Pill Contributions

Sheng Zhen turned to the outer disciple and asked, a little unused to the subservience, "Um...I want to get the... um, you know buy high-rank pills here."

The outer disciple looked up and down at the short Sheng Zhen, that looked barely older than twelve but she did not give any outward reaction at that.

"Since Young Master is an inner sect disciple, would you like to buy with Pill Contributions or spirit stones.", She said, leading Sheng Zhen towards one of the many luxurious sofas sitting in the lobby.

"Pill Contribution?"

"Oh, Young master must be new." She said, picking up a thick catalog from the table and handing it to Sheng Zhen, "For every pill you refine for the Alchemist Hall, you will receive Contribution points in exchange. These can be used to get many resources from the sect."

Sheng Zhen opened the catalog and browsed through the choices. He was able to recognize a few of the choices,

'Qi Supplementing pill, High-Grade purity - 5 Pill Contribution'

'Foundation strengthening Pill, High-Grade purity - 500 Pill Contributions'

'Humm...where is Five Elements Pill, ah here,"

'Five Elements Pill, Mid-grade purity - 25,000 Pill Contributions'

Sheng Zhen sucked in a cold breath, this was a little too expensive. Looking up, he asked the attendant, "How much will this pill cost in Spirit Stones."

The Attendant just shook her head, "Young Master, Five Elements Pill is a Rank 3 Pill. Outside of auctions, you just could no buy them with spirit stones."

Sheng Zhen resisted the urge to hold his head at the impending headache. The number of Pill contribution points he needed were enormous, and that was just for a mid-grade Five-elements Pill. He needed at least one with high purity.

Waving in thanks, he left the Alchemy tower, taking that catalog along with him. He needed a plan to earn enough contribution points as fast as possible. Thankfully Pill tower gives a lot of ingredient sets in the monthly quota of resources, so refining a few should not be a problem.

Soon he reached his home-dwelling, pondering over the issue of the contribution points. Absentmindedly waving his jade broch to deactivate the formations, he entered the house, only to sense something amiss. The table in the room was moved ever so slightly, as if someone had bumped into it.

Narrowing his eyes, he followed the imaginary trail into the Alchemy Workshop, looking for even slight discrepancies. The whole workshop looked the same, everything looked exactly as it was, except Sheng Zhen's prodigious mind noticed one thing missing among hundreds, a small slicing knife.

From there he went upstairs, his spiritual senses detecting a presence there.

Entering the bedroom where his patient was laying, only find the bed empty.

"Agggghhhh", a guttural cry broke from the side, and Sheng Zhen turned to see the slave girl charging at him, her face a visage of pure rage. Her pale, shaking hands held the small knife.

But the moment Sheng Zhen turned to face her, the expression on her face faltered but her momentum carried her forward. Obviously, she possessed no threat to Sheng Zhen, who just moved out of her path.

The slave girl fell down, the small knife clattering off on the floor.

"A child?", she said, trying to get up only for her frail muscles to give out. Long-term pill poisoning along with terribly high fever was too much for her.

Sheng Zhen looked at the girl in concern, moving to pick her up, "Are you all right?"

"Run away kid, Run! or They will capture you and feed you those vile beads, Run!", The girl frantically yelled, looking hysteric. She looked ready to faint, only holding on through sheer grit.

Sheng Zhen stilled, before sighing, "It's Ok."

"No, it is not...", before she could protest any further, Sheng Zhen shot a spell at her, making her unconscious.

Sheng Zhen looked at her, frowning. Mobilizing his spiritual energy, he gently lifted her and tucked her back into the bed.

He could not guess what she was thinking, for her to yell at him to run. Maybe she was some mortal villager abducted to be a slave. How could mortals resist if cultivators decided on something.

Leaving her sleeping, he again checked the pulse. Her blood seemed agitated from straining herself but nothing a good sleep.

Leaving her sleeping, he sat beside him, wating for her to wake up.