Immortal Druid

[POV: Kang Wen]

It was an unbelievable sight. A Core Formation expert and a scion of a major sect had been killed so easily, almost casually. Kang Wen’s legs gave out. He dropped to his knees and kowtowed deeply, forehead pressing into the dirt.

“Senior… this junior thanks you from the bottom of his heart,” Kang Wen said, voice thick with emotion. “You have slain a terrible enemy in a war that threatens my people and my sect. Your strength is truly heaven-defying. This Kang Wen will never forget this kindness.”

Kang Wen remained bowed, staring in awe as the silver-haired stranger casually turned to the squirrel on his shoulder and murmured, “So, somewhere around here?”

The stranger unearthed a small, lifeless squirrel from behind a fallen log. He addressed Kang Wen without looking up. “I don’t know about your war, but I guess, in the end, it’s a matter of perspective. I am still growing both as a person and as an individual. I don’t know if my right is right for everyone, but I guess I’m just doing my best to be responsible with the power I possess.”

Qi stirred violently around him as he raised his staff. “Revive Life.”

He placed the dead squirrel on the ground. The earth itself swallowed the tiny body for a moment, then pushed it back to the surface, alive and chittering. The two squirrels nuzzled each other briefly before scampering off into the underbrush.

Soon after, the sky darkened. Heavenly Tribulation stirred, clouds roiling with crackling lightning that struck the stranger without mercy. Yet he simply declared, “Wild Shape: Primal Nature Elemental,” and endured the heavenly punishment as if it were a light rain. When the tribulation ended, he reverted to his silver-haired form and walked over to Kang Wen.

“Lifepulse.”

A gentle wave of verdant energy washed over Kang Wen. His wounds closed at an incredible pace, broken bones knit together, and even his exhaustion melted away. He stared up at the stranger in pure awe.

“Senior, please!” Kang Wen begged, still on his knees. “Help my Steel Sky Sect! We are under siege by multiple powers, including the Stone Spire Sect. I promise you treasures beyond imagination, rare spiritual herbs, ancient artifacts, wealth that could rival kingdoms, even beauties from the finest clans if that is your desire. Anything! Just name your price!”

The stranger simply shook his head, declining without a word.

Kang Wen spent the next hour desperately trying to convince him. The stranger sat calmly under a large tree, eyes half-closed as he breathed in the surrounding qi and recovered. He would politely nod at Kang Wen’s increasingly frantic offers of the most incredible treasures, rare resources, peerless cultivation manuals, beautiful dual cultivation partners, and mountains of spirit stones, but never once showed the slightest temptation.

Finally, the stranger sighed. “I thought cultivators are supposed to be aloof, but lately I’m thinking your lot is too stuck on your ways. And here I thought you were supposed to cultivate immortality and discard your basest desires.”

He stood up and waved his staff once more. “Revive Life.”

Just like that, Xu Lei’s severed body was pulled back together as it was swallowed by the earth. When Xu Lei was spat back by the earth, he was whole again. The young scion shortly woke with a gasp, crying and trembling as he stared at the stranger with pure terror in his eyes.

The stranger looked down at him impassively. “Go. Leave.”

Xu Lei kowtowed repeatedly, voice shaking. “Thank you, Senior!”

He then fled into the forest as fast as his legs could carry him.

Rage, confusion, and hate bloomed violently in Kang Wen’s heart. He brandished his sword, ready to chase after the fleeing enemy, but a firm hand suddenly rested on his shoulder.

It was Xing Ning, the young master he had been searching for all this time.

With a gentle shake of his head, Xing Ning remarked softly, “Please… don’t…”

…

..

.

I cleaned up the battlefield with a sweep of my hand, using phytokinesis to prop up the damaged trees and straighten their trunks. Then I injected fresh life qi into the soil and surrounding flora, coaxing the forest back to vibrant health. The air smelled sweeter almost immediately, and the faint sounds of returning wildlife filled the canopy. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared, but lately I had realized I was losing memories of Earth. Faces, places, even the taste of certain foods were fading. It felt so pointless now to want to live this camping life to make up for my past life. The druid part of me was honestly starting to erode my will. I was becoming Nevle, and Wally was slowly vanishing.

We walked back to the camp with a new addition trailing behind us in respectful silence.

Xing Ning cleared his throat as we reached the small clearing. He sounded proud as he gestured toward the middle-aged swordsman. “Senior Wo Li, this is Kang Wen the Sword Frenzy, one of the strongest swordsmen of my Steel Sky Sect and a man who has protected me with his life more than once. He is renowned across the continent for fighting with nothing but pure sword arts.”

Kang Wen immediately dropped into a deep bow, cupping his fists. “This junior pays his respects to Senior Wo Li. Your power is beyond anything I have witnessed. However… this junior is curious. Why did you resurrect Xu Lei despite him trying to kill you?”

I shrugged lightly. “Because murder upsets the balance, and at its core, it is unnatural.”

There was a short silence. I could feel the weight of judgment in Kang Wen’s gaze.

He pressed on carefully. “Then what if there was someone stronger, or your match, who attempted to kill you? Would you still spare them?”

I answered honestly, “If they were a real threat to me, then I would kill them. But Xu Lei was not.”

“What about Xu Lei’s sect?” Kang Wen asked next. “They will surely seek revenge for their scion.”

I met his eyes. “If they are indeed a threat to me, then they would have to die too. Were they a threat to me? No, they are not. Moreover, grounds for revenge only sound reasonable if someone did die. Did Xu Lei die? Who died? No one. And if they did come for me, I would deal with them then. Why make demons you must fight when they are not even in front of you?”

It was twisted logic, and I knew the Earthling part of me was speaking those words. It was that old game logic: if we couldn’t exist peacefully on the same server, then one of us had to go. This kind of thinking didn’t mesh well with the druid ideologies that Nevle represented, and lately, my head felt like a complete mess.

Of course, Nevle wasn’t a stranger to murder, since he had killed a few humanoids in his time, and the PvP I had experienced through him carried heavy consequences. I could still recall the inherited memories of him suffering those player-kills, the guilt that followed, the way he had paid dearly for every life taken. It was a strange sensation, half-remembered and half-foreign.

Sometimes I lashed out internally, telling myself Nevle wasn’t real, that Legacy World Online was just a game, and that this whole world was nothing but a dream. But I knew I would only be fooling myself.

When I first came to this world, I thought I had been given a golden opportunity for a nice, long vacation. Instead, I now carried what felt like dormant PTSD lurking somewhere in my brain.

Kang Wen scratched his thick beard, looking genuinely puzzled. “This junior doesn’t really get it. Killing your enemy has always been considered a virtue in the cultivation world. It prevents future troubles.”

I argued back, “It is a virtue I don’t wish to keep.”

He countered, “It is like killing an animal for food or protection. So where is the harm done?”

I glared at him, feeling an angry pit form in my stomach. “But you are human.”

The same was true for Xu Lei.

Kang Wen’s eyes hardened with steel. “Are you?”

Xing Ning quickly stepped between us, raising both hands. “How about we all calm down, huh?”

Kang Wen bravely took a step forward anyway, refusing to back down. “No, this has to be addressed, young master. Because I don’t understand why Senior Wo Li had to let him go. I understand saying this to your face risks any goodwill you have toward Xing Ning or me, if you had any, but it had to be said. Are you stupid? I understand you stand at a lofty realm that allows you to look down on others and only see me as… human. But no, I am a cultivator! I fight! I kill! I cultivate! I protect! I understand I might’ve overstepped my bounds by comparing it to killing an animal, but you have to see where I’m coming from. Why kill a man you would just resurrect later on, and then send him on his way?”

I answered plainly, “To send a message.”

Kang Wen sounded doubtful. “So you are willing to use violence as you please to meet your goals, but not to kill someone? It just sounds… unnecessarily cruel.”

Hypocrite, too.

I remarked plainly, “Yeah.”

I’m definitely not getting any sleep tonight.

We reached the camp just as the afternoon light filtered through the canopy in soft golden shafts. The thorny vines that formed the outer barrier rustled and parted obediently at my approach, creating a wide archway for us to enter. In the middle of the clearing stood my modest treehouse, nestled among the sturdy branches of an ancient oak I had personally reinforced with qi. The air smelled of fresh pine, woodsmoke, and the faint sweetness of blooming wildflowers I had encouraged to grow around the perimeter.

Guo Yimu was sweeping the fallen leaves away with a simple bamboo broom, his bald head gleaming under the dappled sunlight. The monk-cosplayer’s eyes lit up the moment he saw us returning. Without hesitation, he eagerly thrust the broom toward Kang Wen.

“New guy, you sweep!”

Li Ming was a short distance away, chopping firewood with rhythmic swings of a small axe. When she noticed our group, her face broke into a bright, cheerful beam. “Senior Wo Li! Xing Ning! Who is the old man?”

Kang Wen’s thick beard twitched as he pouted, looking genuinely offended for the first time since I had met him. “This old man is not that old…”

Still, he accepted the broom without complaint and began sweeping the leaves into neat piles, his movements precise and disciplined even in such a mundane task.

Xing Ning stepped forward with a polite smile, gesturing toward the middle-aged swordsman. “Everyone, this is Kang Wen, the Sword Frenzy of my Steel Sky Sect. He is a Core Formation expert and one of the most renowned swordsmen on the continent. He has protected me through many dangers and has come seeking me after years of separation.”

Guo Yimu’s expression shifted from eager mischief to polite deference almost instantly. He bowed slightly and reached out with both hands, sounding unexpectedly meek. “Ah… this junior apologizes for the rudeness. May I have the broom back, Senior Kang Wen?”

Kang Wen paused mid-sweep, glanced at the bald man, and then handed the broom back.

Guo Yimu received the broom and immediately set himself free.

“Amitabha! This humble monk is truly blessed to witness such heavenly presence! Senior Kang Wen, your very arrival has illuminated this humble campsite like the first rays of dawn after a thousand nights of darkness! Your sweeping technique is truly divine; each stroke carries the profound Dao of cleanliness, sweeping away not just leaves but also the dust of mortal troubles from our hearts! Your majestic beard flows like the sacred rivers of legend, and your tattered robes flutter with the grace of a battle-hardened immortal! Truly, your aura alone elevates the atmosphere to new heights of spiritual harmony! Of course… hehe… Senior Kang Wen still pales in comparison to the boundless glory of our revered Senior Wo Li, whose very footsteps cause flowers to bloom and trees to sing in joy!"

I smacked Guo Yimu on the back of the head with just enough force to make him stumble forward a step.

“Enough with the shenanigans,” I said, kind of annoyed. “Be kind to Kang Wen. He’s tired from his long journey and has been through a lot. Someone fetch him a new set of robes, something clean and comfortable. And show him proper hospitality. Make sure he has a place to rest, some hot tea, and whatever food we have prepared. He’s our guest now.”

The moment the words left my mouth, the camp erupted into chaos.

Xing Ning’s eyes sparkled with barely contained excitement as he stepped closer. “Senior Kang! How is the sect? Is the Sect Leader still holding the main hall? Have the elders managed to conquer the secret realm? What about the disciples? Did anyone else make it out safely?”

At the same time, Li Ming dropped her axe with a loud thunk and bounced on her toes, grinning from ear to ear. “Senior Kang! You’re a famous sword maniac, right? Let’s spar! Right now! I want to see the Tempest Steel Sword Art up close… please, just one exchange!”

Guo Yimu, never one to be left out, clapped his hands together with dramatic flair. “Amitabha! This humble monk has heard tales of the Steel Mountain Domain’s peerless beauties, graceful as drifting clouds, skin like polished jade, eyes that can steal a man’s soul! Senior Kang Wen, surely you must know the finest ladies of the sect? Tell this poor monk everything! Their names, their temperaments, whether any of them appreciate a man of spiritual depth!”

Kang Wen froze mid-step, his face rapidly turning a deep shade of red beneath the thick beard. The usually stoic Sword Frenzy looked utterly flustered, eyes darting between the three enthusiastic faces crowding around him.

“W-wait—slow down!” he stammered, raising one hand in a defensive gesture. “One at a time, please! This old man can barely keep up. Young Master Xing Ning first, then… the enthusiastic young lady, and… the monk last. Please, have mercy on this weary traveler.”