Trope World - Volume 1 Chapter 32 Outer Sect

Dao Skill Discovered: Nobody lv1; passive; +100DEX

Alchemy lv24

A furnace with a cartoonish dragon released a pleasant medical aroma. The sweet aroma came from the sublime blossoms of the enchantress tree. A tree that grows pink blossoms known to be sublime. One of the many spirit trees in this world. The enchantress tree is well guarded to keep sublime blossoms a rare resource. The government forbade more than 100 trees to a grove per cadet sect. It was an artificial means to limit the number of foundation cultivators. A fearful tactic on the government’s part. It was a move that reminded me of a human government.

After getting cleaned up, I found enough black qi in my body to make a shell around my own white qi. It made my cultivation even easier. Instead of sending my used filters through my pathways to be devoured, I simply fuse them with my black qi. With the black qi wrapped around my constantly filtering white qi the pressure on my cultivation base increased. This move had put me at the peak of the fifth level of qi condensation. Soon, I’d advance again.

Everything was looking up. I was thinking about letting my white qi out again so, I could hook up with another willing outer sect member. The only reason I held back was Gan. I was certain that if he saw it, he’d knock on my door soon. I planned to kill him when things got serious in the siege.

But before any of that, I needed a spirit bow. To get a spirit bow, I needed merit points. To get merit points, I had to earn them from the sect. That’s why all my focus has moved to alchemy. If I could make a few foundation pill’s I could trade them in for 500 merit points each.

After my freedom was bought, I only had 1000 merit points. That was enough to buy a functional furnace and the ingredients I needed to make the pills. Sublime blossoms were 50 merit points each. They were the key ingredient to the common foundation pill.

From what I could tell alchemy was the backbone of most sects. They couldn’t advance quickly without it. It seemed like a no brainer.

Just as the smell of the sublime blossom reached its zenith, it turned into the rank smell of rotten eggs. The foul scent made me want to gag. It filled my apartment. The venting fans could only turn so quickly. Holding my mouth and nose, I made a run for it.

“I see you screwed up another one.” Said a c.o.c.ky voice behind me.

“Shut up Riku, I’ll get it eventually.” I looked over at the white haired, red skinned oni sitting on a bench meditating. A single black horn jutted from his head. He smirked before returning to meditation.

“Horse apples, I was so close this time. I’d finally cracked the idiom that was giving me trouble. I followed the recipe exactly and it smelled like it was working. I had every ingredient prepared ahead of time. What is my problem?” I yelled out.

“Melchior,” I heard his voice but didn’t say anything. I stomped about thinking about my actions. “Melchior,” Riku said again. It must have been when I mixed the fallen thorns, I failed the sterilize my equipment beforehand. “Melchior!” Riku yelled. I looked up meeting the oni’s black eyes.

“You need to calm down and take a different mission. Alchemy can have great returns but sometimes it’s better to bust some heads.” Riku said. I shook my head.

“You’re an inner sect disciple. The sect gives you better missions. As an outer sect disciple everything is basic. The only other mission that isn’t guarding some location or getting f.u.c.k.i.e.d by Gan, is craft 100 barrier talismans.”

“Yea, the Gan mission is on every guy’s mission list. If he wasn’t in the core stage, I’d skull f.u.c.k him.” Riku said. He looked at me then grinned a bloody smile. “The talismans are for the war effort. They pay better than the other missions. Listen maybe you should give up on alchemy until the siege is over.” I gave him a terrible look. “Don’t give me those horse apples. You aren’t an idiot. With a siege coming, prices for alchemic ingredients are going up by the day. Those sublime blossoms you bought aren’t 50merit points anymore their 5000. They may be even higher before the day’s out.” Riku said.

“What do you think? Should I sell my current supplies and buy a class on talisman crafting?” I asked.

“Absolutely, talisman crafting has had its price dropped and the cost of learning supplemented by the sect. Theoretically, you could master talisman crafting by the sect for one thousandth the normal price.” I had a Dao skill called Deep Talisman. Maybe mastering the art wouldn’t be too bad it was just so monotonous. It reminded me of kindergarten when teachers made students copy words hundreds of times.

“I wish I’d known you before I spent my merit points on alchemy.” Riku snorted.

“Just trying to help a friend and make my living quarters smell better.” Riku said. I rolled my eyes and made my way to the administrations and financial office. Sects were rather well organized and had a lot of official bureaucracy.

Administration snatched back what sublime blossoms they could and sent me off to the next talisman crafting class.

I made it to the class ten minutes early and found my seat. Most of the class was full. Well over 100 centaurs were in the classroom. The mare’s grouped together in the front while the stallions hooted and hollered in the back. As a two-legged human, I had special accommodations. The alpha mare of the herd in the front insisted that I set next to her. She made sure to nudge against me and push me aside for the entire ten minutes of the wait.

Her name was something, I didn’t really care. I’m certain she told me at one point, but I forgot it instantly. She wasn’t my main concern. A large hob goblin stood nearly five feet tall on his podium. He coughed before drawing an intricate pattern on the chalk board behind him.

“This is the most common symbol for defense. To craft a level one talisman, you must know what you want. Thankfully, we can instruct you on what you want in a level one defensive barrier talisman. For this talisman you want a bubble of defense. This bubble stops attacks from passing through it. By backing this desire with qi that want has energy. The bubble of qi may not happen, but it is now possible. The final step of talisman crafting is the symbol. This locks the possible into inevitable.” The goblin cheered with excitement. He looked around to see his class wasn’t so cheerful.

“To talk about it is cheap. All of you have signed up for the mission. Its no secret that a siege will be here shortly. So, get to work.” The goblin squeaked out before turning to leave. I stared at the retreating goblin.

That was it. That’s all there was to talisman crafting. I looked at the symbol on the board. It looked simple enough. I pulled a piece of spirit paper from my bag of holding.

“Oh, wow you’re going to try already. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if you failed in public?” I looked at the girl and the watching centaurs all around me. I thought about my repeated failures at alchemy.

“I need something firm to write against.” I stepped past her avoiding the desk and placed my paper against her flat stomach. I heard a series of gasps as I took my time transforming the piece of spirit paper into a talisman. The alpha mare in the outer sect looked at me with an odd expression. I paid little attention to her. Flicking the paper and it activated surrounding me with a small golden shield.

Dao Skill discovered: talisman lv1; passive; +1INT/WIS

I moved the talisman deactivating it. “Anyone can make talismans of the first rank they aren’t difficult.” I mumbled and began making my way from the herd. Just as I was about to make my way out the last of the centaur mares blocked my way.

One of the mares crossed her arms and smirked. “Boss Och isn’t done with you. Turn around and,” I’d seen plenty of cultivators bend others to their will with a bit of pressure. All it took was a bit of control. I lashed out with my fifth level qi condensation stage cultivation base. The centaur’s breath caught, and she coughed up a mouthful of blood.

A set of hands wrapped around me. It was the alpha mare Och. Her long black hair hung over her face before she brushed it out of the way. Through her bra, I felt her soft b.r.e.a.s.ts. As pleasant as it was, I already had two centaur mares I’m aiming for. I flexed my arm and broke her hold. “Wait, I have something for you. Come to my apartment tonight and I’ll give it to you and dinner. Please wait Tuya was being too forward.” I could hear the desperation in her voice, and I sighed. She wasn’t anything special. Her cultivation base was good for the 8th level of qi condensation but it wasn’t great. Even at the fifth level my qi was stronger. When you added my body and magic to the mix, I was beyond most of the foundation level.

Pride lv10 +200INT/CHA

I blinked at the massive increase. My member suddenly ached and I needed to get out of here. “Sure, I’ll see you there tonight.” I said and headed out. They didn’t stop me after that.

At my apartment, I used phantasmal limbs to rapidly make my first hundred. As the limbs worked, I flew to the bathroom and ripped my pants down. My member had grown again. It hung to my kneecap at a monstrous 17 inches. I took a deep breath and pulled my pants up. Charisma was insane.

My face was different as well. I had a much stronger jawline and higher cheekbones. My skin was smoother and seemed glow a little. I let out a sigh and noticed my voice had changed. It was deeper more powerful. I was changing every day.

“What is this god puberty?”