The Lifebound Life Chronicle and the Small Sapling

Year 0189 of the MunYu empire, day 18 of Two Moons.

Lee Yenshu is a 8 year old kid with no cultivation base. Born out of wedlock, his mother died while giving birth, his father, sold him for a pack of tea leaves.

He was raised as a slave from his earlier days, having not much to eat, and enduring pain and hardships just to amuse others, the one that had purchased him was a wealth slave dealer, that for some reason, took interest in the young boy. That caused anger and revolt on the other slaves, who would often steal the little amount of food that was given to Lee Yenshu, beat him up using pillows as to not leave any marks on his body. His master was no better, his "interest" in Lee Yenshu was just from the fact that the boy didn't cry, and he wanted to see his face while crying.

At the age of 8, the manor were he used to work was raided by mountain bandits, and in the fire and chaos of it all, Lee Yenshu tried to run away from his fate, only to be hit with a arrow on his shoulder, and fall into a cliff.

Almost dead, with nothing to cling for hope, he simply moved around, in pain, waiting for the pain to end, and for his life to be over.

That was not his fate.

By a whim of the heavens, he was spirited away from his world, and fell into the depths of a cave. The pain had subsided, and for some reason, the air felt lighter, and richer at the same time. Each breath he took seemed to heal old wounds, and quench both the thirst and the hunger that were his everyday companion.

The cave was a beautiful natural wonder, on the walls, a thin layer of water could be seen coming down through the rocks, giving moisture and a scent of fresh rain to the cave. There was some plants growing, some golden flowers that Lee Yenshu had never seen before, the flower had engravings on each of its petals, and a faint glow could be seen from the core of the bud. 

But what most caught the attention of the boy, was a huge pine tree, that stretched all the way to outside of the cave, the branches of the pine tree were all sculpted, as if tendly gardened by a skillful gardener, each branch had just the right amount of leaves, as if the tree was no longer a tree, but a statue, or a painting. The light of the night sky pierced through the roof of the cave, causing the tree to be alight with a bluish hue, the boy was mesmerized.

Each movement of the leaves, each crackling sound that the tree made, it was almost like a opera that the heavens had created just for his amusement.

"Is this heaven? Did I die?" The boy thought to himself, happy to accept his death if that was the case, for never in his life, had he seen such a wonderful sight, nor felt such peace.

- You are not dead, young scion of man. And this is no heaven, not the one you know of, at least.

A tender, caring voice ringed in his ear, Lee Yenshu looked around, and no one was there, only the golden flowers, and the pine tree.

- Do not fret young one, the place from which you came, is but one of the thousand of planes of existence, just like the one you so dearly called "Heaven". I am the voice of this old tree, it's been centuries since anyone visit me, could you tell me your name?

- This one's name, I think is Lee Yenshu... But most of the time, they just call me Dirt, or Dog. Are you a demon?

The tree's leaves shaked furiously as Lee Yenshu asked her that.

-No, I'm not a demon. And it's quite rude for you to say that Lee Yenshu. I am a origin spirit. One of the few that remains on this realm. I was planted here as a sapling, by the great Sage of the pine garden, over 10 thousand years ago.

-This one is sorry, I only know of demons, as a older slave told me that the only way I would ever be free, was to make a deal with one of them. I was hoping you could set this one free.

As Lee Yenshu lowered his head to reply to the spirit of the pine tree, the air around him got warmer, and the rustling sound of leaves flying with the wind could be heard. 

-You are no longer a slave Lee Yenshu, why would you ask a demon to free you, if you no longer have any shackles holding you down?

The warm wind seemed to lift his soul, and heal even more of his wounds, even those he didn't now he had. He could fell energy entering his body, and for the first time in his life. He cried, and as the tears dropped from his checks on the ground, he could feel a warm touch on his checks, wiping away a few of the tears.

In front of him, was a gorgeous woman, dressed in jade green clothes, with a brown see through mantle on her hair, wearing a crown made of tree branches.

-Rest now young one, for the will of the heavens have brought you to me, just as I was about to embark on a new journey. Rest, and I will guard your sleep.

And then, as if all the tiredness of his life reached him at once, he closed his eyes, he was calm, at peace, and for the first time in his life, he rested, with the certainty that his sleep would be supported, watched over, and protected.

Year 0189 of the MunYu empire, day 20 of Two Moons.

Two days have passed since Lee Yenshu arrived at the cave, and, while being guarded by the spirit of the Pine Tree, he slept through those two days.

The cave he was in was no regular cave, it was a immortal cave, set up by the Sage of the pine garden, and as he had long departed the world of cultivation, all of the tools, and treasures on the cave, were left without a owner. 

The Spirit of the pine tree was also on it's way to depart from this world, and cultivate freely in another realm. But something on that boy caused her to delay her journey. She could feel immense pain from the boy, but no rage, no anger, as if the pain was all he knew, and that he felt it was okay for him to feel it. She could not leave such a young budling to fend for himself, especially with that mentality.

While we was sleeping, the cave unclogged his broken meridians, pushed away the filth of his body. He was so tired, so exhausted from his earlier life, that he didn't took notice to the changes on his body, and slept through it all.

The scars that filled almost every corner of his body, were no longer, his skin, that was brittle and dry, was now like silk, tender to the touch. He was no longer the weak, malnourished slave he once was, the cave had brought him back to what he could have been, had he been loved by his parents, and allowed to grow as a normal child.

More than that, the sheer amount of innate Qi and primordial energy from the cave, gave him more internal energy than most of the kid cultivators from large sects.

And the Origin Spirit of the pine tree, left him with another gift, while watching over his sleep, she took the tallest branch of it's own body, and several of its own leaves, she also took a part of her own soul, and using the Sage's millennial steel and jade cauldron, forged a treasure for the young boy.

As he was still young, and knew nothing of this world, she created a book to guide, and chronicle his life, and to make sure that no one ever stole this from him, she bounded the artifact to his soul. 

However, the boy was still alone on the world, and even worse, this was a world that he knew nothing about, so, she took her memories, her knowledge, and impart it to the book. So that the book could teach all that the boy should need to live in this world.

After this, she continued to watch over his sleep, and as we was waking up, she began her own journey, vanishing into the air as Lee Yenshu opened his eyes.

The huge pine tree was no longer there, and the sunlight was reaching all of the cave. He could for the first time see more of the cave itself.

There, on his side, was a book, he never really took much notice to books before, not only were they expensive, but being a slave, no one taught him how to read, but something about that book was odd, it felt familiar, like it was but a extension of himself.

He got up, stretched a bit, and for the first time, there was no pain, he was amazed on how clear his skin was, and how there were no more bruises or scars. But what most got his attention, was the book. For some reason, he had the urge to read that book.

When Lee Yenshu opened the book, he was able to read the characters that appeared on it, no... reading was not quite right, he could understand the worlds on the book, as if they were whispered on his mind. 

The book had information on all of his life so far, from his birth, to the very moment he was reading the book. And more, any question he could think of, was answered by the book. The book showed him all of the tools and treasures that were on the immortal cave of the Sage of the pine garden. And even told him how to use them.

Once again, the boy cried, this time, from happiness, he was given more love in that fleeting encounter with the pine tree, than ever before on his own life.

He was no longer a slave, he was no longer bound by the will of others, he was free. And could now live on his own, start his own journey, and make his name known to all the corners of the world.

He knew of the dark side on people's mind, the way they can hurt and use others, so, he decided to only leave the cave, once he was strong enough, to face the world. And there was still a lot he had to learn from his book, and a lot he had to repay to the Pine Tree.

As he looked at the place were she used to be, he noticed a small branch, poking from the ground, with a single leaf standing strong, the pine tree may have left the cave, but it gave Lee Yenshu several gifts, the lifebound artifact, and now, a small, infant like spirit tree, someone to talk to, and for the first time in his life, someone he wanted to care for and protect.

-Are you the one my mother saved? - The infant like voice of the spirit sapling ringed inside Lee Yenshu's mind.

-Yes, this one was saved by your mother. My name is Lee Yenshu, do you have a name?

The leaf on the small branch moved up and down, as if it was thinking.

-My mom gave me a name before leaving, Guang Zhishu, and she told me the name of the artifact that she created for you. The Lifebound Life Chronicle. That book will write itself with everything that you do, telling the story of your life, and can also eat other books, and teach you it's content.

-She was the one who gave this one such a gift... Thank you. This one promise to never misuse this book. And this one will also look after Guang Zhishu until it can take care of itself.

-You don't need to do that, my mother wanted you to be free, we spirit of trees, know how much it hurts to be shackled down. We can't move from were we are born, we can only try and reach the sky, while firmly tied to the ground. She did not want that for you.

-Do not worry about this one, this one is now free, so he can choose to stay here, at least until your main branch is as big as this one. Then this one would leave. Until that time, this one has a lot to learn, about this world, and about all the things this one never had before.

The single leaf on the branch moved up and down, as if excited to have someone looking after it. 

This was the start of Lee Yenshu's new life, a free life, a life of his own choice.

This was the first chapter of his own tale, one that would forever change the fate of those he encountered.