John was waiting patiently on a gazebo bench outside the Mission Hall in the outer sect. It was his first time being largely unaccompanied by an elder, though there was an elder merely 200 feet away in the Mission Hall, all the Weird kids had been chaperoned by someone very important in the sect before now. It felt a little surreal, didn't they worry about him running away? John guessed not. Someone could always fly him down before he made it a mile from the sect, if they really cared to. Also, what had been done to him was already finished, there was no returning to being a mortal at this juncture. Even if he could cripple his cultivation (John had no idea how that would even work, given his bizarre cultivation method,) and lost the ability to gather qi, his body was still stronger than five grown men. No one could take away his strange experiences or the torment he had received at the hands of the sect to prepare him for those experiences.
His attention was drawn back to the surrounding sect. There was something seductive about being in a sect as well, that made it difficult to return to mortal life. The buildings were gorgeously constructed and adorned, the constant rain bringing out the contrast in the stonework. Beautiful bridges crossed pleasant streams, all filled with flowering lotuses and lily pads. Tall handsome youths and beautiful young women strut around on their own business. Despite that, John didn't miss the strange looks shot his way occasionally, and he would not forgive what had been done to his family and friends back home.
A stocky young man was walking toward the gazebo with purpose, this must be his escort John thought. He was dressed in standard disciple robes and opted for a silk raincoat and hat. His clothes could not hide his bulging muscles and barrel chest, the man looked like a thug. Despite his rough appearance, when he made it to the cover of the gazebo he politely removed his hat and gave a moderately deep bow, cupping his fists before him.
"Disciple John, I am Disciple Wang, here to assist you with the special mission Weird Qi Infestation of Normal Spirit Herbs, pleased to make your acquaintance." How polite, John thought.
"Nice to meet you Disciple Wang, I'll have to trouble you to lead the way, I've never been... anywhere really." John gave a polite bow back.
Wang chuckled and gestured for John to follow him, "I'll give you the quick tour."
"As you know, this is the Mission Hall, it's the heart of all sect activity, especially in the outer sect. Next door is the Rewards Pavilion, where you can trade your contribution points for resources. Also, central to the courtyard is the Contribution Board, it keeps track of the contribution points held by all outer sect disciples."
They quickly passed a variety of pavilions, courtyards, gardens, and ponds. Many disciples were either about their own missions, handling private business, or cultivating.
As Wang explained, most outer disciples cultivated water techniques, and the sect was chock full of water qi so nearly any quiet place was good enough to cultivate in. Most of the sect was quiet, private conversations were drowned out in the sound of rain beyond a a few yards. Wang was quite respectful of other disciples as well, quieting down or staying silent as they passed.
"Better cultivation rooms are available too, but you generally need to pay for them with contribution points. There's some free allocation every 3 months as well, but to use it every day takes a lot of wealth."
"Wealth?" John asked, isn't everything contribution based? He thought.
"Yes. There's some matters of seniority, in how missions are allocated, but you can always pay spirit stones to trade tasks with others. Additionally there is a small amount of contribution points you can buy directly with spirit stones each month. All this takes sufficient wealth."
John hadn't come across spirit stones yet, so most of that went right over his head. In his farming village, taxes were paid in grain and people bartered services or goods among themselves. "Seems fair enough." John added after a pause. Spirit stones sounded a lot like money and people were willing to do much to get their hands on it in the mortal world, or so he was told.
Disciple Wang grinned. "I'm glad you feel that way."
As they continued walking Wang pointed out a number of other important buildings, the Pill Pavilion, the Healing Hall, the Disciplinary Pavilion, the Scripture Library, various levels of disciple housing. Almost every aspect of life in the sect had its own building or designated location. Even commerce had its own little valley for disciples to set up shop--selling wares the crafted themselves or gathered from outside the sect. Trades were all done in spirt stones it seems.
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"Why is that?" He asked Wang.
"It's a little complicated, spirit stones can be used to cultivate directly, so its a better currency among disciples. Contribution points are better when dealing with sect functions and you can always do more chores or missions to earn them. Spirit stones cant be bought with contribution points, but the reverse is not true." Complicated, John agreed.
Eventually, they made it to the Outer Herb Garden. It was a vast space occupied by a huge variety of plants. Several orchards stood out, bearing bright and juice-filled fruits. Spacious raised beds were thick with long green grasses. Rows and rows of pebbly soil held thistles, flowers, vines, gourds, and leafy plants of all sized and shapes. Natural qi radiated from the place like a strong wind, but no one seemed to be cultivating. When asked, Wang explained:
"It's against the sect rules to cultivate in the gardens as it can theoretically damage the plants growth potential. That being said, its an unofficial benefit of doing garden missions, as you are allowed to cultivate as you do your tasks, only the general population isn't allowed to do so." chuckling, he added, "you are also free to do your tasks slowly to increase this benefit, as long as you have everything done by the mission deadline. Of course, you sacrifice contribution points by taking longer as well. Quite a lucky mission for your first task, huh?"
Pretty lucky to chaperone me while I do it too, John thought. Extending a dozen stands of qi in every direction, they quickly saturated with the environmental qi and started draining into his dantian-space. It truly was much faster than in his personal pavilion, and it wouldn't take long for him to fill up. It was the first time he had been bottlenecked by this ability to convert environmental qi into more strands of Weird qi.
Turning to Disciple Wang he said, "You've clearly been here before, show me what these infected plants look like."
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Wang led the way, pointing out various plants and naming them. They all sounded rather basic: spirit gathering grass, sharp needle thistle, recovering vitality mandarins, etc. Many of these plants were only slightly qi attuned, but that served the purpose of the outer sect just fine. The inner and core sect areas had increasingly complex and powerful spiritual plants to work with. They were just coming up to the iron skinned gourds when they were stopped by the shout of a young disciple.
"You damn lackeys!"
John turned, frowning. Doesn't this guy know its rude to shout like that? The sect maintained such a refined air, it was like shouting in a library! Not that John had been to a library yet.
Wang let out an exasperated sigh beside him. "For what reason are you bothering us, Disciple Ye. Lady Song." Lady Song was, apparently, the young woman stood next to Disciple Ye, Wang had bowed briefly to her, but not to the young man.
"You stole our sect mission! Miss Song and I are always allotted the garden mission this time of the month, you have no right to take it from us." Disciple Ye was still shouting and clearly agitated, his hands were balled up in fists, and he had stepped protectively in front of Lady Song.
Sharper this time, Wang responded "Be careful with your terms of address Disciple Ye. Lady Song is not someone you can treat so casually!" The young woman herself narrowed her eyes slightly at this. "I'll tell you again, we didn't take you sect mission. The Mission Hall made a special mission for Disciple John, as he has just advanced." John didn't know that, but it made sense if they were dealing with some Weird things, and he was the first among the group to advance.
"Hmph! Excuses! Fatty Wang, don't pretend like your young master had nothing to do with it! If you insist on keeping the mission, you must compensate me, 300 spirit stones should suffice." Ye folded his arms like he had just won the argument.
"Absolutely not, the going rate for garden missions isn't even 10 spirit stones, and we still didn't steal it from you. We owe you nothing."
Lady Song whipped out a fan at this time and held it in front of her mouth as she spoke, "I guess young master isn't so rich after all!"
John supposed that was supposed to be a grave insult. After watching the back and forth, he decided to step in here. "Disciple Ye, Lady Song, like it or not this is in fact a special mission assigned to me by the Mission Hall, on the authority of Elder Catherine."
Ye stepped forward again, "Liar! I've never heard of an Elder Catherine, you are just making it up!"
John sighed this time, some people didn't know when to quit. "Whether or not you've heard of Elder Catherine is not my problem, Disciple Ye."
"Give me back the mission, or I'll slice it out of you!" Disciple Ye drew a saber from nowhere.
John looked between Disciple Ye and Fatty Wang. Wang looked like he could break Ye in half any time he wanted, and John was pretty sure he could hurt someone with his qi strands if he wanted.
"No. Fuck off."
Disciple Ye absolutely lost it at his direct denial, charging forward with his saber held high. Before Wang could make his move, John launched his qi in a sharp ribbon, right at Disciple Ye's waist. It pierced right into his dantian and started sucking refined solid qi out with a speed he didn't know was possible. Refined granules of solid qi flooded into John, it was like taking the first clean breath of air after diving deep in a river. The sudden influx of power stunned him for a moment, but it was more than enough to drain Ye back to the first steps of the solid realm, greatly reducing his progress.
Disiple Ye fainted on the spot.
"You menace!" Lady Song shouted at him, quickly running to Ye's side. Despite her frail looks, she ably picked him up and ran off.
Fatty Wang was a little shocked too, but eventually he shook his head and said "Come on, lets finish this mission quickly, and then it's best you met the Young Master to smooth this over."