Cheng Hao concentrated on sensing the magical particles in the air, doing his best to interface with them as described by his [Low Grade Qi Gathering Manual]. Having strained his mind on this task for several hours, he was nursing a pretty severe headache, but he steeled his determination. Finally, a few motes of particulate drifted into his left pinky. Satisfied, he leaned back with an exhausted sigh.

“Cultivating certainly isn’t easy” complained Cheng Hao as he pulled up an abridged form of his status screen.

Name: Cheng Hao

Cultivation: .014% Qi Gathering

Qi Gathering was the process of drawing in Qi from the atmosphere into one’s physique until the entire body was completely filled with Qi. Cheng Hao had edited his status screen using the settings in order to display his percentage completion. The result was rather grim. One entire week of cultivation netted him a very meager gain; at this rate it would take him 136 years to reach the peak of Qi Gathering.

Disgusted at such a rate, Cheng Hao moved up his plans and immediately set out to find a disciple. He needed to get enough sect points to purchase the library, and hopefully figure out a solution there. As he carefully clambered down the opposite side of the mountain, he checked the quest screen one more time.

Quests

Recruit a Disciple

Task: Recruit a disciple to join you sect

Reward: 5 Sect Points, Spoiled Coiled Shedding Fruit (30% effects)

Be a Good Teacher

Task: Have a disciple reach the Qi Gathering stage

Reward: 5 sect points, Qi Gathering Pill (x3)

Branching Quests

Task: Choose one of the Branching Quests

Reward: 1 sect point, Understanding of Local Language (Eastern Wastelands Dialect)

Recruit a Horde

Task: Have fifty disciples join your sect

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And

Quality Is Important

Task: Have the average cultivation of your sect reach the peak of body tempering (Locked until Quest “Recruit a Flock” is completed)

Reward: 10 sect points, Sect Point Manual, [Longhan Longevity Fruit]

Or

Recruit a Group

Task: Have ten disciples join your sect

And

Quality is King

Task: Have the average cultivation of your sect reach the middle stage of Qi Gathering

Reward: 10 sect points, Sect Point Manual, [Longhan Longevity Fruit]

Without hesitation Cheng Hao accepted the first branch of the quest chain. The upgraded body refining manual he would soon be able to purchase would be of great help in completing the quest chain. Furthermore, he had no intention of nurturing someone who could thwart his authority this early into the sect’s history.

He would have loved to wait until he had already trained a disciple before choosing the branching quest, but he had to learn the language in order to do his best to blend in. If he spoke the language he would be pretty inconspicuous, right?

____________________________________________________________

Deng Che stared in shock at the crazy stranger that had turned their village upside down. He had walked into the middle of the town square, dressed in robes befitting one of the legendary cultivators Chief Luo loved to tell them about. He had quickly made it clear that he was looking for basic goods.

“Oh and I'm looking for some disciples, I calculated that I had fate with some of the children in the village and it’s just right to give back to the community” he added almost as if an afterthought.

After the man proved his strength by defeating the village blacksmith in armwrestling using only his pinky, there was a long line of children lined up in front of his door hoping to become disciples. Even though the man had yet to reveal powers befitting a real cultivator, at the very minimum he was a strong martial warrior. To temper his body to such a degree, he must have reached a very high realm of martial arts. If one of their children could become a disciple, even if they were untalented they would learn enough tricks to become the next Village Chief or so the logic went.

The man, Cheng Hao as he called himself, had set up shop in widow Lu’s store. As he had explained it, he was setting up a trading route from their village to the valley on the other side, a route that was normally inaccessible except for the bravest villagers. Therefore, he needed to communicate closely and personally with his partner in the enterprise.

When he had tried to go in yesterday, Deng Che was denied access to the general store; it appeared that widow Lu was treating access as a favor for the well connected villagers. The irony was that normally Deng Che worked in the store; it appeared that the more well off parents didn't want their children’s chances being stolen by some random orphan.

It was thus by no small degree of surprise that Deng Che had watched Cheng Hao approach him with a smile and wave. He gathered up the necessary courage to beg the man in front of him for a discipleship, but before he could open his mouth he heard the sentence that would change his life

“Won’t you become my disciple child?”