Chapter 2: Cultivation Pagoda

It took Zixin slightly longer to reach the Medicine Hall because he was currently weak because of blood loss and internal damage. 

The Medicine Hall was massive with dragon carved pillars. Disciples in green robes stood behind a counter with a big and long bank of drawers. The drawers had labels on them and each disciple in green was responsible for a single pill type. 

Their labels were as follows; healing pills, Qi cultivation pills, Qi replenishing pills, body cultivation pills, antidote pills, medical plants and remedies. And there were queues according to what one came to the Medicine Hall for. 

Xong Zixin joined the healing pills queue which wasn't that long when compared with other queues. And soon, his turn came. 

"Greetings Senior Sister, I'd like some healing pills for Qi Deviation." said Zixin to the green robe's beautiful lady. 

"Qi Deviation Pills? Junior Brother, I must first check to see if you're telling the truth. Qi Deviation Pills are very precious and not easily given out. If a disciple was lying, that disciple will be expelled from the sect." said the female disciple. 

Zixin didn't bother to explain himself and just extended his hand to the female disciple to confirm whether he was lying or not. The female disciple then placed two fingers on his pulse and injected some energy into Zixin's body. Three seconds later, she quickly retracted her fingers. 

"Junior Brother, so you weren't lying about your condition. Wait a moment, I'll get you your pills." said the female disciple as she turned around and opened a specific drawer and took out a small porcelain bottle then handed it to Zixin.

"Here, take this. There are ten pills in total, take one every five days until you're fully healed. Honestly, with how messed up your internal system is, Junior Brother, you shouldn't be alive but it seems you have luck on your side and survived. Take care."

"Thank you Senior Sister, I'll be careful next time and not endanger my life anymore." said Zixin before leaving with the pills. 

…

After he left the Medicine Hall, Zixin didn't return to his cultivation cave but went to the Cultivation Pagoda to look for a new cultivation technique. The Cultivation Pagoda also wasn't far from the Medicine Hall, it was just ten minutes away. While on his way to the Cultivation Pagoda, he opened the porcelain bottle and took out one pill. The pill was green in colour and spherical.

When Zixin put it in his mouth, it turned into a tasty liquid that Zixin swallowed and his face became less pale and more rosy.

'Wow, this pill is as magical as the novels described. I can feel my internal organs and blood vessels being healed at a rapid speed!' he exclaimed inwardly.

With his condition getting better, he walked faster and quickly reached the Cultivation Pagoda, the pagoda had four floors in total. Outside the Cultivation Pagoda, an old man was resting comfortably on his wooden chair. The old man was also wearing dark green, cloud pattern robes.

"Greetings Elder Choi." Zixin cupped his fists and greeted the elder. The elder then opened his eyes to see just who dared to interrupt his naptime. 

"Oh, Zixin, it's you. What brings you here?"

When Elder Choi saw that it was Zixin, he calmed down. Zixin was one of the best Outer disciples that the Greencloud Sect had, with the potential of becoming an Inner disciple so he was quite popular with the elders. 

"Elder Choi, I came here to look for a different cultivation technique. I hope you can allow me inside to choose one."

"What? A new cultivation technique? What's wrong with the one you're currently using?" asked Elder Choi. 

"Elder Choi you see, I suffered from Qi Deviation late last night and almost lost my life. After I survived, I realised just how valuable my life is, so I want to cultivate a Body Cultivation Technique. Please grant me this request, Elder Choi." explained Zixin.

"Qi Deviation? I see, but you do know that this means right. Compared to cultivating Qi, cultivating the body is much slower and not very beneficial in the long run. You will no longer have access to Spirit Qi and won't be able to change to other paths like sword cultivation, forging, alchemy, array formations or other popular professions. The only thing you're gonna be is a meat shield and that's not a profession. Plus, the Disciple Advancement Event is around the corner so are you certain?" explained Elder Choi.

"Thank you Elder Choi for your advice but I've already made up my mind. I choose pain instead of my life." replied Zixin. 

"Then go in. I don't need to tell you the rules right?"

"Yes Elder Choi and thank you."

Elder Choi just waved his hand and resumed his napping session. 

…

The rules of the Cultivation Pagoda were very simple. You had three hours to look for a suitable technique, record your chosen technique and leave. All disciples were allowed on the ground floor, Inner disciples and the best Outer disciples were allowed on the first floor, Core disciples and the best Inner disciples were allowed on the second floor, Elders and the best Core disciples were allowed on the third and last floor.

The ground floor was filled with ordinary and incomplete cultivation techniques and cultivation techniques had ranks from Zero to Five stars.

A Zero Star cultivation technique didn't have any benefits and had a 1:1 day ratio. A One Star cultivation technique had a ratio of 1:10 days ratio, meaning that cultivating for a day was equivalent to ten days of hard work and the Qi was purer. A Two Star technique had a 1:30 days ratio. A three star cultivation technique had a 1:60 days ratio. A Four Star technique had a 1:100 days ratio and a Five Star cultivation technique had a 1:200 days ratio. 

The higher level the cultivation technique was, the more benefits it provided like purer Spiritual Qi, faster cultivation, a stronger foundation, etc. 

Zixin didn't waste his time on the ground floor because he'd checked all the cultivation techniques here when he came here for the first time. He'd wasted a lot of time here thinking that he'd find a powerful technique but he found nothing and almost regretted that decision if he hadn't found a good cultivation technique at the last moment on the first floor. 

He directly went to the first floor and began searching for a good cultivation technique for the body. Body and Soul cultivation techniques were very rare, especially Soul Techniques because they were rumoured to be the most powerful and deadly. 

…

Two hours passed with no luck on Zixin's side. The Body Cultivation Techniques here were very weak so Zixin didn't immediately pick them. 

'I've checked all the shelves with Body Cultivation Techniques, let me check the Qi Cultivation shelves, maybe someone put a few there by mistake.' thought Zixin. 

He did indeed find a few Body Cultivation Techniques on the Qi technique shelves but they weren't impressive at all. 

"Damn it, this ANT Cultivation Technique is the last one, if it's not good then I'll have to pick between the ones I've already seen." he muttered as he read the description of this technique. 

[Ant Cultivation Technique, the most powerful body technique in the world. At Hatchling level, able to resist Soul Attacks and destroy rivers. At Larvae Baby level, able to destroy mountains and part the seas. At Larvae Juvenile, destroy the world and ascend.]

"Wow, what a powerful body technique! But I feel like I've seen this text before…" Zixin then thought hard about where he had seen this text before and after thinking hard, he remembered. 

'The ground floor!'

He then rushed to the ground floor with the technique and ran to the dust covered shelves and pulled out two cultivation techniques. He then ran to another shelf in an inconspicuous corner and took out another cultivation book. He ran around the ground floor like a madman and looked through the shelves. The other disciples thought he'd gone crazy from frustration of not getting a technique he wanted.