When Ling Ye came back to consciousness, he could smell something burnt that was strongly assaulting his noses. He sniffed a little as he was irritated by the smell. But, there was some weird feeling he was experiencing too. He didn't know what it was, but his gut told him that he wouldn't like it much.
Worried, he slowly opened his eyes only to see trees flashing past his sight. The sight looked strange. It was as if he was flying in the sky. Ling Ye scoffed at that notion. Even though he was in a cultivation world currently, he still wasn't delusional enough to think he could fly already.
So, he slowly took stock of his surroundings. The air that whipped his face did indeed confirm that he was in the sky, for there were no obstacles in the front. Also, he could clearly see the trees below him. But, what made him worried was the strange feeling of someone gripping his hips.
His eyes slowly traveled to his hips and his lips couldn't help but twitch in annoyance. There were claws tightly gripping his hips. He slowly looked up to see a large bird flying the sky as it carried him away.
'Damnit! I am still alive you feathered carcass!' he shouted inwardly.
As Ling Ye took note of the bird he saw it was already struggling as it carried him through the sky. There were countless gashes on its body that looked like the bird had been in a fight recently. He idly wondered if this bird was someone's pet which had saved him after figuring out that he was alive.
But, he didn't have much hope regarding this sentiment. Rather, another troublesome possibility rose in his mind. The more he thought about it, the more the second possibility became real.
'It looks like after I fainted, the beasts in the area assumed that I was dead. From the looks of it, this huge bird must have won the battle and claimed me as a prize. However, even this bird doesn't seem far off from death,' Ling Ye thought to himself.
'Luckily, I fainted. If not, the beasts would have attacked me first before fighting amongst themselves. Ha ha ha... my luck is good. my luck is good.'
Just at that moment, the flying bird, at last, succumbed to its wound and faltered midflight. As a result, the bird began crashing towards the ground in an uncontrolled descent. Within moments, it crashed into the below forest unable to support itself in the sky any longer.
Just before the bird crashed into the forest, Ling Ye shot the heavens an aggrieved look and brandished his fists angrily.
(*****)
Ling Ye climbed out of the wreckage caused by the unfortunate landing of the bird. Luckily, he had escaped death once again by a hir's breadth. As the bird fell down from the sky, it was caught in quite a few branches on its way down.
While the experience wasn't something he would recommend others to go through, he was nevertheless grateful for that one branch that flipped the bird upside down, causing him to land on its belly. The bird's body cushioning his fall, the countless branches that arrested his momentum towards earth drastically, and his own powerful constitution helped him survive the fall.
On the other hand, the bird didn't have such luck. The poor creature had been impaled in several places on its body when it fell down. The additional impact of Ling Ye landing on its abdomen, after mere moments it had suffered a devastating landing that split open the earth, was the final straw for its frail life.
As Ling Ye climbed out of the pit that the bird had created during its fall, he was staggering from the landing. His footsteps were uneven like a drunken mortal. His vision swam as if he was riding a merry-go-round. He finally managed to make sense of where he was after a few minutes and plopped down exhaustedly.
"What the heck? I am supposed to be a protagonist. But, it looks like I will be even lucky to survive this single day. What in the nine hells is this all about?"
Ling Ye swore taking deep breaths. He really couldn't believe what was happening to him. Ever since he had been transmigrated, it has been one thing after the other. First, it was the fact that he hadn't got any cheats like a protagonist should have obtained.
Then, there was that lightning from out of nowhere. After that, becoming the trophy or a mere wild bird what he could have killed with a single punch if the original body was in good shape.
And last but not least, that fall had also come out of nowhere. If he had known that the bird was going to fall so soon, he would have done something about it beforehand. But, then again, what was he supposed to do in midair when he was already injured?
Not to mention the fact that all his treasures were stolen by that bastard who had sucked the soul out of the original owner. Oh heavens, it has been one thing after the other.
Ling Ye let out a huge sigh and massaged his head. This whole transmigration thing wasn't really going as per the script. From the moment he had woken up in this world, nothing happened as per how the tropes were defined in his old world.
"Damn it, shouldn't the protagonist have an insane amount of plot armor. I mean, if he could be killed by every random thing, he wouldn't even last a week. Even if the protagonist was facing a powerful enemy, his plot armor would ensure that someone came to save him."
"Where was the fairy maiden who was supposed to save me huh? I do remember in several stories when the protagonist was in a desperate situation, a fairy maiden or a powerful senior will appear out of nowhere and help him out. What's happening here?"
"Could it be that I am mistaken? That doesn't make sense. Everything happened as per script until I was transmigrated to this body. Accident - check. Death - check. Transmigration - check. It is only after I occupied this body that everything went wrong. Maybe, this body is the problem. Hmmm, what to do?"
"No, no, I can't give up yet. Honestly, I even shudder to think about what would happen to me if I don't have any cheats. Seriously, these cultivation worlds are so fucked up. If I don't have any cheats I would get beaten like a dog. So, I refuse to believe that because that wouldn't make any sense."
"Then... what am I missing here?"
Ling Ye fell deep into thought as he recalled the large number of cultivation novels he had read in his free time in his previous life. He mentally reviewed all the stories he had read about transmigrating to another world to look for anything that he was missing out.
After a long while, he began laughing like a mad man once again.
"Ha ha ha.., ha ha ha... I was so stupid. Luckily I still remembered that one aspect about all the protagonists. Ha ha ha... no the last time I did it wrong. This time I have to do it right. Normal laughter is suited for this type of statement."
Mwahaa ha ha....
Let the world tremble, for I, Ling Ye, has been transmigrated to this world.
Mwahaa ha ha...