"Who are you? Why should I remember you?" the young man asked.
Ning was a little surprised. 'Did I hurt his soul too badly? Did he lose memories?' he asked the system.
<He does have a lapse in memory due to the damage to his soul, but fortunately, once he reaches a higher level of cultivation base, his soul should heal, albeit at a slower pace. Even if you were to leave him alone, his soul will heal, and eventually, he will remember everything.>
'I see, that's great then,' Ning thought. He looked back towards the young man's soul and spoke. "You were ill just before, and I helped heal your soul. Something must have happened for you to temporarily lose your memory, but you will remember it eventually."
"My… soul?" the young man asked as he looked at his own hands again. "Argh! I'm a ghost!"
"Sigh, you're not a ghost, you're a soul. You've been reincarnated," Ning said. Having to explain it all over again felt annoying, but what else could he do?
<You can leave the World of souls now.>
"Do I have any other way to talk with him after I leave?" Ning asked.
<No. He won't be able to hear until he breaks through to the Nascent soul realm where his cultivation base forms a nascent soul in his body.>
"Then I will stay here for a bit. I have enough energy to spare," Ning said. "Besides, I am responsible for his situation in some ways anyway."
He continued explaining to the young man what was happening right now.
The young man couldn't believe that he had reincarnated into an entirely different planet than his last one, much less turn into a bamboo. How could he believe it even? After all, he didn't even remember dying.
"Do you know about my mother and sister? You seem to know a lot," the young boy said.
"I'm sorry, I do not know about them," Ning said, lying to the young man so he lived under the illusion that his family was okay.
It was better to let him live in a blissful lie than to suffer a bitter truth.
"So what is this world I am in?" he asked.
"It's called planet Diqiu," Ning said. "Let me tell you a little about this world."
Ning went on to explain about Diqiu, more importantly going into teaching him about cultivation itself. There were many different things he needed to learn about the world, and how to navigate it as bamboo. He would be fine as long as he reached the Spirit Transformation realm, but that would take a long time since plants didn't have any cultivation method they could follow.
However, Ning wasn't worried about that. Given the type of bamboo he was, reaching higher realms would be the least of his worries eventually.
He taught the young soul a fair bit before finally preparing to leave.
"You likely won't be conscious for a long while, but try to remember what I taught you," Ning said. "That should help you a bit."
"Thank you, brother," the young soul said.
Ning nodded. "Let me know if you want to know anything else. I might not be here when you need it," he said.
The young man thought for a bit. "I don't have any new parents in this world, do I?" the young man asked.
"No, You came from seed and nothing else. You have no family here," Ning said. "If anything, the only family you will have for now is the little beast you have on top that is eating your leaves," Ning said.
"Okay then, please give me a suggestion. What should I call myself?" the young man asked.
Ning thought, using his brilliant mind, and came up with a brilliant name that would shine throughout the world as one of the most unique names of all time.
"How about Zhu Zi? It fits the Chinese theme of this world and perfectly suits you," Ning said.
"Zhu Zi… Zhu Zi… rolls off the tongue quite nicely. Hmm, sure. My name is Zhu Zi from now on," Zhu Zi said.
"Great! Have fun then Zhu Zi, you will go back to sleep, but you should wake up before you know it," Ning said.
"Thank you… uhh," Zhu Zi said with a slight pause. "What was your name ag—"
The world of souls faded away and Zhu Zi went back to the bamboo that Ning's hand was still touching. The light returned and Ning finally opened his eyes.
"Haaaah!" he breathed in loudly as he hadn't done so in a while. He took a few more deep breaths and looked around.
"Did he say something in the end?" Ning thought but didn't give it much thought. "So, I can't do anything here can I?"
Since the bamboo had a soul, there was no chance of him being able to take it without killing the young man he had just met.
<You can just take one of the offshoots. As long as you don't cut the main stalk in half, he won't feel any pain.>
"Oh!" Ning thought in surprise. "Is that right?"
There were two different offshoots coming from the main stalk of the bamboo, so Ning grabbed onto one of it and broke it from where it grew.
"That's fine right?" he asked the system.
<yes. He can grow many such offshoots in the future, albeit they will take an incredibly long time.>
"I see," Ning thought. "I should leave this other one here then."
Ning looked at the bamboo one last time and smiled knowing that he had helped someone that was in need and didn't just leave him because he feared risking his energy.
And to his surprise, it paid off quite nicely, giving him some 40 Septillion more energy.
"Let's leave," Ning thought and had only turned around when he heard Blue's voice directly into his mind from far away.
"Master, please come out here fast. You need to help me!"
