Days passed as Ming Li and Chao Shi chose to stay in the Village. Without worrying about creating pills or even having food to eat, Ming Li had all the time he can spare. With all the time he had, he really got into reading books. He did nothing but read books starting from history books up to anything he could find. 

He realized that he has this urge to keep seeking knowledge. Everything he gets curious about, he tries to learn it. Until it got to the point that learning random useless skills was still amusing for him. 

He learned music, arts and even agriculture. Since he was being treated as the young master, he was spoiled and taught by the best people in the Village. 

Chao Shi noticed his unique thirst for knowledge so he decided that they should stay.

His knowledge in herbs grew more but his level did not increase. He was more interested in learning than getting stronger. Chao Shi did not mind this and taught him various things. 

As months passed by, he decided to put his knowledge into use. He developed a way to help people grow herbs faster and better. 

The people respected him more with his innovations. Everyone started to consider him as one of the pillars of the Village.

The market was also improved because of him. He sold several pills which attracted tourist and adventurers to enter the town. The Village became popular for its pills.

Ming Li and Chao Shi had now their own house in the town. It was big and luxurious, the mansion was gifted to them by the citizens of the town. The mansion has a large yard where Ming Li planted various herbs and experimented on them. The two were almost together every time. Ming Li's heart softened towards Chao Shi as time passed by. Even though Chao Shi does not speak much, they started to get along well.

Two years passed, they were staying at the village for three years now. The town was prospering with the help of Ming Li while Chao Shi always guided him and watched his growth. 

One day Ming Li respectfully came to Chao Shi. His eyes was full of respect and admiration. He said "Senior Chao we have been together for two years now. You have guided me countless times. Everything I know, I owe to you. I also never repaid my debt to you, instead you nurtured me to who I am today. You have given me priceless gifts but most importantly is that you treated me well. So well that I felt I am unworthy of your kindness."

Ming Li then kneeled and kowtowed in front of Chao Shi. "This Kowtow is for your kindness and my deep respect for you"

He then produced a wooden tablet and slid it on the floor in front of him while still kneeling. "I offer this treaty to be officially considered as your disciple" Then he went silent waiting for Chao Shi's response.

Chao Shi looked at the wooden tablet and he immediately recognized it. It was an ancient master disciple treaty. In ancient times, masters at some planes were absolute existence among their disciples. As custom, the disciples offer this to be accepted as a student to prove their loyalty to their master. The master holds the life of the disciple and can kill or hurt him on a whim. This ancient treaty can easily be used to do just that. The wooden tablet will contain a small portion of the soul of the disciple, and the master will drop his blood to control that soul. The only way to free yourself from the treaty is to have your master free your soul on his own. This culture was lost with the passage of time and almost no master disciple uses this anymore.

Then Chao Shi replied as he reached for the wooden tablet. "This treaty has not been used for ages. I never expect I'll see this from you. Showing me your resolve is enough. Also I have long since considered you as my disciple. You can stand now my disciple."

Tears appeared in Ming Li's eyes. It was the first time that someone accepted him. He has been treated roughly by most of the people for as long as he can remember. His parents died when he was still very young. He has been begging or stealing food since he was a little boy. He was also homeless and lived at the outskirt of the town where he was born.

His tears continued to flow without him knowing. Then he kowtowed again "This kowtow is to show my gratitude for being accepted as your disciple. Master please continue to guide me"

Chao Shi nodded then helped him up as he gently looked at Ming Li.

...

Deep in the forest near the Village, the rain was falling heavily. The forest was dark and silent, not even the sound of crickets could be heard. In all the peace and silence an ear piercing thunder suddenly exploded and a bright terrifying lighting descended.

When all of this happened, five black robed figures became visible. One of the black robed figure said "The poison energy was definitely here. Our years of search proved our information to be accurate. Someone might have sealed it before us."

The black robed man took out a bone relic and recited some incantation. The bone relic glowed and floated pointing at the direction of the Village. Everyone glanced at the village with a viscous smile, then the black robed men nodded and completely disappeared leaving not even a footprint behind.

...

In the morning, the town was more lively, Business was bustling. An average looking young man can be seen walking along the streets. Even though his looks was average one can see his wit deep in his eyes. Everyone who sees the young man greets him lively. He wears a luxurious clean red clothes. This young person was non other than Ming Li. In three years his scrawny looks improved a bit. 

Along the way, he saw five black robed man eating. He did not pay them much attention since the town was filled with tourist. 

But one of the black robed man noticed him and said "It seems like that kid is someone pretty special in this village. Maybe he knows something."

Another one wearing a mask spoke "Follow him." 

Then one figure carrying five swords disappeared. No one seems to notice his disappearance. The remaining four continued to discuss the matter regarding the poison, then a person with a huge scar from his forehead down to the side of his lips said "Let's just turn this town upside down and interrogate everyone."

A dark skinned bald man retorted "There is no need for useless slaughter. Let us just pinpoint the strongest people here and start from there."

The last one with a solemn face spoke "I agree. Let us not do something that will attract too much attention. Even this is a faraway plane, It is still best to keep everything plain."

The man wearing a mask nodded with a sinister smile.

...

Ming Li did not notice that he was being followed. He did things he usually do. He delivered some pills to be sold and looked for books or random treasure that are being traded. Every-time he sees something interesting, he buys is immediately and studies it. When he gets a bit of info from the item, he stores them and buys another one. He continued doing this for hours. The black robe man who was following him started to get pissed since Ming Li did nothing but inspect items. 

When the fifth sun sets, Ming Li was already tired and decided to go back to his mansion. The black robed man stood up and his eyes gleamed as he thought "At last this bastard finally finished doing useless things. He made me wait for a whole day. I'll slaughter him if I get the chance."

When Ming Li came back, Chao Shi wasn't there. He did not bother with it since he was excited to thoroughly study everything he got on the market. He planned to stay up all night to completely examine everything.

The black robed man stayed outside and channeled his consciousness into the house as he waited patiently for something useful to happen.

Again he noticed Ming Li start studying magical items. He got pissed and said "This kid does nothing but study instead of train. I'll just kill him now. He's pissing me off"

The black robed man stood up and was about to rush into the house but he suddenly got startled when an old man suddenly walked near the house. "I did not feel that old man at all!"

His eyes gleamed as he retracted his senses and fled far away while grabbing a pearl. He then imprinted some information on it and crushed the pearl.

As soon as the pearl was crushed, the four black robed man looked at his direction and rushed towards him. 

The black robed man with five swords stayed hidden at a distance. He made sure that Chao Shi would not notice him until all his comrades came. But suddenly he felt a weird chill behind him as an old man materialized!