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That time was significantly worse. The urges seemed to multiply after I hit level 5. Everything I did seemed perfectly reasonable in the moment, but as soon as I was back, it was obvious how idiotic I had been.

So, what was it? What was happening? There was no question it was connected to cultivation, but was there something else? There could have also been something external, like a poison or drug in the food that was affecting me.

In the end, would that matter? I was being targeted because I was rushing my cultivation. How didn’t matter. External factor or not, if I rushed to level 5, that bastard would make me fight. Even if I could control my mind enough to say ‘no,’ I doubted he would accept it, and if I fought, I died.

On this path, I could only survive a month. Constant death, one month after another. That wasn’t the kind of life I wanted. As Martial Disciple 5, I could net 15 credits each run, but no gains would be worth that kind of endless torture.

Even if I did pursue that path, reaching level 6 in a month would take years of practice. I was reaching the limit of what I could learn. So, the only gain would be 15 credits.

I needed to find a new path. What were my options? Make the affinity boost permanent? That would boost my income, but it wouldn’t get at the root of the problem. All it would do would be slightly changing the economics.

Change it up? Go with a different affinity? Maybe, but there were disciples representing all five basic affinities, and no one received any special treatment. Going with a different affinity didn’t seem like it would change my situation.

Why not just try to actually cultivate correctly?

I already had a lot of practice creating a qi filter while absorbing energy. Most of my effort was spent gathering anything and everything as fast as I could, but I had spent some time filtering to gather only earth qi.

This life, my plan was to force myself to cultivate only the purest qi I could right from the start.

It was much easier than I thought it would be. I had sufficient practice creating and using the filter, so that went smoothly enough. What really surprised me was the effort it took to pull in qi through the filter.

Every time I advanced a level, the qi in my body created a stronger and stronger repulsive effect. Cultivating at level 5 was arduous work compared to level 1. In the end, cultivating correctly, filtering out everything but earth qi, was about as difficult as cultivating at level 4. At this rate, I would reach level 3 by the end of the month.

That… seemed wrong. If I could reach level 3, why were all the elites only level 2?

I examined the qi in my body. Before, relying solely on my affinity, my earth qi purity felt like it was around 50%. Looking at it now, after having used the best filter I could make, I estimated the purity to be around 70%.

Not good enough.

The rest of the month I focused on trying to filter my qi correctly. I kept trying to figure out why my qi filter may not be working correctly, but nothing helped. My qi purity remained around 70%. Better, but it wasn’t enough. I wished I understood where the elites were. All I knew was that they were supposed to be Martial Disciple 2, but I didn’t know anything about their purity or anything else that might be affecting their strength.

At this point though, my path was set. I would see how far I could push with the best purity I could manage.

The good news was that I was still able to reach level 3 before the end of the month. I had still pushed above where the elite disciples were, so I would probably still be targeted. I wouldn’t step forward this time though.

Maybe I would be able to survive this time. Level 3 combined with the purest qi I could manage. Maybe it would be enough.

When Deacon Xu called for volunteers, I didn’t step forward. I didn’t feel the strong impulse I had in the past. It was just a constant voice of ‘Maybe you can do it. It might be different this time.’

Again, after there were no volunteers, Xu voluntold me to step up. At that point, the whispers finally won. I wanted to see what this new strength could do.

You have died. Calculating…

You died as a Martial Disciple 3. 30 credits awarded.

Total Credits: 60

“Godsdammit all! Every gods damn time!”

At least the urge to fight wasn’t as strong that time. I was learning to control it, or just being at a lower level helped me control it. The question was, what now? Getting a Mid-level affinity when I couldn’t push to Disciple 4 was a money-losing strategy. Even if I did learn to improve purity over time, I would quickly run out of credits.

That was with a Mid-level affinity. That was a high cost. I could cut it down to Low. Not as much revenue, but it zeroed out the losses. It was worth a try.

You have died. Calculating…

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You died as a Martial Disciple 1. 10 credits awarded.

Total Credits: 60

“Okay, so at low earth level, the bastard singles me out for death the first week again. Next plan?”

I could go for a high affinity. That might provide some extra protection, and I might be able to jump up an extra level or two. I might even get chosen as an elite from the start. The problem was the cost. It would cost 85 credits each time. It was a huge cost with very little potential upside. To simply recoup the costs, I would need to hit Martial Disciple 9.

Another option would be to forcibly suppress my cultivation. Keep it low, and maybe I wouldn’t get targeted, but what was the point? I didn’t gain much if I didn’t advance. I could skate by, get out of this three-month torture session, leave this damn clan, and level freely.

Following that path, could I push Martial Disciple to the limit and find out what came next? It would be good to learn more about this world and experience something different. I didn’t know how long I had spent in this damn house. Over a year? It was a huge time commitment, though, and there was a large risk of just wasting a lot of time and gaining nothing.

I was silent for a long time, thinking.

What would make it so that the clan would actively not want me to die?

Higher affinity, obviously, but that would be expensive.

A powerful, obvious blessing that I could demonstrate? Yes, but again, expensive.

What else?

“What about learning a trade?” I asked myself. “Could that work?”

Even this world had to value skilled labor. Were there any special cultivator jobs? My ‘blessing’ could be knowledge and skill in one. Each life, I would learn more, thus making my ‘blessing’ stronger and stronger.

“System, I want basic knowledge about cultivator-specific trade skills. Just tell me what jobs are common for cultivators and what the basic requirements are for each one.

Very basic knowledge of cultivator trade skills. Cost 1 credit.

“Purchase.”

Purchase confirmed. 59 credits remaining.

There are five common cultivator professions. Each of them is usually matched with one of the five basic elements.

Refiners use metal affinity to create tools and weapons. Beast tamers use water affinity to control demon beasts. Fire affinity is used by alchemists to create pills. Wood affinity is needed by herbalists to grow plants. The earth affinity is used by formations specialists to create formations that control qi.

Credits expended, transaction complete.

Which one would be best for me in my situation? I wanted a trade that would be immediately useful. It needed to be something that could benefit me personally, but also something I could directly demonstrate at that first evaluation if need be.

Herbalist was a no-go. It sounded valuable, but it didn’t feel right for my situation.

Beast tamer felt similar. I’d not seen any beasts here, and I didn’t think I would be able to use such a skill while living in this complex.

Refiner, alchemist, or formations master…

“System, I want simplified knowledge about refining, alchemy, and formations. Nothing much, just a basic idea of what these trades do.”

Very basic knowledge of refining, alchemy, and formations. Cost 3 credits.

“Purchase.”

Purchase confirmed. 56 credits remaining.

Refiners create weapons, armor, and tools. More powerful refiners can create more powerful weapons and are capable of enhancing any of their attributes. Examples would be a weapon being made sharper, more durable, more flexible, or less flexible. Refined items typically require a variety of ores and gemstones to create.

Alchemy is for creating pills. While refiners create external tools to assist a cultivator, alchemists help improve the cultivator. Pills can be used to improve one’s cultivation, to heal injuries, or as poisons. Alchemists can even create explosive pills that can be used as weapons. Pills typically require a variety of herbs to create.

Formation specialists can create formations that control qi. Possible uses include creating areas of higher qi density, creating shields, or creating large-scale illusions. Formations typically require a variety of expensive reagents to set up.

Credits expended, transaction complete.

So, what should I choose? My real end goal here was to raise my cultivation to earn more credits when I died. Refining didn’t seem like it would help with that. Creating a qi-dense area with a formation sounded like it could be extremely valuable, but I didn’t like the sound of ‘expensive reagents.’

Alchemy would let me make pills to improve myself while only requiring a few herbs. It seemed like it would be the most effective choice.

Drugs it is.

“System, I want to become a skilled alchemist.”

Would you like to buy the complete skills and knowledge of a Master Alchemist? Cost 10 billion credits.

Uh, no.

“System, I want to become a basic alchemist.”

Would you like to buy the complete skills and knowledge of a Disciple Alchemist? Cost 10 million credits.

Again, a big ‘no’ there.

“System, I want to learn all the common knowledge about alchemy. The information that any reasonably educated person that grew up on this continent would know.”

Would you like to buy common knowledge of alchemy? Cost 50 credits.

Still a little pricy.

“System, I want to learn all the common knowledge about alchemy that nearly everyone on this continent would know.”

Would you like to buy basic knowledge of alchemy? Cost 10 credits.

“Purchase.”

Purchase confirmed. 46 credits remaining.

A small amount of information entered my mind. I learned a few snippets about herbs that were commonly associated with alchemy, and I had vague impressions about how to begin learning, but it wasn’t much. I felt short-changed.

How to proceed from here? If I wanted to learn alchemy, I needed a fire affinity. I could continue to slow-roll this, buy a temporary affinity, and try it out, but the constant deaths had begun to wear down my psyche. I couldn’t handle any more of it.

From what I had seen of other disciples, trying different affinities would be pointless. Maybe it wasn’t, and maybe I could learn something by trying them, but I wasn’t willing to put myself through that anymore. I needed to push forward with the idea of learning a profession, and alchemy seemed like my best choice.

Even if I ended up regretting it, I was going to go all in.

“System, I want to improve my fire qi affinity to mid nine-star such that it stays improved after every restart.”

Permanent Mid 9-star Fire Affinity. Confirmed. Discounted cost 35 credits. 11 credits remaining.

Note: In the future, only upgrades to the fire affinity will be discounted.

I felt power surge through me. It was different than it was with earth affinity. More powerful, more primal. It would take time to adjust to this new sensation.

11 credits left. Anything worth purchasing?

“System, I want to improve my ability to study, learn, and remember alchemy knowledge. I want to improve it as much as possible with 11 credits.”

Severely limited enhancement to learning alchemy. Cost 11 credits.

Severely limited… so, not much. But, well, even a mosquito leg is still meat. “Purchase.”

Purchase confirmed. 0 credits remaining.

Time to see if I could become an alchemist.