In the manor, they quickly ate a meal directly at the kitchen area and left towards the refining master quarters. On the way, Xiao Feng explained that although called such, the elder was actually only at the lowest level and so most of his refining was simply preparing spirit and special materials for the Manor's use.

Refiners would normally be separated into Pill masters, Weapon masters, and Material masters with the last category being the less respected one. From this and the fact, this master was extremely conceited Xiao Feng advised to skip over any questions or mentions about the categories or other masters and just try to get some basic knowledge. In the end, he confessed that all this was not his own impression, but recommended to follow the words anyway.

Wu Guang indeed did and after receiving some notes from an apprentice he simply asked a pair of simple questions. He would have liked to talk more as refining was his favorite theme during his past life, but the small rat-like master did not inspire any good feelings and was indeed so conceited as to imitate regal speech when talking about himself.

Quickly thanking the master for his valuable time the teens left his lodgings and only after moving a safe distance Xiao Feng spat on the ground and started talking

"Puah, Brother Wu, I don't know how you even managed to thank him"

"If I did not, I think he could even complain to your father about your barbaric friends or something. You did not spend time with him before?"

"Thank the heavens no. I only met him briefly some days ago, he was respectful as I accompanied my father. For helping you and such I did not go personally, so I did not really expect him to be like this, even after the steward told me what I said to you before"

"Where are we going now?"

"Well, our last visit is to Elder Sishi. He has been serving the manor since before I was born and I have the best impressions of him. Not only he is a very famous Rune Master but also the head of the citizens' petition office. His younger brother is the current head administrator of the city and both of them are known and respected in the city"

The place where they met Elder Sishi was a beautiful open pavillion located near the main courtyard of the manor. Almost fully hidden into a blue and rune-patterned cloak the Elder with sparse white hair, who seemed very old slowly rose from the chair he was sitting in. Ignoring Xiao Feng who was motioning that this was not needed the elder formally saluted with a voice that did reveal his age, was not slow or apathetic at all, on the contrary, had joyful notes and was very energetic

"Greetings Young Lord"

"Elder Sishi! I have asked you many times, please stop doing this"

"Forgive this old man, but I can't break the rules that even my brother follows" The elder answered in a tone that made Wu Guang understand that this was a common routine between them.

"Is this young man the friend young lord mentioned?" Turning his head towards Wu Guang the elder asked

"Yes"

"Good, then let me speak with him and answer whatever questions he may have"

"Elder, did you imply for me to leave?" Said Xiao Feng with surprise

"No, no. How could I dare?" Although while saying this the voice of the Elder turned apologetic, his eyes were actually glinting as if he was laughing.

The next moment a servant approached Xiao Feng and told him something. Right after the servant left Xiao Feng turned to the Elder and with a fake angry expression said

"You knew, didn't you?"

"Don't mock this old man. How I could know that the City Lord would call for Young Lord with such timing?"

"Haa... Yes, yes." Xiao Feng exhaled and then turning to Wu Guang said

"I will have to leave you here for a bit. Wait for me with Elder Sishi please"

"Don't concern you about me. Go, it sounded like it is urgent" Wu Guang answered and seeing that Xiao Feng left turned towards the elder. Greeting the latter with cupped hands and introducing himself formally.

"Young man, there is no need for such politeness. You can call me Elder Sishi as Young Feng does" The elder smiled and then motioning towards a chair opposite him invited Wu Guang to sit.

A servant quickly appeared and served an extremely good smelling tea, in which Wu Guang after trying surprisingly found traces of at least two different spirit herbs. One beneficial for the mind which he could not guess at first taste while the other was the underground rose, extremely beneficial for meridians and pathways.

Their talk started with Wu Guang showing a bit of apprehension for the elder, after all, his behavior was unexpected for one of such standing. But several minutes later it disappeared when Wu Guang understood that Elder Sishi was old only physically, his mind was extremely young and even one could say a bit childish - which resulted in such teasing and a joyful behavior.

With this conclusion reached Wu Guang started speaking in a far more casual manner and the Elder also let himself go. The latter explained a lot of things about runes and even spoke briefly about formations, seemingly when he was an apprentice formations still worked and he actually learned some basic ones.

Wu Guang tried to find clues about what happened, but regretfully the Elder was very young at that time and was evacuated to the other corner of the island. What he did know and shared was the fact that the demonic cliff didn't exist before the cataclysm which finished the war and all the area now called the demonic plateau was part of the now reduced wildlands.

Strangely the Elder did not ask anything about their meeting or relation with Xiao Feng but seemed to know something as Elder Chen was several times mentioned during the part of the conversation about the sect and Wu Guang's plans for the future.

When a bit more than two hours passed and Xiao Feng did not return, Wu Guang directly asked if the Elder could share something about it. The elder did oblige and explained

"I heard that there was a serious incident in one of the villages that are under the City's protection. Judging from the bits of information my esteemed brother shared with me in a message glyph I supposed that the City Lord would go there. If this assumption was correct, it would be obvious that the Young Lord would have to go there as well"

"I see, thank you for the explanation"

"There is no need to worry about his safety, but if the incident was so serious as to make the Lord go personally most probably it will take all the night. As I know you are supposed to go to the sect tomorrow and register for the tests, accompanying the Young Lord who will escort the people from the Clans who also will take part in them. So parting from this, even if the incident is not resolved tonight, the Young Lord will return for that time. As you will not have the opportunity to dine with the Lord, stay and have dinner here" With this said, the Elder did not leave Wu Guang any window to refuse and summoned a servant, ordering for dinner to be served in this pavillion.

While they waited for the dinner, Wu Guang asked some general questions about the plane. The Elder answered all of them, seemingly taking this for Wu Guang being serious in his studies. Indeed most of the questions Wu Guang asked were similar to the ones that could appear in the sect test, but in reality, were to get him a better understanding of the islands and powers.

From the answers, Wu Guang surmised "Only two islands have full relations with the Half Island, which would be the Fiery Island and the Green Pastures. Both of them are also considered the weakest islands alongside Half Island and their powers have similar strengths. The Coastal Hill City is the port of choice for trade between the three and anyone can freely travel between the islands. Another three islands do not maintain open relations with any Half Island powers but some merchants and visitors do visit via the Qiu family port. This three are Eagle Kingdom Island, Burning Sun Sect Island, and the Holy Monastery Island, all named after the only or most powerful power on the island. Their strength is superior and every one of them has several known advanced Sage experts.

People from the seventh and most powerful island called the Black Island have zero known contact with the other islands. The island is home to the Black Claw Empire that was the main perpetrator of the Island's war. Their current strength is unknown, but the current Emperor had already reached the Earth realm cultivator during the war. The Astral Gate is located inside the so-called Imperial Sacred grounds so I will have to eventually visit".

The dinner that was served was by far the best one that Wu Guang had during his brief life on Half Island. There were no complex or glamorous dishes, but every one of them contained spirit or other ingredients beneficial for cultivators.

Finishing quickly Wu Guang said his farewells and accompanied by a servant returned to the training grounds he was occupying. Although he did not manage to gain any practical experience except the tutelage of Instructor Ge, the day gave him not only the backstory to cover his knowledge during the tests but also several bits of information that he was missing.

Most of his preparations were complete and the only thing remaining was to practice calligraphy and maybe buy something useful during the bazaar that opened on the sect entrance during the entrance tests. He had guessed something along that line and Elder Sishi reminded him of the opportunity for him during their conversation, confirming his thoughts.

As he returned Wu Guang applied the remaining part of the two colored bulb's paste. Then proceeded to meditate while breathing in the smoke from the yellow nettle leaves he got today. With this done he bathed in the lake and moved to the bedroom.

When he lied on the bed, Li Xia's face crossed his mind. He was surprised that she did not visit today, but she wasn't close to him as to worry. So in the end, he simply dismissed the thought and fell asleep.