Chapter 4Pride is before a fall. As Shanggu Julong looked as his great, great, great grandson he could see the regret in his eyes. But in this world there is no pill for regret. Shanggu Feng"s decisions led him toward his own downfall. Shanggu Julong had the power to stop him along the way but if he would it have changed Shanggu Feng"s ways. No it wouldn"t have. Shanggu Feng became the way he was thru his own thinking, and no matter how much his father or the elders of the Shanggu clan tried to adjust his thinking along the way he never listened to anyone. Shanggu Feng"s pride told him he could do no wrong. The more people tried to correct or guide him the more abstinent he became. He began to lash out at those he viewed as beneath him. As Shanggu Feng increased in strength he also increased in belligerence. No one, not even his Immortal great, great, great grandfather could get him to change his ways.
As Shanggu Julong looked at Shanggu Feng"s soul he decided to give him one last chance. The world of mist the Chen Zhen"s consciousness was in began to swirl. The old man that he was speaking with turned his head to Chen Zhen"s right. When Chen Zhen looked in that direction he saw the dragon and Phoenix that had been fighting earlier standing over there. They were separated from each other by a wall of mist. They didn"t seem to be able to tell the other was right next to them, like each side of that wall of mist was its own separate world.
"You all have experienced death this day. Shanggu Feng, Lou tian you both have lost your physical form and are now merely souls. You still retain your immense martial and spiritual power but you no longer have a means to channel it into the physical world. Chen Zhen even though you have experienced Death"s door, you have not full stepped through yet. Your body seems to have the strange ability to absorb large amounts of energy. Energy that should under normal circ.u.mstances cause you to explode, but your body is evolving to this new energy at an astounding rate. I"m not sure if this is a by-product of you growing up in a void world or not, I can only speculate.", with a heavy sigh Shanggu Julong pauses here as he looks at the three people before him.
"I hope I am making the right decision and not just letting my emotions cloud my judgment.", Shanggu Julong quietly ruminates to himself before firming his resolve and continuing.
"I can give you all a one time help that will bring you all back from Death"s grasp. But to do this requires merging you all together in one body. You will become a new life form, one body but three souls. If you can learn to grow together you will have a chance to make new bodies for all of you but that will require many Immortal grade treasures. You will have to cultivate from the very beginning all over again. Even though Shanggu Feng and Lou Tian have power spiritual energy in their souls for this merger to work I will have to seal your power to a level this is in harmony with Chen Zhen"s soul. You will retain your knowledge and training but you will have to wait for Chen Zhen"s cultivation to increase before you will be able to use your abilities again. As Chen Zhen"s level increases you seals will slowly weaken as well, his breakthroughs will awaken your sealed abilities.
You wont be able to rush his advancement though. He must cultivate and stabilize his foundation one step at a time. For you to have any chance of a future in your own body Chen Zhen must reach the peak of Immortal realm, and as you already know there are no shortcuts.
I can force this upon you but it will be much easier if you are all willing to cooperate for this to happen. I have given you all the information you need to make your decision. I now place your life or death in your own hands. This must be a unanimous decision and it requires all of you to succeed. What choice will you make?"
As Shanggu Julong finished explaining everything to them a heavy atmosphere appeared around Chen Zhen, Shanggu Feng, and Lou Tian. Three people who met under the most dire of circ.u.mstances must now put their future lives in each other"s hands. Could they possible trust the others enough for this? What decision would they ultimately make?