The rustle of the morning stars echoed through the densely canopied forest. Down the mountain, the entire younger generation had assembled, excluding those under the care of the elders. They fidgeted tiredly; it was before dawn. To them, it seemed as though they had been waiting forever. Ferjuz, Tybalt, and Johan struggled to keep them calm.

“I came all the way down here at this time because you said there would be answers to our problems!” Someone shouted, and a general murmur of agreement sounded out.

“There will be, you just need to wait a little longer.” Johan said.

“How much longe-.” They replied, before slowly cutting of their words as someone stepped out of the brush.

His eyes were piercing and had a flame of determination shining brightly within. His presence instantly commanded the attention of the youths. It was Dalian.

“When you dreamed of pursuing immortality as a child; was this what you envisioned?” He asked. “To be crushed underfoot tyrannical rulers, who’s only advantage is being born earlier.”

Silence combed through the air, sucking the breath out of the crowd.

“Well? Was it?”

A few nos could be heard dully.

“I want you to take a moment just to picture something. Fifty years in the future, you are weary and exhausted. Moreso than you are right now. Your life has amounted to nothing! No closer to immortality than you were the second of your birth. Weak and taken advantage of; those fiends still abuse you! The resentment you then feel, the hatred that has nowhere to be directed!

Is this what you want?”

The youth’s eyes shimmered, and their breath was paused.

“If you continue on the path you’ve been on until now, this will be the inevitable result. Misery and dissatisfaction. Now, please, if you’ll do something else for me.

“Picture yourself, free. You have lived for hundreds of years and are well on the way to achieving immortality. You have had highs and lows on your path, but each time you face difficulties; you can remind yourself of the beginning of your life. That sect which now seems so insignificant, back then you suffered. Really suffered. But you overcame that obstacle. You dethroned those cruel rulers with your own two hands.

“You’re facing a bottleneck in your cultivation, but when you think back to that time, you’re filled with an immutable strength. Immense power rushes up within your body, and the barrier is destroyed in one mighty push.”

An electric atmosphere had begun to transmit between the disciples, as Dalian’s words excited the ambitions which had been forcefully dimmed. That raging fire which had been reduced to a small candle began to burn more intensely.

“You can have that.” Dalian said calmly. “I give you permission. You can fight back. Maybe you aren’t prepared for it yet, but you can cut yourself some slack for that. It’s only been four weeks since you began cultivation. It’s okay for you to lose now, but to give up your fight is inexcusable. You must keep pursuing perfection! One day your efforts will pay off, and you will vanquish this fierce enemy!”

Some cheered, whilst others were quiet. They seemed apprehensive.

“I know what some of you are thinking. It’s all good that I tell you that we can fight against them. But how? You have the same spirit roots, but they have three years on you. How can you possibly close that gap?

“I can tell you now, you’re missing a piece of the puzzle. Their three opened qi gates seem quite mighty. But have you thought about why they haven’t taken the final step and advanced to foundation building yet?

“It’s because they can’t.

“They aren’t good enough.

“Every person of value from their generation has already reached the inner sect. In other words, those that remain here are the dregs. They are the people who have no ability, and no drive. They have more qi than you, but that doesn’t mean anything when they don’t even know how to make proper use of it.

“If you want to stop your needless suffering, then stay here now and return every morning, two hours before dawn. I will train you all until you can fight back and win.”

Nobody moved. They were unhappy to walk away from someone presenting the solution.

“I’ll warn you now. This is going to hurt. It’s not going to be easy at all. Are you still willing?”

Nobody moved. Dalian smiled.

“Well then, let’s begin.”

—-

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Dalian stood before an opulent building. Precisely cut marble blocks were stuck together seamlessly to make a towering castle-like pillar.

The outer sect treasury.

Home of wealth. Who knew how many wanted to take everything contained within for themselves?

He stepped in. The inside was furnished even more nicely than the outside appearance suggested. As he settled within, he felt an enormous overbearing pressure come down upon him. An immense analysis of everything he was took place in an instant. His knees buckled but he stayed steady, and the weight quickly passed away.

“Hello, how can I help you!” A bubbly attendant asked him, perhaps unaware of the terrible stress his body had just undergone, or she just didn’t care. Dalian looked at her for a moment before choosing to ignore the previous scan so that he could stay present.

“I’ve come to spend my contribution points.”

She smiled, “Of course. Is this your first time?”

“It is.”

“Then you’ll need a point card. Your points will be in our logs, but if you want to spend them, this is the only way.”

She took him over to a desk, and pulled out a slick black metal card. Dalian had to insert his life qi within for it to attune to him. But after it did, he saw a white ‘120’ appear on it’s surface in small characters.

Finally, the moment he had been waiting for. The attendant took him into the treasury.

First to be shown was a longsword. It was quite thin, but also incredibly sharp.

“The sonnet sword. Joka the poet used this weapon to slay hundreds of enemies. Well versed in both poetry and fighting, his spirit has infused into its metal to form a truly elegant artifact.”

“How much is it?” Dalian wasn’t interested in it, but it would be good to compare it to his own sword.

“Fifty contribution points.”

Letting out a ‘mm’, Dalian was quite happy. He expected his sword would be more, maybe even double. That level of evil qi he had to purify couldn’t be withstood by a weak sword. Letting his mind wander, he considered buying evil artifacts and purifying them as a way to make contribution points.

“What about this?” He asked, pointing at a small case the size of his palm.

“Ah, something you might want to get for the future. A foundation building pill. It helps you to form a qi platform and advance past qi gathering.”

Dalian was surprised; something like that existed?

“Why doesn’t everybody just use one of these then? How are there still people stuck at the third gate?” He asked.

“It’s not without its drawbacks. It will let you advance, but it will be a superficial advancement. Your qi platform will be weaker than it should be, and you will never be able to take another step on the path of cultivation. On top of that, the sect won’t allow you to enter the inner sect if you take one of these.”

“Only people who have no hope take these then?” Dalian asked incredously. “And you wanted to recommend it to me?”

The attendant looked away with a sheepish smile. “It’s my job. Sorry.”

“Nevermind, let’s just move on. Oh, and out of curiosity, how much would that pill be?”

“Only ten points.”

Dalian raised his eyebrows. Quite a low price.

“How about this armor?” She said walking over to a huge set of metal protection. It was incredibly bulky and looked like it weighed a ton. “You can be sure that if you wear this, nobody will be able to harm you.”

“I won’t be able to harm anybody either, or even move.” Dalian replied.

Letting out a nervous chuckle, she went over to a different section. “We have qi enhancement treasures here.”

Spirit roots were a problem for the outer sect disciples. Most had low grade roots, so Dalian suddenly became interested. If they had something that could remedy the slow cultivation speeds, then he would have to get it no matter what. It was imperative that his generation was able to bridge the gap between the senior generation.

“What would you suggest?”

“For you, this life qi enhancer will be perfect. It will convert the local qi into something more suitable for you. Only one hundred contribution points.”

The item interested Dalian, but his attention had been caught by something else. A small black pot with a name tag of ‘aura spreader’. It struck him strangely that something that looked so rusty would be kept alongside such glimmering treasures.

“An aura spreader, I don’t recommend it. For you at least, it has no use. All it does is amplify the aura of the person who puts their qi in.”

No use? He could think of at least one. And as he considered it more, it began to appeal to him further. To the point that he knew he needed it.

Still, he let the attendant keep showing him artefacts in case anything caught his eyes. It was after a few more personal qi boosting artifacts which could speed up an individual's cultivation, that she showed him one final item.

A golden lamp, intricately etched.

“This is our ultimate qi enhancer. Stronger than any other, but more useful even disregarding that. It is unrestricted to a singular element. Or rather, it can aid the cultivation of any person.”

Dalian was enamoured, and asked the price.

“1000 contribution points.”

He had to smile out of self pity. That was vastly out of his price range, but doing some calculations, he realised it was doable. One day of healing could net him twenty points. So it would only take fifty days to earn that many. Still, he felt unsatisfied. That was too long.

The lamp would be perfect for bringing his generation’s cultivation up to speed, so it was absolutely needed. But he couldn’t let them wait so long to gain this benefit. How much would they be oppressed in that time?

He was reminded of the fact that he still had yet to purchase anything, and asked for the price of the aura spreader from earlier. Although the girl was confused, she confirmed it was only 100.

Dalian purchased it in an instant. He swept it under his robes, and kept his head down as he walked out of the treasury, eventually making it back to the bunkhouse.