A Green Mirror

The Green Treasure Pavilion was true to it's name. It was indeed filled with treasure, and all of them were green. Jade shelves were filled with a dazzling display of bottles, swords, ornaments and jewelry. Meng Hao began breathing heavily, and his heart started pumping. It felt as if he were getting high right there. He stood there, dumbfounded.

In Meng Hao's short life, he had never seen so much wealth. His brain spun, and he inadvertently thought about grabbing all of it and running away.

"The value of these treasures… I don't even know what they do, but I'm sure they're priceless. The compensation for working for Immortals, it's incredible." He walked past one of the jade shelves, his expression filled with excitement, unconsciously stretching his head forward. He wondered if the third floor of the Treasure Pavilion was the same as the first, or if it perhaps had even more valuable treasures.

"Immortals… they're so rich!" Suddenly, Meng Hao's red eyes fell upon something strange. On one of the jade shelves he noticed a green mirror.

There were traces of drug powder on it. Surprised, Meng Hao picked it up and took a sniff. The powder was quite ordinary, like something from the mortal world. Nothing about it seemed the least bit unique. An elder probably just snorted a bit and left some stray powder on the mirror by accident.

"Man you really like drugs do you?" said a voice from behind him. He didn't know when the dazed man had entered, but he stood there looking at the green mirror.

"Once you pick up a treasure then you have chosen." As the man spoke, he sighed over and over. Even though he was clearly out of it, he seemed to have some focus within him still.

"This mirror…" Meng Hao looked down at it again, a strange expression on his face. It was not covered with complicated carvings, but instead, corrosion, making it very unclear.

"Who knows? True treasures of an unknown nature often conceal themselves in ordinary things. The more humble they appear, the more precious they are. Maybe..." Meng Hao was about to sneak the copper mirror back onto the shelf when the dazed-looking man took several hasty steps forward to prevent him. He looked seriously at Meng Hao, the daze in his face completely gone.

"Like I said, you touch it, you take it. I have been responsible for the Treasure Pavilion for many years, and I know the origin of all the items here... Well, except maybe this one and a few others. However, I heard rumors that Pimp Reliance used it at one point."

It startled Meng Hao to hear the name of Pimp Reliance. He had just entered the Outer Sect, and there were many things he wasn't familiar with. He began to hesitate.

"If Pimp Reliance left it here, what good can it really be then?"

"Your words are incorrect. Allow Elder Brother to explain: Pimp Reliance discarding this treasure proves that there is something unique and unusual about this treasure. It means even he couldn't unlock it's true secrets. Before you, ten or more people took it to study it, and though none of them succeeded in fully understanding it, none of them regretted their decision.

"I guess so…" Meng Hao studied and read from childhood, so he was quite intelligent. However, he was still dumb enough to be fooled by looping logic like the formerly dazed man was using.

The formerly dazed looking man felt that enough was enough. He waved his wide sleeve, and a whistling wind picked up Meng Hao, flew him out of the Green Treasure Pavilion, and deposited him outside.

There was a crashing sound as the main door of the Green Treasure Pavilion slammed shut.

Frowning angrily, Meng Hao looked up at the closed door. Then he sighed and looked back down at the green mirror in his hands. He thought back to the words in the first chapter of the Quelling Conscience Manual and hesitated. If this truly was something that Pimp Reliance had studied, then it must have some value. Shaking his head, he put the mirror into his robe. Then, with a final hateful glare at the Green Treasure Pavilion, he turned and left.

He walked along the green paths of the Outer Sect, using the information from the jade slip as a guide. Around noontime, he found his house. It was along the north border, in a very remote section of the Outer Sect. Several other houses crowded around it.

He pushed the door open, and it slammed against the wall. Inside were a bed and a desk. Meng Hao stood there, feeling quite content. This place was much better than his room in the Servants' Quarter.

He sat down cross-legged on the bed, took a deep breath and pulled the green mirror out of his robe. He studied it carefully, until the sun began to set over the western mountains. He lit an oil lamp and continued to study it, all to no avail. In the end, he cursed to himself for spending so much time just staring at the mirror.

No matter how he looked at it, the green mirror seemed completely ordinary in nature.

The bright moon shone outside, its rays touching the eaves of his window. Everything was silent, save for the sound of the wind among the leaves of the trees. Meng Hao took a deep breath, thinking about the moon. He felt emotional, as if he had entered a new age.

He murmured to himself: "I will never again be a loser scholar in Yunjie County. I've become a Reliance Outer Sect disciple…"

Meng Hao gathered his thoughts, closed his eyes, and sat in meditation, circulating narcotic energy in his body. He had been living while maintaining a low high for months now, and was used to it.

Upon reaching the first stage of Quelling Conscience, one could sniff the scent and absorb the narcotic energy of Heaven and Earth. Though it wasn't strong enough to completely alleviate hunger, it could sustain your life.

Several days passed. One afternoon, Meng Hao sat cross-legged in meditation, when he suddenly heard a miserable scream from outside. He immediately opened his eyes, moved to the window and looked outside. He saw an Outer Sect disciple on the ground, being stamped upon over and over again by another. Blood oozed from a wound in his chest, but he wasn't dead, just wounded. The person who had been kicking him grabbed his bag of holding, then walked off with a cold harrumph.

The trampled disciple struggled to his feet, his eyes filled with violent ruthlessness. He staggered away. Surrounding onlookers stared at him with fish like eyes, their faces lacking any enthusiasm.

Meng Hao observed silently. He had watched similar scenes played out countless times in the past few days, and as such had a deeper understanding of the ways of the Outer Sect.

Time blurred as seven days passed. During that time, Meng Hao saw even more instances of disciples being robbed. The fighting and plundering which occurred between Outer Sect disciples caused Meng Hao to grow more and more taciturn. Especially disturbing was when he had seen a disciple of the second or third level of Quelling Conscience killed by another in the Public Area. This caused Meng Hao to be especially careful and cautious when he went outside.

Thankfully, his Cultivation base was low, and he didn't have anything of value, so others mostly ignored him.

Actually, Meng Hao had reached a standstill in his Cultivation. The second level of Quelling Conscience was different than the first. He still needed narcotic energy, but according to the Quelling Conscience Manual, his mortal body had already begun to change. It was starting to lose its common sense and limitations towards narcotics, especially his mind. As such, reaching the second level of Quelling Conscience would require many more times the amount of narcotic energy than the first level did.

Similarly, Meng Hao now understood what latent talent was. The body's ability to absorb the narcotic energy of Heaven and Earth was just that, latent talent. The more latent talent someone has, the more energy they could absorb. The less latent talent one has, the less energy they could absorb. For someone with considerable latent talent, the more time they spent on sniffing exercises, the more spiritual energy they could absorb.

According to his calculations, to reach the second level of Quelling Conscience would probably take at least one or two years. The amount of time required to reach the third level would be many more times than that.

Of course, if he acquired some marijuana pills or stimulants, he could use them to amplify his narcotic energy, then, he could decrease that time. That was why so much horrific robbery occurred in the Outer Sect; every month, drugs would be openly distributed.

"The high become higher, the weak become high too, just not as much..." said Meng Hao quietly. "This is how the Reliance Sect grooms disciples for the Inner Sect."

One early morning, when the sky had just begun to grow dim with light, Meng Hao sat in meditation as usual. He had no special resources, except for his determination. Therefore, he did not give up on his nightly meditations and sniffing exercises. Bells reverberated throughout the Sect, and Meng Hao slowly opened his eyes.

"These bells…" Meng Hao's eyes focused, as if he had come to a realization. An excited expression appeared on his face, and he dashed out of the room to see fellow disciples everywhere, rushing off into the distance.

"When these bells sound, the time has come for distribution of stimulants and marijuana pills. It must be today." More and more people began running in the direction of the bells. It seemed everyone within the Outer Sect was there.

"Drug Distribution Day," said Meng Hao, breathing heavily. He ran along with the crowds until he reached the square in the center of the Outer Sect. The square was monumental in size, and along its borders were nine stone carvings of weed. Even the central square was shaped as a giant pot of weed. Placed on the foremost pillar was a platform over ninety meters in diameter, over which swirled a multi-colored cloud. Inside the cloud could be seen shapeless forms.

Over a hundred Outer Sect disciples stood there in their green robes, murmuring amongst themselves and glancing frequently at the multi-colored cloud.

Then, the cloud slowly dissipated, revealing a pock-faced old man wearing a golden robe. His face was placid and emitted a calm, natural power and dignity. His eyes shone like lightning. Two people stood next to him, a man and a woman, both wearing silver robes. The man was exceedingly handsome, with an upright appearance, although indifference covered his face. He looked so good, it was hard to believe he was a drug cultivator at all. As for the woman, as soon as Meng Hao laid eyes on her, his pupils constricted.

This woman was the woman who had taken him from Mount Daqing three months ago.