Meng Huizhong the ever dutiful coachmen of the Yu Clan leader fed and watered the horses in preparation for the long journey they would undergo back to the capital.

After that, he gave them one last health check. He knew that he had examined them just the day before but in his profession, there was no excuse if something happened to them.

Done with them, he checked the carriage from top to bottom for the same reason as he took care of the horses. If it turned out a problem appeared, he would be blamed.

All that was what was required of a coachman of a Clan, and he would continue to be doing so for his whole life before passing it on to his son.

Still, after the incident, he had to be extra careful in his examination, just in case it was not sabotaged.

Finding no faults, he took his seat and urged the horses to their immediate destination, which was the grandest house in this unofficially called Sect of Jade.

Hoof by hoof, he steered the carriage to its destination and stopped right before the entrance of Lord Qiao’s house.

Stepping down the carriage, he petted the horses, gave them a few snacks, and waited quietly waiting for the sun to breach the horizon and shine its mighty glory to the whole world.

After less than half an hour, he noticed the passengers he would be ferrying.

His Lord Yu Liwei, the Lord's younger brother Yu Ying and the oldest of the brothers Yu Qiao walked out of the house before the stone arches that ordained the entrance.

Behind them, a few more people followed.

Meng Huizhong recognized them all. From the most ancient He Shoushan among them to Gao Junjie, whose expression remained neutral almost all the time, at least from what he had seen of him.

Not that he had seen him that many times, much less talked to know for certain.

Ignoring them all, his gaze settled on the youngest and fairest of them all, the Lord’s most favored daughter, Yu Jiao, but turned stranger now.

She was very familiar to him but after not seeing her for some time he had to admit that she had changed from the little girl he knew.

Gone was the innocence and what replaced it was a matureness that should not be present on such a young face.

Shaking away the thoughts, he heard his Lord speak and focused on one of his jobs, staying invisible until his Lord required him.

“ First. Like always I will leave it up to you to raise the next generation. ” Said Yu Liwei to his older brother.

“ Yes, yes I know. You take care of yourself, Second. ” Replied Yu Qiao. “ Things have been set in motion, and you're one of the main players. ”

After saying that, Qiao turned to his youngest brother. “ Third, don't spend so much time crafting Pills, and visit your brother more often. Alright? ”

“ I will, brother. ” Agreed Yu Ying.

With that said all three of them focused on the main person of interest that had them all gather and talk about.

“ Jiao? ” Yu Liwei said. “ If nothing extraordinary happens, we will not see each other for at least a year. If you need something from me, just tell it to your First Uncle and he will send the message. ”

“ Father, I know. There is no need to mention it. ” The little girl replied with an amused smile. “ I think you should say the things you want to say, first before stating the obvious. ”

Chuckling a bit, Yu Liwei nodded. “ Take care of yourself. ”

“ I will, father. Of that, there is no doubt. ” Jiao stated as there was no way she would do anything else. “ Before you go, take this. ”

She said as she took out a finger-sized Jade slip from a pocket inside the pale green coat. Showing it off for a second, she gave it to him who in turn took it.

“ I have stored inside my thoughts regarding the Mantra. ” Jiao declared with some pride. After all, it's not every day that she could examine a Mantra of its rank. “ If you can do something with it, it will be up to you, but I have thought of what I could think in this short amount of time. Once you are done, give it to Second Uncle. I am sure he won't mind my insights into the Mantra, but for him, I have stored something else. ”

“ I see. ” Yu Liwei replied. “ At least we will have something to think about along the ride. ”

“ I am sure you will like it, especially Second Uncle. ” Jiao said with a smile, which was directed at her youngest uncle. “ There is one more thing. ”

With that said, she tapped her forehead, and out of it, a small little thing came out.

Already used to the strange properties of Jiao’s Power, he deployed his Divine Sense only to sense another few as they all together began observing the thing that came out.

The first thing they all noticed was that it bore a familiar presence, but most of all they could observe it with their eyes.

“ My little thought theories in the Jade slip are there for you to regain your Authority. ” She said. “ this on the other hand is after you have done that part. ”

“ Is that a… seed? ” He Shoushan, the healer asked as his Divine Sense examined the little thing.

“ Is that a… nut? ”Alongside him, only Yu Ying, who was an Alchemist by profession, recognized for what it was.

For the others, it took the oldest among them asking about it to figure out that part.

The seed in question looked like no seed they were familiar with. Aside from the pale green Jade color, its form was slightly elongated with small ridges around its body.

“ Seed? Yes. That, it is. ” Jiao acknowledged. “ That was the intention when I made it. As for its looks? Well… somebody plucked the knowledge from my mind and chose a macadamia nut for its design. Don't ask me why it happened that way. ”

Shaking away the thoughts on its design, Jiao shifted the topic. “ Father, I want you to take this and place it inside your Divine Sense. ”

“ Go on, do it. ”Jiao demanded of her father. Yu Liwei looked at it for a second before doing just that.

He picked up the seed with his fingers and placed it on his forehead.

With his Divine Sense enveloping it, he pushed it inside.

Once he was done he closed his eyes as his Divine Sense told him where it was and what it was doing, and currently, it was doing nothing.

“ Good. ” Siad Jiao as he was done. “ I have also stored what to do with it in that Jade slip. ”

“ Alright. Is that all? ” Liwei asked.

Seeing the nod from his daughter he refocused back on the man around her, especially on Gao Junjie and the oldest among them, He Shoushan.

“ Take care of Jiao for me. ” He said. “ And farewell to you all. May we meet again. ”

With that said he made his way to the carriage and went inside. Once he was seated he addressed his younger brother. “ Third, say your farewells too. ”

“ I will brother. ” Yu Ying agreed and said a farewell to each of the men he knew.

Only when he was done with them and focused on his niece, did he smile. “ Jiao, since we will not be seeing each other for at least a year, can I receive a hug as a farewell? ”

“ Eh? Ah, sure. I don't mind, Second Uncle. ” With the agreement, Jiao closed the distance and wrapped her arms around him. For a brief second that the hug happened, Ying looked at his second brother in the carriage.

Seeing his older brother's shocked face alongside his twitching eyebrows, he could imagine his innermost musings so he displayed an even greater smile of satisfaction to him.

Done with the taunt he released his niece, he addressed her. “ Thank you, Jiao, I missed those. ”

“ Right. ” Replied Jiao, a bit flustered as she realized that this was the first time she hugged anybody in a familial way, in this world.

The hugs she gave Tao Fang in the bedroom didn't count, in her mind.

“ With that done, I Yu Ying, bid you all farewell. May we meet again. ” Yu Ying stated, and entered the carriage on the opposite seat of his older brother, only to see a perplexed face on his brother.

Shrugging his shoulders, Yu Ying looked outside the carriage and gave one last wave of the hand to Jiao, who reciprocated, before he felt the carriage started moving.

It was only after leaving the town that he heard his brothers sigh and he finally spoke to him.

“ First, just because you have it harder to admit it, does not mean that I have to do the same. ” Yu Ying said to his brother.

“ I know. I am sorry, little brother. ” Shaking his head, Liwei apologized with a grateful smile. “ I am happy for you little brother. I… I simply forgot I could ask for one. ”

“Let us hope you don't forget about it the next time you meet with Jiao. ” Ying said. “ I am sure by then it will be easier for you. ”

“ I hope so. ” Replied Yu Liwei. “ Thank you for the reminder. I will remember it. ”

“ Good, now take out the Jade slip Jiao gave you. I want to see what's in it. ” He inquired.

Yu Liwei indulged his little brother's wants, took the Jade slip, and placed it on his forehead. He examined everything that was inside.

He scowled at what he read before stopping. “ The Mantra part is easy to understand and it kind of makes sense, I guess but the thing she left for you is way over me. Here, take a look. ”

Yu Ying took the Jade slip and examined it. He skimmed the Mantra part and went straight for the things his niece had left him.

Within seconds he found the notes she left behind along with a picture of various symbols that were of unknown origin.

‘ Not unknown, but from her past world. ’ Though Yu Ying.

The symbols were placed in neat little boxes with various symbols denoting what each represented and how they were categorized, he theorized.

Still, none of that made sense to him so he went for the notes that she wrote for him.

~ Second Uncle, that picture that you see is a chart of the known elements to the Scholars of my past world. Before you say that it's obviously wrong because there are too many, consider it like this. Spiritually you can group the elements because of Qi but strip that Qi and study just the physical world and you will gain that chart. ~ She professed her knowledge.

~ As far as I have observed, this world follows similar rules to that one, which makes sense since we are humans, but I am sure there will be differences. So take this with a grain of salt and don't blindly put faith into it, especially since I could barely name a tenth of them in your language. Either way, I have written in the notes everything that I knew of the elements and their characteristics. so study it. Maybe it will help you and maybe not, but I have left out a little thing. I am sure with your intelligence you can figure it out. ~

After that Jiao went on to describe the symbols that she knew and their characteristics.

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Some of them it was easy to correlate in his mind, especially when metals were involved like Iron, Silver, and Gold and some others, but when it came to the other things, it quickly went over his head.

Pulling away from the Jade slip he shook his head and looked at his older brother. “ I think Jiao wants me to spawn an Inner Devil myself, with all the taunting her little gift represented. ”

“ Why so? ” Asked Yu Liwei. He had skimmed the part that was left for his younger brother but it left him none the wiser.

“ If her gift is real and she gave it to me purposely knowing that I would be studying, then she must have known that it would be gnawing at me for not understanding it. “ Replied Yu Ying. ” It will only become worse as time passes. Like a taunting splinter stuck in my foot, it will bother me as it drives me crazy. Something along with the likes of that. ”

“ Eh, I am sure you'll be fine. ” Liwei said with confidence that his younger brother was smart enough to overcome a bit of scholarly stress. “ Any idea what she meant by having left out a little thing? ”

“ No. I would have to take a closer look. ” He said as he placed the Jade slip back on his forehead. With the intent of looking for something that was hidden or something that was purposely left out.

It was only after the third time that he reread her notes that he understood what she meant. It was plainly said but, he had ignored it the first two times he read it, as too obvious, when in fact that was what she wanted to point out.

The sentence ~ Spiritually you can group the elements because of Qi but strip that Qi and study just the physical world and you will gain that chart. ~ said it all.

If you strip the Qi representing the spirituality of an element, you gain the physical properties of the element, but what if you gave spirituality to a physical element.

Well… that opened a whole new world to Yu Ying.

Especially if he remembered the things Jiao had insisted that Qi represented a Balance.

Balance of Thought and Reality.

Balance that could be broken and shifted into extremity, like positive Qi (Yang Qi)and negative Qi, (Yin Qi).

That very same Balance, broke through his mind as the number of unknown elements at least tripled in his mind, if the chart was even remotely accurate.

Notwithstanding that it could be more, since there were five spiritual elements, that could be added too, aside from Yang Qi and Yin Qi, at the very least.

Maybe even tenfold, if he considered the combinations that all those elements could produce.

Right beside Yu Ying, Yu Liwei felt the stirrings of Qi inside his little brother and wondered what prompted the enlightenment.

Yet before he could be happy for his brother, something happened that he did not expect.

His younger brother’s Qi stirred beyond its tolerance.

His Qi went rogue for a bit. It injured his insides and it showed itself in a very traditional way aside from the obvious turbulence that Cultivators would feel.

Yu Ying, spit out blood from his mouth and he shouted with indignation. “ Damn you, Jiao, this ignorance is too much. ”

Immediately after that his body deflated and lost consciousness.

“ Ying! ” Shouted the older brother with shock. He grabbed his younger brother's hand and shoved Qi inside to check him when he felt the carriage slow down and eventually stop.

“ Lord? ” Meng Huizhong quested from outside as his Divine Sense checked the inside of the carriage. “ Should I turn around? ”

“ No need, we are but a few minutes away from the town if you run at full speed. ” Replied Yu Liwei. “ Run to the town and look for Elder He. Tell him it's an emergency. ”

“ Yes, Lord. ” Came the sound, as the man in question took off like an arrow.

Minutes later, it was He Shoushan that arrived first as he appeared out of thin air. His appearance alerted Yu Liwei and he stepped aside as he examined his patient.

Meng Huizhong appeared right as the healer stopped his inquisition and addressed the problem.

“ It's a minor deviation. Nothing serious. ” The healer said. “ With some rest and regular cultivation, it should fix itself easily. What happened? ”

Reminded of the cause, Yu Liwei took the Jade slip from Yu Ying’s hand and stored it. “ What else? Jiao happened, that is all. ”

Chuckling, the old man, just nodded and made his way out of the carriage. “As I said, Lord, he will be fine. Have fun on your journey. ”

That said, he vanished in the same manner that he appeared.

Moments later, Meng Huizhong heard his Lord's order and executed it.

The carriage continued its journey.

***

“ Your prediction did indeed happen. “ Said a certain old man to me.

“ How is he? ” I asked him.

“ He will be fine. What was on that Jade that could knock out your Second Uncle? ” He asked me.

“ Eh, from my perspective it was nothing that special. ” I said to him. “ It was placed in every classroom that dealt with scholarly arts regarding knowledge of the physical world. To you guys, though, it's the condensed knowledge of the basic elements of the physical world that was known there. I doubt it was that part that got him. No, it was probably the little trap that I played for him that got him thinking. ”

“ Jiao, from the way things have been going, am I right to assume that something similar will happen to me too? ” I heard my First Uncle say with a worried tone in his voice.

I glanced at him, as we all still stayed at the entrance of his mansion, at my behest. “ Who knows. Second Uncle refused the Dream of the Void, so I planned to rattle him a bit. Although, I do feel a bit regretful. He did ask for a hug at least. ”

Shaking my head away from those thoughts, I focused on First Uncle. “ But I do have something you and the old man could help me with. ”

“ Help with what? ” My uncle asked.

“ You know that trap thingy you guys wanted? ” Once I pointed at that thing, he realized my intent. “ Once I have something ready I will look for you to test it. ”

“ So we will be your targets? ” He asked. “ Anything hurtful or permanent? ”

“ Hurtful? Doubt it? Permanent? Don't think so. ” I replied to him.

“ Alright. I will help you. ”

Nodding, I spoke up. “ Uncle, old man, I will spend the last day in Gao Junjie’s house and make my way to the Internal’s dormitory tomorrow. ”

I faced Tao Fang and with a tilt of my head, I gestured for us to leave.

Leaving everybody behind we made our way to that house.

Once we were, the rest of the day passed by in routine.

After we came back I exercised till it was close to noon. I tried my best to have the body do as I want, especially when it was tired.

After that and a nice relaxing rest with some tea, to dehydrate, I started on a new regime of mine. Using the memories of the fights at the tournament I had my phantom transform into the enemy and had it engage in a fight with me.

This was a new experience when one considered the fact that I was doing two things separately, but as I kept doing it, it got easier to split my mind between the two actions I had been doing.

And the best fact was that I gained experience in fighting. Of how to dodge, deflect an attack, counterattack in return.

All the attacks were slow so I knew what to do and it was in this part that Gao Junjie participated on the side. He gave me commentary on what to expect and what to not.

The last part of the afternoon is spent doing the same, only this time it's my phantom fighting him and me staying still and only focusing on the phantom.

At first, it went the same way the first time I tried to fight him. Only less intensive since I did not go all out as there was no need to.

Either way, when that part of the day was over, it was time for a bath, dinner, and rest right into the night.

It was during these times that I considered things that I could do and would do, alongside just resting my mind, overall.

Today was different though. Today would be my last time in this room for the winter at least.

“ Fang, this will be the last time we will be spending here. ” I repeated to my servant, who was sitting beside me, what I told my uncle. “ With that being the case, I think we should use this chance to have some fun. I doubt we will be this free once we are in that dormitory. Especially since I talked Gao Junjie into overseeing your training regime. ”

“ Me? ” She questioned, a bit stupefied that it would even be considered much less happening.

“ Yes. I did say that I need you to do your best in everything that you do. This is one of those things. ”

“ You are my personal servant. ” I said to her. “ That being the case I can't have you be weak. So just cultivating is not enough. Besides, we still have to create a Mantra for you. “

Tilting her head she wondered. “ I thought that was what I was doing already? ”

Shaking my head I denied it. ” So far all you are doing is creating a better flow for the Qi inside you. That is only a third of what a Mantra does. The next part will be to create a concept on which your Vital Yin Qi will abide, whether that be something obscured like ugh… Space, Time, and similar stuff or the simpler stuff like Fire, Water, Earth, Air. Once you have decided on that part it's time to decide on the Mantric words that will become the core of the Mantra. And finally, the last part will be tying everything into one. ”

“ Umm, Miss, I do not understand anything about those things. ” Said my servant, dismayed with her lack of knowledge. “ I will do as Miss tells me to. ”

“ I know, it is for that reason that I will teach you the things that you need to know. ” I said to her. “ Remember this, I can only show you the door, it will be you that walks through it. ”

“ Yes, Miss. I will do my best. ” Eager and filled with jubilation, she replied.

“ After having a look at what a First Grade Mantra looks and works like, I have inferred what a Supreme Gare one could look like. ” I say to her. She had been told of the grading that Mantras had, so of course, she knew what I was talking about even if she had no idea of the details.

“ With that being the case, I have decided against copying the same system. ” I declared. “ I understand its goals but the way it's designed just does not fit my needs. Tell me, Fang, when you meditate and try to gather Yin Qi, where does it usually come from and where does it usually flow? ”

“ Umm. ” After I posed the question, she considered her meditation sessions and answered.

At first, she was a bit shy when pointing it out but eventually she did say it. “ At first it centers in my stomach near… you know my baby room, after that it starts spreading all over my body. But with Elder He’s help that has changed and it started flowing up the center of my body and towards the head. ”

“ Good. Even with my help achieving the meditation state that you have, you will still be overwhelmed by the Yin Qi, especially when gathered to greater degrees like you will have to when creating a Sea of Qi or Core. ” I explained to her. “ To fix that we will define your Mantra as a Mind type and start from there spreading it into the other categories slowly. That way you will achieve control and not be exposed to the influence of anything else. ”

“ First we will work on the Mind. After that will be refining your physique, and only after that will we develop a reservoir for the Qi to inhabit for the later stages. ” I declare to her. “ The concept that your Mantra will embody is bound to Vitality. That one is obvious since it's fueled by Vital Yin Qi. What Vitality is, you will define during your cultivation journey? ”

Saying that I looked at her very eager face that imagined the future. “ If you add something else it will be up to you, but I have considered the Mantric words for the Mantra. Want to hear them? ”

“ Yes, Miss. ”

Nodding, I spell each word slowly so that it may have more impact on her. “ Yin, Spirit, Vital, Body, Soul. ”

“ Yin, Spirit, Vital, Body, Soul. ” She repeated. “ So I just repeat the words? ”

“ Not exactly. ” I replied. “ Each word will define a part of your cultivation. Yin will be about Chaos and you will learn what Chaos is from me. Spirit is a different term for Will but if it will become something more, will depend on you. Vital will represent the behavior of your Vital Yin Qi, its properties, and its permutation like Spirit Arts. Body will represent the physique that your body will achieve, I hope. And finally, the Soul will represent your… well Soul and everything that defines it. ”

“ Each of those words you will learn and experience and those, in turn, will define your Mantra. ” I explained to her. “ And in return, the Mantra will define you. Anyway, that is for the future. Right now all I hope is for you to use those words as you meditate. ”

“ I will not disappoint you, Miss. ” I heard her say.

“ Good, but that is not why I started this conversation with you. ” She heard me say and I saw her wonder what I was getting at. “ From tomorrow we will be busy and I will not have the same freedom as we do now. That being the case, I suggest that we have some fun before we cant. ”

“ Fun? What kind of fun? ” She asked me, but I only smiled and nudged my head towards something in the room. Immediately her face got red as a tomato.

It did not take many moments but I had us buried under the blanket and our fun began.

***

Two days later on a lonesome snowy road traveled a carriage with two passengers.

Inside the two men conversed from time to time to stave off the boredom but one of them had a slightly paler face than the other.

As the carriage traveled down the road to the capital, the driver paid much attention to smoothing the road for his passengers, when all of a sudden his body shivered.

The shiver was not from the cold, simply because his body was not influenced by the cold due to his Core cultivation.

The shiver came not from any injury or any memory recollection that he was undergoing. No, he was too focused on the road for that, this time.

Meng Huizhong glanced around as he considered things. “ Lord. Remember that strange shiver I experienced the last time? ”

“ I do. ” Answered Yu Liwei. “ Is it the same feeling? ”

“ Yes, Lord. ”

“ Huizhong being my coach, you must have been exposed to the Divine Sense of Soul Creation stage Cultivators. Did those give you a similar feeling? ” Asked the Lord of his subordinate.

“ Not that I recall, Lord. ” Replied Meng Huizhong as he considered things. “ Unless… they carried hostility inside their heart towards me, I don't think I would have sensed them if a Divine Sense at that stage was used. ”

“ Then consider this a warning. The probability of somebody at that stage carrying hostility towards you is minimal unless a certain Clan is involved. A Clan on which I had plans. ” Stated the Lord of the Yu Clan.

“ Second, you think they will engage us? Or is it just a scout? ” Asked the other passenger of the carriage.

“ Scout, the conflict still has not reached the stage for Soul Creation Cultivators to appear in broad daylight. ” Answer the older brother to his younger brother. “ Still, this is a good sign. It means they are thinking of it. Now we just need a good flint. ”

“ Speaking of flint, I have a feeling I know the form of that flint. ” Stated the younger brother.

“ You do? ”

“ Common brother, this one is easy to guess. ”

Wondering for a few moments it came to the Lord of the Clan.

“ Jiao? ”

“ Yes, brother. It is as if Chaos is following her. ” Stated the younger brother. “ There is no way that she will not be involved somehow. It started with her, after all. ”

“ Ugh, I can't deny it. Not after everything that happened. ”