Two weeks went by living amongst the snake family while learning how to walk again. Hanhua(the purple snake) taught him the fire technique even though Ren showed little interest.
Every morning, he'd go out in his snake form to hunt for his nieces and nephews as well as Ren, who had temporarily moved in with them. And every night he'd accompany Ren for a walk to strengthen his new body.
"What are your plans?" Ren asked Han as they watched the river flowing in front of them shimmer from the moonlight pouring down on it. "Do you wish to stay here for more centuries raising kids?"
Han exhaled moving his leg in the water. "I cannot abandon them. My elder sister raised me by herself. She sacrificed so much for me. So how can I throw away her children?"
Ren opened his right palm and balls of golden fire materialized before spreading out around them.
He had nothing more to ask or say to Han. His plans were his own to make, and Ren had already sworn not to add unnecessary baggage on his shoulders. He already carried with him resentment from his past life. And that, was enough weight to carry around.
"I'll be leaving here in two days," Ren informed. "I will go down the mountain to look for a girl named Lian from Duanpei Sect."
"Duanpei Sect?!"
Their eyes met and Ren read the shock filling in Han's. "What about it?"
Han quickly looked away scratching the back of his head and laughing cheekily. "Ha! Ha! Ha! Nothing. Just that, it's one of the major four sects in Xiyangguo. They won't just let you meet a disciple just because you want to."
"Oh! So must I join it? That's such a hassle."
Through Han, Ren had learned that this world, Zhiyue, had five continents and each continent was just as powerful as the other.
"You can do that, or, send a duel letter to this Lian girl."
"Argh! That's too much work. Don't you have better ways? Can't you transform and sneak in?"
"That is not possible. I'd be obliterated by their array before I could even reach their gates."
"Array." Ren smiled. "The old man had set up one for me. I wonder if he's still alive."
Han glanced at Ren more confused than before. Ever since they developed a bond that was purely symbiotic and without trust, Ren spoke things he couldn't understand and said names alien to his ears. But he could no longer sense Ren's killing intent, yet he couldn't feel his trust either.
He admitted to himself that the place would feel lonely when Ren was gone since the little snakes were yet to speak. But such was life. Everyone was simply a passerby.
"Other than finding this girl. What else do you want to do?"
Ren faced Han and smiled. "I want to live. A life that will be based on my own terms and one I'll not take any bulshit. I had endured enough of that before. No more again."
In the two weeks he had stayed here, Ren had analyzed his life in silence, accepted that he was different; physically and mentally, and fully understood that the only way for him to grow was to go out there and learn more about everything. Even in his past life as a traveling doctor, he had always found lessons in his travels that had nurtured his mindset.
This world was no different.
Staying here and hunting monsters would only make his human nature diminish until it completely disappeared.
Other than the Void, he now could manipulate fire and use it to attack his enemies. Han had taught him how to shape it to take the form of a sword and a dagger. Light as air but sharp as a smith's new work.
He stood up, dressed in the single qi-infused robe Han had lent him that cleaned itself. But he occasionally took baths out of habit.
"I'll be back after my bath. You can head back."
Han nodded and silently watched Ren walk down the river, his fireballs following him. Long after he was out of sight, Han sighed, raising his hand at the sky and pinched the moon, smiling. His lifelong goal was to gain immortal blessings, evolve into a divine dragon, and fly into the moon. Ever since he was little, his sister would tell him tales about the world beyond the moon, the third star. She had said that the immortals who lived there were as beautiful as the moon itself, and the spiritual veins there were five times as powerful as those in this world.
She had visited the third star with their father and she had fallen in love with that world.
"Are you living well, dear sister?"
############
Even though he was in a human body, Ren could still draw energy from the moon just as before if not better. This nourished his soul and aided his mental health while meditating.
He sat cross-legged on a rock, naked, as the cold water flowed past him tickling his skin. He had come to love that sensation as well as how the air always brought with it different scents from the nearby plants.
There was one in particular that he had grown attached to. A small plant that was new to him. He had never seen it on Earth, which baffled him all the more.
But as captivating as it was, he couldn't pot it and carry it with him. That would be too much work and responsibility.
"Haa!" Ren sighed out opening his eyes after the qi circulating through his body had settled down in his dantian. After a fortnight of moonlight meditation and the beast cores Han provided, he had raised his level to a thousand and four hundred. This was more efficient and less time-consuming than doing it himself. How he wished he could have a helper like Han do all the work for him.
"The moon is so big in this world... Damn!" He placed a hand on his heart. "Am I nervous about leaving the mountain? This will be the first time I'll interact with the humans of this world in this body."
He looked down at his naked self. While it wasn't as buffed as he'd have wished, it was masculine enough and his face looked far better than in his previous life.
The only thing that bothered him was the long white hair.
He had opted to cut it, but Han had said that he would confused with a mortal and this would attract bullies. The last thing Ren needed was unnecessary fights and confrontations.
He was about to step fully into the water when a fluctuation of energy reached him. The stat window immediately popped up like it did when he was about to face danger.
Threat; cultivators
Cultivation level; 1247, 578, 747, 600
Cultivation stage; ----
Life; ----
Abilities; ----
Ren's eyes half popped out when he realized the direction the threat was coming from... Han's cave.
"Han!"
He jumped out of the river, grabbing the rob before running off to the west before he could wear it.
The more he got closer, the more he could feel the intensity of the battle ongoing.
His major concern was about the little defenseless snakes that might be caught up in the danger. And, why were cultivators attacking Han? He hadn't killed any during their time together.
His breaths were heavy, his lungs were burning, and his legs were almost giving up since he had run since he learned to walk.
But finally, after enduring it all, he emerged from the thick trees surrounding the cave and saw it covered in pure ice. The branches close by were frosted, and so was the ground.
Standing on their swords, feeling high and mighty, the four men continued raining attacks on the large purple snake, which was half frozen and its body covered with deep gashes that were bleeding heavily.
Without thinking, completely acting on impulse, Ren gathered his qi, and daggers made of qi fire materialized above him. "How dare you!" He hissed releasing the daggers straight to the attackers.
"Master!" One yelled jumping behind the other three and sacrificing himself. His blood immediately gushed out from the wounds left behind as his body fell off his sword.
"Who is attacking?" The middle-aged man man with the longest hair growled turning in Ren's direction, a bloody sword in his right hand. "A mere mortal dares to interfere and even kill my disciple. How audacious!" He boomed, his eyes lighting up blue.
"Master? Please save-"
"Shut up! Kill off that serpent immediately!"
Ren didn't wait for their argument to end, he bent down and touched the icy ground. Using almost half of the qi inside him, he summoned as much fire as he could, forgetting about his initial decision not to interfere with things that didn't involve his life.
"Gaaaaaah!" He groaned, releasing a wave of qi that ignited into golden flames, melting the ice in its way and burning anything blocking its path.
The magnitude of the flames reached them in the air and started melting their blades.
They screamed, breaking the attack formation they were using to suppress Han. Their master wasn't spared either, his robe caught the flames as he tried flying away from the sudden fire explosion.
"Master!" The remaining two disciples cried out when they failed to escape the roaring blaze, their swords completely melting from the heat.
Panting, Ren walked through the flames, his robes burning away to leave him naked. Not even the spiritual clothes could withstand his very own flames.
"Han? Han?" He called pulling the motionless Han on his lap. "Hey! Open your eyes dammit!"
His mortal body was just as wounded as his snake body. Blood covered almost every inch of his bare skin, and a stab between his chest, which was the deepest of them all.
"R...Re...Ren?" Han called weakly, trying to open his eyes but failing. "It's...warm."
"How do I save you? Tell me right now!"
A small smile made it out of Han's lips. "I'm...dying, am I?"
"Stop talking nonsense if you're not going to tell me how to save you."
With angry tears in his eyes and blind anger in his chest, Ren carefully picked up Han who was almost his height and weight.
Step by step, biting and gnashing his teeth, Ren made it inside the cave where the flames had reached only halfway.
The smell of blood was so strong that Ren's stomach twisted in fear as the worst scenario played in his mind.
After putting Han against a wall, he placed a hand on his chest, caring not about the blood now flowing down his arm.
The tears dripped on his thighs while he helplessly struggled to transfer his qi into Han using the Void. "Stay with me! Don't you dare die!"
"Ren," Han breathed, his words weaker than before. "Stop, please. It's...over."
"What are you saying? Can't you see that I'm trying my best to save you, you bastard!"
Han lifted his face to look at Ren, knowing that this would be the last person he'd see. "Take...my...my core. Use it."
"No!"