Jim and Anton didn't stay for long after the lunch. At first, Anton wanted to stay and started his first practice as soon as possible. Mingliang finally sent him away, after taught him simple meditation to practice on his own.

Jim and Anton didn't stay for long after the lunch. At first, Anton wanted to stay and started his first practice as soon as possible. Mingliang finally sent him away, after taught him simple meditation to practice on his own.

As soon as Jim drove his car away, a black shadow flew out of Sari's bracelet and slammed to Mingliang's cheek. It was too fast, none of them reacted quick enough to stop it. Somad almost screamed from the surprise. Mingliang, on the other hand, wasn't flustered at all. Because he knew it was going to happen and he knew what the shadow was.

A little black snake was rubbing Mingliang's cheek. It flew around Mingliang and from time to time, rubbed itself to Mingliang. Just like a puppy who met its long gone master.

"Black Jade! You scared me.", Somad shouted, both to relieve the tension in his chest and his happiness to see the little snake again.

The snake turned to look at him then flew to the boy. It settled on his shoulder.

Sari laughed and shook her head, feeling a bit jealous. It wasn't clear though, who was the subject of her jealousy. She turned around to look at the house, she was going to live in probably for the next six months, "Yo..., what an exciting place. Murder, the gate to the devil's empire and..., what's that smell?"

Mingliang reflexively replied, "Oh, that's..."

Good thing he caught Sari stared at him and stopped, "...uh... do you really want to know?"

Sari rolled her eyes, "No, don't want to even think about it. Can't we clean it now? Do we have to live with that smell all the time? Six months?"

"No, the detective said we could clean them, but I said that it's not necessary, so maybe I better confirm it with him again.", Mingliang quickly replied.

"Well, hurry, hurry, call them.", Sari waved around her hand.

Somad giggled, as he watched their banter. Mingliang quickly made the call. A few minutes later, they were busy scrubbing and cleaning the room where the murder happened. Sari went out to buy air freshener, rice, and other food ingredients to fill the refrigerator. At first, she wanted to help with the cleaning, but Mingliang insisted that he would do it without her.

Black Jade, went along with Sari and resided inside her bracelet. Mingliang had infused the bracelet with some spiritual energy for the snake to absorb. And Black Jade happily slept inside to enjoy it.

Two hours passed by, considering the room size, two hours was too long to clean it up. But Mingliang and Somad scrubbed every inch and corners diligently. And even after that, still, faintly they could smell the putrid odor left.

"Teacher, can't you draw a rune to clear the air?", Somad sprawled on the floor.

"Hmm... magic is not a shortcut. The same principle applied to all things, including magic. It doesn't make things easier or harder, it just one of many roads.", Mingliang stretched his lower back.

"Yo. It's not so bad. Just leave the windows and doors opened for a while.", Sari greeted, she just arrived from the market.

"Look what I got here? I bought ingredients for oxtail soup. I'll cook for our dinner today.", Sari showed a bag filled with food ingredients.

Black Jade flew out of the bracelet and rested on Mingliang's shoulder. She liked the bracelet, but prefer to stay close to Mingliang whenever possible.

"Yay! Oxtail soup! Sister Sari is the best.", Somad jumped and ran to take a look.

"Hey, you need a hand there?", Mingliang came over too.

"Nah, you two have worked hard, now wash your hands and get some rest. I just made a fried banana and tea. You can find it on the back porch.", Sari laughed, she pushed them away, then walked to the kitchen.

She busily prepared the ingredients, boiled the oxtail and unconsciously she hummed a song as she cooked. Suddenly she blushed.

“Pa!”, She slapped her face.

She shook her head, with her hand on her hips, she scolded herself, "Oh silly girl. What the hell are you thinking?"

She took a deep breath and suddenly shadow boxed for a couple of minutes. Her body waved left and right, her hands flashed around, jabbing and striking in combination. When she stopped, she felt much better.

She was lightly slapping her cheeks, "Yeah! work, work, work."

Quickly she was back to cooking.

Meanwhile, at the back porch, Mingliang and Somad were enjoying the fried banana and tea. Once in a while, Somad drew a rune randomly in the air and a ball of energy formed around the rune. Black Jade would quickly fly and gulped the ball.

Mingliang watched Somad playing with Black Jade. He felt happy and proud. He never taught Somad how to do it, but out of his creativity and understanding, Somad came up with the idea, to create a small ball of gentle energy. The rune based on the one he used to draw for Black Jade's resting place. But Somad made some modification, now, it was in the form of balls and floated on the air.

"Teacher, can you teach me the skill you use to defend against the gun?", Somad turned to Mingliang. While he waited for an answer, he checked the banana on the plate and decided to take one.

Mingliang shook his head, he took a bite and chewed it slowly. Somad had to wait for a while before he explained, "You're too young to practice it."

"The technique is called Xuan Wu body. It has nine levels. In principle what you do, is to etch a defensive rune, on your body. There were many ways in designing the runes, to make it into one complete array. Depend on your creativity and understanding, one person might have a better result compared to the other."

"Can't you help me to design it?", Somad asked.

Mingliang laughed, "Of course I can. But first, who knows maybe if you learn all the basics well enough. Maybe you can design better than me."

"And second, your body is still growing and changing. The best design today might become a weakness later."

"Oh... I see...", the boy spoke in low spirited.

Mingliang messed his hair, "Hey, what is this. It's not like you at all."

Somad laughed and restored some of his spirits. He then said, "Yeah... I want to help you in that battle. I want to grow stronger."

"Have you forgot what I said earlier? Quickly learn all the basics in the book I gave you. After that, I'll teach you something you can use in that battle. Yes, I won't put you in front, but doesn't mean your role is not important.", Mingliang flicked the boy's forehead.

"What my role would be?", Somad's interest was growing.

Mingliang laughed, "Hmm..., it's like a playmaker in football. You will support us during the fight, just like how you feed balls of energy for Black Jade. You can draw runes that make us move faster, restore our energy, heal some injuries, and many others."

"Oh, I know! It's just like a team in RPG. I'll act as the priest. Hmm..., Sister Sari is a knight and how about you Teacher?", the boy now was excited.

"Hahaha, okay then, I will be the black mage. I can do a long range attack and AOE.", Mingliang jokingly replied.

Sari came out and joined them. She only caught the last part of their conversation. With her hand on hip, she laughed and asked, "It seems, I was missing something important. So what my role in your party?"

"Sister Sari! You'll be the knight!", Somad replied enthusiastically.

Sari pulled on Mingliang's ear and jokingly grumbled, "Oh great, so you want me to act as a meat shield? My dear Mr. Black Mage."

Somad laughed as the couple did their old routines. When they passed it, Sari joined them in enjoying the snacks and asked, "So have you thought about forming the special unit?"

Mingliang nodded, "To tell the truth, Detective Jim convinced me. But I want to get time to think about it on my own. I don't want to teach wrong people who will miss-use it later."

"You can slowly judge their character and teach accordingly. Until you find someone you trust, you can teach defensive skills and techniques first. Something they can't use to hurt other.", Sari suggested.

"Hmm... that's my plan too.", Mingliang replied.

"So what makes you still hesitate?", she asked.

Mingliang raised his hand above his head and stretched, "I worry more about the responsibility. What if I mess everything? I never learn how to lead."

Sari looked him deeply, "You always say that you can't get a decent life because you choose to preserve your family's inheritance. Now you have the chance to do it and build your career at the same time. Every change in life are scary, but you won't progress further without one. Even the word progress itself indicates a change."

Mingliang carefully digested Sari's words. There was a hint of her disappointment between the lines. He faintly understood what she meant. Gently he held her hand and nodded, "I understand. This chance I will not waste it."

For a while, Sari couldn't reply. She pulled her hand away and wiped her eyes. Mingliang felt a bit guilty when he remembered their past. He patted her shoulder, "This could be something temporary. I mean, if we succeed, there's a good chance that they don't need this special unit anymore."

Sari punched his shoulder. This time, Mingliang just laughed, "Don't worry. I'll do my best. At worst, it's a six months contract. As a bonus, it's a good free advertisement."

"Good, if you dare to spout any other negative statements, I'll punch you right on your nose.", Sari finally got over her emotion and giggled.

They were looking at each other for a while. Somad secretly watched to see how they would progress, but it didn't go any further. They started talking about how Mingliang should arrange the program.

Somad quietly rolled his eyes and secretly muttered to himself, 'Duh..., feels like I need to check the calendar. Do we live in 1700 or something?'

Neither Sari or Mingliang noticed the boy's reaction. They were busy planning for the next six months. Sari especially concerned with her training, since she had little knowledge in cultivation.

"I understand why you want me to take the fighter role, and I have confidence in my close range fighting skill. But we're facing people with supra-natural power here, and we only have six months.", she told Mingliang of her worries.

"I know. Time is the problem, but you're not as hopeless as you thought. In your martial art training, don't you do meditation too?", Mingliang responded.

"Yes, we do. It's good training for concentration, mental toughness and controlling my emotion.", Sari answered. She raised her eyebrows threateningly when she saw Mingliang's lips twitched when she mentioned about controlling her emotion.

Somad secretly giggled, he wasn't disturbing them too and busied himself having a friendly spar with Black Jade.

After some jokes and passes, they began to discuss it again seriously. Mingliang told Sari his plan for her, "First, I will help you to open your meridians and activate your chakras. I can teach you many techniques, without energy it's useless."

Sari nodded, "I understand, you told me about it many times."

"Hmm... now that we can practice near the gate, I believe you will quickly catch up with me. Aside from that, you need to practice techniques that strengthen your physical body.", Mingliang continued.

Sari quietly thought about it before nodded, "I understand. Even if they have supra-natural power, a strong physical attack still work on them. How about the technique you're using against that detective's gun? Or is that just a defensive technique?"

"That technique...", Mingliang hesitated a bit, but when he thought about it, actually Xuan Wu body probably would fit Sari's well.

"Hmm..., that technique, indeed could strengthen your physical body. In principle, it uses array techniques on our body. The first three levels involve etching runes to skin, muscle, and bones. Once we complete all three levels, it would boost our defense, speed, and strength."

"Next five levels will etch runes to the internal organs, digestion system, liver, heart, lung, and kidney. It boosts your physical energy, endurance, explosive power, and even longevity."

"The last two levels are about etching runes to spinal cord and brain. It will strengthen and upgrade the nervous system. You'll have a faster reaction, faster computation, and such, compared to normal people."

"Xuan Wu body main goal is to reach the pinnacle and even beyond, of what our physical body could be.", Mingliang concluded his explanation.

Sari and Somad listened attentively. Especially Somad who wanted to learn the technique ever since he saw Mingliang could stand against gun easily.

Sari worried, "That sounds complicated. Do you think I can master the technique in six months?"

Mingliang smiled encouragingly, "It won't be easy, but why do you think you have to complete them all in six months? Even if you only complete it partially, it still a boost to your physical ability. At this moment, I only finished the first layer, my skin. And then I etched for the muscles and bones in my arm and leg."

There was a twinkle in Sari's eyes, "Oh, I see..."

"But..., you need to learn how to draw a rune first. I can help to design the rune for you, but you need to etch the runes yourself.", Mingliang a bit hesitated to reply.

"How long it takes, to learn how to draw a rune?", Sari frowned.

"Well, it depends on talent. And runes for Xuan Wu body is quite complex too.", Mingliang scratched his head awkwardly.

"You're talking about that now? Should say that earlier!", she punched him again.

Mingliang laughed silly, "Well, who knows? Maybe you have talent drawing runes."

"Any plan B?", Sari wasn't interested at Xuan Wu body anymore.

"Hmm.. of course, actually this is Plan A, there is another technique to temper our physical body. I plan to offer you this one. It is much more simple for the practitioner, but require strong will, because during the process you will have to bear enormous pain.", Mingliang turned serious.

Sari waved her hand, "I don't have problem bearing pain. How strong this compared to the one you practiced?"

Mingliang nodded satisfied with her reply, "I know you will say that. It offers less improvement in speed and power but focuses more on improving toughness. In defense, depending on how much you can endure the process, it could be stronger than mine."

Sari raised her eyebrows, "Hah! So you do treat me as a meat shield."

She quickly turned serious and asked, "Based on your calculation, how long it takes for each plan?"

Mingliang tried to explain as clear as possible, "With Xuan Wu body, your biggest challenge is to master how to draw a rune. From learning the basic to the necessary level, you'll need at least three months. I can help you with designing the array, and then you'll spend another month to complete up until the third layer of Xuan Wu body. At the same time, you also need to gather qi into your dantian."

Sari quietly listened until Mingliang finished his explanation, "So there is a good chance that I will spend six months, just to master it up to level three?"

Mingliang nodded, "Yes. Depend on your talent we might have time to learn other skill before six months."

"How about your first plan?", Sari asked.

"Hmm, the technique I'm about to offer is called Wuxing Shan Bi (Reforming Five Element Mountain). It based on the story Journey to the west. When Buddha trapped and imprisoned Sun Wukong, the monkey king in five element mountain. After I teach you how to gather qi into your dantian, I will draw five seals, and all you have to do is practicing the qi gathering technique inside them. The longer you stay, the stronger you will be. But you only have one chance, once you stop then it's over.", Mingliang explained the second technique.

Mingliang added, "Actually, it doesn't matter whether you're gathering qi, or do something else. As long as you stay inside."

Sari asked to confirm something, "So, if you taught me other techniques, then I can practicing it too and practicing the Five Element Mountain at the same time?"

Mingliang nodded his head, "Yes, you're right."

Sari nodded, "I understand now, why that's your first plan. With that technique, I can do two things at the same time."

"So what's your choice?", Mingliang nodded to confirm and then asked her decision.