After leaving Jake, Ling Lin walked back to her grandfather’s villa which she was sharing. She was too young to have her own residence. She felt ashamed of her and her grandfather’s actions. The families had been friends for generations in the sect. Her parents and Jake’s were both lost on the same mission. They had stood at each other weddings. Even the two grandfathers were fast friends until Jake’s grandfather passed away. She could not understand why her grandfather had turned his back on Jake. She was determined to stand up and fight her grandfather this time for Jake. She walked over and knocked on her grandfather’s cultivation room door.

“Enter Little Lin.” Said a voice from inside. He always could tell it was her. He could sense the auras of people from a large distance away.

Ling Lin opened the door and walked inside the room and closed the door, then bowed to her grandfather.

“Hello Grandfather.” She said.

Ling Mu inwardly smiled as he sensed the anger and determination in her aura, but kept a stern look on his face. He knew where she had went to see Jake. He did not know however about what exactly happened in the mission hall. Just that Jake had been given the mission and had asked for the reward. Nothing major happened in the sect without his knowledge when it concerned people he considered dear and this included Jake. His granddaughter may not have realized it but he had been keeping track of Jake and made sure nothing too excessive would happen to him.

Ling Mu looked at his granddaughter with a stern look on his face. “How are you today Little Lin?” He asked.

“I am not good grandfather.” She replied. “I am very angry and upset.”

“Ooh?” Replied Ling Mu. “What has caused my little flower to be so upset? Did someone bully you? “

Ling Lin groaned inwardly. Grandfather seemed to be in one of his moods. He acted like this sometimes and teased Ling Lin to make her think for herself.

“I am angry with how the sect has treated and bullied Jake.” She replied. “After all his family has given for the sect, including the lives of his parents, I do not think he has been treated fairly.”

“If we don’t know life, how can we know death?” He replied.

“How is what has happened to Jake this past year been life?” She replied. “He has been beaten, stolen from, ridiculed and treated worse then a servant by the people of the sect. To see the right and not to do it is cowardice.”

“Might makes right.” He replied. “Jake cannot cultivate, therefore he should not even be in our world, but in the mortal world. Cultivators are at the top here.”

“But Jake and his family were our friends, how can we abandon them?” She replied with tears coming to her eyes. “As the first elder you should have protected him!”

“What do you think would have happened if I had protected him my Little Flower?” He asked.

“He could have stayed in his villa and been comfortable.” She retorted. “The villa and other stuff were owned by him, inherited from his family. It should not have been taken from him.”

“And what would he have done with this wealth and belongings in the sect?” Ling Mu replied.

In truth the purpose of this wealth and other things were to help on the cultivation path. She knew this, but her feelings got in the way of truth. Jake could not cultivate, and the only people in the sect who could not cultivate were servants and slaves.

“So you are saying that if he could cultivate he would still have his villa and all his possessions?” Ling Lin asked.

“Yes, it is a waste of resources.” He replied with a sigh. “It is not that I do not care for Jake but his life in the sect is over. He should have left after he learned he could not cultivate. He has just been living in a dream world; with his condition that no one could fix he is doomed never to cultivate. Yes I have let all of this happen to him, in the hope that he would leave and move to the mortal world to continue with his life. He has no place in your life or in the sect.”

“Is that not my decision to make grandfather?” She shouted.

“No, it is not.” He replied. “This will affect your life and cultivation, a demon in your heart. This is why I have kept you from him, in the hope that you would grow apart. If he had decided to leave I would have gifted him monies and a letter of recommendation to some friends of mine in the mortal world. I had hoped he would move on with his life because of the treatment.”

“Well that is a moot point Grandfather.” She replied. “Jake can cultivate, he can hold qi now!”

“There is no need to lie for him Little Lin.” Ling Mu said with a sigh. “I inspected him myself, he is unable to cultivate because of the hole in his dantian.”

“Why would I lie grandfather?” She replied. “Elder Wang Hang gave him the impossible mission to remove the black stone from the ginseng field. To everyone’s surprise he successfully removed that stone that nobody could remove. Elder Hang was not going to give him the rewards, but I used your name to force him to. When he was given a spatial ring with the rewards inside; he used that spatial ring and a spirit sword that he removed from it at the mission hall in front of everyone. Only a person who can cultivate can use a ring and sword like this. Afterwards he told me that he had been cultivating every day for the past year and he found that a few months ago he could feel a little bit of Qi in his dantian that has increased over time. He thinks this patched the hole in his dantian and he says he is now Houtian level 1.”

Ling Mu looked at her in disbelief. He then closed his eyes and released his aura and looked by the stables for Jake. He found him in deep cultivation inside the hovel, and received a shock when he found he was not Houtian level 1 but level 6 instead. This was monstrous, the highest in his age group was level 4. He also noticed a weird movement of qi in his body. He would have to meet with Jake and inspect this further.

He opened his eyes and looked at his little granddaughter.

“He is not Houtian level 1 Little Lin.” He said.

“But I could see him use qi?” She replied. “How can he do this without being a cultivator?”

“I never said he was not a cultivator.” He replied. “He is not level 1 but in fact level 6.”

Ling Lin gasped as she heard this from her grandfather, she was level 4, and had worked hard for a year to get to this level, and was considered to be an above average cultivator in the sect for her age. How could someone who had a damaged dantian be level 6?

“Go and find Jake now and bring him to me Little Lin.” He said. “He is no longer a mortal, he is now on the path of cultivation, and I can now help him openly.”

Ling Lin ran over and gave a big hug to her grandfather and then ran out of the room with a big smile on her face to find Jake. Ling Mu stared after her with a strange look on his face.