"How are you feeling?" Harith asked. He walked with Cho cheong who was looking a bit better now but the bruise on her face was still very evident.

"I'm okay. It'll heal in a short while" Cho cheong said and touch her eye.

"You did quite a great thing in there, I'm impressed" Harith spoke from the depths of his heart. Cho cheong had come the closest to taking the emerald eyes. If elder Jang had come clean earlier maybe it would have been a different story.

"It wasn't anything much, I just ran around and got knocked out" Cho cheong blushed from embarrassment but one could see the joy on her face if they looked closer.

"Well, Just to make sure you're really okay, let me escort you home" Harith smiled. He had no motives and was just being a gentleman...

"Eh? My house is quite far from here I'm not sure you would want to walk that long" Cho cheong quickly denied him.

"I don't mind. I mean, I have nothing to do so..." Harith shrugged.

"okay...." Cho cheong finally agreed.

The two went back the same way they came. On the way Harith even saw the the old man from earlier, he had set up shop now.

As they walked further and further the people around seemed to be getting fewer and the shops around began to reduce.

A feeling of Deja Vu welled up inside Harith. This was reminding him so very much of a deadly mistake that had cost him his life one time.

"We're here" Cho cheong said.

Harith was startled by her words, they sounded very familiar. He was ready to burst and run at any moment.

"Come on in" Cho cheong smiled and took off her sandals.

Harith looked well enough and the panic in him died down. It was just a small house. Nothing to be worried about.

"Ah in? Alright alright" Harith scratched his head and took off the worn down sandals he had on. Even the soles had become very soft.

As they entered the house Harith's sense of smell was overwhelmed by the beautiful feminine fragrance in the air. It smelled so sweet.

"You must be hungry, I'll make you something before you leave" Cho cheong said as she dropped her belongings on the sofa.

"You leave alone?" Harith asked. There were no shoes outside other than his and Cho cheong's. And the house was very silent even after they came In.

"Yes, the rest of my family leave very far away" She replied.

"Wow..." Harith muttered. This girl was living all alone in an isolated place like this, wasn't she scared at all?

Cho cheong went inside the kitchen and soon after frying sound could be heard. The smoke filled the house and Harith struggled to breath but he had no choice but to endure.

It didn't take much time until Cho cheong was done cooking. She brought out a plate and on it was a large fist that had had all sorts of cooking done to it. The aroma was godly and he couldn't wait to dig in.

If there was anything he was most thankful for after coming into this world apart from the powers the it had to be the food. It seemed like everyone that existed her were natural born chefs, and they weren't stingy with food either. As a man that had suffered to even have a whole meal in a day, Harith was very grateful.

A tear dropped from Harith's eyes as he devoured the fish.

"Eh You're crying? Is it to spicy? Ah I knew I should have used only one spoon" Cho cheong asked as she panicked.

"N...no... it's perfect" More tears dropped as Harith kept eating.

....

Harith left around an hour later with a full stomach. He and Cho cheong chatter for over thirty minutes before he decided to leave. He felt like he had made his first real friend in a long time. It was nice...

"The stance" Harith remembered the stance elder Jang had performed earlier. The amount of energy Elder Jang had gathered was insane, even he that was a novice when it came to energy could feel the sheer power. And he longed for that power.

Harith stopped walking and found a spot to seat as he recollected the stance from earlier and performed it. He had made up his mind, he couldn't be slacking off eating and drinking away his time. He had to do something productive, something that would actually be meaningful to his goal. The only way achieve his goal was to become powerful...and to become powerful one must first need to learn how to gather the energy in the atmosphere and release it in the form of their acquired element. He had learnt that from Cho cheong.

Since the location was sparsely filled Harith didn't mind practicing right then and there. He closed his eyes and tried to feel for something, anything.

"When I first successfully gathered energy it was like I felt this cool breeze wash over me and my pathways were unlocked, I felt in tune with nature. Like I could finally see much more to the world than the normal eye could see. An awakening of some sorts" Harith remembered Cho cheong's words. He had asked her earlier since he didn't quite understand Elder Jang.

"An awakening" Harith muttered and let his eyes shut.

As he stayed in that weird position it was like he was cut off from the rest of the world. The occasional eratic noises he heard all seemed to fade into oblivion and instead came the advent of these peaceful sounds that made one's heart calm. The sound of trees ruffling as the gentle wind passed by, birds tweeting and the subtle sound as the wind grazed the grass.

All of a sudden, the gentle wind suddenly became violent and Harith's eyes forcefully came open. He started sweating buckets and his breathing was rugged.

"What the fuck was that" Harith exclaimed.

....

The next day

Harith had gotten up as early as he could and started practicing like he did yesterday. The feeling he had yesterday when he got into stance and focused, it was unlike no other. He felt the same thing today but whenever he reached a point, the violent force would come and he would leave the heightened state.

"I just need more patience" Harith thought. He wasn't a fool. He wouldn't master something that took the others months to complete in just a day or two. Patience was all he needed.

After some more practice and he felt the time was right, he left for the Youth Practitioners house. Today he would try to challenge it and win the emerald eyes. Maybe the emerald eyes could even help him learn how to gather energy faster.

As he already knew the road, Harith was quick to arrive at the Youth Practitioners house. Infact he even arrived a bit too early. It seemed none of the others had come yet.

"I'll take a tour in the meantime" Harith decided and walked around. He hadn't really seen much of the House yesterday since Elder Jang kept them all outside. But as Harith entered he became truly amazed "The interior is even much better than the outside" Harith marveled.

The inside was beautiful. All sorts of weapons hung on the walls and the face of a dragon was drawn all over the walls. It had doors that were currently locked but the design of the doors made Harith curious about what could be hidden inside.

"What are you doing in here?" A cold voice asked.

Harith was startled as he was too focused on the house and hadn't noticed that someone had actually arrived too. As soon as Harith saw who it was that had appeared the smile on his face faded and it was replaced by a look that carried detest.

"I asked you a question" Young master Baxia raised his tone slightly.

"What? So I'm not allowed into the house?" Harith shot back. How could this dude be asking him what he was doing in here...where was he supposed to be other than here.

"This house is for the Donghua course candidates of the sect and the students from outside that have chosen to study here. You fufil none of those requirements so this place isn't for you" Young master Baxia said in the calmest yet harshest tone one could imagine.

Harith was left speechless by his words. He didn't know much about the Youth practitioners house so he couldn't blindly argue. Then he remembered something.

"Elder Jang's and the sect master want me here so why would I leave?" Harith sneered. He had been asked by elder Jang to come here so how could this brat tell him otherwise.

"Tch" Young master Baxia looked solemnly for a moment before he left. He couldn't do anything now, especially not in this house.

Harith had a look of disbelief. He could clearly sense extreme hatred from the Young master. He had no idea why that guy felt that way towards him, maybe it was the past owner of the body but he was in control now. If the Young master wanted beef with him then he was happy to oblige, he didn't like his face anyway.

Young master Baxia left the building and Harith kept inspecting. After he had had his fill he left and waited outside. The rest arrived and soon enough they were complete along with Elder Jang.

"It is time" Harith said to himself as he proceeded to step up and announce himself as the next one to undertake the challenge.

*Bang!* At that moment the closed gate opened violently and even had a dent on it's body. Three hooded figures appeared immediately after, one of them had a cold smirk on her face.

"Who dares?!" Elder Jang was furious as he waved his cane and a violent burst of wind travelled twords the group that had appeared.

The person at the front that seemed to be the leader waved her hand and water formed in mid air. The energies of the wind and water collided and were nullified all together.

"Is that the greeting we get...Jang chi?" The woman who had nullified the attacked lifted her hood and Elder Jang's heart skipped a beat.

"Rose?" Elder Jang said in utter disbelief.

The woman called rose nodded at his words. Elder Jang was silent for a moment before he frowned. "What is an elder of the Great water serpent sect doing here" He asked with a cold voice.

"Great water serpent sect?"

"What do they want again now" The scene played right in front of the students so they could hear the conversation loud and clearly.

"Heh" Rose chuckled as she looked at the students behind Elder Jang "I have simply brought friendly competition" She said as she took a step backward and the two person behind her walked forward looking rather ominous.