Chapter 55 - Legacy Of The Lost Immortal
Xukong himself was a little surprised upon finding a legacy treasure in the pile of random items. He was getting more and more interested in this world. He could not tell what the legacy treasure would contain, but he was sure that the legacy treasure was not from this world.
The craftsmanship of the legacy treasure belonged to a higher realm and with how complex the formations placed on it were, Xukong knew that it contained a complete legacy. The only question remaining was that whether it will deem Lin Mu worthy of it.
While senior Xukong was in his thoughts, Lin Mu was staring at the wooden slip, trying to figure out how to use it. He even tried observing it with his spirit sense, but was unable to find anything. Finally, giving up after a few tries, Lin Mu turned to senior Xukong for answers.
"What does this wooden slip contain?" Lin Mu asked.
"Every legacy treasure is different. Some contain the entire inheritance of an expert while some may only contain minor inheritances. Some contain martial techniques or cultivation techniques while others may contain the life experiences of a cultivator." Xukong answered.
"Now then, to activate the legacy treasure you need to put a drop of your blood on it." Xukong explained.
Lin Mu followed senior Xukong's words and used the short sword to prick his finger. He then let a drop of blood fall on the wooden slip. As soon as the blood touched the wooden slip, it was absorbed and numerous runes appeared.
The runes spread from the wooden slip on to Lin Mu's hands and then onto his chest. Unbeknownst to Lin Mu, an obscure pattern was formed on his abdomen which then sunk in and disappeared. A few seconds later the runes disappeared, and a connection was formed between Lin Mu and the wooden slip.
Lin Mu then opened the wooden slip and saw words appearing on it. The entire wooden slip when opened was fifty centimeters long and was made of twenty five individual wooden strips. Lin Mu started reading the words one by one.
"I was called as the Lost Immortal and this is my final legacy.
This legacy that I am leaving behind was the work of my life. I suffered many setbacks in my life, some because of my enemies, some due to my miscalculations, and some due to the heaven's will.
While I was staunch and stable in the early part of my life, later on, after suffering one misfortune after another I developed heart demons.
I could be considered to have had below-average talent in cultivation, and all that I had was gained through sheer dedication and hard work. The heart demon I developed was because of a problem that usually belonged to the mortals, starvation.
In the tens of thousands of years that I lived, I often found myself in conditions where I was heavily injured, stripped of qi, and trapped in deadly situations.
While the commoners think that immortals don't know the sufferings of mortals they are wrong. They think that immortals no longer feel hungry, nor do they need to breathe. While this is correct to a certain extent, it is only so when you are in an optimum condition. Even immortals when they deplete their qi and vital energy need to eat in order to survive.
For cultivators who have lived as long as me, all have gone through similar situations such as mine. But their suffering cannot be compared to mine. They may have been in one, two, five, or even ten situations, but it still would not compare to mine.
While most would not survive after their luck ran out, I do not know whether it was my fortune or misfortune that I have survived one hundred and seven such tribulations.
I often thought if it would have been better if I perished early on and did not suffer these tribulations. But every time I did that, my heart demon grew.
Slowly, over the years, I developed an obsession. I would no longer suffer the tribulation of starvation ever again. I knew that the heavens were against me and would pit me against a grim tribulation again, thus my obsession grew.
Eventually, all I could think of was my obsession and my progress in cultivation plummeted. I knew that this could not go on any longer, so I started my journey to find a solution. I journeyed through countless worlds and a multitude of realms.
I researched techniques that would help me in relieving starvation forever. I observed beasts that were known for their hunger, their ability to devour, and beasts that were long-lived and seldom ate. I hunted down unique races that did not consume material food as sustenance but rather obscure types of energies.
I found some beasts that were once thought to be myths and legends. I even discovered beasts that were never seen before. I went after creatures that were a hundred times stronger than me and came out alive. My obsession was now somehow fuelling my strength.
I now knew what I had to do, I was going to create a technique that would absolve one of their hunger. I gathered precious materials and unique treasures while using the knowledge that I had gained to forge my creation.
But alas, I failed. I was still lacking.
I began my journey again and wandered the universe. It was during this time that I was given the title 'Lost Immortal'. I had long forgotten my own name in my obsession, thus I just accepted it.
After a few years, I had an epiphany and my cultivation started growing once again.
But with the growth of my cultivation, the heaven's fury returned as well. I survived more of those cursed conditions and let my heart demon grew. I did not know why, but my heart demon never harmed me even though it had existed for a long time. Others would have suffered a qi deviation or a Dao collapse, but miraculously I did not.
More years passed and I could feel that I was slipping into insanity, one year at a time. I knew that once I was completely drowned in insanity, I would never resolve my obsession. Thus I staked all I had and revisited all the places I had been to, just to gain any small smidgen of inspiration I could grasp.
This time, I could not find some of the beasts that I had originally discovered, but I was still able to find the beasts such as The Golden roc, The Taotie, The Realm eater worm, The Sky swallowing wolf, The Immortal Kun Peng, and many more. I stripped their secrets and gained an understanding of their physiology and cultivation.
By now I was at the very edge of insanity and knew that I would fall into its abyss as soon as I lost control, even for a moment.
Knowing that I had no time left, I ended my research and started to reforge my creation.
I never intended to come out of this alive, thus I used everything I had, including my very life.
I ignited my Dao laws with my obsession and used the flames to temper all the precious materials I had gathered. I spent years working on it, yet I still felt that I was far from perfect.
Then suddenly, I was enlightened when I heard a voice in my mind. It was my heart demon; it had finally awakened.
It knew what I wanted, thus my heart demon offered me a solution which I gladly accepted, for I knew I had nothing to lose. I sacrificed my cultivation base and my body, using them as the metal, and fused it into my creation. Then finally, using my soul as the last ember, I let my heart demon perfect my creation.
Even at the very end, I knew that while my creation was perfect; it was still incomplete. Of course, unless a person cultivated it, it will be deemed incomplete. Thus, with my last wisp of consciousness, I finished my legacy and sealed the technique I had created into this wooden slip.
I recorded my life's experiences and tribulations for my inheritor to learn and as a final gift or you could say my last wish; I want my inheritor to name this technique after learning it. I hope that you will not suffer the tribulations that I did and are able to benefit from my experiences."
After an hour, Lin Mu had completed reading the entire wooden slip. As soon as he read the last word, all the words written on the wooden slip faded away and new words appeared on the wooden slip.
Lin Mu read these words and found that these words were describing the unique technique that the Lost Immortal had created. He read them and was slowly lost in them. Unknown to him, senior Xukong was closely observing him.
Xukong felt that everything was normal at the start, but after a while, he saw tears coming out of Lin Mu's eyes. He tried calling out to him but received no answer, as if he was lost in enlightenment.
'What kind of legacy did he receive?' Xukong thought.