*Bingbong*

  As i savor the feeling of completing another incredibly long quest-line, the final one at that, i let out an exaggerated sigh of relief. "Finally, freedo-" Huh? I'm falling?

  "Henry! Catch him!" Ruby shouted as I powerlessly fell to the ground. My own muscles refused my commands. My Qi felt like mud clogging up my veins, rather than the usual smooth-flowing water.

  "Someone go get Serket!"

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  With a killer headache, I wake up on a wooden floor surrounded by darkness.

  "Greetings... little monkey." A deep voice echoes.

  I look around, trying to locate the voice's owner.

  "Hello? Where am I?" I stammer out, trying to figure out where I am.

  "Inside yourself... look around..." The deep voice says slowly, sounding warm and grandfatherly. Dragging along as he trails off.

  As if that knowledge was a key to something, the room started lighting up. Looking around, I see the old house granted to me by the system. This was my first house while in the Void Reality, that run-down wooden shack.

  "How nostalgic..." I murmur as I rummage through the old wooden shack. Everything is how I remember it.

  I open the door to the outside and instead of the Void Reality, I see a massive black turtle floating among a white open space, easily 100 times my size, swimming through flickers of my memories, surrounding us like a million flying polaroids.

  "Hello... sir" How do you talk to a massive turtle? "I am Henry."

  As I introduce myself, the giant head unhurriedly turns to me, studying me with its curious eyes.

  "I am... Xuanwu... the First Guardian... Pleasure to meet you..."

  "Nice to meet you too, sir First Guardian."

  "Hmm, no... no..." I heard the voice slowly say. "Call me... Xuanwu." He says with a gentle smile on his face.

  Xuanwu lazily floats through my memories, sometimes pausing to inspect something. Eventually he stops and looks at me. "Why do you ... cultivate?"

  Oof, that's a loaded question. "Uhm, may I have a moment to think?"

  "In a moment, we may find peace... In another moment, war may find us... This is a moment, where you may find yourself." Xuanwu said with his sagely voice.

  ...

  Why do I cultivate?

  ...

  "Initially, I cultivated to keep myself busy. To keep my worries at bay. I was afraid of this new reality of mine, of all the new knowledge and monsters i came across. Eventually, I got used to it. I have a family now, I became strong, and I feel responsible for the well-being of those I care about. I suppose the reason I cultivate now, is to protect the ones close to me."

  Xuanwu floated in front of me and took a deep breath through his nose, his nostrils were wide enough for me to just walk into. "Perhaps little monkey... is not so little." He breathes out and I feel the spirit of spring caress my skin. His ancient voice continues, "I see why you summoned me."

  "Sorry, I summoned you?"

  "Yes... Every disciple meets their Guardian." He said while floating closer once more.

  "I will agree... to teach you... my knowledge." His voice becomes slower, more tired with every word.

  "Already? Aren't there like a bunch of tests I need to pass?"

  "You have... our technique. The test... has passed."

  "So I am your disciple now?" I ask incredulously.

  "Disciple, master... Student, teacher... No," The turtle shakes his head. "Just two individuals... walking together... Who knows how long? What matters... is to enjoy our journey."

  I steeled my voice and responded as confidently as I could, "If you can teach me to protect others, I can only thank you for your generosity and kindness."

  Xuanwu came to me and lowered his head, bringing his left eye directly in front of my face. Within which I could see an infinite amount of stars circling each other, each one but a small fragment of the many incredible things Xuanwu had witnessed throughout his long life.

  "I have seen... many things... not all good... We try to protect, but sometimes... fail..."

  "Is that a prophecy? Will something bad happen?" I answer, uneasy at the thought of a dangerous future.

  "No, hard-earned wisdom... When one fails to protect... it leaves them... wounded... Takes great strength to overcome... Great power, to overcome fear... Many have been lost... not to battle, but self-doubt and regret... Remember - who will protect, when you are gone?"

  "I still have too many things I want to see. I won't be dying anytime soon!"

  "Good." Xuanwu raised himself up. All four of his legs extending, as if stretching after coming out of bed. His eyes started glowing, the stars inside spinning rapidly while also expanding. Eventually leaving his eyes entirely in order to join both him and me in this mental space. They kept expanding until they surrounded us, and spun ever more rapidly, until they'd formed a solid white wall. They contained so much force, but went right through us, as if not existing at all. And yet they did, for the generated noise and the wind made it hard to stand still, or even hear yourself think.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  A flow of Qi came out of the Guardian and entered my mind, It would more accurately be described as a flow of knowledge. So many techniques, pathways, things I don't even know are entering my mind. Memories, feelings of other cultivators, their pride, their strength, but also their doubt and regret. Some of them seem rather new to cultivation, barely having formed their Golden Core. Others powerful enough to erase entire planets with a wave of their hand. This at least confirms that the Celestial Realm is far from the limit of cultivation.

  After just the blink of an eye, the Qi stops flowing. But the memories are still roaming around within me, searching for a place to belong. They seem organised, as if building a wall. Brick by brick they settle into place. Finally, when all seems done, a tiny wisp of Qi leaves my body and enters Xuanwu.

  Xuanwu doesn't open his mouth, yet I hear him in nonetheless. "Notice the memories... that have become part of you. These are your fellow disciples... When meeting them, they will know you, as you will know them... Which is why i require this wisp of your Qi..."

  Xuanwu sliced a single wisp of my Qi into thousands of pieces, and sent them off into space. They traveled way too fast for me to see where they were going. It feels weird to know that I'll become part of thousands of others, just like they've become part of me.

  With a soft smile, Xuanwu touches a claw to my forehead. "Go now... your family worries."

  ...

  I can't believe it. A massive turtle is now my master.

  "I ...nk. .. He's waking up."

  "Henry! Are you ok?" I hear Serket's worried voice while her hands examine me all over.

  "Yes Ket, I'm fine, please don't worry about me."

  My cheeks sting a bit, did someone try to slap me awake?

  "How could I not worry about you, when you suddenly faint for no reason?

  Good point. "It shouldn't happen again, really, don't worry."

  "As long as you're fine..." Serket says with a sigh of relief, still looking a little puzzled about what might've happened to me. I'll tell her later about my hallucinated trip to meet a giant black turtle. Maybe all those pills might have a side effect after all, was it actually just one big trip? Hmm, no I definitely have memories of the other turtle disciples, it really happened. Heh, cool.

  "Anyways, I have great news for everyone. We're finally gonna leave this place!"

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  I wonder how long it's been. With no sun or moon, it's really hard to keep track of time.

  I'm really gonna miss the Void Reality. But as the saying goes: "A house is not a home. It's the feeling that makes it home."

  As long as I have my family, we can settle anywhere.

  I hope Gerard will be able to come with us too.

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  *Bingbong*

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  In a lush green forest, a wolf mother is playing with her cubs. Playful growls and howls resound among the rustling leaves of the otherwise quiet forest. The wolf mother was still getting over the loss of their old home, but this new one does not look that bad. Hopefully no disasters will happen here.

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  1 week earlier, in a nearby forest.

  "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH"

  *Thunk*

  *Dump*

  "Aw, aw, aw, I'm fine, I'm fine. Couldn't I just get teleported to the surface directly?"

  "AAAAH!"

  *Dunk*

  "Dammit, don't land on people! What's wrong with you?" Sam shouted at Gora - who looked ready to fight him - with annoyance clear in their voice.

  "Oh shuddup. If I coulda chosen where to land, I wouldn't of picked your bony ass."

  They grabbed each other by their collars with one hand, throwing their other hand back, ready to unleash mutual destruction.

  "Calm down everyone, we're in an unknown world. Let's first make sure this area is safe." While trying to defuse the situation, I first do a quick headcount to see if we're all here. Looks like everyone made it, including Gerard! I was worried he might get left behind because he's not a "pet".

  Let's do a quick area scan first.

  I released a wave of my Qi to gather my surroundings, the forest went absolutely quiet. No creature dared to move a muscle, even the powerful Guardian of the Lake lay down on its belly, eyes wide open, too afraid to even breathe. Even the trees seemed to stop swaying in the wind.

  The forests' inhabitants sprang into motion when the coast seemed clear. It was a cacophony of roars and screeches as birds, bears, and beetles alike all fled the scene. Not one of the forests' creatures was willing to stay and find out if that ungodly amount of Qi belonged to friend or foe.

  It's not that the wave of Qi felt harmful, quite the opposite actually. It was simply the sheer power contained within. None of the forest dwellers had ever felt Qi this deep and powerful. It was as if an ancient god had decided to descend upon their home.

  "Master Henry, you just scared the absolute hell out of every single being in this forest." Gerard casually said as he appeared next to me, elegant as ever. Did he not just fall from the same height I did?

  "Yeah... I noticed. There's hardly anything above the Golden Core stage in this forest. I just wanted to make sure we were safe." I feel a little guilty about scaring the animals, but I didn't hurt anyone so it should be fine, I think... I hope

  "A wise approach, master Henry. I'm sure the creatures of the forest understand."

  I somehow doubt that.

  "Let's leave before I scare anything else."

  "Shall we take to the skies to find a village, master?"

  "Sounds like a decent plan. Have you ever visited a cultivator town before?"

  "I'm afraid not. I've never set foot outside of the Demonic Wastes, apart from the Void Reality of course."

  I grin, mentally preparing myself for all of the new experiences ahead for all of us. "Then it's a new adventure for all of us. Let's hope it goes well!"

  Hm, but if the creatures of the forest are this weak, maybe the people are too. Suddenly having 12 powerful cultivators on your doorstep would spook anyone. I did scan the area and there's nothing here... Maybe I can drop our palace down in an invisibility array? Just until we find out if this land belongs to anyone. Yeah, let's do that.

  I clear a piece of land, plop down the palace and install an array which makes the entire palace look just like any other piece of the forest from the outside.

  As the palace grows to assume its original majestic form, I feel a disturbance in the system. I feel the palace pulling at me, trying to... absorb my inventory?

  Every item that was still stored in my inventory suddenly appeared and launched itself through the hallways into a basement room. I quickly followed and everything nearly arranged itself into tidy rows and different sections. Did the palace itself organize this? Is it sentient? I'll have to investigate this later...

  For now it seems everything is safe, so no need for me to worry about it right now. I go back up to collect Gerard and set off to explore our surroundings.

  "Stay safe everyone, don't go too far out until Gerard and I return with some information about this world! Sam, I'm leaving you in charge alright?"

  "Sure, easy." Sam replied indifferently. He couldn't show too many emotions as he was going through his goth phase, Henry thought. "But it's not a phase" hahah ... Wait as a Nightmare, maybe it really isn't.

  "Oh why Sam? They're never gonna let us have any fun!" Ruby says with pouted lips. "And why take only Gerard with you? That's no fair!"

  "Ruby, even the most innocent of your ideas would burn down a good chunk of this forest. Please just listen to Sam for a few days, ok? And I'm taking Gerard as we are the only two Celestial realm cultivators here. If we come across any danger, the two of us have the greatest odds of survival."

  "Mhmhm... Trees grow back, don't they?" She mumbled all grumpy. If she weren't a phoenix, she'd make a fine dwarf!

  Before Henry could turn to leave, a small hand grabbed his robes. He turned around to see Ruby looking at him. "Please be come back safe."

  Oh, my heart. "Sweet Ruby, of course we'll come back safe and sound. Someone has to return to keep the natural disaster that is all of you in check." I tell her with a beaming smile on my face. Honestly I'm not too worried about our safety, judging by the power level of this forest.

  "You heard him, it's Boss Sam from now on!" Sam says, grinning uncharacteristically, maybe this was a mistake. Eh, you live and you learn. The others are still arguing back a little, but it seems like they'll agree to listen temporarily.

  Before leaving, I quickly visit the new storage area in our home to collect the more... child-unfriendly items and stuff them in a few storage rings to take along with us.

  With that settled, Gerard and I take off on our flying swords, on to a new adventure!