Jake ambled off towards Ling Lin’s home. Everyone who passed him ignored him, as most considered him trash or did not recognize him. It had been a long day so he felt tired and rather hungry. I hope they have some food there, he thought.

He finally came up to the villa and knocked on the door. He was not sure if he should just walk in, he would rather err on the side of caution when dealing with the first elder.

A minute later the door opened and one of the servants ushered him in. He followed them to the same room as before, and was escorted in front of grandfather again. He was still in a lotus position with his eyes closed.

“Hi again First Elder.” Said Jake bowing.

“I told you to call me grandfather.” Said the first elder, opening his eyes. “Your grandfather and I considered each other brothers. We grew up together. Sit down. Have you eaten today?”

Jake’s stomach growled as grandfather said that.

“No.” Said Jake blushing. “I am rather hungry.”

Grandfather turned to the servant and asked them to provide supper and to also ask Ling Lin to come down. He then turned back to Jake and let his aura examine him. He was slightly shocked as he noticed that Jake had moved up to level eight and his body also seemed different.

“So did you have any success today?” He asked.

“Thank you very much grandfather.” He replied. “I got new clothes and also some other things. Especially some spirit stones. I just have to figure out how to use them.” He did not want to tell grandfather that he had taken a lot of stuff from the different warehouses.

“I am especially happy at the new robes.” Jake said with a smile. “The old ones were pretty shabby and threadbare.”

“Hello grandfather and Jake.” Said Ling Lin walking into the room. “Is that another different robe you are wearing Jake?”

Give a person some new robes and he becomes a peacock, she thought. She sat down next to Jake.

“Ah yes.” He replied. “I got the other one dirty earlier so I changed after I bathed again.”

Jake then pulled a high quality robe out of his ring, stood and offered it to grandfather. Then he sat back down.

“I saw this one and I thought it would look good on you grandfather.” He said.

Grandfather took the robe and looked at it; it was not the style or type he usually wore. Higher-level cultivators wore different quality robes then junior ones as the robes needed to handle stresses better. He did not want to hurt Jake’s feelings however so he accepted it.

“Thank you Jake.” He replied solemnly. “I will wear it later. I do rather like the color.”

“As for the spirit stones, Ling Lin can show you tomorrow.” He said laying the robe next to him. “What else did you do besides get new equipment?”

“Well, Ling Lin also showed me to the library.” He replied earnestly. “Thank you again Ling Lin for the help. She also showed me how to look at techniques and evaluate them.”

“And did you find any you liked?” Grandfather asked.

“I looked over a number.” He replied. “Four were interesting, and I chose three to look at.”

Grandfather looked at Ling Lin and then Jake. He was surprised that he could get three techniques at one time.

“Jake I told you to just choose one.” Said Ling Lin with a humph. “It can take months to learn one technique let alone four. Why did you waste your time? You cannot go to the library whenever you like you know!”

“I did not look at all four.” He replied. “I chose three that I wanted to study but ended up only learning one of them. Why are you getting upset anyway, it does not affect you Ling Lin. This is my first time doing this, how was I supposed to know time in the library is limited and how long it takes to learn a technique?”

She has seemed to get bossier in the last while, he thought. Before she would never berate him like that.

“You just started cultivating a technique a little while ago.” She retorted. “Why would you pick so many and how can you say you have learnt one? It took me months to get to the first level of my first technique.”

Jake started to get a little upset at her.

“Well maybe I am better then you then.” Said Jake right back. “All I know is I understand the technique and my body has changed.”

Ling Lin looked at him in disbelief.

“How would you know Jake.” She stated. “You are a real newbie when it comes to this.”

“Calm down both of you.” Grandfather said with a sigh. “Ling Lin let Jake explain himself before you get upset. Jake explain what you looked at and what you practiced please.”

Okay Grandfather.” He replied. “I looked at The Gravity Crushing Technique, Endless Radiance Body and Primordial Starlight Celestial Body techniques. When I went to the room I was attracted to The Gravity Crushing Technique so I tried that one first.”

“I followed the directions Ling Lin said.” He further explained. “I put the jade up to my forehead and started to cultivate. I woke up a few hours later, covered in sludge, and my body felt different. This had happened earlier today as well when I started to cultivate as well as by the pond. In all cases I went into a daze and woke up later covered in sludge.”

“Come here Jake.” Instructed grandfather.

Jake stood up, and moved over and stood next to grandfather. Grandfather took Jake’s wrist and pushed his aura into Jake.

“Run your new cultivation technique.” Grandfather said.

Jake ran his new technique. As he did so, the qi flowed around his upper body, through his arms and back. In addition, this time it ran down his legs and into his head as well. His feet started to sink into the ground as gravity started to take affect on his body.

“Stop.” Said Grandfather. “Sit down.”

Jake moved back and sat down again next to Ling Lin, and looked at grandfather in anticipation.

Grandfather looked at Jake in disbelief. He really had learned a technique in a few hours.

“Jake this is incredible.” Said grandfather. “You are now at Houtian level 8 and you have the fourth level of The Gravity Crushing Technique. How did you do this?”

Ling Lin looked at Jake in disbelief. He was four levels higher then her and had a fourth level body technique already.

“I do not know.” Jake said scratching his head. “I have always had a knack for learning new things. When I started martial arts, I mastered the forms and katas quickly. I also learned new skills such as swords and other things quickly as well. The only thing I could not master was a basic cultivation technique. I did practice it every day however.”

“You have to keep this quiet.” Grandfather replied. “I will say I have been helping you for a long time and we finally healed your problem. The accumulated practice must have let you move quickly through the levels after your dantian healed. I think that this has been a lively day for everyone. Let’s go eat and then you young people still need to sleep.”

He did not need to eat or sleep anymore; he just decided to accompany them at a meal.

With that, he stood up and strolled out of the room followed closely by Ling Lin and Jake.