With that bomb dropped, Lou Xia asked her to grab me the standard things for a disciple so she could continue showing me the Sect. Clearly too stunned to say anything, the girl walked off to another room for a few minutes and came back with three sets of white robes with a silver lining and a small bag placed on top.
Setting them on the counter, she proceeded to tell me that only the three robes were complementary and required to be worn around the Sect. The bag, however, is a space bag where a copy of the rules of the Sect and a map are placed inside.
She then informs me that the way to use the space bag is to send a strand of Qi inside and use your intent to store anything you are touching.
I was about to point out the problem with that when Lou Xia waved her hand, placed all the items in her spatial device, and said that she would carry them for me. Grabbing my hand, Lou Xia proceeded to practically drag me out of the administration hall and into the street.
Once outside, she took me around the town, showing me the location of the contribution hall, the mission hall, and the treasure pavilion. This was not without stopping every few streets to grab some food. The entire town was like something you would find outside the Sect.
Of all the places she showed me, the contribution hall intrigued me the most, as it seemed to function like a department store.
When she took me inside, I saw that there were racks and shelves of different things, with the sections written on signs that hung from the ceiling. She even took me around shopping in the hall.
I did notice that throughout the trip, I saw nothing useful to mortals; everything was only useful to cultivators.
When we reached the back of the hall, I saw a door marked level one above it. When I asked Lou Xia about it, she told me that only the less valuable things were stored up here, and everything with more value was stored below. She did not know how many floors there were but could at least confirm the existence of three.
Finished with what she wanted to find, we walked to the front of the store and up to a counter that looked far too similar to a checkout desk at an average department store in my old world.
Not seeing the look on my face, Lou Xia just handed the person behind the counter what she wanted, and the person scanned it. A screen facing us then lit up and showed a number with CP coming after it. Lou Xia then pulled out her token and placed it on a jade plate at the base of the screen before the screen flashed green, and the numbers were replaced with the message 'transaction complete.'
Taking me out of the building, Lou Xia explained that CP meant contribution points, which could be earned for various reasons, but mainly by completing missions found in the mission hall. Speaking of which, the Mission Hall looked like an old-school tavern with Western architecture. Walking inside the Mission Hall was like getting hit with a hammer made of noise as I stumbled, almost falling to the ground from all the noise hitting me at once.
Thankfully, Lou Xia caught me again before that could happen, though that did not fix the problem. It felt like my head was being split open as my ears were ringing. Soon, it cleared right as someone tried to touch my tail. Not caring for what was about to happen, I pulled out the rifle only to have my hand held down, and the man's hand was stabbed through with a sword.
Before the man could even say a word, Lou Xia was already in front of him, giving him a lecture, or so it seemed, as I was having a hard time making out any sound in this place. Looking around, I saw a board on the far wall with notes of paper stuck to it and a counter on the back wall.
Like the counter in the administration hall, it had either end flared out to give more space to those working the counters. The center section was where it changed as it looked like a bar with a man behind it serving drinks to everyone who walked up and asked. The only comparison I had to it was that it was like an adventurers' guild straight out of those fantasy stories.
Unable to take the place's volume, I quickly made my way outside and waited for Lou Xia to come out. Not too long after, Lou Xia walked out with a sad smile on her face. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean for anything to happen," she said as we started walking again.
"It's fine. I was the one who didn't tell you that all my senses are at the limit of what they can be." I replied back.
"What do you mean by at the limit?" She looked confused at what I said.
"The limit is how high the aspects of your body can be within a stage. For example, reaching the maximum strength you can reach in a stage will mean that you have reached the limit of your body's ability to handle strength." I explain.
"So, like cultivation brings you to the limit, and you use body cultivation to break past that?" She questioned back.
"To a limit, yes."
"What do you mean by a limit?" She seemed confused again but also a little indignant.
"There is a maximum limit that the world allows. I have reached this limit. Also, once you reach the limit, as you improve in cultivation, you will stay at that limit, whether it is the personal one or the world one." I patiently explain.
"Then how did you reach the world limit?" She probed.
"My natural limit is the world limit, so when I hit one, I hit both. The system also gave me rewards for completing special assignments." I say, looking into her eyes.
"Oh."
Before continuing our conversation, we reach a large pagoda with the sign Treasure Pavilion on it. We did not go into this one as apparently it is rarely used, and there is only a small room with a desk and a door in the room beyond the entrance, so we moved on. Walking down the street, I asked Lou Xia, "Hey, do you have a pill that can increase a person's strength even if it is only for a second and doesn't have any side effects?"
"Yeah, why do you need it?" She responded through a mouth full of food she had just bought as she led me somewhere.
"I need it to round out my stats," I answer somewhat awkwardly.
"Sure, I can give it to you, but you will have to help me with my cultivation technique." She bargained.
"Sure!" I must have answered a little too enthusiastically as she looked at me strangely before handing me a bottle. Once I grabbed it, I purred out the pill inside before throwing it into my mouth. Lou Xia began to panic and look angry for a second as my body flashed with gold light. Not even asking about the light, she began to lecture me.
"Do you know what you just did? What if I gave you poison or some sort of possession parasite pill? What if it was some waste pill that would clog up your meridians with impurities? Don't just eat whatever someone hands you without checking first!"
"But why would you do that? First, I saved your life. Second, you have helped me out far too many times, and third, you even stabbed a person and lectured him for trying to touch my tail. I also have not felt any hostile intent coming from you at all. So why should I not trust you? You have already shown that you trust me, so by that nature, I should give it in kind."
She seemed momentarily stunned by my words before shaking her head and looking toward the sky.
"Well, it looks like we are running out of daylight, and I don't think we can make the trip over to your mountain and set up a house before nightfall. So how would you like to stay at my house in the town for tonight?" She asked while looking back at me.
Seeing no reason to refuse, I followed her as she walked to one of the quieter but richer parts of the town if the spacing and opulence of the houses were anything to go by. Coming to the end of the street, we stop in front of a large house with a perimeter wall and wrought iron gate, sounding it over half a mile out.
"Lou Xia, you didn't tell me it was a mansion!"