Immortal Druid

[POV: Woon Yong]

Woon Yong barreled forward without the slightest hesitation.

Countless strands of qi stretched across the battlefield like invisible silk threads, seeking to ensnare him before he could reach his opponent. They looked delicate enough to snap beneath a child's touch.

He slammed directly into them. The threads stretched, but they didn't break. Instead, they brushed across his skin with surprising resilience.

"Hm?" Only then did he catch the faint scent of poison hidden within them. His lips curled upward. "So that's your game."

Frost qi surged naturally through his immortal body, circulating with overwhelming force. His cultivation had been tempered in glaciers older than kingdoms themselves. Ordinary toxins froze the instant they entered his body before crumbling into harmless dust.

"You have to try better, boy."

Woon Yong lunged forward, each step carrying enough force to crack the air itself.

The young man immediately retreated, panic written plainly across his face. Woon Yong frowned in disappointment. He could clearly sense the spark of immortality within the youth standing before him. Yet where was the bearing worthy of an immortal? Where was the confidence? Where was the dignity earned after transcending mortality?

His gaze instinctively drifted toward the silver-haired figure standing farther away beneath the gigantic phantom tree. At least that one possessed composure.

“I picked the wrong opponent, huh?” Woon Yong muttered in boredom.

“…Where are you looking?”

The young man’s voice cut sharply through his thoughts. Woon Yong turned back just in time to see the fear vanish from the youth’s expression. Every trace of panic disappeared as though it had never existed.

“…Ah.” A faint smile touched Woon Yong’s lips. “So it was all an act.”

The qi threads surrounding the young man abruptly changed. Heat exploded from every strand, transforming them into blazing lines of crimson flame that wrapped around his body before sinking directly into his pores. An unfamiliar burning sensation spread through Woon Yong as the fire poison invaded him.

This was no ordinary poison. The flames actively suppressed the regenerative qualities of his immortal body.

The young man smiled faintly. “It’s a basic attribute phenomenon. Flame overcomes frost—”

“Show me more, boy!” Woon Yong laughed loudly.

His body burst apart into drifting clouds, and the image before the young man instantly dissolved. It was in reality a clone, barely half Woon Yong's strength. The real Woon Yong emerged from another cloud bank, already descending with terrifying momentum. His immortal-slaying spear thrust forward, immediately followed by his thunder axe. Both weapons had been forged from immortal-slaying metal, treasures specifically refined to suppress an immortal’s regenerative abilities. Against equals, even a single wound could prove fatal.

“Cloudy Thunder Spear Axe Cascade~!”

His immortal art erupted. Twenty-three interconnected forms flowed seamlessly together, each strike accelerating the next spear, axe, step, turn, slash, and pierce. The battlefield disappeared beneath an endless storm of steel.

The young man smiled. “I’m not done yet.”

He casually tossed a small porcelain bottle. It shattered, and qi exploded outward in every direction. Dozens of identical afterimages instantly surrounded Woon Yong. Illusions.

Without slowing down, Woon Yong continued his cascade. First Form. Second Form. Third Form. Every illusion shattered beneath overwhelming force.

Yet his momentum suddenly halted. Tiny needles had pierced several acupoints throughout his body. In half a heartbeat, his muscles locked. The spiritual qi coating the needles resisted his attempts to expel them through brute force.

Woon Yong raised an eyebrow. “…Interesting.”

The young man calmly approached. “I’ve spent a very long time wondering how to kill an immortal,” he said, his voice remarkably gentle. “Destroying the brain and the heart simultaneously sounded feasible.”

His palm struck. Another followed immediately afterward.

Boom.

Woon Yong’s skull exploded.

Boom.

His heart burst apart inside his chest.

Clouds erupted from both wounds. For an ordinary immortal, such injuries would already prove catastrophic. Instead, Woon Yong threw his head back and laughed.

“Ha ha ha~! You have to do better than that!”

The young man watched the rapid regeneration thoughtfully. “I see.”

Dark strings suddenly wrapped around Woon Yong’s arms and legs. He instinctively struggled, but the restraints only tightened.

“Don’t be impatient,” the young man said. “I was only getting started.” His eyes gleamed with unmistakable curiosity. “I can’t waste such precious research standing right before me.” He slowly raised one hand. “So… allow me to dissect you.”

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His fingers swept downward. The invisible blade opened Woon Yong’s chest from collarbone to abdomen. No blood emerged. Only dense clouds poured from the wound. Three identical Woon Yongs instantly materialized around the physician while the genuine Woon Yong had already escaped upward, floating high above the battlefield and preparing another strike.

“I can see right through you.”

The young man didn’t even bother looking upward. He simply flicked a single needle. It pierced one clone, and the remaining two instantly froze in place as if affected by the distant needle.

Woon Yong’s smile faded. 'Impossible. How?'

His thoughts raced backward through every exchange from the chest wound, the young man's palm mark, and the strange burning sensation lingering there. Poison. Hallucinogenic poison. The young man had laced his fingertips during the dissection. Without realizing it, Woon Yong had been perceiving the battlefield through subtly altered senses ever since.

“…Clever.”

The realization had scarcely formed before another voice sounded directly behind him.

“I can put people back together,” The young man said. His palm rested gently against his back. “But I can tear them apart just the same.”

"Show me."

“Twelve Meridians Destruction.”

Qi erupted, surging directly into every principal meridian simultaneously. The attack sought not merely to wound, but to collapse the body’s entire internal circulation.

At that exact instant, Woon Yong grinned.

“Dao Domain… Cloudy Dragon Manifestation!”

The heavens trembled. Dark clouds exploded outward across the battlefield. His body dissolved into mist as the destructive force passed harmlessly through his cloud form before dispersing across the expanding domain. Far above, thunder rolled continuously while gigantic draconic silhouettes slithered through the storm clouds. The heavens themselves had become his battlefield.

Woon Yong gradually reformed atop a dense cloud. He wiped fresh blood from the corner of his mouth. Despite dispersing most of the damage, the strike had still injured him.

He looked down at the young man. A broad grin slowly spread across his face.

“…Excellent.” His laughter echoed across the storm. “Now this… this is becoming fun.”

Woon Yong floated amid the storm clouds, blood still dripping from the corner of his lips. The young man below had forced him to take the fight seriously, earning his respect. His booming laughter gradually subsided as he rested his spear across one shoulder and pointed the axe toward the young man.

“Boy!” His voice rolled like thunder across the sky. Lightning danced around his broad frame. “What is your name? I must remember the name of the one who stirred my warrior’s blood. Posterity deserves to know who stood against me today.”

The young man stood calmly amidst the pouring rain, his robes fluttering gently in the wind. “I am Zi Wen,” he replied. “The next coming of the Divine Physician of the Renewal Sect.”

Woon Yong’s grin widened. “Excellent!” He nodded without hesitation. “Your battle prowess deserves praise. Never would I have imagined a physician could rouse the blood of a warrior within me.”

He slowly spread both arms. The surrounding heavens answered. Columns of thunder descended from the clouds like divine pillars while lightning continuously danced between the storm clouds. His Dao Domain expanded further, turning the battlefield into an ocean of roaring wind and crackling electricity.

“Congratulations!” His voice shook the sky. “You’ve earned the right to witness the height of my power!”

He raised both immortal weapons. The spear and axe collided with a resounding clang! The sonorous cry echoed throughout the Dragon Snake Domain as spiritual qi surged wildly.

“Immortal Art—”

His words abruptly stopped. A single leaf floated before his eyes. It was one ordinary green leaf. However, instinct screamed danger at Woon Yong.

“Did you just forget about me?”

The calm voice sounded directly behind him. Woon Yong’s pupils contracted.

The silver-haired immortal had already closed the distance. His wooden staff descended. Yet before the strike landed, Wo Li’s body rapidly transformed. Muscles swelled, silver fur erupted across his frame, and his limbs thickened into colossal arms. A massive gorilla materialized in an instant. The seemingly ordinary blow became monstrously heavy.

Boom!

The staff slammed downward. Woon Yong plummeted through the heavens like a falling star before crashing into the earth below. The mountains shook as a crater spread outward from the impact.

He immediately stabilized himself and launched upward. However, it was too late. The gorilla had already vanished. An enormous eagle now descended from above, its talons digging deeply into his shoulders, intent to keep hold of him.

Only then did realization strike him.

“…The Hermit Sage. So… you’re Wo Li.”

The eagle’s body shimmered. Another transformation.

“Steppe Mammoth.”

A gigantic mammoth materialized above him, its massive tusks gleaming beneath the storm. Before Woon Yong could evade, Wo Li cast another spell.

“Steel Forge.”

Metallic light swept across the beast. Its entire body transformed into solid steel. The steel mammoth descended with crushing force, driving Woon Yong deeper into the earth and fracturing stone for hundreds of meters in every direction.

Woon Yong immediately dissolved into clouds. Normally, that would have ended the exchange with his escape.

“…What?”

The strange energy clinging to his body refused to disperse. Neither his cloud transformation nor his Dao Domain could shake it away. It adhered to him relentlessly.

Before he could fully reform, another figure stood above him.

“Primal Nature Spirit.”

Wo Li had transformed once again. His silver hair had become a flowing mane, and his porcelain-like skin reflected the flashes of lightning. Subtle silver patterns resembling polished wood spread across his body. Most striking of all were his enlarged hands, which descended like iron restraints. Woon Yong found himself pinned completely.

Wo Li opened his mouth. Elemental projectiles erupted in rapid succession with fire, wind, stone, water, and lightning. Each spell struck with terrifying precision. The bombardment continued without pause until Woon Yong’s skull shattered beneath the relentless assault.

His consciousness flickered.

Yet immortality rapidly reconstructed the damage. Wo Li quietly observed the regeneration.

“I still have use for you.”

His hand plunged forward. With one smooth motion, he extracted Woon Yong’s still-beating heart. A thorn-covered vine immediately wrapped itself around the organ, dark green light pulsing through the living prison.

To Woon Yong’s astonishment, his awareness remained intact. He perceived everything. He saw his own body collapsing. He watched Wo Li standing over it as he devastated the rest of his flesh. He even felt the rain striking the battlefield.

“…Absurd.”

His thoughts churned with disbelief. Since when had the soul and immortality resided within the heart? Every immortal understood that true immortality transcended flesh. One who had mastered it completely could regenerate from a single drop of blood. No ordinary organ should ever contain the essence of one’s immortal existence.

Yet here he was, still conscious, still aware, and still imprisoned within a beating heart.

Wo Li turned his head. “Bring the treasure of the Willow Order.”

A woman radiating majestic draconic presence stepped forward. With a wave of her hand, she retrieved an ancient chest from her storage ring. Its weathered exterior bore intricate carvings that had clearly survived untold ages.

Wo Li accepted it calmly. “I’ll be paying the remaining rulers of the Four Sovereign Flags the same visit.” His gaze lifted toward the distant battlefield. “Whether they share your fate depends entirely on whether they’re willing to speak before choosing war.”

The chest slowly opened, revealing an ancient darkness within. Without hesitation, Wo Li placed the vine-bound heart inside. The lid closed.

Darkness consumed everything.

“No!”

Woon Yong slammed against the invisible confines surrounding him. He clawed desperately, struck, and roared.

“Let me out!”

His voice echoed endlessly through the suffocating void.

Nothing answered.

Only darkness remained.