"Hoho, help is it? What can I do for you then?" Old Yu chuckled as he pinched his white beard hanging off his chin.
"Well first-" Shu He spoke as he reached in to his robes and pulled out a small cylindrical container, he placed it in front of Old Yu "Can you tell me how many points this is worth? I heard that you can contribute resources for points".
"Indeed, you are correct, many other disciples sell resources they pick up during a mission or they grow herbs and concoct stuff to sell for points… but you just got here, yet you want to sell? Let's see here…" Old Yu picked up the container, opening it and taking a small amount of the contents on to the tip of his finger, inspecting it.
"Huh, Qi Gathering Paste? I didn't expect you to have some of this… where did you get it from?"
"I made it myself" Shu He decided to be truthful, at least to this extent.
"Is that so" Old Yu merely nodded without much of a reaction.
"The quality isn't too bad; it's certainly well made" Old Yu's words suddenly made Shu He feel a bit of hope.
"But this is worth no points at all".
Old Yu's words destroyed that small bud hope that had just grown, but Shu He wasn't dejected, instead he couldn't help but wryly smile to himself.
"Just like I thought" Shu He muttered.
"You didn't think it would be worth anything? Why did you ask?" Old Yu asked with his brows raised.
"I wanted to affirm something that was all, all of my other medications were beaten to the side in Orefine's market, so I figured something would be similar here with the paste, it's also a medicine that doesn't seem to have much affect on the second stage or above so for a sect where most new disciples will be of the second level, it won't have much value" Shu He explained with a defeated look on his face."
"You're right that your paste wouldn't fit in with the market here, the reason it's worth no point is because this is a resource we have a massive surplus of the towers trainees make it for concoction practice when they begin learning, but… you're wrong about the other part." Old Yu looked at Shu He strangely.
"Huh? What?" Shu He was genuinely confused, what had he got wrong?
"This paste is commonly used for the second stage; it even helps initially in the third stage… you seem to have had a different experience though?"
"What, really? Odd…" Shu He furrowed his brows.
'Did I do something wrong? I used it as prescribed…'
"You should always remember, if the problem isn't external, it's internal; You've learned to cultivate on your own all this time so you might have some bias towards standards" The old man spoke.
"So, the problem is… me?" Shu He paused, there was only one thing he could think of that was different for him than others, at least that he knew of.
The golden flame that was flickering innocently in his body.
He sighed.
'This thing is just a bundle of mysteries that I just can't seem to unravel, it seems to be having more affects on me than I realised'.
He looked up towards Old Yu who had put the lid back on the paste, Shu He took it back and placed it in his robe before he spoke again.
"Then, what is the cheapest item that people usually buy for cultivation?"
"Good question, for your rank there's one pill that a lot of people buy, it costs 5 points for a single pill and it's name is 'Qi Puddle Pill'" The old man walked to the back of his desk, there laid a sort of platform that was empty, nearby was a metal plate that Shu He had seen many times around the sect, it was a plate used to interface with formations.
"What's that?" He asked curiously.
"Just watch" The old man replied, his hand swiping over the plate like he was looking through a list, the plate then flashed and suddenly a weird light formation appeared on the plate, and once it receded a small glass flask was suddenly there.
"What?!" Shu He exclaimed with some excitement.
"Teleportation?! Was that teleportation?!" He couldn't help but blurt.
"Hahaha, unfortunately it isn't something that high level, it's a type of application of low-level spatial formations, it's the pride and joy of this pagoda and the reason we can move items about so fast" Old Yu explained, feeling joyful from seeing Shu He's excited face.
"Space? That's pretty amazing isn't it?..." Shu He murmured.
Old Yu paused for a second as his eyes flashed with reminiscence before he chuckled and continued walking back to the desk "Yes, yes it is; People have forgotten to appreciate it since it's been here so long".
"Heee… how long?" Shu He had no idea how old this sect was, so he asked.
"Since the first sect master took seat… more than a thousand years I'd say" He spoke with a whisp of distance.
"You don't know exactly how long?"
"The past is easily lost to time unfortunately" Old Yu spoke quietly as he placed the flask on the table between them.
"This is?" Shu He stared at the vial, he could see inside were a collection of white orbs that had an azure tinge to them, each was the size of a pinkie finger's tip.
"What I just said, they're the 'Qi Puddle Pills' that are popular"
"Oh! So these are the pills!" It was the second time Shu He had seen alchemy pills, the only other time he had seen one was when he was given one back in Greengate after duelling Bai Shun, he didn't have enough time to get a good look at it back then, but he did now.
They seemed pure white, almost like glass marbles, the azure glow wasn't from the light refracting off them but the concentration of Qi in them.
He used his 'sight' to inspect them, he saw a tightly packed bundle of qi inside each ball, it seemed to be trapped in a pattern like a spiderweb that trapped a fly.
"These pills are grade 1, top quality, there's no need to be too surprised over them, we have far better ones in storage." Old Yu smirked, seeing Shu He mesmerised by such simple pills.
Shu He Looked up at him and cocked his head.
"Grade? Quality?" He was a bit lost; he had heard that medication could be split in to low, medium and high qualities, but he never heard of 'top' nor a grade.
"Ah, right you probably don't know this either, pills are judged on two categories, that is grade that is determined by the complexity of concoction and overall effect, and then quality that is based on the total efficiency of the concocted pill… Well, I could explain more, but you're probably going to head to the alchemy tower later on right? They'll do a better job at explaining so I'll leave it to them."
"Right…" Shu He nodded, he couldn't really complain since he was right, he was definitely going there soon.
"So, if these cost 5 points, then are the 100 points we're given as base not much?" He asked.
"You're underestimating these pills still, one of these will usually take a full two weeks for the average cultivator of the second stage to digest fully, the 100 points you're given as base are meant to act as a cushion for new sect disciples while they get used to life here; if used carefully without splurging on useless things it should last a few months".
"So, if you waste the points and end up with 0…" Shu He had to ask.
"You'll be stuck doing menial tasks to get points for resources, delaying your cultivation; Learning self-restraint is important on the path of cultivation after all." The old man snickered, clearly he had seen many new disciples fall into the hole of pleasures the moment they got here.
'So, the 500 points I have extra, it's quite a lot for a new disciple' Shu He felt relieved finding this out.
Old Yu picked up the flask and chucked it to Shu He "Here"
"Wha-?!" He caught the flask, fumbling a few times before holding it carefully, he stared at Old Yu in confusion.
"Take it" The old man merely gestured.
"I don't have to pay?" Shu He asked on reflex.
"What kind of person do you think I am, to try and scam a young'en like you? It's free, a gesture to celebrate our meeting."
"Then, thank you" He wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he happily stashed the flask in his robe, there were 10 pills in there for a total of 50 points worth, it may only be 1/10 of his current point count but it was still a lot!
"If there's anything else to ask, just say; though I'll have to go soon, I am the manager of the pavilion after all"
Shu He thought for a second then hesitated, he wasn't sure if it was a good idea asking this question but…
"There's one thing…" He said, feeling a bit nervous.
"What is it?" Old Yu could see that he was reluctant to talk, but he just smiled.
"You… seem to know a lot about me even though this is the first time I've spoken to you".
The old man had mentioned his past indirectly, even knowing where he lived or what life he had lived, Shu He felt a bit fearful of this old man because of this, what else did he know?
"Like I said, watching people is part of my hobby; when you're an old man like me you catch wind of a lot of things" Old Yu merely smiled and passed off the question.
"Is that so…" Shu He felt relieved there wasn't a more extreme reaction; It was clear that wasn't all there was to it, but he didn't feel like delving deeper into it.
"Then, can I ask you about a specific person?"
"Go ahead, if it's someone in this sect I'm almost certain I know them".
Shu He recalled a face in his mind, an old smith with white hair but an oddly mismatched body that was well toned, it had been a few years since he saw him, and he wanted to check on him.
"His name is Yun Jiang, he should have entered the sect a few years ago; I want to know where he is currently".
"Three years, an irregular entry, yes I definitely know him he's been quite an upcoming star".
"So, he's doing well then?" Shu He felt a bit relieved, although the time he actually got to know 'Yun Jiang' was shorter than Gang Bo, he was someone who shared the same home village as him which made him feel close.
"More than well, ever since he was taught the basics of Qi forging he's been on a trail of fire, his name is quite popular among the creationists these days".
"R-really?" Shu He was genuinely surprised, that old smith from his village was actually this skilled?
"If you want to go meet him you'll want to head over to the Deep Forge on the lower levels, that's basically where he lives"
"I will, thank you for your guidance" Shu He clasped he hands in thanks, he didn't bow though, he felt he should at least do the minimum to offer respect.
"Hmm, unfortunately the time I can spent chatting is up I need to go do some work for once or the others will get antsy, one last thing though."
Old Yu dug something out of his robe and chucked it towards Shu He.
Shu He having already experienced the sudden event of flying objects reacted and caught it in one hand, staring at the object after having done so.
"A scroll?" He looked towards Old Yu for answers.
"It's your reward for seeing through my technique, open it when you get home; you just need to place a blood seal on the lock"
Shu He looked, the scroll was pitch black with no writing, with only a white square on it, assumingly this was the 'lock'.
"Got it" He nodded before departing under the watchful eye of Old Yu.
…
5 minutes after Shu He had left, Old Yu was still sat in a chair behind one of the work benches.
What he had said about needing to do some work was a lie, this pagoda could function without him pretty much endlessly and the other staff can handle anything.
He just wanted to end the conversation, lest he give that child too much of an advantage; It's fine to be favourable to a potential seed, but if you water one too much it will stifle its growth.
It wasn't just that though, he was incredibly curious; This child who had appeared from a rural village not only learned to cultivate by himself but seems to have secrets that no one knows about.
Even though his reported aptitude was slightly below average just a few years ago, it was above average now, that change doesn't just happen randomly!
He had heard a detailed report about the invasion on his village and his further encounter with a black sect member and the subsequent loss of his parents, despite all this he moved on quickly, his mental fortitude was above that someone his age and living circumstances should have.
There were many patchy parts to this however, the details vague, some of them obscured.
He couldn't help be intrigued! He had inspected the boy from head to toe yet couldn't find anything hidden on him apart from some medication containers, his qi flow was normal and no techniques seemed to be active.
And yet he saw through his technique!
He didn't say it to him, but the amount of people that saw through it can be counted on two hands, some of them being the current sect master Rong Jia, and Chao Shi!
Yet even they only saw through it with instinct, that child seemed to see him like he was looking at an average bystander.
Old Yu couldn't help but feel chills, even to this day there were things he found incomprehensible and this was one of them.
If he was some greedy old monster or desperate vagabond he would chase Shu He down and force the secrets out of him, but he wasn't.
Instead, he wanted to see how much that boy would grow, how he would turn out.
"Hohoho, I'm keeping this secret to myself; They can find out for themselves when the time is right" He chuckled, thinking of the future.