44 Back to the beginning.

While Marcus was unconscious, Xiao Mei scouted their surroundings more carefully. And while doing so, she gathered some wood and leaves. Unlike the regular tree leaves, these ones were big, long and in the shape of a feather. But they were perfect to use as shelter roof.

But before she starts to build she needs to secure some food. Fortunately, the forest was filled with fruits and small animals, and soon she was full.

After carefully moving Marcus to a better location she started to set up a camp. Hours passed by, and slowly Marcus's body healed itself, Xiao Mei was surprised at how fast it was, even Body Reconstruction experts can't recover so fast without any external help.

The next day all of his wounds were healed, and all that was left were faint scars.

---

Waking up, Marcus unconsciously opened his eyes, quickly adjusting them he saw a small camp, and Xiao Mei not too far away. Before he closed his eyes again, he checked if Xiao Mei was fine. And after he confirmed that she was doing good, he moved his attention to his body.

On the surface it looked fine, all of his wounds healed, and faint scars were all that was left after them. But looking at the inside of his body it was different, his organs changed, some were missing, and there were some that haven't been there before.

Name: Marcus

Age:15

Health: Perfect.

Aptitude: MAX

Muscle strength: 1

Flexibility: 1

Speed: 1

Energy: 0

Everlasting Soma Reserves: 0

His stats changed as well, everything was back to one, with the exception of the energy that was at zero. It was no surprise; his whole body was rebuilt. But there was also a new stat, Everlasting Soma Reserves, a special ability of this constitution was to produce special molecules and a type of energy that can be used to regenerate the body in what is almost an instant. They are stored in the body until they have to be used, Everlasting Soma Reserves is what represents how much he has stored.

"Marcus… You woke up!"

Xiao Mei came back with a bunch of fruits, 'growl,' seeing them Marcus's stomach give out a loud scream.

"Xiao Mei, can I have some?" with an embarrassed smile Marcus continued looking at the food. He really needs to eat, the Everlasting Soma Reserves can be filled with food, so it will greatly help him.

With a nod she walked up to Marcus, giving him the fruits. "How are your wounds?"

"All healed up, but all my strength is gone. I will have to start practicing from the beginning again; it will take me a few months to get where I was. What about you?"

"I… won't be able to cultivate anymore; my Dantian was shattered when I was attacked that time."

…

"Don't worry! After the breakthrough, my body became a lot stronger and… "

...

"Marcus?"

Seeing Marcus with his head hanging down she fought that he was blaming himself, but from the looks of it, he was… ignoring her?

"Xiao Mei, if you can wait a few days I can give you a new cultivation technique. Not only you will be able to cultivate again; it will be a lot stronger than your previous one. And don't blame yourself for what happened, and don't say you aren't, one look on your face and it's obvious that you do."

"Right now we need to make sure we can go back to the Academy, and if we don't work hard, it will be impossible. With our current strength normal animals can kill as, so pick yourself up and let's start to… 'growl'... eat... then we can start working hard."

'Giggle'

"What's so funny Xiao Mei? Everyone has to eat!"

'Haha' with Xiao Mei laughter, both her and Marcus felt better about their situation. And as Marcus was eating she told him what she found so far.

---

The city of Higherground was quite a distance away from the sea, but he didn't come here to have fun. This city was the heart of the demon world underworld. Literally and figuratively. The city was at the top of a mountain range, and underneath it are mines that how are used to do the so-called shady business.

Here he will have the highest chance to get a boat, figuratively. He will find someone who either has one or have connections with someone who does and is willing to get him a spot on it.

The only problem is… again... more problems… it is that he doesn't know any criminals or shady people. He as a last surviving member of the dignified Demonic Dragon Clan never had to come in contact with this sorts of people.

But if he looks for long enough, he will definitely be able to find someone.

Looking at the gloomy entrance to the mines, Long Jiao felt depressed, all of this because he wanted to be cool.

The Mines were here for more than three hundred years, and since the minerals inside were all depleted, they became a hose for the scums of this world. With the size of the mines and their maze-like layout, hiding here was the easiest thing here. Over the years, more people came, and soon organizations came to be, and development started. Now the Mines are like a city of its own, run by the criminal organizations.

Why no one did anything about them? If they tried, not only would they suffer many losses, as the mines are dangerous on their own, the many traps that were installed there are countless.

If they try to collapse the mines the city above will go down as well. And with countless entrances that they created over the past century, there is no way to close the place tightly and exterminate them. In the end, it was decided to let them be; it was easier for them to fight an enemy that they know where to look for rather than one that is hidden in the shadows.

And as the time went by, the Mines existed and are now a big part of the city. The city and the mines are now coexisting in peace, both benefiting from their symbiosis.

Either way, he needs to find someone that knows a lot, and where to look if not a bar!