Chapter 20 Resources of a Sect

Khyree stepped out from his cultivation chamber. He brushed the rich and fertile soil off of him as he headed to the bath. “That spellscript in the cultivation chamber really is a blessing. An hour cultivating in there is the same as cultivating for days outside of it,” Khyree said in wonder. “Being a part of a Sect really is incredibly beneficial for an Immortal. Between the enhanced cultivation chambers and the Immortal Trades, I now see why Daquan and the others were so eager to join up.”

Khyree was just putting on a clean set of robes when he felt a deep thrum pulse through his ankh. Instantly, he knew that it meant that he had a visitor. “You have to love Immortal Mansions,” he said aloud with a smile on his face. He then headed to the front door. “They even come with security systems.” It had taken him a few weeks to get used to all of the functions of the place, but now he was completely comfortable with living in the luxurious residence.

“Cousin!” Khyree exclaimed when he saw his visitor.

“Khyree. Come with me, we have an important task to do for our master today,” Daquan Mourntree said as he turned and walked away. “I’ll explain on the way.”

Khyree dutifully followed alongside his adopted cousin. He noticed that the path they were on headed deeper into the second tier. He knew that area mostly consisted of sturdily built training arenas, something called living nodes and a huge gathering area. He had previously had no desire to visit the area, as he was pretty obsessed with his own development.

“So what is this important task that we have to do?” he asked his cousin curiously.

“Today my dear cousin is Resource Day,” replied Daquan. “Once a month on a particular day determined in advance by the elders, cultivation resources are distributed to students Sect wide, by the tiers. As the apprentices of the head master alchemist for this tier we are tasked with distributing the alchemical pills and elixirs to our fellow students today alongside the leadership.”

“So we’re to be passing out pills to others,” Khyree said. “Oh that sounds like such a great time cousin. But if we’re giving them pills, do we get some as well?”

“Of course, we get some. As the distributors we take ours first, and then pass out the rest of them to the students. Plus, we get access to the other resources first as well,” Daquan said excitedly.

“Just what other kind of resources are we talking about?”

“Ah well the blacksmithing apprentices distribute whatever special items the master alchemists have produced for the monthly event. Sometimes depending on their mood, the elders on this tier will offer up various items. It’s not guaranteed though, so don’t get your hopes up too high,” Daquan said.

As they got closer to the gathering area, Khyree began to hear a dull roar. It turned out to be the sound of a bunch of people all talking at the same time. In all of his time in the Sect so far, Khyree had never seen a crowd the size of the one waiting on them. There were just fields of pristine white robes. “Heavens and gods above, I’ve never seen so many people here in the sect before. There must be hundreds of students here,” he exclaimed.

“That is not surprising at all, cousin. You see, most of the time many of the students in the Sect are either behind closed doors cultivating, challenging the Trials or away completing missions for the Sect. The only times you will usually see a gathering of this size is during Resource Days or if there is an event like a visiting Sect member or something.

As Khyree and Daquan neared the square, some of the other students noticed them and began to clear a path for them. Khyree was near enough to actually make out what the students were saying.

“Hey, hey, brothers and sisters clear a path, the alchemy apprentices are here. Let them through. Hey take a closer look, those are Master Muzna’s apprentices, you know what that means. We are in luck for some prime cultivation aids today, people.

“Yeah, Master Muzna always produces the best quality in elixirs and pills. I’m so glad that he descended down to our tier.”

“Well don’t let anyone from Master Rema’s team hear you say that.”

“Screw that miserable old miser. Master Rema is a second rate hack compared to Master Muzna. He’s been cultivating for far longer, and yet his pills and elixirs are always inferior to Master Muzna.”

“Well Master Rema is only an inner student after all, is it any wonder why he can’t compare to the likes of Master Muzna who is a core student. Yeah, Master Rema might have been cultivating for longer, but his talent is way less than Master Muzna.”

“Hey take a look, Daquan Mourntree even brought the new guy with him. Does anyone know anything about him yet?”

“Word is that he pretty much keeps to himself. I heard him and Daquan both come from the same backwater village near one of the frontiers.”

“I heard that the new guy is nothing more than a savage beast. Back when he was still on the first tier apparently he would episodic bursts of uncontrollable rage and would randomly attack the other servants.”

“Well he’s got another thing coming if he thinks that he can just come up and run roughshod over us. He’s barely been up here for a few weeks now, I bet he still hasn't even reached the level of initial understanding in his starter technique yet.”

Khyree kept his face empty of expression as he and Daquan made his way through the crowd. He knew that some of the discussion was said in such a way that it was meant for him to hear it. But he wasn’t going to let their words get to him. They didn’t know who he was or what he was truly capable of. So Khyree viewed their empty threats in much the same way that he viewed the ceaseless chatter of the mindless baboons back home in the Wilds, as unworthy of his attention.

As they neared the front of the crowd, Khyree spotted a large raised stage that was easily two meters in height. Upon the stage were a few brown robed elders, a couple of core students and a smattering of anxious looking neophytes, all of whom were looking out at the audience. The elders were standing rather close together and exchanging friendly banter.

Daquan led Khyree up to the stage, where he met briefly with the other apprentices before they were directed to their places. Khyree assumed his position beside his cousin and looked out at his fellow students. If asked, he would never admit it but he was kind of curious about the whole affair.

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One of the elders stepped forward to the edge of the stage and addressed the many students gathered in attendance. His voice was firm, and actually pitched quite low. Despite that his presence and his words instantly caused the crowd to quiet down and pay rapt attention to his speech.

“For those of you who do not know, I am Elder Hakeem Bey. I am one of the elders responsible for maintaining order on this tier. Today my young students, we will be passing out some resources to help stimulate your continued growth on the path to Immortality and to encourage your fighting spirit. The Hidden Valley Shadow Sect has many enemies.

They are those who are envious of our Immortal Hidden Techniques, or are jealous of the status that we command in the outside world, and let’s not forget those who seek to claim our precious resources. But I say this to each and every one of you, The Hidden Valley Shadow Sect is no mere simple combat Sect. We are the premier death Sect in all of the lands. Our enemies have every right to fear us.

For it is us who makes them afraid to sleep at night. It is our blades that can reach them wherever they may lie, at any time of day or night. We are the hunters of those lost Immortals. If they have foolishly thought that by practicing the path of cultivation, that they would have no more reason to fear the night, then it is us that will remind them. That they can be touched. That Death comes for them all.” The old man then stopped and observed the crowd for a few quiet moments.

“Now we say the prayer,” the elder said. He then bowed his head.

Khyree watched as that single action was mirrored by all in attendance. While it might have been wise to emulate everyone, Khyree was not a person who easily performed any sort of obeisance. Besides he thought to himself, it wasn’t like anyone was watching him.

“For all of the short days and long nights, I shall practice my Art and I shall cultivate. I will keep my mind free from any and all distractions, I will eliminate any doubts in my heart. My mind is a temple and my body is a weapon. I will be tested, I will be beaten and I will be honed into the finest of all the instruments of death. I will eternally prepare myself for the day when I am called. On that day, darkness shall cover the land and the blood of my enemies shall flow like the fiercest of raging waters.

I am the reason why even Immortals fear the night. I will haunt their dreams. I shall shadow their steps. Their secrets are mines to take. Their belongings are mine to keep. Their lives are mine to reap. I am the walker between worlds. I am the shadow that separates life and death. No matter who you are, where you go, or how powerful you are: you will learn that even if I have to die to complete my mission, that by the time I am done you can be touched.”

Khyree found the whole experience to be profoundly eye opening. There were hundreds of people speaking as if with one voice. One loud and ominous voice. There was a beautiful if yet disturbing cadence to it. To Khyree it felt as if the voice carried with it a sense...inevitability. It was the kind of sound that would send chills down someone’s back. He listened as they all intoned such domineering words that were heavily laced with murderous intent.

“The chief servant really wasn’t lying when he said that things would be different here on the second tier,” Khyree thought to himself. “I see that I am going to have to be extra careful around these students.”

After wrapping up the prayer, the elder then addressed the assembled students once again. “Today we have decided to bestow on you, our students a fine selection of resources.”

Khyree could see the eager eyes of all the students as they waited to hear just what resources would be distributed.

“From the alchemy division we have for you three hundred portions of Battle Focus Pills, and Essence Gathering Pills. Next, from the blacksmithing division we have one hundred spears of True Steel. Then finally as a special incentive we have just a single portion of the highly toxic Nine Venom Mandrake Poison,” called out the elder.

As the crowd of students erupted into loud and boisterous cheers, Daquan leaned over and whispered to Khyree. “Battle Focus Pills are good for allowing one to actively cultivate while in combat. By doing so it allows them to fight for much longer than normal, and heal from their wounds faster. Essence Gathering Pills helps to concentrate the ambient essence in a particular area. They can help early stage Immortals cultivate at a higher speed.”

Khyree smiled and nodded at the information. Thanks to his ring and his system he was always in a state of active cultivation, so for him the Battle Focus Pill was superfluous at best. The Essence Gathering Pill on the other hand actually sounded like that might be beneficial for him. Not much of a weapons guy, Khyree paid no attention to the True Steel Spears. No, what really got his interest was the Nine Venom Mandrake Poison.

Over the past weeks, Khyree had made some surprising gains to both his offensive and defensive Immortal Techniques. But it was the Utility Technique that he had stalled out on. The Poison Body Technique. He simply did not know enough about chemicals to even know where to begin in regards to cultivating the technique. The only things he had been able to do was faithfully perform the techniques’ mnemonics, and circulate his ka in the prescribed patterns.

But without the correct knowledge, he had been unable to even know where to go to secure the cultivation resources needed for the Immortal Technique. Beyond frustrated, he had even asked Talib, the old spirit caretaker of the ancient realm, for advice on the Sect technique.

But apparently the spirit only had access to the knowledge that his last master had bestowed upon him during his creation over fifteen thousand years. Well that and whatever he had managed to figure out over the years. But with him being isolated and more importantly constantly harvesting the lives of the Trial participants, he didn’t have a lot of opportunity to confer with other Immortals and share knowledge. So he knew nothing about chemicals as well.

All of which left Khyree in a crutch as he did not wish to seek out the elder at the Hall of Merits and ask for assistance. Khyree didn’t have a fond opinion of the elder, and thus was quick to abandon any idea that involved communicating with the strange elder. So Khyree was very much interested in the poison. He was absolutely positive that it could help him with learning and mastering the Immortal Technique.

“So cousin, how does this whole distribution thing work anyway?” asked Khyree. Based on the numbers offered, he had a pretty good idea how it was all going to play out, but he wanted some confirmation just in case he was wrong.

“Excluding us, there are roughly five hundred neophyte students on the second tier. So with our resources being as limited as they are, and the elders constant insistence on students gaining proficiency in combat, Resource Days always turn into a bit of free for all,” replied Daquan. “But like I said before, you won’t have to participate in the conflict. I have already collected our portions from the other apprentices.”

“That’s right, you did say that. But there is only one portion of the Nine Venom Mandrake Poison available,” Khyree said with a certain tone of voice.

“That’s true. But if you want the poison then you are going to have to fight in that massive free for all that's about to start,” Daquan said. He turned to look at his cousin with concern in his eyes. “Khyree, we are alchemist apprentices. A protected class. We don’t have to fight. What use could you possibly have for such a lethal poison?

Khyree I need you to hear me right now. You have only been on the second tier for a few weeks. Some of those down there have been for years already. There are some fourth and fifth stage condensation Immortals in the crowd. Not many, but enough. You could seriously get hurt if you participate. Maybe even die. Please don’t do it.”

“Don’t worry so much cousin. Besides, even if I do get hurt, I know you got me. You’ve been patching me up for years. Plus now that you have been serving as an apprentice to a master alchemist for so long I’m sure you have access to even better medicines these days. Look it is important that I secure that poison for one of my Immortal Techniques,” said Khyree with a smile as he headed down from the stage.

“One? How many Immortal Techniques did you claim? Khyree!!” called out Daquan, in a confused tone.