Lou Ben proceeded the next day with finishing the task of using Gravity Hands to crush a large-sized boulder.
Steward Wen Guoliang nodded: "This was well done, indeed, Lou Ben. From today onwards you may return to the training arena with your fellow brothers. Although you are some weeks behind, the remediation task that you just completed should ease your burden. The foundation of moving the energy from internal glyphs and affecting the physical world was what you lacked before."
The task to destroy the large-sized boulder showed him a lot about what a dao master can possibly do.
Lou Ben had internalized the possibilities of what can be affected and tried to better understand the relationship of heaven and earth.
Besides this task, Lou Ben spent quality time with Qi Shuang.
Lou Ben thought about Qi Shuang's figure and internalized: "In this world it might be too easy to conceive children. Whether it happens now or later, I should try to make preparations for something like this."
Later that day inside the Xiao teaching small world, everyone welcomed back Lou Ben.
The group studied a separate technique called Gravity Force, it was the same construct of where the technique had to be internalized without the need for a crystal.
Steward Wen Guoliang instructed Lou Ben to teach the class his technique and for Wu Gen to teach Lou Ben the technique that the clan was working on.
The back and forth of teaching went on for some few weeks.
Steward Wen Guoliang shared all his findings to Master Xiao Weizhe so that they could come up with the next phase of teaching.
They have already created a good foundation, spoken about the known history of dao masters, shared basic techniques, and allowed the Xiao clan breaks to see their family.
This period of time lasted eighteen months.
The Xiao clan learned various techniques:
Space technique - Gravity Crush (this technique fused Gravity hands and Gravity Force to intensify the power. It was a step up from the two original, while to still maintaining the first two flexibilities)
Space technique - Star Sight (this allowed the user to crush a crystal and momentarily look down on earth, the range was small, and the downside was that it had no way to look inside buildings.)
Space technique - Wormhole (it was a technique used to travel long distances that the user was able to visualize. The core was also a dark purple crystal.)
Besides the various techniques that allowed the Xiao clan to demonstrate power was cultivation techniques.
Originally the Xiao clan was only able to use these space techniques to a very small degree because their bodies were not tuned with the energy of heaven and earth.
Steward Wen Guoliang passed to them the main cultivation technique - Atom Breath - It was a primary method to help the dao master go through the first major realm. After each small realm the control of the energies of heaven and earth, making the power each small realm contained jump drastically from the next.
Steward Wen Guoliang didn't mention anything about the second major realm, he wanted the Xiao clan to work themselves up and maintain a good foundation.
He estimated that it would be ten to fifteen years before having to introduce the second major realm, of course he was only thinking of those gifted in cultivation.
The average cultivator would take about thirty to sixty years in order to reach the second realm. At this time the world around the dao master would have changed drastically and Steward Wen Guoliang didn't want to upset the balance between pursuing cultivation and family, at least until he was able to grasp it with absolute certainty.
He had many ideas that came to mind after spending time with the growing Xiao clan, but he would need further time in order to take a step into this phase of training.
What Steward Wen Guoliang and Master Xiao Weizhe wanted now was to let the Xiao clan have some outside experience in order to sharpen their resolve and loyalty towards the clan.
Steward Wen Guoliang went into the village square and purchased a tavern. The purpose was to act as the middle man between the palace and the outside world. After the preparations were complete inside the tavern, he moved the entire Xiao clan dao apprentices into the tavern.
Originally they were servants and their jobs often had much to do with managing, Lou Ben had experience managing a library and was good at bookkeeping, the other Xiao clan members were the same and had their own unique experiences.
Inside the tavern was what you would expect from the grand village square. Although the interior was created with aged wood, the size made up for the simplistic design.
There were many tables in front of the entrance and a single large desk for a barkeep to manage.
Upstairs were the living quarters for the Xiao clan members, and the mission board that was placed looking over the first floor.
Steward Wen Guoliang thought that placing the mission board in front of the rails would make the clan members have a sense of unity as they complete missions for the village.
"Brother Wu Gen, do you want to join me to go pick some refining material at the undead trench?" Lou Ben patted Wu Gen's shoulders as they gazed at the message board.
Wu Gen rolled his eyes: "Lou Ben, we have been there so many times without any materials to sell. Brother Xiao Kai Yang even got injured when he and brother Xiao Su Sheng took this mission. The costs to heal and the cost to venture is not worth it. There are too many clans and adventurers accepting this mission throughout the village to make any profit… sigh."
Lou Ben smiled and pointed at the parchment paper stuck onto the mission board "Brother Wu Gen, it's not about the materials to sell! What we need to do as a newly established clan is make connections and even show face."
"So what if we have to cut costs. Imagine the reputation that the Xiao clan would receive when we are out there researching and making connections."
"Yes, Brother Kai Yang and brother Su Sheng got injured, but they were able to come back and tell us their experience with the undead and even better they made a few friends with the nearby Pill Sect."
Wu Gen sighed: "Alright, I see where you are going with this. I was also hoping to meet more of these members from the Pill Sect. We don't even know their official sect name, even worse, Steward Wen Guoliang did not share much information about pills. We have no foundation in this."
Lou Ben nodded: "See brother, it is not simply about gathering refining materials, it's about expanding our foundation!"
Lou Ben and Wu Gen both understood that the teachings they underwent were only the most basic, it was rushed and isolated from the main world. There was too much they didn't understand, the current Xiao clan was like a lion that was born in captivity.
Wu Gen rolled his eyes: "I will get some healing crystals and basic needs. Meet me here tomorrow after sunrise."
Wu Gen walked down the stairs and left the tavern.
Lou Ben on the other hand smiled and thought: "If we can also sell some materials from the undead then we will have a ground to stand tall. Most of our members have been wasting aura stones at the red light district. I can't say that I blame them, I need to keep myself away from there for now."
The Xiao clan has been completing missions and spending aura stones left and right. This was the first time they left the palace of Xiao.
Lou Ben was no different from his brothers in the Xiao clan. Whenever he got the chance to gamble or drink he would spend all his savings. The worst so far was when he spent a week of savings on a girl dao apprentice he met from the pill sect.
As Lou Ben recalled his empty collection of aura stones, he thought of this girl: "She was too pretty. If I wasn't persuaded by brother Wu Gen to take up more missions earlier, I am sure to have been honey trapped."
Lou Ben walked out of the palace and seemed to have put his thoughts of Qi Shuang on the side. He knew that the Xiao clan members kept all the stories to themselves. The entire clan has spent aura stones doing things less favorable.
The first few days of exploring Lou Ben also spent aura stones on women from the red light district.
There were not many opportunities on Earth to do so in the open, but here in this world he noticed that the large divide between mortals and dao masters allowed for certain things to be standard here and morally corrupt on Earth.