Only three seconds? He's already the Lord of All Realms, so it doesn't matter.

Ye Xuan felt that "The Immortal Willow" was an opportunity.

He was at his wit's end, and even though his understanding of immortal techniques was still shallow, he had no choice but to try.

"Transforming into weeping willows, they manifested the twelve divine positions: Longevity, Bathing, Crowning..."

Reciting the incantation from the immortal technique once, Ye Xuan urged his remaining willpower to circulate spiritual energy in this chaotic space.

"If this method succeeds, I will surely ascend to the Realm of Immortality once more."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Time passed without Ye Xuan noticing. When he opened his eyes, he saw Shuitian Village, which was surrounded by mountains.

Since the last offering ceremony, Shuitian Village has returned to its usual tranquility. In the rice paddies, farmers are busy with summer planting; under the shade of trees, several children are climbing branches, catching insects...

Ye Xuan was temporarily unaware of his perspective from which he was observing all of this; his field of vision was limited, fundamentally different from when he used his perception to survey the world.

He felt inexplicably familiar with his surroundings. When his consciousness returned to itself, he discovered that this was actually the Chen family's backyard.

"Dad, this is so heavy!"

Chen Qinghe carried an iron axe on his shoulder and tried to swing it like his father, but he found it very difficult to even lift his hands.

Chen Xunjiang, who was standing next to him, also came over and babbled, "Brother, give it to me, let me play with it."

Chen Hong arranged the scattered firewood on the ground, came to the two children, picked up the iron axe with one hand, and returned to the wooden stake.

"When you're stronger, like this."

Chen Hong swung his iron axe, bent over, and chopped at the firewood standing on the wooden stake, splitting the thick firewood in two, then in three to four.

Chen Qinghe was very perceptive. He immediately ran forward, picked up the firewood scattered on the ground, and piled it in a corner against the wall.

Chen Xunjiang followed suit, but for him, even carrying a small piece of firewood was quite strenuous.

Several minutes later, Chen Hong's face was covered in sweat. He finished chopping the last piece of firewood, patted the dust off his hands, and then touched the heads of the two children.

He carried the two children, one in each hand, on his shoulders and walked into the house.

"It's very sunny now, so stay indoors and play. Don't cause your mother any trouble."

After setting the two down, Chen Hong finished drinking the cold water on the table, feeling a bit lighter. Then he picked up the wooden bow hanging on the door and pushed the door open to go out.

Jin Yan just came out and called out to Chen Hong, "Be careful."

In Shuitian Village, because babies are worshipped as soon as they are born, women of all ages have little ability to work, so the burden of supporting the family falls entirely on the men.

Shuitian Village rarely experiences natural disasters, and ordinary families have enough rice porridge, but meat is not something they can eat every day.

The terrain in the mountains of the village is complicated. Usually, when Chen Hong goes up the mountain to hunt, if he is lucky, he can find two wild rabbits or catch a mole, and then the whole family can have a meat feast.

"understood."

Chen Hong embraced his wife and lingered in her arms for a while before finally leaving the house.

It was just past noon, and the sun was at its most scorching. Climbing mountains and hunting was physically demanding, and Chen Hong was already feeling unbearably hot after walking only ten miles.

He took out his water bottle from his pocket, took a couple of sips, and then followed the path trodden by the villagers into the forest.

Shuitian Village is located in a remote area with relatively thin spiritual energy. Even fierce wild animals are rare in the mountains, let alone spiritual beasts that can absorb the essence of heaven and earth.

This is both a good thing and a bad thing.

Chen Hong wandered around the mountains alone for a while but didn't see a single wild animal. He had no choice but to follow the mountain stream to the trap he had set up two days earlier.

Unfortunately, none of the simple traps caught any prey, and Chen Hong couldn't help but look somewhat disappointed.

After setting up the traps again, he thought about his children who were at the age of growing up and didn't want to go back empty-handed, so he decided to go deeper into the mountains to take a look.

As he walked further in, he heard a buzzing sound in his ears. Chen Hong was overjoyed, but at the same time, he kept a wary eye on his surroundings.

He had heard from the villagers that there were not only poisonous snakes in the deep mountains and forests, but also several fierce wild boars.

Venomous snakes are generally not very venomous, and there are traditional remedies in the village to treat them, but if he encounters a wild boar, he'll be in trouble all by himself.

So Chen Hong held an arrow in his hand, sweeping the grass in front of him as he walked, not daring to make too much noise.

"This lousy road."

It's damp and wet here. It rained a couple of days ago, and now the ground is all muddy and slippery.

Chen Hong walked around inside until sunset, and saw two poisonous snakes hanging in the tree, but found nothing else.

As it began to get dark, he had no choice but to pick some wild vegetables on the spot and then return the way he came...

"Hmph, hmph!"

A strange cry came from behind him. Chen Hong turned around in surprise and saw a wild boar with brown and black fur standing under a thick tree trunk.

"not good!"

Although he was carrying a bow, he knew that this kind of wild boar had thick skin and tough flesh, so he didn't dare to have any bad intentions and ran away as fast as he could.

But the wild boar had no intention of letting Chen Hong go. After gathering its strength in its hooves, it charged out like a cannonball.

Chen Hong was so focused on quickening his pace that he suddenly slipped and fell flat on his back into the mud.

The wild boar had already rushed up to Chen Hong, its tusks forcefully ramming into his left thigh, and his ankle was also trampled.

Despite the excruciating pain, Chen Hong twisted his waist, grabbed the bow and arrow that had fallen to the ground, and aimed it at the wild boar's nose.

With a "whoosh," the arrow flew off the bowstring and struck the wild boar's nostril.

"Hmph, hmph, hmph hmph hmph!"

The wild boar was immediately in pain, as if it understood Chen Hong's intention to draw his bow and nock an arrow again, and it ran away and disappeared into the dense forest.

……

It was nighttime when Chen Hong finally dragged his injured body home.

Chen Xunjiang was still young, and when he saw his father's injuries, he burst into tears.

Jin Yan only allowed Chen Qinghe to take her younger brother back to the inner room, then carefully treated Chen Hong's injuries. She applied the prepared herbal medicine to his ankle, then simply cleaned the oozing wound with water. Only then, suppressing her tears, did she scold him:

"How could you be so careless?"

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just that we can't go up the mountain for a few more days, so you three won't have any meat to eat these next few days."

Chen Hong helped her wipe the blemish from the corner of her eye, and with Jin Yan's support, the family returned to the inner room to rest...

As the last candle in the house was extinguished, the entire Shuitian Village fell into the silence of the night.

Ye Xuan stayed in the Chen family's backyard, letting his senses and thoughts drift out to explore the limits of his current superpowers.

He stood in the center of Shuitian Village, gazing out at the surrounding area. He could see the large lake beyond the village, the dense forests, and the full moon shining brightly in the sky...

Turn your gaze inward and look inward at yourself.

Ye Xuan has now turned into a young willow sapling, a rather novel feeling. He has been a human for twenty or thirty years, but this is the first time he has been a plant.

According to the "Immortal Willow of Immortality," if one wishes to transform into a human, there is still a considerable period of time involved.

Ye Xuan can only absorb and cultivate his spiritual energy in the form of a willow sapling, preparing for the various stages of immortal techniques.