035 Seven Minutes

I died.

There was no confusion about it.

For the briefest moment, I became something… else. Something larger. My awareness stretched outward, dissolving into the fabric of the forest itself.

I could feel everything.

The panic of fleeing animals as they scattered in every direction, their instincts screaming at them to survive. I felt Roo moving among them, guiding them, pushing them away from danger with a strange mix of urgency and care.

I saw Old Black, silent and watchful, slithering through the chaos as he retrieved Guo Yimu’s body with quiet respect.

I saw Willow.

She didn’t hesitate.

She fled, cutting through the sky toward Leafhome City, her small form carrying a weight far greater than her size. Whether to warn them or beg for help, I didn’t know.

Everything felt distant and muted, like I was watching the world through water.

Slowly, darkness claimed me.

When I opened my eyes again, I was somewhere else. It was dark, but not in a way that blinded me. I could see perfectly fine, the shadows parting just enough to reveal the figures standing before me.

Two… beings.

They were massive and towering. One had the head of an ox atop a man’s body. The other bore the head of a horse, equally imposing in stature. Something stirred in my memory. Old Earth memories occurred to me, referring to a certain piece of mythology.

“Ox-Head…? Horse-Face?” I asked.

“Yes, that’s us,” Ox-Head replied casually. “Welcome back to the Underworld.”

Horse-Face tilted his head, studying me with a hint of curiosity. “What do you want this time?” he asked. “Finally ready to go?”

I blinked.

“Wait… I’ve been here before already?”

Ox-Head nodded. “Indeed.”

Right.

I had died before.

That tracked.

Horse-Face snorted, crossing his arms. “You really should reconsider not going back,” he said. “The surface world isn’t kind to people like you. Misery, struggle, endless trouble? It’s practically guaranteed. Down here? Stable job, decent benefits, no one trying to kill you every other day.”

He leaned in slightly, lowering his voice as if sharing a secret. “We could even get you a position. Good hours. Reliable structure. Better than whatever chaos you keep throwing yourself into.”

Then his expression soured.

“Unlike a certain cat who never followed through on his promises,” he grumbled. “Left us stuck doing the same job for who knows how long. No transfers, no promotions… just the same routine, over and over again…”

He kept going.

I stopped listening.

“I’d love to talk more, guys,” I said, already gripping my staff, “but I’m busy. Maybe some other time.”

Ox-Head chuckled softly. “You won’t even remember this conversation,” he said. “But thank you for trying.”

Fair enough.

I lifted my staff and brought it down with a firm thump.

“Rebirth World.”

Power surged.

A familiar, heavy cooldown settled somewhere deep within me, a silent reminder that this wasn’t something I could rely on consecutively.

Ox-Head gave me a look that was almost… sympathetic.

“Good luck,” he said. “You’ll need it.”

The resurrection spell, Rebirth World, dragged me back from the void with all the subtlety of a storm tearing open the sky. The earth rejected me in a violent cough, soil splitting as I was spat back into the world of the living. My lungs seized, then filled, and I forced myself upright, dirt sliding off my skin in clumps. Strangely, there was no panic, no lingering terror. Only a deep, unnatural calm that settled into my bones like still water.

That calm felt wrong.

Clarity followed soon after, sharp and unwelcome. The storm of rage I remembered, the reckless fury, the suffocating grief? It hadn’t been entirely mine. My jaw tightened as the realization settled in. Zhen Rang. That bastard had tampered with my mind with some form of spell, dragging out the ugliest parts of me and feeding them until they consumed everything else. It wasn’t just a fight. It had been manipulation.

I scanned the area, senses stretching outward, but neither Zhen Ai nor Zhen Rang remained. The forest whispered in uneasy tones, as if recovering from a nightmare it couldn’t fully remember.

A flutter of wings broke the silence.

Willow descended from above, her pale feathers catching the light as she landed lightly on my shoulder. Behind her came a group of cultivators, their auras steady and disciplined, each of them at Core Formation. At their front stood Li Qing, her presence calm yet undeniable, the pressure of a Nascent Soul cultivator settling over the clearing like a quiet command.

Her gaze swept across the destruction before settling on me. “What happened here?” she asked, her tone steady but edged with concern. “Our alarms were triggered as well; however, it seems we were too late.”

I exhaled slowly, grounding myself before answering. “Someone trespassed into my domain,” I said, my voice low and controlled. “He took my guest and left this behind.” I gestured vaguely to the ruined surroundings. “Don’t bother pursuing him. The enemy is too strong.”

Li Qing’s eyes narrowed slightly, but she didn’t argue out of pride. Instead, she stepped closer, her sleeves shifting as she folded her arms. “I see,” she said calmly. “But that doesn’t mean you should dismiss our help so easily.”

Before I could respond, she produced several talismans from her sleeve, their inscriptions glowing faintly with contained power. With practiced ease, she burned them one by one, the ashes dissolving into thin streams of light that twisted through the air like searching serpents.

“I can help you track them down,” she said.

The strands of light converged into a single talisman, its surface pulsing faintly as if alive. Li Qing stepped forward and placed it in my hand. “Follow where it pulls you,” she instructed. “It will lead you to them.”

I studied the talisman for a moment before closing my fingers around it. “Thank you,” I said simply.

There was nothing more to say.

“It’s time for a hunt,” I muttered.

“Wild Shape: Tiger.”

Power surged through me, bones shifting, muscles expanding, the world shrinking as my senses sharpened into something primal and precise. My body twisted and grew, fur bursting forth as I became something vast and terrible. The forest seemed smaller beneath me now, every scent vivid, every sound a thread I could follow.

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I lowered my head and gently bit onto the talisman, careful not to damage it. It pulsed faintly between my teeth, tugging at me, guiding me forward. The hunter instinct of a tiger settled deep within my chest, something ancient and absolute.

I pawed at the ground, claws digging deep, a low growl rumbling from my throat. “I’ll be back soon,” I said, my voice distorted but still intelligible. I glanced at Willow. “Calm the forest. Let them know everything will be fine again.”

Willow’s golden eyes gleamed with quiet confidence. “Leave it to me,” she replied.

That was enough.

I stepped forward and activated Nature’s Stride, the world folding around me as I vanished from the forest and reappeared far beyond its borders. The transition was seamless, like stepping through an unseen doorway, and I wasted no time continuing the chase.

The sky darkened slightly as crows began to gather above me, their presence forming a shifting canopy of black wings. They circled, watched, followed. They could feel my intent, my fury, and my purpose.

One crow broke from the flock, descending low until it flew just ahead of me. Its eyes gleamed with a knowing intelligence that set it apart from the rest.

“We are at your disposal,” the crow spoke, its voice old and steady, echoing with something far beyond a mere beast. “We will help you track the trespasser.”

I huffed in acknowledgment, not slowing for a moment.

Hours blurred together as I ran, the world reduced to motion and instinct. The talisman pulled, the crows guided, and I followed without hesitation. Trees blurred past, terrain shifted beneath my paws, but nothing broke my stride.

That dragon thought he could just walk into my domain, tear everything apart, and take what he wanted.

I would rip his throat out.

Maybe it was a family matter. Maybe it wasn’t my place to interfere.

I didn’t care.

That was my guest. My domain. My balance.

Hurting your own sister like that? It wasn’t natural. Maybe it was arrogant of me to decide what was and wasn’t natural, but I had already made my choice.

When I said I was the balance, I meant it.

And I was going to enforce it.

…

..

.

[POV: Zhen Rang]

Zhen Rang cut through the sky like a streak of cold light, his robes fluttering behind him as the wind howled in protest of his speed. In his grasp, Zhen Ai hung limply, cradled in his arm like nothing more than a discarded object. Her presence barely registered in his mind anymore; she was a means to an end, nothing more.

He had already put significant distance between himself and that forest.

Or so he thought.

A faint disturbance brushed against his senses, subtle enough that most cultivators would have ignored it. Zhen Rang did not. His gaze shifted slightly as he noticed the crows, scattered at first, then gathering in quiet numbers.

His expression darkened.

“Spirit of the World Tree,” a voice called out softly, yet it seemed to resonate from every direction at once, filling the sky with its quiet authority.

Zhen Rang’s eyes sharpened.