One month after the hunt, Yun An had obtained the second level, and that was it.

A few days later, their master decided to return to his sect. That would be the first time for her to visit her master's sect and, surprisingly, it would also e the first time for her senior too.

The sect is located in the middle of a young forest. Villages and towns surround it in every direction. Walking from the closest settlement will take a person couples of hours to reach the sect. Thus, by the time the three saw the gate, morning has turned into noon.

While waiting for people to answer the door, Yun An looked up to the ornate signboard. Three golden letters were written on its wooden surface, Wuyingmen (Shadowless Sect).

She didn’t know what was behind these doors but from the outside there were a few words to say. The first thing was “resourceful”. For a sect in the middle of a forest, they surely had enough money to pave ten meters around the sect.

The second was “pride”. The high walls that envelope the sect, the doors, and even the bricks beneath my feet were clean. Cleaning must be a frequent occurrence to keep them as eye-pleasing as this.

That leads to the third thing that came to her mind, “fame”. The amount of manpower to maintain this place is not small. Maybe they didn't have many servants but a large number of disciples instead. That would work out just fine. 

That being said, for such a sect, their reception left things to be desired. Her senior had already knocked the third time, and no answer could be heard from inside.

As Tian Zhong's knocking became impatient, their master gestured to her senior to stop and replaced him.

After their master's second try, a weak voice replied. “Coming!”

A sleepy man opened the door. “Who are you looking for?”

The moment he heard the man's reply, Tian Zhong was boiling with rage. 

Yun An could understand his anger. Their master was clearly older than him, yet the man didn’t even greet their master.

“Oh. Young friend. Are you perhaps a disciple of the Shadowless sect?”

“That’s right. What do you want?” 

“I am Huai (yearn/miss) Jia (home/family). I am looking for my (junior) brother in Shadowless sect. His name is Qiao Ying (heroic) Feng (wind).”

“Qiao Ying Feng? I don’t know any disciple with the surname “Qiao”. Wait here. I will go asking.”

Just a few minutes later, a commotion could be heard heading toward the doors. Yun An could make out some of the talking.

“…How could this disciple know?”

“You don’t even know the name of your grandmaster? What did you spend your time here for?”

The doors quickly opened.

A middle-aged man bowed low. “First Senior Master. Hua Cheng greets the first senior master.”  (Note: A disciple will call the junior brother of their master as junior master and the senior brother of their master as senior master.)

The young man from before meekly did the same. “First Senior Grandmaster.”

“First Senior Master. This idiot of a disciple of mine has shown disdain toward the senior master. Please allow Hua Cheng to apologise for failing to teach him properly.”

“It can’t be helped. I had been away from the sect for too long. It’s normal that new disciples don’t know me. Stand up and talk with me.” 

“This disciple thanks the senior master.”

Huai Jia looked at the disciple of his disciple. “You too.”

“This disciple thanks the senior grandmaster.”

“Hua Cheng. These two are my disciples. You two. Come and greet your senior.”

“Senior.”

“Senior.”

“No, no. First senior master. You are the senior of my master. In term of rank, I should be the junior to these two.”

“But in term of seniority within Shadowless sect, you are their senior.”

“This disciple…" Couldn't refute his senior master, he could only agree. "Since the first senior master has dictated. Hua Cheng can only obey.” He turned to the young man. “What are you waiting for? They are your master’s juniors. Don’t you know what to do?”

“Disciple Cheng An greets the Junior masters.”

“First Senior!” A calling voice resounded from the distance.

 A group of twenty or so elders and middle-aged men appeared from the complex. 

After quickly exchanging greetings, the one on the lead turned to Huai Jia.

“Why didn’t you inform this junior of your return?”

“You have become the master of the sect. How could I waste your time with something so trivial?”

“Senior. How can you say it is trivial? You are the eldest among us. It’s the duty of the juniors to show respect to their senior.”

The back and forth went on until the two young children behind the returning elder entered the sect master's field of vision. “Senior. These children…”

“They are my disciples. Little Zhong. Little An. Greet your junior masters.”

“Disciple Tian Zhong-”

“Disciple Dong Yun An-” 

“-greets the junior masters.”

Just like that they became a part of the sect.

———————————————————————

Besides the time studying under their master, the two also learned under their senior Hua Cheng, but among the two Hua Cheng paid exceptional attention to Yun An.

“Junior sister Yun An. I have heard about your situation from the senior master. Let’s not dangle around. I will begin with an overview.

Cultivation is divided into four realms: Mortal Realm, Sage Realm (or Zunzhe realm. Zun: respectable; Zhe: person; Zun Zhe: venerable one), Ascension Realm, and Immortal Realm.

Ancient cultivators decided that way to align each realm with a goal.

Rejuvenation in Mortal realm.

Five elements mastery in Sage realm.

Immortality in Ascension realm.

And Qi supremacy in Immortal realm.

It’s better not to distract oneself with its grandeur. At the moment, you only need to know about the Mortal realm.

Mortal realm focuses on achieving rejuvenation. At the peak of this realm, you should be able to revert back to being a child upon reaching the end of your natural lifespan. It’s a way to buy time until you achieve immortality. Do remember that upon returning to your childhood you will be weakened accordingly but very quickly you will regain your cultivation. Usually the speed of regaining is thrice as fast as when you first achieved them.

Because of rejuvenation, cultivators like us need someone to help us during our time of weakness. This is why the unity of the sect is so important. Without trust and loyalty, we who do not have a strong clan or family to depend on can never reach new height.

Within Mortal realm, there are three stages. Beginning with Foundation then Qi forming and Body reformation. Each stage is divided further into nine levels.

The nine levels of Foundation stage are:

• 1st level - Lower qi sensing: cultivator can sense qi being used by cultivators and beasts
• 2nd level - Mid qi sensing; cultivator can tell the concentration of qi
• 3rd level - Lower qi manipulation: cultivator can use qi to strengthen one body part
• 4th level - Lower qi absorbing: cultivator can absorb qi from herbs and beast meat through digestion 
• 5th level - Mid qi absorbing: cultivator is capable of absorbing qi from the environment as long as they are in touch with the body.
• 6th level - Mid qi manipulation: cultivator can use qi to strengthen multiple body parts at once
• 7th level - Upper qi manipulation: cultivator can use qi to strengthen the entire body
• 8th level - Upper qi sensing: cultivator can sense qi hidden in living beings. (Higher level cultivator can still hide their true strength with practice)
• 9th level - Upper qi absorbing: cultivator can absorb qi even without touching

You are near the edge of qi manipulation. Qi manipulation should come almost naturally since it begins with understanding the flow of qi, or also knew as Qi sensing. Don’t you feel some kind of subtle flow within your body?”

Yun An shut her eyes and extended her sense.

Subtle flow. Yes, I do feel. However, bending them to my will is a different story. When I am being forceful, the feeling is gone. When I relax, they return. When I try to be half forceful and half relaxed, they too become as vague as my intention.

Yun An slowly shook her head. “I do, senior, but I couldn’t wrap my head around.”

“If you have been practising for a long time and still haven’t succeeded, the only solution is to continue training. Do forgive your senior for being abstract. It’s as basic as breathing. I can’t seem to put into words how we’ve done it.”

“Please don’t feel sorry about that, senior.”