Ling Tian swung his sword with deadly accuracy and all his power to cut the demon's heart. The demon had finally shrunk down and it had gained speed vastly superior to Ling Tan in exchange for losing a small part of its strength. It saw the red buzzing blade coming for it, a sense of crisis filled the demon.
It saw Ling Tian had focused everything on offense so it thought to attack with everything as well, all humans feared for their life and it thought Ling Tian would be the same and withdraw in the last moment; Then it could toy with this human and kill him. The only reason it was forced to make such a decision was that it had recently transformed and Ling Tian had instantly attacked without giving it time.
The two attacked and collided with one another, a flash of red and fiery yellow light blinded all onlookers as a great shockwave of power spread out for over a few miles; A rumbling sound like a thunderstrike echoed.
Lian Qiu was hit in the face and staggered backward, he left Huo Bing on the ground and dashed towards Ling Tian. Huo Bing too stunned to speak, the little girl was in shock after seeing such a terrifying battle.
Lian Qiu reached the site after a while and stopped; he saw Ling Tian standing, his back to the demon, and his eyes obstructed by his hair, blood bringer in his hand slowly turning to ash; Behind him, the demon lay on the ground, it still glowed a reddish-yellow and yet it did not regenerate, it was cut in half. A dark red heart was visible in its body also cut in half.
Lian Qiu approached closer and saw a big hole in Ling Tian's stomach and he panicked. Roars of Demons in the distance reached his ears as he hurriedly ran to check Ling Tian's condition.
To his shock, Ling Tian had fainted while he was standing, his eyes were closed and he still breathed. Lian Qiu sighed in relief and put him on his back as he ran with all he had.
Those who only cultivated Qi had bodies one great realm lower, Lian Qiu who was in the early Inner-Heaven realm had a body as powerful as an early XianTian realm body cultivator. He was not week so he easily carried Ling Tian and fleed the scenery, afraid that the demons that were still far away would come soon.
He soon reached Huo Bing's location, the little girl asked with worry as she saw his unconscious form, "Is he okay?"
Lian Qiu nodded and crouched, "Jump on, we have to go!" Huo Bing obediently clutched unto his kneck tightly and held herself.
Lian Qiu fleed with all he had towards the direction of Fisher Lake Village, the place he had met Ling Tian...
Ling Tian was dreaming, he dreamt a strange dream. He dreamt of a happy family living in a happy village, he was part of that family of three. On a fateful day, the parents fell ill and soon passed away, leaving a 14-year-old to deal with the world by himself. Their only legacy a house and a few words to encourage him to remain cheerful and carefree...
The boy worked around the village helping others and earned a small living, the villagers helped him sometimes and he gradually grew up. The village didn't have the concept of an orphanage, it was a backwater place that barely had electricity and gas.
The boy turned 18 and decided to leave the village, his ambition was too big to remain in the village and work all his life. He aspired to go and see the world, adventure around and find love, maybe even one day become very wealthy and have his legacy passed on.
He left the village and entered a nearby city, he had an ID and thus he could easily find some small work and rented a flat and worked 2 jobs together. The village had a school so he was literate and had passed high school. A while passed and he realized he lacked knowledge so he began reading books to broaden his horizons.
Due to his carefree and cheerful mask, he had put on to honor his parent's dying wish, he gathered a lot of friends and the mask became him. His true self hidden behind and gradually forgotten by even himself.
When he turned 19, he had a great idea and since he had read books for a year, his knowledge was decent. He presented his idea to a company and they found it profitable, they hired him and gave him a decent amount of money and he became the head manager of his idea being incorporated into the company.
He worked hard and succeded in a year and secured his position, he bought a house and a car and finally stopped worrying about money. One day as he sat in his house he realized his life lacked something, something that made his life seem meaningless. After the pressure of money was gone, his attention was brought to such things.
He thought he lacked love so he searched around and had a few love affairs but he did not find long-term fulfillment... He was 20 years old and he had become successful and yet he did not find joy.
He returned to the village he had come from and visited his parents grave. He realized there that he had forgotten his reason for living along with his true self. He traveled around the world and enjoyed life while searching for his reason and yet he could not. He had satisfied his desire for an adventure and yet he could not find his purpose or true self.
Such was the way of society, most had masks on and their true selves were hidden or forgotten. The better the acting and lying skill, the longer one would survive and live better. Some had one and some had many masks, individuals that lived with their true self were rare.
He was confused and felt depressed, he quit his job and shocked all the friends he had. He had made a lot of money and used it on investments to create a steady income and decided to return to the village. Most of his friends cut ties with him making him realize they were not true friends when he thought about the fact that he was wearing a mask when interacting with his remaining friends, he realized he had no true friends...
True Friends are meant to accept each other's true selves and support one another, share interests and have fun, and help one another in need. Friends who stay for something one has whether it be beauty or wealth are not true ones. Friends who do not help when one is in need when they can help are not true friends. Friends that never tell one about their flaws and only flatter them or compliment them if they know one's flaws are not True. False friends will lead one to a path of loneliness and ruin.
He returned to his village alone and decided to live a comfortable life, a while passed and he was bored so he decided to try watching shows, movies and such and that eventually led him to novels and anime and other things... He had not paid much attention to it before.
He spent a lot of time absorbed in it, he felt like he could maybe find something in the worlds which were born of fantasy. He caught up with the many things he had missed due to his hard years when he was younger.
He decided to try fishing one day when he was 22, accepting the challenge of an old man. He went fishing and caught a sword that had two blades on the sides. In the dream, as he walked forward he tripped but not on something natural. He tripped on a wire purposefully put there and thus the sword fell on the ground, one tip facing his heart and piercing it. But on the ground, a black knife was also visible which meant if he had not died to the sword that knife would have pierced his throat or upper chest.
That knife had something purple-colored on it which meant it was also poisoned, he would have died regardless... He had not noticed these details because of blood loss and pain previously.
Ling Tian suddenly gasped as the sensation of death shocked him. He wiped some cold sweat off his face as he murmured, "What a strange dream... I dreamt of the past... Did someone want to kill me? but who and why? The sword must have been the reason I got the system and managed to come here..."
He looked around and realized he was in a familiar room, he stood up and checked his body. His Qi was abundant and he was in perfect condition as if the battle before hadn't happened.
He tore all the bandages around his body and changed into his previous outfit that was on the table near the bed he was on. He then looked from the window to the outside and confirmed his situation, 'I am in the Fisher Lake Village? Lian Qiu probably brought me here... That Demon was so powerful! I won simply because of luck, I need to train and solidify everything. No adventure and revenge for a while...'
He left the house through the window and floated down. He saw something and raised his eyebrows, down on the hill back to the house a huge number of people in cultivation robes with varying levels of cultivation were going back and forth between the many tents there. He was sure nothing was on that land when he was here back then.
He approached them and saw something which surprised him, Lian Qiu was surrounded by a huge number of people and they looked at him as if he was some sort of a leader.
Lian Qiu also saw him and immediately approached him and shook him back and forth, "Brother Ling, Help me! These people are crazy! They think I am their leader just because I am a core disciple of the sect, these inner disciples don't listen to their elders and come to me but I don't want to return to fight Demons! HELP!"
Ling Tian was at a loss for words, he felt an elder that looked like an old man with a cultivation level far above him approach them. "Young master Lian, your father tracked you here and sent us to help you free the Red stone city from the devil cultivators, he said that I tell you this, 'What goes around comes around little runaway, accept and succeed or be punished in that place for a month!' What is your order?"
Lian Qiu let go of an amused Ling Tian and pointed at the latter, "I appoint him as the leader. Goodbye!" Everyone turned silent in shock, just as Lian Qiu wanted to run away, Ling Tian grasped his shoulder, "What Leader, Come here!"