Continuing to look through the store.
Techniques
1. Qi Strike (Common) Qi Refinement – 3 Bonze Coins
2. Qi Burst (Common) Qi Refinement – 3 Bronze Coins
3. Piercing Strike (Uncommon) Qi Refinement – 10 Bronze Coins
4. Light Step (Uncommon)) Qi Refinement - 10 Bronze Coins
General Knowledge
1. How to Cultivate – 5 Copper Coins
2. Cultivation Channels – 10 Bronze Coins
The first two techniques were there before, but there were two new additions, Piercing Strike, and Light step. Both of them sounded cool, but of course I couldn’t use either one of them at the moment. Meanwhile I think buying Cultivation Channels is likely a good idea since it probably has something to do with breaking through to Qi Refinement.
Taking a mental note of that, I moved on to other sections. I peeked over at Richard, and he was clearly engrossed in the shop, so I left him alone.
Moving on, I clicked through the rest of the shop. There were some nice surprises.
Clothing
1. Cotton Tunic (Men) – 20 Copper Coins
2. Cotton Tunic (Women) – 20 Copper Coins
3. Leather Pants (Men) – 20 Copper Coins
4. Leather Pants (Women) – 20 Copper Coins
5. Leather Boots – 25 Copper Coins
6. Undergarments (Men) – 15 Copper Coins
7. Undergarments (Women) – 15 Copper Coins
Tutorial
1. Tutorial Information – 10 Copper Coins
2. House Rental Pass (5 Days, 10 Days, 30 Days) – (20, 40, 120) Copper Coins
3. Room Rental Pass (5 Days, 10 Days, 30 Days) – (10, 20, 60) Copper Coins
4. Outpost Entry Pass (5 Days, 10 Days, 30 Days) – (5, 10, 30) Copper Coins
5. Monster Encyclopedia – 300 Copper Coins
Ah…Undergarments, I really hope those are what I think they are. I have been carefully protecting my sole pair of underwear for about three weeks now. I don’t know how much longer they can hold on. I didn’t waste any time and immediately bought a pair.
I quickly gave Greja a Bronze coin since I didn’t have any Copper on me and before long something priceless appeared before me. A pair of underwear. This is wonderful.
Richard noticed my purchases and I almost saw a spark in his eyes as they widened. Before long we were both back to browsing the shop, only this time each of us have over 5 pairs of underwear bundled in our arms. They weren’t anything special, in fact I would never have bought them before the Tutorial. They were really just big plain white briefs, and the material didn’t feel comfortable, but for now…they were very special to me.
Anyway.
Stolen novel; please report.
The Tutorial section didn’t change much but I noticed the Monster Encyclopedia again. I didn’t buy it when I first discovered the shop because I couldn't afford it, but I can now. Is it still worth it though I wonder? Based on the names of the Dungeons and what not, I think that just about confirms that the monsters are Goblins, I don’t really know if the big ones have a specific name, but does it matter?
What about if new monsters show up, and they had no obvious weaknesses. I suppose the book could help with that. Well, that’s if they’re covered in the book, I have no idea how many monsters are in here.
Let’s see what Richard thinks.
“Richard, what do you think about the Monster Encyclopedia? Think it’s worth buying?”
“Yeah its actually on my mental list of things to buy. I think it can potentially help us even after the Tutorial.”
“Ah…yeah that’s a good point, I forgot to think about that. Alright cool I’ll buy one too.”
“Sounds good.”
Richard made a good point there. I was a little too focused on the short term and forgot to consider long term implications. I mean he could be wrong, and the book just talks about Goblins, but we can afford to find out with how much coins we’ve been getting from the coin reward from completing the Green Den multiple times and plus selling excess Rock Iron.
Moving on.
Furniture
1. Cot – 50 Copper Coins
2. Bed – 200 Copper Coins
3. Wooden Chair – 40 Copper Coins
4. Pillow – 40 Copper Coins
Defenses
1. Spiked Wooden Barrier – 10 Bronze Coins
Quality of Life
1. Toothbrush – 20 Copper Coins
2. Toothpaste – 20 Copper Coins
3. Soap – 5 Bronze Coins
Miscellaneous
1. Storage (Section)
2. Paper (5) – 25 Copper Coins
3. Pencil – 10 Copper Coins
The furniture section was a welcome sight, especially the chair and pillow. Having a place to sit, whether it was for group discussions like we’ve been having or I just wanted to relax in my room would be nice to have.
I’m guessing that Spiked Wooden Barrier is what we saw outside the Outpost. Which is good cause if they break we had no way to really replace them. It kinda reaffirms the decision to the upgrade the Outpost. We might face increased danger, but something like this would probably be massive in this upcoming stage since the defenses of the Outpost will likely be tested.
Moving on…I thought the real prize of this upgraded shop was going to be the underwear, but soap and toothpaste? That’s a game changer. It’s kinda odd that one clump of Rock Iron is worth the same as some soap but I don’t care, I needed it.
You really don’t know how much you need something until you don’t have it anymore. This Tutorial has definitely showed me that. I missed my phone, good food, underwear, and a lot of other things, but who would’ve thought I’d ever cherish the ability to buy soap and toothpaste.
Anyway, I didn’t feel like carrying everything I wanted to buy so I bid both Greja and Richard goodbye before heading home. On the way back I noticed that the guard towers had people in them. I guess Brandon likely set that up.
Not dwelling on it for too long, I made my way home with my underwear in hand and set them aside.
There was one more thing I wanted to accomplish tonight.
Tonight was the night I broke through to the 5th Cycle.
I took a seat on the floor and calmed myself before delving into meditation once more. I attempted to absorb a bit of Qi like normal and I could feel my body resisting it and that ‘barrier’ showing itself, but it felt weak. It felt vulnerable. I can do this. I will do this.
I grit my teeth and forced the Qi into my body, I could feel the pain this time. It was non-existent for me before, but this was different. Every tear of my skin, every internal injury, every bone that splintered, I could feel it all.
I wanted to scream but I kept it in, was this what the others dealt with every single time? They were cultivating through this type of pain? I had it easy. Too easy.
I can’t let the first time I face some real pain on my cultivation journey stop me. So, I held on.
As the small wisp of Qi ravaged my entire body from head to toe. I was bleeding from everywhere. Maybe if I felt this level of pain back when I first started I probably would’ve passed out, but it wasn’t going to stop me now.
I held on for who knows long until I felt something shatter within me.
This…this was different. Usually I didn’t really feel the changes until after I rested and healed up, but I could feel it clearly now. I was stronger. A lot stronger. The gap from the 4th to the 5th might be bigger than the one from the 1st to the 4th. Wow… If I didn’t feel so weak I’d get up start fighting, but I really felt weary.
It took everything I had to climb into the tub to wash all of this blood off. Ah I will need to clean the floor tomorrow.
It took a while due to how slow I was moving, but I cleaned myself up and crawled into the new bed. Wincing every step of the way.
Though before I could rest my eyes, something flashed in front of me.
Ding!
Welcome to Stage 4 of the Tutorial
Raids will now commence
Once per day your Defenses will be Tested
Defend or Die
Survive
Well shit.