9 Plans, and violence.

Six days have passed, since my fight with Chen Bao. A few other disciples tried to approach me for sparring, but thus far I've had to turn down every single one. Frankly, I just didn't feel strong enough. So I had hatched a ridiculous, frankly dangerous plan.

To fund my plan, I had spent the last six days working every menial job I could, gathering up paycheck after paycheck. I could tell that a few outer disciples were rather impressed, but another, much larger portion were irritated. I was nicking all the good-paying jobs, usually assigned to outer disciples. Like one day, when I had swept the entire pathway to the herb mountain, fed all the beasts within the arena, and picked weeds from the yards of inner disciples, all in the same day. The pay for any one of those jobs was pretty coveted within the outer sect, so no small number were upset.

Honestly, the fact that nobody picked a fight with me these last few days was incredible. If I had to guess... I'd say it has to do with the fact that Tat has been sneaking out every night. I dunno why, but he's constantly sneaking off, patrolling the entire neighborhood, every single night.

But today... It was finally time to cash out. I had done my research, practiced my Final Soldier style, and amassed enough money. And now... I was stood before the Cultivation Tower. I had three objectives, and all of them were residing within this massive pagoda. I cleared my head, checked my money, and stepped inside.

The Cultivation Tower was... Well, to call it anything less than daunting would be a disservice. The pressure you felt upon entering, the uneasy feeling of a dozen powerful masters studying you, it was enough to basically guarantee that nobody would dare steal from the Tower. I approached one counter, beneath a sign that bore the look of a tree.

"This is where I can get my spiritual root examined, yes?" When the old man nodded his head, I placed the payment on the desk. I checked the pricing with several people, including Micheal. So I was quite prepared. The old man merely glanced at the money, before it vanished right in front of my eyes. Then, he swept an arm to the right, pointing me to a door behind his desk.

After I had proceeded through, I got a bit of a shock. The same old man was suddenly in front of me, despite having not moved from the desk last I saw. Damn... He's got some insane speed on him, or he's got a twin. Somehow, I doubted the latter.

"Seat yourself across from me, facing away. Remove your shirt, as well."

He spoke, and his voice carried some impressive authority behind it. Whatever, I was going to follow his instructions anyway. I obliged, and once I was seated, he pressed a cold hand against my spine. A warm, divine energy entered my back. Heavenly Energies. It felt strange, as my own Heavenly Energy pushed back, trying uselessly to deny the invader. Obviously, this confused the old man, as he simply asked me.

"Kid, you train Heavenly Energy? You should know, that stuff can be lethal to you, if you don't use it properly. Still... To think there's an outer disciple crazy and talented enough to try it. Would you like to join my Xun Cao Mountain?" The offer was out of nowhere, but I quickly shook my head. Tying myself to any one group wouldn't be good, right now. The old man seemed somewhat disappointed, but acknowledged my decision. "Ah well. I can't expect you to join, when you remain so young in your cultivation. The offer will be open to you once more, when you come to the Qi Gathering Realm. Now, let us get to business."

With those words, and a strong grasping sensation within my chest, he pulled a glowing light from my body. It looked like a fracture in the air, about as thick across as three fingers. On it, I saw one point where a section broke off, like an offshoot of a tree branch. And inside of it, I saw two colors. While a majority of the root was vibrant green, a small part of it was magenta in color.

"Forest Spiritual Root, Rank 2. Minor affinity for an unknown element, possibly a high-ranked fusion between Fire and Water. Kid, do you know if either of your parents had affinities for those elements?"

I was speechless and confused, though. Rank 2? Wasn't that, like... Near the bottom? It would be difficult to cultivate, if my spiritual root, the source of my cultivation, was so weak... And what's with those elements? Forest? So a higher level of the Wood element? And that magenta... I think that might be my Mutation affinity from Nidus. At least, I think so, since that was the same color as my energies when I was in my Nidus form.

A few moments passed by, and I realized that the old man was staring at me.

"Oh, uhm. Sorry. I was lost in thought."

"Don't be ashamed, kid. Sure, you're not gonna have it easy cultivating, but are you gonna let that stop ya?" The old man had read me like an open book, and tried to help me put my mind at ease. Then he did something I didn't expect.

A root left his chest, revealing itself to me. It was baby blue, and about a hand length across. And oddly, it only had two branches.

"This is my own Root, a Sky Water Root, Rank 3. Now, anybody reasonable would assume that I would never exceed the Qi Gathering Realm with talent that bad. But look at me. Sixth Elder of an entire Sect. One in the Core Formation Realm, at that. There ain't many out there who can go toe to toe with me, these days. Now keep your chin high, kid. I won't lie and tell ya that it'll be easy.. Hell, it'll probably be one of the most grueling things imaginable. But you'll make it. Talent ain't nothing but donkey shit before hard work."

I looked at the old man, and my mind perked up. Dude gives one hell of an inspirational speech. I pulled my shirt back on, and without a word I bowed to the man. He definitely gave me a lot to think about. And like he said... I wasn't about to quit. I had a new family to reach one day. Nemu, Ori, Fen and the rest were waiting for me to get strong enough to see them again. I stepped back into the lobby, looking around to find my next objective.

When I spotted the sign that looked like it had a notebook. The manual selection desk. I approached, and met the inner disciple working the reception desk. He looked up to me, barely blinking before he slid a key and a registry toward me.

"Sign your name. Outer disciples are allowed to view manuals up to Low-Mystic in rank, though they will probably be out of your price range. Once you've signed, insert the key, and the elevator will take you to the fourth floor." His bored expression never changed, and I quickly wrote my name and dormitory number on the registry. I then took the key and entered the elevator. And then I was at the fourth floor before I knew it.

And wow. The inside of the tower was crazy. The room seemed impossible, since the inside was just massive. It was clearly double or even triple the size of the actual tower's exterior. And every single inch was packed with manuals and notebooks full of powerful martial arts.

[Suggestions. Row 118, Column 36, fourth book. Row 90, Column 17, first book. Row 351, Column 117, seventh book. Restricted Section 1, Row 3, Column 2, fifth book.]

I was surprised, but not complaining. If Eris was wrong about this, then it would be a first. However, that last one... Restricted Section, eh? Doesn't sound likely that I'll be able to get a manual from there.

I proceeded to the counter in the center of the room, and met another elder. He was quite young looking, maybe middle-aged? He looked quite strong though. He looked like a patient fatherly figure, though.

"Hello. If you need any help, I can retrieve any manuals you request." I smiled back, and quickly listed off the locations that Eris had told me about. All except for the last book. The man nodded along, seeming to think as he listened, and once I finished he simply vanished. A blink of an eye, and he was back, holding three manuals in his hands.

"Hallowed Soul Energy Technique, Wooden Heart Style Martial Technique, and Blackened Extremist Energy Technique. All of the Middle-Mortal rank. Any one is 1300 gil, or all of them are 3500 gil." I took them in my hands, reading the titles, before I asked Eris to do her thing.

[Hallowed Soul Energy Technique: Grants moderately increased energy reserves, harden dantian shells, increase mental resistance. Slowly causes emotions to dull.]

[Wooden Heart Style Martial Technique: Grants immense increase in resilience, moderately increase Earthly Energy generation, hardens skin to a bark-like strength. Induces a desire to stagnate.]

[Blackened Extremist Energy Technique: Greatly increased Mortal Energy reserves and generation, envenoms unarmed strikes with necrotic energy. Blackens fingers, toes, and ears. Weakens physical constitution.]

That was... Damn, are none of these good? The benefits are great, yeah, and would definitely solve most of my problems, but... The fuck, Eris?

[Operator, normal cultivation is a journey of pitfalls and avoidance. Many of the world's techniques are designed with maximized results in mind, even at the cost of other aspects of one's body.]

That makes sense, yeah, but... Why did you recommend these ones?

[These were the best suited to your current problem, with issues that would affect your growth the least. However, you have not seen the final option.]

...

A few minutes had passed, and I was now standing beside the elder in front of a massive vault.

"You understand, yes? It will cost 2000 gil to access the Restricted Section, and any manuals chosen may not be removed. Instead, you will be given seventy-two hours inside a private cultivation chamber." I nodded, and felt a thick burst of Heavenly Energy rush into the vault door. Runes and inscriptions began to glow white, and the door turned translucent. The elder pressed a hand against my back, and suddenly we were both standing inside, with the vault sealed shut behind me.

I moved quickly, to the exact place I was instructed by Eris. Finally, I pulled free the manual, a slim book that seemed to barely have four pages.

"Flesh of Violence Sutra. Unranked." I read the title, and the man behind me spoke out.

"That book... If you wish to die a painful, pitiful death, then that is a quick way to suicide. There have been only three men to ever succeed in cultivation of that Sutra, though a few thousand have failed. Admittedly... Real monsters have emerged in the past, having cultivated that method. If that is your choice, I pray you survive, to serve the Sect well."

I decided then, to rely on Eris, just this once.

[Flesh of Violence Sutra: Immense physical enhancement, immense increase in energy reserves and generation, moderate increase in martial comprehension, Aura of Violence. Increased desire to engage in violence. During cultivation, Operator will be haunted by the Specter of Death.]

This was... God damn. No going back, I guess.