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Indeed, Owl was hiding his strength. It was very easy for him to only use the might of someone in a lower stage since he had more than that. The reason why he was hiding it was very simple too. He didn't want to attract too much attention. It seemed like the 4th stage was already considered impressive here though.
The elder looked at Jung-Su and complimented him: "Congratulations, disciple, you found a very strong partner!"
Jung-Su scratched the back of his neck as he grinned foolishly. He was indeed very happy to have found his brother Owl. Or rather, he was happy to have been found. Still, he thought that brother Owl was stronger than that. He ended up asking him through their links: "Brother Owl, I thought you were stronger than this?"
Owl thought for a moment. If he told the kid, there would be a risk. A risk that he would end up babbling to someone else. There was a saying to fool one's allies first in order to fool one's enemies. Right now, it seemed to be very wise.
He answered him: "For now, my powers are sealed but don't worry, I will soon have it back"
The kid nodded. He still retained stars in his eyes. To him, the fact that the owl had his cultivation sealed meant he had been powerful enough that it warranted someone to do so. It was a proof of previous status and might. He trusted this beast quite a lot.
Anyways, their little exchange took place unbeknownst to the other two who had been discussing something else secretly. Only once Jung-Su looked at them did everyone move on and walked back to the grand hall, to the counter.
The elder wrote some things on a paper and handed it to Jung-Su along with a badge. He said: "This is the official papers of your tamed beast and this is a badge that will prove it's one of our own, have your owl wear this at all times. Otherwise, you can't blame fellow disciples for attacking"
Jung-Su thanked the elder with a bow before bringing the badge to Owl for inspection. It was circular and not too big, around the size of half a human hand. It was white with green leaves dancing in the wind depicted upon it. It was rather stylish. Owl put it on his right chest. It had a weak array upon it that enabled it to be stuck to whatever it got into contact with. Only by infusing some spiritual energy could this badge be taken of. Not like Owl planned to do so anytime soon.
He didn't want to be hunted down.
Finally done with this, they went to the infirmary where Jung-Su was healed by another elder. Healing was free for the disciples up to a certain point. Considering Jung-Su's state, they didn't charge him. The fact that he took pills before had helped a lot. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been healed for free. Fortunately, there was no need for him to regrow a limb. Those things were the most expensive… and painful.
After that, it was already quite late and the two kids decided to go back home and sleep. Sun-Mi left the duo at a certain junction before heading towards her own dormitory. Obviously, Jung-Su and her didn't live at the same place.
Jung-Su lived in a shabby house that he shared with two other poor chaps. The three of them were considered weaklings and of the same cultivation. They were all bullied by the same group. Except that by now, the other two stopped doing any work. They had given up.
Owl didn't look kindly to those who gave up when faced with slight hurdles but he had to admit that the situation was difficult to take care of for those kids. The bullying was savage enough that one might be killed after all. And the sect turned a blind eye to it… Well, things would change as he would make money from granting justice.
Starting tomorrow.
For now, it was time to sleep.
…
They woke along with the sun the next morning. Owl wasn't quite used to that. After all, owls belonged to the night life. He would have to change his habits from here on out. If he wanted to be amongst the humans, he would have to act like them. And getting up in the morning was where it began.
A day in the life of Jung-Su wasn't very interesting. He got up and went straight to the mission hall, looking for things he could do to earn some pills.
"Sweeping the courtyard of elder xxx – 1 pill"
"Helping at the cafeteria for lunch – 2 pills"
"Cleaning dormitory 186th in preparation for the upcoming entrance exams – 1 pill"
"Helping at the cafeteria for diner – 2 pills"
This had been his day. And this was what he did every single day. He would always help in the kitchen for every meal and he would pick two other cleaning duties. As for Owl, he had followed his 'host' all along. And, needless to say, got extremely bored. He wouldn't allow this to continue for even one day longer.
Once they were back in Jung-Su's room, Owl spoke: "Tomorrow, you're not taking any of those trashy missions"
Jung-Su was quite surprised. He thought Owl would help him do more missions, not stop him from doing any. He asked him: "Why, brother owl?"
He was answered: "Because that's for the weaker ones and you no longer belong to that category. We're going to the market tomorrow. There's got to be one, right?"
He nodded. There was indeed a trading area for disciples to exchange their wares between each other. After a moment of consideration, he thought that brother Owl would lead him there to find a mysterious weapon. The kind that looked ordinary and no one glanced at yet turned out to be capable of shaking the earth and falling the heavens. He began to drool at the prospect. What if he spent the morning without doing a mission, wasn't it just one less pill? If he got a super powerful weapon, he was more than willing.
And so, he slept while dreaming of himself brandishing a mighty legendary sword and sweeping his enemies by the hundreds.
Of course, Owl had no plans to buy anything for the kid. He was going to buy something for himself. Since he was finally here, able to trade with humans, he wouldn't miss the opportunity. After all, he needed to assimilate an element to his core in order to grow further and, to that end, he had to consume a treasure. He hoped to find such a treasure there.
…
The next morning, Jung-Su led Owl to the marketplace. It was quite early yet already bustling with activity with hundreds of young disciples screaming at the top of their lungs, trying to buy or sell things.
"Selling freshly baked medicinal pills! Only 1 gold for 10!"
"Selling grade 1 sword, newly refined, come quickly before it's sold to another, don't miss out!"
"Buying purple heart grass in bulk! 1 gold for ten stalks!"
Owl focused his spiritual energy to his hearing in hope to find someone who sold what he required. There were just too many people and too much noise though. His cultivation realm at the moment was too low to hear and comprehend everything. He could only do it the old way and browse the stands…
What he needed was quite simple. He needed an item that was at least one years old and contained the essence of an element. It wasn't rare since cultivators could create them artificially.
Just pick a piece of rock and have it stay close to an element for a year and it would do the trick. Still, due to the need for such treasures by everyone, it was always something in high-demand. And most cultivators wished to find the right element for themselves.
That made the search for the right treasure something very tough for most cultivators. A lot of them were forced to make their own by themselves or have it custom-made. That was due to what the elements actually were.
When one speaks of the elements, they first think of the five origins, the two glorious and the four beyond.
This is what people think of when elements are mentioned. And they are not completely right. The study of elements is complex and it is very different from what the average man expects. There are too many possibilities and combinations to even know of them all.
Owl, on the other hand, wasn't picky compared to some other people. He didn't care about the element he would find, he only wanted to find one. He needed to hurry with his cultivation first. He would think about the rest later. Because he feared that his original lifespan wouldn't be long enough…
