Awakening the Divine Spark-Chapter 142: To Thiraxis.

The Grand competition became history the moment Elder Wang announced the survival training. Outer disciples basically forgot to celebrate the Midsummer festival at all and only few rare groups of friends partied that night.

Most ran around, inquiring about the details of Thiraxis world, the problems they were likely encounter and what dangers were they about to face.

The seniors weren’t stingy and happily shared that everyone was basically in deep shit. The comfort and sheltered conditions outer disciples enjoyed in the sect were about to become forgotten.

Of course, it didn’t mean everyone will be in constant danger of dying at every turn. Outer disciples were supposed to receive signal flares so they could call for help and there will be inner disciples somewhere in the vicinity at all times to look after them.

What disciples were most curious and excited about were their chances in getting contribution points. Either someone had leaked the information, or maybe it was someone’s wishful thinking that got popular, but the general consensus was that most people were going to return rich from the training.

Lee had no clue how that was supposed to work, because normally if everyone was rich, then no one was. The inflation would drive the prices up and nothing would change.

There was a nuance, though. In the Nethermoon sect there were very few things disciples longed for and the prices for cultivation and combat techniques haven’t changed in many millennia. Thus it was clear there was a reason the sect organized a training that was supposed to guarantee outer disciples a chance to acquire new techniques.

***

On the second day after the grand tournament the disciples were gathered in front of the sect’s rift gate. It was more than triple the size the gate in Ashland was, but similar to Lunax, this time Elder Wang stood on it and held a speech.

The morning was warm and pleasant, and the sun nicely reflected on the elder’s bold head. Disciples didn’t make fun of him, though. Elder Wang was one of the most popular elders because of his easygoing nature, and also because of his unique spatial powers.

After few jokes to lighten up the mood, the elder said, "You will have several objectives during the training. First – you will need to cross the continent and arrive at the west side in six months. If you won’t be there when I open the rift half a year later, you will stay in Thiraxis whether you like it or not."

This was expected, but caused discussions in the crowd nevertheless. The next part also didn’t come as a surprise.

He said, "It doesn’t matter if you go alone or in groups, but make sure you have the best chances to succeed. Your fellow sect members will come to your aid in a case of emergency, but there is no guarantee they will always make it on time. Therefore – pick your comrades wisely! You need people to watch your backs! Of course, you can go solo as well. In fact, many of you might choose this options after you hear the next part."

Elder Wang took a long pause, too long for many, but it seemed he enjoyed this part.

Then he said, "For every set of dreadtalon claws, you will receive a contribution point!"

Confusion was written all over the faces of disciples who instead of promised reaches were about to get peanuts. But Elder Wang already expected such reaction.

He smiled, and said, "You do realize you will meet hundreds of packs on the way, do you? If you’re capable enough, you’ll kill thousands of dreadtalons in the six months!"

This was a game changer, but while the crowd erupted in uproar, Lee was more concerned with the implications. Thousands of kills meant thousands of opponents. And if the beasts were as Chi Yanzhen and Li Hanchen told him, the joy that everyone felt was premature.

Unfortunately, with the following part Elder Wang destroyed the ability to critically think completely.

He said, "That is not all! There are four types of plants you can gather on the way to receive a generous reward from the Elixir Hall. They are Ironwood root, Red vein root, Purple spirit root and Golden thread root. Your fellow senior brothers and sisters will explain their details, but I can tell you that you’ll receive fifty, seventy five, hundred and fifty, and five hundred points respectively for each plant that you manage to deliver!"

The previous excitement was nothing compared to what happened after elder’s words.

Gathering missions were nothing new, and sometimes they were lucrative. But considering everyone was going to be stuck for half a year in a foreign world anyway, just by bringing home a few roots one could acquire a premium cultivation technique! And that was not counting the dreadtalons they would inevitably kill!

It seemed it would be impossible to calm down the loud crowd, but Elder Wang managed to do in with one sentence.

He said, "You do realize that the longer it’ll take for me to finish this briefing, the less time you’ll have to get your points?"

Everyone fell silent in an instant.

Apparently after elder’s words most people imagined that all they had to do was to take bags with them that were big enough to carry all the goodies they were about to find on the way. But it didn’t matter – everyone would be struck with the harsh reality when they stepped through the rift.

Elder Wang continued, "Now to the practical part! First thing for you to do is you’ll make groups of fifty, and each group, led by an inner disciple will move to their starting position. Two days from now, with the sunrise, the event will start. You don’t have to stay with the rest, in fact, I suggest you separate into smaller groups of three to five."

Lee already knew he and Xiao Lian would go alone. It was the suggestion the two senior brothers made – according to them, it will be harder, but at the same time better both from the training and reward perspectives.

"I’ll repeat your tasks one more time!" Elder Wang said, "Get from Serrakar Plateau’s east to west coast in six months, gather as many precious roots as possible on the way, and kill dreadtalons for their claws. Good luck! You’ll depart before noon! Now, form the groups of fifty and listen to what your seniors have to say!"

It was not hard to guess, but Xiao Lian made sure they joined the same group Qin Yujian was in. Obviously he wasn’t the only one to make the choice based on his heart’s desires. More than half of the male disciples were the same, but most already stood somewhere in the proximity of their girl of dreams and not many conflicts arose.

There were those who weren’t lucky and had to join leftovers that basically were sausage fests. Similarly, there were some groups of fifty girls who were intentionally set on going without guys breathing down their necks. The inner disciples leading these were also females and many guys were salivating at the thought of them stumbling across these ladies during the training.

Lee was one of the few who knew that it would turn out to be a curse rather than a blessing. If ladies didn’t want men around, it was better to leave them be.

More importantly, one of these groups was led by Victoria and Lee prayed to not come across her this time. He was on the right track to face her, but it’ll still take time and his success lied in the surprise attack he was preparing for her.

Fortunately, at least Xiao Lian was content. They got in one group with the girl of his dreams, and now he stood there, blushed all over, not paying attention to what the inner disciple who was supposed to lead their group said.

Lee found it interesting, though. The girl in her early twenties, Senior Sister He Zhenzhu, was from the Elixir Hall. She explained in detail the characteristics of the four types of alchemical roots that were found in Thiraxis and the correct way of gathering them.

Ironwood root was relatively common and found in other worlds as well. It was a supplement ingredient in healing mixtures. It could also be applied directly on a wound, but it was considered wasteful with how weak its effects on its own were.

Red vein root was an ingredient that helped cultivators with fire elemental affinity to sense fire particles. This one could be used on its own, even by mixing in food or drink, but Elixir Hall had ways to improve it by purifying it in a special pill.

The last two roots – Purple spirit root and Golden thread root were much more rare, especially the latter. He Zhenzhu didn’t go in too much detail, only mentioned that Purple spirit root was used to tap into person’s elemental essence, bringing out their true potential.

Regarding Golden thread root, though, disciples were warned to handle it with great care, but preferably ask their senior brother or sister for help. Apparently the things were too precious.

Listening to her, Lee considered whether he should learn more about the subject in general. The alchemy science surely sounded magical, at least comparing it to Alan’s notes or the regular medicine.

In the end decided that everything had its time. First he had to learn how to cultivate properly and later, be it this life or the next one, study the other areas.

***

Elder Wang drew everyone’s attention with a sharp clap of his hands. All discussions were immediately over and without saying a word, elder sat on the gate, and a heartbeat later opened the rift.