I wake up to the sound of chattering, little light shined on my face as the windows are closed, I yawn with my arms stretched out. I've started renting the room in the inn at a lower price because of a contract that I can cancel anytime.

It has been 1 week since I joined the A.A(Alchemist Association). My daily routines consist of having my breakfast at the inn before going to A.A and practise with Choi Inyoung. Afterwards, I have my lunch there at the association before doing some alchemy theory studying and going back to the Inn to have dinner and going to bed.

The cycle repeats every day.

A.A will provide its alchemist with materials every day, depending on the demand for a pill and the scarcity of the ingredients. 

For Choi Inyoung and I, we create meridian refinement pills, bone marrow washing pills, and some basic cultivation pills that improve the base cultivation of cultivators.

Out of every 4 perfect pills created, two must be donated to the A.A. Otherwise, for every 5 normal pills created, 3 must be donated. 

Although, because materials are provided, I do not mind donating some.

To be honest, I have a lot of free time. I cannot practise martial arts because of my broken body and all I can do is wait while my virus spreads.

----------------

System-level: 8

Current Cultivation Realm: Eighth Stage of Qi Condensation.

Infect 9122 more people to advance to the next stage.

Virus Slot 1: Virus Rank E

-Cough

-Fever

-Water resistance

-Qi immunity 1

-Qi Immunity 2

[View Evolution Tree]

The number of Infected people: 59,710

The number of people killed: 391

Recovered: 2

Evolution Points: 96,318

[Martial Techniques]

[Special Infected]

[Locked]

----------------

Level eight unlocked Qi Immunity 2 and I bought it, it allows the virus to be immune to Qi from the Foundation Establishment Realm. However, it seems that some people have started to recover. 

For example, my first victim, the prostitute recovered because of her immune system. It is highly possible to infect her again but the effects of the virus will be reduced.

Walking around the town, I can see people coughing here and there with workers resting at home.

A rumour of disease has circulated among the town and a Foundation Establishment doctor has been hired to check it out, but remedies to cure cough and fever do not work and people are suspecting a curse has been placed on Nielong.

That's convenient. 

I finish the bowl of fishball noodles by drinking the broth and placing 5 copper coins beside the bowl. 

A servant comes to pocket the coins and clears the table, I proceed with my usual routine of going to the A.A.

-----------------

Opening the door, Choi Inyoung is scribbling something as she scratches her hair.

I step in quietly and she immediately jolts.

"Wang Ji? It's you. Sorry, we won't be doing any practice and studying today." She says.

?

I walk behind her and look at the paper. Even though she is blind, all her words are written neatly in beautiful handwriting.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

Choi Inyoung sighs. "Do you know any martial artists? We need materials in the region of ghost valley for a pill called spirit embodiment. It is high in demand currently. However..."

I sit down beside Choi Inyoung.

"The region of ghost valley will be opened next week for a competition. We don't normally get to enter because they are governed by the neighbouring city. So we need to commission martial artists to enter the competition and collect the materials for us..."

"And the problem?"

Choi Inyoung clicks her tongue. "Money. Even a Qi Condensation cultivator offers a price of 1 gold to collect a bag of materials worth 20 silvers, the stronger cultivators offer a much higher price..."

"They are risking their life after all," I say.

Choi Inyoung sighs again as she rests her head on the table. 

...

A spirit embodiment pill enhances the soul of an individual, increasing mental resilience along with many other things. According to Choi Inyoung, it is very difficult to cultivate the soul so spirit embodiment pills are sought after by a lot and are very expensive.

"How dangerous is the ghost valley region and what is the competition?" I say.

!!

"Are you... Don't even consider it, a mortal definitely cannot survive." 

I stand up and extend my right arm with my hand open. I clench my fist with all of my strength and it created a loud explosion, damaging nearby properties.

!!!!!

"You... How? You have a broken meridian and dantian..." Choi Inyoung gasps as she drops her brush.

"Who knows? Anyways, I am not a mortal so answer my question."

...

Choi Inyoung gulps. "The ghost valley isn't a very dangerous place for strong cultivators. Thus the neighbouring city, XianFei, monopolizes the region as a form of sport to entertain people. Every year, they will allow people to enter as a form of competition. The competition rules are simple, kill as many beasts and get as many points as possible. Of course, any ingredients collected can be kept by participants. The material we need is called Skull Grass, it is silver-white and smells similar to decomposing bones. Although the region of ghost valley isn't the only place to get it, other areas are a bit... Dangerous and far."

I smile. "I will go. Just put in a word for me." 

!

"I'm not forcing you to..."

"I know. I am going because I want to."

...

"Alright. I believe your strength to be in the eighth stage of Qi Condensation. You should be able to get chosen as a participant. But I will hire mercenaries for your safety... You don't know how cruel people are. And remember, DO NOT TRY TO WIN... There are people you absolutely cannot offend, you are only there to collect herbs, don't bite off more than you can chew."

I nod.

With this, I can travel to a neighbouring city to spread the virus and learn about this world, killing two birds with one stone. It should be time for me to use the evolution points, I need to extract from Xie Mo before he eradicates the virus but I will come to that during the competition.

The next day, I meet up with the mercenaries on the outskirts of Nielong.

They have already prepared a carriage for me at the gate. Three people show up behind the carriage, a woman around the same age as Xie Mo, and two well-groomed men wearing straw hats.

The woman has alluring white hair and azure eyes. Judging by her beautiful hairpin, she seems to be someone of high status wearing ragged clothes... 

Not only that, her hands have signs of rough skin but the rest of her body is silky smooth. She is a trained cultivator. 

Oh? Is it the Heavenly Divine Dragon sect? 

Then these two men must also be disciples... Interesting...

The woman has a sword sheathed at her waist, the men have their swords behind their backs, all three of them are emitting their aura.

I smile as I take the red plate out of my robe to show them. The driver of the carriage confirms my plate before nodding to the mercenary. 

...

The driver looks like an old man with his back bent forward, he has moderate grey hair with a small moustache below his nose, but my survival instinct is screaming at me to run. Even the driver is interesting... 

The chance of Choi Inyoung being the mastermind of this event is highly impossible, I know that the process of requesting mercenaries and a carriage for an alchemist will have to go through the administration managers of the A.A. 

I extend my hand out to initiate a handshake, the lady ignores it and glares at me. One of the two men takes my hand instead. 

"Don't worry about her, she has a bad temper. I'm Yi Kai, I've heard about you." He says with a smile. Now that I am closer, I notice there is a small scar beside his right eye and he has dark blue hair. 

"I'm Wang Ji, nice to meet you." 

"The person behind me is Ru Bao and that lady is Li Xing. We will be working with you until we reach XianFei."

I nod. Ru Bao opens the carriage door for me and I step into it, the disciples follow behind me.

"Hyah!" 

With one shout, the old man whips the rope against the horse and they start to move.

Li Xing sits beside Ru bao, who is sitting opposite me. She attempts to avoid eye contact with me at all costs. 

I open the window behind me as a sudden rush of scenery overwhelms me.

The sunrise with an array of orange, yellow, and blue mixed in the sky canvas. We seem to be on the road of a tall mountain, the tips of various smaller mountains collide to mimic ocean waves. 

I take a deep breath, the air smells nice. 

This peaceful scenery amidst a world of chaos is wasted.