As usual, the System teleported me to a deserted alleyway that ran between two crumbling buildings. This told me that, yet again, I had been transported to the slums of some unfamiliar city. So, not wanting to stick out, I decided not to change out of the tattered robes of a Su Clan orphan.

This was a mistake.

When I exited the alley, instead of finding a street filled with old men and women hawking low-priced produce, I found a wide boulevard populated by young men and women wearing luxurious silks. All of the nearby buildings showed signs of decay that wouldn’t have been tolerated anywhere in Dragon Gate, but all of the people inhabiting this place carried themselves with the bearing of nobles.

I considered ducking back into the alley to change into something more appropriate, but as I had already been spotted, sneaking away would have only made me look like I was up to no good. So, instead, I puffed out my chest and did my best to look like a local.

This behavior only drew more attention my way, and I caught two young men staring daggers at me.

“Dimgaai nidou jau go gam ge holin siu pangjau?”

“Mou gaazik ge laapsaap.”

Feeling their glares and unable to make out their muttered curses, I quickened my pace. If someone decided to take offense at my presence on this street, then this life would end before it even had a chance to begin. And while death was inevitable, I had no desire for it to come any earlier than necessary.

Reaching an intersection, I turned a corner and found myself on a street where the buildings were in slightly better repair. Invariably, this meant that I was now surrounded by even more well-dressed nobles.

I wanted to turn around and head back the way I had come, but I spotted a familiar-looking building at the end of the street. With its massive frame, this building towered over its surroundings, and its ornately carved wooden walls set it at odds with the dilapidated stone structures that surrounded it. Its design was slightly different from what I was used to, but after only a single glance, I knew that this building had to be the Hall of the Herb King.

I wanted to turn around, but if I could just make it to the Hall, I would be safe. So, setting my jaw, I raised my chin and walked forward.

Not wanting to cause a ruckus by staring at my ‘betters,’ I avoided looking directly at anyone I passed. However, as it was now clear that this was an area of the city that I would need to spend a lot of time in, I did my best to study the locals out of the corner of my eye.

The universal reaction upon seeing me was one of contempt, but this reaction wasn’t immediate. Instead, people would spend a second checking me over with interested expressions before shifting to looks of utter scorn.

This seemed a bit… odd. If it were simply my unwashed appearance and threadbare clothing that was causing this response, I would have expected people to be disdainful at first sight. Was something more going on?

Switching to energy vision, my confusion only grew.

Yes, everyone on this street was wearing fancy silks, but their robes were nothing more than mundane cloth. There were no signs that any refining or formation work had been done to them. They were entirely bereft of energy.

Also, surprisingly, every single person I saw was a basic mortal with no cultivation base to speak of. Not one person had even advanced to Martial Disciple 2. How was this possible? Mortals were common enough, sure, but for there not to be a single cultivator on a street brimming with nobles? Such a situation was unthinkable.

To make things even stranger, while everyone was a mortal wearing mundane clothing, they were all carrying items of immense value. Every single person had both a storage bag and a weapon that was brimming with immense power. A few people had bows or polearms strapped to their backs, but for most, the weapon of choice was a long, thin rod with a square cross-section—a sword breaker. Even a few of the men with polearms had sword breakers hanging from their waists.

Only one young woman wasn’t carrying any obvious weapon, but upon closer examination, I saw a pair of lacy white gloves tucked in her belt sash. In normal vision, these gloves looked like something a noble woman might wear to a ball, but in energy vision, I could see that they were deadly implements of war.

None of these weapons contained formations, but all of them were at least Rank 3 refined items. What was such an arsenal doing in the hands of mortals?

Also, what kind of energy had these weapons been imbued with? I didn’t recognize it at all. It certainly wasn’t metal qi. It might

have been ‘refining qi,’ but every type of weapon seemed to be different. All of the sword breakers contained the same type of energy, but this energy was different from the energy in the bows, polearms, and gloves. I felt like I had entered yet another entirely new world with an entirely different ruleset.

Deciding this wasn’t the time to search for answers, I pressed forward and walked straight to the Hall of the Herb King. Thankfully, no one tried to bar my passage.

Arriving in front of the Hall, I didn’t even look at the main entrance. I headed straight to the smaller door on the right. While I couldn’t be certain that this Hall had the same layout as the one in Proud Eagle City, I wasn’t willing to linger out in the open any longer than I already had.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Upon entering, I was met with the sight of an opulent lobby. The white wood floors looked as if they had been made from marble. The pitch-black wood of the reception desk’s base looked like it had been carved from obsidian. And the bright yellow wood that formed the countertop appeared to be nothing less than pure gold.

When I stepped inside, the ‘Nine Rivers’ man who was sitting behind the desk looked up and gave me an impassive smile.

“Fun jing gwong lam.”

I blinked at him. “Uh… Hello. Is this where I register to join the Hall?”

The man’s mouth dropped slightly, and his eyes danced around in panic. “Wel… Welu-come. Howa may I help you today ya?”

“I would like to… join the Hall? As an alchemist.”

As he looked at me, the man’s impassive smile became strained. After a moment of indecision, he gave me a firm nod. “Pa-lease, waita one moment laa.”

Standing, the man rushed into a back room and soon reappeared with a middle-aged woman who was wearing a simple brown robe that was covered in grass stains.

The woman gave me a pleasant smile. “How may we assist you today, sir?”

“I… want to join the Hall. As an alchemist.”

“Ah, I see. Excellent.” She moved over to the reception desk, pulled out several forms, and asked me a series of basic questions. This all went rather smoothly until she asked me something that I hadn’t been expecting. “Do you have a weapon?”

“Uh… no. Not… not with me.” Without a storage bag, I had no way to hide pulling anything out of my inner world.

“If you’re from the Nine Rivers Domain, that’s understandable. Do you have a preference?”

“A… crescent moon spade?”

She wrote down my response, then reached under the desk to grab an affinity testing orb. “You know what to do, right?”

I nodded and placed my hand on the orb. After constricting my acupoints to ensure the orb showed only what I wanted it to, I channeled my qi.

Nothing happened.

“Zero affinity.” The attendant placed the orb back under her desk and took out a different one. “Let’s try this one.”

The attendant proceeded to test me on nine different orbs, and each one showed me as not having the proper affinity. Finally, she took out a tenth orb and placed it in front of me. “Last chance.”

This time, when I channeled my qi, the orb lit up with an image of a dark orange pill furnace that indicated I had a low eight-star alchemy affinity.

The attendant let out a soft sigh of relief. “If you’re from the Nine Rivers Domain, then you might just have not developed proper affinities yet, but… With an eight-star alchemy affinity, I can give you a temporary position as a servant. However, unless you can develop a weapon affinity, it’ll be hard to advance. Even if you can learn to make a few basic pills, the Hall won’t accept you as a full alchemist without the right affinities.

“Frankly, it… might be better if you went back to the Nine Rivers Domain. The requirements there are laxer, and if you stay here, you’ll need to spend a long time learning the language—time that would be better spent improving your affinities.”

I smiled and cupped my fists. “Thank you for your concern, but a position as a servant is more than acceptable.”

She nodded sadly, made a few final marks on the form, and turned to the young man who had first greeted me. “Giu jan daai keoi heoi di bukjan sukse.”

Then, she gave me a slight bow of her head. “Welcome to the Hall of the Herb King.”

To be allowed to become one of the Hall’s servants, I had to pay the extortionate fee of 20 gold per month. While this cost did include two lessons a month, as well as my room and board, I couldn’t help but feel taken advantage of. Still, after learning about yet another brand-new set of affinities, I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity to expand my horizons.

However, before charging off into the unknown, I needed to prepare. So, after being taken to my new room in an apartment building halfway across the city, I sat down to make a few important purchases.

“System, how much would it cost for me to learn the local language?”

Southern Yue Language. Cost 1 credit.

That… wasn’t necessarily good. If it was only one credit, I might be leaving a lot on the table.

“How about… How much to learn both the ‘Southern Yue Language’ and the native language of the tree monsters—the urgamal?”

Southern Yue and Urgamalic Languages. Cost 10 credits.

That was rather expensive, but I was certain it would be worth the cost. Still…

“How much to learn Urgamalic and all human languages commonly used on the Western Island?”

Southern Yue, Northern Qing, and Urgamalic Languages. Cost 10 credits.

“Purchase.”

Purchase confirmed. 1,317 credits remaining.

Knowledge flooded into my mind.

My understanding of Southern Yue was nearly instantaneous. It was different from Western Han, but it shared many of the same roots. In a way, it was just a different branch on the same tree.

Northern Qing, on the other hand, was an entirely different language altogether. Neither the way it was written nor the way it was spoken bore and resemblance to Western Han. However, it was still recognizable as a human language.

Urgamalic, however… Even with System-provided knowledge, I feared trying to use this language. It wasn’t even sound-based. It was a form of qi-based communication. Without first finding an urgamal to practice with, I had zero confidence in my ability to utter even the most basic of phrases. At most, I would be able to silently listen to any urgamals around me.

Shifting my focus, I turned to the question of affinities—specifically, weapon affinities.

That attendant had tested me on nine different orbs, suggesting that there were nine different weapon affinities, but on Nine Rivers, everyone had always spoken of eighteen weapons. Did only nine of them have affinities, or was it that this Hall only cared about nine of them?

“System, how much for a peak four-star crescent moon spade affinity?”

Cost 2 credits.

“How much for a similar saber affinity?”

Cost 2 credits.

“Sword affinity?”

Cost 2 credits.

After some more testing, I found that I could purchase an affinity for any of the eighteen weapons and that each of these affinities was priced the same as the basic elements. This didn’t necessarily mean that all of these affinities were present on the Central Continent, but I had a feeling they were.

So, did I want to buy one?

From the way that attendant had talked, having a high weapon affinity would be a necessity in this Hall, but how could I explain an affinity appearing as if from nowhere? I could try to hide it and reveal it slowly, but since I had no idea what weapon affinities did, how could I convincingly fake the difference between a low nine-star affinity and a mid nine-star affinity?

I only had one idea for how to get around this, but unfortunately, it would require me to waste a few extra credits.

“System, give me 4 credits worth of latent talent for the crescent moon spade.”

Purchase confirmed. 1,313 credits remaining.

400 billion credits just to learn the basics of weapon affinities. It was enough to make me curse the Earthly Dao for saddling me with this ‘update,’ but I felt a deeper meaning behind this change. It was like the Earthly Dao was telling me to stop wasting time in the lower Ranks. It wanted me to ascend.

I would comply with this demand, eventually, but first, I had a lot more to learn.