"What the hell are you doing here again, kid," a man calls out. He wears a dirty grey shirt and black pants. One foot has a shoe, the other a ripped sock. He puts his other shoe on. Ash stops digging through the trash. He had no idea there was someone sleeping there. Forget someone who recognizes him. Another head pops out from a further out pile, one of his tooth's moving loose.

"It's ole thunderhoof. How's it hangin," He said.

"Sorry for waking you, just looking for poisons." Ash said. It's time for him to gauge what it will take to begin the poison demon ritual.

"Poisons? Why would you want poisons." The man said with confusion and concern. Could this kid be another prestigious child looking to harm others over petty reasons?

"I need poison resistance, it's for a martial arts technique."

"I don't feel okay about this. Go back to your mother." Rip Sock said.

"No, I need to do this. To bring back the Khal Sect."

"What are you talking about, kid," Loose Tooth said.

Ash puts the trash down. It's all or nothing time. He lays all his cards on the table, what happens next, fate.

"What if I told you there's a way to clean everything here. That martial arts can be used to cultivate proper waste management."

Ears across the alley perk up. Cultivation can be used for this? Martial arts takes a lifetime of discipline and dedicated training. Many lose hope when they realize they can't put the time into it due to some earthly obligation. It would be great to have a martial art that helps achieve their personal goals, trash disposal, while also giving them the means to practice again. Two birds, one stone. The throw of a miracle.

With the right foods these people can become strong.

Unlike Ash, the people here have lived the life of the Khal sect's four fore fathers, amongst piles of trash consuming whatever they can get their hands on. With the right meal plan and a bit of consistency, they'll be in shape for the toxi-grip in no time. These men possess great levels of resistance. He however has a more powerful body from the foods he eats. Speaking of, it's nighttime and he's starving, so it'd be nice to get this over with quick.

"Yes, just let me gather some ingredients, then ill come back and show you."

The men look at eachother. On one hand a kid is going through poison and garbage, on the other... he's so confident. Could this kid truly possess alchemic wisdom? That's impossible, he'd have to have been studying long before he was born. He must have a teacher, a benefactor, some wise elder who's guiding him.

"Who is your benefactor," Loose tooth said.

An opportunity!

"He wishes to remain anonymous, but he's the same man who created this smell which survives in even places like this. Help him and you will be rewarded with bottles of it, only if you tell me where to get poisons."

"Why would you need poisons for a," rip sock said, before getting cut off.

"Master likes making his shampoos poison resistant, unfortunately he needs to know which poisons to make it resist first."

Loose tooth looks on in shock. Such brilliant knowledge, and it's actually useful for what they want to do.

Ash smiles, he speaks the truth but not the whole truth. There is no master, and he actually wants the poisons for the toxi-grip. In this alley, these heads popping out the trash heaps are genuine about disposing waste. They have the potential of being the first generation of the new Khal sect. They will benefit with much more than just a pleasant scent of their choosing. The heads are deep in thought, until loose tooth speaks up.

"Hmmm, even if we tell you, it's not like they'd let you in,"

"Then tell me,"

"Alright kid you win, you're looking for the Sec city underground auction."

The man with the ripped sock gives him directions, it's not too far. However he can't just go there empty handed, he needs something of value to sell.

It's time to go back home. Ash gulps. It's going to be terrifying he can feel it in his bones. That's the issue with going through forests in the middle of the night, everything gets scarier. The forest is actually louder in the day than it is at night, but at night the ears are more sensitive to compensate for what the eyes can't see, making each and every sound louder than anything in the day. A crack of a branch, a rustle of a leaf, a hop on the dirt, and a shifting shadow in the bush. He would jump at every instance. Ash knows there aren't any serious martial predators hiding in this forest, but even still, the constant tension was maddening. It's a good thing that the path home is relatively simple. Earlier in the day Ash made sure to drag his feet along with a stick, leaving a literal trail that he could just follow back home. The lights aren't on.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

I wonder if Janne is back,

He enters his home, she isn't. That's probably why there weren't any lights on. Oh well. He's barely ate all day, time to whip up a feast. He gathers ingredients around his home. Fruits and vegetables of all kinds, and thunderhoof steak they gathered earlier. Steak, potatoes, steamed vegetables, and plenty of fruit. Amongst all the fruit were a eight coconuts, which Ash puts far aside. Right now the only thing he wants to do is eat his perfect meal.

Ash initially questioned Janne's decision to leave all the steak behind earlier that day. But in retrospect if he'd have brought an entire thunderhoof into town, it would have gotten a lot of attention. This way he gets all of it to himself. The steak is absurdly tough and chewy, it's a jaw workout just getting through it. That chewiness an indicator of an immense protein count. The first time Ash ate one he felt it, his body gained incredible power for the next few workouts, though Janne never hunted one again until today. A shame because he'd eat this animal's steak daily if he could, but he's sure Janne has reasons for that. Though she's a strange mother, there's definitely more to her than meets the eye. Ash is grateful to his mother, and for this wonderful meal her wisdom preserved for him.

After eating, Ash moves on to the coconuts. Each one can make four bottles, and he found eight coconuts around the hill. Thirty two is more than enough. He cracks coconuts one by one, extracts their water, and scrapes their flesh. Now he just has to infuse the oil with some complimentary flowers, and emulsify the oil into a pleasant scrub. The potions weren't potent up until this point, but now that he has qi control, things will be different. With a gentle qi pulses, he can emulsify the oil very quickly. What is normally meant to be a multi hour whisking process becomes a five minute affair with the right control, and the effects of the scrub will be significantly more resilient

The goal isn't to make the scent stronger, but rather make it so nothing can break it. Kireina Kami, the barrier against all things garbage, the final form of his coconut shampoo. This recipe was a gift from a peerless noble family in his old world, one known historically for cultivating a genius who transcended the earthly realm, earning a throne by the angels in his own lot in the divine realm known as heaven. That legend's descendants rallied the people in support, saying that the Khal sect faces dirt and danger constantly for the betterment of the people, and have forsaken their privilege's of smelling good as a result. That blessed family spent considerable income concocting the perfect natural remedy which can survive even the most hectic forms of waste. They were true heroes, and gave many disciples hopes of escaping the rancid odors which plagued their day to day lives. Though the resulting shampoo was indeed everything those descendents tried to make it out to be, it had one flaw. Unless the concoction is prepared by an especially powerful spiritual expert, it's odors won't potentize the right way, and it'll be unable to properly combat the odors of truly dangerous wastes. Therefore the mass produced bottles which were distributed to the majority of the sect were barely capable of doing what they were advertised to do, while the nobles got to enjoy the luxury of working in filth without getting dirty.

Between the toxi-grip, Kaimen garbage vision, and the esteemed Kireina Kami potion, Ash will never have to fear any manner of garbage again. After he passes these wisdoms down to the new disciples of the new Khal sect, he'll create an even stronger vision and legacy for the Khal sect. Sect master Khan would be so proud, if only he can see me now.

Ash suffocates the fire. His emulsified mixture now a shiny gooey slime, which he easily empties into thirty two empty bottles. Conveniently he forged a bunch out of glass over a year ago in anticipation for the day he'd end up making a lot of potions. If he can't get a good price on the shampoo, he can at least market it up with the craftsmanship quality on the glass. It is no easy manner to cast glass with intricate carvings, turns, and textures. The griddled, stone-like perturbances on the side of the potions were especially difficult, but as with all things it got easier with practice. Now for the last step. Ash's hands glow silver and pulse through twenty two of the glasses. All it takes to be considered a spiritual expert is control over your energy, in this world qi, by this metric Ash is more than capable of potentizing the potions. However with his current level of cultivation, he can't the manifest the Kireina Kami spirit as effectively as a peak expert like Sect Master Khan could.

Ash loads the potions in his bag. He cleans the dishes, and makes sure to properly return to the environment all the food waste he produced while cooking up his feast. Without plastics or other strange man-made products, there's no real fear of polluting the planet by tossing aside the leftovers of natural foods, especially if the food is infested by some worm of parasite.

The qi pulses potentized all but ten of his bottles. Though it's distasteful to give Khal sect members a weaker product, he is not selling these bottles to Khal sect members. These inferior products will instead be used to test the market. If it's looking real good he'll have the powerful ones as an ace up his sleeve. Hopefully by the time he returns to the academy tomorrow, it will be as a rich man.

Ash snickers as he packs his bags, Baro will be so confused. Ash heads back to the forest again, now with twenty two bottles of basic Kireina Kami Potions, and ten bottles of the coconut mix everyone seems to love so much.

This trip to the underground auction will be interesting to say the least.