Immortal and mortal

Two more months slid away, and at last the day of the Immortal's arrival had finally come.

The air in the village was thick with anticipation, and murmurs of hope and trepidation swept through the narrow streets.

The simple and humble houses of the villagers, now showcased signs of festivity with lanterns adorning their exteriors and the faint scent of incense wafting from open doorways.

The fields usually alive with the sounds of labor, lay barren as the villagers gathered at the heart of their settlement.

The village square had a sea of faces that had assembled.

Men, women, and children of all ages had come together, their eyes intently fixed on a raised platform at the center.

Twenty seven youngsters, the future of the village stood at the forefront.

The children had expressions ranging from anxiety to hope, for today was the day their destinies would be decided.

It was the day when their cultivation aptitudes would be tested.

For these teenagers, success promised to elevate them to legendary status, a chance to transcend the ordinary and become dragon among men.

Yet, if fortune did not favor them, then life would condemn them to exist as plain commoners. Continuing on with their uneventful lives.

Amidst the group of teenagers on the platform, one figure stood alone.

Wei Wushang leaned casually against a weathered stone pillar, his gaze fixed upon the vast blue sky, as though in pursuit of something distant.

Wei Wushang's unwelcomed presence garnered occasional glares filled with disgust and contempt from the villagers.

Yet, he remained unfazed.

Time continued to flow at its usual pace.

As the sun gradually reached its zenith, the sky suddenly came alive with a vivid crimson streak, like a trail of fresh blood painted across the heavens.

A collective gasp swept through the crowd as the Immortal arrived.

With the swiftness of divine lighting, a humanoid figure descended from the clouds. As the scarlet radiance waned, a middle-aged man in white stood before them exuding an aura of both elegance and power.

His sharp gaze swept over the mortals before lingering on the youngsters standing near him.

"Are all the candidates present?" The immortal questioned, his voice cutting through the silence like an icy blade.

'Such overbearingness!' Under the immortal's unfeeling gaze, Wei Wushang's heart started pounding violently, and his face paled as his eyes briefly locked with the Immortal's.

Wei Wushang felt this sensation deep in his bones, very different from what he had experienced five years ago.

During these past five years, from the vaults of his imaginations, Wei Wushang had played out various scenarios regarding this fateful day. He had envisioned the immortal's arrival with breathtaking majesty and force. As if fate itself were scripted to his colourful fantasies, it unfolded precisely so. But in all of those imaginary scenarios of his, Wei Wushang stood tall, unwavering like a pillar of courage, locking eyes with the immortal without backing down.

Right now, Wei Wushang was down on his knees, trembling like a lamb before the slaughter. His forehead covered in beads of cold sweat and his eyes glued on the marbled floor, too hesitant to even glance at the immortal's feet.

Wei Wushang quickly realized the state of his own pathetic display, and it struck him hard. He raged in his heart, 'Wei Wushang! You are not a coward. Rise! Stand tall! You cannot bring shame upon your parents names. You have brought them enough pain, but never shame!'

But to the boy's dismay, his body had failed him. His limbs turned to strangers. For all the fighting spirit within him, the horror of the immortal was simply too overwhelming.

"Pathetic, pathetic..." Wei Wushang's teeth ground together in humiliation as the words escaped his lips with bitterness. It felt as though another piece of his heart had been carved away, leaving his already wounded heart with a fresh new scar.

The other villagers weren't faring any better, a chill as cold as death ran through their veins as they felt the weight of their future weighing down on them like mountains. It seemed as though the people here had been warned not to breathe, as if even inhaling the same air as the immortal would be a mark of grievous disrespect.

The village chief, an experienced elderly man suddenly stepped forward. He bowed low and spoke respectfully, "Lord Immortal, these twenty seven children are the recommended candidates from our humble village."

The middle-aged immortal nodded, "Very well, form a line and have them step forward one by one."

Without delay, the old village chief arranged the children into a orderly line. Naturally, Wei Wushang found himself placed at the end.

The old village chief had even briefly contemplated removing him from the stage but then remembered the sect's strict order that required every eligible child to undergo the aptitude test, or else the village chief would have to face dire consequences.

The boy in the front walked over carefully, his little heart jumping up and down like a child bouncing on a trampoline.

The middle-aged man put his hand on the boy's shoulder and declared emotionlessly, "No talent. Next."

The youth suddenly lost all strength. His eyes looked lost as he moved to the back with his head hung low, realizing that he could only continue to live as an weak and powerless human.

All his hopes and dreams had been shattered by the cruel hand of reality.

Another youth stepped forward with a fearful expression.

"Not qualified."

"Not qualified."

"Not qualified."

Sixteen people in succession failed the test. By this point, the middle-aged man's expression had turned even more cold. He was clearly not pleased by the results so far.

The villagers were now sweating . They could clearly sense the immortal's mood darkening. And if this continued, there was a high likelihood that the middle-aged Immortal would vent his frustrations on these unfortunate people.

After all, in the eyes of immortals, mortals were merely tools that could be discarded if deemed useless.

As the tension in the air became suffocating, a boy stepped forward with a confident look on his face.

"Thank the heavens, we have Shu Feng. I was worried for nothing."

"Haiya, he's the child prodigy who learned to walk at four months and started speaking after just a year. His parents must have truly amassed good karma in their previous lives to have given birth to such an able child."

"Tsk, only if my stupid son had half the brain as this boy, I would happily die fighting a pig."

"Pig? Brother Chen, are you perhaps talking about your wife?"

The buzz of admiration and envy mingled in the whispers of the villagers. It was known to everyone that Shu Feng was the candidate with the highest possibility of succeeding in the awakening.

Shu Feng's parents, standing at the edge of the crowd, anxiously watched their son's life-changing moment.

Shu Feng's mother clutched her hands tightly to her chest, her eyes filled with nervousness as they remained fixed on her son's tiny back.

At that moment, a rough-looking man standing beside her gently placed his hand on her shoulder and whispered, "Worry not, our son will not disappoint us."

A tear glistened in the woman's eye as she nodded, taking comfort in those words of reassurance.

Her husband smiled at her before shifting his gaze back to the platform. His gaze flickered between his son and the immortal, and back again. Inside, he too was gripped by nervousness.

The Immortal's icy gaze softened as he observed Shu Feng. He could clearly tell that this boy was slightly different from the rest. With genuine interest, he placed his hand on boy's shoulder and closed his eyes.

The villagers collectively held their breath, their hopes resting upon the young shoulders of Shu Feng.

'I will definitely be selected!' Shu Feng was filled with determination.

With shining eyes Shu Feng gazed up at the Immortal's face. In the next breath, the middle-aged man's lips parted, and he uttered the words that the boy found to be unbelievable, "Not qualified... Next."

"What?!" Shu Feng stared at the immortal in utter disbelief. For the life of him, the boy couldn't believe the words he had just heard.

The villagers gasped simultaneously, their faces reflecting the boy's disbelief.

It was as if the air had been sucked out of the village square, leaving behind a vacuum of silence.

The middle-aged Immortal raised an eyebrow, speaking calmly, "I said you're not qualified. Nex–"

Shu Feng immediately interjected, shouting frantically, "Impossible, this can't be true! The entire village knows I'm a prodigy. If I can't make it, who else can? There must be a mistake in this test! You have to reevaluate it!"

He shouted with much fervor, his words echoing through the village square. Then, in his insanity, the boy reached out and grabbed onto the Immortal's unblemished white robes. The middle-aged Immortal's eyes instantaneously flashed with coldness.

"Disgraceful bastard!" Shu Feng's father erupted in a fit of rage as he stormed onto the platform.

He seized Shu Feng by the arm, forcing him to kneel, and both of them prostrated themselves before the imposing figure of the Immortal.

The villagers all had ugly expressions as they exchanged nervous glances, while feeling uneasy internally.

"Sorry, sorry! For offending lord Immortal, please forgive my son's rude behavior. He is still young and does not grasp the gravity of his actions, I beg for your mercy great one!" The father pleaded desperately, his voice shaking with pure dread.

Shu Feng, however, still refused to accept such an outcome. His voice filled with defiance as he protested, "Father, I won't accept this. There must be a mistake, how can your son turn out be useless? It's just not possible!"

"Shut up, you bastard!" The father was truly frightened and angry now, he quickly moved his hand to give the boy a tight smack, but the Immortal suddenly moved and grabbed his hand and prevented any movement.

"He is still a child, no worries," the Immortal reassured with a light laugh, gently patting the little boy's head.

The boy stopped struggling and raised his head to look at the Immortal, but there was still a fragrance of defiance lingering around him.

"Thank you, Lord. Thank you for your kindness!" The boy's father was greatly relived and immediately expressed his gratitude, continuously kowtowing to the Immortal.

But the father's joy was quickly cut short as he heard the Immortal speak, "Of course, he is immature. But you, as a parent failed to instill discipline in your child, you deserve to be punished."

Without the slightest hesitation, the Immortal raised his leg. And with a swift, merciless motion, he brought his foot down upon the man's head.

Bam!

In a gruesome display, the man's skull shattered with a sickening crunch, blood and brain matter splattering in all directions, creating a bloody mess of flesh and bones.

The villagers recoiled in terror, while Shu Feng covered in his father's warm blood, stared blankly at the headless corpse twitching on ground.

"Huh... Father?" The boy remained motionless, unable to muster a single human reaction.

"Yijun!!" A woman in the crowd cried out in anguish as she rushed towards the man's headless corpse.

Midway, the Immortal coldly snorted and waved his sleeves, and a windblade that resembled the crescent moon flew towards her like a deadly blade of doom.

Splat.

In a brutal aftermath, the windblade cleaved her body into two equal halves, blood and guts spilling out like a waterfall of crimson gore. Her lifeless parts fell onto the marbled platform, resembling a sliced tomato served on a silver plate.

This time, the boy did react, and one must believe me when I say it was filled with passion.

"Mother!! Nooo!!!" Shu Feng's voice was full of sadness, unjust and helplessness. He felt an unbearable pain in his chest as he frantically crawled towards his mother's side, tears flowing from his eyes as he screamed tragically, "Ahhh, why? Why did this happen!?"

The Immortal sneered as he walked towards the boy's side. With a harsh kick, he sent the boy flying off the platform.

Slamming heavily onto the ground, fresh blood leaked from the boy's mouth, and his vision darkened as he rapidly began losing consciousness.

Before the darkness could claim him entirely, a colorless picture took shape in his mind. He could see his parents standing close, their eyes filled with all the love in this world, gazing at him with forgiveness.

In that moment, words proved insufficient to convey the depth of his anguish.

Suddenly the village turned deathly quite.

Swoosh.

A cold wind blew, washing away all liveliness of the awakening ceremony.

The crowd of mortals fell into an uproar. Children cried, and women shrieked loudly. The men all looked grave, and with some people even vomiting at the gruesome sight.

The old village head positioned at the forefront appeared especially terrified, his old face looked uglier than a monkey's ass.

The middle-aged Immortal grunted coldly, his menacing gaze moving on, seemingly impervious to the emotional storm he had just unleashed upon the poor mortals.

Wherever his gaze landed, the mortals lowered their eyes like terrified animals.

This was the might of an Immortal!

'Heh, these mortals are nothing but dogs on a leash,' the middle-aged immortal sneered. 'Every so often, their hormones flare up, and they dare to bark at their master, acting all rebellious. But a swift smack on their bottoms reminds them of their place. Hmph, they couldn't be any more ordinary!' The middle-aged immortal snickered inwardly, relishing in his display of dominance over the mortals.

"Oh?" The Immortal's gaze suddenly locked onto a boy. He narrowed his eyes, fixing his attention on this strange individual.

Wei Wushang fearlessly met the Immortal's gaze.

It was as if he had suddenly gained a lion's heart, fear didn't touch him!

And neither did he spare a thought for the victims.

No! At this very moment, all the boy felt was pure exhilaration!!

The corner of his lips curled up, revealing an unseen image of insanity in his excitement. 'Haha, what splendid performance. I almost can't resist the urge to applaud. But what is this feeling? This desire rising within me? Is it power that I desire, or... or is it the freedom that power brings? Yes, that's it... probably. Pheraps, only by walking the path of cultivation will I find the answer. Yes, only then...' Wei Wushang's hands were clenched tightly as an icy flame of determination burned in the darkest depths of his eyes.