That being said, he wasn't a man to give up so he proceeded to search the whole house. While he was now aware of what was and what wasn't in his house, he still had not found any lighters. In the end, he could only sigh and admit that he needed help. He decided to go straight to the logistics department. Those guys gave him the candles so they probably had something to light them.

He ran there and no one seemed that surprised to see him again today. As he reached the counter, an elder he saw yesterday greeted him. He greeted him back and before he could ask, the elder spoke: " We're sorry about the mat, we completely forgot about it yesterday. We've decided to add it to the Outer Sect Pack so as to not make that mistake again. Anyways, I heard you went to get one at the outer division so what brought you here? "

While he was quite impressed by the speed at which they handled problems and found solutions, he was not here for the mat and so, he explained: " I don't have anything to light up the candles " to which the elder seemed shocked for a moment then nodded thoughtfully. It was something that never happened around here. Not even in the outer sect. There are mostly never anyone who couldn't light them up since a little jolt of energy was enough.

This new kid had not even a core so, of course, he could not light them by himself. The elder pondered for a moment before he told him to wait and went into the warehouse. He came back with a little gold device no bigger than a palm. It had a handle and ended in a needle. The handle was gold colored with a white sun on it. The elder gave it to him and said:" This is generally not something we give out as, while it is the weakest kind, it is a spiritual item. Place your thumb on the back-end of the handle and it will create a small flame by burning the surrounding energies"

Jin nodded and tried it. Indeed, it produced a very small flame. It would be more than enough to lit the candles though and was exactly what he needed. So there were lighters in this world too. Though they had a different shape. As he was done trying it out, the elder said: " I can't give this one to you so let's say we're lending it to you until you reach the first stage of refinement. You won't have much use for it at that time. Come give it back then, ok? "

Jin nodded, bowed, thanked the elder and bade him goodbye.

He rushed back to his house and this time was more than ready to light up that candle. He approached it and did just that, expecting to be surrounded by a myriad of light particles of energy. He was very disappointed. As the candle was being burnt, blinking dots appeared floating here and there. They were minuscule and there didn't seem to be more than a few dozen. Far from the expected myriads of it. He had thought the whole room would be lighted up...It was far from it.

Still, it worked. And he could see the dots of spiritual energy. Staying still and watching for a time, it became obvious that those little specs weren't coming to him at all. He was told about it but it was quite weird to see it for himself for the first time. The blinking dots moved close to his mouth then darted away from it. A strange occurence.

But fine!

If that was how it was going to be, he would just play along. He recalled what the teacher said and focused on the closest dot, breathing in and out, trying to absorb it...To no avail. It was harder than expected. But he didn't mind and kept trying throughout the night. And it ended up in a night of failure. He was unable to absorb a single dot. It was with bloodshot eyes that he went for a run at dawn to calm his nerves.

This was tougher than he thought.

As he was finishing his run and reaching his house, he saw Han-Bi seeping tea outside. She seemed to be enjoying the fresh morning and the sight of that beauty was quite mesmerazing. Jin had lived before and could be considered an old man compared to her but that didn't mean he didn't enjoy seeing youthful beauties. And his eyes were treated to a feast right now.

Obviously, Han-Bi had sensed him earlier on but she was enjoying her tea right now. She looked at him only after one more sip. Then, she beckoned him over to offer him some. Since he was already here, why not share a morning tea with him? He agreed of course. Her tea tasted heavenly and right now, after a white night, it felt refreshing and reinvigorating.

She obviously noticed his state and curiously asked him: " You don't seem well, little brother?" and Jin sighed as he answered her: " I couldn't absorb a single dot " which brought the girl to laugh wholeheartedly. This kid was a funny one. Was he expecting to absorb dots after dots as soon as he began cultivation? So silly~

She teased him: "Maybe you have no talent, little brother~" and she enjoyed seeing the dark and distorted expression on his face. Seemed like he fell for her joke hard. She laughed again as she decided not to go too far: " It was a joke, little brother. Don't worry, it takes time to grasp how to absorb them. Just keep at it and it will work itself. That being said, try not to spend all-nighters on it. It will only tire you and push you further away from success"

He pondered for a moment before asking: " Why? " and she answered with a gentle smile: " Because you need a pure focus to succeed and being tired hardly helps. Now, go get some sleep in while you still can. I will come fetch you for lunch. You probably haven't been to our cafeteria yet after all "

He didn't go to the inner sect one yet so he agreed. She was being nice and helpful, he had no reasons to refuse. As such, he thanked her for the tea and her help and went home to get some sleep. He was truly tired from all this... As he drifted to sleep, he felt himself quite lucky to be in this sect where everyone seemed to be nice...