Immortal Druid

Jia Ping rubbed her temples and glared at the mountain of dismantled devices scattered across her worktable.

“This wasn't easy, Sage,” she complained. “You handed me a mysterious artifact from another world and expected me to understand it. Do you know how frustrating this thing is? Every time I think I understand one component, I discover three more that make no sense.”

She picked up the remains of a smartphone and shook it in the air.

“I don't even understand half the reason this thing works. There are no formations. No spirit veins. No talismans. No runes. Yet somehow it stores information, displays images, transmits voices, and performs calculations. How? Why? This flat piece of metal and glass is insulting my education.”

The workshop around us looked like the aftermath of a battlefield.

Dozens of devices covered every available surface. Flip phones. Touchscreen phones. Smartphones from different brands and generations. Landlines. Portable radios. Even a broken pay phone occupied a corner of the room like a relic from a forgotten age.

Each one had been meticulously dissected. The sight alone represented an absurd amount of quintessence.

It turned out that possessing the power of creation did not mean I could casually recreate Earth’s technology. There were two very important limitations. First, I needed to have seen the object. Second, I needed to have touched it. The power cared little whether I understood every atom that composed it. What mattered was familiarity, history, and personal connection. As long as I had interacted with something, quintessence could reproduce it.

The same principle applied to textbooks.

I could create textbooks from Earth, but only ones I had actually encountered. Even then, the information inside wasn't some magical shortcut that instantly taught advanced concepts. Knowledge still required understanding.

Honestly, the entire thing made me feel inadequate.

In the stories I’d read, protagonists who introduced modern technology into fantasy worlds always seemed capable of rebuilding civilization from scratch. I couldn’t. If you needed a spreadsheet, I was your man. If you wanted someone to optimize a workflow, organize data, or endure endless corporate meetings, I had years of experience. I could even handle mental math better than most calculators thanks to my current stats. But impressive? Not really.

I was a byproduct of capitalism, a worker bee, and a cog that had spent most of its life learning how to fit neatly into a machine built by others. I knew how to operate inside systems, but I didn’t know how to build them. And if I was being honest, I was tired of it. Part of the reason I had embraced life in this world was to distance myself from all of that.

Unfortunately, kingdom building had laid my limitations bare. Civilizations didn’t run on good intentions alone. They required infrastructure, complex systems, and people far smarter than me, which was exactly why I had dragged Jia Ping into this mess.

I pointed toward the collection of devices spread across her workstation.

“It doesn't need to be complicated,” I told her. “It doesn't need to be a perfect copy. I only need something that can communicate across long distances. Think of it as an extremely powerful sound transmission artifact.”

“We already have those.” Jia Ping snorted as she reached toward a drawer and produced a talisman. “The Willow Order has been using communication talismans for years. Mission reports, emergency requests, intelligence gathering. We can already transmit messages across considerable distances.”

I shook my head. “Not that.”

Her brow furrowed.

I picked up a smartphone with one hand and a walkie-talkie with the other. “I want something better than these concepts. A communication implement that allows continuous conversation.”

Jia Ping blinked. “Continuous?”

“Yes.”

“As in two people speaking back and forth?”

“Yes.”

“In real time?”

“Yes.”

“Without preparing a message first?”

“Yes.”

She stared at me.

I stared back.

A long silence followed.

Finally, she buried her face in both hands.

“Why are people from your world so... bored? And insane? Why do people want to talk back and forth? Why don't they just use a bunch of talismans and spend them crazily to achieve something to that effect?”

“Because we had the luxury of making increasingly unreasonable demands. Also, a desire for efficiency.”

“That isn't an answer.”

“It is absolutely an answer.”

Jia Ping groaned. “Do you have any idea how much easier my life would be if you wanted flying swords or exploding talismans?”

“I don't need those.”

“Ugh...”

I laughed as Jia Ping muttered curses under her breath. For all her complaints, she genuinely enjoyed the challenge. Most Chroniclers probably spent their lives merely preserving knowledge, yet she had been given the rare opportunity to create entirely new branches of it, something far too tempting to resist.

Eventually, I stepped away from the table. “I’ll leave you to your work,” I said. “Continue developing the technology. The sooner, the better.”

Jia Ping waved me away without looking up. “Go bother someone else, Sage. I need to figure out why your world’s tiny metal bricks can somehow carry voices through the air.”

I left before she could burden me with more questions. The moment I stepped outside, cool morning air brushed against my face. Dawn had already arrived. Only then did I realize how long we had been working. The eastern horizon glowed with the first light of day.

Poor Jia Ping. I was definitely working her to the bone, though she would never admit it.

I stretched and created a cigarette from small amounts of quintessence. The familiar weight settled comfortably between my fingers. For a moment, I simply stared at it. I had intended to quit when I first arrived in this world. It was a fresh start, a healthier lifestyle, and a grand new chapter. Reality, however, had other plans.

The atmosphere lately had been suffocating. The Four Sovereign Flags, the Ten Great Sects, political maneuvering, conspiracies, and threats from every direction. I needed something to take the edge off. Just this once.

I lit the cigarette with pyrokinesis and inhaled deeply. The familiar burn settled my nerves. As smoke drifted into the morning air, I sensed a familiar presence lingering nearby.

My gaze shifted toward a cluster of trees beyond the workshop. “I know you’re there,” I said. “What did you find, Hao Lei?”

The air distorted as an illusion unraveled. A sickly-looking man emerged from seemingly nowhere. Despite his pale complexion and perpetually exhausted appearance, his eyes remained dangerously sharp.

Hao Lei inclined his head. “I have news,” he remarked. "Big news."

“Then don’t hold back,” I said, exhaling a stream of smoke into the dawn air. “Give it to me straight.”

Hao Lei grimaced, as though the information he carried caused him physical pain. He reached into his robes, produced a folded parchment, and handed it over. “This is a copy of the ultimatum sent by the Four Sovereign Flags to each of the Ten Great Sects,” he explained. “Sage, this is basically the precursor to war that is about to happen. They were making the conflict official.”

That immediately caught my full attention. I unrolled the parchment, and the moment I did, a tiny voice emerged from the document.

“How terrifying,” the parchment murmured dramatically. “Such terrifying contents. I nearly crumbled from fear while carrying these words.”

I ignored the parchment’s theatrics and focused on the contents instead. The words were concise, blunt, and absolutely insane.

...

..

.

By the united will of the Four Sovereign Flags, we hereby declare the formal establishment of the Sovereign Assembly.

What was once a loose alliance of equals shall now stand as one unbreakable power. The era of division ends today. The age of unchecked tyranny ends today.

Let it be known across the Earthly Heart Continent:

The following nations have already bent the knee and pledged their vassalage to the Sovereign Assembly. Their loyalty has been recorded and shall be honored:

[Here followed a long list of nations and powers that had submitted.]

To all remaining powers, sects, and independent kingdoms:

Any nation found harboring cultivators of the Ten Great Sects shall be declared an enemy of the Sovereign Assembly. Any cultivator affiliated with the Ten Great Sects shall henceforth be recognized as a criminal and a traitor to the continent. They will be hunted down and brought before the Four Courts to stand trial for treason, conspiracy, tyranny, resource hoarding, and the countless crimes they have committed over thousands of years while oppressing the world.

The Ten Great Sects have grown fat on the suffering of others. They have hoarded resources, stifled progress, and deliberately hindered the advancement of civilization for their own selfish benefit. This ends now.

The Sovereign Assembly declares that we shall cut down half of the Ten Great Sects as a warning and a reckoning.

To the remaining sects: surrender. Cripple the cultivation of all disciples from the fifth generation to the first. Execute your Sect Leaders. Surrender all your resources, manuals, and treasures to be divided among the nations and safeguarded by the Sovereign Assembly.

Refuse, and you will share the same fate as those we have chosen to destroy.

The time for submission has come. Resist, and face annihilation.

Signed by the Sovereign Assembly

Sunblood Dynasty · Steelfrost Fortress · Azure Queendom · Horizon Kingdom

...

..

.

I lowered the parchment.

Holy shit. This wasn’t just big. It was continent-shaking. The Sovereign Assembly wasn’t asking for compromise, negotiation, or concessions. They were demanding that half of the Ten Great Sects simply die.

“This was sent just a few days ago,” Hao Lei remarked. “By now, every Sect Leader among the Ten Great Sects will have read the ultimatum.”

I rubbed my forehead. Things had escalated far faster than I had expected. The Sovereign Assembly had effectively declared war on the entire cultivation establishment. No wonder the atmosphere had felt so suffocating lately.

A groan escaped Hao Lei. I looked up and saw that his complexion had grown even paler. “What is the problem?” I asked.

Hao Lei gave a weak laugh. “The way I acquired this information may have cost me rather greatly.”

That was concerning. Without another word, he loosened his outer robe. The sight beneath it immediately darkened my mood. A massive scabbing wound stretched diagonally across his chest from shoulder to waist, as though someone had nearly sliced him in half. The flesh around the injury was blackened and distorted, with lingering traces of sword intent still festering within it despite prior healing attempts.

“That came from the ruler of the Horizon Kingdom,” Hao Lei said. “The Sword King himself.”

My eyes narrowed. “An Immortal-class cultivator?”

Hao Lei nodded, his expression turning serious. “Either a greater force is moving behind the scenes, or circumstances far larger than we currently understand are unfolding.”

“I agree.” Immortal-class cultivators didn’t simply appear overnight, especially not among rulers of nations. Something enormous was happening.

I reached forward and cast Lifepulse. A wave of vibrant green energy flowed into Hao Lei’s body. The lingering sword intent resisted for a moment before being overwhelmed. The wound rapidly closed, healthy flesh replacing the damaged tissue as color returned to his face.

He released a long breath. “Thank you,” he said, adjusting his robes once more.

I waved it off. “How long do we have before the Sovereign Assembly acts?”

Hao Lei’s expression grew grim. “According to our investigation, their troop movements, logistics, and deployment of experts suggest roughly one month.”

One month. That wasn’t much time at all.

I stared toward the distant horizon. This was troublesome beyond measure. The Sovereign Assembly wanted half of the Ten Great Sects destroyed. Who was to say the Touch Grass Sect wouldn’t end up on that list? We were a very recent force, but our status was practically at the level of one of the Ten Great Sects. Perhaps I should consult Mab. If anyone could provide clarity about the future—

“Sage!”

The familiar voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked up to see Tao Wolong sitting lazily atop a nearby wall, chewing on a reed with both hands resting behind his head.

“You have a quest,” he announced.

I sighed. “Of course I do. Who is it?”

Tao Wolong spat out the reed. “Some guy.”

That narrowed it down to several billion possibilities. “What guy?”

“The guy who introduced himself as the Sword King of the Horizon Kingdom.”

That was a rather surprising development. Not only because the Sword King wanted to meet me, but because of the timing. The Sovereign Assembly had just issued their ultimatum to the Ten Great Sects, Hao Lei had barely returned from one of the most dangerous intelligence operations of his life, and now the ruler of the Horizon Kingdom was apparently standing somewhere nearby. The entire situation smelled deeply suspicious.

Hao Lei clearly shared my concerns. His expression darkened. “I do not like this,” he said, visibly annoyed. “If that man somehow tracked me here, then I have greatly overestimated myself and underestimated him. I would be furious if my carelessness endangered the sect.”

I shook my head. “Calm down. Hide yourself for now. There is no point jumping to conclusions.”

Hao Lei hesitated for a moment before nodding. “I won’t be far away.” The air around him distorted as he disappeared, only leaving his voice behind. “If you have need of me, Sage, you merely need to call.”

Honestly, I doubted the Sword King had tracked Hao Lei here. The man specialized in illusions and infiltration. There were very few people in the world capable of discovering him when he truly wanted to remain hidden. Even I had been fooled by him more than once. Besides, there was also the parchment. If there had been any tracking method attached to it, Hao Lei would have found it.

I looked down at the parchment in my hand. “Were you tracked?”

“No,” the parchment answered immediately, almost sounding offended. “Hao Lei wrote this copy entirely by hand. The original remained within the Horizon Kingdom. He meticulously recreated every character, every signature, every stroke of ink. There are no tracking formations, spiritual markers, hidden seals, curses, or surveillance techniques attached to me. Hao Lei verified all of those possibilities repeatedly.”

The parchment then launched into a lengthy explanation. “Hao Lei infiltrated the Horizon Kingdom through a merchant convoy entering the capital. Afterward, he disguised himself as a servant, then a clerk, then a guard, then another servant because the previous one was apparently insufferable. During this process, he obtained access to the records chamber where the ultimatum was temporarily archived. He copied the contents manually over several nights while avoiding multiple security formations, two Nascent Soul cultivators, one suspicious dog, and a remarkably perceptive janitor.”

I blinked.

The parchment continued without pause. “His operation was proceeding flawlessly until his escape. During said escape, a roof tile broke beneath his foot. Said roof tile alerted a guard. Said guard alerted another guard. Said guards alerted additional guards. At which point the Sword King happened to be passing nearby.” The parchment paused dramatically. “A truly tragic case of bad luck.”

I rubbed my forehead. That sounded absurd. The worst part was that it also sounded exactly like something that would happen to Hao Lei. Maybe my bad luck was rubbing off on him, which was highly likely.

The parchment huffed. “In conclusion, Hao Lei was not tracked. Hao Lei simply possesses terrible fortune.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“You are welcome.” The parchment sounded far too pleased with itself.

I folded it and stored it away. None of this suggested Hao Lei had led the Sword King here. If anything, the ruler of the Horizon Kingdom probably had his own reasons for seeking me out, which wasn’t much more comforting.

Tao Wolong had watched the entire exchange with growing amusement. Then he burst out laughing. “Hahaha!”

I glanced at him. The boy pointed at me. “Sage, you must’ve gone crazy.”

“I have?”

“You were having a conversation with a parchment.”

“That parchment talks.”

“You still had a conversation with a parchment.”

“Fair.”

Tao Wolong shook his head, still laughing. “I leave you for a few days, and suddenly you’re arguing with pieces of paper.”

“I wasn’t arguing.”

“You absolutely were.”

“The parchment started it.”

That only made him laugh harder. I sighed. There was no winning this conversation.

Eventually, I flicked away the remains of my cigarette. “Lead the way.”

Tao Wolong hopped off the wall, his grin widening. “Sure thing.”

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