I sat and pondered alone.


    Could I trust ‘the incarnation of the Earthly Dao’? No, obviously not. In truth, I had no real grasp of who or what it was. Anything or everything it said could be false. The System confirmed what it said, but what did that mean? Could I really trust the System here?


    Asking the System didn’t really address my concerns, but for now, the question of whether I could trust the Earthly Dao and the System or not was a moot point. I didn’t have another real choice.


    I sighed. I could deal with the incarnation in the future. I had other things to focus on.


    My suicidal rampage may have made the admin upset, but it netted me a large number of credits, and it was time to spend money. I knew what I wanted. I had come up with a crazy idea while working for Rudy, but I didn’t know what I could afford.


    First things first.


    “System, how much would it cost to move my reset point into this room?”


    The cost of relocating your reset point to this room is not possible to calculate at this time.


    That was unfortunate. I didn’t want to have to see Su YuanFei every time I was reborn.


    I thought about what I asked for and realized I may have requested the wrong thing.


    “System, how much to move my reset point ahead in time so that instead of being taken all the way to my current reset point, I am only brought back to a time shortly after I sat down in this room?”


    The cost of temporally advancing your reset point to that point in time is 1 credit.


    Note: Advancing the reset point can be done at a nominal cost but changing it back to its original point will be beyond your current capabilities.


    “Yeah, not too concerned with that. Still… How much would it cost to move my reset point forward to that point for only the next ten resets?”


    20 credits.


    Note: This price is subject to change.


    So, a possibility to keep in mind.


    “Alright, confirm my purchase for moving it forward to when I sat down.”


    Purchase confirmed. 355 credits remaining.


    “Okay, system, next, the important one. How much to teleport to the nearest city? Somewhere a bit out of view, so my teleporting in won’t cause a scene.”


    The cost of teleportation is dependent on both distance and your cultivation level at the time of transit with costs rising significantly as either increase. As a Martial Disciple 1 who has never cultivated, teleportation to the nearest city is available for 30 credits.


    “Good. I just need to keep 30 credits in my pocket. Hopefully, I have enough to get what I really want.”


    During my stint as a pill slave, I never did anything I hadn’t been instructed to do, and it was difficult to even think about things other than what I was told to think about. However, occasionally, I was able to spend some time considering what I might want to buy in the future.


    I had an idea that I spent the last several decades slowly refining in those brief moments of clarity. If everything was possible… Surely it was… But I didn’t know what the cost would be.


    “System, I’m going to need your help with this. I have a built-in storage space, right? Every reset I get that recovery pill out of it, but I can’t put anything in. I want a storage space that I can put things in and take things out of.”


    The cost to create one with the properties of the System Space is not possible to calculate at this time.


    “Alright, let’s say a bag of holding. A canvas bag with a space of ten cubic meters inside where I can quickly pull things out without my arm needing to go several meters into the bag.”


    A standard low-level storage bag costs 1,000 credits.


    I smiled.


    “Excellent. Now, how much for such a bag that will travel with me when I reset? Maintaining all of its contents?”


    Calculating… The cost of a storage bag that will transport through time with you is not possible to calculate at this time.


    “No worries, no worries. How much would it cost for a storage space the size of ten cubic meters to be created within my soul? One that would act just like a storage bag.”


    A ten-cubic-meter space could be created in your soul for 10,000,000 credits.


    “What if it was only one cubic meter?”


    That cost is 1,000,000 credits.


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    Excellent!


    “To be clear, the price is based on the space. Ten times the volume, ten times the cost, right?”


    Correct.


    “Alright, now, I want it to travel through time with me and retain its contents.”


    Calculating… The cost of a storage space in your soul… The storage space is a part of your soul… Keeping the contents of your soul inside your soul… Cost… 2,000,000 credits.


    “Now, I want it so that it is possible to expand without the system. I want the space set up in such a way that it is as easy as possible for me to expand while increasing the price by no more than five times, and I should be able to purchase information on how to do so for no more than a few thousand credits.”


    Calculating… … … … …


    Such a storage space, of size 1 cubic meter, the cost is 10,000,000 credits.


    “Wonderful! Let’s keep going. Here are the additional features I want. It should be able to store living creatures inside, both plant and animal, and everything should be subject to gravity similar to this world. Time should flow at the same rate inside as outside, but time inside should not reset when I do. Things should age continuously inside the space. If I grow it to sufficient size, I want the possibility of entering bodily. Until then, I want the possibility of entering spiritually, assuming I have a proper technique. I want to be able to see everything inside and move things around at will.”


    Allowing the flow of time will decrease cost. Allowing plants and animals to survive… marginal cost decrease, this is a removal of a safety feature, however, note that the space will not regulate air, food, water, sunlight, or anything else plants and animals need. Regulating gravity field… significant cost increase. Entering spiritually, already included. Spiritual control of contents, already included.


    Ability to enter bodily with the same body whose spirit contains the storage space… suggestion rejected. Associated costs impossible to calculate.


    Timeline within storage space not reset upon host’s death… feature previously requested.


    Such a storage space, of size 1 cubic meter. The cost is 24,000,000 credits.


    “Finally, I want it isolated from the Dao. Only what I choose to put in there should be allowed in.”


    This cannot be done. The System is only of the Heavenly Dao. Isolating from ‘the Dao’ is not possible at this time.


    Isolation of the space from the Heavenly Dao and all Daos below it… The space is in your soul… Cost 30,000,000 credits.


    Perfect! I could get exactly what I wanted.


    “System, I want to purchase a storage space with the exact specifications discussed. However, I want the size to only be 8 cubic centimeters. It should be a cube of two centimeters in each dimension.”


    Processing… Cost… 240 credits. Confirm?


    “Yes!”


    Purchasing… Confirmed… 115 credits remaining.


    Amazing, and 85 credits to spare! Okay, maybe it would have been good to keep a nest egg for the future, but there was one last thing I wanted. Everything else could be put off for the future.


    “System, permanently upgrade my fire affinity to peak nine-star.”


    Cost 75 credits. Confirm?


    “Confi… wait. Not confirmed. Not confirmed. Hold off for now.”


    <hr>


    “What is your name?” asked the elderly man at the testing orb.


    “Su Fang.”


    “Place your hand on the orb and channel your qi into it.”


    I did so.


    “Fire affinity. High nine-stars,” the elderly man said, sounding surprised.


    “What can you tell us about the blessing you have received?”


    “I have been blessed in alchemy. I feel a connection to it,” I said confidently.


    “Are you sure?”


    “I have a feeling. It is what I am meant to be doing.”


    The elder studied me. He looked me up and down.


    “Give him the Burning Flame Mantra,” he finally said, “and send him to Su RuDi.”


    Wait… what?


    <hr>


    “What is your affinity?” asked Rudy


    “High-level fire affinity, Master Alchemist.”


    Rudy looked me over, taking an extra moment when he saw the scroll in my hand.


    “Very well, guardsman, I shall do what I can, but tell the elders that rotten wood cannot be carved. I accept no fault if he cannot learn.”


    “Of course, Master Alchemist, I will make sure they understand.”


    “Leave us.”


    The guard gave another deep bow and backed his way out of the building, not turning around until after the door was closed.


    “That will be your room,” he said, pointing to the room I had lived in for years. “Your food will be delivered. Don’t come out until you are at least Martial Disciple Level 4. Do so as quickly as you can. Don’t worry about purity of qi or any of that nonsense. Alchemists can easily fix such difficulties later.”


    “Yes, Master Alchemist,” I said with a bow.


    “Stop,” he said lightly, “I didn’t give you permission to speak. You will not do so again.”


    I gave another deep bow, then turned to enter my room.


    “Hold,” said Rudy, stopping me, “what cultivation technique did you receive?”


    “It is called the Burning Flame Mantra, Master Alchemist.”


    “Give it to me,” he said lightly. Taking it, he looked it over a couple of times before speaking.


    “This is trash. This technique is for fighters, not alchemists. Here,” he said, handing me a different scroll. “This is the Guided Flame Mantra. It is more suitable for alchemists, as it will help you better control fire qi. Now go, cultivate.”


    Ah, good ol’ Rudy.


    <hr>


    Of course, I did not cultivate. The first thing I did upon entering the room was make my purchase.


    “System, permanently upgrade my fire affinity to peak nine-star.”


    Cost 75 credits. Confirm?


    “Yes.”


    Confirmed. 40 credits remaining.


    Was this the best choice? I’m not sure. I could have at least looked into the price of a trustworthy cultivation manual, but I didn’t. I still considered affinity the unquestioned best place to spend money for self-improvement.


    Anyway, I sat in my room and waited. Having not cultivated, I couldn’t feel too much difference with my upgraded affinity, but it would still be helpful for the night’s activities.


    Eventually, I snuck out of my room and grabbed a few peonies. Then, I ducked into the storage room with the jade bottles and grabbed a couple. Finally, I headed to the pill room.


    Peonies are large, at least relatively speaking. I had a brand-new storage space that was unfortunately tiny. Even if I completely crushed a peony to be as small as possible, it would not fit. But you know what isn’t that large? What is actually quite small when you think about it? A pill.


    I was as careful as possible. I had no qi to waste on inefficiencies. The first pill I made was High-Purity. After that, I was able to make two more Mid-Purity pills. Then, I was spent. Three pills. It would have to do. I wasn’t going to risk staying here any longer than I had to.


    I placed the two Mid-Purity pills in storage bottles and tucked them into my robe.


    The High-Purity pill I pulled directly into my storage space. It should have been put into a jade bottle first since jade bottles help maintain the medicinal efficacy of pills. I had seen the effects firsthand. Just being put directly in the storage space, well, it wasn’t ideal, but the bottles were way too large. In the future, I could look at acquiring a thin jade sheath that could surround a pill while still fitting inside my limited space, but not right now.


    “System, teleport me to the nearest town.”


    30 credits. Confirm?


    “Yes!”


    Initiating Teleport. 10 credits remaining.