Shen Bao's flight continued on for days, weeks, months even, without him waking up. By the grace of fortune, and utter absurd luck, Shen Bao's journey through the dark areas of space didn't cause him any dangerous encounters.
Besides one time, where he was spotted by a creature of the deeps that didn't manage to catch up to him due to how fast his hoverboard moved.
Shen Bao's mind was still reeling from the impact of all the force he had to apply to leave the planet, the damage he took from a battle that no one would ever believe a Nascent Soul could ever win.
The impact on his body was too much for his mind to bear, even with his powerful Soul Force, he was still knocked unconscious for close to a year before he moved a muscle for the first time.
At first, it was a twitching finger, then a shudder, then finally his eyelid shook and opened up revealing a green glistening light of consciousness that had disappeared for a long time.
Shen Bao woke up…
***
Shuddering from the massive pain wracking my body I opened my eyes up and found myself back and running.
I slowly pressed on the pedestal on the hoverboard and it slowed down. It was moving at incredible speed the stars themselves looked like elongated white wires, but with the hoverboard slowing down everything turned to normal.
Confused on how long I was knocked out at first I looked around and felt a desperate and oppressive feeling of loneliness that racked away at me as I looked at the empty space surrounding me from everywhere.
"Automaton," I spoke.
"Yes Master," the handler of the Lord of Lords pagoda spoke.
"How long have I been out cold?" I asked.
"Close to a year…"
"Holy shit…"
"I doubt dung would be considered holy, Master…" the automaton said.
"Oh, never mind that. Ahhh my head," I winced as I tried to use divine sense to explore around me.
"You have Soul Damage, Master, you overused a lot of your Qi, and tried to take in absurd amounts of Qi into you, the damage to your Meridians is extensive."
I flexed my fist and sighed, "I think my cultivation base dropped even…" I said.
"Only by a couple of layers, you're still in the Nascent Soul stage, however, there is a slight problem." The automaton said.
"What problem?" I asked.
"As you were asleep, and due to the time dilation within the Lord of Lords pagoda a lot more than just a year had passed."
"Oh… shit," I said and then used the token to get into the Lord of Lords pagoda.
Finding the city the Automaton had placed inside much more prosperous and grand, the fields full of wheat and all kinds of crops.
Strong and powerful children moved about in the city, they all looked well-nourished and more than ready and capable of cultivation.
Two middle-age men came over to where I stood, they both were at the highest stages of Nascent Soul and looked like they could break through to Soul Formation any time they want.
"Shen Bao, took you long enough," one of them said, he had a slightly rattish face and his mouth was too used to grinning.
"Xiao Lang?" I spoke.
"Yes,"
"And… Wu Di… ah crap…" I said.
"Hey, don't curse at us we haven't seen you in thirty years and this is how you welcome us?" Xiao Lang said.
"You don't understand what Shen Bao is experiencing," Said Wu Di.
"I'm sorry guys… I didn't think I'll accidentally imprison you here," I said.
Wu Di waved his hand in my face saying, "HA? These thirty years have been the best I've had, with abundant resources. Unlimited Cultivation materials, Extreme biomes to train and practice, and the ability to sleep safely without thinking of being backstabbed or ambushed… thirty years of bliss is enough to make a man eternally grateful."
"Oh…. If you say it like that… wait thirty years… that's a long time for a mortal…" I said.
"Emm, not with the Saint Qi crystal and the extreme natural Qi that's flooding this place. Even mortals will age far slowly here. And if you're worried about your relatives… Wu Di took care of them," Xiao Lang said.
I frowned at the notion of my sons but thirty years had passed…
"What do you mean by taking care of them?" I asked.
"How about you follow me?" Wu Di said… "And you can probably change back to your original appearance, you don't want to scare little children."
"Oh, right," I said and then slowly took a deep breath, defusing all the tumors and pustules all over my body and face.
"Yep, you look much better this way," Xiao Lang said.
The three of us came down from the skies and walked up to the town… no, city entrance, and moved forward.
The people greeted Wu Di and Xiao Lang like they were some grand officials, while they had a warry look and apprehensive approach towards me.
"It's only natural, most of the people here, are kids of the older generation, none would remember you, however, the older people will not forget what you did to them. come, come." Wu Di said.
Soon we were standing in a massive plaza where there was a statue of an older man with a long beard and a book in one hand, the old man looked as wise as time itself and his robes were that of a deep purple and gold.
The statue itself gave off a cold, aloof and domineering presence, however, there was something else… safety, reliance, backing…no it was more like… this statue was here as a reminder that as long as it stood… no harm shall befall the people around it.
Suddenly, a man came close to the statue and bowed down before continuing on his way.
"Don't tell me…" I said.
"It wasn't my idea… apparently an old man that was gifted a lot of gold decided to repay that karma by building this statue…he did it all by himself a mere mortal… he carved this statue from a single piece of rock… he never ate or drank anything, until he finished it… it took him ten years."
"How is that even possible for a mortal?" I asked.
"The Qi here… it sates you, you don't need to eat, and food is more like a mean to satisfy one's stomach."
"Where is that old man?" I asked.
"He passed away…" Wu Di said, "Why are you asking?"
"Because you probably don't see it…but the statue… it is full of law."
"Huh?" Wu Di frowned.
He took another look and failed to realize it.
"It's alright. Does the old man have a name? or family?" I asked.
"Yes. They were all taken care of by the current city lord. Wu Fan," Wu DI said.
"Good man." I said.
"Yeah, you knew who to choose for that role. Let's go meet him, there are a few other faces that you might be interested in seeing," Xiao Lang said.
"Let's move then," I said.
The three of us continued moving about, and the more I looked at the people in Lucid Spring and how well they were dressed the more I was conscious about my own filthy state.
I had dried blood all over me, year old blood, my clothes were torn and ruptured everywhere, the inscriptions on the snakeskin I was wearing under my clothes were all destroyed, and I looked no more than a bum in a city of nobles.
I smiled and ignored it for now.
Then soon we got into the main building.
"Where are the guards?" I asked.
"There is no need for guards, as security was never an issue with the Automaton regulating the whole of the city affairs and security, anyone would be nothing but an idiot if they even thought of doing something stupid as robbery or committing a crime… you built a utopia here." Wu Di said.
"Huh, I didn't build anything, it was the people themselves," I said.
"Maybe," Xiao Lang said, "But none of it would have been possible without your own effort.
Soon we got into the main building and into the main hall. Where I saw a face I've missed.
"Wu Fan, you're looking better than ever," I said.
The moment the not-so-old man looked at me, a wide grin appeared on his face.
"Shen Bao! HA!" he laughed as he stood up and came towards me.
He didn't care how dirty I looked, or how awful I smelled, he still hugged me as if hadn't seen me in eternity.
"Lord Xiao Lang, Lord Wu Di, thank you for bringing such a precious friend over." Wu Fan said.
"You seem to have been living rather well here," I said.
"Yes, you'll never believe it, so many, so many events had happened, and I'll tell you all about them in detail! Over a good glass of wine!"
"That would be good, I haven't had wine in a while," I said.
"Right, then today we feast!" Wu Fan said laughing to the high heavens.
"Lord Wu Fan, I got the manual, I'll be leaving now," spoke a woman that came from one of the doors next to the main hall.
The moment she spoke, however, I felt something pulling me towards her voice.
She was a young woman, very beautiful, and looked quite charming in a way that didn't hit me as sexual a all. She felt like someone that if I were to see come to harm, I would burn the world alive for her…
What the hell is this.
I had to calm myself, I never felt something like this before.
"You," I said as I approached her.
"What's your name," I asked.
The girl looked at me a bit skittish at first then, after looking around and noticing the comforting smiles on the faces of everyone around, she had the courage to speak.
"Hwa Bao…"