The light of a monitor could be seen ahead.
So, shiny so bright, so painful.
So bitter.
Staring at it with reddened eyes, Lu Jian stared at it while gritting his teeth.
"This fucking idiot!" He barked.
Then, he put his hands and the keyboard and began to write.
UnfetteredFeatherman33: 'Junkrat93, what the *** are you doing in jungle? Return to the base now!'
Junkrat93: 'no.'
UnfeteredFeatherman33: '??'
Junkrat93: 'I will not listen to the words of such a p**sy'
Junkrat93: 'Also, wat is with that name? Did you think that name sounded cool?'
Junkrat93: 'LOL'
Lu Jian stared at it with thick veins in his forehead, he gritted his teeth.
"Calm down, and ignore the troll…" He muttered to himself, to calm his nerves, he grabbed his coke and took a sip.
Whilst also reclining from his chair, being the only thing that prevented him from falling his right feet which he pressed in the ground.
His gaze become distant, as he drank a bit from the coke, however at the next second he became extremely nervous as he stared at the clock on his computer.
"2:43 AM? Shit!" His shock was such, that he forgot he was reclining himself in his chair and pushed himself even more backwards.
He fell from his chair, his cranium hitting the floor.
And then.
There was darkness.
…
The air was thick and restless, his hairs not only from his head, but also from the wings behind his back, had goosebumps.
He felt the static rising, he glanced at the dark clouds above, and the intense, divine purple light surging from a massive cloud ahead of his vision with widened eyes.
Before he had the chance to complete a single Killer Move, he was struck viciously!
He lowered his gaze, and saw with shock, at the gaping hole on his abdomen.
Desperately, he used a Killer Move he knew all too well.
'Green Rain.'
A Green Cloud manifested surrounding the wounds, and from around it, several drops of miraculously dense, green liquid descended.
Trying desperately to close the wounds, but it was pointless.
The wounds were too deep, his organs too fried.
The soft, slow methods of Cloud Path simply stood no chance to repair his wounds in time!
As this realization reached his head, despair colored his eyes.
He said with red eyes.
"If only…If only I had not been so ambitious. Why did I ever agree to use that stupid Devouring Qi Cloud Move? Wasn't it good enough to ascend to Immortality?"
Memories flashed across his blurry eyes.
It was said that more than 19 out of 20 who tried to ascend to Immortality ended up dying halfway, some because they failed to balance the Qi, others because their Vital Qi was not strong enough, others because they were struck by an scheme halfway through.
But most who died, died because of one thing.
Tribulations.
Tribulations are both a punishment, and a trial for those daring enough to ascend, something which stumped most who tried to ascend.
And yet.
For a Righteous Cultivator like him, who was backed up by a Rank 7 Gu Master it was supposed to be the easiest part of all!
Staring at Kao Yu Hun, his resentment increased as he recalled his past words.
'If you use this Killer Move, the Dao Marks you gain will be doubled!'
'Yes, the difficulty will increase a lot, but with me here, you don't have to worry.''
And yes, initially things looked fine.
He even successfully created his Immortal Aperture at the end.
However even after clearing the Heaven and Earth Tribulation, the Heavens seemed bent in destroying the heretic.
Countless cloud swarmed his aperture, and in the end.
A powerful lighting strike was shoot, so quickly that he nor his defender could react in time.
As he recalled all of this.
His expression grew unsightly.
As the lights in his eyes faded, resolve appeared in his mind.
His body twisted, as he gritted his teeth and he let out a long primal roar.
He scattered into ashes, whilst screaming.
His eyes were blood red.
'If…I am ever reborn, even as a Land Spirit…I will, I will kill-" And yet.
Before his will could take shape.
Something unexpected happened.
A soul that seemed to come from nowhere, flew towards him at thunderous speed.
"What?" It muttered.
His eyes widened, as he realized that something was going wrong.
"What is going on? Is that a human soul? No, No, No, No…NOOOOO!
I refuse to fuse with a filthy human-----------AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
Lu Jian opened his eyes.
With pure shock in his expression.
"What on earth happened? Shit! Don't tell me, I ended up in the hospital."
He stared at his surroundings.
"Wait, why are there are a fuckton of clouds here?" He thought to himself, then he realized a second thing.
"Wait a second, I am falling!" With this realization, he tried to lift himself subconsciously, the wings he had begun to move, and tremble.
However, his control was messy and underdeveloped clearly inferior to the one of an ordinary Featherman.
Staring from the distance, there was another Featherman.
Who suddenly shouted.
"Are you still alive? Kao Dao Ji…" Kao Yu Hun desperately shouted.
His expression full of worry.
Lu Jian turned his gaze towards him, and then.
He recalled everything…
Kao Dao Ji was a Featherman born in the White Heaven, belonging to a relatively powerful faction called the 'Kao Clan.'
Those of that Clan were known for their Cultivation of Cloud, Lighting and Wind Path.
Amongst their new seedlings, there he stood, shining like a diamond.
At the tender age of 73, he became a Master in Cloud Path and had considerable achievements in Lighting and Water Path.
While this may not sound too impressive, it was on the standard of Featherman.
Featherman on average had a far inferior talent in other paths except for Cloud and Wind Path.
However, where there are disadvantages, there are also disadvantages Featherman tended to have lifespans which exceeded the 3 centuries, due to this even if they were 'slower-learners' they still could compete with humans.
Regardless.
Kao Dao Ji was a genius, considered the greatest Immortal seedling and possibly the future of the Kao Clan.
Not only that but he was son of the previous Supreme Leader, whom before his death had given him one of his precious Immortal Gu.
And if that were not enough, he was also supported by a Rank 7 protector, his chances of passing the Tribulation were infinitively close to 100%.
But then, his expression became peculiar as he realized a few more details.
"Devouring Cloud Qi…This Killer Move seems similar to the Big Family Gu I saw on the Novel." He thought.
But then, he added.
"No, this Killer Move was even more shocking.
By controlling the surrounding Clouds, they could not only control the intensity of the three Qi's, but also their type.
Controlling the kind of Tribulation freely.
Not only that, but by infusing this method on the decaying aperture they even used it to prolong the balancing of the three Qi's!
By doing this, he was able to refine two whole Immortal Gu's during his ascension." He thought with some shock in his expression.
However, his expression became more sober as he recalled.
"Of course, they failed in the end."
"Then again, why I am worrying so much about this? Likely this is a dream." He thought.
However, there was a seed of doubt in his heart.
What if this was not a dream?
What if this was reality?
"Before I am certain, I should act mindful…" With this thought, he stared again at the approaching Kao Yu Hun.
He felt Kao Yu Hun's eyes shining with a purple light.
Then, he saw his bones shining brightly seemingly in resonance.
Then, Kao Yu Hun's expression became abysmal as he muttered.
"So, you are really dead…" He muttered.
His expression wavered, staring at the Land Spirit of him.
Noticing the gaze of the flying Kao Yu Hun, Lu Jian's heartbeat became faster.
"Hopefully, he will not find anything if he does…I am dead!" His thoughts became faster.
Using the memories and the attainment he gained from the deceased Kao Dao Ji, he conjured a couple of Mortal Killer Moves to accelerate his mind, inwardly he pondered.
"What should I do?" He closed his eyes.
He was a Land Spirit.
Based on what he recalled, in the Novel of RI.
Land Spirits, were formed out of the obsession of an Immortal Gu Master.
Whose undying will, enabled them to cheat death to a certain extent.
Of course, to say cheating death was an overstatement, in truth while they were technically alive, they were no longer the former self.
Instead, while they inherited the memories from their past incarnation, they were 'dumber', 'purer' in their thoughts, akin to a child.
Not only that but their obsession also distorted their thoughts to the extreme.
Which meant that Land Spirits were extremely easy to manipulate.
Lu Jian analyzed his condition.
"My thoughts seems to remain clear; my rationality seems to not be affected. So, I guess I am an special case.
Then again, I do not know exactly what I am.
Or what happened for that matter.
Did I somehow reincarnate in his body, just as he was about to ascend?
Was this natural or…" While he was not sure, in the novel 9 out of 10 of mysteries in the Novel, ended up having a simple explanation.
A Venerable's Fault!
Thus, it was not that unexpected to guess this much.
Soon after, he ignored this thought.
Knowing would not help him.
However, there was one piece of thought that WOULD help him.
"Land Spirits are foolish and easy to manipulate, they are so simple in thought, that anybody even a child can trick them, however, I am not so easily fooled…" A tiny smile curled up on his lips as he thought of this.
Perhaps, by feigning simplicity he could fool even the greatest geniuses with this tactic.
Rapidly, he formulated a plan in his mind, using the few seconds he still had remaining.
"Kao Dao Ji!" Kao Yu Hun shouted yet again.
'Kao Dao Ji' turned his gaze towards him, and sighed.
"Master Yu Hun it seems I ended up disappointing you…" He said in a very childish way, while lowering his head in shame.
Kao Yu Hun's heart pounded.
Tiny tears appeared in his face, as he replied.
"No…No it was my fault that you died! If only, if only I had not been so short-sighted, if only…" The man stopped in his tracks; no more words left his mouth.
There was a long pause.
Then, he sighed and said.
"While I failed to protect you in life…Perhaps, I can still fulfill your dying wish. Please Xiao Ji, tell me what I can do for you?"
Kao Dao Ji stared at him with a blank expression in his face.
While he sensed that there was some sadness in his heart, he also easily perceived some lingering greed in his heart.
After all, one had to take into account one thing.
Kao Yu Hun was a Rank 7 Cultivator, but he was very poor in the grand scheme of things.
While he was not lacking in Immortal Stones, he was sorely lacking in Immortal Gu's, only possessing a single one.
In comparison Kao Dao Ji, inherited the Immortal Gu 'Cloud Field' from his father.
And during his Tribulation, he refined his Vital Gu Lighting Current, and 'Rain' Gu.
The comparison was simply too brutal.
Which made Kao Yu Hun extremely jealous too the core.
Still, despite that he did not make a move.
Why?
First, there was his friendship with his father, and the fact that he promised to help him.
He had already failed at that, to actively ruin his descendant was beyond what he was willing to do.
Another reason was purely logical, a Land Spirit was in a way, a 'good' of the Clan, and could not be damaged.
Finally.
There was the factor, that even if he struck at full force, there was no guarantee he would get anything out of the whole ordeal.
A Gu Master can easily destroy their Gu's with a single thought, if he pushed him into a corner, chances are he would destroy all of his Immortal Gu.
With those cons and gains, it was simply not worth it.
Of course, there was a better more efficient way to gain access to those Gu's.
If he managed to fulfill the Land Spirit's ambition, then the Land Spirit would pledge itself to him.
By then, let alone asking for those Immortal Gu he could even ask him to kill itself and it would comply!
Thus, in both utilitarian or moral terms it was simply far more worth it to fulfill its dream.
Of course, for this to be true, he had to be able to fulfill that 'dream' of his.
Which was why he stared at Kao Dao Ji expectantly.