7 007

He lost count of how many times he experienced death. And that's when everything stopped. This time, he was no longer repeating the scenario. He saw himself as who he was now, an owl. A small owl with light brown feathers. He was in his nest with his Mother and siblings. It was before he became capable of flight.

After some time went by, something approached the edge of the hole. He could see two large orange eyeballs. Then, he saw a gaping mouth. And he felt himself being chewed. He was being eaten and forced to experience it.

He opened his eyes to the same scenario. This time, he wasn't the one being eaten first though he ended up being devoured in the end. It enabled him to at least understand it had been a snake who made a meal out of him.

And that snake did it four more times.

Then, it was a wolf. Then, it was a giant eagle. Then, it was a giant lizard… Even the big owl had a taste of his entrails a few times.

Once the inner demon felt satisfied, he ended up dying to a fire. Burnt or smoked, it depended on the scenario.

Then, it was the hunger. The other was no longer there. He ended up devouring his siblings before dying. And after that, he was the one being devoured. Only for him to devour one before being devoured in the next.

During the next scenario, he left the nest. Flying. Only to be eaten. And it went on like this until he once again lost count and all faded to black.

He found himself back in his previous body of a middle-aged cultivator. Wearing the robe that he had when he died. Tattered and bloodied. He looked around and saw nothing but darkness. Until a sound came from the front. Then, he saw shoes, clothes and finally, a face. His own.

In front of him was himself. The very same as he was looking now. A weary face filled with wrinkles that made him look decades older than he was. A bald head without a strand of hair, poor cuticles lost to stress a long time ago.

They both looked at each other before the fake one spoke: "It's been a while, me"

He gazed at the man that was himself yet not himself. He sighed and greeted him as if a long-lost friend: "Yeah, it's been some time"

The fake chuckled as he asked: "Did you enjoy my little present?"

He asked back: "What did you intend with it?"

The fake was smirking as he began to express himself: "You died after pushing yourself onto that path once. What did you die for? Nothing! No one will remember you over there! Your life was insignificant! Worthless! Because you tried to go against the heavens! Because you cultivated foolishly when you shouldn't have!"

"Back then, do you remember what I showed you? I showed you possibilities! Of a bright future! You lived a simple yet happy life! It was something you could grab! But you insisted on going against fate and the heavens instead! It brought you ruin, pain, sadness, despair…"

"Look at me. This is you. That's how we ended up. Which is why, this time, I didn't show you how many wonderful possibilities there were for us to grab. Instead, I showed you our future. What will happen to us? We will die. Again"

He hadn't replied not because he agreed but because it was meaningless. Was arguing with the inner demon useful in any ways? No. It was not. You only needed to let him talk and reject him at the end. That was the first test given to cultivators. And those who failed mostly did due to what they saw, making them either hope or despair. They ended up losing themselves in the possibilities and giving up on reality itself.

He would not make such a mistake.

He asked the inner demon: "So, what do you want me to do?"

The inner demon spoke as if it was obvious: "Die. Kill yourself. We both know that we, I, fear death. Especially after embracing it once. But this fear… We are only pursuing cultivation because we are scared of death. In hope that cultivation may lead us to immortality"

"However! Immortality is nothing but an escape! We should embrace death so that we no longer fear it! Only by facing it can we overcome it! Therefore, we, I, have to die!"

He looked at the pitiful inner demon. Since the demon couldn't show him hope because being an owl would only bring him despair, he tried to scare him with death? It was sad. This inner demon was so much weaker than the first time he met it.

He gazed at it and asked: "Are you done?"

The inner demon asked back: "Am I? Only through death can we finally be free of this fear. Peace and eternity will come after death. You shouldn't keep trying to go against the heavens and instead, embrace our fate, that is to die like all creatures"

He answered the inner demon: "No. I plan to live and continue to fight. I do fear death but I believe that facing against one's fear is a worthy fight, demon. I don't want to die; I wish to live"

The demon smirked as his body began to slightly fade away into the darkness. He laughed as he whispered his last: "To think you would still believe and utter the same words…"

Indeed, he said what he previously said when he faced the demon back in the days. He always feared death and fought solely to survive, to live. He never cared about what it meant to go against the heavens and such, he only wished to live. Human or owl, it didn't change that fact. He did not want to die. And if he wanted to live, he had to be strong.

If being strong meant going against the heavens, then, so be it. He would go against it.

His eyes opened to a brand-new sight. He could see so much more than before and his entire body felt full of life and energy. He could feel the spiritual energy now coursing through his veins and how to manipulate it. It was as if a limb he had lost regrew. He could feel every inch of himself and his energy. It was the feeling of reaching the starting stage of spiritual accumulation.

He was now a true spiritual beast just like a human would have been a true cultivator. Because he could now feel his own spiritual energy and use it however, he wished. He was no longer shackled to the prowess of his mortal body.

As he looked around once more, he noticed how he wasn't in his secret lair any longer. He was in the open, standing on top of a cleaved open tree. Then, he realized this was his secret lair but it had been cleaved with everything on top of his head having fallen to the side.

It seemed like the breakthrough was accompanied by a phenomenon slightly stronger than he expected. But it was fine since nothing dangerous happened.

He spread his wings and flew back to his nest. He was exhausted and he didn't want to sleep in the open. The inner demon showed him that there were many ways to die for a little owl in a forest. At least, this little event would serve as a warning.

As he arrived at his home, he found it difficult to enter it. And once he managed to get in there, it felt cramped. That's when he truly realized how much he grew. He left the hole and flew to a branch of the tree to his left. The home of most owls.

On that very branch, there was an adult owl. As he perched himself near it, he had to look down in order to see it. He was twice its size in height. As for his wingspan…There was likely an even larger gap.

It seemed that he didn't just broke through a realm but truly through the limits of the existence that was his race.

Visually, he wasn't different. He only grew in size. A lot.

What did it mean? That he needed to find a bigger tree to call his home now. And it soon proved to be right as most of the owls began to hoot at him while waving their wings fiercely. He wasn't sure if it was a welcome or the opposite. He still couldn't comprehend them.

Turned out it wasn't a welcome as he sensed a rock falling down on him from up there in the tree tops. He easily dodged it and looked up. There was the big owl with another stone in claw.

They didn't want him here, eh.

He thought: "Then, I guess I just have to find a different place to settle in"

And he flew away into the night, searching for a bigger tree to make a hole into. He was already tired so he wouldn't be picky.