Li Chengfeng fell at an alarming speed, flailing his arms desperately. He had not given up hope yet but failed to grab on to anything. Then, he felt his body hit something hard, as if his organs were struck by a heavy hammer, and he blacked out.
Su Yuehan occasionally controlled her body during the fall, slowing herself down. When she saw Li Chengfeng fall into the lake at the bottom of the valley, just at the moment she was about to hit the water, she suddenly floated mid-air.
The tiny, agile body hovered over the surface, stepping lightly on the water to create small ripples amongst the large ones formed from Chengfeng’s fall.
She looked around to see a thin veil of mist swirling on the surface. Behind her was a cliff wall covered in moss. Due to the mist, her vision was obstructed in most directions.
She looked down to look at the lake with a frown. Her brows finally relaxed as she huffed coldly, “Consider yourself lucky!” She lifted a hand and a person flew out of the water. It was the unconscious Li Cehngfeng.
With a flick of her wrist, Li Chengfeng fell hard on the rocks by the lake, causing him to bleed everywhere instantly.
“Should I save him…” She stared at the annoying casanova, hesitant. “If he is truly the reincarnation of the traitorous immortal, he should not die here, if he isn’t… Then what’s the use of me saving him?”
At such a thought, she strode angrily on the surface of the water to the shore and squatted down. Looking down at the unconscious Chengfeng, she extended a finger and touched his forehead. “Let’s see if you dare tease me again!”
“Hmmph, I know you won’t!” She flicked his head and snickered. “Anyone who dares tease me will end up like you!”
As she spoke, blood suddenly poured out from his orifices.
She was stunned. “What’s going on?”
She was about to check his pulse but retracted her hand instinctively as the memory of the terrifying previous experience was still fresh. She did not dare touch him again.
However, when she saw more and more blood flowing, she struggled hard within herself. Is he dying?!
No, he’s the reincarnation of the traitorous immortal, he can’t die!
But…
Eh? Wait, even a reincarnate can die, right? If not, why would the palace send out a kill order years ago?
If she did not save him and he was actually a reincarnate, then… what?
There was a very interesting question at hand: What did he do for the Immortal Realm to see him as a traitor and need to kill him?
She stared at him and thought for a moment. With a deep breath, she lifted a wrist and formed a mudra with her long, thin fingers. A few drops of crystal-clear blue water appeared at the tip of her finger.
Before she could proceed to the next step, a sudden change occurred in his body.
Glowing golden threads flowed out of his body, wrapping him into a cocoon. He looked like a silkworm wrapped in a golden silk cocoon, the shape of his body barely visible from the outside.
As the golden thread flowed, they extended in all directions. All the green plants by the lake started to rustle. It sounded like silkworms chewing on a leaf, growing louder and louder and echoing across the canyon.
Yuehan leapt up in fear, vigilant of her surroundings and using her powers to protect her body as her eyes darted around.
Her eyes widened in the next series of events: the green plants around him started to grow at maddening speed, their green leaves and vines all extending towards his body as if they operated consciously. Once they touched him, they wilted instantly so the healthy leaves crumbled into brown ones, while the thick vines reduced to brittle stems.
However, plants still surged like waves towards him, as if about to drown him in a sea of green waves!
…
When Chengfeng’s body slammed into the surface of the lake, he felt the impact and blacked out. The next time he opened his eyes, he realised he was in a pitch-black space. Everything was ink-black darkness.
Such darkness was enough to trigger panic. He looked around, unable to orient or locate himself. He shouted but only echoes came in reply.
He looked up and finally saw a small bit of light at a horizon far away. It looked like a lantern hovering mid-air as a guide to something.
With the tiny bit of light, he could barely make out ten gigantic stone pillars in the dark space around him. Every stone pillar extended up into the sky, larger than life. Li Chengfeng could not imagine the sort of humans who would be able to build and carve such large pillars.
Just as he stared at the pillars in confusion and panic, he suddenly remembered that the last time he dreamt, he had also seen ten large pillars at the magnificent golden palace!
As he mulled over how these ten pillars related to the previous ten, the light in the sky suddenly shot a ray of light down at one of the pillars.
He walked suspiciously towards the lit pillar and studied it. He noticed that its carvings were separated into four rectangular sections, each section filled with words tightly carved together. Li Chengfeng could only barely recognise the characters at the base but he did not understand what they meant when put together. It was obviously an essay, just one he did not understand at all.
Between the rectangles were delicately carved patterns. He recognised them to be the same carvings of flowers and grass as the one he saw at the previous palace.
This was a peculiar situation. Why did he have two consecutive, similar dreams? What were the pillars for? What was up with the carvings?
Only
He thought for a moment, gritted his teeth and climbed up the pillar. Fortunately, he was fit and the carvings provided many footholds.
After climbing for a long time, he realised he had reached the top. He looked around to see that the nine other pillars were far taller than this one. The dot of light in the sky was still far beyond his reach.
With the light from the sky, he struggled to make out the words at the top. He muttered to himself, “Dao of the Heavens: Equilibrium Triumphs; Dao of the Mortals: Imbalance Triumphs! Yet the Dao of the Heavens trumps the Dao of the Mortals! All men, animals and plants all come from the same source, and shall respect the Dao of the Heavens…”
Li Chengfeng did his best to read the characters only to realise these were the same ones he read the last time!
What did it even mean?
Also, where was he? Why was he here?
His mind was filled with questions.
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