Ingesting the Pill

As Yan Zhang and the rest of the Azure Haze departed, Wei simply stood in silence, staring at the door. After a few moments passed, the quiet lifted, and people began whispering to each other about what had just happened.

As Wei looked out at the crowd of 13 and 14 year olds, he saw two familiar faces staring back at him, outright anger etched across their faces.

Max Schneider and Ruther, the two boys from team Perfect Storm who had called him trash the night before. Now Max stood with his hands balled up into fists, his lips furled up like some kind of vicious wolf child.

However, it was all Max could do to turn to Ruther and say “Come on, let’s go.” What else could he possibly do or say in the face of protection from the Azure Haze, the top team in the entire lower sect?

Slowly, other disciples followed Max’ lead in filtering out of the attribute chamber. They were not all upset or angry. In fact, most were in awe of what they had witnessed. Unlike Max and Ruther, they had no reason to be so upset about what had taken place. Perhaps they were only a bit hesitant about their future matches against this young prodigy who had stormed the attribute ranking list on his first night as an official disciple of the sect.

Others were rightly jealous of the preferential treatment he was shown. Rather than hate him, they simply wished they could be him! But alas, such is life.

As the crowd dwindled, Wei Wang’s team gathered around him in support. Even Thomas Portsworth was a bit in awe, and bit his lip. At this point, he was starting to realize how overshadowed he was by Wei Wang’s brilliance.

“Wei, should we check the display and see how far up you went? You probably moved up again after that!” Leah said excitedly.

“Hm, yeah, sure,” was all Wei could mumble. The truth was, he was in a bit of a daze. While the others had been focused on their attribute tests, he had been doing research on the competition. Because of that, the exact statistics of every member of the Azure Haze were fresh in his mind.

Especially Yan Zhang’s. Total power rating above 33,500. Rank one disciple in the entire lower sect. And for some reason, he had actually taken interest in Wei Wang. Why? Was his result really that abnormal? But still, 2,220 was simply nothing compared to the Azure Haze. So why did they care so much to show up in force for him like that?

“I wonder what Yan Zhang’s attribute rating was, when he was our age,” Na Alakee said as the five team members of Rising Lightning moved over to the rating display. At this, however, Wei Wang froze.

Was Na Alakee trying to say that Wei Wang’s rating was higher than Yan Zhang’s had been at the same age? He felt like he had seen a ghost. Could that really be the reason they had taken such an interest in him? Surely they would remember their own scores at that time.

Then, based on the scores they had then, and where they were know, it was possible they could already predict Wei Wang’s future growth!

So, it’s like that, Wei thought to himself. They have already guessed how strong I will be 10 years from now, and whatever that number is, it was enough to get such a strong reaction from them!

“That’s right,” Thomas said with a sigh, “Those who walk the path of cultivation, if they are successful, can have extremely long lives. Wei, you might live to be 200 or even 500 years old. Ten years really wont be much for you in the long run. Hey, I’m going to go get some things done, I’ll see you all around later, okay?”

With that, Thomas stalked off, his shoulders hunched. Wei didn’t say anything to stop him. At this point, he was quickly realizing how little control he had over the events happening around him from this point forward.

“Hm, if you don’t mind, I’d like to keep an eye on him,” Na Alakee said. “I’m worried he will get himself in trouble.”

“Na, it’s fine, you don’t have to,” Wei started, but Na had already faded into a cloud of thick smoke and vanished.

With that, Aaron looked around at Leah and Wei, who were both standing there a bit awkwardly. “Hey, how about the three of us go check out the weapons upstairs after this! Wei, you should take your mind off these difficult matters. After all, you have the protection of the Azure Haze now, and you didn’t get a chance to look at the weapons and armor on sale on the fourth floor yet! You should really come see, they have all sorts of incredible things!”

“Thanks, Aaron, but I’m not really in the mood right now for that,” Wei could only shake his head. His thoughts were on the Pure Silver Metal Pill and that miniature horn in his pocket. If he could ingest the Pure Silver Metal Pill as soon as possible, then he could progress to the third layer of his cultivation. Not only that, but his capacity would increase, and he might even be able to start working on his inscription techniques.

“Aaron, let’s give Wei some time by himself. He has a lot on his mind. I’ll go to the bazaar with you, I haven’t gotten to check the weapons yet either. Is that okay, Wei?” Leah asked, turning to Wei.

Wei was just about to thank Leah for understanding, when Aaron spoke again.

“Hm, I’m sorry, it’s just, the fact is that there were a lot of weapons that would really help our team. But, the truth is, none of us have enough money to buy them. Wei, I know you have a lot on your mind, but don’t think that as our leader, you have a responsibility to help the rest of us get better weapons? It makes sense you don’t want to come, naturally, since you are only a hand-to-hand combat fighter. But, we could really use your help planning how to level up our gear. If you really don’t want to come, I won’t ask again. Sorry for my stubbornness.”

At this, Wei’s eyes opened, and then he smiled. That’s right! How could he forget!

All of the sudden, his mood much brightened and he shook his head.

“No, Aaron, you’re right! I was being selfish just now. The Pure Silver Metal Pill can wait. Let’s go check the weapons! Leah, you’ll come too, right?”

“Really? You’ll come? Okay! Wow, Aaron, thank you so much! You got Wei to come with us! Hehe, we’re going shopping! This will be so much fun,” Leah replied.

With that, the trio left, attribute display forgotten behind. They hadn’t even remembered to check Wei’s new score. But at this point, it seemed less important. Whatever the case, Wei had a good estimation of their team’s total power, and he was confident that going into their matches they could dominate the entire first grade and come out on top.

From there, whether they were able to defeat the second grade teams would come down to how much the other four members of Rising Lightning could improve before that time came. So, in that way, Aaron was right. If Wei could help the other four get better gear, that would do more for their team in the long run.

In the atrium they followed a curving staircase around the edge of the tower. Verdant vines hung down over the edge of the staircase, and the levitating Emerald in the center of the tower seemed to turn and hum with life.

When they reached the landing, Leah and Wei followed Aaron into a large, rectangular pavilion adjacent to the central atrium. Wei struggled to believe there was this much extra space inside the Arcane Tower. He had thought that the atrium with its small adjoining rooms was already large enough to fill the entire inside space of the tower. Judging from what the tower looked like on the outside, how could it possibly also fit this large, rectangular pavilion half the size of a sporting field?

Around the outside of the pavilion were a row of shops, and at the far end opposite the pavilion entrance was a large, two story restaurant. Through the windows on the second floor, Wei could already see a few disciples eating lunch. It was a bit early for food still, however, so the restaurant was mostly empty.

On the right side of the pavilion were weapons and armor shops. The left side seemed reserved for cultivation materials, inscription supplies, medicinal plants, and the like. Wei naturally wanted to check the inscription supplies first, but he bit his tongue and remembered the purpose of their visit today.

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“Aaron, let’s go check out the weapons shop first,” Wei said.

The weapons shop was filled with rack after rack of weapons, mostly swords. There were long swords, katanas, short swords, daggers, great swords, and at the back, even a broad sword which would fit Thomas well. From what Wei could tell, none of his teammates weapons were magical in any way. They were all simply basic weapons.

The weapons at this shop, however, were of at least a higher grade of quality. They were keenly sharp, and the craftsmanship was sturdier. It could be said that if two opponents were evenly matched in every other way, the one with the blade from this shop would win out against the one with a weapon from the selection exam.

Some weapons even had elemental attribute inscriptions on them. As Wei turned the corner at the back of the shop and headed up the next, his eyes widened to see a beautiful, ice blue bow inscribed with an elemental ice rune.

Wei stooped down next to the beautiful blue bow and checked the price tag next to it.

Elemental Ice Bow, Moonwood and Quail Feather String, 150 gold taels.

150 gold taels.. Wei was awestruck. He came from a rather upper middle class family, and his parents allotted him a weekly allowance of 10 silver taels. With 1 silver tael, he could buy lunch at school for the week. With the rest, he could save it up to buy toys or purchase snacks after school. 1 gold tael was equivalent to 20 silver taels.

This bow was worth three hundred weeks of his allowance. After all, he was twelve. Now he understood what Aaron meant. If they didn’t figure out a way to earn a lot of gold very quickly, they would find themselves out classed by those with better funding.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Leah said dreamily. She had rounded the corner and caught up to Wei. “I’ve never had even a single gold tael in my life. I mean, its not like we’re poor, but my parents would never give me that much just for my allowance.”

“Me neither. When we came here last night, even Thomas was stunned how much things cost. He said he can probably get away with asking for an extra 10 gold tael’s from his parents, but 150 would be too much even for him to just ask for,” Aaron had joined them now.

“Hm, but shouldn’t that be the case for almost all the sect disciples? What teenager in the entire Golden Bridges City would have this much money?” Wei asked pointlessly.

At that moment, a senior disciple who was working as the shop attendant passed by their aisle and glanced over at them. “Let me know if I can help you find anything, young juniors,” he said politely.

“Hm, maybe you could be of assistance. We juniors are new to the sect. We just became apprentices yesterday. Would you be willing to explain to this young junior how any of the disciples can possibly afford these weapons?” Wei said.

“Oh, that. Hahaha, well, you all are a bit young to take part in the trading economy within the Arcane Tower, but by the time you reach 14 years of age, you should be able to start participating in it. That’s the time you will be strong enough to enter the training realms and fight real vicious beasts. The vicious beasts in the chaos realm have naturally enhanced, rare components throughout their bodies. Almost everything, the bones, muscles, hide, and even internal organs, all of it is valuable. And above a grade three or four vicious beast, they will start to form a beast core. Beast cores are especially valuable, as they are made from a lifetime of condensed origin Chi the vicious beasts naturally attract.”

“Does senior mean to say that disciples will hunt these vicious beasts in the chaos realm, and then bring back raw materials to trade with other disciples?”” Wei asked.

“Precisely so. By your second or third year in the sect, almost all disciples pick up a crafting manual. I would say, its at least 80% who spend the time required to learn to craft. The other 20% are those who commit 100% to combat, and they are the ones who go out and gather materials the most. They bring them back and trade with the other disciples. If you don’t have gold, you can always trade for materials instead. Also, the sect Mercantile Alliance puts high quality products on sale for the public. If you craft something, and it sells to a wealthy merchant or powerful family, you can an extraordinary profit. The prices you see here mostly reflect the value of the piece on display, but most students end up trading materials instead.”

“Senior said by the second or third year. Would senior mind explaining why we cannot start now?” Wei asked.

“Well, that’s simple. Until you can fight and kill the weakest of the vicious beasts in the chaos realm, there is simply no way for you to gather resources to take part in the economy. But by the time you are ranked at least 200 or 175 on the individual ranking, you should be strong enough to start.”

At this, Wei blinked. This senior’s words were like a breath of fresh air. He was already ranked above 139! In fact, his current ranking should be even higher.

“I’m sorry, but did senior say that one should be powerful enough as long as they are ranked above 175?”

“Yes, above 175 is fine. Between 200 and 175, one might have some difficulties, but ought to make it out alive. Below that, however, I’m afraid it is a suicide mission. Now, don’t push yourselves, you have plenty of time. Remember, the other first grade juniors won’t necessarily have high quality equipment yet either.”

The attendant disciple excused himself once he realized that these kids were too young to be able to afford anything, and the three slowly found there way out after that.

Back in the courtyard, Wei’s eyes finally glimmered with hope once more. A plan was beginning to form within his mind. He would take the Pure Silver Metal Pill, unseal the next layer in his cultivation manual, and then enter the training grounds and gather raw materials until he could afford to help his teammates buy superior grade weapons! With better weapons, it wouldn’t be a stretch for them to go undefeated against all the first and second grade teams!

In that case, it would only be the third grade teams he had to worry about! At that point, however, the gap was still far too wide, so it was pointless to even think about it. If Wei could just push their chances over the edge to dominate one year up, that should be enough to get by, for now.

Back in the pavilion, Wei turned to Leah and Aaron and bid them farewell.

This time, they simply smiled politely and bowed. They had already begged Wei to accompany them this far. Now that he realized he was strong enough to use the training rooms, he could no longer stand idly by window shopping.

If possible, he would kill enough vicious beasts to buy each of them a superior grade or possibly even magical low grade weapon.

Wei Wang returned at this point to the third floor, and then used the transmission array to return to their team barracks. When he arrived, the barracks were empty, and he eagerly sat on his bed and took the Pure Silver Metal Pill from his pockets. With it, he also withdrew the miniature horn.

The horn was about the size of his thumb. He toyed with it gingerly, and then made up his mind. Even if he was in a dire situation, he wouldn’t use it. He couldn’t be someone who relied on the help of others to get by. What kind of reincarnation of a god realm spirit would that make him?

No, in that case, he would probably be struck down by the ancestor spirit from the realm of the gods, and whoever came to his aid might be treated as collateral damage!

However, if he gave this horn to someone who could use it, then he would be able to focus on his cultivation without having to worry.

Next he took the silvery-greyish pill out. Even though it was in the shape of a pill, it seemed to slide around in the palm of his hand like a drop of water. He tried holding it between two of his fingers, and found that it was slightly rubbery. He squeezed it gently, and then let go. The pill regained its round shape almost immediately.

Strange, Wei thought. Without wasting another moment, however, he swallowed it down. As the pill slid down his throat, he was already circulating the Phoenix Ascending Hidden Flame mantra. As the Pure Silver Metal Pill hit his stomach, however, the heat from the inner flames of the Phoenix was drown out by a scorching pain!

Liquid metal began to pour through his core and into his meridians. Wherever it went, it seeped out into his veins and muscles, burning beneath the skin. Sweat began to pour from his brow almost instantly.

It was as if something stabbed his brain, suddenly, and Wei doubled over. What’s this? He thought. It’s even affecting my head!

He fought for a breath of air. The scorching pain was only getting worse. As it deepened, it took on a gritty, chemical burn. The taste of metal erupted in his mouth. Gasping for breath, his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

It felt like he was going to die! His vision flickered and everything became white. It was as if his entire body had been submerged in a bath of acid! From far away, he heard a light ‘caw’ sound, and then in the midst of the brilliant light saw a burning flame the shape of a Phoenix.

At that moment, he gathered his senses. He was in terrible pain, but he could still recite the Phoenix Ascending mantra. All he had to do was make it a few moments, and he would be able to gather enough Chi sparks to unseal the next layer of the cultivation manual!

Grasping around in his robes, he found his stack of jade tablets and dragged them out onto the bed in front of him. His vision was shaking so badly it was hard to tell how many tablets there were.

He fumbled around, grasping at the bed sheets. No, that’s the inscription manual, basic hand-to-hand, no not that, this one. Phoenix Ascending Hidden Flame.

Grasping the tablet in his hands, he now clenched his teeth and began to cultivate. It was the worst pain he had ever felt in his life. He felt as if his insides were being eaten away by the acid contained in the Pure Silver Metal Pill. As time passed, he felt his core expanding, and realized his capacity had already increased drastically.

He continued to cultivate. The process was slow and painful. Just as he condensed each spark, his core would expand slightly further, increasing his capacity to condense further sparks.

At the same time, through the pain he also realized that the speed he was cultivating at had actually dropped! Now it was taking at least three minutes per spark! Before, he had gotten to the point where it only took one minute.

But under the duress of this pill, it was suddenly taking three times longer!

No wonder some people who took this would fail to progress, and even fall backwards! If they could never recover their sanity from the pain, their cultivation would be wasted!

But now was no time to think about all of that. He had to cultivate. At least nine minutes had already passed, and he had cultivated three sparks. That was six total from his starting point at full capacity.

In order to unseal the third layer of the cultivation manual, he would need a total of nine sparks! That meant he was halfway there!

Gritting his teeth, he continued to cultivate diligently. After another ten minutes or so had passed, he finally opened his eyes. His robes were drenched with sweat. He held the Phoenix Ascending Hidden Flame cultivation manual jade table in his hands, and unsealed the third layer.