The meal was pleasant and they slept in the temple where plenty of rooms were available. The night was long for the group the ladies slept longer than they should have.
"Should we wake them?" The wife asked.
"No. Let them rest for now. We can always help them." The man spoke.
He then looked at his child.
"My child, ensure that the women do not leave. I am using the last of the funds for the temple to help them."
He and his wife both left.
The child happily ran through the temple. The child would try to pray to the statues. The child would laugh when having a good conversation with the statues.
It slowly became noon. The women all exited two different rooms. The Shadow Commander and the female Heavenly Judge slept together in one room, Lilith, Iris, Liz, and Violet slept together in another room. Amber and Margaret both exited another room.
They saw the child having fun and did not know what time it was.
"Hey there cutie, can you tell us the time?" Iris asked.
"Should be about lunch time." The child spoke.
The group felt the hairstyle tingle with worry. Was this from the Stairway or was it that they were that tired?
The man and his wife entered the temple. They walked up to the women.
"You beautiful women, I am glad to have helped you all. I know it is not much but this was the rest of the money for the temple." He handed Lilith a storage ring, "Inside of it is four tents, basic cooking utensils over a fire, enough blankets for winter and summer, and twenty beast wards."
The group of women looked at the ring. Even Lilith was certain that they did not need that much. She could not just give it back without having to cry about it.
"Sir, I have plenty of money. How much was the cost? I would rather not owe you for the supplies." The female Heavenly Judge spoke worried.
"Just ten orbs." The man replied.
"Ten orbs? As if the big orbs or small orbs?" The female Heavenly Judge asked.
"The storage ring was already paid years in advance, the wards were two small orbs, the blankets were offered to us by various shops, the tents were seven small orbs because they were all that was left, and we gave you the cooking utensils from our supplies." The man spoke.
The group looked at the ring. The female Heavenly Judge decided to give him twenty big orbs.
"Here is more than enough to cover your costs and help restore the temple. Also, the Judge Tower will always be here watching and helping." The female Heavenly Judge told the group.
"Why would the Judge Tower help here now? They are the reason why the soldiers could do what they wanted." The man asked.
The female Heavenly Judge felt compelled to wipe out the of the soldiers. The Shadow Commander stopped her.
"She is the new elderly Heavenly Judge sir. So please keep the other thoughts to yourself for the time being." The Shadow Commander said in a low tone.
The duo immediately bowed and apologized if they had angered her in any fashion. She tried to tell them to not apologize to her. They had already done the bow and apologized.
She forgave them and the duo stood up. They felt better now that they knew who they were messing with.
"I want to thank you both for doing such a lovely job. These five still need a little help in controlling their hunger." Lilith spoke.
They went and ate. After eating, they continued to circulate the Heavenly Qi until nightfall. By that time the women were exhausted and hungry.
"Circulating Heavenly Qi is tiresome and energy consuming at first. It does take a long time for people to be able to fully comprehend how the truly master their hunger and control of Qi with Heavenly Qi.
Even those born here in the Heavenly Realm have an extremely hard time. Albeit it is easier for them to control the flow of Qi but the control of hunger is different.
Think of it like this, you circulate all of the Qi through your body in the Mortal Realm." The women nodded, "Alright, to use that Qi you must be able to have a Dantian for a nature." The women nodded again.
"However, before you have full control of a special Dantian to use spells. You have to focus harder on your body. The last step is your stomach."
The women nodded again.
"By focusing strictly on your stomach with Heavenly Qi, you will be able to stop your hunger. Some Mortal Realm people can do this but only in short moderation or during slightly longer trips with no fear of beasts.
That stopping of hunger is hard and will become easier as you advance through the Realms. Remember, not everything has to be kept open.
If you do become hungry stop and eat. Refill both your Heavenly Qi and stomach to prolong the hunger stopping. Becoming hungry is both a blessing and a curse here in the Heavenly Realm.
Eating is not telling people you are hungry but telling people you are hungry is the same as a death call." The man finished.
The group slept peacefully that night and did not wake up hungry and still full from last night.
They ate a smaller breakfast and the couple was pleased that they had gotten some mastery over the hunger control.
It was the Stairway helping their bodies control the Qi throughout the night to ensure that they could live on their stomach contents for longer periods.