Jack In The Box and Treasure Troves.

Tao Lin had gone back to see his mother two times in the last four months, and every time he went back his mother refused to try out the pod. It was the same for his sister, and two other brothers. Once they all saw Tao take off, they refused to leave each other. Even the chief in the town had tried to convince her, Mr. Don, but she'd rather live to 45 with her family than to a 1000 with her kids orphaned and alone. It was a noble gesture, but The Alchemist had some plans for his family line.

Basically, the hardest part about finding people was a small cultivation organ that hadn't been discovered until sixty years ago. It was hiding between some of the fibers in the human body. If you didn't have that, the machine was useless.

The cultivation organ was in different places in different people. Sometimes you would find it hiding underneath a fiber in the heart, or sometimes it would be in the rear deltoids nestled like a little microscopic doorway to eternity. However, there was one quality to it that The Alchemist had seemed to figure out. It was heritable, and there was a 50% chance his mom had it, and a 25% chance his brothers and sisters had it. If your wondering why 25%, its because there are four genes involved. And the Alchemist promised that he'd go 'visit' them when the floating town hit California.

Alas, today wasn't the day for The Alchemist to go. He was fighting a huge wyvern with a wing span of five planes. As for Tao Lin, he was finding out what his surprise was.

The wolf king burst open after his spear pierced it. It blew up like a watermelon with chunks of red scattering all over the battlefield. Its men immediately dropped their swords and began walking away. Unfortunately, that was the surprise.

"You have encountered the monster stand-alone, seven-sword."

Tao Lin could hardly see as the blood splashed on his face. And seven swords shot out with baleful trajectory. He had no choice but to run back as the monster sped around him like a mini tornado brandishing seven swords from seven arms jutting out of its spinal cord.

He could only guess that the monster was a parasite that the wolf king used to power up. And that was true. They used to have a symbiotic relationship until seven-blade felt a spear piercing at him. It had green skin like a worm would, and no appendages besides the sword arms on its back. However, it had enough eyes to see from all its sides. It was like a wiggling killing machine that could move like a cheetah. He imagined it was at least the fifth-Qi.

"You have thirty seconds before treasure chest spawns."

The system thought it was funny to send messages right during battles. Unless it had a change of heart, this would keep happening repeatedly.

"Boom!"

He couldn't count how many times he had got sent flying into walls, but it might have been his third time this month. The ground crumbled and fell on him leaving a few tons of rock on Tao's body.

"No, stay away from me," Diana screamed.

The worm wiggled over and spread open its saw tooth mouth. Tao, however, had a special item he had saved up for times like these. He threw a small white grenade and it landed in front of the monster. It flashed like it was supposed to and made all the monsters eye close and its arms wiggled trying to defend itself.

Luckily, he had gotten a flash grenade in his last dungeon. This monster had so many eyes it probably nearly died from the shine alone.

Tao Lin arrived instantly, caused -800, -500, - 200 damage, and sliced up ole seven-swords like it was a piece of butter. An excessive amount of what they liked to call the 'trove' exploded out of the monster. It rained cosmo, these little coins used to buy food in Order, along with a lot of different weapons. And for the first time, one of those illusive boxes appeared right in front of Tao Lin. All the material flew into his inventory like water returning into a fountain.

Diana was still in the corner hiding behind some rocks, and a little spooked by the bright sun that just blinded her. Those flashbang grenades really did wonders and were like the golden weapon for fighting other players. Tao Lin would soon find out that they weren't the only players here. The world had its own list of cultivators who came from disparate regions. The problem was Tao Lin had no idea where those regions were.

It was hard to understand the magnitude of Cosmic Order, and it was even harder to understand its treasures. Tao Lin opened the box, and a small goblet appeared lying at the bottom of it. He was waiting for something to happen. If it was a trick, the goblet would disintegrate. He had seen the jack in the boxes before. You'd open the coffer, the beautiful golden chest, and suddenly, a monster would fly out and blow up in your face. All you'd get was a few essence pills worth next to nothing.

"You acquired the amplification imperial goblet of the Yam Tribe."

There were many different types of items, and they all had different ranks. It was a jewel-based system with Aquamarine, Topaz, Sapphire, Emerald, Ruby, and Diamond being the six levels he had seen so far, in that order, respectively.

So, basically, Aquamarine was the lowest of the low. Killing the first and second level slugs would get you them. And the other items were found the higher you went up the ladder. Topaz was found on solo monsters, and Sapphire was found on the bosses. As far as Emerald, Ruby, and Diamond were concerned. You'd have to find a quest, a king boss, or an emblazoned chest.

Alas, Tao Lin had discovered something decent.

Yam Imperial Goblet

Rank: Sapphire

Usefulness: Amplifies essence pills by .5

Warnings: Attracts the wrath of higher stage monsters.

Attacks: Self Destruct – Can kill any monster 7th Qi or below instantly.

Comments: Almost worth two turds

Diana Hong stood up and walked over to Tao like she was going through a maze. But, regardless, he waited for her. It was his first time seeing another player, and she looked just as real as he did. Her features were beautiful like they were drawn by an artist. However, the most aesthetically pleasing thing about her was her eyes.

"You okay," Tao asked. "I didn't think the flash was that strong."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you for saving me."

She plopped down by the precipice, with Tao, and he passed over two hydro capsules. She tossed two into her mouth, and they dissolved quenching her thirst.

Tao Lin spent a few more minutes studying her as he got to learn somethings about her. Basically, she had spent her entire life in Antarctica living like a nomad as the homes she lived in collapsed under her. But, one day, a drone came down and dropped a cultivation pod in front of her asking her if she wanted to go in. Unless the Alchemist changed his ways, that seemed unusual.

"So, I've never seen such a beautiful sunset." Diana remarked.

"Yeah, the system can do whatever it wants. I've seen better."

"Ha, well compared to earth this looks like heaven," Diana said, "It's like a painting in three dimensions."

"Well, unfortunately were in a danger zone. We might want to get out of here and find a town."

In Cosmic Order there was a skill called the flash light you could use to explore territories. If you were close by, you could trade some of your energy to expand your vision. It was like training wheels for a domain. And Tao Lin was hoping to find some place before another surprise showed up and mauled the new girl in town.

Unfortunately, Diana Hong was mixing with the wrong crowd. Since Tao was at the 4th Qi all the higher-level monsters would brazenly lash at her. It was why Tao kept the tiger crane spear floating in front of him always.

"Here, try and take one of these, Diana" Tao Lin passed her some essence pills he acquired from the last battle, and hoped she could snack along the way.

"Warning, unacquired pills may cause qi deviation. Risk level 1%"

Diana Hong scratched her head and tossed a set of one hundred pills into her mouth. She was, unfortunately, a bit of a risk taker. Tao Lin looked at her with his mouth Agape wondering what would happen.