Promotion To The Outer Sect

"Hello newbies! It's Grandpa Tiger!" The door shook as it opened, and a tall, strong man entered wearing servants' robes. He glared fiercely at Meng Hao and the fat teenager.

"Starting today, Grandpa Tiger is going to flay you alive! If you survive, then you have to plant 1000 pots of weed for me!"

"Don't you mean plant 1000 pots of weed for you or else you will flay us alive?" said Meng Hao, standing nervously.

"Shut up loser boy! I know what I said!"

Meng Hao wanted to lash out but hesitated, he was a weak skinny scholar boy up against a hunk of meat.

"But… the Elder Brother in charge of servants already assigned us to plant 1000 pots per day."

"Then plant an extra 1000 for me," He said with a cold harrumph.

Meng Hao's brain spun. He had just arrived in the Reliance Sect, and was already being bullied. He didn't want to give in, but the man was so big and strong. Then he glanced at the fat teenager who he remembered could cry with the intensity of a thundering herd.

"Fatty! Your dad just sent a letter saying that he disowned you and married your wife off to someone else!"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the fat teenager sat up. His eyes were still closed, but he started to sob.

"NOOOOOOO!!! Father how could you do this to me!" he cried. His voice echoed throughout the room like thunder.

The screams drifted outside, such that others began to notice. A cold voice shouted out.

"What the hell is going on?"

It was the voice of the horse-faced young man. As soon as the big man heard it, he began to tremble in fear.

"It's not a good idea to upset the Elder Brother in charge of servants. Quick, stop crying! I don't need the 1000 pots!"

Meng Hao never imagined the fat teenager's dream state would be so intense, and also wanted to stop the situation. He walked forward and lightly slapped the fat teenager, then whispered into his ear.

"Your crying worked. Your dad changed his mind."

The young man suddenly relaxed and stopping crying. He returned to his bed, his robe drenched in tears and then fell back to sleep.

Giving another nervous glance toward the fat teenager, the big man left while pulling his ear.

Meng Hao stood there for a while also pulling his ears. That fatty really had powerful lungs.

The following morning at dawn.

As the morning sun filled the sky, the sound of bells filled the air. It seemed to carry with it a strange power; as people heard it, they woke and began their work. The fat teenager woke up. He looked down dumbly at the wet spots on his body.

"What happened last night? How come my whole body is wet? Did rain leak through the roof last night?"

Meng Hao dressed silently for a while before speaking.

"Nothing happened. Everything seemed normal."

"How come my eyes feel teary?"

"Allergies?"

"Oh? Okay." he said while gingerly putting on his robes.

Meng Hao and the fat teenager walked out into the sunlight and began their life as servants in the Reliance Sect, planting pots of weed.

Each of them was responsible for 1000 pots. Around the Northern Servants' Quarter, the wild slopes were covered with acres of fertile soil.

Putting down his pots, Meng Hao rubbed his shoulder. His arms felt both numb and pained. Carrying pots was alot of work. Off to the side, the fat teenager panted as they climbed. Eventually, they found a suitable spot for planting, and the sound of displaced soil began to fill the area.

"My dad is super rich," said the fat teenager with a long face. He pulled out a weed plant and planted it in the soil. "I'm gonna be super rich too. I don't want to be a servant… These Immortals are strange, they have magic and are unaffected by most mortal things. What do they need weed for? And why do they need us to plant it for them?"

Unlike the fat teenager, Meng Hao was too tired to speak. Because of his poverty in Yunjie County, he hadn't been able to eat much meat and as such his body was weak. He didn't have much energy. After half and hour of work, he leaned up against a tree, breathing heavily.

He looked at the fat teenager, who, while so tired he trembled, continued to curse under his breath and plant more weed. He was younger than Meng Hao, but a lot stronger.

Meng Hao shook his head bitterly and continued to rest. He pulled out the Quelling Conscience Manual and examined it again. Following the description in the manual, he attempted to breathe in the narcotic scents of Heaven and Earth.

Time passed, and soon it was dusk. Throughout the day, Meng Hao had managed to plant 300 pots of weed. The fat teenager had managed to plant 800. By pooling them together, it was enough for one of them to eat. They consulted for a bit, and then the fat teenager went to get some food which the two of them shared in their room. Then they fell to sleep, exhausted.

Eventually, the fat teenager's snores filled the room, and Meng Hao struggled to sit up, his eyes filled with determination. Ignoring his hunger and exhaustion, he picked up the Quelling Conscience Manual and started reading it again.

"When I used to study for the examinations, I would usually stay up reading until dawn. Food and rest are for the weak. As for my life now, it may be tiring, but at least I have a goal. Kind of strange though, to think that the secret behind immortality is consuming a lot of narcotics and drugs." Stubborn persistence shone in his eyes. He lowered his head and began to study.

He continued on until late in the night, until he finally fell asleep, although when exactly that was, he didn't know. As he slept, his dreams were filled with thoughts of smelling the various narcotic scents throughout heaven and earth. The bells woke him up in the morning. He opened his bloodshot eyes, yawned, and got out of bed. Then, along with the energetic fat teenager, went back to planting weed.

Time continued on until two months had passed. Meng Hao's weed planting ability slowly grew until he could plant 500 in a day. But, most of his time was spent trying to grasp the profoundness of drugs. Then one evening around dusk, as he sat panting in snorting mediation, his body suddenly vibrated, and he felt a prickling numbness in his limbs. Then, it seemed as if a sliver of power coursed through his flesh and blood, then seeped out of his body.

After that, he felt a faint high pass quickly inside him. It disappeared almost instantly, but Meng Hao opened his eyes excitedly. His exhaustion disappeared, and his white eyes became bloodshot. His body trembling, he clutched at the Quelling Conscience Manual. He hadn't eaten or slept much in the past months. Other than planting weed, he spent almost all his time sniffing the air, and now, at long last, he had some results. He felt as if he were filled with power.

Time passed again, two months, and now it was the eighth month of the year, summer. Broiling sunlight fell from the sky.

"Condense the narcotic energy into the body, fuse and revel in it, open the blood vessels and brain passages, resonate with heaven and earth." It was noontime in the deep mountains near the Reliance Sect. Meng Hao used one hand to stoke the bonfire in front of him, and the other to hold the Quelling Conscience Manual, which he studied intently.

He closed his eyes for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, sensing the delicate high within his body. This was the high which had appeared two months ago, and Meng Hao regarded it as a treasure. The high was clearly much more intense now. Using the mnemonics and circulation technique described in the manual, he sat in meditation, allowing the high to move about his body.

After a short time, Meng Hao opened his eyes and caught sight of the fat teenager approaching quickly, carrying his pots.

"Well, how is it?" panted the fat teenager as he ran up. Though fat, his body was strong.

"I still can't disseminate it throughout my entire body," said Meng Hao with a laugh. "But I'm quite confident that within a month, I'll be able to reach the first stage of Quelling Conscience." Belief filled his demeanor.

"What I meant was, how is the chicken?" He licked his lips as he looked at the bonfire.

"Oh, pretty much done," said Meng Hao, also licking his lips and pulling back the branch he'd been using to stoke the fire. The fat teenager used his axe to dig through the soil and pull the chicken out. It was fully cooked now.

A fragrant aroma filled the air. They split the chicken in half and began to wolf it down.

"Ever since you were able to get your first high." said the fat teenager, his lips covered in grease, "you've been able to catch wild chickens. Compared to now, the first two months here were like a nightmare…" This was his new practice, to flatter Meng Hao.

"A lot of people get food out in the wild, you just don't know about it, that's all." As Meng Hao spoke, he took a bite out of a chicken leg, making his speech a bit garbled.

"Ai, if you really reach the first level of Quelling Conscience next week and become an Outer Sect disciple," said the fat teenager, his face bitter, "then what will I do? I don't understand any of those mnemonics." He looked at Meng Hao expectantly.

"Look fatty, the only way you can get home is if you become an Outer Sect disciple," said Meng Hao, dropping the chicken leg and looking him in the eye.

The fat teenager sat quietly for a while before giving a determined nod.

Six days flew by. It was night. The fat teenager was already asleep, and Meng Hao sat cross-legged in his room, meditating. He thought about how other than planting weed, he had spent all his time these past three months trying to get high at will. He thought back to two months ago, when he had his first high. He closed his eyes, started violently sniffing the air, and gradually caused a high to build throughout his body. Then, a loud sound reverberated in his head. Up to now, he had been unable to disperse the high throughout his entire body. But just now, he had succeeded, diffusing the high to every corner of his body. He felt as if his body was floating.

At the same moment in which Meng Hao achieved the first level of Quelling Conscience, the horse-faced young man sitting on the big stone outside slowly opened his eyes. He looked in the direction of Meng Hao's house, then closed his eyes again.

At dawn, under the envious eyes of everyone in the Northern Servants' quarter, Meng Hao walked out of the room that had been his home for the past four months. He stood in front of the horse-faced youth.

The fat teenager didn't come with him. He remained in the doorway watching Meng Hao, determination filling his eyes.

"You reached the first level of Quelling Conscience in four months. You're not outstanding, but not stupid, either." The horse-faced young man looked at him, his expression no longer cold. Calmly, he said, "Now that you are going to the Outer Sect, I must explain to you the rules there. Every month, stimulants and marijuana pills will be distributed there, but it is not prohibited to take things by force from others, or to gang up. There is a Public Area there that some people call the Killing Zone. You … you will need to look out for yourself." As he finished speaking, he lifted his right hand, whereupon a jade slip shot out and hovered in front of Meng Hao. He grabbed it.

"Imbue narcotic energy from your high into that jade slip and it will lead you to the Treasure Pavilion in the Outer Sect. That is where you will register your promotion." The horse-faced young man closed his eyes.

Meng Hao said nothing. Clasping his fist in salute, he turned and glanced at the fat teenager. They looked at each other for a moment. He felt like he was going to miss the Fatty's constant bitching everyday. He pinched the jade slip, which then began to glow with a green light, and gradually floated forward.

Meng Hao followed it, slowly leaving the Servants' Quarters.

He trod a narrow road which led away from the main gate, walking further and further away, toward the foot of the mountain. Eventually he reached an area he had never stepped foot into during the past four months.

From a distance, the entire area seemed to be filled with roiling fog. However, upon stepping foot into the fog, it disappeared. In front of him stretched a scene of carved balustrades and marble steps, of lofty buildings and roads paved with green stone. Outer Sect disciples bustled about wearing green robes. A few of them noticed Meng Hao as he walked past.

Some of them shot him contemptuous glances which lacked even the slightest bit of good intent. The rest... kind of just looked like they were enjoying a really good high.

Not long after, he reached a multi-colored building in the southern section of the Outer Sect. It was three stories tall. There was a weird pattern etched into the building, which combined with the multiple colors made looking at it a very trippy experience.

As Meng Hao approached, the building's main door opened noiselessly and out stumbled a middle-aged man with frizzled, long curly hair. He wore a tattered robe of dark brown, and had a completely dazed expression on his face. He lifted his right hand in a grabbing motion, and the jade slip flew into his hand. He looked at it then began to speak slowly:

"Meng Hao has been promoted to the Outer Sect. He shall be bestowed with a green house, a green robe, a green tablet, and a green bag of holding. The green tablet can be used to enter the Green Treasure Pavilion to retrieve a green magic item." He waved his right hand, and a gray bag appeared in Meng Hao's hands.

Meng Hao looked at the gray bag for a moment.

"Isn't this bag supposed to be green?"

The man looked at Meng Hao with bloodshot eyes.

"Are you saying I made a mistake somewhere?" He said menacingly.

Meng Hao did not refute and imbued the bag with a sizable amount of narcotic energy. It grew blurry, and then he caught a glimpse of a space inside about half the size of a person. There, he could see a green robe, a jade slip, and some other objects.

He concentrated, and the jade slip suddenly appeared in his hand. He focused his attention even more and found that inside the bag was a map of the Outer Sect Quarter. In a remote corner was his house.

"Now go to the Green Treasure Pavilion, get your green treasure, and leave. Good bye Greenie."

Meng Hao lifted his head and stuffed the bag of holding into his robe. Looking at the opened door of the Treasure Pavilion nearby, he sucked in a deep breath and stepped in, filled with anticipation.

As soon as he entered, his expression changed, and he sucked in a breath again.