With the sound of trickling water, Lute began to stir. As he slowly opened his eyes, barely anything was visible except for a small light off in the distance. If he was able to see, the surrounding area would be an underground cavern that took millennia to form.

Deep underground, the waterfall had carved out this cave over the years, forming an underground river. By all rights, Lute should’ve died, and yet here he was. Lute had many cuts all over his body, and his fur skins were all but useless and full of holes. However he was still alive despite soaking in his own blood.

Slowly sitting up, and trying to gather his thoughts, Lute put his hand down on the cavern floor, only to meet a metallic smell and a sticky sensation upon his hand.

"This is my blood? Some of it is almost dried upon my skin, just how long have I been unconscious," said Lute in a muddled manner.

Staggering in an attempt to stand, Lute listened carefully and ascertained that he was within a few feet of a source of water, which was the underground river. Limping over, he slowly washed as much of his body as he could without wading in too far as his visibility was close to null, his only source of light was  the blue luminescence off in the distance that was hardly enough to allow him to see his hand.

The more Lute washed, the more confused he became. His body was full of cuts, some deeper than others, but surprisingly his blood clotted enough so he wouldn't bleed to death. The only long term problem so far was that there would certainly be permanent scars all over his body.

Salvaging what little of his animal fur that was usable, Lute tried to crudely make a loincloth, so he could at the very least cover his lower regions. Finally, turning towards the small light in the distance, Lute began to trudge forward with small steps. For all he knew there could be pitfalls in this cave of darkness.

As if it was alive, the light seemed to increase in luminescence the closer Lute came to it, almost as if it was welcoming him to come forth. It shined with a bright blue light which seemed to pulsate.

Without paying heed to any danger that there might be in this unknown environment, Lute finally climbed up a small slope, peering into a small crevice, there was what appeared to be a slender needle that was translucent.

" Is that a needle, all the way down here in such a random place? More importantly, why would a needle shine in a blue light and seem as if it is alive? Is it one of the fabled spirit armaments that Father spoke of in his stories?" Said Lute in a slightly shaky voice as he remembered his father.

Rather than look at the needle and its beauty, Lute slowly raised up one of his arms clad in cuts and moved to grab it with two of his fingers. It was quite long, the length from the tip of his finger to base of his wrists, but it was also quite thin, perhaps only the width of a sewing needle.

Contrary to his expectations, Lutes eyes widened, his breathing stagnated and he involuntarily swallowed as all of the sudden the needle emitted a blinding light. Before he could even react, the needle levitated off of the ground and shot right at Lutes chest exactly into the region where his dantian was located and pierced his body.

The force of it entering his body caused Lute to fly backwards but he didn’t fall unconscious, the needle had turned into what he could only assume was a spiritual form and entered his body without drawing blood. Without being able to move an inch, a piercing sensation began to transmit all across Lute’s body.

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Writhing in agony, it felt as if metal was trapped in the veins and travelled through his body along the path blood circulated. Yet, every time the pain became unbearable, a cold feeling enveloped the entirety of Lute's body forcing him back to clarity and henceforth feeling the pain even more.

After what seemed like an eternity of torment, and on the verge of collapsing, the image of a needle appeared in Lurte's mind, and his consciousness was forcefully dragged into the depths of his very being and within the needle that took on a spiritual form. Slowly opening his eyes, Lute looked around in bewilderment.

"What is this space? Did I finally die, was that the end? God damn cursed needle, if I ever encounter you in my next life, I will surely destroy you," exclaimed Lute in an annoyed but slightly angry tone.

Lute furrowed his eyebrows and squinted in thought as he contemplated what to do henceforth, because clearly being in an unknown space for an eternity didn't seem very appealing.

"Well this is extremely boring, at the very least, shouldn't I meet someone who is supposed to come reap my soul and send me onto a path of reincarnation or something," Said Lute while tapping his finger against a thigh trying to relieve his boredom.

"That isn't the case, once a soul is extinguished, it will cease to exist, without a chance at reincarnation. Very few have strong enough souls to live without a material body for any period of time, unless there is a special circumstance such as the one that you and I are in."

In front of Lute, a woman began to manifest from the space itself. She was quite slender, wearing a qipao that was blacker than even the night skies while adorned with gold trimmings. Her hair was free flowing and an exuberant shade of black. Cold eyes seemed to pierce right through Lute. Upon her neck was a necklace with a small vial. It seemed to defy physics as it was the only thing about her that didn't seem to look like a spiritual body and was actually a part of the material plane.

Upon the realization of seeing the vial, Lute realized his body was the same. He didn't seem almost transparent like this woman who shouldn't be past her mid-twenties.

Lute glared at the mysterious woman with an equally cold and malignant glare. "If I am not dead, then what is this? What did you do to me? Clearly this is not normal by any stretch of the word," Spat Lute with an annoyed tone.

Lute simply stood there with an angry look, after all, other than anger; He didn't feel many other emotions. Either icily composed or angry, there was no in between. Any other emotions Lute should have felt died over two years ago.

The spatial dimension seemed to be still and silent, not a sound was prevalent except for Lute's light breathing. The mysterious woman and his eyes in a deadlock, seeming to be at war to who would give way first.

Finally, the woman seemed to sigh, just by looking at eyes that should not belong to a child, she knew Lute's heart submerged into bitterness. With a flick of her finger, an illusory bed appeared and she gracefully layed on it.

After what felt like time stopping for an eternity, the spatial dimension seemed to come alive as the woman began to relax on the bed and address Lute.

"You, you are a mortal of this lowly planet, clearly you know absolutely nothing of the universe in the slightest, and as such you have no right to stare at me in such a manner, I am your senior, deal with it. I don't care what sorrowful past you might've had, there is always someone out there who has it worse."

Lute's eyes darkened at the words she said. She had no right to decide how he should feel or act. "Watch your tongue; you know nothing of my past. I may be incompetent, but I can faintly guess that this space was something produced by that needle and you are a soul trapped within it. So even if you wanted to forcefully make me submit, I have a feeling the needle would restrain you," Said Lute in a dangerously low voice.

The woman however did not get angry in the slightest, how could she, who toiled through life and hardships far worse than this child has had in his entire life, fall for such petty words meant to aggravate her.

"I know far more than you think, it is extremely hard to hid your age from a cultivator, and it is especially impossible to hide it if you are a mere mortal. Just based on what I can sense from you, you are plagued with anger, and hatred for what I am guessing what is either one person or a group of people. Either they killed someone or multiple people precious to you, took them hostage, or maybe you had something precious stolen. At your age, you do not have any material wealth, so that leaves only one option, something happened where you live, something with your family most likely. And based on how much you have bottled up this anger and let it fester, I am quite sure it didn't happen recently, perhaps within the last few years you were forced to live on your own?"

Silence, Lute just sat there in silence; this woman was able tell what had happened just two years ago, as for how she knew, the words Mere Mortal said it all. She was a cultivator, and possibly quite a strong one at that. So clearly, as a mortal, even if he was safe thanks to the powers of the needle, silence was the best course of action.

But then, words he never though he would here thundered into his ears as the woman looked at him with what could only be the eyes of a temptress and the smile of a devil. Ever so slowly the words "Do you want the power to change your destiny," resonated within his ears like thunder and kept repeating over and over again.

Almost succumbing to the temptation, Lute turned to the devil of a woman lounging on a transparent bed before him. Narrowing his eyes, Lute simply stared at her before replying.

"At what price, would I obtain such power?"