Lu Jiangxian had a very long dream, dreaming of planting rice in the fields, dreaming of flashing blades and shadowy figures, dreaming of the Immortal Sect, women, and a grand lake.
"Hand over the 'Taiyin Qi Cultivation Incantation' and the 'Moonlight Summary Secret Directive', and we might just cripple your cultivation level."
A pleasant yet ice-cold female voice rang in his ears, and Lu Jiangxian vaguely saw a hazy face, but he couldn't make out anything clearly.
...
"Clang!"
A sudden jolt startled Lu Jiangxian awake.
Odd, disjointed colors flared in his mind as he tried to open his eyes, tried to sit up, but his body ignored his commands as if he were in the grip of a nightmare.
Then, a brilliant white light sliced through the dense darkness before his eyes, and though darkness surged like a tide, the column of light stood unwavering, eternal like the sun.
Countless golden incantation scripts burst forth, unfurling in the darkness, scattering across the sky like stars.
"So beautiful," thought Lu Jiangxian, dazed.
As the incantation scripts multiplied, seemingly reaching some limit, he heard a sound like glass shattering.
The world lit up.
Lu Jiangxian saw the vast expanse of the sky, like the ocean, the boundless primeval forest, and not far off, a crescent-shaped lake where a white streak of light glided into the sparkling water.
Below lay a small thatched hut among swathes of rice fields.
Through tumbling visions, he felt as light as a lark, flying over the tiny brown village and its homely fires, skimming the surface of a crystal-clear river.
In a glimpse, Lu Jiangxian saw his own reflection in the river.
"It seems to be a round thing, shining..." he thought perplexedly, an obscure premonition rising in his heart:
"Am I not a human anymore?"
"Splash!" The intense shaking came again, and Lu Jiangxian swiftly sank into the water. The shallow river could not absorb all the impact, and he gently knocked against the riverbed's cobblestones.
This jolt made Lu Jiangxian feel as if he was punched hard in the chest—somewhat breathless, but his body took advantage of the turbulent water and the recoil to flip over, facing upwards, directly at the sun rippling above the water's surface.
"Wasn't I just staying up late in my apartment, working on a proposal?"
Lu Jiangxian silently watched the sun on the water, the currents rushing wild, twisting the light patterns on the river bottom.
Silently recalling his past, Lu Jiangxian's head throbbed; he remembered only collapsing on the bed, drained, as smoke from his room and the neon light's brilliance wove past him.
He opened a beer, sat at the dim computer desk, and as the room seemed to spin, he felt his heart pounding ferociously, his breathing gradually becoming labored.
"I think... I might have died?"
"This is actually not so bad, no need to worry about the future, no need to worry about life."
Perhaps because he had been repressing them for too long, such thoughts surfaced in Lu Jiangxian's mind, and his mood even lifted a bit.
He took a look around—the dark green treetops hanging with aerial roots, the agile fish darting over his face, the tinkling sound of water droplets faintly echoing.
Lu Jiangxian sighed:
"But continuing like this would be boring to the point of madness, right?"
So he just stared blankly as the sun slowly slid from overhead, the radiant sunset filling the sky, the waters under the treetops gradually dimming.
Meanwhile, two curious fish swam around him, and even a crab tried to flip him over.
Not until the moon moved above the treetops and the clear moonlight gently fluttered on the water's surface did Lu Jiangxian excitedly feel a cool breeze seeping into the riverbed, bringing a vague sense of comfort.
Watching the moonlight slowly gather above his body, forming a faint white halo as if coming to life, Lu Jiangxian paled, his mindset undergoing a drastic transformation:
"What's this, assimilating the Essence of the Sun and Moon? Are there really Immortals in this world, wondrous Divine Skills, monsters, and spirits?" he thought in shock, "What have I become, an Artifact Spirit?"
A sense of curiosity and joy rose from deep within Lu Jiangxian, and the halo of moonlight as if having accumulated enough energy, fluttered down upon him.
He felt a chill all over, falling into a state akin to being neither asleep nor awake.
After an indeterminate time, as the air grew thin, Lu Jiangxian suddenly awoke to find the crescent moon had faded from the sky, the sun leaped over the treetops, and the warm rays of dawn spread across the river.
"That was quick."
Lu Jiangxian couldn't help but rejoice, and upon closer observation, indeed there was a faint current of Qi lingering, circulating around his body's edges in a circular motion.
Even upon concentrating and settling his mind, Lu Jiangxian could hazily see a gray-green mirror lying quietly at the river bottom, covered with multicolored stones, while several fish foraged...
The crab was digging in the soil nearby. His field of vision extended roughly a meter around, not very clear, like the thick TVs from his childhood.
"This must be me now," Lu Jiangxian chuckled bitterly. Then he deliberately made the current of Qi stop over the center of the mirror, which emitted faint traces of brilliance.
"Aside from glowing, I haven't discovered any other use for it."
"I will simply keep absorbing moonlight; maybe that will lead to a Transformation," he mused internally, "I don't know what this mirror is made of, nor how the outside world views sentient artifacts, but I'd rather not be discovered by a Cultivator and have my Consciousness obliterated."