Grandfather

As soon as Alex stepped out of the spatial gate he held his breath at the sight before him. The spatial gate opened up from a very tall tower at the edge of the capital city, and the sights before him completely took his breath away.

He was a simple village boy after all, and sights of beauty and elegance where scarce where he came from. But now, he could see a real city, a capital city. Lokoja might have been a city too, plus it was also quite bigger than the capital city Abuja, but the beauty and advancement of Abuja alone could not be compared to Lokoja.

Alex could see airships, air cars, and hover bikes all over the skyline of the city as massive skyscrapers stretched all the way to the top of the sky. To the east, and quite close he could see the famous Zuma rock. A rock that's been a tourist attraction for generation upon generations and for as long as the city has stood. Zuma rock was massive, it was over a hundred feet tall, and quite a few hundred wide, but the most eye catching thing of the rock was the naturally formed depiction of the head of a man….or woman, no one really knows what that is.

People of the colony of Nigeria have been quite superstitious about that rock for a very long time, but Alex couldn't say that he blamed them. The blood thing was beyond creepy and unsettling, even as it was awesome and eye catching.

Anya stepped out from the spatial gate after him, followed by his father, uncle and his uncle's attendants. The moment his uncle came through, he saw a group of people gather in front of him with their hands cupped in a greeting.

"we welcome Elder Zhang to the city of Abuja, the heart of Nigeria."

While Alex felt as if their greeting was a little overboard, they weren't wrong about Abuja being the heart of the colony, after all it was smack dab in the middle of it. Alex turned to his father who placed a heavy hand on his and Anya's shoulder, while they looked out to the city in front of them. Truly the next step of their journey begins now.

"We're currently in the Zuba way station, and the competition would be carried out at the Eagles square, but that's no problem of ours. We would be heading to Wuse zone 4, there's a branch of the sect there, and father is already waiting for us there. We carry out your tests tomorrow, and also have a press conference after to address the ghastly situation that took place in the particle world. And after that, to not test fate, we will be leaving the colony immediately and heading for the empire of heaven. So savor the sights in front of you nephew, it will be a while before you see this city, much less the colony itself again."

Alex looked a little troubled by his words, and so did Anya. But Ben's reassuring touch and loving gaze gave them the strength to keep moving forward. With that out of the way, they were immediately led to board an airship. Apart from the vehicles that still traveled by land, this was the first time they had ever been on one that fly's, and it used the ambient and unrefined Qi in the air as a power source.

The airship was a normal traditional looking sea ship, unlike the newer version of airships, the ship they were on was made of wood, leaving it with less defense than normal. However that's to be expected as this ship was a ceremonial ship, and only used by visiting dignitaries with very high ranks. Alex spent the entire journey to branch of the Wudang sect looking down at the capital city below him, a city he has always considered would be his home once he finally made it out of the village with Anya.

Some parts of the city was a little clustered with tall buildings, others side were free and had massive patches of green forests and rolling hills and very beautiful looking valleys. It was perfect combination of science and nature, and with the occasional cultivator flying by on a sword, spear, clouds or even a magic carpet. With cars and bikes and buses that flew, Alex didn't see the need for all these redundant method of transportation, but this was a traditional legacy of cultivation and not many people seemed willing to let go of it.

Eventually the airship came to a stop on top of a very massive and tall skyscraper, the top of the build had a massive holographic display with the yin-yang symbol on it, which was the official symbol of the Wudang sect. His uncle went down first and came face to face with a group of people who bowed again and cupped their hands.

"We welcome Sect elder Wuyan!"

This was completely unsettling, this was not something Alex was used to, and the whole official like atmosphere was making him very much uncomfortable. But that was not the end of it as when Alex stepped forwards, followed closed behind by his father who for a reason Alex was about to quickly find out held back Anya, leaving Alex to walk forwards on it's own. And then it happened.

"We Welcome Young Master Zhang Xiao Feng!"

Alex was so startled that his heart jumped erratically within his chest and he almost had to run back towards his father. His uncle burst out laughing as he came towards him, even with a serious look on his face, Alex's father Ben had an almost unseen grin at the edge of his mouth. He walked forwards with Anya and said to Alex.

"This is your life now Son, you can't always be so jumpy whenever people kowtow to you and show you respect. Besides why are you so startled, they're not going to eat you young man, so just relax and be yourself." As soon as he finished speaking, Alex heard and old and wise sounding voice speak out from behind him.

"He's not wrong young man, you will have to learn to get used to the power that comes with your bloodline, and the responsibility and hard work that comes with it. You're a Zhang boy! Things like this should not spook you, and above all the blood of dragons flow through you from both sides of your bloodline, and from you I can feel the power of your ancestors, the power of the spirit kings."

Alex's uncle looked a little confused, but he bowed his head along with every other attendant around at the old man that was walking towards Alex and his father. Ben seemed to stand up straighter, as he kept his eyes focused on the old man, and his somewhat very imposing stature.

"You have a very big legacy to live up to my child, there are worse things in this world that can scare you than just a simple show of respect. So man up, if experience has told me anything, it's the fact that no matter how fast a Zhang tries to run away from power, he never escapes it. No matter where you go, power is attracted to our bloodline, just as we're attracted to it, isn't that right Benjamin?" the old man turned towards Alex's father with a smile. Ben cupped his hands in return and gave a small bow.

"Benjamin greets the former sect head."

"Hahahaha former sect head! Seriously? If you had chosen to stay with us, that title might have been father in law. But I don't blame you, Suiyan has always been a tough nut to crack, even me as her father can not control her. But either way, it is good to see you again my old student, and please none of that sect head crap. I'm your master, and that will never change in this life or the next, not to mention you're the father of my first and only grandson of the same bloodline. You're family, no matter how much you try to deny that."

Alex was a little lost for words; this man was his grandfather? Apart from the fact he seems quite a few centuries old with his long white hair and flowing beard like some sort of wizard, who actually exist mind you, but it was just the long grey and beard that showed his age. Take those away, and you would have a middle aged man that looks no older than forty, and no younger than thirty or thirty five.

The old man shook hands with his father and then even hugged him, proving to Alex that his father's relationship with this grandfather of his, was not as simple as he thought it was. After all they were master and student, and now they were father and grandfather to the same child. Because him, their connection was even deeper and their relationship seems to be really good, Skeptical or not, Alex had a good feeling about this grandfather of his.

"Xiao Feng….."

"Alex! My name is Alex, just Alex."

"hmmm, is that so? Okay then I think I understand where this is coming from. Your mother gave you that name, and you probably have issues with abandonment and whatnot when it comes to your mother, but Alex. Your mother lacks finesse when it comes to parenting, she didn't give you that name, I did. Are you going to deny me the chance to call my talented grandson a name I gave him with all the love in my heart? That wouldn't be fair to me now would it?" Alex's grandfather asked him with a smile on his face.

Alex couldn't refute what he said, because in a way he was right. The old man seems really cool to be honest, and Alex felt the need to really know him. So Alex shrugged his shoulders as if to agree, but making it seem like he was nonchalant about his decision, very much like teenager he is.

"Feng'er I'm happy to see you, and also this friend of yours, Anyaja isn't it? Hopefully I got the pronunciation right. There's much we have to talk about, but first how about a late breakfast with me, let me tell you the story of how I found the Yi Jin Jing, and became one of the most powerful if not the most powerful cultivator on earth today. So you see when I fell into this secret valley when I was boy, after my grandfather sent me there on an errand..."

Anya and Alex were led away by the warm, fuzzy and kind old man, as they became enamored and lost in his tales. This was a ploy, because it drew their attention away, y long enough so that Benjamin would get back on the ship, and disappear into the horizon, not to be seen again until a few years later, leaving without saying goodbye.