Troubling information

After spending a week studying the inscription book, Collin had read everything about Qi Condensation rank inscriptions. He had found an inscription array that would block passive divine scans but would fail on a focused scan. It was like a glass window, it would block the wind and rain, but the moment someone threw a rock at it, the window would shatter into a million pieces.

The inscription array didn't look too complicated, but he would need to practice drawing the array many times before he tried it for real. The only problem was that to practice inscription he needed to the market and buy special paper and ink, plus a decent inscription pen.

He was planning to use his library time to practice inscription, whether he only practiced till he could draw the inscription array to block divine sense, or if he made it a permanent addition to training regiment, he didn't know yet.

What he did know was that alchemy was always going to be his top priority, unless he was going to stop at the 10th layer of Qi Condensation until he died in one hundred and ninety years. While there have been plenty of people that started cultivating for the extra hundred years of lifespan. Collin on the other hand was like most cultivators and wanted to go as far as he could in cultivation.

As Collin walked to his bedroom to sleep, he was planning out his shopping trip tomorrow and reviewing what he did today. The past two days of alchemy practice were failures. Several days ago, he had finally extracted the medicinal essence from a spirit herb perfectly. A full day and a half of flawless extraction, he decided to try it with two spirit herbs and with every attempt the spirit herbs were destroyed.

Waking up as the sun was rising was starting to become Collins new normal instead of being woken up by the alarm for breakfast. Morning cultivation was followed by body refinement training and then alchemy practice till noon, when it was time for him to head to the market.

Walking into the market, Collin noticed that the lively atmosphere of the market was gone. Only a third of the normal amount of people were there and most of them were gathered around discussing something. It did not take long for Collin to understand what was happening and why people were nervous.

Devil worshipers. Degenerate bastards that either made a deal with a devil or used parts of a devil to cultivate. Several had been seen near the city and even attacked a merchant group traveling from the city. All the members of the merchant group were slaughtered, and some of the corpses having been eaten upon.

Whenever devil worshipers have gathered near the city and launched attacks without fear, it has meant that they would attack the city soon. Every time they have attacked the city thousands have died and hundreds of women disappear, sometimes a pile of desiccated corpses of the missing women would be found in a cave or strung up from trees.

Another troubling bit of information was who one of the devil worshipers was. Drew Tyler, he was the second son of the head of a minor noble family. Like Collin he lived the life of luxury until he was deemed untalented and tossed aside. The last anyone had seen of him was well over a year ago, after a few weeks of gossip he was forgotten till now.

Collin wanted to buy his supplies and return to his villa as soon as possible. He wasn't afraid of being attacked by devil worshippers as much as he wanted to avoid the security crackdown that would be coming soon.

For the next month or two everyone walking on the streets of the city could be stopped and searched at will. Anyone who resisted would either arrested or killed and stories of valuables being stolen while searched were common. Another reason was, if it was true that Drew was a devil worshiper, then maybe families would crackdown on their runaways.

Walking into an inscription shop, it was tidy shop full of chest high counters. Each counter had selections of paper, inscription pens, and many bottles of ink. The only other person in the shop stood next to a counter along the back wall. He was a tall young man with very short brown hair. Looking at him, Collin asked for supplies suitable for learning Qi Condensation rank inscriptions in a quantity to last several months of practice.

The young man stood there for a few seconds before he let loose an annoyed grunt and started moving around the shop. Handfuls of paper sheets were placed into a wooden box, then several bottles of ink and finally two inscription pens. The box was placed on a counter in front of Collin before the clerk asked for fifteen spirit stones. The young man seemed annoyed that he had to deal with Collin.

Collin didn't know why the clerk acted that way, but he would make sure he didn't interact with the young man unless necessary. The only good thing about visiting the shop was how cheap the inscription materials were, they were far cheaper than alchemy supplies. Thinking of alchemy supplies made him think that he should see if Valeria had another bottle of refined fire pills. If she did, he wouldn't need to leave his villa for several months and could avoid any of the coming unpleasantness.

Just as Collin walked into the shop, Valeria started taking about the rumors that were spreading in the market. Collin was wondering how to bring up the topic of asking for more pills when she pulled out four bottles of fire pills and a bunch of spirit herbs and then suggested that he hide himself away and practice alchemy. Since he was already to it anyway, he was happy that things were going his way since he was ready to ask, bribe, and flat out beg for her help.

After she got the very low amount of spirit stone she was asking for the pills and materials she offered, she began trying to rush him out of the shop while encouraging him to return home. She only stopped when Collin asked if she had any tips for refining more than one spirit herbs at a time. After a quick and very easy explanation on what he was doing wrong, and how foolish it was that he made such an obvious mistake, Valeria resumed throwing him out of the store.

Walking through the market towards his villa, what little crowds there were when he first came to the market were gone. Other than a few people entering and exiting shops, only security guards in teams of four were marching throughout the market. This gave the market a dreary almost inhospitable atmosphere, and he couldn't wait to leave it.

Collin felt a sense of relief when he passed through the main gate of his villa and while he was heading towards the main house, he noticed some green patches in the decorative garden beds. The attel plants had already sprouted. He bought the seeds from Valeria for practice material, they were some of the lowest of low-rank spirit herbs but in a week or so, he could harvest them and begin extracting their essence.

He had started planting them a few days ago on the way back from placing his placing his food tray back in the chute. It would take some more time for the other varieties of spirit herbs to sprout, but now he could add gardening to his list of things to do.