Feathered Immortal

Mountain and Sea Eerie Immortal World.

Changyang Mountain, Toxic Swamp.

Gurgle! Gurgle!

A mass of bubbles suddenly rose to the surface of a marsh somewhere.

Toxic gas spread out, and the surrounding grass and trees instantly withered and decayed.

Great swathes of murk churned wildly beneath the water, as though some monster lurked below.

Splash!

A tentacle like a python suddenly emerged from the water, its surface covered in long, twisted patterns resembling coiling dragons.

It was bluish-black, with a viscous, slimy texture. Staring at it for too long even made one feel dizzy.

Then came a second, and a third!

The numerous tentacles braced themselves against the ground like an octopus's limbs, lifting a humanoid figure from the water and suspending him in midair.

"Old Grandpa... how long have I been 'feathered'?"

Xu Changqing opened his eyes, his voice dry and hoarse.

He looked over his body and discovered that his severed-arm injury had long since healed. Not only that, but his skin was crystal-clear like jade, carrying the softness and fragrance of an infant.

If not for the tentacles extending from his back, he would have been the very image of a graceful young nobleman.

This was the body of an immortal!

A fusion of holiness and terror, perfection and ugliness—the true—Feathered Immortal!

"Probably several years..."

Sulu's voice sounded.

Through this "nirvanic feathering," his parasitism of Xu Changqing had entered a deeper level.

"Several years..."

Xu Changqing stood there blankly.

The feathering ritual required one to die before being reborn. To him, death had been nothing but darkness, a cessation of thought, no different from sleeping.

Waking up meant revival. Failing to wake up meant utter death.

"Only after dying once did I realize that life and death are nothing more than this. But why is there still