I Am a Willow Tree Spirit

Liu Zhong had lived a rather remarkable life.

For the first twenty-five years, he had enjoyed a peaceful, ordinary existence.

He had been born into a wealthy family—the sort that owned a mine.

The family had been in business for four generations. They weren't nouveau riche; they had deep roots and a long history.

Liu Zhong was the second son. His older brother had been groomed to inherit the family business.

Big Brother Liu was capable and outstanding, the family's ideal successor.

With a suitable heir already in place, the Liu Family let their other children grow up as they pleased, to avoid any rivalry between brothers.

Some of his cousins became wastrels, living off their shares and dividends.

Others were raised into uselessness.

Liu Zhong enjoyed the good life, too, but he had always felt driven to study and fill his mind with knowledge.

So, although he indulged in food, drink, and entertainment, he spent even more of his time learning.

His family had money to spare and hired him a number of private tutors.

He learned the refined manners of the upper class, the languages of twelve countries, how to play the piano and violin, and much more...

At school, his grades never fell below the top three in his year.

He came first in the science track on the college entrance exam and got into the best university in the country. He completed his undergraduate degree in two years, then finished his master's in another two.

While working toward his doctorate, he had his own laboratory—though the Liu Family had funded most of it—and led his own research projects.

When he turned twenty-five, his parents arranged a blind date for him. He refused.

He didn't want to be a pawn in a family marriage alliance.

His parents were angry, but there wasn't much they could do.

After all, he was already working for the country.

Not long after Liu Zhong returned to the laboratory, the outside world changed overnight.

A meteorite struck Earth, bringing an unknown and dangerous virus with it. The apocalypse began.

Yes, the kind of apocalypse from games, where zombies roamed the world.

The virus turned most people into zombies. A small number developed supernatural abilities, while the rest remained ordinary people.

Social order collapsed, and chaos engulfed other countries.

Fortunately, Rabbit Country proved capable. After a brief period of turmoil, it brought the situation under control.

Society had yet to return to normal, but at least things were better than abroad.

Liu Zhong was asked to join other scientists in studying the zombie virus and finding a way to cure it.

His research institute was some distance from the capital's survivor base, so a team was sent to escort the scientists there.

Unlike other researchers, who tended to get little exercise, Liu Zhong had studied traditional martial arts since childhood. Even after joining the institute, he kept up his daily workouts.

As a result, he was in excellent health.

When the virus spread, many researchers turned into zombies, but Liu Zhong awakened a supernatural ability.

A spatial ability.

He could create a portable space to store objects, as well as form spatial blades to kill enemies.

The ordinary people at the institute survived only because Liu Zhong wiped out most of the zombies and they worked together to kill the rest.

With a powerful spatial ability user like Liu Zhong among them, the squad sent to retrieve the researchers suffered the fewest casualties and completed their mission with ease.

After reaching the base, Liu Zhong threw himself into research.

He and the other scientists worked day and night. After several years, they finally developed a cure for the zombie virus.

Humanity no longer had to fear the virus and began its counterattack against the zombies.

It took the scientists two years to wipe out every last zombie. At last, the apocalypse came to an end.

Then came the rebuilding.

Liu Zhong left the institute and joined the reconstruction effort.

He found Big Brother Liu and several of the Liu family's cousins, all of whom had survived against the odds.

The world had changed, and the wastrels of the past had grown into steady, reliable soldiers.

Reunited, the brothers had much to say.

Liu Zhong lived another thirty years in the post-apocalyptic world.

During that time, he invented many more things that improved people's lives.

When he died, many people came of their own accord to see him off.

When he closed his eyes, Liu Zhong had thought he would fall into eternal sleep.

He hadn't expected to wake again.

And he certainly hadn't expected to find that he was no longer human, but a willow tree growing on an island.

An energy much like his supernatural ability flowed within him. The energy in the air was even more abundant—thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of times greater than in the apocalyptic world.

With every breath, energy flowed into him and circulated through his body on its own.

Liu Zhong: "..."

Had he transmigrated?

And into a xianxia world?

Had he become a willow tree spirit?!

Would demon hunters or cultivators come after him?

While Liu Zhong's mind raced, a sharp pain struck his head, and a flood of information poured into it.

After quite some time, Liu Zhong finished absorbing the information and let out a long breath.

It turned out he hadn't transmigrated into a willow tree spirit. He had always been a willow tree.

He had never been human in the first place. He was a willow tree living in the Primordial World.

And his origins were no ordinary matter. He was a little branch Great Immortal Yangmei had left behind when he departed the Primordial World.

Great Immortal Yangmei was of the same generation as Dao Ancestor Hongjun. They had both existed before Great God Pangu created the world.

Great Immortal Yangmei's true form was a Hollow Willow. He controlled the laws of space and was incredibly powerful.

Even Hongjun was no match for Great Immortal Yangmei.

The Primordial World could not contain a being as powerful as Great Immortal Yangmei.

So he spent most of his time in Chaos.

After Hongjun became a saint, Great Immortal Yangmei understood that the Primordial World belonged to Hongjun, not him.

So he left the Primordial World and ventured deep into Chaos.

Before leaving, Great Immortal Yangmei had a sudden premonition. He broke off a willow branch from his true form and sent it into the Primordial World.

The branch landed on the back of an enormous Ao Turtle.

The turtle was so lazy that it barely moved. Over time, dust accumulated on its back until, to other creatures, it looked like an island.

The willow branch took root on the turtle's back and gradually grew into a little willow tree.

In time, the willow tree developed consciousness.

As soon as it did, its innate ability activated, carrying its soul through time and space to a small world beyond the Primordial World. It entered the womb of a pregnant woman, was born, and lived as a human.

When its human body died in that small world, its innate ability carried its soul back to its true body—the willow tree.

So he hadn't transmigrated. He had returned.

Liu Zhong: "..."

He was the descendant of a powerful being?

What a pleasant surprise!

But that powerful being had already left the Primordial World. He couldn't cling to his coattails!

And the Primordial World was so dangerous!

What a disaster!

Liu Zhong's feelings were a tangled mix of delight and despair.

Back when he was a student, Liu Zhong had loved playing games, reading comics, and browsing online novels.

After joining the research institute, he still read novels online whenever he had free time.

He had read plenty of novels set in the Primordial World.

Even then, the word "Primordial" had always stirred something in him. He'd sought out every novel of that sort he could find, whether popular or obscure.

Even when an author's prose was hard to stomach, he forced himself to keep reading until the end.

He hadn't known why he was so interested in stories about the Primordial World.

Now that he had returned to it, he finally understood.

He had been gathering information!

He had wanted to learn from the protagonists' experiences and draw on their collective wisdom, so he could survive in the perilous Primordial World.

The real Primordial World was surely different from the one in novels, but there had to be enough similarities to use as a guide.

Remembering the countless novels about the Primordial World he had read, Liu Zhong clung to his small, helpless self.

Waaah, the Primordial World was so dangerous.

Ancestor Yangmei, why had you left me here when you departed?

Why hadn't you taken me with you?!

Liu Zhong sighed, grieved, and despaired.

But he could only accept his fate.

Since he was living in the Primordial World, he would have to find a way to survive and avoid its deadly calamities. For now, he would keep his head down.

Of course, he had no choice but to keep his head down.

He couldn't even take human form yet, much less leave the patch of land where he had taken root.

Fortunately, he was growing on a small island overseas, not on the continent. The wars there couldn't reach him.

Liu Zhong felt a little relieved.

"Oh, the little fellow's awake?"

A voice sounded in Liu Zhong's mind.

He froze for a moment before realizing that some being was speaking to him through divine sense.

That was basic practice in the Primordial World.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Jin Ao. You're growing on my back."

"Jin Ao? Jin Ao Island?"

"That's right, that's right. I'm Jin Ao Island."

Liu Zhong: "..."

He was actually a native of Jin Ao Island?

When Tongtian Jiaozhu built Biyou Palace on Jin Ao Island, would that mean he was occupying Liu Zhong's home?

Well, not exactly. The place where Liu Zhong was growing was only about a foot across.

A thought came to Liu Zhong.

As a native of Jin Ao Island, could he take advantage of his location and become Tongtian Jiaozhu's disciple as soon as he came to the island and built Biyou Palace?

Tongtian Jiaozhu was famous for accepting disciples without regard for their origins. Surely he wouldn't reject a little willow tree like him?

After all, he had even taken a mouse as a disciple.

The more Liu Zhong thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

You thought the Interception Sect's fate during the Investiture of the Gods was grim?

So what?

As long as he stayed out of the Wanxian Formation, he should be fine.

Plenty of Interception Sect disciples survived in the end. Wudang Shengmu later lived freely under the name Lishan Laomu, didn't she?

Aside from the Investiture of the Gods, becoming Tongtian Jiaozhu's disciple had plenty of advantages.

For starters, he'd get plenty of magic treasures, wouldn't he?

As things stood, he was completely broke. He didn't have a single magic treasure.

If he ran into an enemy, he wouldn't even have anything to fight back with.

And—

Although the inheritance and cultivation method Great Immortal Yangmei had left in his mind were there, they were too obscure. He couldn't understand a lot of it.

If he became a saint's disciple and received a saint's guidance, he'd understand more of the inherited cultivation method and be able to cultivate with greater ease.