Ren sat in one of the food stalls, that lined the marketplace. It was already evening and the sun bathed all in a deep red hue. The other disciples were still training, while the old master told Ren to meet him at this very stall, 'the blue dragon', quite an imposing name for such a small establishment, Ren thought. There were only nine seats in front of the counter and one chef was preparing food, whenever someone ordered, at the moment only a soup for Ren. The man behind the counter looked like he was in his eighties, deep wrinkles lined his aged face, clean-shaven with a full head of white hair. Looking at him with his sense of spirit, Ren could tell that the man was a Novice, but his spirit flowed far smoother than any of the disciples in his class.

While Ren was sitting in front of the counter, none of the other seats around him taken, he thought about his progress since Di Niu had them practise remotely controlling their spirit with the water bowl.

Summer had come and gone, making way for autumn's golden hue. Ren was able to reach a basic level of mastery over the sword-step, but he was only able to use it effectively for small bursts of speed. He tried to run with it constantly circulating for two hours a few weeks back and was rewarded for it with sore muscles, and aching bones. Though they were gone after one day, the experience made him more cautious of the movement art.

His other arts also came along nicely as well, his vision improved to the point of him being almost comparable to a falcon. He could pick out objects the size of his head barely a kilometre away. To his pleasant surprise, as Ren initially thought precious little of the eye of the sword, compared to its brothers in the compendium that is the heart of the lonely sword. The more he circulated it, the more he thought that it might not actually be the least valuable art of the lot.

His body moved far smoother, as he advanced in the body of the sword, and he even started feeling like a naked sword, from his legs to his fingers, and his very hairs. Ren could more and more understand why cultivators were not only revered but also feared, as Darkhaven taught him. He was only a boy, and yet a mortal man grown could likely do nothing to Ren if he was faced with him. Ren frowned, as his thoughts wandered into darker pastures.

The old chef used this moment to deliver his dish, a fragrant beef noodle soup. The man put it down without a word, and only gave Ren a nod. As Darkhaven had still not arrived, Ren simply started eating in silence.

Just as he was about to shove another load of noodles into his mouth, Ren could feel Darkhaven flying across multiple buildings in the neighbourhood, and behind him ran another familiar face, Adept Xiao Ai was following the man, at blinding speeds, their spirit subdued but unmistakable to Ren's keen senses.

The Chef noticed him pausing mid-movement, and looked at him for a moment, even raising an eyebrow, but smoothed his features to the previous impassive mask, almost immediately.

Ren was a bit torn about Ai joining The Master and himself for their meeting. She told him, back before he met the Novices, that they would still train, and he could come and visit her as often as he wanted, but instead Xiao Ai simply vanished. He rationalized that she might be busy, or simply spent time with her own friends, but even though it did not hurt too much, he only knew her for a few days after all, he was still slightly saddened by the circumstances of their parting.

"You can already prepare two more soups, the Master and an Adept will join us shortly." Ren told the chef, who simply nodded without question, and started working on two more portions of the same beef noodle soup Ren was already eating.

With a slight chime, Darkhaven and Xiao Ai appeared, as the older man jostled the curtain that was throwing shade on customers, and separating them from any possible activity on the street behind them.

"Aha, I see you have already acquainted yourself with the chef of this fine establishment, though young Cho Zhi here does not have any special aptitude for cultivation, he is both a formidable hand in the kitchen and a loyal part of the sect." He saw that the 'young' chef was already preparing more meals. "How considerate of you, Cho Zhi, cooking more portions for us." Darkhaven was quite jovial this evening, and seeing him treating the old man running the shop like a boy made Ren question how old Darkhaven even was, he had never asked the man.

"You are late, Master, and why is Adept Xiao with you?" Ren stated between slurps of soup and bites of beef.

"That, my dear disciple, is pertinent to the topic I hope to discuss today." Darkhaven sat down next to Ren, and gestured for Ai, who was still standing under the curtain, to follow suit. "Cho Zhi my good lad, will you pour me a glass of your famous dream-liquor?" The chef nodded solemnly, and brought out a funny looking bottle, it had more likeness to a pipe with balls glued to it, but Darkhaven's eyes lit up at the sight of it. When the Master took a sip of his glass, a nostalgic expression appeared on his face, and he smiled in appreciation. "Beautiful, it is even more flavourful than ten years ago. I truly hope that you can make a miracle happen and reach the next realm, fifty more years, and you might even contend with the greatest winemakers of this world." He put down his glass, and turned his attention back to Ren and Ai. "Where was I? Ah, yes, the reason for this meeting and Xiao Ai being here. To be honest it is a bit embarrassing for me to talk about it, but the other elder Masters have convened and want for all young and already acknowledged prodigies of under ten to meet and hopefully forge friendships, you are the future of the sect after all." He sounded a little sheepish as he said the next part. "Only, I was supposed to declare you as one of these chosen sons and daughters of heaven as soon as I found you." He coughed into his hand, with a grimace. "And the first elder, that old fossil, found out about you as one of your classmates families, made an inquiry into your origin. No matter though, there was no harm done, and Xiao Ai will be your chaperone for this event, it will last for one week starting tomorrow, and there will still be three days remaining for the Novice trials. I even specifically requested Adept Xiao to return from her mission in the Xun kingdom." Darkhaven looked pleased with his explanation, though the old man just sprung this decision on Ren, he even looked like he expected Ren to praise him in some way.

Instead, it was Ai who responded. "What our oh so wise Master conveniently left out is that I was scheduled to return today anyway, and because I told him that I wanted to see how you were doing, he immediately unloaded his chaperoning duty onto me. I can tell you, the first Elder was not happy with him." Ai, looked at the old man, who innocently drank from his glass and eyed the soup that was about to be served. Turning back to Ren, she continued. "So how have you been, Ren? I hope the other disciples were not too mean, and you didn't miss the company of my loveable self too much." She said with a smile.

Cho Zhi used this moment to serve the meal to both Darkhaven and Xiao Ai, giving Ren a little time to think. He didn't know where he should even begin, a lot had happened since he joined the class of Novices and Ai left to complete some mysterious mission. He wanted to be angry with her for leaving without telling him, but he knew that it would be unreasonable, and as he saw her smiling while she took her first bite of beef, swooning over it, any such notions disappeared with the wind, and he himself smiled.

"It was OK, I made a few new friends even, and the old man kept me company, told me stories and helped me cultivate." Darkhaven looked affronted at being called an old man, but Ren continued, this time with a little more emotion. "You should meet them, Ling Sen and little Fatty, his real name his Dashan Bo, are fourteen, Ji Daiyu is ten, and Xiao Bao is twelve, but all of them are really nice and talented with different things, you will like them!"

"I am sure that I will, Ren. After we had the gathering, it will be near the peak of the mountain by the way, I will gladly meet them all." Xiao Ai said softly.

The rest of the evening unravelled quite delightfully, as the sun slowly lowered, and lanterns of different colours bathed the streets in a symphony of lights. Darkhaven assured them that he would inform Ren's friends of his coming absence, as he and Xiao Ai would already make for the peak today. They only had to grab some robes from his house, and they would be off.

Darkhaven paid their meals, thanked both Ren and Ai for their understanding regarding the gathering with a smile, and with a single step he vanished into the distance.