Live On

Wu Zhen stared up at the ceiling until the old man spoke.

"There's no need to be depressed, kid. This place ain't so bad. There's no war or bloodshed in this place, after all."

Wu Zhen looked down from the ceiling.

"There's no bloodshed or war, but there's also nothing else."

The old man laughed.

"If you can't handle this place, then I'm wondering how you became a cultivator."

Wu Zhen did agree with the old man. Most cultivators spent their day in a bland room meditating away their lives. Then, even if their lifespan was incredibly great, they'd just spent it all doing nothing.

However, he didn't cultivate to become immortal or for power. He did it to survive. Survive the trials that the legacy was constantly throwing at him. If he allowed himself to stagnate for even one moment, he would die.

Then, how would he be happy being in a pit with all his progress reset and no way to gain it back?

He missed those days of being a Martial Arts Apprentice and doing odd jobs around the village. Surviving wasn't an issue back then.

He both hated and loved the legacy. On one hand, it had put him through many different trials and made him lose his friend. On the other hand, it gave him power and wealth, letting him provide for his family.

Even if he wanted to, there was no way to escape the legacy now, just as there was no way to escape this pit they were in.

He felt like he was in a void again, only one which was even more torturous. There was one thing that was different about this one, though, he wasn't alone.

No matter how tough it got, he always had someone to talk to. The old man being there made living at least tolerable.

Even though Wu Zhen didn't want to admit it, he and the old man had become buddies.

When absorbing the few specks of Qi around got boring, they would discuss something about martial arts, and both of them would achieve revelations as a result.

One week passed.

An altar suddenly rose from the ground and illuminated the pit.

"So the time has come.", the old man muttered.

"What time? What do you mean?", Wu Zhen was confused.

"Nothing. We just have to touch the altar once, that's all."

Wu Zhen looked a bit reluctant. Who knew what would happen if they touched it.

"If you don't, we'll all be dead in minutes."

Wu Zhen didn't believe the old man, so he decided to wait. The temperature started rising, and eventually, Wu Zhen couldn't stand it anymore and caved in and touched it. The old man did so too.

Wu Zhen felt like the altar had become an extension of his own body, and it started to absorb his blood and vitality. All the nutrients he had gained from those measly meals were taken away from him.

Eventually, the altar let go of him and he was able to pull his hand out. Even though he felt like he had just run a marathon, the old man looked surprisingly calm.

"What the hell was that?!", Wu Zhen shouted.

The old man explained calmly, "That was the inspection altar. They use it to inspect our bodies to figure out how exactly we cultivate and how they can replicate it."

"Why the hell do they need to figure out how they can replicate it? If they want, I'll just tell them a cultivation method so they let us the hell out of here!"

The old man replied quickly, "Their bodies are different from ours. Even though we both look like humans and talk the same language, they've existed on a separate planet for hundreds of thousands of years. Since they forgot how to cultivate, slowly their bodies forgot as well and erased the unnecessary organs such as the Dantian or the meridians."

Wu Zhen looked at his hands.

"Which means... we're lab rats."

The old man smiled, "Pretty much."

"Damn this planet. Why did I have to come here?", Wu Zhen said in frustration.

The old man sighed. "Makes me nostalgic. I still remember when I came here. I met the king of this place once. Then, when I showed them my powers, they called me a beast. They sealed my powers and threw me in here."

Wu Zhen was surprised. The old man actually knew the king of this place?

"I suspect that the only way we can get back our powers is by killing that king. He's probably the center of whatever formation is keeping our power sealed."

Wu Zhen replied, "Even if we know that there's no way we can escape. What's the point?"

"There's no point, I was just thinking about."

Wu Zhen sighed. "Old man, you should really get a checkup if you ever get out of here. I think you're going senile."

The old man laughed loudly, "So what if I'm going senile? That might actually be a good thing in this place. At least I won't be bored."

"Hah... I take it back, you're already senile."

At the royal palace.

"The experiment was successful, my lord. We've successfully created a rat beast."

"Nice, nice. If we can do it on rats, it won't be long till we can experiment on a human."

"My lord, I'm afraid it's not that easy. Human experimentation will still take a long time to be via-"

The king looked displeased.

"Enough of your babbling. If you had been doing your job properly, it would've been done by now."

The scientist nervously replied, "Yes, my lord. I'm afraid this one has made a mistake. Please spare me."

"AHAHAHA! I'm not gonna kill you! I'm just joking, you're my head researcher, what would I do without you?! AHAHA- Oh, sorry."

"Well, I'll see you soon, my lord."

The researcher walked away while shaking.

Several days passed while nothing happened.

While Wu Zhen had recovered from the altar's injuries, the old man's condition instead seemed to be getting worse per day.

The meals dropped from the ceiling once again, but this time Wu Zhen was able to catch both of them.

"Hey, old man, you don't look so good. You can take my portion of rice and side dishes if you want. I can hold on for a few more days.", Wu Zhen said out of concern.

"No... I'm fine, I'll be back to normal in no time.", The old man spoke slowly. He was even skinnier than usual. It almost looked like his skin was translucent.

"Are you sure? You don't seem fine to me."

"I'm fine, trust me. Anyway, did I tell you about that time I slew 10000 warriors with one slash of my sword?"

The day continued with the old man telling his war stories from decades ago.

Wu Zhen didn't like them, but he didn't particularly hate them either. They seemed a bit made up, but they had alright storytelling.

"There's no way an old skin bag like you could've killed a River Spirit. They're practically impossible to hurt."

The old man replied hurriedly, "Well, it would be impossible to hurt for anyone else but me, that is. I summoned a Heavenly Fire Tornado and evaporated that spirit and its entire river along with it! At my prime, even 20 of those river spirits couldn't have stopped me!"

"Alright, sure, old man. Even if you could kill those 20 river spirits, you would wipe out the hundreds of rivers along the banks. Why would you even pick a fight with them, to begin with? They're benevolent spirits!"

"Ah, you youngins don't understand. That river was flooding every week! The villagers themselves came to me and offered me money to defeat that river spirit. Of course, I did it without compensation. Now, do you understand how heroic I was? Give me, Meng Shan, some respect, you youngin!"

"Alright, Fire Deity Meng Shan. I'm sorry for disrespecting you, please spare this young one who does not respect his elders.", Wu Zhen said with a monotone voice.

"That's more like it! I am the great Fire Deity Meng Shan! You may trap me, but you can never trap my beliefs and followers! You listening, guards?!"

The guards outside the cell were laughing.

"He calls himself a fire deity! Can't even create a spark, let alone create a Heavenly Fire Tornado. He thinks he's one of those heroes from the martial arts novels!"

"Tch, those guards. Well, this old man is going to sleep. All this talking has tired me out."

Soon, Wu Zhen and the old man were asleep. At least, Wu Zhen thought so.

The old man hadn't been sleeping at all. In fact, he was never able to sleep in the first place. His constant coughing made it so that he couldn't. He was just hiding that fact from Wu Zhen for the last week and few days. The recent injuries caused by the altar had just made his sickness worse, and he knew that he would not be able to hang on for much longer.

He was truly glad to have someone to talk to in his last few days. Even if he died, at least he didn't die alone.

"Brat, I'm trusting that you can do what I couldn't do. Escape this place and go back home. Tell them stories of me when I'm gone. That way, I can live on."

The old man poked Wu Zhen's forehead to transfer him all his qi. 70 years' worth of persistence and hard work rushed into Wu Zhen's body.

A blood-red moon illuminated the night sky as a deity's life slowly faded.