Chen Zhen woke up the next morning feeling very confused. There was a weight against his back and across his legs. When he opened his eyes he saw a Specter Monkey sleeping on his legs, he could feel another one asleep behind him. Chen Zhen was trying to move very gently so as not to wake up the sleeping monkeys. As he was adjusting himself he accidentally knocked the one sleeping on his legs off the branch. Before it could even notice that it was falling the Golden Specter King caught it and placed it gently back down on the branch. Chen Zhen smiled and nodded to the Golden Specter King in thanks for its help. When Chen Zhen was finally down the tree, he looked back up at the Golden Specter King, cupping his hands and bowing to his new friend. The golden Specter King returned the gesture, then waved bye to Chen Zhen.
As Chen Zhen was walking back thru the forest he could feel a humungous change to his body.
"Hey what happened last night after I pa.s.sed out? I don't remember getting out of the cave or climbing into that tree," Chen Zhen asked the clone.
[Well for starters you seemed to get very thirsty at one point and was too lazy to leave the stalact.i.te pool and get more wine, so you decided to drink the 10,000-year stalact.i.te milk.]
"I did? I a.s.sume it was ok to drink since I'm still fine. Why did you let me do that?"
[It is not my job to babysit you. I was created to study this world for you and make it so that you progress faster. If you want a babysitter you need to create another clone.], the clone said in a monotonous voice.
"Wow! Why the att.i.tude, did I do something to you?" Chen Zhen was surprised that the clone responded to him that way.
[It is not an att.i.tude. You have not put forth much effort to learn anything on your own. You constantly rely on to save you from very mundane and ordinary matters. Last night you were told to keep your focus or the large amount of energy you were taking in could be harmful to you. But instead of listening and trying to take thing one step at a time, you are so focused on getting stronger faster, that you completely ignore any potential danger you put yourself in. And beside yourself there are two other people you need to be concerned about. Yes I am here to make you learn faster, but you have come to rely too heavily on me. The other two souls tried to get you home safely last night, but I'll be honest I gave control of your body back to you so that you would have to face the consequences of your own actions,] the clone reprimanded him.
Chen Zhen was startled. As he took the time to think about it he realized the clone was correct. His main has always been to get home to his family as soon as possible but in order to do that he needed to get as strong as he could. He did create the clone to help him understand this world and help him get stronger, but he never stopped to consider the danger that was involved.
[You also need to consider the two other people that inhabit this body with you. You barely ever talk to them unless you need help with something. If you guys are supposed to be stronger together than apart, then how are ever going to get stronger if you never connect with them? Have you given any consideration to their plight in all of this? You all agreed to this union, but you have done little to nothing to include them in your daily life. You want to get stronger, well you have two very powerful people that share a body with you. They might have powers or at least insights that will be much better then what I can give you, since they have lived here their entire lives.]
Chen Zhen felt like an a.s.s. He knew that everything the clone said was correct. He didn't mean to ignore Shanggu Feng and Lou Tian so much. It's just that they were their own people. He felt he didn't really have anything in common with them. How do you make friends with people when you don't share any common ground? But as Chen Zhen thought about it more he realized that he didn't know if they had any common ground or not. He never asked them about their life's before all of this happened. Did they feel as stuck in this situation as he did? Probably not since he at least had the freedom to move around and do the things he wanted to do. As Chen Zhen started walking back toward the clearing he was literally dragging his feet.
"Hey guys…. I should start off by saying… I'm sorry…," Chen Zhen said dejectedly.
"For what?" they asked simultaneously.
"I have to apologize for basically ignoring your existence for starters."
Shanggu Feng and Lou Tian didn't know what to say. This was a very sudden confession. Not only were they not expecting it, they also didn't know how to reply to it. Because of that it made for a very awkward silence for a while.
"I don't really know anything about you guys. It doesn't look like we will be able to get you into your own body anytime soon, so getting to know each other a little better seems like a good idea to me.
What do you guys think?", Chen Zhen said to try and keep the conversation going.
"Well what would you like to know," Lou Tian asked?
"What was your life like before all of this happened to us," Chen Zhen asked?
"Well I was out to find some fortuitous encounters. I was trying to find a way to better myself and hoped to strengthen my clan in the process."
"How were you going to better yourself?"
"….Well it's a secret…. That is very sensitive to my clan…..so….."
"It's ok, I understand. How about I tell you a little bit about my life? Do you have any questions for me?"
Shanggu Feng knew that most of his life story was told by his ancestor so when Chen Zhen started talking he didn't feel comfortable saying anything. He felt anything he said would be seen as an excuse to them, but now that Chen Zhen offered to talk about his life, Shanggu Feng wanted to join in the conversation.
"What was your life like before you ended up here," Shanggu Feng asked?
"I worked for a big company helping them stay connected around the world."
"How did you do that?" Lou Tian asked, this sounded very interesting to him.
"Well in my world we have these machines called computers. They help workers to handle larges amounts of information. I make sure that those computers can stay in contact with each other, no matter where in the world they are.", Chen Zhen was trying to explain his job to people who had no idea what he was making reference to.
"How do they stay in contact? Do they use transmition scrolls," Lou Tian asked?
"What kind of information do the workers handle? Is it top secrets," Shanggu Feng also asked?
"No its not secrets, its just information needed to work smoothly. And in outer s.p.a.ce there are giant floating machines that catch the information and then send it to different locations," Chen Zhen said chuckling to himself.
"Do you work for a Master Builders sect? I can't imagine giant floating machines in outer s.p.a.ce. That sounds amazing," Lou Tian trying to picture that in his head.
"Do you work for a spy sect? Those are the only people I know who need to share that much information every day," Shanggu Feng asked, trying to understand Chen Zhen's life.
Chen Zhen was enjoying their conversation when he was suddenly alerted to a strange smell. He wasn't sure why, but he knew this was the smell of a powerful cultivator near-by. As Chen Zhen focused on the smell his blood began to pump rapidly through his body. He got a great sense of danger from his surroundings and he didn't know why. What made him even more alarmed was that he was right outside of the clearing. As Chen Zhen searched around he couldn't find anyone near-by. As Chen Zhen was walking around a tree where the smell and the sense of danger was the strongest hid Blood Lion bloodline suddenly activated. Long red hairs grew all over his body forming a natural armor. The hairs grew as think as steel cables, as the twined and contoured to Chen Zhen's body they hardened into a flexible crystal-like substance. His fingers ended in razor sharp talons, and he had spiky protrusion on his elbows and knees. The hairs on Chen Zhen's head became a large mane of red hair, his facial feature became more feline in nature. A great power came flowing into Chen Zhen from his blood. He wanted nothing more then to throw his back and roar like a mighty lion, so he did.
When Chen Zhen was done he looked himself over and was startled by what he saw.
"Your bloodline has strengthen tremendously! This must be the result of drinking the 10,000- year stalact.i.te milk last night. With your bloodline strengthen you know have the special abilities of a rank 8 Blood Line. This is their special ability called Blood Armor. With this you can take a hit from a peak liquid stage cultivator with no worries at all. This is great" Lou Tian exclaimed!
Chen Zhen could feel his bloodline giving him power. Even though he felt stronger then his peak body refine stage cultivator, he didn't feel he was as strong as a rank 8 spirit beast. So he figured he just had the ability of a rank 8 spirit beast but not their strength. But he was fine with it either way. This was just one more ability to keep him safe in this crazy world.
Chen Zhen continued going around the tree but in the end he still didn't find anything. He didn't feel any better because his sense of danger was still there. Chen Zhen rushed back to the clearing hoping that everything was still safe inside.