"Wasn't I dead?" Wu Tian had dissolved into the Dao. He should have perished, body and soul, yet he found himself in a wondrous space, existing in a strange state.
"Heh. Not dead yet!" Laughter rang out from every direction. The mysterious space shifted, becoming a vast world. He stood in a courtyard filled with birdsong and the fragrance of flowers.
A chaotic Enlightenment Ancient Tea Tree towered over the courtyard, stretching from earth to sky. Beneath it, a figure whose face he could not make out sat quietly drinking tea.
No, the figure's face was not blurred. Whatever Wu Tian imagined, the person opposite him took on that appearance.
"Greetings, Ruler. Thank you for saving my life!"
Wu Tian had met Half-Step Rulers before, but never one like this. He boldly guessed that this person was a Ruler.
"When I am a demon, no Buddha exists beneath heaven. When I am a Buddha, what can demons do to me?
"Boy, are you interested in becoming my disciple?
"In a sense, you and I are alike. Had I suffered what you did when I was weak, I might have taken your path too.
"But as my cultivation grew, I came to understand that the path you followed could never succeed.
"What happens next depends on how you correct your course. I want to see how far you can go!"
"Senior, you are...?" Wu Tian was startled. Had a powerful patron just offered to take him in?
Dao rhythms flowed around the figure. Then Wu Tian saw a face: strikingly young, handsome, and resolute.
"It's... it's you?"
Wu Tian had seen this man before. But wasn't he only a Half-Step Ruler?
As if reading his mind, the man smiled. "That was my avatar. I hoped it could attain Rulerhood against all