Chapter 22 Divine Providence
Kawhi Oturu immediately stepped back as he noticed a noxious puke colored gas that began to emit from the young neophytes, orifices and indeed his very pores. He then tried to use his ka to shield him from any possible contamination. He turned and looked towards the podium as he heard a commotion.
Daquan Mourntree was swiftly making his way through the crowded square as he approached. Behind him trailing in his wake, curious but not in a rush were some of the other apprentices and even the Elder Hakeem Bey.
In the time it had taken Daquan to reach his cousin, all of the nearby students had pulled back dozens of meters to avoid the thick poisonous cloud that occupied the space where Khyree Mourntree was laid out on the ground. “Khyree!!” yelled Daquan as he tried to approach.
Fortunately, for him the elder restrained him with a thin wisp of ka, just mere centimeters away from Khyree. “Calm yourself you fool!” commanded the elder. “Do you not see the toxic miasma right before your eyes? If you so much as touch or breathe in a single wisp of those fumes you will find yourself dying an excruciatingly painful death trust me. So tell me who is this neophyte that you would risk your life for?”
Daquan took a moment to master his breath before he addressed the elder. “He’s my younger cousin, Elder Bey.”
The elder nodded his head and examined the poisonous cloud with his God’s Eye. Inside of the dense cloud was the neophyte apprentice alchemist. The elder was surprised to see that he was still alive, albeit currently he was nothing more than a profusely sweating, and convulsing wreck of a man. The elder could even see the pure black beads of poisoned tears as they escaped the young man’s closed eyes. But even with all of that, the young neophyte was still alive. “What a remarkable young man. He must have an incredible will to survive to fight through all of that pain,” thought the elder. He never would have guessed that the highly toxic Nine Venom Mandrake Poison that he had randomly decided to give away at this monthly Resource Day would have been used so quickly. “Younglings these days. They simply have no patience.”
Elder Hakeem Bey had supplied the toxin in the hopes that it would have served as an incentive to the massed students. He and the other elders were always plotting on how to properly motivate and bring out the best in their younger generations. While some of the other elders preferred the stick. Hakeem found that he had much more success by using the carrot.
In an environment where resources were hard to come by, students would gladly push themselves to compete with one another in order to secure what they needed to thrive. The elders of The Hidden Valley Shadow Sect all agreed on that simple premise. The methods that the different elders chose to employ in order to accomplish that goal varied among their ranks. Though separate or together all of the methods served to create a culture that thrived on opposition. Resource Day was a product of that culture. It was a monthly weeding out of those who didn’t have what it took to progress on the Path of Immortality.
After some consideration, the elder casted his voice across the gathering square “Resource Day is over. Everyone clear the area.” He watched for a moment as his orders were immediately followed by the many students in the square.
After seeing everyone else heed the order, Daquan addressed the elder “Elder, is my cousin going to make it?”
“Daquan Mourntree, your cousin has been made to forcefully consume the poison of the Nine Venom Mandrake. It is one of the most lethal substances to early stage Immortals. In most cases, the victim would be nothing more than a quivering puddle of highly toxic biological waste by this point. But for some reason I don’t understand right now, your cousin is still holding on. Honestly it would be better had he just succumbed to the toxin already. You can’t imagine the level of pain he is currently undergoing at this point. The poison is literally designed to turn the host’s body against itself. It is a poison so wicked that not only does it attack on a cellular level, but it also turns the essence of the earth and universe against the victim.”
“But elder, if he is still alive then that means surely there must be a chance that he can be saved though right?” asked Daquan with desperate hope in his voice.
The Elder Hakeem Bey spoke his thoughts “Perhaps, though his chances would be easier if he was on a higher tier, say either the fourth or fifth tier. But unfortunately neither one of you qualifies to go there, let alone to ask the assistance of one of the elders stationed there. No, I’m afraid if the boy has any hope of overcoming this poison, your best bet is going to be with the assistance of a master alchemist.”
“Master Muzna!” cried Daquan aloud. “My master is the greatest master alchemist on this tier. Surely he will help to save his newest apprentice.”
“Yes, those are my thoughts exactly. But first we will have to get your cousin ready for transport. In his current state it will be impossible for you to touch him without being contaminated as well.” The elder waved his hand and tried to send the comatose neophyte into one of his many mid-grade interspatial storage cubes he habitually carried on his person. But though his will was able to encapsulate the young man and his toxic cloud perfectly, he was unable to send him into the artifact.
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The elder pondered the hiccup for only a second. “Ah, your master must have already given your cousin an interspatial object for his own use as part of his apprentice package.”
Daquan Mourntree said nothing in response to the elder’s words. He had no idea that Masters typically gave their apprentices some kind of welcoming packages. Let alone interspatial objects. In fact the only reason he had the interspatial ring that he wore on one of his fingers was because his master had “lent” it to him to aid in the transport of materials to and from the master. Otherwise he never would have had one. While in the Immortal World, interspatial artifacts are fairly common, they were still out of the range for a lowly neophyte with no backing to acquire easily on his own merits.
The elder, having decided that his assessment was indeed the correct one, extended his hand and sent a cloud of his ka to envelope the distressed student. Once the neophyte was fully wrapped in dense darkness essence, the elder placed a seal on him and tied it to a command bracelet he pulled from one of his storage artifacts.
"There it is done. Between my ka and that seal, your cousin will remain closed off from the outside world for up to three days. That should be plenty of time for your master to determine if he can be saved or not. Here. Take this bracelet, it will allow you to transport your cousin safely to your master. Do be sure to let him know that in exchange for assisting his apprentices that I will expect some discounts in the near future regarding some pills and elixirs."
Daquan Mourntree bowed his head in acknowledgement. "Thank you elder, for your favor. I will be sure to let my master know your words."
Daquan with the command bracelet equipped hurriedly made his way through the gathering square and headed directly towards his master's alchemy laboratory. Along the way he passed by many other students in the Sect, all of whom were quite curious about what he was up to at the moment. Some of them looked at him with pity in their eyes. They had been some of the closest members in the gathering, they had seen everything that had occurred.
It only took him several minutes to traverse the distance back to the Hall of Alchemy. Daquan quickly ascended the multiple flights of stairs, while the sealed form of his cousin dutifully followed in his wake. Arriving at the closed doors to his master’s lab he wasted no time and pushed his way inside. Near the rear of the chamber his master hovered in the air facing him in a seated position with his legs crossed deep in meditation. He was currently hovering inside of a huge fire of the darkest color. Its flame flickering wildly as it eagerly devoured the stacked cultivation resources that encircled it.
In his haste, Daquan had forgotten that one of the main reasons why it was always him and the other apprentices that attended Resource Day, was because the many masters would often be working on their own cultivation behind closed doors. Indeed it was only because he was such a trusted apprentice that he was even able to enter his master’s chamber during such times. Anyone else would have set off the magical safeguards in the chamber and been destroyed by the built in defenses.
Judging by what remained of the stacked resources, Daquan could tell that based on his master’s usual rate of consumption that he could be at his current session for at least another week. “Well he did say that I could disturb his session if there was an emergency at hand,” Daquan thought to himself. “Well my cousin is on the verge of dying, I can’t think of any better emergency than that. Besides, I can’t afford to wait an entire week for his assistance. I need his help now.”
Daquan strode to what he considered a safe distance from the meditating figure and dropped to a kneeling position. “Master Muzna, hear my words. Your ever faithful apprentice requests your attention.”
Moments later Master Muzna opened his eyes and ended his current meditation session. He inhaled the flame, and sent all of the stacked cultivation aids back into his interspatial storage ring artifact. “What seems to be the emergency Mourntree? You know that to disturb an Immortal during a cultivation session can be very dangerous for both the cultivating Immortal and the person who disturbed him. I know that I taught you better than that.”
“Forgiveness master,” replied Daquan, once again bowing his head. “I wouldn’t have bothered you but it’s about my cousin. Your newest apprentice. He was seriously injured during the event while fighting over an Immortal Treasure.”
“How unusual,” murmured the master alchemist. Everyone knew that alchemists don’t fight. Plus thanks to the common agreements between the Trades in the Sect, all of the apprentices shared their resources just before the distribution, thus ensuring that none of them had any reasons to partake in mad free for all fighting spectacle. “If your cousin chose to participate in the fight, then he knew the risks that he was taking. I’m sure you explained all of that to him before he made his decision.”
“Yes, master. You are correct, I did tell him how dangerous it would be for him to fight in the square. But as I am sure you know about my cousin by now, he is not scared to engage in a bit of combat. Especially if he feels he has a good enough reason to. In this case, the reason why he chose to participate in the fights was because of a special Immortal Treasure that Elder Hakeem Bey personally offered up for whoever could claim it. My cousin didn’t tell me why specifically he wanted this treasure, only that he needed it for his cultivation.”
“I see,” responded Master Muzna, only slightly interested in the conversion up to that point. “What was this so-called Immortal Treasure, that was so worth possibly risking one’s life over?”
“Master, the Immortal Treasure was a single crystal vial of the Nine Venom Mandrake Poison.”
“Nine Venom Mandrake Poison?!??!” exclaimed the master alchemist in shock.