BXBX NOVEL Chapter 72: Disciple William, At Your Service!
Sprawling before William was a building greater in size than the Lecture Hall and the Great Hall combined. The building was probably a hundred times larger than the Alchemy Hall in Thin Creek Village!
There were three sets of large doorways in which disciples, Rogue Cultivators, and Sect Elders went in and out of. Many of the disciples that didn\'t own Space Rings were carrying large pots or batches of herbs tightly sealed in jars for freshness.
"Are you William, the new disciple that\'s supposed to be helping out this week?" A young man approached from William\'s right. He was wearing Inner Core Disciple robes and had long white hair tied back in a ponytail. His face was friendly, but William could sense some irritation from his tone.
"Yes I am, and you are?" he asked.
"I go by Yuming here. That\'s what everyone calls me at least. I don\'t have time to talk about these things. Let\'s go." Yuming told William to follow him into the Alchemy Hall.
What a cheery guy. William thought sarcastically. Yuming reminded him of an underpaid cashier.
He followed Yuming into the Alchemy Hall and it soon made sense why the request to provide assistance was made.
A group of over a hundred Inner Core Disciples were intensely conducting Alchemy in a large open space to William\'s right. Across from the Disciples were a group of seven Elders at a long table. They seemed to be evaluating each Alchemist\'s work as they created pills.
One of the Elders noticed Yuming. "You\'re back. We need another batch of Sandicore Tails and Lesser Ent Root. Move quickly, the second phase is about to start."
Another Elder gave a different order, "Yuming, my group needs two dozen Iron Hawk Eggs, please bring them soon."
In just a few moments, Yuming was overwhelmed with requests. He immediately got to work while William followed.
"The Alchemy Hall is in the middle of its Annual Alchemy Competition. We\'ve requested help because I cannot do all this by myself, but there aren\'t any Inner Core Disciples willing to take the work." Yuming explained as they sorted through the storeroom for the requested items.
William\'s expression turned sour. So I\'m errand boy...I hate this already.
Yuming noticed William\'s mood change. "Heh, just bring the required items to the Elders at the front. I\'ll pick them out since you don\'t know what you\'re looking for.
And if you damage any items, you\'re paying for it yourself. Got it?"
William nodded but was complaining about the Alchemy Hall in his head. William would do anything to trade his assignment with someone else!
When Yuming handed William the first batch of ingredients he thought of something, "Why don\'t you carry all the ingredients at once in your Space Ring?"
Yuming frowned, "Are you an idiot? Putting herbs in your Space Ring is taboo! When you move items in and out of a Space Ring, the ambient Spatial Mana will damage them, even if only slightly.
With weapons and equipment this isn\'t a problem, but these ingredients are very precious and only the highest quality are acceptable during a contest. Only specially crafted Space Rings can keep items in perfect condition. Do you get it now?"
William honestly didn\'t know this was the case with Space Rings. "Then why don\'t you store them in jars before putting them in so only the jar is damaged?"
"Well, that\'s a bit more technical. I know you\'re new so I\'ll explain it, even though your Elder should be doing this." Yuming sighed and sorted through the next set of ingredients the Elders requested.
"Mana particles make up everything in existence. Some are larger and smaller than others, and consist of many different combinations of Mana. Space Mana particles are much smaller than the Earth and Fire Elements that make up glass. Therefore, the Space Mana can slip right through the glass.
This is also how Cultivators with Space Magic Affinity can teleport. I don\'t know much else, so you\'ll have to ask someone proficient in the Space Element."
Yuming\'s explanation helped William understand. "So even though the ingredients are in a jar, the Space Mana particles would damage both the jar and the ingredients."
"Exactly. I have everything set aside now, so go take it out to the Elders before I get punished again." Yuming heaved a sigh. Explaining to newbies was always frustrating, but it was necessary for them to understand.
A few months back, an Outer Core Disciple filled his Space Ring with dozens of expensive ingredients, costing the Sect over a thousand Mana Stones. Since that day, the Elders required every Alchemist to go through a series of training classes on how to properly handle ingredients.
William nodded and took the first group of ingredients to the Elders, who looked very impatient.
An Elder by the name of Fuxi snatched the ingredients from William\'s hands. "Took you long enough, hmph!"
"What a cranky old man." William mumbled.
"What did you say?" Elder Fuxi gave William a dangerous look.
"Nothing nothing." William hurried back to the storage room.
Elder Fuxi was a Nascent Soul Cultivator so he obviously heard what William said, but he preferred getting revenge in a subtle manner. \'I will teach you not to disrespect your Elders, young man.\'
William continued taking ingredients back and forth to the stage, each trip becoming more proficient at maneuvering through the crowd. Elder Fuxi could mostly be thanked for that, since he began asking for only two or three ingredients at a time. Sometimes he would even ask William to get a different item since one of the Alchemists "changed their mind".
After the first hour, William was confident enough to increase his speed to the Foundation Establishment Realm, allowing him to meet the Elder\'s requirements at record pace. Elder Fuxi was a bit annoyed since his methods of teaching William a lesson didn\'t seem to work, while the other Elders began to praise William for his efforts.
William managed to complete all the orders before the final phase started, so he and Yuming rested near the stage and watched the top ten Inner Core Disciples compete for first place in their group.
Elder Arthur, one of the judges, stood up and gave a speech to the group. "You ten have passed each trial with flying colors and will all be admitted to the finals five days from now. Even so, you may now compete for today\'s top prize of a Silver-Ranked Fire Root."
Wait there are more days of this damn competition? How many Alchemists are there in the Sect?!? William was not looking forward to the next few days.
He was intrigued when Elder Arthur named the prize. "What\'s a Flame Root?" he asked Yuming.
Yuming was surprised. "You don\'t know what Roots are?"
William shook his head.
"Did you even learn anything before joining the Sect? It\'s like you\'re from another world." Yuming was exasperated, but he started explaining anyway.
"Roots are basically variations of an Element. It can improve an aspect of an Element you\'ve awakened and make it more powerful. Roots are ranked from weakest to strongest as Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum, each one giving the Cultivator a greater bonus.
The Elders are quite generous to be giving out multiple Silver Fire Roots, since they are relatively uncommon. Last year they only gave out Bronze Fire Roots."
William didn\'t expect there to be Element variations in this world too. How could he keep track of it all? It was already uncommon enough for a world to use a Cultivation system that relied on Mana.
He decided to just focus on earning Potential Points. Everything would come to him naturally with time. Besides, William could rely on his good memory to recall the explanation if he didn\'t understand the first time.