Chapter 12

I had a pretty good idea what he wanted me to do with the mug. I stored it in my space and then pulled it back out. Unfortunately things didn’t quite go how I expected. The mug came back out but half the tea wasn’t in the mug and spilled all over the place.

“Interesting. While stored in your spatial dimensions objects continue to experience the flow of time.” Elder Yui said and then got up from his chair and walked over to a cabinet. He pulled out a small clock. It reminded me a bit of an egg timer.

The elder winded it up and then handed it to me. “Go ahead and put that in your space.” After around a minute he told me to pull it back out.

“Well it looks like the time flow is almost exactly the same. Which is good if you ever want to put a person inside your space. Not so great if you want to store perishable objects such as food.” Elder Yui said.

Next the elder went and grabbed a potted plant and handed it to me. It looked like some green shrub of some type. I stored the pot with the plant in it and a new message appeared in front of me.

A living item has been stored in your universe. You will gain life energy passively from this item while it is in your universe and death energy if it dies while in your universe. This item passively produces less than one life energy per day. Upon death this item will release twenty six death energy.

Part of me was relieved to see the message. I had been afraid that plants produced so little energy that they wouldn’t be worth storing in my universe. After reading the message I pulled the plant back out. “Can you store just the plant?” Elder Yui asked me.

I shrugged and told the space to not store the plant and not the pot. The plant and soil near the roots disappeared. About half of the soil stayed in the pot.

“Interesting. Your power automatically transported the soil necessary for the plant to survive along with the plant itself. If it didn’t the plant would die very quickly. Which would be a shame since it’s a fairly expensive alchemy ingredient.” Elder Yui said.

As I pulled the plant back out of my space it didn’t settle in the pot quite the same. It looked a bit like I had dug it up and then put it back. It would probably survive but I couldn’t help but feel a bit chagrined. Especially after elder Yui had said the plant was expensive. “Just how expensive is it?” I asked dreading the answer.

Elder Yui just shrugged. “Expensive for most people but not so much that I’d worry about losing it while we experiment. It’s one of the more common alchemy herbs in my garden.”

I couldn’t help but feel relieved. “That’s good to know. Also I could tell that it was giving me energy. It was just a tiny bit though. I’d probably need at least a hundred thousand of them to equal the energy I’m gaining from you.” I said.

Elder Yui looked thoughtful. “That’s not terrible. Although I’m not sure where you would find so many herbs. That would be most of the herbs in my garden and would take up far too much room. However, herbs are a lot easier to find than level nine cultivators that you can imprison in your space.

“I could get more life energy with more powerful herbs. Plus the more energy I gain the more space I will have.” I said.

Elder Yui looked thoughtful. “I think we are going to need some advice. Also I think your ability may be the solution to one of my problems. I just have to warn you that what I’m planning to show you must be kept a secret. Even more than the fact that I’m a level nine cultivator.” He said.

“What are you going to show me?” I asked.

“I’m going to introduce you to the people that maintain my garden.” He said and then got up and gestured for me to follow him. I wanted to ask more questions but before I could he was already outside and the guards were close enough they could hear.

“Stay here.I’ve decided to show young Zhao the center of the garden.” Elder Yui said to the guards.

“Sir. That area is forbidden due to how dangerous it is. Even the clan head is not allowed in the center of the garden. If something were to happen to lord Zhao the clan head would surely have my head.” The head guard protested.

“I promise that he will be alright. Nothing will happen so long as I’m with him. If something does then I will take the blame with the clan head.” Elder Yui said.

The guard looked like he still wanted to protest. After a moment it was obvious he decided that there was no use. I kind of felt bad for him since he was caught between a rock and a hard place. His only real choice was to let me go and hope that I returned unharmed.

Before we left I stopped both of them for a moment. “I forgot earlier. I’ve decided to take a new name. My life as Zhao may as well have ended when my core was shattered. Please call me Adam.”

The guard accepted this without any question. Elder Yui gave me a quizzical look though. “What’s the real reason you have decided to change your name?” He asked me once we had left the guards behind.

My blood ran cold. Elder Yui really was far too perceptive. “You still have your ability. That will give you power. Probably more than you ever yielded as Zhao. People change their names when their situation changes permanently. You losing your power is a temporary change and both of us know it.”

I gritted my teeth and decided that it would be better to just tell the truth. Any lie I could think of wouldn’t hold up to Elder Yui’s scrutiny for long. “When Zhao’s core was shattered his soul moved on. My soul took its place. I’m a transmigrator.” I admitted.

Transmigration was a term I had only read about occasionally on Earth. It referred to a genre of literature where someone migrates to another world. Often replacing the mind of an inhabitant of that world. Upon gaining Zhao’s memories I had realized it was something that really did happen in this world. It was just remarkably rare.

Elder Yui thought about my revelation for a moment before he replied. “I suppose I have to believe that. It’s too outlandish to be a lie. Is the ability Zhao’s or Adam’s?” He asked.

“I suppose a side effect of the transmigration itself?” I answered with a shrug. I was just glad that he had taken it so well. Most cultivators dislike transmigrators. They were considered too unpredictable, just like unusual ability holders. Which often meant killing them on sight.

“Any other secrets you want to tell me?” Elder Yui asked as he mock glared at me.

“Nope.” I said with a grin and a slight chuckle.

Elder Yui shook his head. “I have to admit I walked right into that. Let me rephrase I guess. Is there anything you haven’t told me that is dangerous to me, or anyone in clan Ashton.”

I shook my head. “Anything else isn’t serious or is something that isn’t even remotely likely to come up.” I said.

I only really had two secrets left. The fact that my power was due to the dimensional originator and not an ability. And my dealings with Angelos.

“In that case I suppose it’s time for me to reveal one of my secrets. This is only known by a handful of the oldest elders in clan Ashton.” Elder Yui said, stopping in front of a dense area of the garden. It was so dense I couldn’t imagine anyone making it through without spending some serious time with a machete.

My eyes widened as all the plants in our way moved and a path opened up. I nearly stumbled backwards as I saw a tree literally uproot itself and scoot over a couple of feet. Within moments we were standing in front of a tunnel made of foliage.