They arrived at the Well and Eric took Jenna with her and made a little cut on her finger. A drop of blood fell into the well. The system came back with the following notification:

Jenna looks hopeful towards Eric hoping to evolve the Spring Water with her blood, but Eric shakes his head. Jenna looks gloomy.

Spacey interrupted and says: “The Spring Water will only evolve if the source has actively trained in collecting the QI particles from the atmosphere. Since you Jenna haven’t started cultivation, you can’t provide these to the Well yet.”

“But don’t worry, once you start your training you will become more powerful than your brother Theodore. Lightning is one of the strongest destructive forces of all the QI particles. Won’t you feel good to shoot lightning bolts towards your brother?”

Theodore grumbles towards the sky and yells: “YOU DARE!” Seeing the reaction of Theodore made everyone laugh. Eric gave some Spring Water to Jenna, which heals the cut on her finger rapidly.

It was Maggie’s turn. Bruce steps forward with Maggie on his side. He takes her hand and made a little cut on her finger and a drop of blood fell in the Well.

Maggie was really happy. This was exactly what she wanted to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Theodore smiles towards her, which caught her attention and turns red, feeling awkward he looks up in the sky.

After a moment he asks the girls: “Do you want Spacey to tell mom and aunty your affinity or do you want to tell them yourself?” Jenna says: “We will tell mom and aunty ourselves, right Maggie?” Maggie says: “Yes, our moms will be really happy!”

Theodore looks at girls and says: “Okay it’s time for you to do some chores. I’ve already put some ores next to the scanning table. Same as yesterday with the veggies and books, scan them one by one, okay? And, there will be a surprise on the screen for you to watch! Just say play and Spacey will run it for you to watch. This time it’s a little different.”

Jenna comes up running towards Theodore and jumps, Theodore catches her in his embrace, she gives a peck on his cheeks and says: “You’re the best, brother!” Theodore smiles and says: “No lightning bolt, promise?” Jenna laughs and says: “Promise!” Theodore put down Jenna and they laughed, soon after the girls ran off towards the Origin Station.

Theodore watches for a moment at the girls running away. Then looks at Eric and Bruce, says: “Are we just tools to be used? Couldn’t Grandfather just tell me what’s going on instead of knocking me out? And what exactly are the Eyes?” Eric knew Theodore was angry and says: “Calm down son, your Grandfather has a lot on his mind and is very strict with his responsibilities.”

Theodore calms down, says: “I know Grandpa has a lot of responsibilities, but this is just not okay. Should I remind you, if he didn’t order to knock me out, I could have prevented for my blade not to be ceased by others. And we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
Although the circumstances that brought him here in this world would probably not happen otherwise, he needed to play the part of the original Theodore. If he remained quiet about the whole affair, the suspicion Eric has would only grow, this is the reason he stands up for the previous occupant.

Eric sighs and says: “Yes, I am aware of it but we have no say in it. He makes all the decisions.” Theodore shakes his head and says: “I know Grandpa experienced a lot in his younger years, which might be the reason he doesn’t trust anyone. But this can be a fatal flaw.”

Continuing, he states that he already knows: “He has a secret organization ‘Eyes’ within the Clan that provides him with information about the undercurrent. It’s far too weak and mistakes can be made during any exploration missions, which could be crucial to any of such secret organizations. Even a simple track and trace have been neutralized just like that and their brothers are probably dead.”

“Perhaps if you tell me and Spacey about it, Spacey can come with some countermeasures and is able to help Grandpa indirectly.”

Eric sighs again, he knew Theodore was right, as he has seen many of his friends disappear from his own circle and gradually lost his inner circle of friends. Few remained like Leonard and Tanya, but his father was adamant in using them. They sat on the ground and Eric started to explain.

The Eyes was originally his idea, but for other purposes. He wanted to create a group of people close to him most consistent with his friends. They could help him inquire about information within other Duchies about the movements of products, prices, and merchants.

Eric knew since young his father put up a rule that the youngest would not join in military affairs as he requires an heir if anything would happen to the Aren and Francis. Out of the 3 sons, Eric was measured with the highest potential in cultivation, but due to this rule, his hands were tied and were placed in the world of merchants. This stagnated his cultivation as the responsibilities he was given didn’t require much strength but a suave type of person and someone who could lead others, which also changed his temper over the years.

His father took Eric’s idea and placed the Eyes within the Clan as servants who would collect information for him. There were 20 people in the group, which gradually reduced to 15 of what Eric knew. The last conversation with Leonard told him that it might be lower and he could only sigh again because they were all the people he knew and personally brought them into the group.

Theodore shakes his head and says: "It would be ideal if they walk amongst the commoners but risky when this group is placed in a family or a Clan." Their strength compared to Eric and Bruce is just an average of what Spacey could sense from Leonard and Tanya. They are too easily noticeable and he was sure the Village Chief was already aware of their identities.

Theodore takes out 2 necklaces and gives them to Eric and says: “Give these to Uncle Leonard and Aunty Tanya, tell them the specifics about the usage and if they are met with the trouble they can’t handle, let them try to find a place to hide and there will be someone who will help them escape. And if there are more within the group that can be trusted, they may report to you and we'll make more of these necklaces and spread them out.”

“Tell them it remains between you and them, Grandpa doesn’t need to know, we will have other arrangements for him. But this requires him to change, if he accepts we can work with him and perhaps stabilize the Clan. If he remains stubborn all we can do is protect him in the dark.”

“Dad, what you need to do is cultivate, become stronger, stronger than Grandpa and that may change his perception on all of this. And you, dad, have the ideal support any cultivator would fight for, make good use of it every morning.”

Theodore takes 2 stacks of papers out of the Backpack and gave each one. He says: “After Spacey observed how you cultivate this morning, it made an initial analysis and came with the following theory which you can read in these papers. Spacey explains in short please!”

Spacey says: “Yes, Theodore." Spacey continues: "Eric, Bruce in the stack of papers, you can read my theory in full and the comparison between some similar religions on Earth that resemble Condensing Stage practice. Don’t look down on these.”

“They were unable to improve due to the lack of energy in their atmosphere and knowledge, but with the research, Rick did while practicing his fighting sports, he did gather this much. Although Rick didn’t have much time to meditate, he was truly interested in Buddhism and Hinduism as you probably remember a bit of it.” Eric nodded he could remember the memory part where Rick trained Wing Chun and research both religions.

Spacey continues: “When his mother fell ill, he also looked into Traditional Chinese Medicine to find a cure for an incurable disease. Do you remember the picture shown of the Human Meridian System in the Human body? If not, turn to page 5 in the stack of papers” They did as they were told. And look at the human anatomy with several dots and strange names behind it.

Spacey waited for a little and continues: “Take a close look at those Meridian points on page 6 and try to sense these in your own bodies. You should be able to feel them as you use those points primarily when you are cultivating if I've observed it right this morning.” Eric and Bruce were stunned. It was exactly so that all the energy would concentrate on these points.

Spacey ignored their stunned looks and says: “The whole Condensing Stage you are practicing is all a lie and so is every improvement based on the original Practice QI! This whole General Practice QI is to have all of you on this planet stuck within this Stage and won’t be able to reach a higher Stage by excluding the Meridian Practice. You were all duped globally, literally!”

“You shouldn’t condense the energy in the solid-liquid state in your Meridians at this stage but a later Stage within your Sea of QI, which should be right in the center between your navel, kidney, and reproductive organs, the Chinese call it the Dantain. If you solidify the QI in your meridians there is no further growth possible after that.”

“This is the main reason I’ve changed the Body Refining Stage and it’s most important to start with the refining of the intestines as it will help with the growth of your Sea of QI right from the bat.” Bruce was stunned to hear this and couldn’t help but ask: “What, there is a Stage higher than Condensation Stage?”

Spacey explains: “As there are written books about Elves, there are writings of cultivation on Earth. I am still unsure which of these writings are correct and which stems from the religions I already told you about. The cultivation writings I am talking about is mostly known as Eastern Novels. I am not going into all these memory transfer theories with you, because I have no clue but to say it starts with distortion and tada here I am with memories intact of Rick. Which also should happen in reverse in this large Universe.”

“Based on your current Practice QI there should be stages above Condensing Stage, which I assume is wrongly named, it should be QI Refining Stage and condensing is one of the last practices in this Stage. Next would be Foundation Stage. In this Stage you should gather all the liquid QI inside the meridians, move and store them inside your Sea of QI, gradually changing it from a puddle to a Sea, while opening more meridians inside your body. There are a total of 108 Major meridians, and 253 Minor meridians inside a human body, which I already ran the simulation on Theodore’s body”

Spacey gave them some time to digest the information, continues, and says: “Luckily the both of you are still mid-QI Refining, still less than 40 years old and haven’t started with condensation. Gather the QI, refine and enlarge the 8 Prime Meridians inside your body stated on page 6, starting every morning from now on. Drink a cup of Spring Water before you start.”

“You will drop some levels in your current Cultivation Rank by doing so, but these Prime Meridians connect the whole body from top to bottom. Trust me within a week, you will feel the difference and you will soon advance in your cultivation by leaps and bounds, especially with the 2 Sunrises you can take advantage of. After they are fully expanded, you can start with 12 Principle Meridians on page 7, then other meridians concentrated in certain areas. If you require strength see page 8 if you require fast movement see page 9, if you require balance see page 10, and so on. The more you open the better your cultivation will be in the future.”

"As for your father and other elderly folks you know, Eric, we can find out later if we are able to help them advance through other methods. One way is using the Acupuncture method, but the study on the Human Meridians System is highly required though you have your son and Rainy near you now. Make use of them."

Eric couldn’t help but shudder and says: “If it’s all true what you said, then there is a huge conspiracy going on. Who the hell is behind all of this?” Theodore looks at Eric and smiles, says: “You have your answer if you remember who was so charitable enough to release this General Practice QI onto the public first, free of charge. It starts with a ‘P’.”

Listening to Theodore, Eric shocked as he could be, yells: “THE POPE OF HOLY LIGHT CHURCH!” Theodore chuckles and says: “The winner will take all. Let’s get our minds off the subject and start constructing the walls, it’s a simple design I drawn on paper and easily build” As Bruce again gave a worried expression on his face.

Theodore points to a spot further away and says: “There, I’ve already left some equipment on that spot, stuff you’ll need to build those walls. I’ve some things to do and um… dad do you have a stack of paper available for us to use. Rainy needs them to draw the faces of those abductors on them to show her friends later, I can’t use the paper from here.”

Eric frozen for a while turns his head and says mechanically: “They are on my desk, in my room, outside.” Theodore chuckles and says: “Take your time digesting what you just learned, but it would be best to face reality and we can talk about countermeasure if we ever come into contact with their priests.”

Theodore says: “It seems the Holy Light Church is quite active in similar parts on the Continent. Starry is alive and is being held by that Captain of the Guard. It seems she was used not only by them but also by her parents, who according to the captain had a deal with Holy Light Church for a so-called re-education purpose.”

“They previously said she was dead on the monitor to test if Rainy was hidden nearby, so to lose hope in finding Starry and that she could flee back to the Elven Village to report what happened. But they didn’t expect she would lose the bag of herbs, which they used to track those elvish youngster whereabouts with a special creature the Elves raises.”

“This truly getting more and more complicated, but we should stick to our plans and add rescuing Starry in it. We will have to discuss with Rainy, how children of those who betrayed their own race are treated. Then decide what to do. Well, I am off.”

Eric and Bruce were stunned again. They can’t believe the hidden matters happening around them so suddenly.

Theodore stood up and walks to the Barn and asks: “Spacey, I remembered you said that the Foreign Object Locker will analyze any stuff from the outside and after decompiling them in several components it would store the stuff in the right Lockers? Can it be done with the products of the Grocery Store?” Spacey answers: “Yes Theodore, that locker is a better version than the one behind the monitor.”

Theodore says: “Well, it doesn’t matter. This way the girls are busy. Any progress of the Space with the amount of ore already scanned?” Spacey answers: “A little, as said before the gravitational force is a little greater than the Earth, which will also increase the density of these ores a little. So the XP gained will be also less.” Theodore sighs and says: “Well every little XP counts. It’s just the beginning.”

He walks in the barn and towards the Foreign Object Locker and placed the products on the stand. Soon the locker analyzed the goods and moved them to the designated Lockers, all that there remained was a vial with substance in it.

Theodore took it out and grabbed it. He received a notification in his eye retina:

Theodore wondered and asks: “Spacey, how the hell do you know all of this? I can’t remember having to research such things as if I would like to poison someone?” Spacey answers: “Movies you watched, from books and novels you’ve read. These flowering plants might be poisonous, but also has their medical uses which I experimented within my own private lands and running simulations.” Theodore shakes his head and says: “No comment,” and went to the Harvest Locker to retrieve the Grocery products, placing them back in the Backpack.

Spacey suddenly says: “There are some unseen circumstances currently happening near Jade and May. Should I recall them?” Theodore says: “Show me the image in my eye retina and immediately recall them after they drop a piece of localization amber on that spot.”

Seeing the image in his eyes made him a little dizzy, he says: “Oh… they are fighting Elves. Um… tell me when Jade and May are out of range of the Elves sight, I’ll pick them up or we go to them.” Spacey says: “Affirmative!” Theodore turns around and walks towards Eric and Bruce.

Arriving at the spot where Eric and Bruce were working. Theodore says: “There are some things happening near Mom and Aunty. I’ve already recalled them and am going to pick them up soon. But wouldn’t it be better if we have some brawl with those people of the Village Chief. They are currently fighting 2 Elves in the forest, probably scouts looking for those youngsters.”

Eric asks: “Are you sure they are the people of the Village Chief?” Theodore answers: “I am sure of it. Spacey captured their faces in the morning when you, Uncle and Aunty went out, and all of them turned red. Rainy even pointed some of them out as their abductors, while others she wasn’t sure about but we can show them to the other elvish youngsters later.”

Spacey interrupted them: “Be sure to get some blood of them. One of them uses zombies and skeletons to fight. Probably a necromancer attuned to Death energy. It could advance Spring Water to another level.” Eric and Bruce's eyes began to shine.

Author tries to explain:

While our food is still cooking, I made some minor changes in this chapter. As well changed Dark with Death Energy, as I have other uses for Dark Energy later ;-) And nope not totally going full BTFTLIAW on you, cause unlike the other protoganist, this one does respect the dead due to his origin and is more inclined using his other gifts. But if necessary he will use them without holding back.

He will cooperate with the force he later builds up and trains, personally. That's for later. Cheers!