Alex made a fist with his hands and was shocked at how much strength he could feel in them. The pain he had just felt, the transformation of his normal Qi into Yang Qi, had also in some minor ways changed his physical body as well.
While he was still at Muscle Tempering 7th Realm, he could tell that he was ever so slightly stronger. He wanted to check what changes his new form of qi brought to his techniques.
But alas, there was no fire around to see if anything had changed.
Grrrrrr
His stomach cried out hunger. The inner transformation had left him feeling a little peckish.
"Now that I think about it, I'm surprised I have gone so long without feeling hungry or thirsty. Does being a cultivator make you no longer need a lot of sustenance?" he wondered.
He looked at the clock and realized it was only 4 PM. There were still 3 hours before dinner time. There was no homework, so he was free to do whatever he wanted today.
He decided to go eat something in the sect valley but stopped.
"Wait, doesn't food cost contribution points as well?" he quickly checked the rulebook and he could in fact not eat anything without contribution points.
Even the cheapest stuff cost about 2 contribution points. Also, he couldn't leave the sect without permission from an elder, so there was no way to go to the city to get something to eat.
'Sigh. I guess it's time to go work now.' He got out of his cottage. He walked back to the valley. This time, however, he needed to go to the Alchemy Hall.
He quickly checked the map and found it. He thought he would be jaded by now, seeing all the different massive halls, but, he was still surprised when he saw the Alchemy Hall. Perhaps more than everything else he had seen in the sect valley.
The Alchemy hall wasn't just a simple building. It was located at the very corner of the sect valley and seemed to be carved into the sect leader's mountain.
It was a simple one-story building, but he couldn't tell how far into the mountain the hall went. He looked at the entrance of the hall and saw a bunch of light green robe-wearing disciples standing side by side.
Once in a while, an inner sect disciple would come, and pick one of the outer sect disciples and take them inside.
'Were the outer sect disciples standing here to be chosen as aid?' he wondered.
He walked up to a small station outside the hall where an elder was staying.
"Good afternoon elder. I wish to work as an Alchemist's aid. Can you tell me what I have to do?" he asked politely.
"Hmm…." The elder looked towards Alex and asked, "Is this your first time here?"
Alex was surprised. 'How did he know?' there shouldn't have been any clue yet the elder found out at once.
"Yes, elder. This is my first time." He said honestly.
"How good are you at recognizing ingredients?" the elder asked him.
Alex was surprised. That wasn't what he had expected the elder to ask him at all.
"I would say it's very good," Alex said, not knowing if that felt like he was bragging or just being honest.
The elder's eyes perked up at the answer. He reached into his storage bag and brought out 3 items.
One was a small, yellow fruit. The other was a strangely purple leaf. And the last one was a brown bark from a tree.
"What are these?" the elder simply asked him to name them.
Alex focused a little on the ingredients and their names popped upon them.
"They are Cat Eyed Berry, Purple Bane, and Forest Scale." He answered confidently.
"Correct," the elder put back the items and said," Go stand among your fellow disciples. If an inner sect disciple needs you, they will call for you."
"Thank you, elder," Alex left and stood in an open spot next to a female disciple.
He watched as inner disciples came and went. Most of them decided to take in aid, but there were some that just went in alone. He couldn't help but wonder why some would need aid, but some didn't.
He looked next to him and saw the female disciple fidgeting about, almost to the point that it looked like she was shaking.
"Are you okay, sister?" he asked.
The girl turned towards him. She was not the best-looking female he had seen, but she didn't look that bad. She had long black hair, and a small face with big eyes. And in those eyes were a small amount of fear.
"I'm fine," she took a deep breath and stopped fidgeting. " It's just that I haven't earned enough contribution points for the week, and if I don't earn 5 more points in the next 10 hours, I will be punished. I am just nervous that no one will pick me."
"Ah, I'm sure someone will pick you, sister." He said as he comforted her. They made some small talk before an inner sect disciple chose her as his aid, and went it.
Her eyes had gotten truly bright when she was chosen. He thought he would have to wait out here alone for now, when suddenly someone talked ahead of him.
"Eh, junior brother. Aren't you the same junior brother who completed my mission?" A voice came from in front of Alex.
Alex turned around to find a big, buff man in front of him. He looked at the person's face and thought he had seen it before.
"Ah.it's you Brother Kong. it's good to see you here. I almost didn't recognize you since I only saw you in the darkness of evening."
Yes, the man in front of him right now was Kong Yuhan, the inner sect disciple. The same person to whom he had sold his Dwarf Berry last night.