Seph had finally said goodbye to some contestants. Some of them were leaving the labyrinth, and some resolved to continue moving forward for more gains.
The next trial for him was an empty, dusty old room, full of bookshelves that weren’t dusted in ages. In the middle of the room, there was a big green furnace.
Seph walked around the room, and found nothing at all, then he headed for a bookshelf, and picked up a book, when he heard.
“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!”
“EEEK!” Sun screamed after hearing the voice, while the aspiring cultivator looked around, and saw no source for the human voice he had heard!
He tried to check the book again.
“Wait a minute, damn it, where the hell are my spectacles?”
Sun looked around wide-eyed, while clutching tightly to Seph’s shoulders.
Seph was alert now and kept looking around. The voice sounded weird, kind of dignified, but a little shrill and definitely threatening.
“Aha, here you are. I found you!”
The voice said before a ghost of a human appeared, floating right in front of Seph, while putting on his spectacles. He had no feet and wore a robe, and his hair was tall but messy, like a bomb just exploded in his hair.
Sun screamed again, pointing at the ghost, then pointing at his feet, while shaking Seph by the shoulder! “Chill Sun, don’t be afraid,” he calmed Sun, then asked the ghost, “Who are you?!”
“No, the question is, who are you? What are you doing at my alchemist workshop?”
“Umm, I am in a trial. Are you part of the trial? Are you supposed to test me? Or are you already testing me?”
“A trial! I don’t know what you are talking about. You disturbed my sleep when I felt you had touched my book. I don’t like people touching my books!”
“Wait, do ghosts sleep? I didn’t know you could do that!”
“Ghosts? What do you mean by ghosts? There is a ghost here?!”
The ghost asked before floating with an uncanny speed to hide behind Seph and Sun. He looked over his shoulders frantically, worried that a ghost was going to come out. He was terrified of ghosts!
“Ummm, I meant you. You are a ghost, you have no feet. Are you not aware that you are a ghost?”
Seph asked him hesitantly.
The ghost looked at his non-existent feet slowly and then screamed!
“AAAH, my feet, where the hell did they go?…. Oh, I am a ghost! How long have I been like this? I don’t remember at all. It has been a long time since I was in my workshop. Working and reading infinitely, but I always lose track of time here.”
Seph looked deep in thought. He didn’t know if the ghost was messing with him, or if he was truly in distress over discovering his current state of being. Seph decided it was best to say nothing for now.
“My work, my books, everything lost. How can I create new pills now when I am like this? How can I advance as a Master Alchemist? I was level 50, and now I lost it all, my life’s work…”
The ghost held his face in his hands, weeping loudly with an ugly voice. Seph looked around awkwardly, still not sure what he should do. Should he wait till the ghost finished crying? Or should he check around the library more, maybe he finds something that will make him pass the trial?
“What’s your name, good sir?”
The ghost cut off his ugly crying and looked with eyes that had no tears in them at Seph. Then said, “My name is Master Zhi Zixin, Master Alchemist to his highness, the emperor, surely you must have heard of me! Right?!”
The ghost had risen a few inches higher and was looking down at Seph, with proud eyes that were sure the young man must have heard of his name.
“Umm, no, not really. I am new to this cultivation thing, so I really am clueless. When I used to be a mortal, we didn’t really know much about cultivators, most of the time. We didn’t even believe they existed, even when a rumor spread that someone was a failed cultivator that was kicked by his sect. We disregarded the rumor, and said he must be just a little higher level than everyone else, which is the reason people think he might be a cultivator, since the difference between a low stage cultivator and a higher level warrior isn’t really significant enough to put them above mortals.”
“You jest, you must know me! The great sage alchemist? He who produced a perfect cultivation pill for each of the first four levels of cultivation yearly, that the emperor bequeathed on his most loyal of subjects? The alchemist that cured lepers, restored hearing and eyesight to many, many people. I even brought a few people from the dead for fuck’s sake!” He then whispered under his breath, “I mean people who could afford my services, of course, but the young man doesn’t need to know that.”
“I am sorry Master Zhi. I never heard of you, sadly, but like I said, I am from a backwater village. We are ignorant of the vast world. By the way, do you know anything about this trial? Are you supposed to give me something, perhaps? Or maybe you are supposed to teach me alchemy?”
“Teach you alchemy!” The ghost gasped dramatically.
“No no no. To become my apprentice kid, it’s not that easy. You need to prove yourself worthy, and need to ingratiate yourself to me. Kowtow in front of me 100 times, adulate me, only then I might consider making you my apprentice”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Damn it, this old man is going to prove tricky to deal with, but he is probably the challenge I am confronted with now. I need to convince him to teach me alchemy. Also I haven’t been in this trial for long, so I have time to learn alchemy from this great alchemist before leaving this place.
“Great Master, accept this humble disciple whose only wish is to be of service to such a great sage such as you. I bow down to you, legendary alchemist. I am humbled to be in your presence, and I lay down my life at your... ummm, feet!”
Seph bowed down to the ground and started kowtowing for a hundred times, in total subservience to the ghost. His eyes never rose to look at the alchemist until he finally finished, then he sat on the ground, lowering his head, and talked again to the alchemist.
“Please great master, by your grace, I wish to be your humble pupil. If you would just let me, I’ll dedicate myself to the craft, and even though unworthy am I of such a great teacher, I’ll strive to be the best I can to deserve such a blessing as your legendary teachings.”
“Hmm, you seem to know your place, and your desire to learn from me seems to be genuine, but you know, you need to prove that you were predestined to be an alchemist. Produce to me three different herbs and I might consider you to be my disciple.”
Seph got the herbs he had with him in his spatial sack: vitality grass, fire grass, and earth root.
“Damn it, I gave him a simple task. I won’t be able to get rid of this kid. I need to get back to sleeping!” The ghost said under his breath, then he spoke to Seph, “Very well, very well indeed! But you see, my services don’t come for free. You want me to teach you, you will need to pay my tuition.”
“How much is the tuition so that you can teach me?”
“Umm, 5 gold nuggets, I understand you are a starting cultivator, and you don’t have that kind of wealth, but don’t be sad, surely you can get a much less experienced and renowned teacher than me, and they will put you on the path to be an alchemist, but of way more humble talent, it’s…”
The words caught on his throat when Seph produced the five gold nuggets the ghost asked for!
“Ahahaha, welcome dear disciple! You are now the proud student of the best alchemist in all the land. From the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were worthy, and destined to be a great alchemist, just like your teacher! Me!”
The ghost said cheerfully, while not even looking at Seph, but at the gold instead. He checked it with a magnifying glass that he got out from some unknown place, then tried to bite it with his teeth to know if it’s real! But his entire mouth passed through the gold that Seph was still holding.
Sun screamed at him angrily because he saw through him, but the ghost didn’t heed his screeching voice at all. Preoccupied as he was by the gold nuggets.
“So, when will we start the lessons? I am ready right now.”
“Well, I don’t have herbs that are ready around here right now, because I prefer my ingredients fresh, I have 4 different gardens that have ingredients for four different pills, and don’t worry they are all pills for a yin cultivator, isn’t that what you are?”
“Oh yes, of course, the deadest cultivator in town right here, so where are these gardens?”
“Just head to the right wall of the room, and I’ll open the portal for you, but be careful. This is not a gathering trip. Also take this sickle, and this net. They will help you gather herbs without wasting too much of their potential, and the net will help you catch bugs which are needed for alchemy, too. Be warned, though, the bugs are poisonous.”
Seph used the eye of the appraiser on the new items.
Appraising…
Name: Simple Sickle.
Type: Tool.
Quality: Uncommon
Durability: 100%
Usage: Gather uncommon herbs. Any higher rarity herb, risks spoilage while gathering with this sickle.
Appraising…
Name: Simple Bug-catching net.
Type: Tool.
Quality: Uncommon
Durability: 100%
Usage: Gather uncommon bugs. Higher rarities of bugs risk damaging the net.
Seph’s eye glowed with a blue light, and then dimmed. He knew the skill leveled up. Finally he used it on his Gourd next.
Appraising…
Name: The Gourd of Phantom Death.
Type: Gourd Weapon.
Quality: Rare (Growth)
Power Level: Death Dismantling.
Durability: 80%
Magical Ability: Stores Death to Unleash Mayhem and Misery.
“Oh, Power level! So that must be the growth potential for the weapons. They become more powerful to affect cultivators in later stages, maybe even gain new skills? But there is still the death element in my masteries that could be what makes me able to create or get new skills. I feel there is untapped potential in my gourd, but I can’t think of how to unlock it yet. Learning the new skills to move the gourd creatively in a fight, or to figure out new strikes to land with my palm, was much easier, but then again, they have a higher mastery level.”
Seph then continued by saying, “Still though, now I am not worried about having a lower rarity weapon than someone like Gabalawi, or Divinity. Their power levels must be death dismantling too. Still though, this was underwhelming, after identifying all these items, but being in these trials made the quest much harder than it probably is in reality.”
Seph tried to check the new quest for the eye of the appraiser.
Quest
Eye of the Appraise level 3
*Sell Items worth 10000 spirit stones.
*Find 10 secret places.
Progress: 0/10000
Progress: 1/10
“Damn it, two objectives at the same time? That’s so annoying, also why does the secret places quest count one already? Could it be that it counted retrospectively?!”
Seph also checked his status screen, only to find out that his perception rose from 15 to 25, he gave it some thought, and guessed that it could be both Eye skills reaching level 2 gave him 5 points each, which means just getting the skills must be why he had high perception to begin with.
Seph kept thinking for a few more seconds, before he said, “whatever, let’s go to the first garden for now Sun, we got some herbs to gather and bugs to catch, but be alert, you never know what danger this trial might entail!”