9. Learning.

…

After eating, Ming Lu took Hiro to a courtyard. A bit smaller than Elta's, it was a lovely place. At the center a tree stood proudly, highlighting the beauty of the place.

"This will be yours,"

"For real?" Hiro gasped.

"Yeah. I'll assign you a maid and guard later. For now, let's start the lesson,"

"Okay,"

Ming Lu walked to the tree and sat underneath it. Hiro followed quickly and sat down.

"Alright, the first thing you should know is cultivation is tempering one's body with the energy from heaven and earth. It is the pursuit of immortality, total strength and the unknown,"

Hiro stared at her and listened quietly.

"The reason a martial expert cultivates is so they can reach the peak of martial arts. This is the general aim of martial experts, but every individual has their own aim or reason for cultivating,"

She cleared her throat and asked. "What is your reason?"

"I want to recover my strength so I can eat pills and kill those beasts,"

"Hehe, eat pills?"

"Yes, I really want one now but old man Sai said I would blow up,"

"I see,"

"What's your reason?"

"My reason for cultivating is to have the strength to protect my family. This includes you now,"

"Oh, that's nice. Compare to that my reason is…"

"Don't belittle your reason. Motivation can come from anything. Our will can be powered by anything,"

"Okay,"

"As long as your reason isn't to kill indiscriminately, or maltreat others, then it's a good reason,"

"I see. So it's not good to kill and bully,"

"It isn't, but there are situations where one is forced to. Alright we've deviated, let's get back on track,"

"Alright,"

"I'll teach you the Qi refinement scroll,"

"Old Sai already taught me,"

"Oh, do you understand it?"

"A bit. It talks about the heaven and earth. How it is above everything, how it is impartial yet partial. It talked about the power in heaven and earth and how we borrow that power to get stronger,"

"To be more accurate, we steal that power. That's why at some point the heavens test us or send us a tribulation,"

"Okay,"

"So there are basically five realms. The body tempering, the foundation establishment, the core formation, the nascent soul realm and the ancestor realm. Each of this realm, except the ancestor realm has nine stages,"

She cleared her throat and continued. "Body tempering is also known as Qi refinement realm. In this realm, one uses Qi to cleanse the body of impurities and to temper their bones. After this is the foundation establishment realm. In this realm one establishes a foundation for future growth. The more solid one's foundation is, the better. An unstable foundation would cause problems. I will stop here for today,"

"Okay,"

"You may begin. Use the method in the Qi refinement scroll. I'll step out and check on you tomorrow,"

"Alright,"

"If you get tired rest. I'll send your maid and guard over,"

Hiro nods, crossed his legs in a meditation pose and closed his eyes. Ming Lu stood up and waved her hand, placing a barrier over him. She walked out of the courtyard and made her way to a huge building.

Entering, she came into a small room. A man, who sat behind a desk stood up and greeted.

"Greetings matriarch,"

"Is he in?"

"The patriarch is in, though he will be having a meeting with the elders soon,"

"Understood,"

She walked across the room and opened a door. It led to a huge hall. At the end of the hall was a big table and behind the table was Enji seated going through paperwork. In front of the table were three chairs to the right, and another three to the left.

"Welcome, you've worked hard," Enji smiled,

"I didn't do anything. How's the situation so far?"

Ming Lu walked up to back and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Nothing serious. Father said he needs at least ten months to heal his wounds. But the other regions are requesting his move in six months,"

"With the pill, father should have taken less than six months,"

"Yeah, right now there's no ancestor rank pill. I'll delay them as much as I can, beside they can't do anything if father refuse to make a move,"

"So the other issues?" Ming Lu asked.

"Since the enemy on our side have been defeated, we should venture into the enemy territory and gather resources…"

"But with father and most of our forces wounded, it is not advisable to venture in,"

"Yes, way more than half of our frontline force. To be honest, we are inches away from collapsing…"

"That's why we need to venture in. We need resources. The situation is a tough one,"

"Yeah, when the elders arrive we'll discuss it,"

"Any other major issue?"

"No, the rest aren't worth mentioning. We may experience a deflation soon,"

"It is expected…"

~Dong~

A knock interrupted Ming Lu and a voice came from behind the door.

"Patriarch, matriarch, the elders are arriving,"

"Let them in," Enji ordered and the door opened.

One after another, five people stepped in. Two women and three men. Each of them bowed slightly and greeted.

"Greetings patriarch, greetings matriarch,"

"Please sit," Enji said. "It seems first elder is late,"

The man, who had knocked walked in and stood by the door. He had a scroll and a pen in his hand.

"Should I go call him?"

"No need fourth elder," Enji said and sent five papers to them. "We will begin. This is the report on the number of troops we presently have, the equipment and artifacts that are good to use, and the manpower we can deploy on building a base,"

Enji looked up at the door as someone walked in. An old man with prudent grey hair and neatly trimmed white long beards.

"Greetings patriarch,"

"Welcome, first elder, do have a seat,"

"Thank you, sorry for my late arrival," the first elder smirked and took his seat.

Enji sent a paper to him. He caught it and frowned.

"What is this?"

"Do read and understand," Enji said and continued. "So as I was saying. For now, we will be rebuilding the central and eastern frontline base. Luckily the central didn't get completely damaged so in a week or two it should be functioning. But the eastern will take a month plus to be rebuilt. Now the question is how do we disperse our forces? We also need resources to build and to recuperate,"

"Building an outpost in the beasts' territory is a must. I believe it should have top priority, so I propose we set forty percent of our troops there and fifty percent of our manpower there. The quicker it is built, the better,"

"I have heard third elder's suggestion. What about the remaining?"

"The remaining troops can be divided ten percent to the western, central and eastern base. The last thirty percent should be at the main base. For the manpower they should be divided equally among the eastern and central,"

"I don't think that would work third elder," a woman said.

"What does fifth elder mean?" the third elder asked.

"Leaving ten percent on each of the frontline base is risky. What if remaining beast rally themselves and attack one of them? We would be loosing more men. And if they decide to do the same at the others, more will be lost,"

"So what does fifth elder propose?"

"Thirty, thirty, forty. Thirty at the main base, thirty at the western base and forty at the outpost. All our manpower should be at the outpost. Like third elder said the outpost is the most important right now. If we can secure it and at least two hundred kilometers around, we can bother about the others when we have the resources to take care of them,"

"That's outrageous!" a man said.

"Sixth elder it is, but it is a suggestion. You are free to give yours," the fifth elder said.