Zeke nodded calmly signifying that he thinks the same and added.

"I've already sent two elders to search for her. If they won't find her that means that she was taken away by the said helper or a kidnapper but I doubt that those two wouldn't foresee something like that might happen."

Then he took another teacup from his storage artifact and poured some tea into it.

"That leaves us with another problem. His elemental aptitude. There is no way in hell that they don't know about that."

Hearing his words Lewis ponders for a few seconds and then says.

"Yeah. That leaves us with two possibilities. Either everything went according to their plan and his elemental aptitude is something that we know like my lightning for example, or not which is absolutely tragic."

Zeke takes a sip of his tea and says.

"If it's the first option then there is no problem but if this is the other one then that means big problems. We cannot create a manual on the element that was never cultivated before on this continent."

Lewis sighs and says disappointed.

"Let's hope it's the former. I've never thought that I would feel so conflicted with such a great talent appearing in our sect."

After that, they continued to make plans for a worst-case scenario.

When Auron arrived in the dormitories, he approached one of the disciples who was in charge of assigning rooms. He was given one of the available rooms by the aforementioned disciple.

The room is cramped and far from opulent in any way. It has enough room for a single bed as well as a table and a chair in the corner. A small window is located directly above a table, allowing some natural light to enter the room.

He closed the door, changed into his red robes and started inspecting the cultivation manual.

Detailed instructions are provided in the manual on how to collect pure spiritual particles from the air. He finished reading a whole manual in half an hour and immediately began practicing what he had learned.

He sat cross-legged on his bed and closed his eyes, preparing to begin his meditation session. He was surprised to discover that, even with his closed eyes, he could still "see" energy particles floating in the air all around him a few minutes after closing them.

According to the instructions in the manual, he must use his own consciousness and will to attract the particles into his body. The greater the distance between himself and the energy, the more difficult it becomes.

He attempted several times, but was unsuccessful. He assumed that because it was the beginning of the process, it would be simple, but unfortunately, that was not the case.

The closest particle was only discovered after he spent two hours and hundreds of attempts attempting to find it. He then proceeded to draw more and more energy from the source until he became exhausted. After working with seven different specs of energy during this session, he noticed that as each one was absorbed, it became less difficult to attract the next one. The reason for this was that the amount of energy in his body increased, making both his body and mind stronger as a result of which his ability to attract spiritual energy improved.

Auron was dissatisfied because, despite cultivating for those long hours, he was unable to take his first step on the road of cultivation. It was only once a person had advanced beyond mortality and entered the domain of qi gathering that they could be referred to as a cultivator. However, even among cultivators, there are some who believe they should be referred to as semi-cultivators because they are only somewhat stronger than normal humans and have not yet learned to use their element. To become an official cultivator, they would need to reach the foundation realm first, which would take time.

With that notion in mind, he peered out of the window and noticed that it was a little after twelve o'clock. After that, he lay down in his bed and slept.

The sound of a bell ringing roused him from his sleep. It indicates that the dining hall is open and serving food to the community.

He stood up and while looking behind the window started changing into his disciple robes.

'It's evening huh. After eating I will cultivate for a few more hours before going to sleep again.'

As a result, he headed to the dining hall. What he found when he arrived was a large line leading to a stand where a disciple was distributing the meals. Despite the fact that there was plenty of space, it was still a little crowded.

To tell the truth, the more powerful the cultivator, the less food their bodies require to function. For example, a foundation cultivator only needs to eat once every ten days, but the majority of them continue to eat every day because the meal carries elemental and spiritual energy, which aids in their ability to increase in strength more quickly. However, everyone before that time requires daily meals.

After over an hour of waiting, he finally gets his turn. A loaf of bread and a bowl of soup were presented to him. To his astonishment, the bread is actually soft, and the soup contains a substantial amount of meat. At first, he assumed that he would be given the bare minimum to survive, but it appears that the group is treating them extremely well despite the enormous number of disciples.

He finished his dinner and walked out of the dining hall. As he approached the front door, he was greeted by an inside disciple who handed him a letter from the sect's leader. While walking back to his room, he took the time to read the contents.

The note was brief, and the writing was sloppy, indicating that it had been written in a haste by the author. There were a lot of crossed words, which indicated that the sect leader was attempting to adjust his wordings. Auron thought this was strange, but quickly dismissed it as unimportant because the message was far more essential to him than that.

The note stated that his sister was safe and that she was being looked after by someone he could trust. Also said in the letter was that his parents had been spotted in one of the cities and that they are traveling while being aware of his and Ayda's situation.

He thought the imprecise language was strange, and when he added in the hastily scrawled sentences and the fact that some of the pieces of paper were missing, he concluded that Zeke was attempting to conceal something. Unluckily, he was well aware that he would not be able to find this truth, at least not at this time. The only thing that counts is that everyone is safe. Nothing else is important.

Then he heard a voice from behind him.

"Hello there"

When he turned back, he spotted Edward with a young lady who appeared to be much older than him. She had brown medium-length hair and green eyes, and she wore glasses. She was way taller than Auron, and she wore a pair of inner-disciple robes that were a little too large for her.

"Hello Edward"

Edward smiled and shook Auron's hand and introduced a woman to him.

"This is my older sister Martha."

When introduced the girl smiled and said.

"So you are the new disciple that Elder Lewis brought with him."

The boy she was talking to nodded his head and replied.

"Yes, that's me. My name is Auron."

They talked for quite a while. The majority of the conversation was between Martha and Auron, she inquired about his impressions of the sect and explained to him a few facts about the inner hierarchy of disciples.

By the time he got back to his room, it was already dark outside. His impatience had finally worn thin, and he took to his bed and began to cultivate.

During this time, he became aware of something strange. During the night, it looks like his cultivation speed increases at an exponential rate. No one had ever informed him of such an incident, but after a few minutes of deliberation, he came up with a few possibilities. The first theory is that it has something to do with a cultivation method, but this was swiftly dismissed due to the fact that they would have explained it to him if they knew.

His mind wandered to the possibility that it was the meal that he had eaten previously, but just like the last thought, this one was dismissed in an instant because he didn't feel any energy entering his body while eating, indicating that it was simply ordinary bread and soup.

After that, he was left with the knowledge that it had something to do with his elemental aptitude. Because it can have an impact on his cultivation speed even while he is still unable to use the aforementioned element, it must be exceptionally potent. Regardless, he had no objections. After all, it is only beneficial to him, but he decided to bring up the subject with Zeke the following day just to be careful.

He cultivated for four hours, capturing twelve energy particles and achieving the status of cultivator in his own right. Every cultivation realm is divided into 10 layers, which are categorized into: the early, middle, and late stages of each cultivation realm. Early is defined as the first to third grades, middle as the fourth to seventh grades, and late as the eighth to tenth grades.

Auron was ecstatic by the revelation. In a single day, he went from being a mortal to becoming a cultivator of the 1st Qi Gathering realm. He thought he possessed extraordinary cultivation abilities.

The truth was that his cultivation speed is average. The thing that he should be proud of should be his comprehension ability.

Normally, it takes a week for disciples to make significant progress and begin their cultivation. The majority of the time, it takes them to comprehend a cultivation manual. When it comes to reading and comprehending a method contained in it the normal disciple would need at least five days, but Auron has done it in a matter of minutes. He will be able to use this talent to his advantage in the future.