Minos woke up leisurely at around 5:30 am. Walking out of his hut, he could see the sun poking its head out over the horizon.
Today was Saturday, and one of the two days off every week Minos had. After saving contribution points for two years, Minos finally had 500 points.
For every day of work, Minos got 1 contribution point, which was naturally nothing, but for handyman disciples it was as good as it got.
He could finally afford a Lock Breaking Pill, which would let him reach the second Life Lock. With the improved strength, he'd be able to easily beat Gantel, no longer having to waste an extra three hours a day helping him.
The extra time as well as strength would let Minos do so much more. He would even be able to take some low-level missions, earning more contributions points, to buy even better pills.
It was a snowball effect that all started with that first Lock Breaking Pill, so naturally Minos was excited.
After twenty minutes, Minos had long left his hut behind and finally reached the outer sect trading bazaar.
Compared to the handyman disciple area, this place lacked the sense of defeat one would often see in the handyman disciple area. The people here were mostly outer sect disciples, and naturally they were far more confident in their own futures then the handyman disciples.
Minos looked around at all the different stalls that littered the sides of the dirt road. Shouts were coming from all around, completely enveloping him.
"Fellow cultivators, on my last mission outside the sect, I stumbled upon this broken sword that has a mysterious origin. Unfortunately I am not the one destined for it, hence I'm selling it here for a low price of 300 contribution points." Shouted one man in a green robe
"Hahaha, that's the best joke I've ever heard. That rusty old sword? The only origin it could have is chopping wood." A man in shorts with no shirt sneered.
The green robed disciple wanted to shout a rebuttal, but looking at the man's tall height, and fierce muscles, he swallowed his words.
Minos ignored those two people, instead looking for a stall that sold Lock Breaking Pills. He had no plans of wasting time here, as much as all the strange exotic items interested him.
Finally he found a stall that sold the pills he was looking for. Unfortunately they were only low-quality pills, hence one would have to spend a lot of time to remove the impurities in their body after consuming it.
"Excuse me senior brother, but do you by any chance have higher quality pills?" Minos asked the man in charge of the stall.
"Kid, even if I had better quality stuff, I definitely wouldn't sell it here. Low-quality pills are about the best you could ask for in the outer disciple bazaar. If you want better stuff, you'll have to go to the inner sect bazaar, but naturally the prices there are far higher." The man responded nonchalantly, as he picked away at his teeth with a toothpick
Minos gritted his teeth and was about to make the purchase, but at the last second, he noticed something at the side of his eye. A rotting yellow book that was labeled "Talisman Foundations"
Minos pointed at it before asking, "senior brother, what is this?"
"That's a book that teaches one the basics of Talisman Making. It's got the recipes for a couple low-level talismans, but don't think that they're easy to master. Even the lowest level talisman requires a lot of talent to make." He responded, before adding.
"Kid, take my advice, the Lock Breaking Pill is guaranteed to make you stronger, whereas this Talisman Foundation book will probably lead you nowhere. If it was me, the choice is obvious."
Minos appreciated his honesty, however his instincts kept screaming at him that this was the far better choice, and he had to choose it.
Minos trusted his instinct, but more than that, he trusted his intelligence. This Talisman Foundation book may be hard for others to master, but with his enlightenment, it shouldn't be a challenge. Hence he made a choice that would forever alter his future.