A race was ignited between Zachary and Elva. Their speeds were both difficult to follow leaving other disciples in bewilderment. The audience moved their heads from one side to another, eyes almost popped out in amazement and confusion. They couldn't catch up with them and could only watch as the two of them both disappeared.
Elva noticed that when she was about to catch up with Zachary, he would further increase his speed away from her, as if teasing her like they were six-year-old kids. She felt humiliated and degraded when she saw the confidence in his face. She couldn't believe that the most famous loser in the Welkin Sect could win over her. As the best disciple of the sect, she never lost to any other disciple. It was her first taste of defeat. Worse, from someone unexpected.
"Beauty, you're not going to catch me. Maybe we can have a battle practice next time!" Zachary didn't want to compete with Elva, since he was mindful that he couldn't beat her this time. If she caught up with him, he would surely be defeated. The Shadow Pace enabled him to achieve such speed. Otherwise, he would be immediately caught by Elva. Without a doubt, her cultivation level was incomparably higher than his.
Fueled by her pride and burning desire to prove her power, Elva showed no intention of giving up. While running, Zachary had a great idea. With swift shift in his speed gear and direction, he pulled a stick from a tree and had a sudden break.
Zachary's halt was something unexpected to Elva. She tried to control her speed but her momentum was difficult to destroy. She continued moving forward; luckily she had a grip on her speed and made a good turn before she was about to hit Zachary. She nicely bypassed the man without touching him. Meanwhile, the sound of a cloth being torn caught her attention.
When Elva quickly surveyed herself, she found her torn dress was barely covering her body.
"You..." Elva glared at Zachary, covering her sleekly full breasts in embarrassment.
A piece of white cloth was hanging on Zachary's stick, freely flying like a flag.
"I'm sorry for resorting to this. Now you'll stop, won't you?" He flashed a teasing smile, showing his demure admiration in her body and discreet sweet success to stop her. "I'll go first..." Putting up a crooked smile, Zachary sprinted away.
Elva's face flushed red, due to both anger and shyness. The blush made her even naturally more charming.
After Zachary got rid of Elva, he sneaked into the kitchen for food. His hunger and exhaustion made him like a predator voraciously looking for its prey. When he was full and satisfied, he went back to his treehouse. Since the owner of the body had been alienated by other disciples, he built himself a little treehouse on an old tree. His neighbors were the monkeys living at the back of the mountain. Away from the crowd, he found peace and happiness in solitude.
Zachary climbed up the tree and entered the treehouse. Though it was small, it had everything that he needed. He was contented at the simplicity of his humble abode. Zachary yawned, stretched himself and laid his back on the hard bed. With tired body and full stomach, he fell asleep immediately.
One night elapsed like a wind.
The sun was starting to shine at dawn but Zachary did not notice it since his door and windows were closed. He was awakened by some noises from outside.
The sound became louder as the crowd approached his treehouse. "Why so noisy? Can you just keep quiet!" he shouted in annoyance with eyes half closed. Irritated, Zachary forcedly got up, rubbed his eyes and went out of the treehouse. When he opened the door, he saw a large group of disciples heading towards the bottom of the mountain. Perplexed, he jumped to the ground and pulled one disciple. "Excuse me? What are you guys doing?"
"Seriously?" The disciple gave him a quizzical look telling him it was a stupid question. "We're going to collect herbs to exchange for pills," he added when Zachary creased his forehead in confusion.
The disciple left in a hurry and ran in high speed after answering Zachary, obviously afraid to be left out.
"Collect herbs to exchange for pills?" Zachary repeated. He quickly gathered the information he needed from the memory of the body. The Welkin Sect was going to recruit formal disciples. One m
onth before the selection, the sect would provide the disciples at the Foundation Establishment with some special privileges. This group of disciples could earn contribution points to the sect and exchange them for pills that would be helpful for cultivation.
There were two main ways to earn contribution points. One was to complete daily quests such as cutting firewood or cleaning the floor. The other was to collect herbs on the Herbal Mountain. The herbs could be refined into different kinds of pills. A higher level of herb could earn a disciple more contribution points.
The amount of contribution points earned through these two ways varied a lot. For disciples who chose the first way, they might need to work for half a month just to get enough points for one pill. For those who chose the second way, a first-grade herb would be enough for a first-grade white cultivation-aiding pill.
The herbs in the Supernal Continent were classified into nine grades according to their ages. A higher-grade herb would imply a higher age and consequently the pill that was refined from it would be of higher quality. Other than the age, the herbs were also classified based on their scarcity level. There were four different levels: Common Level, Scarce Level, Rare Level, and Unique Level.
Similarly, the pills that were refined from the herbs were classified into nine grades based on the age of the herb, and were classified into four types based on the scarcity level of the herb—white pill, green pill, purple pill and golden pill. White pills were the most common pills, while golden pills were extremely hard to make and were extremely powerful as well. Usually, the best pills that could be found in the market or in sects were purple pills. The pills used in the Supernal Continent were generally classified into three types: cultivation-aiding pills, energy-replenishing pills, and therapeutic pills.
As its name implied, cultivation-aiding pills were used to aid cultivation. It was able to enhance one's cultivation efforts. Energy-replenishing pills were commonly used during battles, as they were known to quickly replenish warriors' martial energy. An energy-replenishing pill was an instant booster when all their strength was depleted. Therapeutic pills were apparently used to cure. The wounded warriors would treat a therapeutic pill as a magic pill healing the pains they incurred during a fight.
Luck played a big role in the probability of collecting any herb. For the unfortunate ones, they could spend weeks in the mountain and returning home empty-handed. In addition, there was a risk associated with collecting herbs. Martial beasts usually lurked near the herbs. Every year, a number of disciples at the Foundation Establishment were killed by martial beasts.
Those martial beasts were mutated from normal beasts under certain conditions. Since their power was comparable to that of warriors', they were termed martial beasts. They were ferocious, strong and robust. Dealing with them was deadly and if heavily wounded by them, the warriors would probably be killed.
Despite the threat posed by the martial beasts, most disciples at the Foundation Establishment still chose to collect herbs. Even if danger and luck were included in the equation of the risk, it was a fast way for them to improve.
'Though I've recovered double martial speed, I'm still very weak, ' Zachary thought to himself. 'If I can't make it to be a formal disciple this time, I'll be kicked out of the sect. Since I'm new to this world, There's no other place I know of to stay. That will be horrible! I have to reach the minimum requirement for a formal disciple of the Welkin Sect, and that is to reach the ninth grade of Foundation Establishment. I can't just rely on my double martial speed. I have to get some pills to aid my cultivation.' In less than a month, the selection process for formal disciples would begin. However, he just made a breakthrough and reached the second grade of Foundation Establishment. There was also a minimum requirement for accepting newbie quests in the second world. If he were to continue to cultivate at his current speed, for sure he couldn't reach the ninth grade of Foundation Establishment in time.
Zachary followed the crowd to the Herbal Mountain after a moment of contemplation.