While Jacq spent his time laying down and absorbing the information, three other trainees looked towards him with vicious eyes.
"He will be the perfect person for us to use to get those crystals," said one of them in a low voice. The speaker was a small man, even compared to the young Jacq. His height was a meter and a half tall. He had a vicious look in his eyes as he stared at Jacq, as if looking at prey. He was not the only one who looked at Jacq like that. His two companions also had the same look in their eyes. If looks could kill, Jacq would be a dead man many times over.
With a scar running down his bald head, the man had a rough face with a beard and mustache that were trimmed. His over all look made him look menacing. If it was at a different time, people would surely avoid him. The golden jewelry on his fingers and neck stuck out like a sore thumb. It was quite obvious that he enjoyed a very luxurious life before all this happened. Despite his small height, he was very well built, as if he had been working out for a long time.
"Don, don't worry, we will absolutely lure this kid to come with us. Once we use him as a sacrifice and get the crystals, the senior brother will give us our rewards. The three of us will become Immortals! Then no one from the police force can chase after us anymore!" a delicate voice sounded near his ear.
"Don", the small man looked over to see a woman slightly smaller than him leaning on his left shoulder with a dreamy look in her eyes. She was someone who had followed him for a long time, later becoming his woman. Her nationality was Japanese, while his was Russian. She wore a suit similar to his, except his was black and hers was white.
"The Boss' lady is right, we will surely be able to get him to "cooperate" with us, boss! Then we can show the local police our might and rule over the city when we go back home as Immortals!" The remaining man said in a hopeful voice. He towered over the two, standing at the height of two meters. His body was as well toned as Don's, but he had a naive look that made him look like a friendly giant. However, do not let his look fool you, he was their body guard for the past decade. Don had once saved his life, so he pledged his loyalty to Don until the day he dies.
"Tony, Hina, as much as I love dreaming with you two, I have to break it to you. You guys are thinking too small! Who cares about the small city when we become Immortals? We will rule over the country! No, the Continent! No, we will rule the entire planet! Think big!," Don spoke back to them in a hushed, excited voice. "Tony, I want you to wear the pink suit tomorrow, this way when we meet the little punk, he will lower his guard."
Tony looked down at his dark blue suit and thought for a moment before nodding his head in agreement. The group of three took one last look at Jacq before turning in for the night.
Unknown to Jacq, he had became a chess piece. Even if he knew, there was nothing he could do about it as he lacked strength. While people continued training, chatting or sleeping, Jacq focused his energy on the light novels that Nero was gathering for him.
"Hey Nero... there are so many cultivation methods, are there any fit for me?" Jacq asked as he took a break from the information overload.
"Nah, I just wanted to show you that there is more to this world than you think. What you need is not in here, but I can mix these cultivation methods up and merge them to make one fit for you. If you want," Nero replied back with a snicker.
"..." Jack was speechless.
"What?" Nero replied back.
"So I wasted my time, yet again? Why didn't you tell me this sooner?!" Jacq yelled in his mind.
"Well, not really. I wanted you to waste some time so that you learn the value of time. You will need to learn to think for yourself as I will only be here to help you. I am not something you should rely on!" Nero replied back.
"Then can you make the cultivation method for me?" Jacq asked after calming down. What Nero said made sense, he was the one who would need to survive, not Nero.
"That's all? Anything else? Think about the books lad, surely it is not a "waste" of your time as you make it seem," Nero asked back.
Jacq frowned and stopped his next reply as he thought about what Nero had just said. He reviewed all the information he received, it was a lot easier than he thought. Ever since he met Nero, his mental state had became stronger. His ability to memorize, recover old memories, and even the speed of his thinking had increased. It only took him a moment to understand what Nero was implying.
"I want you to make a cultivation method for me to use and I also want you to make a cultivation method to use as a cover, one with less potential so that I do not stand out!" Jacq answered excitedly.
"Yes, perfect. You will need to learn to think for yourself! I'll help you for now, but try not to rely on me as much in the future," Nero replied back. "You should keep your guard up at all times, especially now that you have me. If my existence is ever known, you will most likely die. So with that being said, always make sure you prepare enough defenses, because if you die, I will have to start all over again. I'll refine these cultivation methods and make two that fit for you."
"Can you also give me a body cultivation one too? Those seem stronger than others," Jacq asked curiously. "Actually try to make a cultivation method that can increase both the body and spiritual cultivation."
"Already on it kid. Now go think about what I said while I do this. The faster you learn how to survive, the better," Nero replied back a little amused. "Ah, this reminds me of the noobie days of the old heroes that I raised up.
Jacq got up and started to do some simple exercises as he waited for Nero to finish up. As he waited, he began to ponder about the regular herbs on Earth. Thinking about it, he opened the Apothecary interface in his mind. This was something he learned from Nero. The interface would allow him to view anything in theory, but it would not produce anything. It had all the herbs he had ever learned about so he could mix and match them to see what would be created, if anything could be created using those combinations.
To his surprise, he was able to find some combinations that could cure some dangerous infections, but that was about it. Next, he switched out a single herb and added a Spiritual Herb in it's place to compare the differences. He hid his surprise and kept switching out the herbs, but the more he kept doing so the more shocked he became.
"Some of these combinations only need one Spiritual Herb to make a cancer curing remedy! No wonder these cultivators look like they have never suffered illnesses!" Jacq thought to himself excitedly.
"Don't be too excited. If humans can cultivate, so can plants. If plants can cultivate, so can animals. If animals can cultivate, so can illnesses. Just because the illnesses die before they can become strong enough to affect cultivators doesn't mean they don't exist." Nero burst Jacq's bubble with this statement.
Jacq became silent after hearing this and proceeded to go to sleep. The third day would soon be upon them and he wanted to be in good shape. If he could learn a cultivation method before the day was over, then that would be ideal.
At this time a gong sounded.
"GONG"
"Twenty four hours left until we land on Gyoaph. Be prepared for a fun time!" Janis' old voice sounded throughout the space ship. He obviously looked forward to bringing back some good seeds, so that he could receive his Spirit Stones to extend his life force.
At the same time the gong sounded, an Outer Disciple looked towards the thousand trainees. He scanned them until his eyes landed on Don's group of three.
"Soon you will bring back the crystal and I will become an Inner Disciple. Then I can enjoy better benefits from the Sect!" he murmured to himself excitedly. His wanting to become an Inner Disciple was no shocker as they received more attention from the Sect than Outer Disciples did. Everyone seemed to have prepared traps and schemes to rise in rankings or to extend their life, except Jacq who was sleeping away while Nero worked hard to find the perfect cultivation method for him.
While all this happened, another Outer Disciple was bowing before an Elder, waiting for his commands.
"Make sure that no more than twenty survive this round. I MUST win this bet. If I lose, you will lose your life!" the Elder said in a depressed voice.
Nodding his head, the Outer Disciple ran off with the token that the Elder had given him in his hands.
"Kill a trainee, replace them with myself, use the token to block my Spiritual Energy so no one suspects anything and kill all but twenty trainees, including myself of course!" the Outer Disciple said to himself as he ran back to the trainee's camp to search for a suitable person.
Back in the Elder's chambers, the Elder was tapping away at the table until it turned to dust. "I lost more than a bet last time Hugo. This time, I will pay you back for that loss." he got up and started pacing the room before sighing and grabbing a Spirit Stone to start his cultivation.
Unknown to him, Hugo also had his plans as he watched his selected disciple walk towards the camp.