Author's Note: This chapter took me foooeevveerr to write! Whew! Glad I'm finally done with it. Anyways, enjoy! :)

Yu Lin sat in her room rubbing the bump on her head that she got from Chief Chu. Although she wanted to use her healing magic to make it go away, she knew that would put her under suspicion so she could only leave it alone feeling sore. She thought about what happened before dinner and giggled. ‘Calling me a brat, you’re the brat here Sen Feng!’ She thought. After she got herself together, she practiced The Eight Forms of Yin and Yang and the Shan Clan’s Energy Balance Technique before laying on her bed trying to go to sleep. Before she could sleep though a face flashed through her head. ‘Lan Hei Kong.’ She thought. When she first met him in her previous life she thought that he was like a lost child yearning for love and warmth. She would have never believed that he would turned out to be an evil power hungry elf. Her mind flashed to that day when he grabbed her wrist. ‘What did he say?’ She wondered. In her previous life she did not understand the elf language but now that she did, she thought that she could just remembered the sounds and words he spoke, she would know what he said. No matter how much she thought about it though, she could not remember and soon she just drifted off to sleep.

For the first month Chief Chu trained the two together, working on their physical state. In the second month he separated the two’s training. Although the warm ups still had the two together, he had Sen Feng teach He Lan while he taught Yu Lin personally. During the first month Chief Chu debated if he wanted to teach Yu Lin the Ten Forms of the Thousand Iron Legs. He knew he couldn’t teach He Lan because He Lan’s body was not as strong and he fit using the sword more. Chief Chu saw how even though Yu Lin may be endangered because of her chi center, her physical body was very strong. The first three forms of the Ten Forms of the Thousand Iron Legs required one to have a strong physical body, and then the forms after that required being able to use one’s chi center efficiently. Chief Chu knew that this martial arts he learned was difficult to achieve and master however he felt that if it was Yu Lin it would not be a problem. He concluded that Yu Lin would need to increase her physical abilities before the the Ten Forms of the Thousand Iron Legs.

Chief Chu did not tell Yu Lin at first that he was prepping her for Ten Forms of the Thousand Iron Legs martial arts style. Instead he told her that he wanted to improve her physical. For one to learn the Ten Forms of the Thousand Iron Legs they must have a built lower body or else they would get a lot of injuries. He made her training harder however he was always shocked that Yu Lin never complained, nor showed any sign of having any difficulties.

“Yu Lin,” he said one day as they were out on their run, although he was walking more than running due to his giant steps, “do you find my training hard?” He asked out of curiosity. Yu Lin ran next to him panting, her dark grey skin shining from her sweat.

“No… it’s… fun… and… interesting…” She said between each breath. Chief Chu sighed. Deep inside he felt a bit disappointed. When he first started learning the martial arts he found it very difficult and actually hated it. At one point he wanted to quit however due to humiliation that he suffered he didn’t.

Although Chief Chu didn’t tell her Yu Lin already knew that he was planning on training and teaching her the Ten Forms of the Thousand Iron Legs. Although training was hard due to the fact that she had to do physical exercises until she basically dropped to the ground, she still enjoyed it. She never knew how much she enjoyed training so intensely in martial arts until that day. She began to remembered the feeling she got in her previous life when she trained until she basically fainted to exhaustion. She wanted to get stronger and each time she felt a breakthrough to another rank, she was encouraged to keep training and training. The two already did about 15 laps around the village, including her first 10 laps of warm up, Yu Lin did a total of 35 laps before she was allowed to rest. She dropped down to the ground, her chest panting up and down. She grabbed a leather canteen and drank thirstily. She was only allowed a 20 minute break to catch her breath and she quickly sat up. She began to meditate to calm her state of mind and to stabilize her breathing.

After she was done with her break she had to do 50 push ups and 75 situps. Due to her age and her growing body, Chief Chu didn’t want to wear her out and so he assigned these numbers. Had Yu Lin been much older the numbers would have been in the hundreds. After that Chief Chu had her do 75 squats. The Ten Forms of the Thousand Iron Legs focused mostly on the abdomen and lower body strength which was why Chief Chu had Yu Lin trained mostly her lower body, but he did not forget her upper body also as he had her work on push ups and had her carry pails of water from the river back to the house.

Yu Lin also practiced her using magic also. She had become quite efficient and could now also have fire out on one finger, and water out on the other. It was difficult to do this due to the fact that one had to control one’s chi energy to form two different things. However, no matter how good Yu Lin got she still felt as if something was missing. She felt like something wasn’t complete however she could not figure out what it was.

On the third month of their training Chief Chu decided it was time to teach Yu Lin and He Lan about how to utilize their chi energy and chi centers. After their morning warm up Chief Chu sat them next to each other with them sitting pretzel legged on the ground.

“Today’s training will be one of the most important trainings.” Chief Chu said as he walked around the two. “Today I will teach you two how to train your chi center.”

“Yes, Master!” the two yelled. He Lan smirked as he had been secretly practicing how to circulate his chi energy. Sen Feng had secretly teached him when Chief Chu wasn’t around and it was just them and their personal training. He was confident that he would do better than Yu Lin on this matter. Chief Chu pulled out two chi energy stones and threw it in front of them.

“Pick up the stones.” Chief Chu ordered.

“Yes Master!” The two reached their hands out and grabbed the stones in front of them. Yu Lin’s was much bigger than He Lan due to the fact that Chief Chu knew she was practicing magic, and had already knew to a certain degree how to utilize her chi energy. The chi energy stone that Yu Lin had also had a thicker exterior, which made it harder to inject chi energy inside of the it.

“Now then, the first step to controlling one’s chi energy at will is to feel your chi energy. I want both of you to close your eyes and empty your minds,”the two did as he said, “now, when your mind is completely cleared of any disturbances you will be able to feel the energy swirling and running through you. The chi energy is one of the most important things to a martial artists. Those who can’t use their chi energy can not hold the title of being a martial artist.” Chief Chu roared.

Yu Lin thought about the time she had hers shattered, and then quickly cleared the thought away from her head. She focused on nothing, dulling her mind until it was completely empty, and the only thing she could hear was the voice of Chief Chu speaking to her.

“Now when you feel that energy within you, you have to control it. Imagine the energy running up from your stomach to your shoulder, down your arms, down into your hands, and imagine that energy getting ejected out into the stone.” Chief Chu squinted his eyes at the two, “Until you get that stone half full you are not allowed to step foot away from this court yard!” He sternly said. Within seconds Yu Lin opened her eyes and got up. Chief Chu raised his eyebrows thinking that this might be the first time she was going to ask a question, or complain, but instead she walked up to him, handed him her chi energy stone, bowed her head, and left the courtyard. Chief Chu’s eyes widened in shock as he watched Yu Lin stroll off too speechless to say anything. He looked down and saw that the chi energy stone was actually filled all the way up, more than he had asked, and more than what he had expected out of her. ‘Who is this child?!’ He thought amazed. “Well done Yu Lin.” He quickly said and watched as she stopped, turned around to give him another bow, before continuing on her way.

He Lan heard everything that happened and his blood started to boil. ‘That monster… that little beast… how did she finish it so fast?’ He screamed inside his head as he clenched his teeth. He had only ejected a small amount in his chi energy stone and that he felt was already a lot of work and was difficult to do. Actually, compared to other kids his age, He Lan did what most wouldn’t be able to do and would be considered a genius. That day He Lan tried his best to clear his mind however he could only feel anger and fury as he thought of Yu Lin and it took him at least 5 hours to fill the chi energy stone halfway up.

Yu Lin yawned as she walked back to her room. She quickly found some clothes, took a quick bath, and then went to the classroom where Mr. Liao and Ms. Chen were both chattering away waiting for the two. Yu Lin walked in and they both stopped talking shock on their face.

“Aren’t you two learning how to utilize your chi energy today?” Ms. Chen said in a high pitched voice.

“I’m done.” Yu Lin said as she sat down. The two teachers looked at each other and then back at Yu Lin.

“Is that so?” Mr. Liao wrapped his hand around his chin, a habit he had when he was curious. Yu Lin nodded her head. The two teachers knew that the two were going to do that day and they were told by Chief Chu that the two may not be able to attend class that day. Ms. Chen was impressed by Yu Lin while Mr. Liao was rather curious upon how Yu Lin was able to understand the concept so fast.

Over the three months Yu Lin had learned that Mr. Liao is a monk who migrated from Sky Continent and Ms. Chen was one of the teachers sent by an academy from the Middle Continent to see if there was any child qualified to enter the prestigious school. She also taught kids around the village when she did not teach He Lan and Yu Lin.

The two teachers quickly got their act together and began to teach Yu Lin her studies of that day. Yu Lin just sat there with a bored expression because she had already learned of everything that there is needed to be learned in her past life. When the two was done Yu Lin gave them a bow and bid them farewell before running out with a smile on her face. She started to head to Ju Hua’s room.

For the past three months, Ju Hua and Yu Lin had spent a lot of time together. Ju Hua had warmed up to Yu Lin and treated Yu Lin like her real niece however Sen Feng still felt that Yu Lin was just an annoying brat. Each time she went there Sen Feng would scowl at her, argue for a bit, and then leave the two alone. Today when Yu Lin went there though she did not see Sen Feng and just saw Ju Hua sitting at her usual spot reading. Yu Lin sat down on a chair across from her. Ju Hua looked up from book and smiled.

“You’ve come again.” She said and Yu Lin nodded her head.

“Yes.” Yu Lin answered. Ju Hua looked at her with gentle eyes. For some reason Yu Lin had reminded of her of someone whom she had loved very much. Their personality, their words, their manners, their likes and dislikes, the more Ju Hua saw Yu Lin, the more she thought they were similar.

“When is are your parents coming to visit?” Ju Hua asked as she wondered about the people who raised Yu Lin. Yu Lin paused unsure of what to say.

“Soon… I hope.” She replied as she began to miss her parents. Although the food at Chief Chu’s house were delicious, she often found herself missing the meals that her mother cooked.

“Honey!” Sen Feng called out cheerfully as he skipped into the room. “That little brat won’t be com- Ah!” Sen Feng yelled out surprised as he saw Yu Lin sitting there. “What are you doing here?!” He exclaimed as he pointed a finger towards Yu Lin.

“I got done early. I think He Lan is still practicing though.” Yu Lin answered nonchalantly as she looked at Sen Feng. Sen Feng frown.

“Hey little kid, you have been spending too much time with my fiancee. Today is our day alone together so go away.” Sen Feng flipped his hand back in forth in the air.

“Sure.” Yu Lin jumped off the chair.

“I know you were going to say that. Hurry up and leave befo- huh?” Sen Feng looked at he wide eyed. “You’re just going to leave?” He asked with his eyebrows raised.

“Yes. I will see you two later then.” She bowed to the both of them before exiting the room. Sen Feng cocked his head to one side confused however just shrugged his shoulder happy that he was going to spend time with Ju Hua. Ju Hua didn’t think much of Yu Lin’s actions for she knew that Yu Lin probably her her own matters to attend to.

Yu Lin walked to the front gate of the Siheyuan a small smile curling on her face. Po Leng Jing and Lu Wu Ya, the two guards, looked at her suspiciously, however did not say anything. Yu Lin had often seen the two during her three months of training, and greeted them at times however other than that she did not say much to the two. The two guards on the other hand had wondered how and why Yu Lin was allowed to stay with Chief Chu. They had never saw Chief Chu train any other youth aside from He Lan so they were surprised when Chief Chu brought in Yu Lin and started to train her along with He Lan.

“Greetings Sir Lu and Sir Po.” Yu Lin bowed to the two before seating herself down at the steps.

“Greetings Yu Lin.” Leng Jing replied.

“Greetings Yu Lin.” Wu Ya quickly said after. He hesitated not sure what to do due to the things that his father had taught him however he did not want to offend Yu Lin, for that would mean he was offending Chief Chu. Yu Lin gave the two a smile before staring out into the distance at the village. After a while curiosity tugged at Leng Jing’s conscious.

“Are you waiting for someone?” Leng Jing asked.

“Yes.” Yu Lin replied.

“Who?”

“They will be here soon. I can feel it.” Yu Lin replied, and as she said that, she saw two heads appearing in the distance. One of them was a tall beautiful elf with a blue cap on to match her blue robes, and the other was an ugly red eyed troll. Yu Lin stood up smiling as she ran towards them. The two also smiled as they saw Yu Lin and opened their arms wide to receive her.

“Our daughter!” They both exclaimed in unison as they wrapped one arm around. Yu Lin smiled as she placed each arm around their necks.

“Mama! Papa!” She cried out filled with emotions she couldn’t explain into words. In her last life, her mother had passed away when she was still young, and her father neglected her most of the time. She did not understand how it felt to have parents who loved her and cherished her until this lifetime, and she promised herself to treat them well back. The two pulled back away from her and Yo Mei bent down to meet her eye level.

“How did you know we were coming?” She asked.

“I just… got a feeling.” Yu Lin nervously smiled.

Actually, from before when Sen Feng was telling her to go away, she could sense her mother's chi energy. Ever since her mother has taught her magic she was able to somehow feel her mother’s presence. She could feel if her mother was far or close. Sometimes during the month she felt her mother’s presence closer to her, however it never came as close to as it did in that moment. That was why she was willing to leave Sen Feng and Ju Hua.

Chou embraced his daughter as he hadn’t seen her for the longest time. He wanted to carry her in his arms but she had already grown up to his chin which made it hard to carry her. When he had learn that Yu Lin went to Chief Chu’s house, he was very worried and missed Yu Lin a lot. He had only managed not to come visit Chief Chu’s house earlier due to Yo Mei’s reassurances, and the workload he had. Although there was still some construction left to do, he made sure to keep this day open so that he and his wife could come visit Yu Lin.

“Have you been good to Chief Chu, Yu Lin?” Chou asked. Sen Feng’s face crossed Yu Lin’s mind for a second but she brushed it away and nodded her head.

“Of course.” She replied smiling. Chou rubbed her head gently.

“That’s right.” Chou said smiling happily. Although he may have not spent a lot of time with Yu Lin, he knew that Yu Lin was not the type of child to do something bad on purpose. Since she had been born he had always had this strange feeling that she was somehow wiser beyond her age, and he of course didn’t have any complaints about it. Yo Mei picked Yu Lin up and gave her a big smooch on the cheek.

“Should we go into town and celebrate your birthday then?” Yo Mei smiled at Yu Lin. Yu Lin furrowed her eyebrows.

“Huh?” She blurted out confused for a moment. ‘Is it my birthday already?’ She thought. Yo Mei smiled expecting this reaction. Usually kids would be very excited on their birthdays and could not wait for their parents to give them a gift or take them somewhere but each year Yu Lin was nonchalant about it. Yo Mei was confused at first also about her attitude however just figured that she was just taking it differently from other kids.

“Did you forget?”

“... yes. I had been busy training with Grandpa that I had forgotten. I’m sorry.”

“That’s fine. It not like I’m angry at you. Hurry up and go tell those guards that you will be heading out with us for a while. You are done with your training, right?”

“Yes!” Yu Lin slid down Yo Mei and quickly ran up to tell Leng Jing and Wu Ya. After she was done she ran back to her parents. She held each of her parents hand as they walked away from Chief Chu’s Sihueyuan.

Instead of taking Yu Lin into town the two took her into the forest and they walked for a long time until they reached an open area. Yu Lin looked at the open field and closed her eyes to relax knowing what they were going to do. Chou turned to Yu Lin and patted her head.

“Yu Lin, your mama told me that you have learned magic. Is that right?” He asked. Yu Lin nodded her head. Chou slowly nodded his head and looked away for a second pondering on a thought. He then turned back to look at Yu Lin. He observed her body with his eyes and could see that she was well toned with all the training that she had got from Chief Chu. Chou looked into her eyes with determination. “It is about time for papa to also teach you something. Are you up for the task?”

“Yes papa!” Yu Lin enthusiastically responded. Chou nodded his head as he grabbed onto Yu Lin’s hand and gently guided her to the center of the field. Yo Mei sat on a nearby rock observing the two, curious of what they were saying, however she did not interrupt them.

“Yu Lin, unlike elves, trolls cannot use magic. This is why I am going to teach you something that, although may not look or seem great like your mother’s magic, it will be something useful for you in the future. It may be difficult at first but to learn you must bear through it.” Chou said.

“Yes, papa!”

“Good! Now, I am going to teach you a technique that has been passed down my family for millenniums. This technique consisted of five parts, however papa has only managed to be able to decipher three parts. This technique is a body strengthening technique. It will help you strengthen your body as it lets your physical body absorb your chi energy.” Chou said. Yu Lin eyebrows went up. ‘Let my physical body absorb my chi energy?’ She thought.

“Papa, what do you mean it lets the physical body absorb chi energy?” She quickly asked before he could move on. Chou paused for a second not sure of how to explain it. After a while of thinking he tried to explain the concept to Yu Lin as simply as he could.

“Well… Yu Lin you see, trolls are different from elves and humans. Unlike elves and humans, who have to train hard to gain a good physical body, trolls get a stronger physical body by using our chi energy to strengthen our muscle and skin. Only creatures with red chi energy can do this as their body is built differently. I am not sure it's going to work on you, but we must try before giving up.” He mustered out. Yu Lin’s eyes widened as she blinked, speechless.

Yu Lin had known that trolls and other creatures with red energy had good physical bodies, however she never knew the reason why. She had thought they were born with the body and it got stronger as they grew up. She had thought that there chi center was only there for the sake of it being there, not serving much purpose. Yu Lin was both a scholar and martial artist, and was always happy to learn new things.

“Do you understand?” Chou asked. Yu Lin nodded her head quickly.

“I understand papa. Thank you papa. Now, teach me papa!” She was enthusiastic. Chou let out a chuckle seeing how bright her smile was made him happy. He quickly cleared his throat though, and a stern look appeared on his face.

“First, you have to circulate your chi throughout your whole body. Imagine it traveling everywhere throughout your chi veins, and when you feel it everywhere at once, you will then exert it outside your chi veins so that your muscles and blood veins can absorb the energy. It will feel painful and have a weird tingling sensation, and you may fail, but you should be fine. Remember also that you cannot let this energy escape your body like magic, all the chi energy should stay inside your body.” Chou said. He was a little worried about Yu Lin as Yu Lin was and elto however after learning about her chi energy from Yo Mei, he felt she was going to be okay. Yu Lin crossed her leg together and did as Chou said.

She felt her chi energy running throughout her chi veins. It took her a while but when she felt chi energy throughout all her chi veins she exerted them out her chi veins. At first the chi energy refused to go out, causing her to fail three times as the chi energy just exited her body shrouding around her body. The day grew darker and darker as Yu Lin kept practicing, trying to get the concept of it. On her twentieth time, she was left with her last drop of chi energy and gave it her all. After she kept exerting her chi energy they eventually began to escape her chi veins and be pushed outside as her muscles began absorbing the energy. She breathed in sharply feeling the weird tingling sensation from every part of her body. She shivered and panted however kept her focus in mind.

Chou, seeing her daughter succeeding on her twentieth try, dropped his jaw wide open. When he first tried to learn this technique he had failed hundreds of times, and since trolls had small chi centers he could only try twice per day before losing all his chi energy. Seeing Yu Lin made him feel envy and struck him in awe as he admired his daughter.

Yu Lin opened her eyes and let a deep breath escape her lips as she smiled. She felt her body grow stronger, as if she had physically trained herself for days. She stood up and stretched feeling refreshed, yet tired at the same time. She looked up and saw that the sun had already began to set as dinner started to approach. ‘How long did I take to practice?’ She thought as she stretched her arms up. Yo Mei went up to the two and smiled.

“Now then, let’s get you back shall we?” She said as she picked the tired Yu Lin up. Yu Lin nodded and laid her head on Yo Mei’s shoulder. Chou and Yo Mei chuckled and talked about their daughter as she slept quietly on her mother’s shoulder.

Chief Chu stood outside his Siheyuan as he saw the three coming back. He smiled as Yo Mei and Chou gave him a bow.

“Welcome Mr and Mrs. Du.” He said as he gave them a bow. The two smiled and Yo Mei shook Yu Lin awake before setting her on the ground on her feet. Yu Lin stretched her body and yawned before bowing to Chief Chu.

“I have returned.” She said. Chief Chu had a gentle smile on his face as he watched her bow. He cleared his throat and turned his attention back to Chou and Yo Mei.

“Why don’t you two stay the night before heading out tomorrow?” Chief Chu asked. Yo Mei shook her head.

“It’s fine. We wouldn’t want to trouble you.” Yo Mei replied.

“You two would not be troubling me at all. Please be my guest for the night. I also have something very important to discuss.” He gave them a smile. Yo Mei furrowed her eyebrows curious and saw as Chief Chu gave a quick glance down at Yu Lin before meeting her eyes again. Yo Mei nodded her head understanding.

“Then we thank you for generosity for the night, Chief Chu.” Yo Mei said as she and Chou gave him another bow. Chief Chu let out a light hearted laugh before leading them inside.

Sen Feng and Ju Hua were walking up to the gate upon hearing that Yu Lin had returned with her parents. Ju Hua was still carrying her a teacup in her hand as she was too excited and left the room with it in her hand.

“Are you that excited to meet them?” Sen Feng asked her.

“Of course. I want to see the parents of the one who raised that wise child.” Ju Hua smiled. The two neared the gates before Ju Hua started dashing out.

“Hey!” Sen Feng called out for her but she ignored him. Ju Hua kept walking until she was a couple steps behind Chief Chu. She looked up to see Chou and smiled. She then changed her gaze to Yo Mei and her eyes widened as she dropped the teacup she was carrying.

CLINK! CLINK!

Yu Lin looked behind Chief Chu to see Ju Hua standing there was a shocked expression on her face. ‘What is wrong?’ She thought. The rest of them have all also turn to look at Ju Hua.They watched as tears started to stream down her face.

“Cousin… cousin Hu Die… cousin Hu Die!” Ju Hua cried. Yu Lin eyes widened thinking that she had somehow found out her true identity however she saw that Ju Hua was not looking at her. She followed Ju Hua’s line of sight and turned to look up at her mother. Her eyes grew big as she realized why Yo Mei had looked so familiar all this time. ‘The shape of those eyes, that nose, and those lips.’ Her lips quivered as she suddenly remembered the words Hei Kong had said that day when he first woke up and grabbed her wrist.

“Yo Mei please, don’t leave me. I’m sorry. Please don’t leave me again. Please don’t run away. Yo Mei... I love you.”