Lorne didn't waste any time. When he learned there was someone capable of significantly raising his power; therefore, he was more than willing to go. He had struggled with his inability to protect his friends and family, and he wanted to help people. He wanted to save them when he could.
Experience proved to him over and over again that he was just weak. Too weak to make a difference. The good news was that Lorne wouldn't be going alone. The Entire Wu Di Clan, including his parents, were all going to travel to this mysterious planet owned by his future teacher.
There were a few secrets that were revealed to Lorne at the end of the battle. First, the Dragon Elder, Kal N'Dar, and the Gold Horn Dragon Twins were all plants created by BS42 to explore the Dragon Empire, procure genetic samples, Infiltrate it at the highest levels, and steal cultivation resources. Lorne wasn't happy to learn about this, and yet he couldn't argue with BS42 as they needed information to survive.
He learned of the benefits of learning with this master who already figured out who Lorne and his group really were. He didn't seem to mind and was keen on meeting both Lorne and BS42. He wanted to meet Lorne so that he could accept him as a student. It sounded like he wanted to meet BS42 for the same reason.
The Dragon Princess was in a huff because she wanted to find the mysterious Five-Clawed Gold Horn Dragon Youth. She was really determined. It was just like Lorne's parents said, the Five-Clawed dragon was too rare! It was an irresistible prize for the Dragon Clan.
Kal was provided with a new spaceship by Master River called "Jewel Mountain." It was mainly a transport ship and it carried his other ship, Lady Grace, as well as some fighters and a few other ships in its hangar bay. Kal was very proud of his new ship.
Lorne noticed that the dragon twins followed Kal around like his retinue. The female dragon, his cousin, seemed especially sensitive to Kal's commands. Kal was either oblivious or didn't care that his cousin had a thing for him.
At last, Jewel Mountain landed on Master River's world simply called "Wu Di." The Wu Di Clan had brought everything with them from their hidden clan base. When they arrived on the planet they were excited. The planet reminded the elders of the original Clan home they lost so many years ago. The Young was excited to finally live somewhere and not have to hide who they were.
Lorne separated from the group to look around. As he was wandering near a lake he heard a voice behind him.
"You must be Ying Xiong, my new student." Master River said.
Lorne turned to see the elder and immediately followed the custom of this world to kowtow to his new master and perform the traditional teacher-disciple ceremony. Master River was pleased and immediately helped Lorne up from the ground.
"Follow me Xiong'er, and we'll talk privately." Master River said.
Lorne followed his new master to the transportation Gate and entered the hidden world created for Master River and his students.
"Welcome home, this is where you will live for the foreseeable future. I will train you until it's time for you to leave. A great enemy is approaching the Dragon Empire. If this threat is successful all life in the Dragon Empire will be wiped out. We don't have much time to get you strong enough to face this threat. There may not be enough time even with me teaching you." Master River said.
"Can't you handle the situation Master?" Lorne asked.
"Not me, I'm way too old to save the universe. I'm at a high level and interfering in mortal matters isn't so easy for me anymore. Besides, I hear you enjoy saving people from hopeless situations." Master River said.
"Master, you're making fun of me," Lorne said with a bitter expression. He liked to try to save people from hopeless situations. So far, he had learned why certain situations were called hopeless.
"Not at all, actually, the way Kal described your character is what made me want to teach you. There are too few people who are willing to stand up for others in this world." Master River said with a smile.
"Whatever your reason, I am relieved to receive your instruction. I am grateful, Master." Lorne said.
"Okay, enough of that. Before we get started I would like to talk with BS42, shall I come to you or will you come to me?" asked Master River.
At that moment, BS42 released a holo-pod and his holographic form came into being. BS42 bent respectfully to Master River.
"It's nice to finally meet the person body artist." Master River said. BS42 merely smiled without saying anything.
"You're not bad, but if you really want to progress in this field you should also accept me as your master. If you do so, I will teach you what I know." Master River said.
BS42 immediately kowtowed to Master River.
"Prince Heken Zimwarn greets Master," BS42 said. Lorne was surprised, he thought his name was BS42.
"Prince Heken?" Lorne asked.
"Xiong'er may I introduce you to your uncle, Prince Heken." Master River said.
"Nephew," Prince Heken said.
"Uncle?! How do I have a robot as an uncle?" Lorne asked.
"He's not a robot, Xiong'er. He used to have a body like you and I. Heken, perhaps you would like to explain." Master River said.
"Yes, Master. Lorne, I assume you prefer your original name?" BS42 said. Lorne nodded his head.
"We warboxes are not robots we are members of the Zimwarn Empire, experts, who committed some crime against the Empire. As punishment, our physical bodies are removed and our souls are sealed in these robotic bodies." BS42 said.
Lorne was stunned, this seemed like a totally cruel punishment. Even more, he was surprised that this punishment was carried out against his uncle.
"Uncle, who plotted against you? When I meet with father next we will prove you innocent!" Lorne said indignantly.
"Thank you for your sentiment, it truly warms my heart hearing your concern for me. The truth is that no one plotted against me. I did betray the Empire and I deserve my punishment. Sorry if I let you down." BS42 said.
Lorne didn't know what to say, he was stunned!
"You two can work out the family drama later. Right now I want to begin Lorne's training. First things first, Lorne come stand over here, I'm going to remove your soul for a little while." Master River said.
"You're going to what?!" Loren asked.
"Remove your soul." Master River said.
"Shouldn't you buy me dinner first?" Lorne asked.
"What?" Master River was confused.
"Nothing, Master you want to remove my soul from my body?" Lorne asked again.
Yes, of course, I need to remove your soul so that I can fix your body." Master River said.
"What's wrong with my body?" Lorne asked.
"I'll explain as we go." Master River said.
Lorne shrugged his shoulders and came over. "It's not like it was the first time his soul was separated from his body. Maybe this could be beneficial." Lorne thought.
"Heken, I was absolutely flabbergasted when I heard that you had invented this process of genetic splicing and body forming. I was also impressed with the description of your rebirth chamber. However, as amazing as you are for inventing this process. The truth is, you're still an amateur.
I wanted you as my student so that I could teach you the correct path of body forming. I'll teach you how to get the most bang for your buck. The buck being whatever genetic materials you're working with and the bang being the energies flows and innate potential that you create with a meta-natural body forming method." Master River said.
As he finished his sentence, he pulled Lorne's soul from his body and placed it in a previously prepared crystal container. The container allowed Lorne to observe and hear what was being said and down on the outside.
"Take a look at this body, I'm going to use a magnafropic scope to scan the body and display its internal morphology on my skyner projector just over here." Master River pointed to a floating crystal. Soon, the interior of Lorne's body was projected.
Master River could zoom into the subquantum level if he wanted to, which he did several times. Master River laid out the basics of the body forming sciences that he had learned many years ago and demonstrated where Lorne's body could be improved. He also demonstrated the impact that different energy flows can have on a body.
"One of the interesting things about Lorne's body is that I can tell that he has changed the internal flow of his internal energies. He has even redistributed nodes and made changes to his meridians. I can tell from this that he was trying to optimize the energy flow of his body. Obviously, this was inspired by his Wu Di inheritance.
It's a good thing that he became my student because the way he moved things around he would have been dead within three years. He had increase energy output and made energy gathering more efficient, but he never considered how this new method would affect the distribution of energy pockets throughout the body. These pathways would eventually become completely clogged, which would lead to his body exploding." Master River said.
Lorne jumped at this news. Had he really made such a mistake?
I think it will be better for Lorne if I teach him what I teach you regarding body forming, and I also want to give him a better foundation in soul seals than his father. His father is a genius but I don't like how he uses these seals to control people and punish them." Master River said.
"What do you mean Master?" Lorne asked in concern.
"I'm not going to go into any more details, I think you are a moral man and I'm sure your father is as well. However, your father is ruling an Empire and due to the pressure of that occupation, I believe he has found a shortcut in his spirit-tech to give himself the feeling that he's in control.
However, what he will find is that there isn't as much control in this as he thinks. If he can't change his paranoid activity he will eventually be destroyed by it. However, that's a discussion between father and son and brother and brother." Master River said.
Right now I want to get Lorne started on his training regimen. We don't have a lot of time, luckily, this is a time disfased universe. Every one month in your universe is equivalent to twelve thousand years here. I estimate you only have about a year before your Dragon Empire will face extinction. That only gives us about one hundred and fifty thousand years. That sounds like a lot of time, but it isn't. I have so much to teach you. Let's get started." Master River said.
"Master River, I still don't understand. If you have the power to intervene in this matter aren't you morally obligated to do so?" Loren asked. He couldn't accept that Master River couldn't just intercede. He certainly wanted to be able to help others when he could, but why did he have to do it when there was someone far more powerful than him.
"Lorne, I'll call you this since you seem to prefer this. I don't know if I can explain this to you, but I can't interfere, I'm not allowed." Master River said.
"You're right I don't understand why you can't interfere. What's the use of all of this power if you can't use it to better the lives of others." Lorne said.
Master River thought for a little while and sighed. Finally, he spoke.
"The question you ask is very deep and right now isn't the time to answer it. If it helps you can think of it like this. If I were to interfere for our side then the supreme powers on their side could interfere. I'm only one person, there's no telling how many or how powerful the ones on their side are. If you want to save the Dragon Empire then the last thing you want is people as powerful as me fighting over it." Master River said.
"Ok, then how can they send someone so powerful over here to destroy our Empire?!" Lorne asked.
"The power level of the one attacking is within allowed parameters. If you will let me, I believe there is hope for me getting your power level up to a similar level." Master River said.
"Hope, this word had a sour taste in his mouth. He didn't feel encouraged when hope was mentioned. Whatever! The point was that he had an opportunity to save people and apparently everything was up to him.
"Okay, Master, I'm ready," Lorne said.
"Then let's get started."