It took them about a quarter of an hour to reach a small white building surrounded by several gardens. These were full of different common herbs and so did not arise any interest from them. But when they walked around the building they saw a patch of land no more than six square feet and a visible qi fluctuation covering it.

Only a dozen or so plants were growing and all were spirit ones. An old man with a long grey beard and dressed in greenish robes approached them while they were observing the herbs.

After the introduction, Wu Guang was explained that this man was the resident herb master. Although called a herb master, the old man actually did not really grow the herbs for the manor but was more like the head procurer. The herbs they saw were small projects or better said a hobby.

He had read that most of the herbs that were either grown in Flowing Leaves City, which had the best natural qi rich grounds around, or found during the expeditions, so he wasn't really surprised about the master's work, what did arouse his interest was the fact of the spirit herbs freely growing inside the manor grounds so the following talks were mainly about it.

The master did not reserve himself and seemingly was very proud of this fact and explained almost everything

"Young man, you are right about the fact that the herbs should be not able to grow naturally around here. The ones that you see are not really growing from the ground and qi of the manor, they are growing in their original soil and supported by the qi infusing post you can see in the center. This post is my original work and by using a mix of runes combined with special fertilizers made of spirit beast bone I managed to recreate the natural requisites for them"

With this explanation provided, Wu Guang concluded that the masters in this plane did not yet fully dominate the fertilizers and techniques that were common in other planes and could actually grow any common spirit herb anywhere. The effect could be reached easily with formations as well, but as he found out the latter did not work.

Speaking a bit with the master he thanked him for the books while returning them and then passed a small round of questioning about the contents by identifying some of the herbs and their effects. The old man was elated to see someone who learned so quickly and even offered him some spirit leaves of his choice. Wu Guang quickly chose some leaves of the sharp-edged yellow nettle. This plant was actually very beneficial for calming the mind during cultivation sessions and the master explained it after bringing some from the building. But in reality, Wu Guang was only interested in the small but useful effect of helping one restore consciousness by burning and breathing the smoke.

Xiao Feng who remained silent and walked around while observing the different plants came closer and seeing that their conversation has finished informed the master that they will go to meet the head doctor now. Saying his farewells with a small bow, Wu Guang followed after him.

The Clinic or Medicine Hall was in a courtyard outside the manor and was a beautiful place with white stone buildings and aromatic plants covering the grounds. The medicine master was not only a resident expert for the manor but also was known as the best doctor in the city. When Wu Guang met this small plump man which looked middle-aged but was actually about Old Rui's age he was a bit surprised by his extremely casual manner. The doctor's name was Wei Qi and he was dressed in a set of common grey robes at the moment. If Wu Guang wasn't introduced, he would actually take the man for a servant of the place.

Thanking him for the books Wu Guang answered several questions about the contents that the doctor asked and also covered a bit more in-depth. Afterward, the doctor decided to explain some extra information useful for cultivators, even if the current Wu Guang knew all of it, he was grateful for the intention as normally masters were very petty about sharing even basic knowledge with strangers.

With this concluded and receiving some ointment for wounds as a gift he said his farewells and Xiao Feng rushed Wu Guang towards the barracks for the appointed spar.

"Brother Xiao, I feel you have been extremely bored this morning if you are rushing me like this to a probable beating" Said Wu Guang with a chuckle while they approached the guard training grounds.

"You are mistaken. I am rushing to save you from the beating you will get for arriving late. The instructor that decided to... ahem... help you train is Trainer Ge, nicknamed 'Bloody Rules'. He is the best instructor in the city and I even could risk saying that he is superior to some of the instructors that trained me in the sect. The only thing about him is that he is extremely strict with rules and timing, beating anyone who does not follow or arrives exactly"

"I take you trained under him?"

"Yes"

"So, is he a cultivator? And why would he dedicate time to someone like me?"

"He is indeed, but try to evade touching that subject with him. He was actually a rising star in the sect and was about to enter the Soul realm. Regretfully during a subjugation mission, he was poisoned by a dissolving snake and his dantian was destroyed. I don't know what technique his master used, but he managed to retain his senses and stop the dissipation of his cultivation. So basically right now he is a pinnacle Body realm cultivator with the senses of a pinnacle Spirit one. As for the latter question, when I told him a bit of how we met and the fact that you are intending to enter the ranks of the inner disciples in waiting he volunteered"

"A dissolving snake! But understood, I will not breathe a word of it. And now I feel more indebted to you, someone like that will be very beneficial to meet, even if briefly" Wu Guang was indeed grateful. A mortal or a normal Body realm opponent would not really net him any gains except the opportunity to train a bit, but someone with real experience and a full superior realm of training would be extremely beneficial to spar with. The fact that he exclaimed when he heard about the dissolving snake was also easy to understand, these beasts were on the lowest spirit beast level but were considered as dangerous as a third or fourth level beast. For the ones who don't know about beasts, a level for them was a full stage of a human cultivator. With the first level being compared to a beginner Spirit realm cultivator a third level spirit beast was equivalent to an advanced Spirit realm and a fourth level would be compared to a beginner Soul realm one.

Entering the smaller training grounds located on the north side of the guard barracks they saw a half-dressed man sitting down cross-legged in their center. As they approached the man seemingly sensed them and got up. After exchanging some greeting words with Xiao Feng, he turned towards Wu Guang

"So you are Wu Guang?"

Seeing the latter nod, the man introduced himself as Instructor Ge.

The instructor looked about 35 years old and his bare chest could be described as a painting made of scars. He was bald, had a small brown beard, and his muscular figure apart from scars was covered in hair. The latter almost making him look like a wild person. Dressed only with a pair of pants he looked more like a thug from the streets, but the almost tangible martial air or almost aura that he exuded would make one instantly think of him as a warrior.

While Wu Guang examined the instructor, the latter also did the same to him.

"Hmm, middle stages of the 7th Body level. Good! So what weapons do you train with?"

"Until now I have mostly used ranged weapons, but I have some training with the short spear"

"I see, ranged weapons are indeed a good choice for someone with no experience or sect training. But you should concentrate more on the spear if it's your selected weapon as half of the important tests in the inner circle are duels. Do you practice any punch or kick technique?"

"I do have some knowledge of general martial arts, but no specialized techniques"

"I am surprised that you reached such a level of muscle tempering without one, but well, we can't really spar with our hands in such case. So a weapon spar it is. Take a weapon and a training armor for you from the racks and we will begin"

With this said the instructor walked towards the racks. Wu Guang took one of the fully wooden short spears and a small shield. Although he did not want to, seeing that the instructor was serious he also took an old leather armor.

While he equipped himself the instructor shook his head with a hint of a surprise after seeing that Wu Guang intended to use a shield. But without commenting on the matter, the instructor only took a simple wooden staff.

Walking towards the small sand-covered arena that they would use, Wu Guang fully concentrated. He was imagining how to fight while both familiarizing himself with the shield and not losing too quickly. In the end, his conclusion was that he could hold out for some minutes by relying just on his senses while he tried to get even a light understanding of the shield. Then if given the chance, discard it and only use the spear.