One hour earlier at the Void Nest…
Shortly after his eggs returned to his side and Qi's voice reassured him, Long Long noticed the Spiritual Beast below frantically rushing around.
Being the reliable and responsible dragon he was, he… ignored them until they decided to approach his nest asking for his assistance.
As that was what his lover, Qi, and her sister, Fue, beat into his skull, literally, "Do NOT interfere with them unless they approach you first! You will only make things worse if you solve it for them."
It took only fifteen minutes for an ambassador of the Spiritual Beast to come knocking.
The ambassador was a tall woman, who seemed to be clad in a heavy layer of fluff, with whiskers coming from her cheeks, and a bushy tail waving behind her, rushed toward the planet with a stream of ice following behind her back.
Before they even broke orbit Long Long's voice reverberated in their skull, "STATE YOUR NAME AND NEED!"
In an instant the once confident demeanor of the woman had been so scared that she couldn't keep up her more humanoid demeanor, transforming into a hundred-meter-long weasel-like creature.
Frightened, she bowed, keeping her response quick and to the point, "Ice Weasel, Elder Chi! We felt her highness Fue's return!"
Hearing no response Elder Chi believed her death was inevitable.
After a few seconds, Long Long called out, "Come down! Let's talk."
Unlike her previous thoughts, Elder Chi was invited down into their emperor's nest leading to her panicking further!
Her descent was neither quick nor slow so as not to disturb the nest or its inhabitants, but once she laid eyes on Long Long she stopped midair gulping, "Thank you for your time."
Waving his claws, Long Long responded, "Let's cut the pleasantries and get to the point. Your master is out with MY Qi right now. And they won't be back until they "help" their father. So, return and tell your people not to worry!"
His overbearing presence did not allow Elder Chi to get even a word in before he waved her off.
Just as she left his nest, Long Long snuggled back against his eggs afraid they would disappear if he wasn't looking.
Another thirty minutes passed by with little disruption, before just as he feared something happened to his babies!
Without warning Long Long's eyes shot open as he felt his wify transcend through their bond.
As soon as her energy disappeared and reformed their babies directly tore through the abyss entering another dimension foreign to him.
Through this tear in reality, Long Long saw Qi's soul avatar rise in this other space as their babies gathered in her embrace.
Unable to physically interact with her, Long Long tore one of his pink scales burning it before blowing it into the tear bathing Qi in its dust.
Within seconds a crown of infernal flames appeared atop her avatar's head as she yelled at him for breaking into this place.
Having heard Qi's threats, Long Long sealed the tear as his eggs returned to his side.
Coughing, Long Long felt tears well in his eyes as he would give anything to hold Qi after noticing how weak her body was at that moment.
Crying, Long Long snuggled closer to his children biting his lips hoping Qi would be ok until she at least got back into a Nexus-connected realm.
At that same moment far above his nest the phoenix's ambassador, an azure-blue phoenix named Tex, approached but quickly found his answer at the emperor's reaction.
******
Back in Adrian's true realm…
Everyone was confused by Adrian's sudden outburst.
Hearing his first question a mischievous smile appeared on Dee's face, as he seriously spoke, "Deddy, It's been ten years!"
Hearing Dee call out, Adrian felt he had wasted his second chance at life before Zero's voice caused him to rethink life, "Hasn't it been over a hundred-years."
Sakura was the next one to try to correct the situation saying, "Hasn't it been like two days though? How long did making this body take!"
Rubbing his head, Bemo corrected everyone, "It HAS been only two days! And WHAT DO THE REST OF YOU MEAN?!"
Taking a deep breath in, Bemo muttered, "How am I, the talking rabbit, the only normal one here?"
Sadly both Qi and Fue couldn't complicate the situation further as they were asleep.
More confused than before, Adrian scratched his head and stated, "So it has been anywhere between two days to ten years to one-hundred years? CAN SOMEBODY TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON?!"
This situation continued to spiral out of control until Dee broke into a fit of laughter while saying, "It's barely been over a day! Uncle Zero, I didn't expect you to joke like that."
Sharply glaring at both Zero and Dee, Adrian contemplated whether or not to stab them 47 times to appease his anger and confusion.
Noticing his glare, Zero quickly started to explain, "Wwwweeeeellllll, you see what had happened was…"
"This Elder scared Sakura, after my old brain confused her state with ours from that time with those bullies. As she looked exhausted and scared… I might have approached her too strongly to check up on her."
"That was when she fell backward hitting her head against the steps. Worried, I carried her, appropriately please don't kill me, to the peak where everyone was asleep at the time."
"Dee had woken up and brought me back to reality, after which I almost made the mistake of sending Sakura to the reapers early. But, luckily Dee stopped me, pointing out that she was Sakura."
"At that point this old man became embarrassed and confused, so I decided to take a breather in one of the lower rooms in hopes of clearing my mind."
Interrupting Zero's speech, Dee tried to plead his case so as not to get in trouble, "I saved Mom? Whatever! So, can we forget about the whole me playing ticks thing!"
Adrian chopped Dee's head glaring at him before gesturing for Zero to continue his explanation, even if he didn't see the importance of this much setup.
Dramatically, Zero controlled his next words to put on a show, as he recreated the energies enveloping him and his transformation into a cocoon.
"After this happened, my mind was reincarnated into a baby's body belonging to a demon tribe. I then lived another life as a Demon experiencing hatred, happiness, sorrow, and any other emotion you could think of."
"For over a hundred years I lived not as the persona Zero, but as the Demon Zero and in the later half the immortal Zero!"
Gulping down saliva, Zero manipulated shadows to reenact major events like the burning of his tribe, his escape from the cave, his new life with the caravan, to his revenge against the noble, who had caused him so much pain.
However, he hesitated for a moment between each memory as his body shivered. Until he got past the noble era into the majority of his life as a cultivator.
Hundreds of events played out showing his joys, frustrations, sorrows, and achievements, all culminating in him singing the Immortal's Final Symphony while ethereal instrumentals played in the background.
Once his voice calmed, thunder clouds started to form in the sky striking him, rending his last breath.
After a short silent pause, Zero continued with a shaky voice, "And now I realized that those memories weren't new, but my previous life before I woke up in your head… That's why I was confused. Please, don't worry or treat me any differently after knowing this."