Fang Tian lifted his head and stared at the sky with an empty gaze filled with void and stillness. His face wore an expression of extreme peace and submission, like someone who had seen through the layers of pretension people wear, revealing the depths of their harsh nature.
A strand of his green hair, like a leaf, fell onto his right eye, which was brown like tree bark. He let out a tired sigh and then spoke.
"The Gu world, although it is the harshest destiny , is the best destiny . As Fang Yuan will say in the future, in this world that possesses the primal essence, why not pursue immortality?… But since my birth here seventeen years ago into a family of mortal hunters, I have faced nothing but discrimination and persecution, even from my own relatives."
Fang Tian continued observing the world, and his expression shifted to one of confusion. He was a otherworldly demon, that is, from Earth. And although he admired Reverend insanity and possessed a slight desire to experience this world, reality and imagination were something else entirely.
He did not have the social or communicative intelligence he had on Earth, and since his arrival here through unknown reasons, he was gripped by complete terror. He wished to be born into a strong clan with loving and powerful parents, but one cannot impose their will on destiny, and so he ended up the son of hunters.
Worse, he was born with a weak body and had been a burden on his father and brothers, and so, after turning seventeen, he ended up on a "hunting mission" with them—and was lost in the mountain due to a "mistake."
No doubt he expected this, but expecting it and living through it were two different things.
A shiver ran through his body from the cold mountain wind. Fang Tian rose heavily from the cliff and clutched his old leather cloak. When he turned, he was greeted by the sight of a forest of Arrowleaf trees, the smallest of which was twenty feet tall. This was one of the many mountains along the southern border, called Mount Shu Jian, named after the Arrowleaf trees.
Fang Tian stepped cautiously into the forest, trying not to make a sound. Although he appeared calm outwardly, he was terrified inside; he was not yet a Gu master, and a normal beast could kill him, or a snake bite, or a spider sting.
As he entered the forest, silence fell over the surroundings, and he moved while observing shadows dancing, signaling the beginning of sunset.
"Very bad… the sun is almost gone, and if I don't find a cave before it sets, I'm dead."
A drop of cold sweat ran down his neck, increasing his tension. He hurried his movements, leaping quickly over protruding tree roots. He nearly stumbled several times but managed to balance without falling, a testament to his good luck.
Upon reaching the edge of the forest, he found his refuge for the night.
At the edge of the forest was a crevice barely wide enough for his weak and thin body. Fang Tian hurried inside, squeezing his exhausted body into the crack and barely slipping in.
Once inside, he rolled onto the cold, hard ground but allowed himself a moment of rest. His body was drenched in cold sweat, which was extremely bad news for him.
With this weak body, he would undoubtedly fall ill, and without food or water, recovery would be extremely difficult.
"But that's tomorrow's problem… now I have to seal this crevice with something."
Fang Tian rose and began exploring his surroundings, looking for something to block the crevice. Using the small amount of sunlight that seeped through, he was able to see around him.
The cave was not large; on the contrary, it was small, and there was nothing useful except golden roots forming a circle two meters in diameter.
"I think this will work… by closing the crevice with these roots as ropes, I'll be safe."
Fang Tian bent down heavily to the roots, stood on them, and then bent his back to pull the roots. He felt the texture of the living, warm, moist roots and furrowed his brows in tension. But he had no time to hesitate.
The circle of roots opened quickly like living snakes and clamped onto Fang Tian!
"Ughhh, damn it! Am I going to die by a tree?!"
He truly wanted to cry. His struggle and ambition in this world had been in vain; he was not a character destined to be great or to be written into history among the geniuses and heroes.
Fang Tian woke up, feeling cold and wet, with the sound of water flowing around him. When he opened his eyes, he was greeted by a scene so beautiful that he had never imagined anything like it existed. Lights floated above the water, reflecting different colors, forming a fantastical scene. Fang Tian was captivated by it, causing him to rise and take involuntary steps forward.
But he was soon met with invisible pressure like a wall, making him aware of the situation he was in.
"This is the Spirit Spring?! Hahaha, it really is the Spirit Spring! I have the chance to become a Gu master."
Fang Tian's excitement grew, and as the invisible pressure faded, he began to walk.
5 steps.
10 steps.
15 steps.
Fang Tian thought inwardly:
"I have the talent to become a Gu master. As long as there is hope, there is a chance. But the pressure I feel is still very weak… I can walk further."
20 steps — C-classtalent
30 steps — B-class talent
42 steps — A-class talent
The pressure on Fang Tian intensified, but he continued moving forward until he reached 50 steps. Then he heard a loud roar between his kidneys and felt every pore open as cold spread throughout his body.
This change lasted only seconds, but to him, it felt like an eternity. Fang Tian tried to reach his aperture through concentration and closing his eyes, but he failed. Nevertheless, this did not stop his joy.
After all, it was an A-class talent!
And from his estimation, his aperture was more than ninety percent full!
Fang Tian moved toward the center of the Spirit Spring, where a fully bloomed nine-petaled lotus lay, absorbing the essence of the Spirit Spring to feed on it. It radiated an aura so powerful that Fang Tian stepped back and avoided it, though he had a bold guess about it.
At the end of the Spirit Spring lay a human body—no, it was not human. It was a tree carved in the shape of a human… or at least that's how it appeared.