Every day for the past 2 weeks Long Shen used to religiously visit the recovering cub enquire about its health & went to the library to read about the Qi activation, its uses etc. These days were very productive reading, practicing Qi methods & sleeping. On the 10th day, the cub opened its eyes slowly & looked around & faintly howled to express its discomfort before closing its eyes again.

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** Meanwhile the Fortune teller Old man Ji built a hut for himself in the Silverwing forest as he was unable to pinpoint the exact location of the phenomenon. He could only follow the trail to the forest, so he decided to search the forest at his leisure & built a dwelling for himself. Everyday he searches around the surrounding areas of his hut, each day exploring in a different direction slowly mapping out the entire forest.

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After a few days the cub was more or less healed & started howling and chasing the monks in the monastery. Long Shen played with it & fed it whatever the food he eats. The cub only ate the meat & nothing else, slowly he noticed that the cub liked wild beast’s meat - these beasts were a delicacy even for the monks as they were scarcely available near their monastery. One has to venture into the depths to find these wild beasts that can cultivate & hunt them.

As the days went by Long Shen was rapidly progressing in his studies & more or less grasped the Qi Accumulation stage concepts along with learning about the outside world as he never left the monastery surroundings. His grandpa warned him about the wild beasts saying that they especially liked fresh young boy’s meat. Little Long Shen was terrified of wild beasts ever since. A few times wild beasts wandered into the Monastery in search of prey (They were quickly dealt with & the monks used to have a special meal for that day :D). They were sinister looking with fiery red eyes as if they were hungry since they were born, salivating at the first sight of humans as if they were a piece of meat. These instances solidified the thought that wild beasts are very dangerous & it is better to stay within the vicinity of the monastery. (One less worry for Grandpa)

Long Shen & the wolf cub became friends quickly, it used to follow him to the library & sleep on the reading table as Long Shen read these big textbooks on various topics. One day as they were playing in the outskirts of the monastery, the fortune teller Old man Ji slowly entered the outskirts of the Monastery & noticed the kid playing with a white fox. The medallion showed a faint resonance in the direction of the kid before quickly becoming dormant again. Elated the old man approached the kid & asked about his whereabouts. He came to know about long Shen & how his grandpa raised him. The old man Ji asked Long Shen to introduce him to his grandpa. Long Shen nodded as he escorted the fortune teller to his grandpa. They found his grandpa deeply examining a document as he was researching the increased incidence of wild beasts attacking their monastery recently. He wanted to know if the phenomen triggered by Long Shen has any connection to it.

Grandpa Shen noticed the Old man accompanying his grandson & went outside his hut to greet them. “Good Morning brother, I am Monk Shen the kid’s grandpa, who might you be?”

“I am called Old man Ji, a fortune teller by profession & a devout believer of [God Long]. I came here a few weeks back in search of a revelation of heavenly prophecy. Shall we go inside & talk the rest of the matter?”. Replied Old Ji.

“Sure, Please come in my friend….” - said grandpa

They each sat on a wooden chair. Old man Ji started “I was tasked with a duty by my master on his deathbed to wait for the signs of this medallion's activation & assist them who were responsible for its awakening.” he slowly handed the bronze medallion to Grandpa Shen. Sr. Shen slowly examined the dragon engraved on the medallion & was surprised to notice that the dragon resembled the light dragon formed during the Qi breaking of Long Shen. He immediately understood that the fortune teller was talking about the phenomenon & his grand kid. He was exactly afraid of such a thing, someone might notice the phenomenon & come to harm his grandson.As if reading his mind old man Ji answered “I am not here to harm your grandkid, I serve the Dragon God Long & I am ordered to assist the person that can awaken the medallion i.e., your grandson - I believe he will become a legend in the future, let me witness his journey to the top with you, I will Stay here till he is of the age to attend a sect for formal education & I will personally recommend him to Join the Eastern Dragon Sect. That is still a long time in the future - so let me take refuge in your monastery till both of you are ready for the next stage of his education ”

“Hmm, I also thought of sending him to a sect after he finished his basic training, I consider this an opportunity from heavens - Brother Ji, feel free to stay here as long as you like, you can build your hut here & stay with us.” - Replied Sr. Shen. After chatting for a few more minutes they emerged from the hut & saw Long Shen playing with [Snowy] (The name given to the wolf cub by Long Shen). “Shen’er come here… Take Mr. Ji to the guest accommodation, he will be staying there until he builds his hut near our monastery...” informed grandpa. “Ok Grandpa, Please come with me Mr. Ji” beckoned little shen.

Old man Ji Settled at the monastery & started to observe the progress of Long Shen anticipating what exciting things the future holds. The days at the monastery were peaceful almost like the calm before the storm. He could divine that something major is brewing with the forest as the center. He hoped it might just be his sceptical soul doubting this peace he is having….

One day a loud roar startled the monastery….

To be continued….