The darkness that engulfed Ed only lasted for a second. When Ed blinked, he now stood inside an inn somewhere that looked exactly like the Valley. Disoriented, he looked around trying to figure out where he was.

“Sit and eat,” a familiar voice said and he looked in that direction. It was the old pervert. He sighed as he noticed Lady Jian's way of addressing this man had stuck with him so quickly. He sat as told and the man called for food to be brought. The old man saw Ed still looking around, trying to figure out where they were and sighed.

“We are just outside the valley. This town is where people wishing to enter the valley stay and wait for an opportunity,” the man said. Seeing that Ed no more looked around, but looked outside the window, he paused.

“Usually, this is where you ask who I am,” the man said. Ed stared at him as though waiting for him to continue.

“You don't talk much, do you?” he asked Ed. When no reply came, he took in a breath and looked as though in thought before saying, ”I am Tie Nse. The patriarch of the Heaven Alliance,” the man announced with a proud expression. He nodded his head with pride, but he heard no sound from Ed and thought he had been silent in shock this time. He looked up expecting to see a shocked stiff Ed but met and blank expression.

“Oh? You don't know what the Heaven Alliance is? You see, all the gates are doorways into different worlds including the god hand gate. There are five sects, two alliances and two clans that rule the Ohm realm. The two alliances rule over two gates each and the clans take three each. This Godhand gate and the Earthbound gate are under my command. I am the patriarch of the Heaven Alliance!” he raised his head high and his grin widened even further. He peeked at Ed's face and was met with the same blank stare.

“You really are an old pervert,” Ed commented, causing his face to freeze.

“What? You don't believe me? I really am! Do you know how many people want to be my disciple? I am the great Tie Nse, the.,”

“How does who you are, help me?” Ed asked and Tie Nse froze again.

“Well, I have all the resources to make you stronger, of course. Who I am, helps you!” the old man insisted. The food was brought by a little boy. Ed waited as the old pervert ate. When he was done, the boy returned with the bill. Tie Nse looked at the bill and a sly look crossed his eyes.

“Well, disciple, the first quest to becoming a true master is to bear all weight. Only then would you be stronger,” Tie Nse said and vanished. The boy turned stiff with fear but still remembered to look at Ed for his payment. Ed sighed and paid before leaving the Inn.

He made sure his hood covered his face as he walked out. Keeping his head down, he entered a store and bought a map. He considered staying the night in the inn before starting his journey the next day, but he did not want to stay in the valley any longer. He needed to find a place and train till he could reach his goal. Silently, he made his way from the town into the forest. He made sure to stay away from the main road as he passed.

He had travelled for two days without seeing the old pervert and honestly, he liked it that way. He needed to find a place with dense spirit land and try to break through to spirit picking stage. Slowly, he made his way through the forest till the sun started to fall. He went around picking some wood to prepare a fire for the night after spotting a good cave to rest in for the night.

When he returned from picking wood, the night was darker, but he saw a light coming from the cave he chose. Cautiously, he approached. He wondered if someone else had taken the cave while he was gone.

Inside, was the old pervert sitting on a log in front of a fire roasting a whole bird. He frowned at the sight of the man. He wondered what brought him back.

“Why are you here?” he asked.

“Come, boy. Sit. Let's eat!” Tie Nse said cheerfully.

“How did you know I was here?” Ed asked taking a seat on the log opposite him.

“I just went away for a while, I always knew where you were. Afraid I had forgotten about you?” Tie Nse laughed heartily.

“I was hoping you would forget about me,” Ed muttered ripping the large bird's leg and taking a bite.

“What? Boy! I am the great Tie Nse,” Tie Nse fumed.

“What do you want?” Ed interrupted him.

“You don't recognize my greatness, do you not wish me to train you?” Tie Nse asked haughtily. He harrumphed and looked away making Ed frown. This old pervert, how did he reach this level of strength with such a childish mind? Ed wondered.

“You probably don't have anything to offer me, so stop boasting,” Ed said as he ate.

“What? I have a great contemplation technique that would help you. After all, you can split contemplate so it should be good for you. Do you not want it?”

“How do you know I can split contemplate?” Ed frowned.

“Anyone with my level of power can see it, boy. You are not able to hide it. I can teach you. So, do you want it?”

“Sure. This technique you talked about, can it really help my split contemplation?”

“From what I see, when you split contemplate, your body is doing it on its own. The type of energy it is absorbing is completely different from the one you absorb when you are consciously contemplating,”

“There are different types of energy?” Ed asked.

“Of course! Though people only feel it when they reach spirit awareness, it is there. Everyone has an affinity for a certain kind of energy, Physical, Astral, Causal, Mental, Etheric, and heavenly qi. Each energy is sourced from the plane from which it is named. When a person first starts training, he is absorbing one of these energies. When they reach the spirit awakening, they are able to sense it much stronger. Your body is absorbing a different energy than you do when you contemplate. Until the two energies are at the same level, you will not be able to do a spirit picking,”

“Then, this technique can help me absorb energies consciously?”

“Yes. But you must be prepared. Having more than one energy is rare. Although it is good, you will be slower than others when levelling up. But, as I hear, it is not much of a problem for you. Even so, spirit picking is not just a process of picking a particular energy of a certain plane. You are branding yourself to the plane. It is a very painful process. Some people die when they don't succeed. You are going to be spirit picking from two planes means twice the pain and twice the difficulty,” Tie Nse said solemnly.

“Planes? I don't understand,” Ed frowned and Tie Nse sighed.

“You really are just a village boy. There are many planes of existence. Physical, Astral, Causal, Mental, Etheric and soul plane. All of these planes, except the physical and soul plane exist in the metaphysical. The metaphysical worlds are of different realms. Like where we are. This is but a realm. We contemplate to be able to perceive the planes and touch their energies,”

“Then, what about the physical and the soul plane?”

“The physical is an inaccessible world. Once you have ascended to the metaphysical, you cannot return to the physical. You can only go up till you reach the soul plane. And that is very rare,”

“What about places like Emerald and Jurazel? Where are they in the planes?” Ed asked.

“They are in the physical. But boy, these two places you mentioned, only those high up at the Godhand gate themselves know of them in texts. How did you come by these names?” Tie Nse's eyes narrowed.