A certain room in the brothel had been set aside for Jason, and he was allowed to stay there rent free. He was to wait for the 'boss' who owned this place and several other establishments to return before he could begin.

Jason lay down on his bed and began to brainstorm possible ideas in which he could make a bit of wealth, he had gotten too used to his former wealthy lifestyle, and this sudden onset of poverty was very unfamiliar to him.

Thinking about it he decided that going into formations would be the best route for him! He was already fascinated by the formations ever since he got here, looking at the way some formations were set up, it was very similar to a computer program!

Formations weren't only used for protection in this world, but you could even see formations used for entertainment, for example the illusory formation in this brothel, it displayed scenes of exquisite dancers, and the sounds were ever so enchanting.

Jason got up from his bed and decided that while he waited, he must construct at least a basic formation!

He had a few valuable materials in this ring, but they were not even up to 70 gold coins. Shaking his head, he looked in the direction of the forest he had just came out of, 'Time to make a bit of money!'

---

At the outskirts of the Mo clan....

Mo Zuo had a huge sack sprawled across his bag, containing several cases of herbs, he had asked Ji Yan to help him hold it, but she was been needlessly stubborn. He started to wonder if she enjoyed seeing him suffer.

He glanced at Ji Yan walking right next to him. she didn't wear her usual white battle robe, but had on a casual dress, seeing her dark brown hair gently swaying in the and the sun shining on her face, Mo Zuo gently gulped and looked away, 'Wow, she's actually a bit pretty...' he thought.

Ji Yan caught sight of Mo Zuo glancing at her and sported a puzzled look, she had accompanied Mo Zuo on his trip to the town, so that she could sell off some of her perishable herbs and possibly buy some cool new materials! And to be frank, she had nothing better to do...

Mo Zuo wasn't so bothered about the stolen herbs, he was more interested in completing the system quest! To his surprise, ever since he entered a new cultivation stage, the system had a few new things in its store. He could now purchase a proficiency book that would increase his alchemy skills by a significant margin, there were some interesting martial skills available, and a very cool new tool worth 80 points. He couldn't wait to try these things, but sadly his system points were way too little!.

Mo Zuo soon arrived at the gates to the town, the walls surrounding the town were quite high, at least 4 meters! But for most cultivators who had reached the Qi foundation level, a casual jump and they'd be able to scale this fence!

Mo Zuo analysed the guards and he could see that they were mainly at the Qi gathering realm, it was a weak town so he wasn't too surprised.

The guards so the duo and their eyes lit up, seeing Mo Zuo donning the robes of the Mo clan, they instantly stood upright, and slightly bowed their heads. Mo Zuo gently nodded at them as they freely entered the town, the guards didn't even bother searching him, who would dare fake that identity in this town? The presence of the members of the Mo clan was heavy in this town, and an impostor would easily be spotted!

The streets at the entrance were littered with all sorts of stores, and plenty people could be seen chattering up and down. Unlike the peaceful scene found at the Mo clan, here was much busier! 

"So due to his clothing which covered at least half of his face, we couldn't get a clear look at him, but there's a good chance he comes regularly to the Mo clan. I'm guessing he must have spotted all your trips to the forest, and watched you closely. You also said ice type herbs were missing right?" Ji Yan asked, "Is this how we are going to find him?"

Mo Zuo smiled and explained to her, "Actually finding him is going to be pretty easy. I know exactly what he's up to and what he's going to make. The herbs he took, are 75% of the components for a meridian cleansing potion! I once saw this exact recipe in a book found in the library.

Now I'm guessing for the remaining 25%, he would use the non ice based but valuable herbs he obtained, to trade for it."

"So, this guy is an alchemist?" Ji Yan asked a bit confused.

"Actually, I don't think he is one, you see he seemed a bit anxious and in a hurry, and the nature of the pill is more of a cure to a heat based ailment." Mo Zuo observed, he remembered how the thief had run away in such a hurry, like he was out of time.

"Hmm, that's true, and if we went around asking for people who matched his description, he could pick wind of this, and instantly run away." Ji Yan added in from the side.

Mo Zuo nodded his head with a smile. "You see that's why I wore the basic disciple robes of the clan and told you to put on something casual."

 He pulled out a letter from his pocket. "I obtained this letter from my father, and presenting this to the lord of this town, we would host a material exchange! My cousin Mo Fen has also been looking for a rare flower, so I invited him too." 

"Ah, so in the material exchange you'd pick him out as you watch him exchange for the other herbs?" Ji Yan was slightly amazed at this simple but effective plan.

"He's desperate, so I'm definitely sure he is gonna look for the remaining herbs, and he is in luck, as I happen to just have them in this sack." Mo Zuo said with a sinister grin.

"Wow, you're smarter than I thought." Ji Yan said surprised, she would have never expected him to come up with such a plan.

"Well I couldn't execute this without my fathers backing you know." Mo Zuo tried to act humble, but a smile could still be seen on his face.

Jason silently snorted, as he watched Mo Zuo take sole credit for the plan 'they' had thought of together, but he didn't complain, problem solving had always been his forte.

"So we are going to see the town head?" Ji Yan asked.

"Of course, we'd send him the letter, and in a few days from now after news spreads a bit, we'd host this material exchange. You can obtain all those silly things you need for your formations." 

"What? Silly things? Weren't you the one hiding under my silly formations two weeks ago?" Ji Yan couldn't believe someone had just mocked her formations.

"In the end wasn't it a weak alchemy skill from my father that had the wolf running with its tails in between his legs? Formations are cool, but you know alchemy is better...." Mo Zuo said proudly.

He had been practicing alchemy a lot and his Dexterity had even leveled up! right now his stats read:

---

Name            -:- Mo Zuo (16)

Cultvn           -:- Qi Foundation stage (2)

Class            -:- Swordsman (Minor)

Subclass      -:- Apprentice Alchemist

Vitality          -:- 12.2/12.5

Qi                  -:-  8.2/15.5

PHY               -:- 10.5

DEX               -:- 1.4

Bloodline     -:- [Minor Awakening state]

Sys points   -:- 76

*Other Statistics are currently not available*

Skills -:- Path of the black mamba (Stage 3) Minor Flame skill (Stage 3) Lightning Sword skill (Stage 2) Path of Apep [Sealed]

Current Quest : Go into town and catch the thief who stole your entire herb stash. Reward - 50 System points

---

His minor flame skill had also been levelling up as his practice with fire control increased, he found alchemy was a bit similar to cooking for him, and he was a natural!

Ji Yan heard his shameless boast and just shook her head and ignored him.

Thinking about Ji Yan, Mo Zuo remembered what he had heard from his father, even though she was 1 year younger than her eldest sister Ji Yue, she was more skilled than Ji Yue in formations! 

At just the 4th stage of the Qi foundation realm, Ji Yan could already produce Peak Yellow Grade formations! Ji Yue was still stuck at producing entry Yellow Grade formations, putting it in contrast, a peak yellow grade formation was equivalent to the peak Qi foundation stage! Ji Yan was a prodigy, and heavily pampered by her father.

Mo Zuo on the other hand could only make Mid White Grade pills and the sorts. But considering he had only begun a few weeks ago, it was acceptable. His father was capable of creating peak blue grade or even entry level red grade pills! 

Red grade pills that were heavily sought after by sky realm experts!

---

Jason had finished his hunting for the day, looking at his storage ring full of all sorts of beast cores, mainly those in the Qi foundation stage, but those in the Core Formation stage could be occasionally seen.

He could instantly one hit kill Qi Foundation beasts with his current strength, but dealing with Core Formation was a bit more tricky. But he was confident he had cleared the surrounding area of any beast in the Core formation level, going in any deeper would have proven a bit more risky. That was till he could recover his full strength.

Jason quickly went to the nearest shop he could find, and met with the shop owner, and cleared him of every single gold coin he had! It was a shame it was only 105 coins he obtained, and his storage ring had only reduced by a quarter!

Jason smiled as he felt the coins jingle as they entered his pocket, if he could do thus every day, he should be free of all his debt before the boss even came back! Turning around, he headed to the nearest Formations guild!

---

Mo Xi stepped out of the time warped cultivation chamber. Breathing out heavily and with his clothes gummed to his sweaty body, Mo Xi flashed an excited smile, the nearby disciples moved a couple of steps back due to the sharp sword Qi flowing around Mo Xi.

Mo Xi slowly sheathed his sword and loudly said.

"8th stage of the Qi foundation realm, achieved!" 

Author: Alright so a bit more insight into this story. This would be the first book in my series, and the main focus would be on balance and chaos, I'd probably edit the prologue soon, and include the serpent guy referencing the second law of dynamics, about how the universe tends to chaos.

My second book Descent into Damnation, would be a continuation but still related.

I've already planned the end for both books and at times I just wish I could just write the crazy ends I've planned out!