The atmosphere of the event was more cheerful than before thanks to Harith's miraculous save.

Harith now stood in the middle of the stage, sweating all over. He was right next to Young master Baxia who was wearing a big smile. Harith didn't know much but he certainly knew how to tell fake from real. And also, wasn't it this guy na this friends that ganged up on him?

"Jinwu, today you have saved the lives of master Chen's kitchen. Thank you" The sect master nodded.

Harith smiled a little in response.

"For this deed I shall grant you a reward. Ten thousand jins shall be awarded to you for your efforts" As the sect master spoke and signalled to one of his guards.

The crowd clapped and cheered. Ten thousand was a huge sum of money to any teenager. As a result, jealousy began to arise and some wished they had reacted the same way Harith did.

"Thank you sir" Harith maintained the smile on his face. He didn't know how valuable Ten thousand jins was but from the crowd reaction it had to be something worthwhile.

"I see you have awakened your element" And elder sitting beside the sect master spoke.

After a brief period of silence, discussions arose among those in the audience. They didn't focus much on how Harith had used the fire power earlier but now that the elder brought it up...it certainly was strange.

How did the one that couldn't even awaken his element years ago become able to create a fire shield?!

" Yes sir, I have" Harith responded. For some reason he wasn't getting a good vibe from the man that had asked.

"And how did that happen?" The elder asked. If someone couldn't awaken their element in the year they became thirteen, then it was almost impossible to awaken it any later on. Yet this young man had done it.

'cmon think fast!' Harith thought. He had to find a suitable reason to avoid any form of suspicion. Well it's not like they would suspect that he was a reincarnated soul but just to be safe.

"I had a dream this morning sir, where a great fiery being appeared to me and touched my arm..." Harith started saying any possible thing he could think of.

"Hmm? A fiery being?" The elder turned his head and thought for a second before his eyes widened.

"Zhu rong?!" At that moment another elder interjected.

Harith went silent but inside, his heart was blooming. It seemed like his lie was working.

"eh Zhu rong? He saying Zhu rong appeared to him in a dream?"

" How could Zhu rong ever appear to someone like him"

"That's true, he only appears to those blessed by the heavens. If he's to appear to anyone it would be anyone but jinwu"

"But if it isn't true, how then did he awaken his element at this age?" The crowd was going haywire. It seemed Harith's casual lie actually had a relation to something they knew of.

"That is not important for now" The sect master dismissed the voices. "Another of the younger generation has awakened his element, even if it was much later. Elder Jang, he will be under your care" The sect master looked to the elder that had spoken the first time.

The elder narrowed his eyes and nodded as he took a good look at Harith.He wasn't sure what to make of him yet, but his story was strange. And he claimed to have been visited by Zhu rong, if it was true...

"hmm, for now you can rest. You should feel tired after spending that much power. Come to the Youth practitioners house before noon tomorrow. That will be all" Elder Jang finished talking.

Harith took that as his sign to leave. He bowed and left the building entirely. As he left he could feel an intense glare directed at him.

"Phew" As soon as he left the building Harith heaved a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat off his brows. A burst of laughter escaped his lips. He didn't know what the hell just happened but he was damn feeling good.

First he had saved some people with a fire shield he had no idea he could make and then he was awarded whatever was Ten thousand jins...and the place he was told to go to tomorrow, that sounded a lot like the official training grounds for the youths of the sect!

An immense feeling of joy welled up in his heart. It seemed like things were finally going his way for the first time if his entire lifetime. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours since he arrived here and he was already filled with eagerness for the future. If things continued like this, becoming the strongest magic user wouldn't be too hard to accomplish.

...

It wasn't until late noon that the ceremony ended. The people left with full stomach and most were beyond tipsy. They had eaten and drank their fill, witnessed the blessing of the future sect master, watched an interesting battle, and also watched a previously disregarded youngster save some lives. They had seen enough today.

Under the hot sun, a male sat under a tree waving his hands out and about.

"Activate!" Harith said and pushed his hand with force. He waited for a moment but nothing happened. "Activate fire shield!" He said again and waved his hand much more forcefully. Seeing that nothing still happened he smashed his hand on the floor.

"Fuck!" He immediately regretted his actions. He sighed and looked at his hand. "Aren't you the one that summoned that huge shield earlier?So do it again" Harith waved his hand once more but nothing happened. Then he gave up.

He packed the books next to him and started heading home. He had come out here in hopes that he could willfully summon the shield once more and maybe figure out how the fire power worked a bit but he was only met with disappoinment.

"I'll just have to wait for tomorrow" He muttered as he walked.

___

As harith inched closer and closer to the room he stayed, he could perceive an aroma in the air. It got stronger the closer he got.

*Rumble* It was like his stomach could smell it too and it growled in excitement.

"I'm back" Harith said as he opened the door. *Bam!* a large chunk of meat was on the table beside his bead. In the same tray was some rice and vegetables.

Harith's eyes widened, although he had eaten in the ceremony earlier his hunger had resurfaced. That was in line with what he learnt, as one used their power they would be drained of energy. And the best way for the body to replenish lost energy was through food.

"I made it specially for you" Harith's mother spoke from behind.

"oh...thanks heh" Harith smiled and scratched his head.

"go on, eat" She smiled and left.

Harith wasted no time in digging in. It was like she knew he favourite food was anything made of meat!

Harith's mother had a bright smile on her face as she left. She had heard of the way her son saved workers of master Chen's kitchen and was even rewarded for it. And he had also awakened his element.

"Our boy is making us proud" She whispered as she held the necklace on her neck tightly.

....

The next day

Harith was out and about searching for the Youth practitioners house. He had no idea where it was and it would definitely sound weird if he asked for directions to a place anyone in the sect was supposed to know. So he was kinda in a dilemma.

"Did you hear? one of the youth practitioners was found dead. They say he was killed by a strong fire user"

"I heard, Chen yul right? The young master's right hand man"

"why would anyone want to murder such a young man?"

As harith walked he heard a conversation in the crowd. They had finally become aware of the murder...he had to be very careful from now on.

"Hmm?" As he pondered he caught sight of a person he vaguely recognized. It was the girl he had met with Brother Chen.

Harith's heart began to race as he remembered the events of that night. What if the girl recognizes him and connects him to the the death of that man...everything would end for him!

Cho cheong had worried look on her face. She was running late for the daily training. As she walked, the feeling of someone watching her kept surfacing but when she looked back all she could see were the people going about their daily activities.

Harith hid among the crowd, covering his face with a scarf his mother had given him since it was quite cold these days. Following her was risky sure, but he figured that she was probably a youth practitioner too. Then the only place she could be going to now was the youth practitioner house.

A soft cough interrupted Harley's thoughts. He looked back to see and old man carry a mat, it seemed like the man was getting ready to place some goods there and he was obstructing him.

"Ah sorry" Harith apologized and immediately left the way. "fuck!" He almost screamed out. The girl he was following was nowhere to be found!

Harith looked back at the old man with a look that portrayed a thousand messages. If looks could kill then Harith's own would probably bury the person too. If the old man hadn't interrupted him then he wouldn't have lost sight of the girl!

"The weather is not good today" The old man muttered as he felt a chill up his spine.

Harith left the place and searched frantically for the girl but she was nowhere to be found. "I guess I'll have to ask for directions..." He wanted to play safe but he had no other choice.

"Why were you following me?" A soft voice spoke.

Harith looked and it was none other than the girl he was following with a displeased look on her face. His heart immediately skipped a beat.

"oh...aren't you the boy from yesterday?!" The girl raised one of her eyebrows and asked.

Harith just stood still without answering. It was very likely the girl was talking about that night.

"The boy who saved the workers in master Chen's kitchen, jinwu right?" She smile "I'm Cho cheong" She was present in the ceremony yesterday so she clearly witnessed the events herself and she easily recognized him.

"Eh..." Harith was speechless. The girl hadn't truly recognized him! "Yes I am" He cleared his throat and answered.

" Nice to meet you jinwu" she said as her smile faded "Now why were you following me?"

"Me? I wasn't following you!" Harith immediately denied it. "I was just going over to the Youth practitioners house"

"oh, I'm heading there too. Shall we go together?" Cho cheong asked.

"Ah sure" Harith replied.

"Let's go then, there's not much time" Inside, harith was praising himself. Look at just how smart he was! He had used his way with words and successfully achieved his goal of having a guide to the youth practitioners house. He never knew he had this ability!

The two walked together for minutes and made small talks along the way. Finally they arrived at the building.

The Youth practitioners house lived up to Harith's expectations. It was damn huge, it seemed like all the important building in this place we're ridiculously huge. This building was almost the size of the building used in holding the ceremony.

The building had a gate which was currently open, and the statue of a man holding a golden pole was right next to the open gate.

Cho cheong hurriedly walked inside and Harith followed after. He had no idea why she was in so a hurry.

As he entered the building he could see a bunch of people roughly the same age as him. They were arranged in a rows of five and their hands were flaming.

"Stop!" A very angry voice called just as they entered. At that moment Harith felt a huge pressure that brought him to his knees!