Arran and Jiang Fei followed behind Lord Jiang, and eventually, they reached a large wooden building that Arran had not seen before.
Inside there was a large hall, and in the hall they found several long tables, all filled with various kinds of food. At a glance, Arran could see several racks of grilled ribs, roasted birds, large slabs of what looked like beef or venison, and all kinds of fruits and vegetables.
Arran was puzzled when he realized that although the food looked like it had been prepared just a short while ago, there were no servants anywhere in sight.
"Did you have this prepared for today?" he asked.
"Of course," Lord Jiang said. "We have something to celebrate, after all."
"But how did you know I would succeed today?" Jiang Fei asked.
She looked as puzzled as Arran, as they both understood that preparations for the feast must have begun hours before she actually achieved her goal.
"Experience," Lord Jiang answered. "Once you've seen something a few times, you know what to expect." He gestured toward the tables. "Go take a look at tonight's meal."
Arran and Jiang Fei did as he said. While Arran was surprised at the amount of food for just the three of them, Jiang Fei looked absolutely stunned.
"Is that… a golden dragon root?!" she said with a gasp. "And crimson witchberries!"
Excited, she started to examine the other food on the tables, occasionally exclaiming in shock or wonder when she found something particularly noteworthy.
Arran wasn't familiar with any of the plants and fruits she mentioned, but from the tone of her voice, he thought they must be extremely rare.
"Each of these foods," Lord Jiang said with a hint of pride in his voice, "is a medicinal treasure. The meat is from powerful demonic beasts, and the fruits, herbs, and vegetables are from rare plants that I either grew myself or found in the wild."
"Why did you have all of this prepared for us?" Even for a celebration, it seemed excessive to Arran.
"I already told you that eating well is an important part of Body Refinement," Lord Jiang said. "After eating this, the both of you will be able to set your first true steps on the path toward becoming Body Refiners."
"How will eating this help us?" Arran asked. Although Lord Jiang had said eating was an important part of Body Refinement, he still did not understand how eating could possibly help in performing the techniques he had trained over the past weeks.
"Sit down, both of you," Lord Jiang said. "I will explain while we eat."
Both Arran and Jiang Fei did as he said. After they sat down, Lord Jiang set down several large plates in front of each of them, then started stacking food on them. By the time he finally stopped, Arran had more than a week's worth of food sitting in front of him, and he couldn't help but feel overwhelmed.
"While you eat, use the circulation technique," Lord Jiang said. "And now, I shall explain."
He took a deep breath, and then began to speak.
"Many years ago, when I was just a Master mage, word got out that a small village was being terrorized by a monster from a nearby mountain range. Back then I was eager to prove my strength, and I set out with a group of other mages to defeat the monster. When we arrived we found that the monster that had been attacking the village was a demonic bear, the size of a small house. There were nearly a dozen of us, and we were confident in our strength, so we attacked."
Lord Jiang shook his head with a regretful sigh.
"It was a slaughter. Of those who came, only I escaped with my life, and just barely at that. The bear was all but immune to any magic we threw at it, shrugging it off as if it were rain. "
He looked at Arran and Jiang Fei.
"I assume that the two of you know that as magic users become more powerful, the constant contact with Essence strengthens their bodies as well?"
Arran nodded. He could still remember the fight at Windsong's monastery, where it had taken him and several other initiates dozens of sword blows to take down a single heavily injured adept.
"The bear we fought was as resistant to harm as a Grandmaster, or even an Archmage," Lord Jiang continued. "But it had no Realms, so how could it be that strong? It took me some months to figure out the answer."
He grinned and looked at Arran and Jiang Fei, who were eagerly awaiting his explanation. "Eventually, I figured out that the answer was Natural Essence," he finally said.
"Natural Essence?" Arran had never heard the phrase. "What's that?"
"Natural Essence," Lord Jiang said, "is Essence that comes from our own world, and not from Realms. It can be found in everything, but in such small amounts that most mages ignore it as useless."
"Then how could it strengthen the bear so much?" Arran asked.
"The bear came from a mountain range with very few people," Lord Jiang said, "A place where the plants and trees had hundreds if not thousands of years to slowly absorb Essence. Eventually, those plants and trees were eaten by animals, and they took the Essence that had been absorbed over countless years. Then, finally, the bear ate them, and took all that power for itself."
Arran nodded. The explanation made sense. "So you did the same thing?" he asked.
"In part," Lord Jiang said. "But I created techniques to better use the Natural Essence. Without these techniques, most of the Essence is wasted even if you ingest it, but with them, almost all of it is absorbed into your body. These are the techniques I have been teaching you."
Arran knitted his brows. "But we've been using normal Essence," he said.
"Until now, you have," Lord Jiang replied. "But starting today, you will be using the techniques the way they were meant to be used: with Natural Essence. You will find that Natural Essence has a far more profound effect."
"In fact," he continued, and a smile appeared on his face, "take a look and see what has happened so far."
While Lord Jiang had talked to them, they had both been eating and using the circulation technique, both of them distracted by the conversation.
Now, as he paid closer attention, Arran was surprised to find that he could sense a warm glow inside his body. Although he could not make out the Natural Essence specifically, he realized that he would have been spreading it through his body using the circulation technique.
It felt as if his body was being invigorated by a familiar energy, and he almost thought he could feel his muscles and bones grow stronger.
"Is this permanent?" Jiang Fei asked.
Lord Jiang nodded. "Natural Essence is the power that sustains life on this world. When you ingest and refine it, it becomes part of your body's own energy, strengthening your body and increasing your life force."
He turned to Arran, then added, "This is why the technique is especially useful to you. Magical Essence can strengthen the body, but it does so by constantly straining it. And when there's too much for your body to handle, it can harm or even kill you. Natural Essence, on the other hand, will transform and strengthen your body directly — which will also make it easier to resist your own Magical Essence."
Arran nodded in understanding. Now, he realized that with Lord Jiang's help, he could strengthen his body to the point where he could survive his Fire and Wind Realms if they were unsealed.
"But enough talk for now," Lord Jiang said. "There's plenty more to eat!"
He wasn't lying, Arran saw. Even after what they had eaten already, there was enough left to feed a small army. Now that he knew how valuable the food was to him, he resolved to eat as much as he could.
Face firm with determination, he grabbed a haunch of meat and bit down.
"What happened to the bear?" Jiang Fei asked some time later, and Arran stopped eating for a moment, equally curious about the answer to her question.
"I tracked it down," Lord Jiang said. "Then I killed it, and ate it." He let out a roaring laugh and took a large bite from the leg of meat he was holding.