ALL NOVEL Chapter 1: First Entry
Lu Jiangxian had a long, long dream. He dreamed of fields sown with rice, of flashing blades, and of immortal sects, women, and a vast lake.
“Hand over the ‘Taiyin Breath Cultivation Technique’ and the ‘Moonlight Chronicle Secret Manual,’ and we may spare your cultivation.”
A pleasing yet cold female voice echoed in his ears. Lu Jiangxian vaguely saw a blurry face but couldn’t make out anything clearly.
…
Bang!
A violent shaking sensation suddenly awakened Lu Jiangxian.
Strange and vibrant colors floated in his mind. Lu Jiangxian tried to open his eyes, to sit up, but his body, like being pinned down by a ghost, ignored his commands.
At this moment, a brilliant white light pierced through the thick darkness in front of him. Although the darkness surged like tide, that beam of light stood tall, timeless as the sun.
Countless golden runes burst forth, stretching his body in the darkness, spreading across the sky like stars.
‘So beautiful,’ Lu Jiangxian thought in a daze.
As more and more runes emerged, as if reaching a limit, he heard a sound like glass breaking.
The world brightened.
Lu Jiangxian saw a sky vast as the sea, a dense and boundless primeval forest. Not far away was a crescent-shaped small lake. In that direction, a white stream of light fell into the sparkling lake.
Below lay a small hut with straw roofs and fields of rice.
In a wildly rolling perspective, he flew like a light swallow over a small village and fireworks in shades of brown, passing over a clear river.
In a glance, Lu Jiangxian saw his reflection in the river.
‘It seems to be a round, sparkling thing…’ Lu Jiangxian thought perplexedly, a vague premonition emerging in his mind: ‘Am I no longer human?’
Splash! Another violent shake struck, and Lu Jiangxian quickly sank into the water. The river was too shallow to absorb all the impact, so he gently knocked on the green stone at the bottom of the river.
This knock made Lu Jiangxian feel as if someone had punched him in the chest. He felt a bit suffocated and short of breath. With the help of the turbulent river and the rebound force of the impact, he easily turned over, facing up, directly at the sun rippling on the river surface.
‘Wasn’t I staying up late and modifying the formula in the rental room?’ Lu Jiangxian silently watched the sun on the river surface, the water patterns continuously swirling.
Silently recalling the past in his memory, Lu Jiangxian had a headache. He only remembered collapsing on the bed, the smoke in the rental room, and the glow of neon lights passing by his side.
He opened a bottle of beer, sat at the dim computer desk, and as the dizzying feeling of the world spinning set in, he felt his heart beating rapidly, breathing becoming difficult.
‘I seem to… have passed away?’
‘This is quite good. No need to worry about the future, no need to worry about life.’
Perhaps being suppressed for too long, a thought like this unexpectedly surfaced in Lu Jiangxian’s mind, and his mood even became a bit jubilant.
Observing the surroundings, there were dark green branches with hanging aerial roots above his head, agile fish swiftly swimming across the water’s surface, and faint splashing sounds.
Lu Jiangxian sighed, ‘But just continuing like this would be boring to the point of madness.’
So, he stared blankly at the sun slowly descending from overhead. The radiant sunset spread across the sky, and the water under the tree branches gradually darkened.
During this time, two curious fish circled around him, and even a crab attempted to flip him over.
Until the moon moved to the treetops, casting a gentle moonlight on the river surface, Lu Jiangxian felt a cool breath penetrating the riverbed, bringing a sense of comfort.
Watching the moonlight gather above him, forming a faint white halo as if coming alive, Lu Jiangxian was amazed, and his mood underwent a completely different change: ‘What is this? Absorbing the essence of the sun and moon? Are there truly immortals, mystical powers, demons, and spirits in this world?” He thought in shock, “What have I become, a weapon spirit?’
A curiosity and joy arose deep within Lu Jiangxian as the moon halo seemed to accumulate enough strength and descended upon him.
He only felt a coolness all over his body, entering a kind of trance that was neither sleep nor wakefulness.
After an unknown period, the air became thinner, and Lu Jiangxian suddenly woke up. The crescent moon had faded from the sky, and the sun leaped out from the treetops, casting warm morning light on the river surface.
‘So fast!’
Lu Jiangxian couldn’t help but rejoice. Upon careful inspection, there was indeed a faint flow of air circulating within his body, moving in a circular motion around the edge of his body.
Even in his concentrated state, Lu Jiangxian could vaguely see a grayish-blue mirror lying quietly at the river bottom, surrounded by various colored stones, and a few fish were foraging on the riverbed…
The river crab was digging nearby. The visible range was probably about one meter around him, not very clear, like the thick-headed TV he watched as a child.
‘This is me now, huh?’ Lu Jiangxian wryly smiled. Then, he deliberately manipulated the airflow to stagnate at the center of the mirror, and the grayish-blue mirror emitted a faint trace of brilliance.
“Other than shining, I haven’t found any other use.”
“First, I’ll properly absorb the moonlight. Maybe there will be a qualitative change.” He planned in secret, “I don’t know the material of the mirror, and I don’t know how the outside world views intelligent objects. I hope no cultivator discovers it and casually wipes away its consciousness.”