Elder Catherine had simply waved her hand and a pile of cultivation books appeared in a neat pile. Scrolls containing the rules of the sect stacked themselves neatly in another pile, and lastly huge sacks of supplies for the new pagodas dropped unceremoniously. Manservant disciples took the sacks to the various unoccupied homes, they didn't have much presence and John had no idea what they got out of doing this kind of work. Disciple Eli was basically a ghost after John made it clear he didn't need the companionship, he still appreciated the ready meals though.

John approached the newest members of the Weird kids, they still were in shell shock.

"Alright everyone, I know you've been through hell, probably literally, but this is the situation you're in whether you like it or not. Just be glad we're here to tell you what's what, we didn't have any guidance at all.

"These scrolls are the rules of the sect, they're useless. Read them once but stick around here until you're adjusted, and leave only with someone else until you are comfortable with sect life. The scrolls won't give you the complete picture of what cultivation common sense really looks like.

"These books are the cultivation method we Weird cultivators practice, it's called the Butterfly Dream Scripture read it and make sure you understand it. Your short term goal is to enter the second trance and form your dantian. It does matter what kind of dantian you make.

"Lastly, pick one of the empty houses as your new residence. Several people died doing stupid things here; I recommend you to not be stupid."

The newbies were not invigorated but they did start milling about and picking up their books, so John considered it a success. This was the first time John really felt like a leader rather than simply the de-facto leader by nature of strength in cultivation. It wasn't comfortable.

"Good job John." At least Chloe appreciated his sacrifices. "I want to cultivate now," she continued.

Well, she appreciated something.

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Later, Chloe left rather unceremoniously, claiming she was off to help the new female cultivators settle in. More and more this is what their interactions looked like, while she was still affectionate, loving it was not. Chloe was getting rather possessive over him but John chalked it up to his daily absences to the Inner sect. It was still much denser there and easier to cultivate, even if there were no more esoteric missions for him to accept.

John had a couple hours until he could proceed to the Inner sect still, so he decided to take a better look at his Dewdrop Peach. The Sect Leader had indicated something was unusual about it, and John had explored his options on getting his debt reduced already. Some part of him didn't want to make use of the fruit until he had exhausted his ideas on it. It never made sense to simply give it back to the sect given what now resided inside.

Where the Weird qi infecting the tree had been stubborn and polemic, the remaining influence inside the fruit was quite dormant. Most of the fruit was still a vivid ocean blue, but black dots speckled its surface. John couldn't afford to make this into a pill and he didn't have the expertise to try by himself. In the end, he decided to simply eat it.

John had eaten fresh peaches right off the tree and warmed by the sunlight, bursting with juices. That was not what the Dewdrop peach was like. Taking the first bite, his mouth was filled with a gooey and gelatinous sensation. It tasted like the first sip of water after a day working in the field, extremely revitalizing, cooling, and delicious. The clear flesh dissolved into a thick elixir after a few chews and swallowing it gave him a rush of goosebumps across his skin as the qi infused his body.

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John eventually bit into one of the black spots on the surface, and found it was one end of a black, brittle crystal that reached all the way to the pit. It was somewhere between hard candy and molasses, chewy and crunchy all at once. Unlike the rest of the fruit, this stuff dissolved in his mouth and reached directly to his dantian, filling it with energy.

It didn't take long to finish off the fruit. John had to suppress a giggle and an impulse--he wanted another one. Who could resist?! It was just that delicious... Anyway, examining the pit was the most mysterious part. Where the flesh had been clear like gelatinized water, the pit was all carved crystal, half faceted and half melty marbles. Swirls of red and black energy whirled through it depending on how it refracted the light. John could sense the dormant Weird qi inside, twisting and changing shape to match its new host. He could crush that energy and absorb it directly if he wanted but instead he decided to plant it.

John didn't have a planter, and he literally couldn't afford to buy one even though it would likely cost less than one contribution point. He instead ripped out a potted bonsai and placed the crystalline seed in the soil. He couldn't decide if it needed water, but he would take it with him to the Inner Sect to absorb the qi there, it would get sufficiently wet on the way.

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John sat near the entrance to the Inner sect as he often did lately. With no missions to take there was little reason to wander around, though he did check occasionally. John was approaching 20% full thanks to his diligence in cultivation and regular sessions with Chloe. Twenty percent was the minimum threshold John figured he would need to protect himself, enough to make a set of woven claws and enough spare to interfere with Weird qi invasions or make emergency shields. Even so, he was not willing to go on missions alone with just that much defense. John was impatient to get moving on his current problems but he wasn't out of options yet. If John ever became truly desperate, he would risk his life to advance, but right now he could at least allow himself the time and allies to have a stronger position.

Allies were exactly what he was waiting for. Kai was coming along to the Inner Sect today after his successful advancement and celebration yesterday. He was also late. John found it slightly more irksome than amusing that the one stereotype that Kai was most prone to as a rich kid was his lack of time sensitivity. It would be funnier if he wasn't the one waiting alone, he was sure. In the meantime, John had spread a canopy of strands into the air which danced slowly, grabbing water qi from the air and dripping it down the line into his dantian. The slow process of converting the wild qi to his own personal variety felt as slow as a snail when compared to the rapid exchange between Weird qi sources.

John occupied his concentration by observing his new potted plant. He couldn't see the hidden pit anymore but it was still active, even more so now that it was planted. Tiny qi fluctuations coughed and fluttered up from the pot every once in a while. It seemed to be building up to something, John could feel the tension of a minute technique in progress. He frowned, John didn't want to execute the fledgling plant so early if it caused serious problems. His frown deepened dramatically when the entire pot and soil suddenly changed before his very eyes as the technique went off. It was deeply unsettling, something about it was suddenly off and John couldn't place it. The pottery looked identical but John couldn't shake the feeling that the entire thing had been replaced by a near replica. The soil gave off the same feeling, like the pattern of minute hills and valleys suddenly shifted around; it was like someone dug out the plant and repotted it with different soil dug from the same place. Very bizarre, John did not like it.

A scintillating sound could be heard as the crystal peach pit suddenly cracked open on one corner and a very green and very alive root wormed its way into the soil, quickly soaking up water and water qi from the air. The sound surprised John but the visuals were incredible. For the first time, John could see the conversion of natural to corrupted Weird qi in front of him and not in his own dantian. The Weird plant was much more efficient than he was, especially given its size. It soaked up qi like a sponge, where something inside gave it a twist in an unusual direction, transforming it instantly.

Watching the display sent John into a minor trance, as he received enlightenment on his path. To him, it was like he couldn't look away, absorbing every detail for later review. When he woke up, John had reached a hair more than a quarter capacity in his dantian, a forest of silk qi strands like dense cobwebs inside him. There was also a very cross Kai standing over him.

"Come on, we'll be late." Kai said and immediately walked off.

'Hah, bastard' John thought, but he got up and ran to catch up to him. There were missions to complete.