"The world of cultivation is ruthless and power is everything. There are various levels in cultivation and to reach far, resources and talent is needed. The first level is body tempering divided into nine stages. In this stage one takes qi from the world and is used to temper the body to break the shackles that bound the body to heavenly laws. With every shackle broken, speed, reflexes and power is increased tremendously. The are nine shackles and after breaking through each of them comes the core formation stage. In this stage a core is formed in the body which is used to store spiritual energy. World qi is transformed to spiritual energy by ones spirit root which is then stored in the core formed. This is all I know about cultivation, I don't know what comes after because information like that are secrets kept by nobles and sects."

       Sable looked at Zed trying to process all the info that has been dumped unto him. Zed looked at Sable and asked "Martin how old are you?". Sable responded telling Zed that he is nine. Zed was quiet for a while and said " Most commoners start cultivating at 10 but nobles start as young as six and by the time they are thirteen most are at the peak of core formation, due to this the weakest nobles are probably stronger than most powerful commoners. I'm telling you this not to discourage you but to let you understand and try to avoid offending nobles as much as possible". Zed continued to advice Martin on matters of the world till deep into the night. The woman behind the house sat outside and never bothered them till they finished their chat. She was later introduced to Sable as Zed's wife Marinda. It was late so the couple allowed Sable to stay the night. Sable didn't bring his blanket so sleep never came.

      Sable was up by the time Zed and his wife woke up, Zed took sable to behind his house and started to lecture him on some principles on cultivation. He gave Sable a manual with a cultivation technique up to the ninth stage of body tempering. He left ad told sable to start meditation and to try and feel the world qi. Sable found a patch of grass, sat in the lotus position and started to meditate. It didn't take a minute for him to feel the world qi all around him like particles just floating around. He began to follow the method depicted in the manual and absorb the world qi. Sable could barely contain his excitement but he knew he was at a critical juncture so he had to control himself. 

     All his hopes came crashing when all the world qi he had absorbed into his began to dissipate before he even got the chance to temper his body. According to what Zed said one must temper the body till a shackle is felt, and then prepare and break the shackle. This was a very painful process. Sable refused to give up and kept meditating and trying to retain at least the smallest amount of world energy. He suddenly felt like it all made sense to him now, he was a waste that couldn't cultivate no wonder his family abandoned him. Since he woke up in this godforsaken town he had never felt as down as he did this moment, he had never blamed the family for abandoning him. He has never cried not even once since he woke up. For the first time in a long time he felt tears on his face, he was crying. His life looked bleak.