"Air"
As Ling Qing raised the feather in his hand high and chanted the incantation aloud,
the air rippled in an instant, and a pair of broad, transparent wings took shape behind him.
The moment the wings formed, his body felt light, as though he could leave the ground and take flight at any time.
Feeling that sensation of weightlessness, Ling Qing tapped his toes against the ground. His whole body immediately rose into the air and flew upward.
As he gradually ascended, joy kept building in his chest.
"Woohoo~"
When he burst out of the forest and hovered above the treetops, he finally couldn't hold back a shout.
Since ancient times, whether it was Daoist adepts' art of riding clouds and mist, or ordinary people using contraptions to build hot-air balloons and airplanes,
it all showed humanity's yearning and longing for the sky.
After testing it for a while, Ling Qing discovered that Sky Mastery was less a spell for flying than one for walking on air.
The spell didn't create a pair of air-wings that let him fly like a bird, as he had imagined. Instead, it let him walk through the air as though he were on land.
The pair of wings behind him were purely for show.
What's more, the spell's effect lasted only a very short time—just a few seconds.
Fortunately, once he recorded the spell in his Spellbook, he could keep using it as long as he had enough feathers, thereby extending his flight time.
As long as he recited the incantation correctly, spells triggered through the Spellbook wouldn't fail because of vigorous movement or combat.
Still, Ling Qing was a long way from being able to fly freely through the sky. Even so, that didn't dampen his curiosity about flight.
It also made him all the more eager to seek immortality at Mount Lao.
He imagined that once he had cultivated successfully and learned the art of riding clouds and mist, he'd be able to roam freely between heaven and earth.
He was also looking forward to Wild Shape, the flight ability he would gain upon reaching level 8 in his profession.
However, when Ling Qing finally came back to himself, sated with the joy of flight, he was a little bewildered.
"Where am I?"
In the fading light of sunset, he looked at the map in his hand and realized he had no idea where he was.
The surroundings were desolate, with not a trace of human habitation as far as the eye could see.
After using his Druid abilities to sense which way he was facing, Ling Qing set off east.
A Druid should have been able to travel through the forest like a player exploring a map in a game, recording the terrain along the way and forming a map in his mind.
But he had flown into the sky, and halfway through, he'd tried to test his maximum flight altitude by climbing as high as he could.
That had left plenty of gaps in his perceptions.
Now he was like someone with two pieces of a map, trying to fit them together without the slightest idea how much lay between them.
Fortunately, not long after night fell, he spotted traces of cultivated fields.
Following them, he found a narrow path that should have led to a village.
Sure enough, after walking a little farther, Ling Qing spotted a village in the distance and quickened his pace.
But the closer he got, the more he sensed something was wrong.
It was already late autumn, and the birds and beasts had vanished while the insects had fallen silent, but the surroundings were far too quiet.
The village, too, was utterly silent, like a beast lurking in the night.
It almost seemed like a desolate village.
Ling Qing tightened his grip on his staff and tapped the Spellbook at his waist, making it float beside his left hand so he could trigger a spell at any moment.
He cautiously made his way into the village.
It wasn't that he knew there was a tiger on the mountain and insisted on going anyway. The village was unusually quiet, but neither his senses nor the Ghost-Repelling Pill he carried showed any signs of danger.
That was why he dared approach. Otherwise, he would rather have slept in the wilderness than take the risk.
At the village entrance, beneath a great tree with a crown like a canopy, he saw a small, slightly dilapidated shrine standing in stillness.
He stopped and looked at the shrine, which came only up to his waist—or, more precisely, at the clay statue inside.
It was a classic Land God shrine. On closer inspection, a couplet had been pasted on either side.
"Soil gives birth to all things,
Earth brings forth a thousand blessings."
To his senses, the ordinary little shrine radiated an aura he knew well. The statue was the source of it.
It was the aura of the earth.
Along the way, Ling Qing had seen plenty of Land God shrines, but most of them were bound together with their villages and the surrounding fields.
This shrine before him was no different, and yet he sensed something like the land's very essence gathering within the clay statue.
Ordinary Land God shrines were connected to the surrounding villages and land, but that connection also bound the Land God to the territory and kept him from leaving.
But this shrine gave Ling Qing the impression that once all of that essence had been gathered,
it could uproot itself and depart whenever it wished, free of any restraints.
Just as Ling Qing was pondering this, a ripple of energy passed through the shrine's statue.
Then an old man appeared before him, leaning on a cane of woven vines, his hair and beard as white as snow.
Ling Qing immediately retreated a step, raising his staff in front of him as he snatched up the Spellbook.
"Scholar, do not be alarmed. I am the Land God of Locust Tree Village. I appeared because I saw that you carry yourself with uncommon distinction."
The Land God saw Ling Qing, stroked his snowy beard, and spoke with a smile.
"May I ask what business the honored deity has with me?"
Sensing that the Land God before him meant him no harm, Ling Qing relaxed a little and cupped his hands as he asked.
"Haha, I hardly deserve to be called 'honored deity' by a scholar. I am merely the Land God of this village. Just call me Land God."
The Land God chuckled, sweeping the dust off two stone stools beneath the tree with a flick of his sleeve. He gestured to them. "Please, scholar, have a seat."
"Please, you sit too, sir." Ling Qing gestured in turn, and the two took their seats.
Then the Land God said, "When I was young, I worked as a hired hand in Changyang Town, and I greatly admired scholars.
Locust Tree Village lies in a remote place, near Miao Mountain but off the main road, so few outsiders come here—let alone a scholar who has thoroughly studied the classics.
Seeing you tonight, I couldn't help imposing on you. I hope you won't take offense."
"Not at all. You said this place was near Miao Mountain?"
After a polite reply, Ling Qing pressed him. "Do you mean the Miao Mountain where tigers have been running rampant?"
He had been willing to spend more than ten extra days taking a detour just to avoid that pack of tigers.
Who would have thought that after flying around for a while, he'd delivered himself right to their doorstep?
"So you've heard of it too, scholar. That's right. In recent days, the Tiger Demon deep in Miao Mountain has led a pack of ferocious mountain tigers down to prey on people.
Many nearby villages have already suffered. Jujube Flower Village next door was attacked the day before yesterday. It seems it'll be this village's turn before long."
Hearing this, the Land God sighed.
Then he stood and bowed. "Actually, I stopped you here tonight because I have a favor to ask."
Before you continue