Emery managed to learn the Dao Divine Technique up until the third stage in a month or so. Ever since day one, he had been cooped up inside the training room, never even taking a step of it; that was the only reason he was able to reach this accomplishment.
Every day, a monk would come and put a bowl of rice with some vegetables on top of it in front of the room, a gesture Emery really appreciated from the Abbot. Even though it was common sense that food didn't have much impact on cultivators anymore, he would still preferred to eat anyway.
On this particular day, the same monk came to bring rice once again. It was the little monk, and this time, instead of ignoring the other party, Emery decided to call him to have a conversation.
"Hi, thank you for the food, I'm Emery, what's your name?"
The little monk unexpectedly gave him a slight bow of respect and said, "I am just a little ordinary monk. My name is not important."
Hearing this, Emery couldn't help but think. 'Little, yes. But ordinary? Far from it. A ten years old rank 4 cultivator is not something normal at all.'
Emery was about to ask the little monk about his friends, but eventually decided not to, because the little monk apparently would deliver rice for them as well. Therefore, he walked out of the training room and took a look at them himself.
First, they went to the room where Thrax was supposed to be. When the little monk opened the door and the scene inside was shown to them, Emery's eyebrows couldn't help but to twitch.
He found, or rather, saw Thrax sitting in a very weird position. He didn't sit cross-legged like one would expect from someone cultivating. He placed one arm on his back, while the other was holding his leg that was lifted up to the back of his head and perched on it.
Truly, without a doubt, Emery considered it the weirdest cultivation position he had ever seen.
Surprisingly, it seemed the little monk could recognize what position Thrax was in.
"That's the second stage of the Nine Sun Divine Technique, Heart Acupoint."
Thrax was sweating and his body was seen burning, but through his [Spirit Reading], Emery could tell that Thrax's cultivation had gradually returned. Even though he still hadn't returned to his peak, he believed the legendary gladiator would be able to get back on track eventually.
Leaving Thrax's room, Emery and the little monk made their way to the second room. The moment the door swung open, they were immediately hit by a strong gust of cold wind.
The place was extremely cold, chillingly cold.
The temperature was so cold the water vapor in the air cooled by it, allowing Emery to see his breathing. The room, on the other hand, was entirely covered with a layer of ice. The walls, the floor, the ceiling - none were spared.
Shifting his gaze to the stone slab in the middle of the room, Emery saw Klea sitting inside a block of ice. The sight stunned him for a moment, while his mind tried to comprehend the scene in front of him.
As soon as she realized he was coming, Klea smiled at him, but didn't move to greet him for obvious reasons.
Emery returned her smile, meanwhile the little monk replaced yesterday's rice with the one he brought.
When he looked at Klea, he opened his mouth. "The third stage of the Nine Moons, how amazing!" Turning his gaze to the bowl in his hand, he added, "Although she hasn't touched her food at all in a month."
From what the little monk said, it seemed the Egyptian Queen had been training relentlessly and rather extensively too. Not wanting to bother her any further, Emery only whispered good luck, before he left with the little monk.
The third room they visited was Julian's. Opposite of Klea, who gave no mind to even eating, Julian was seen sitting on the stone slab with a troubled expression on his face. When the little monk opened the door, he immediately stood up and quickly grabbed the bowl from the former.
The little monk smiled and said, "How are you doing, senior?"
Julian, who still didn't notice Emery was also there, quickly said, "Not very well. This ancient technique really is no joke. I have reached fourth stage, but I still haven't perceived any metal element on my body at all."
Surprise appeared on Emery's face when he heard what Julian said. 'Stage 4?'
The Roman talked non-stop about his problem, while continuing to fill his mouth with rice. When he finished, he finally noticed Emery. Despite that, he only greeted him briefly before returning to the stone slab.
As he walked out of the room bringing the empty bowl, the little monk spoke. "He's not doing so well."
Hearing that, Emery showed a confused expression. "Why is that? What do you mean by that? He has already reached rank 4!"
The little monk unexpectedly shook his head at Emery's words.
"For [Twelve Golden Bell Divine Technique], the first four stages are the easiest, while the last four are the hardest. I heard the Abbot took only one week to reach rank 4."
The words spoken by the little monk made Emery shake his head, because it was apparent he was very knowledgeable about many things. They walked toward the last room, while Emery brooded over what the little monk just said.
Finally, the room where Chumo was.
When he entered, Emery was surprised to see 5 Chumo in the room. One sat in the center, while the other four were on the four sides of the room; everyone was focused on cultivating.
Emery turned to the little monk, waiting for his evaluation of Chumo.
Seeing Emery's gaze filled with expectation, the little monk bashfully said,"This senior is learning the Mystic Art of the North, something that I know little about. Hence, I cannot say anything specific."
Emery was about to ask the little monk to say anything in his mind, when he saw one of the Chumos stood up, took the rice bowl and started eating.
He tried to ask a question to this Chumo, but the latter didn't reply. He wondered if this was Chumo's old habit returning to him, but apparently, that wasn't the case, as he saw the Chumo who was eating before him dissipate.
Together with it, the three Chumo spread around the room also dissipated, leaving only the one sitting on top of the stone slab.
The real Chumo stood up, walked toward them, "Hi, Emery, you came to see me?" Chumo then looked at the little monk and said "Where's my rice?" Which quickly startled the other.
It suddenly occurred to Emery that Chumo had been working hard on maintaining his spirit shadow, the clones. He even managed to reach the point where the clones were able to do something beyond what the original would know, but probably something that followed basic instinct like eating. When his clones were able to think independently Chumo would definitely be much stronger.
"Aah. I lost my concentration again." Chumo sighed knowing his clones eat his meal.
"Please call on the real me next time, thank you" Chumo returned back to the stone slab. Moments later, Emery could see 4 Chumo clones reappear.
Walking out of the room, Emery couldn't help but smile. It was evident all four of his friends trained really hard, preparing themself for the next recall. Therefore, he shouldn't lose to them!
Now that he had finished checking on his friends, Emery was once again interested in talking to the little monk.
"Tell me, little brother. How come you're so knowledgeable?"
The little monk didn't immediately answer when he heard the question. Emery also didn't force him to answer, because he knew it wasn't the right thing to do. If the little monk wanted to tell him, he would do so without coercion. If he didn't want to, so be it.
But then, the next thing the little monk did left Emery dumbfounded. He went on and displayed the basic stages of the four ancient techniques with ease.
Faced with Emery's silence, the little monk spoke. "My master thinks I'm talented because I have an affinity to learn all the ancient techniques. But to be honest, I don't think I am that talented."
This information truly stunned Emery to no end. This little monk could possibly become the strongest person on Earth if he completely matured, after all. This made Emery wonder if he could bring the kid to the magus academy.
"Alright, senior. Regarding your previous question about my name, if you really need to know, my master calls me Damo."
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Author Note
All the names have already come out, if you haven't found the reference, the little monk was a legendary monk who went from India to China and led to the creation of Shaolin kungfu. The four ancient techniques were a reference to Jin Yong Novels and also later in comics by Tony Wong. All reference to Shaolin's legendary cultivation. Hope you enjoy it.