of his last looks around the Outer Court.

He enjoyed the peace here, but he found that he could never truly fit in. The problem wasn’t that his strength was much higher than the disciples. He didn’t care much about that. It was a combination of his lack of knowledge of life before joining the sect, along with the inexperience of the disciples in the Outer Court.

The former couldn’t be helped since he didn’t grow up in this world, but it could be rectified if effort was put into it. As for the latter, that wasn’t something he could fix.

William couldn’t pretend to care about the rankings the disciples were involved in, nor did he feel the urge to compete with them when a few taunted him about being at the bottom of the list. It was an obvious placement when he hadn’t spent any time in the Outer Court and taken the exams nor any missions to raise it.

He shuddered slightly. It was far too similar to school. It bored him, but he appreciated the Jade Healing Sect for making it so. Everyone here was too young for anything more serious.

“Junior Brother, your attendant is here.”

William was brought out of his bittersweet feelings about the Outer Court. He looked to where Zheng Tao was pointing to see Mei Lingxi walking toward them with a smile.

[Name: Mei Lingxi | Level: 186]

“So she is,” William replied, rolling his eyes when he saw her smile turn wicked. Zheng Tao audibly gulped next to him. Mei Lingxi might have stopped acting like a temptress once she became his attendant, but that didn’t suddenly make her unattractive.

She enjoyed how Zheng Tao tried to run away whenever he saw her.

“Young Master!” Mei Lingxi said brightly, “Are you leaving the sect?”

“Yes, but we’re staying close by.”

“How convenient! I was tired of staying in your dwelling,” She ignored Zheng Tao choking on air, “So I was planning to step out too. May I accompany you?”

“Really?” William doubted that. Since Mei Lingxi was still on a probationary period, she was required to stay within the sect unless he permitted her. It wasn’t like he would deny that request, but she never asked. There had to be another reason she happened to ask right when they were about to leave.

Still, there was no reason she couldn’t come with them. “Sure, why not. Are you alright with it, Brother Zheng?”

Zheng Tao stammered some incomprehensible words, and William took that as approval. This would likely help ease the older boy into the knowledge that he had been a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation the entire time.

“He doesn’t mind, Sister Lingxi.”

Mei Lingxi laughed lightly when she saw his smirk. “Thank you, Disciple Zheng.”

Zheng Tao gave her a jerky nod.

William felt a little sorry for him. The disciple wasn’t one that chased after a pretty face. He had seen the proof daily when Zheng Tao had been unaffected by rather beautiful cultivators in the Outer Court. However, it seemed Mei Lingxi was his weakness.

Understandable.

They gave the unfamiliar guards posted at the archway nods of acknowledgment as they passed through to see a depressing sight. Scores of mortals kneeling for the meager healing passively provided by the archway, along with some waiting in carriages, hoping to be accepted into the sect.

“Junior Brother,” Zheng Tao finally found his voice, “Let me decide who to help this time. You will only aid the young ones, not those with challenging problems.”

William looked at the stubborn expression on his face before nodding, letting him have this win. “As you say, Brother Zheng.”