'I mean, I need more energy to clean my dantian, so what is better than a crystal made of freaking energy?' Xan thought as he extended his hand toward the pouch.

He took one of the coins out of the bag with a swift movement, holding it with two fingers in front of his face.

'The problem is, how do I get the energy out of it? I guess actual cultivators use their dantians to force it out of the crystal, but I doubt I can do anything similar. Well, I will surely find a way while resting'.

While Xan rested, someone was knocking on Rad's door.

The old man taking a post-lunch nap woke up because of the constant noises.

"Who the hell is making so much noise? Do you want me to beat your ass?" he shouted as he neared the door to open it.

When he opened the door, Rad found a large figure in front of him. A tall, muscular man wearing a tunic with a hood smiled after seeing him.

"Long time without seeing you." the man said.

"And it would be better if it remained that way," Rad grunted before stepping into his room again." Will you come inside, or will you stay in the door?"

"It is rude to enter someone else's home uninvited." the man said with a wide smile.

"This is not my home, and this fortress is yours. I'm no one to tell you what to do or not to do, Ceol." Rad said without looking into the man's eyes.

"Come on, Rad. You don't have to be so cold with me after everything we lived together." Ceol said as he stepped into the room before closing the door behind him.

"Quit the crap already. Why have you come here? What do you want?"

"Answers."

"Answers about what?" Rad asked as he sat on a nearby chair.

"About what the hell were you thinking when you decided to start teaching all those kids cultivation. Don't you know how dangerous that could be? If they grow too strong, they could rebel and threaten the stability of the Yellow Blood Family." Ceol said before staying quiet for a few seconds. "Wait a second. Is that what you seek? Are you trying to weaken my family? Is this about revenge? You know I didn't have anything to do with the incident, and I did my best to avenge her death."

After hearing those words, Rad couldn't help but sigh tiredly.

"You are a fucking stain on the honor of the Guburg Tribe. Weaken your family, you said... You are the one weakening it! In the old times, the patriarchs would accept any challenge while at the same time favoring the growth of every cultivator in their territory. Your paranoic thoughts would only lead your underlings to become useless pieces of trash that had never met a real threat on their lives."

"Don't you dare to talk like that about my family, or else I will..." Ceol shouted angrily.

"You will what? Tell me, Ceol. What are you going to do?" He stood up and looked directly into the other man's eyes. "I may be old, but my cultivation is still higher than yours. Even if I could not beat you in a duel, I would die without regrets after crippling you for life."

Ceol opened his mouth again, but he closed it again before saying anything.

"Right, that's what I thought," Rad said before sitting on the chair again."I'm teaching those kids because I like it. I don't want my knowledge to be lost after I die, and in the meanwhile, I am gifting you a group of loyal cultivators. How the hell can you complain about that?"

"I hope you are telling me the truth because if I discover that you are lying, next time, I will not come alone," Ceol said as he turned toward the door.

As the door closed behind Ceol as he left, Rad turned around and returned to bed while angrily whispering.

In the meanwhile, Xan woke up from his nap.

'Wow, cultivating is truly tiring.' he thought while stretching his arms.' And I feel hungry even after eating a few hours ago. Maybe I should cook something more.'

As he stood up from bed and walked to the kitchen, he saw the energy coins' pouch on the table.

'Rad said that some meals made out of magical materials can help to advance faster in cultivation. Wouldn't it make sense that it happened the same with one of those coins?' Xan thought as he took one of the coins from the pouch.