Transcending Dreams

"Nothing?"

William sighed as he put the jade tablet down. He would have thought this place would have some good stuff, but it was even worse than the Library in the Outer Sect. Most of the manuscripts had compatibility levels of one percent, and the few that didn't were at zero. He didn't even know what that represented. It was tempting to buy one and see if that meant the skill wouldn't work after he learned it or if he couldn't learn it at all.

As for the available jade tablets, they were slightly better than the manuscripts, having compatibility ranging from a few percent to around five. There was a skill that was defensive in nature that William wanted, but wasting a pick on it would be foolish without looking elsewhere first. As for buying it, that was out of the question. There was no way he could come up with two Spirit Stones.

"No, Sister Lingxi," William sighed, "I don't like any of them."

"What a strange little boy you are," Mei Lingxi said with a shake of her head, "Are the martial skills available in your Sect that much better?"

"Er, I don't know?" William said unsurely, "I haven't been there for too long, so I can't say for sure."

That, and he wasn't stupid enough to talk about what his Sect had to an outsider. He wasn't completely clueless about how things were supposed to work in this world. Talking about the manuals your Sect possessed would be near the top of the 'inadvisable' checklist. And even if it wasn't, what if this was some sort of honey trap?

Mei Lingxi certainly was attractive enough to be part of one.

"Alright, Little Brother Wei," Mei Lingxi rubbed his hair affectionately, "Let's go look at some swords."

William couldn't find it in himself to keep believing the honey trap suspicion. Unless treating him like a silly kid was also a strategy in those.

"What are you looking for in a sword?" Mei Lingxi asked as she waved off some attendants that were standing in the area.

William was stumped. He had never touched a sword in his old world, and even when he arrived in the Tianxia Empire, it was spent learning about spirit plants, not what type of swords there were.

"Do you want it to be lightweight? Maybe have a special element that was imbued during the forging?" Mei Lingxi saw the cluelessness on his face and suggested some options with a smile.

"Element sounds good!" William's eyes lit up with excitement, imagining lightning striking his emery with every swing. Even if that was exaggerated, surely it would activate whenever he clashed against another blade.

"Little Brother Wei… no, let's try this first," Mei Lingxi beckoned a boy that looked a few years older than William, "Hand me your sword."

"Yes!" The boy gleefully pulled the sword out of its scabbard and offered it to Mei Lingxi, who took it and did the same to William.

"Hold the sword and pretend that you are defending yourself."

William stared at the hilt before looking at Mei Lingxi's patient expression. He already knew this wouldn't go well for his plan to get a sword.

He awkwardly grabbed the hilt, almost dropping the sword in surprise when Mei Lingxi let it go. He didn't expect it to weigh so much. And he especially didn't expect to be barely able to hold onto it even while using both hands.

"A sword like this will be one of the lightest in the Treasure Pavilion. Since Little Brother Wei has just started cultivating, I recommend you find a mortal sword to practice before jumping to something like this."

"Y-Yes, Sister Lingxi," William agreed with a strained voice until Mei Lingxi nodded at the boy to take back his sword. A puff of air was released from his mouth when he was freed from the ridiculously heavy sword. He watched with envy as the boy effortlessly handled it like it weighed nothing before walking to his previous standing spot.

"How do you usually fight? Maybe I can recommend something for you."

"Ah, with my fists," William said awkwardly.

"I see," Mei Lingxi nodded, "Then perhaps it would be best to show you the things that will help with that. It would also add some protection until you learn the right martial skill to protect you naturally."

William knew these options existed, but that didn't mean he wanted those to be his first choices. After crushing countless Sky Hares under his heel and some under his fist, he wanted a weapon to separate him from his future killings. But he won't deny that Mei Lingxi would know better, at least for now.

"That would be good, Sister Lingxi," William agreed, though it was audibly less enthusiastic.

"Don't get caught up with swords, Little Brother Wei," Mei Lingxi rubbed his hair again, "The manliest of men use their fists to solve all their problems. Why sound so disappointed by that?"

William blinked at what Mei Lingxi had said, wondering if he had heard right. Maybe her bias made that sentence leave her lips because he certainly disagreed. A cool spotless swordsman with thousands of dead Sky Hares around him was much better than a barbarian with more muscles than brains in the same spot, especially since the barbarian would be covered with the guts of those dead Sky Hares.

Still, the words leaving his mouth were completely different from what he was thinking, naturally. "Maybe you're right, Sister Lingxi."

"Of course I am!" Mei Lingxi smiled sweetly before leading him toward the stairs, "The gloves are on the second floor since they aren't as popular."

That was another negative point checked off in William's mind for these gloves.

"Less popular does not mean worse," Mei Lingxi laughed, "Why not wait to see what's there before passing judgment?"

"Ah, sorry," William said sheepishly before changing the subject to something he had been wondering since the offer to pick treasures was made, "Sister Lingxi, does the Treasure Pavilion have anything like a spatial ring?"

William had to stop himself from bumping into Mei Lingxi when she stopped climbing the stairs. He looked up to see her staring at him with an incredulous look.

"Little Brother Wei has a lot of appetite. The Treasure Pavilion does have one spatial ring for sale, but do you think you can own it?"

"Yes," William blurted out immediately before paling in fright as he realized what she implied, "I mean, no!"

Mei Lingxi chuckled before reaching down to ruffle his hair again. "Some things are not for us to think of, even if they are available. Spatial rings are things only a Nascent Soul Elder can hope to keep without losing their lives."

William was quickly losing hope for the protagonist's luck. This should be where he found the Treasure Pavilion selling something that looked like trash but was actually an immortal artifact. Perhaps it would have been better to bring Li Xinyue or Wang Xiaoling, if what he suspected about her was true.

Two guards standing on either side of the entrance to the second floor bowed to them as they passed. William expected to see a similar layout to the main floor, which was an open hall with one having a clear view of the whole floor, but it was the opposite.

Some items were on display in the open, but most of the second floor was cordoned off behind glass walls that seemed to have swirling mist obscuring what was behind them. The first thought that came to his mind was that this was a VIP section, and of course, his easily readable face showed what he was thinking.

"Those are just extra security measures, don't get too excited," Mei Lingxi shot down his assumption immediately, "The Treasure Pavilion does have a VIP floor, but it's on the third level."

William's eyes gleamed with excitement as he opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Mei Lingxi interrupted him.

"There is also a rule in place that a customer may only choose one item to buy from the third floor. Still, don't get your hopes up, Little Brother Wei. Almost everything useful for you on the VIP floor is in the same class as a spatial ring."

William didn't let that get him down. She used the word 'almost.' That was enough to keep his hopes up.

"Before you dream too much, let's get you something useful, shall we?" Mei Lingxi chuckled at his expression as she pressed her fingers on one of the glass walls, making it shimmer before separating like an automatic door.