Herbs are important in the cultivation world. Some are consumed to heal or cure various other effects, while others are mixed with other herbs for alchemy.

  The more you gather, the more skilled you become at gathering, so that you can gather high-rarity herbs without destroying them.

  There are also special sickles that crafters make to help you with your herb gathering.

  Remember, the road of cultivation takes years upon years. It’s not an easy road.

  It’s imperative to build a firm foundation on each cultivation stage by making pills with your alchemy craft.

  You can always seek out alchemists like me to meet your needs, but only you will live for thousands of years if you succeed on your path of cultivation. Better use your time to hone different crafting skills to be the master of your destiny.

  The Forager's Guide to Sustainability

  By Zhi Zixin

  * * *

  Seph was worried that he would end up never reaching certain rooms and lose what little knowledge Scorn was giving him during the trial.

  He was clueless, after all. Most probably, his peers had received some lessons on common cultivator knowledge in the sect before coming here.

  Being an immortal sounded more and more like it was going to be a chore already.

  What would he do with all his time in this world, anyway?

  He got into the next room, only to find it empty. In front of the exit, though, was a napping brown monkey. He was lying on the ground with his legs crossed.

  Only his head was a little higher, supported by the door behind him.

  He looked at peace, like a person who had eaten a delightful meal and was enjoying the aftermath.

  Seph raised his eyebrows at this scene and started moving inside.

  Sensing the movement, the monkey suddenly opened his eyes and met Seph’s.

  He jumped up and grabbed a small wooden staff that was beside him. The staff was plain, its color a mix of red and brown.

  The monkey stood on guard as if guarding the door from Seph.

  Seph thought, this monkey is so small. Why does it look like he’s getting ready to fight me?

  Seph took one more step towards the door, but the monkey didn’t like this very much. He sprinted on all fours with the small staff still in hand, and when he reached Seph, he hit him on his left knee with the staff.

  Seph’s leg jerked up from the pain, hitting the small monkey by mistake. “Aww, come on. Why did you hit me?!”

  The monkey glared at him and made some angry noises.

  He went in for another attack, ducking under Seph’s legs in a split second.

  Agilely, the monkey jumped onto Seph’s knees and spun around to the back of his knees.

  Then he jumped to his hip, spinning to the front, and with two fast moves, it was on Seph’s shoulder, hitting him on the head with the staff.

  Seph yelped in pain and tried to grab the monkey but got his hand bitten instead, while the monkey moved quickly to his right shoulder and hit him on the head again.

  “Ouch! Come on, stop it, you little fucking demon!”

  He grabbed at the monkey with his other hand, but it only caught empty air as the monkey moved to the top of his head, smacking Seph in the middle of his face as he did. Seph grabbed at his face after he got hit and caught the staff. He held onto it and jerked forward, launching the monkey straight at the door.

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  The monkey lost his staff as he slammed his back against the door. He looked like he was about to cry, but after a little whine, he opted to go back on the attack to retrieve his lost staff.

  When the monkey was under Seph’s legs again, Seph got a demonic idea. He threw the staff towards the door. The monkey’s eyes went wide, following the staff in mid-air, and he made a sudden turn to go after it.

  Seph didn’t give him a chance to go far before he kicked his behind, launching him towards the closed door and sending him into it face first.

  The monkey was dazed, and instead of going back on the attack, he sat on the ground, holding his face with both hands as he started crying.

  "No, no, no, don’t cry like that. You attacked me first!” Seph voiced his objection. The little monkey paid him no mind as it continued crying.

  Guilt consumed Seph. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do in the room. Was he supposed to kill the monkey? Was he supposed to bypass it and go through the door?

  Suddenly, he got a spark of inspiration. He could give the monkey a Vitality Grass to heal, and then hopefully, he would let him go through the door.

  He walked towards the crying monkey, who seemed like he had given up all fight as he wailed into his palms, and reached out to him with a Vitality Grass.

  The monkey looked up at him with tearful eyes and back at the grass. Seph nodded, smiling. He wasn’t sure his smile looked any good, with how macabre his transformation was.

  The monkey took the grass and ate it. After a minute, he was healed and screeching happily. The monkey looked at Seph, grinning and showing all its white teeth, then with purpose, grabbed his staff again. Seph took a step back, afraid the monkey was going to attack him again, but the monkey climbed super-fast to his left shoulder and pointed his staff forward like he was asking his human slave to go through the door with him on his shoulder.

  Seph didn’t know what to think about this, but it looked like he had a monkey companion now. He steeled his resolve, picked up the bucket of herbs that he would keep leaving at the door of each new room, and walked through the door.

  * * *

  “You could have beaten the last room in one of many ways. You could have killed the monkey, left him crying and passed through the door, or tried to slip by him in the fight. You managed to find the most rewarding way, befriending the monkey! This shows that you are full of compassion and kindness. Some might call that a weakness in a yin cultivator, but you’ve got to balance your actions, or else you might get unlucky and get karmic retribution dealt to you. It’s real, even if random, so be careful.

  “Animal companions are very common in the cultivation world. They can gain levels the same as you and everyone else in the world. They can cultivate the same as you, only different since your animal companion isn’t yin-oriented. However, they have something more prominent with them than with humans—bloodlines.

  “Certain humans have special bloodlines, but animal companions always have a bloodline. The only problem is the differing levels of purity and different levels of uniqueness, which can all be refined with certain materials that are usually very rare to get. A bond with an animal companion is as strong a bond as any other in the cultivation world—sworn older brother, adoptive mother or father, adoptive daughter or son, even master and disciple bonds. But it’s much riskier because animal companions start weaker than human immortals, so be careful and care for your companion until he is much stronger and can be of real help in your fights.

  “Now, the next room is special. You will spawn in a stasis field, and after thirty seconds, when everyone is oriented, you will all get the chance to fight each other for the prize in that room. May the best man win!”

  True to Scorn's words, Seph found himself inside a stasis field. A few seconds passed before three more newbies spawned in the room with him. They wore different clothing, as they all had different backgrounds. Seph was in the lower right corner of the room.

  Seph scrutinized them, looking at what each of them had gotten in their past rooms.

  The man in the left lower corner of the room next to Seph, had leather chest armor above his ordinary, dirty white clothing, which made his entire attire look mismatched.

  The man in the upper right corner of the room, held a sword in his hand and nothing else. He also had dirty white clothing.

  The man in the left upper corner of the room had a sack strapped to his waist. He wore only blue pants, and his upper body was bare. The guy had six-pack abs, which made Seph guess he might be one of the rumored martial artists in the trials.

  They spent the entire thirty seconds sizing each other up, which gave them all the idea that they'd all gotten the same warning before entering this room.

  Then the stasis fields dissipated, and the man in front of Seph ran straight at him. Seph tried to meet him with a fist to the face, but the man caught his hand. He followed up with his other hand, but it also got caught in the air.

  Suddenly finding himself in a bad position, Seph lost it, lunging at the man’s neck with bared teeth.. He found his mark and chomped down harder, holding on for dear life. Terrified, the man began elbowing him in the back, but the monkey, seeing his friend in a dangerous position, intervened and jumped at the man’s face, hitting him with the staff repeatedly.

  Blood gushed out from the wound in the man’s neck. Desperate, he tried to attack the monkey to no success, so he landed one last elbow on Seph’s back before losing consciousness.

  Seph looked over to the other side. The martial artist, now sporting a slash at the side of his stomach, warily engaged the man with the sword.

  Seph didn’t know which of them would win, so he flipped over the unconscious man and started untying his leather chest armor so he could wear it instead.

  The monkey yelped excitedly, and Seph couldn’t help but smile at his new companion. “Don’t worry, buddy. We’ve got this. I feel weird calling you buddy. We’ll have to choose a name for you after we’re done with this.”

  The monkey, with a wide, white-toothed grin, nodded at him happily.

  “Can you tie this leather armor for me?” Seph asked, not sure how well the monkey understood his language. Surprisingly, the monkey jumped onto his back and started tying the bands together like a pro.

  Seph thanked him again and headed for the middle of the room.

  In the middle was a pedestal with a blue stone on top of it. He looked at it with greed but couldn’t linger. He had to watch the fight between the other two guys to determine his next move.

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