Chapter 2: Choosing a Secondary Profession

The easiest way to earn Spirit Stones is to participate in the Outer Sect Arena. Those in the top 100 of the Outer Sect roll gain a monthly subsidy of spirit stones from stones.

51st to 100th ranks get 10 spirit stones per month

31st to 50th ranks get 20 spirit stones per month

11th to 29th ranks get 30 spirit stones per month

5th to 10th ranks get 40 spirit stones per month

4th rank gets 50 spirit stones per month

3rd rank gets 60 spirit stones per month

2nd rank gets 75 spirit stones per month

1st rank gets a whopping 100 spirit stones per month

Xiao Hong was quite tempted but refrained because it was too attention-grabbing. Well, she refrained for now that is. There was no way she would let go of so many free spirit stones. Besides, those in the top 10 were basically all Disaster realm experts. Those in the top 50 were also in the late stage of Divine Sea. And they were all prodigies who had mastered their battle techniques and had a firm foundation, with the hope to join the Inner Sect. Even if her three cultivation Methods were awesome, it didn't mean she could beat these prodigies easily. There were several reasons for this:

Firstly, she had not mastered any powerful battle techniques. The ones she'd learnt were lowest-grade and she'd not even mastered any of them. Whereas, all those who could place in the Outer Sect Roll had practised and mastered powerful battle techniques and could leapfrog and beat up the average higher realm expert like it was breathing.

Secondly, her cultivation methods, although very powerful, won't show their power until later, in stages above the Disaster realm. Thus in terms of base stats, she is only slightly better than those prodigies because her cultivation base was much lower.

Thirdly, unless you rank in the top 10, you have to accept challenges every other day. Meaning, that you have to keep defeating impetuous bastards who think they are awesome and can beat you because you just attained the rank. And this won't stop until you thrash a large number of idiots. She simply didn't have the time or patience to deal with that shit. So, she decided to hit the top 10s directly after reaching Divine Sea. After reaching Divine Sea, the system should also open up an extra slot for automatic cultivation.

Thus, she decided to focus on something else: a secondary profession.

A secondary profession is something that a cultivator learns along with his or her cultivation. A secondary profession can be seen as a source of income.

As long as you get good enough at a secondary profession, you can gain a steady source of income that will facilitate your cultivation, which in turn will allow you to study higher levels in your chosen secondary profession faster therefore bringing more income.

In short, as long as you get started it is a virtuous cycle.

And the most lucrative secondary professions are Alchemy, Weapon Refining and Array Formations. In that order. There was also Talisman making, which was like Array formation, but they stored spells and battle techniques. But it was basically a Lost Art at this point. It was very difficult to come into contact with. Those who did know the Art of Talisman making guarded their secrets vehemently.

To Xiao Hong, it really didn't matter which profession she chose; with her Cheat, she could learn all of them to the highest level available.

She chose Alchemy.

Why?

It's the most lucrative.

Alchemists, even a 1st Grade one, were all rich people because of the sheer disparity between supply and demand because unlike weapons and Array Formations, pills are consumable. The easiest to refine 1st-grade Qi-returning Pill was the most in-demand because it could be used for cultivation as well as for recovery. The energy contained in a single 1st-grade Qi-returning Pill was only a twentieth of a Spirit stone.

Yet, a bottle of nine 1st-grade Qi-returning Pill was worth a spirit stone. This was because it was several times easier to refine and absorb the energy in pills compared to spirit stones. The Spiritual  Energy contained in a spirit stone was quite hard to absorb and most cultivators could only absorb about 20-30% of the energy, wasting the rest of the Spiritual Energy contained in the Spirit stone.

The Qi-returning Pill was the easiest to refine of all the pills in the first grade, making any Grade 1 Alchemist incredibly rich.

And this is also very lucrative for Xiao Hong, as with the help of the system she could reach 100% resource utilisation for spirit stones. She could earn a lot by exploiting this gap. And as an alchemist, if she needed those pills that had special effects she could refine them on her own.

There was also the fact that she could make connections with people who have a voice in the sect; even if only through their disciples, or younger relatives.

She could also earn contribution points as long as she became proficient enough and could refine pills for the sect. 1st-grade alchemists were given 1 contribution point for every 10 bottles of 1st-grade Qi-returning Pill, along with the standard rate of 1 spirit stone per bottle. Normally speaking, the Sect won't give Outer Sect Disciples contribution points unless they have made significant contributions to the sect.

This was basically the sect showing favour to Alchemists, while also trying and encouraging more disciples to take up Alchemy.

One has to know that despite the Alchemy Hall working at full capacity at all times, there was still a shortage of pills. Thus, the sect welcomed any and all Alchemy Masters.

Contribution points themselves were far more precious than spirit stones; as long as the sect existed and maintained its level of power, that is. With contribution points, one could access the battle techniques the sect has, and enlist the help of practically anyone in the sect - even elders of the sect, as long as the points are enough.

In a nutshell, Alchemists are awesome.

***

"I should take a bath before, though." she thought.

Cultivators don't really need to bathe; they could just generate a small Qi shockwave originating from their skin and any dirt on clothes and skin would literally be blasted away.

But, be it her previous life or the old Xiao Hong from before, both of them loved bathing: it was relaxing and very comfortable. Back on Earth, Xiao Hong had felt that her mind was the most active in the shower.

Walking to her bathroom, she realised a problem…

"I'm a girl now…"

Just now, she'd taken off her clothes and gotten ready for her bath according to Xiao Hong's habits, before the realisation hit her.

Currently, she was staring at her naked self in the mirror.

"Well, Damn…" is all she could say.

The face reflected in the mirror seemed surprised, marvelling at the beauty of the girl - or rather herself, now.

Her willowy eyebrows raised in surprise she stared at the heart-shaped face, with red-coloured eyes, a sculpted nose and luscious, pink lips, all of which seemed to be sculpted with immense care by the Immortal Gods themselves.

Beneath her elegant neck stood two proud, perfectly shaped peaks with graceful curves that seemed full of vitality. Her stomach was toned, yet did not lose that feminine softness, making one want to caress it. Her thin and supple waist contrasted with her perfectly curved hips, which then flowed downwards into two soft, milky thighs that were neither too thick nor too thin, striking a perfect balance.

Every movement she made seemed to be filled with elegance and an indescribable charm that drew eyes in and made it hard to look away.

After practising her new Cultivation Methods she had an additional mysterious temperament that enhanced her already over-the-top attractive looks, making the whole world seemingly lose colour before her beauty.

In short, this was a goddess like no other. The moniker 'Immortal Fairy' was well-deserved; in terms of beauty, at least.

"This girl really had all her points in the Charm stat, didn't she?

"Somehow I understand why that Senior Brother was such a simp. I'm not even sure if I could resist. Besides, I feel like I've gotten even more attractive…

"Is it because of those impurities that were purged? Most people do become more attractive after Body Refining perfection. Ancient God Scripture may have removed every single bit of impurity that existed in my body, but this is too much. It is most likely due to the Celestial God Method."

She smiled somewhat narcissistically, "Heh, I quite like this"

And continued to admire herself for a while longer.

She licked her lips as her cheeks flushed with an enchanting red hue, "This body is mine now… I wonder… hehe~"

***

After a bath that took twice as long as before, she dressed in her yellow-coloured sect uniform.

Looking in the mirror she wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"This uniform is so ugly. Who the heck makes their uniform yellow of all colours? Isn't this the Purple Spirit Sect? Is the 'purple' only for show? I wanna join the Inner Sect just to be able to wear better clothes, Inner Sect disciples don't need to wear uniforms as long as they carry the sect token, after all.

"Umu! I shall join the inner sect."

Leaving her house and locking her door, which in the World of cultivation meant activating the formation, she walked away as she breathed in the incredibly fresh air.

'Just this one breath and I can tell how polluted earth was.

'Though, Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth also has a role to play in making the air seem fresher than it actually is.'

To a non-cultivator, i.e. below the Qi Gathering Realm, the Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth is incredibly beneficial even if they don't cultivate. It strengthens their body, boosts their metabolism, decreases the likelihood of all diseases, practically erases the possibility of cancer, increases fertility, slows down ageing and maintains their physical prime much longer than on earth. Despite the conditions of living being not much better than in ancient times of Earth, a mortal's average life expectancy was actually greater than back on modern Earth at almost 90 years.

As she pondered on the wonders of Spiritual Energy, she made hand seals, before suddenly stopping.

'I should be able to fly without the flying sword now.'

Grinning, she circulated her Qi, covering herself in a reddish-gold aura before jumping lightly and shooting into the sky.

Looking at her rapidly shrinking house, she felt exhilarated,  thoroughly enjoying the feeling of freedom.

She flew around in circles, somersaulted, doing all sorts of stunts she saw aeroplanes doing in her previous life like Aileron Roll, Falling Leaf, Looping etc. While she was enjoying herself she completely lost track of her surroundings, getting lost in the feeling of flying, letting out occasional giggles, allowing her to relax quite a bit from her frenzied cultivation. Even if she herself didn't need to cultivate, it still took a toll on her body and mind, thus enjoying a particularly intense cultivation session had a lot of benefits.

"Congratulations on reaching the Sky Spirit realm, junior sister."

A sudden voice startled Xiao Hong so much that she nearly fell from the sky. But almost immediately she regained her wits and caught herself.

Looking down, she saw a rather handsome-looking young man, who had his arms outstretched.

Obviously, he meant to catch her, but she had regained her wits before she reached his arms.

Xiao Hong: "..."

Unnamed senior brother: "..."

They both floated awkwardly in the air.

After a while, the handsome senior brother retracted his arms and coughed awkwardly, "Ahem… I meant no harm…"

Xiao Hong: "???"

'Isn't that fucking obvious?'

Looking at the beautiful junior sister giving him a confused look, he felt he'd lost face. Thus, he decided to change the subject forcefully.

"Congratulations on reaching the Sky Spirit realm, Junior Sister," he said firmly. Ignoring the look of disdain that came over her face, he continued, "Looking at your age and your stable aura, you must have worked hard to establish a strong foundation.

"You have a bright future ahead, junior sister."

"Xiao Hong thanks senior brother" a sweet and charming voice tickled his ears.

Before he could speak again, "Junior sister intends to go to the Alchemy Hall, please excuse this junior sister." she said in a slightly awkward tone, as if she couldn't stand the awkward moment from before.

Before she could hightail it out of there, the senior brother replied, "Oh! I'm going there too! I'll come along with you."

'Dammit! Can't you read the mood?! I don't want anything to do with you!' she cursed inwardly.

"It would be this junior sister's honour to accompany senior brother." while what came out of her mouth was the voice of a sweet and obedient junior sister.

There was no other way. She felt the aura of this senior brother was unfathomable, giving her a faint sense of danger, which could only mean that this fellow was at least a late-stage Divine Sea expert; quite likely higher. One has to know that thanks to the three Supreme grade cultivation methods, she was practically unrivalled in the same major realm, even without battle techniques. In fact, she could fight against early-stage Divine Sea experts and escape from mid-stage Divine Sea experts. But that wasn't the case for this senior brother in front of her: she felt like she was staring at a deep sea that she couldn't fathom the depths of.

Thus, she didn't want to offend this senior brother. Although he looked easy-going, who knows what his real face was?

Therefore, she decided to be an obedient junior sister who looked up to this mysterious senior brother.

"Haha! To accompany a beautiful junior sister such as yourself, the honour is all mine!" the senior brother laughed out loud, very happy at this beautiful Junior sister's sweet words.

"Come on, let's go!"

Covering themselves in qi, they shot into the sky.

On the way, the senior brother chatted with her, "By the way my name is Chen Yu.

"I assume you are going to Alchemy Hall because you've chosen to take Alchemy as your secondary profession.

"If you have any doubts during your study of alchemy, you can come to me; I'm a 2nd-grade alchemist."

Before she could reply, he'd already taken out his badge to show he was not lying.

Unable to explain that difficulties in learning were basically an impossibility with the capability of the system, she could only say with a smile, "Thank you for your kind consideration, senior brother. Junior sister will definitely find you if I encounter difficulties. I'll thank you in advance."

Looking at his face that lit up like a 100-watt bulb, she had but one thought: 'Tsk, another simp.'

Unaware that he'd been given a 'simp' label by the beautiful junior sister, the senior brother rambled on about the Alchemy Hall.

At the same time, she marvelled at the benefits of being a jade beauty: Those simps just handed over what she wanted without even asking for it. All this effort just to gain a favourable impression in the eyes of the said jade beauty.

Shaking her head inwardly to rid her mind of useless thoughts, she listened to Senior Brother Chen Yu's chatter.

The Outer Sect's Alchemy Hall, in a bid to make Alchemy as accessible as possible, came up with something like a starter course. Basically, they held lectures for aspiring alchemists every day, such that they included everything needed for a noob to become an apprentice alchemist.

'Encyclopaedia of Myriad Treasures', 'Inner Workings of Alchemy', 'Interactions of Ingredients', 'Flame Control', 'Most Used Pills and their Recipes' and several other books were co-authored by the Senior Alchemists of the sect when they collaborated to form the Alchemy Hall's Apprentice Course.

In short, as long as you take the Alchemy Course and manage to keep up, you'll be at the level of an apprentice alchemist in half a year at most.

Xiao Hong was surprised. Her conceptions of the cultivation world were from the various novels she'd read where Elders schemed against their rivals, hated each other's guts and would backstab at the earliest chance, doing everything they could to suppress the development of anything that was not related to them or their allies; all to maintain their power and gain more if possible. So, their coming together to create something like this was a surprise.

At the same time, she warned herself that her preconceived notions of the cultivation world can be a guide at best and whether they are the truth needs to be vigorously questioned.

Anyway, as long as you take an exam and successfully refine 1st-grade pills with a decent success rate, the sect will certify you as a 1st-grade alchemist.

At the same time, as long as you want to, the sect will supply you with a batch of herbs and recipes for common pills like 1st-grade Qi-returning Pill, 1st-grade Healing Pill, Antidote Pill etc. If you manage to refine a decent quantity and quality of pills, the sect will also provide you with a salary of 100 spirit stones per month. The sect will also buy the pills at market price from you, while also giving you a contribution point for every batch of pills you successfully deliver.

***

It took the two of them about fifteen minutes to reach the base of the Alchemy Hall's peak, well whatever was left of it. A long time ago, some expert cultivator had directly chopped off the top of the mountain, 1/7th the way up, to make a mountain-type treasure for their disciple, leaving a mesa in its place which was later repurposed as the Outer Sect's Alchemy Hall.

Walking up the steps with Chen Yu, who was chattering away, she marvelled at the immense power the cultivators wielded. And this was probably done by Fusion Realm at most, and casually at that. The power the higher Transformation, Gold Cores and Essence Soul mighty figures wielded was beyond her imagination.

If such monsters took action against her, she wouldn't be able to resist at all. And that didn't sit well with her. Being unable to control her fate, unable to decide her future for herself; lit a fire under her. She didn't want her fate in the hands of others. Clenching her fists she promised herself, 'One day… One day I will wield such power…

'No, I will surpass them! I will surpass everyone!'

She wanted others' fates in her hands, not the other way around!

Having made her resolution, she continued up while listening to Chen Yu, who didn't realise the changes in his companion, trying to make out useful information out of all the chatter.

Having reached the top of the mesa, Xiao Hong saw a building so large, that she could conclude that no mortal would ever be able to build this. The gates of the Alchemy Hall were so massive that it felt like it was made for giants instead of cultivators.

As soon as she walked in she felt a large number of gazes on her. And many of the owners of those gazes seemed to recognise her.

"Hey, Hey! Isn't that Fairy Xiao Hong?! The No.1 Beauty of the Outer Sect?!"

"Eh? Ah? What? Yes… Yes, she is… She seems to have gotten even more beautiful!"

"So beautiful… I would give up 500 years of my lifespan to be her Dao Companion…"

"Tch, you're only a Sky Spirit, from where are you gonna get such a long lifespan?"

"Oi, wasn't she together with that musclehead what's-his-name? Lin Fan?"

"Nah, he was just one of her suitors. Also, he died. Apparently, he got into a conflict with the Black Serpent Gang."

Two voices that were so low Xiao Hong wouldn't have heard them if her Cultivation Methods hadn't enhanced her senses to an insane degree were discussing something that was of great interest to her: "Hey, aren't the Black Serpent Gang Senior Brother Mo Tong's lackeys…?"

"Senior Brother Mo Tong? 7th on the Outer Sect Roll?"

"Yeah. Apparently, Lin Fan and he got into a fight over a girl. Now that I think about it… It was probably over Junior Sister Xiao Hong. Lin Fan also defeated Mo Tong"

"No way! Such a brazen disregard of rules won't be tolerated by the sect!"

"Normally, yeah. But Mo Tong's 2nd Uncle is an Inner Sect Elder"

The other fellow took in a deep breath: "Tss! That's a Transformation Realm Expert! No wonder, no wonder!"

"But, if I were in Mo Tong's position…"

Both of them looked towards Xiao Hong, and said in unison:

""I would do the same too!""

'That's a problem… A young master with a background is a pain in the ass.' Xiao Hong was quite worried. She continued listening.

"Sigh… what wouldn't I give to have a night with her…"

"... sister, you're a woman."

"So? Are you telling me you don't want to?"

"..." the other party was speechless at this brazen pervert.

Turning around, Xiao Hong firmly kept in mind the appearances of the two girls.

On the other side, the exact opposite was happening, where people were talking particularly loudly:

"Hey, who's that fellow that looks like an ape next to Junior Sister Xiao?!"

Xiao Hong was confused, 'Ape? He looks quite handsome, though? Only his haircut… Oh. Now, I see it.'

"Chen Yu. 2nd Grade Alchemist. 11th on Outer Sect Roll. Disciple of 5th grade Alchemist Elder Ji."

'The solution is here too!'

On the other side, while Xiao Hong was receiving admiring gazes, Chen Yu was subject to hostile ones. He suddenly felt the familiar Alchemy Hall had turned into a battlefield he couldn't recognise. Looking at all the hostile gazes, he was sure that if all of these people had cultivated attack-type eye arts, he would have turned into dust by now.

'Grandpa was right, women are troublesome. Especially beautiful women.'

He gazed at the seemingly oblivious Xiao Hong, taking in her beautiful face.

'But if I don't fight for the woman I admire, am I still a man?! If I don't struggle against fate, am I still worthy of her feelings?!!'

Unbeknownst to Xiao Hong, Chen Yu had already constructed a beautiful fantasy where he fought countless battles, triumphed against countless adversities, walked through seas of flames and mountains of swords, slew Dragons and Deities, defeating endless foes to finally win the hand of the beauty.

Unknowingly, his state of mind had undergone a change and he felt the bottleneck to peak Divine Sea disappear. Feeling his cultivation base roaring, ready to expand, his confidence soared.

Then he looked at the fellow that called him an ape. They were a small group of four people consisting of 3 people with a 1st-grade Alchemist badge and one with a 2nd-grade badge like him. The one with the 2nd-grade alchemist badge was staring at Xiao Hong.

Looking at the fellow who called him an ape, he smirked, "Heh! The teacher was right: dogs are loyal indeed. The master didn't even say anything, yet it already started barking. Maybe I should get one, as well?"

Then a typical xianxia-esque face slapping ensued. Xiao Hong regretted that she hadn't brought a bag of melon seeds to chew.

***

Outer Sect Deacon Lu Yuan looked at all this speechlessly. Looking at the culprit who caused all the commotion he was even more speechless. At the same time, he understood the turmoil of these youngsters. Even his old 544-year-old heart was moved, but he withstood it. After all, he was an upstanding deacon of the sect; he wouldn't prey on youngsters.

"Deacon Lu, I wish to sign up for the Alchemy course."

"Hmm? You've awakened your Divine Sense?"

"Yes, Deacon Lu." Xiao Hong replied as she flexed her Divine Sense by levitating her Outer Sect Disciple token that hung from her waist.

'What a powerful Divine Sense!' Looking at the levitating token, Deacon Lu was surprised. The girl's cultivation base only seemed to be at the lower Layers of Sky Spirit, yet her Divine Sense was strong enough to use telekinesis. One has to know that disciples who just awakened their Divine sense aren't able to do much more than sense their surroundings through their divine sense. Yet, here she was, levitating things casually.

Thus, Deacon Lu carefully evaluated her carefully.

'Looking at her bone age, she should be about 16 years old, So she has been in the sect for at least 5 to 6 years, and in that time she has only reached the early Layers of Sky Spirit, average at best.

'However, looking closer, her foundation seems incredibly firm; she should have opened more than 91 meridians.

'And her Divine Sense is also abnormally powerful.

'Putting all these together, she is a genius that can rival the monsters in the Inner Sect with powerful backgrounds.

'Now, assuming she doesn't have such a powerful background, she was able to endure and patiently strengthen her foundation slowly.

'Such foresight at such a young age…

'This is a monstrous talent!

'It would be a good idea to establish an amicable relationship with her'

All these thoughts passed by in a flash. Smiling widely at Xiao Hong, he said, "Good! Talents like you are always welcome in the Alchemy Hall!"

Taking out a space bag, he handed it over. "This bag has all the course materials, as well as the timetable for all the lectures. Everything you require is in the bag.

"I hope to see you taking the Alchemy test soon."

Thanking Deacon Lu, she turned around to leave; she really couldn't bear those gazes anymore.

'Women also have it tough…'

"Oi, why is Deacon Lu smiling so much? Usually, he doesn't even look at the disciples that come to join the course. He isn't getting ideas about Junior Sister, right?"

"No way, right?"

'Yeah, no way, right?'

Xiao Hong peeked backwards to see Deacon Lu smiling at her like a chrysanthemum. She shivered and increased her pace.

She quickly bade farewell to Senior Brother Chen Yu, who was now face-slapping the unknown 2nd-grade alchemist and hightailed it out of there.