With his newfound abilities, it did not take long for Elias to find enough herbs to cover the quota for two days. However he did not go back right away, instead he wandered the forest for some time looking for edible nuts and fruits.
Relying on Feron's memory Elias managed to find something to eat. He ate the fruits and stowed nuts in an inner pocket of his clothes, just as a precaution. As evening closed in, he finally went back to the village. While waiting in line to drop off the herbs he gathered, he noticed how everyone, even slaves made sure to keep some distance from him.
When it finally was his turn to drop off the herbs, the first thing he saw was the surprised reaction of Yel.
"You actually managed it?" - Yel grinned as he rubbed his hands. - "Good, good!"
He reached and took out the food, and surprisingly gave Elias an appropriate amount of it.
Elias was ready to leave when he heard Yel speak.
"From now on, bring this amount every day." - Yel kept grinning.
"But-" - Elias was about to argue with him, but was interrupted by Yel, who quickly changed expressions from smiling to angry.
"Quiet! If you want to eat, you will do as I say!"
Elias turned around and left for his hut. He ate quickly and went to sleep, as fatigue from walking all day long, finally got to him.
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Far away, in a place unreachable by most.
On a small planet filled with ancient forests and tall mountains, stood an opulent palace. If one looked closely, they could notice that every single bit of this palace was masterfully crafted from extremely rare materials. Even simple walls were created from celestial jade at worst.
Behind such walls a courtyard was hidden. The courtyard was quite spacious, as one would need to walk for a half an hour to cross it. There was a garden filled with precious immortal herbs, a pond with spirit storks and swans, and a simple looking garden pavilion. Within this pavilion, a middle-aged man was sitting and enjoying tea under serene moonlight.
This man was fairly handsome, but not heaven defyingly beautiful, however his aura was filled with a sense of etherealness, as if he was a god descended. Behind him stood a woman, who would quietly brew some tea whenever he finished his cup. Farther away eight people in different colored robes were standing with respectful expressions. Seven of them wore colors of rainbow with silver ornaments embroidered, and the last one, wore a white robe with gold ornaments. Behind them stood rows of servants in plain grey robes. What was shocking, is that the weakest of these servants were in the Soul Coagulation realm.
Just as the middle-aged man finished another cup of tea, a spatial rift opened quietly and a man in a black robe walked out of it. This man was missing an arm.
"Your Majesty Spirit King, your servants have assembled." - the maid spoke.
The Spirit King waved his arm and people dressed in colored robes approached the pavilion.
"You all know how I treat those who serve me faithfully."
Two of the colored robes, one dressed in green and another dressed in red, grew visibly anxious.
"I believe in fair treatment of those who serve me well, and those who do not."
Man dressed in green robes opened his mouth, but before he was able to say anything, the Spirit King snapped his fingers, and both green and red robed men immediately turned to dust. Spirit King then waved his arm and two of the grey-robed servants from the first row flew towards the pavilion and by the time they arrived, their robes changed to red and green.
"The rest of you did well, and I won't forget that."
He signaled to his maid and she quickly brought out a plate with six small boxes, which flew into the hands of the rest of the colored robes, bar the black one.
"Continue like that and you will soon have your freedom. Guangli, stay, rest of you, leave."
Eight of the colored robes left, leaving black robed man behind.
"Guangli, do you remember when we met all those years ago?"
Hao Guangli kneeled.
"I have disappointed you, your majesty."
Spirit King tapped the table twice and his maid quickly prepared two cups of tea.
"Come, drink some tea with me."
Without saying anything, Hao Guangli took a seat by the stone table.
"Guangli, of all my servants, you have been following me the longest. You have been there before I even reached Soul Formation. You truly served me well. That's why I am willing to overlook your failure this time."
Hao Guangli stood up and bowed to the Spirit King.
"Thank you, your majesty. Your heart is truly broad. This servant has failed you and caused the destructi-"
Spirit King raised a palm and Hao Guangli stopped talking right away.
"It is not destroyed, Guangli. I can still vaguely feel it. However, it is far away, farther than you can imagine."
"Could it be..."
"Yes, It is beyond the Great Void. You have served me well in those thousands of years, Guangli, so I will give you this chance. Cross the Great Void and retrieve it, and you will be granted freedom… and more."
Spirit King took off a ring from his finger and it floated in front of Hao Guangli.
"Here is everything you need to repair your body and to cross the Great Void. I will even give you back a piece of your soul"
He waved his hand and a gray wisp of energy traveled towards Hao Guangli. When it fused with him, his eyes regained some of the liveliness they lacked.
"Finish your tea and go. Return within a hundred years."
He then stood up and left with his maid. Only a black robed man was left in a pavilion filled with serene moonlight.
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Elias opened his eyes soon as morning light hit his face. Surprisingly enough, despite living in a mudwall hut and sleeping in a roughly made bed for several days already, he felt really energized, more than he ever been. He did some stretching and left his hut. He quickly found Yel, who was in a particularly cheery mood for some reason. It wasn't Elias's business though, so he just took a basket and left for the forest. He hummed while walking there, his mood good, mainly because in the past week, he never ever noticed anyone watching or following him. It meant that whoever was responsible for his fall wasn't directly related to Gaden, because with his authority he could have just openly kill Feron under some arbitrary reason. That meant he was safe for now. As well as the fact that Elias still didn't accept the situation he was in.
Elias finally reached the forest, so it was time to start working. Aside from lesser density, one obvious downside of picking herbs in the forest was that unlike the mountain, forest had no quickly regrowing grass, so Elias had to go a little bit farther every day.
After picking herbs for half a day, he reached a clearing with a lake. Serene, undisturbed watery glade had a calming effect on Elias, so he decided to take a break here. He sat down near a big boulder on the shore and took out some fruits he found today. As he was eating, his mind was filled with thoughts about his life these days.
(AN: I will mark Elias's thoughts with asterisks from now on. Like this: 'text')
*Am I really on another planet?*
Elias picked up a smooth stone off the beach and threw it into the lake. After skipping several times and leaving ever expanding rings on the surface of the water, it finally sunk.
*This whole thing feels as if I am playing some kind of VRMMO game. I wonder if it is really just a hallucination because of strong medication or something.*
*After all, it ticks a lot of checkboxes from novels I read. I probably should have read less of them. And played less games. Maybe then I wouldn't be in hospital right now. I wonder how mom feels. Probably terrified. I need to spend more time with her once I wake up. Maybe if I die in this hyper-realistic dream I can wake up in the real world?*
*System? Actually, the mere existence of the system should be proof I am in some kind of dream. Things like that simply do not exist.*
Elias propped his back against the boulder and stared into the skies.
*What should I do? Wait till those two appear and finish their job? Go and offend Gaden so he kills me? Go drown myself in this lake? But what if I don't wake up? What if this dream means I'm still fighting for my life and if I die here, my body gives up?*
[Sigh.]
Elias instantly started to look around trying to find anyone who could have sighed, but before he even could stand up, he heard a voice in his head.
[Listen here you little shit!]