Volume 1 Chapter 2

Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW

Recruitment of Editors: https://gravitytales.com/recruitment-of-editors/

Volume 1 Chapter 2: Possession

Just when Xu Fan thought he was about to die, he suddenly felt the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster’s tendrils loosen around his ankle. Losing control, he fell heavily to the ground from mid-air.

Faced with this sudden change, Xu Fan, who had resigned himself to death, was greatly astonished. As he opened his eyes, he found that the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster had unknowingly closed its large mouth, which had wanted to swallow Xu Fan, and its long tendrils had retracted around itself. However, its green eyes shone even brighter and more strangely, keeping a wary watch on Xu Fan’s back.

Confused, Xu Fan looked back and immediately felt a chill run down his spine. A giant green python, dozens of feet long and several feet thick, had appeared behind him. Its green body coiled in circles, hissing continuously and flicking its tongue, while its golden eyes fixated menacingly on the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster, ready to attack at any moment.

What Xu Fan did not know was that this giant python was called the "Green Snake Dragon," a rare breed that had existed since ancient times. Some even believed it to be a distant relative of dragons. Born with immense power, it could spew poisonous flames and wield various wood-based magical abilities. One unique trait of this creature was that, despite being a snake, it did not feed on flesh or blood, but only on plants.

The Mountain Spirit Wood Monster was actually a type of tree spirit, and for the Green Snake Dragon, it was a rare delicacy. So, when the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster encountered it, it became very nervous and forgot about Xu Fan, because it was facing a natural enemy.

The Mountain Spirit Wood Monster was not an ordinary tree monster; its body was as hard as iron and had countless branches that acted as tendrils. Ordinary demon beasts would avoid it altogether. However, nature’s balance means that everything has its rival, and the Green Snake Dragon, which could spit poisonous flames and fed on plants, was one of its few natural enemies.

Although Xu Fan knew nothing about these creatures, he understood that this was his chance to escape while the two monsters confronted each other. After falling to the ground, he quickly got back up, ignoring the pain all over his body, and ran away as fast as he could, hoping to get as far away from this terrifying place as possible. The two demon beasts were too focused on watching each other to pay any attention to Xu Fan’s escape.

Originally, the Green Snake Dragon was the natural enemy of the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster, and its powers were naturally effective against it, so it should not have been so cautious. However, today was different; the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster had cultivated its magic for over a thousand years and was very powerful. The Green Snake Dragon, although a natural enemy of the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster, had only trained for about three hundred years and was not as skilled, which was why it had not attacked.

In the end, Green Snake Dragon could not resist the temptation of eating the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster, which had greatly increased its power after thousands of years of training. It let out toxic flames and lunged at the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster.

For a moment, the two fearsome beasts, known far and wide in the Southern Wasteland, began to fight fiercely, with sand flying and stones rolling. The powerful energy they released made the wild animals within a ten-mile radius tremble in fear, not daring to move at all.

Meanwhile, Xu Fan, having run far away, could not help but let out a sigh of relief, knowing he had saved his own life. He did not dare to linger and hurriedly continued on his way.

However, after walking for a while, he could not resist his curiosity and wanted to know how the two demon beasts were fighting. After all, Xu Fan was only seventeen years old; although he was more mature than others his age due to having read some books, he was still a young boy. Since he had never seen a battle between demon beasts before, he hesitated for a long time and, feeling a bit lucky, quietly returned to take a look.

Truly, the ignorant are fearless.

When Xu Fan returned to the spot where he had nearly been eaten, he found that the battle between the two terrifying demon beasts seemed to be coming to an end.

He saw the Green Snake Dragon quickly circling around the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster, occasionally spitting hot, bright green poison flames at it. However, it was clearly exhausted, with the flames becoming smaller each time. There were also many wounds on its body from the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster’s branch-like tentacles, and golden blood was spilled all over the ground.

But compared to the Green Snake Dragon, the once-mighty Mountain Spirit Wood Monster now looked even more battered. Being a tree creature, its speed was naturally at a disadvantage, and the Green Snake Dragon’s poison flames seemed to hit it every time. Its originally tough skin could not withstand the terrifying flames at all. Even now, parts of it were still burning fiercely, and the protective aura of wooden essence surrounding it had become thin, as if it could break at any moment. The once dense branches and leaves had dwindled to just a few, and although it occasionally tried to fight back with its branches, its efforts grew weaker and less effective against the swift movements of the Green Snake Dragon.

Although the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster was clearly more skilled, it unfortunately faced a natural enemy, leaving it with no strength to fight back. It became more anxious, letting out painful cries, but the threat to the Green Snake Dragon grew smaller.

After watching for a little while, Xu Fan knew that the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster, which had almost eaten him, couldn’t hold on much longer. The Mountain Spirit Wood Monster, which lived by eating flesh and blood, would eventually be eaten by another demon beast. Is this what people call the cycle of nature?

To avoid complications, Xu Fan slowly backed away when he saw the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster was clearly struggling, wanting to escape the dangerous area before the fight ended.

But at that moment, something unexpected happened!

Suddenly, the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster let out a painful, desperate roar, and its wooden body shone brightly, breaking free from the poisonous flames that had wrapped around it, while its body rapidly swelled. Its once green skin now faintly showed a strange blood color! Then came a loud bang, like thunder booming in the sky.

It turned out that after realizing it could not escape, the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster, in its simple wisdom, developed the idea of taking the Green Snake Dragon down with it. And then, it self-destructed!

At the moment the Green Snake Dragon saw the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster’s strange change, its animal instinct warned it of extreme danger! Without any hesitation, it quickly jumped back.

Unfortunately, this Mountain Spirit Wood Monster, after thousands of years of experience, had a tremendous self-destruct power. Moreover, the Green Snake Dragon had already exhausted a lot of energy in the earlier battle, and it couldn’t avoid the self-destruction of the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster at all. It was violently blown apart, its broken body flying through the air before falling to the ground, twitching a few times before becoming completely still.

It’s pitiful that the Green Snake Dragon, which was clearly in a strong position, ended up in a situation of mutual destruction.

Thus, a brutal battle between the two terrifying demon beasts ended with both perishing together.

The only spectator in the arena, Xu Fan, was not feeling well either. The explosion of the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster was extremely powerful, and it even affected Xu Fan, who had already run over ten paces away! Though it was only the aftershock, Xu Fan, a mere mortal, could not endure it at all. He felt a flash of green light before him, and then his head throbbed as if pierced by a drill. His insides felt like they were about to burst. Finally, Xu Fan could no longer tolerate the intense pain and fainted.

However, the story was far from over.

Suddenly, a green light began to glow faintly on the unconscious Xu Fan. Then his body started to shake violently, and his face showed a painful struggle, as if he was fighting against a monster.

It was hard to tell how long it had been, but the sky began to brighten slightly. Xu Fan, who had been unconscious, suddenly opened his eyes wide. Two flickering green rays shone from his eyes, reaching three feet away. Next, he slowly got up, moving awkwardly as if he were not used to his body. Once upright, he examined himself carefully from head to toe, as if he had never seen himself before, and then a strange, inhuman laugh escaped Xu Fan’s lips.

If any of Xu Fan’s familiar tribe members saw him now, they would be very surprised. Was this fierce-looking stranger still the graceful and gentle Xu Fan they knew?

After moving his limbs a bit, "Xu Fan" seemed to finally adapt to his body and then suddenly seemed to remember something, walking towards the direction where the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster had exploded.

At that moment, "Xu Fan" didn’t appear to walk on two legs at all but crawled on all fours, moving quickly forward.

When he crawled to the spot where the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster had exploded, the original Monster was completely gone, leaving only scattered broken wood and fallen branches, along with the bloodied Green Snake Dragon.

"Xu Fan" first gathered the shattered pieces of the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster, then placed them in front of himself, as if reminiscing, he stroked them for a long time. Then he took a deep breath toward the wooden pieces and branches, and something strange happened. A thick green mist began to overflow from the pieces, slowly flowing into his body with each breath Xu Fan took. As the mist poured in, a faint Wood-type Qi began to swirl around Xu Fan.

As the day began to brighten, the blue mist from the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster’s broken body had been completely absorbed by Xu Fan. Xu Fan seemed to click his tongue in regret, but then crawled toward the bloody Green Snake Dragon. When he got closer, he lowered himself and reached into the Green Snake Dragon’s damaged body, as if searching for something. Suddenly, Xu Fan let out a strange, inhuman cry, full of joy and pride, as he surprisingly held a pale blue orb in his hand, which was the Green Snake Dragon’s core!

First, Xu Fan played with and admired the orb for a while, then he swallowed the core without hesitation, a look of utter satisfaction on his face, while the green light in his eyes grew stronger and more strange.

After swallowing the Green Snake Dragon’s core, Xu Fan looked at the bloody body of the Green Snake Dragon, and with hatred shining in his green eyes, he suddenly grabbed the Dragon’s corpse and began to fiercely bite into it, followed by chilling sounds of tearing and gulping.

Shortly after, it seemed that Xu Fan had eaten enough; he lifted his head from the Green Snake Dragon’s remains, his face was covered in blood, which he casually wiped onto his clothes, and strands of meat were even stuck between his white teeth, making him look even more ferocious, a stark contrast to his previous elegant and somewhat delicate appearance.

It turned out that last night, when the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster exploded, it suddenly realized that the human it had just captured was still nearby. Therefore, in a moment of survival instinct, at the instant of its explosion, the Original Soul attached itself to Xu Fan, taking over his body!

Normally, this act of the Original Soul taking over another’s body is a great taboo, but as a creature, the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster hadn’t yet transformed into human form, so it knew nothing of such restrictions. Moreover, if this takeover could succeed, not only could it eliminate its enemy but also gain a body that was much more convenient for training, so why not?

Taking over another’s body is usually very difficult; a mistake could lead to the Original Soul’s destruction, as it is weak and in someone else’s territory. However, at that moment, Xu Fan had been knocked unconscious by the explosion of the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster, greatly weakening his control over his body. On the other hand, although Xu Fan was a martial artist since childhood, his Original Soul was not much stronger than an ordinary person, making it no match for the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster that had cultivated for over a thousand years. In this way, this risky body takeover succeeded!

Not only had it removed its enemy, but it had also taken over a human body, making the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster very proud. Just as it was laughing triumphantly, a blue light suddenly flashed across the sky, quickly heading towards Xu Fan.

"Huh?" An elderly voice of surprise echoed in the air, and then a blue light appeared not far from Xu Fan. As the light faded, an old man with a head full of white hair and a dignified, ancient face suddenly appeared in front of Xu Fan, coldly examining the bloody figure before him.

"Waaah…"

Seeing the mysterious old man suddenly appear in front of him, Xu Fan, whose body was taken over by the Original Soul of the Mountain Spirit Wood Monster, felt an immense threat. This feeling was even stronger than the Green Snake Dragon from yesterday! So, "Xu Fan" watched the mysterious old man warily, letting out a series of threatening growls, while slowly backing away.

"Hmph! So it’s you causing all this trouble! I wondered why I suddenly felt a strong wave of Wood-type Spirit Qi here; it turns out you are trying to possess a human body! With such reckless behavior, don’t you fear divine punishment?" The old man completely ignored "Xu Fan’s" threatening actions and growls, instead observing "Xu Fan" for a moment before suddenly asking coldly. As he spoke, Spirit Qi surrounded him, and his pressure intensified.

If Xu Fan were awake at that moment and saw this scene, he would be overjoyed, for this old man was the "immortal" Xu Fan had always wanted to find!