Pathway

"Eh, you. Over here."

Slowly, Ju Feng turned towards the direction of the voice in apprehension. But he couldn't find who was making the utterances. He knew he heard someone's voice, calling to him. And the voice sounded very close. Looking at the direction more closely, he could only a plain of snow and ice. High on alert and with his mind firmly on the safe-word, he called out.

"Who's there?"

He strained his eyes in his attempt to detect the exact location of the voice when he remembered he was actually a premier and could use his spiritual sight. Quickly, he switched to his spiritual sight and discovered that the whole area to his front was devoid of any living entity. Every direction on the open plain was of the view of the falling snow and snow-filled ground. The whole area was giving off the normal ice auric light, except for one particular thing.

A single small grey tree.

The small grey tree wasn't radiating any auric light. Although it looked strange in the snow, it was a beautiful small tree in the large area of falling snow. Moreso, it appeared to be generating a serene and peaceful atmosphere.

"Over here."

"Uh?"

It couldn't be the tree talking. Could it? The only type of tree which could talk was a daimon. Could the small tree be a daimon? He moved away from the tree and keenly observed it from a distance. He waited for a time to be sure whether it was the tree that was talking or not. After being satisfied, he heaved a sigh of relief.

A small serene tree like that couldn't be the one talking, could it? Just looking at the tree, he felt at peace with himself. Although the existence of a single tree in a place filled with snow and ice looked strange, the serenity it brought couldn't be denied. He moved closer to and touched one of its leaves.

"Got scared for a moment there. A daimon talking tree that wasn't. An illusion."

"Illusion? What illusion? I'm surely talking to you." 

"Daemon!"

Jufeng shouted as he jumped back in alarm.

"What demon? Haven't you seen a talking tree before?"

True, he had seen some strange occurences before. From alking statues to large emerald eyes among others. But never seen a talking tree before, mindless of a lone talking tree on a snowy place like that. It must be either be an extreme illusion or a dangerous daimon. But the way he was looking at the situation, he could feel the reality of it all. 

"Do I really look like a daemon to you? Daemon is a strong word, young one. You can't go around and be calling every talking tree you see, a daemon. As a young child that you are, some daimons may overlook it while others may still find it extremely rude. And they could kill you for that, you know. Don't let ignorance be the end of you, child."

An audible sigh could be heard coming from the direction of the tree.

"Because I'm a talking tree doesn't mean I'm a daemon. Even as a child, you should know that. You can't find any demonic aura on me, can you? Moreover, this is not the netherplane. That should have given you the idea of what I am. I'm a daimon. Do you see the difference?"

"I do."

Ju Feng nodded his head in confirmation while he continued to gaze at the grey tree with a mixed feelings of fright and curiousity. As he had learned in the ancient Book of Findings, apart from illusion, the only type of trees that could talk and reason were the cognizant daimons. Or daimonic trees as appropriately applied.

The daimons were the trees and plants which gained sentience and awareness due to vast amount of spiritual energy they'd absorbed over hundreds of millions of years to billions of years. Although their emerging awareness was slow, they would become powerful entities upon transformation. That was the reason why their cultivation was slower than that of mortal and immortal cultivators. Cultivation was an added advantage since they had absorbed a lot of heavenly spiritual energy before gaining sentience.

The daemons on the other, were once daimons but turned to daemons due to the amount of karmic sins they had accrued. They were the daimonic trees which were reincarnated as daemonic trees on the netherplane. Karmic sins and karmic virtues determined what a daimon would become and where it would be reincarnated after experiencing death.

Nonetheless, whether it was a daimon tree or daemon tree, he would be weary of them all. No matter the glaring differences. Again, he contemplated using the safe-word, but decided to wait a while longer.

"I'm just wary of all demons. That's all."

"What is it with you and demons?"

"Not that I have anything with them." 

"Is it a grievious disputes?"

"No, but I think they have something against me and my family."

"Why do you think so?" 

"They did tried to kill us before."

"Hm. Why do they want to kill you for any grudge they might have against you? Makes little sense. They should've tried to resolve it amicably at first, before deciding to kill you. Let me check you."

The tree twisted slightly before returning to its original state.

"I can't seem to find any demon sign on you. So, I think you'll be fine. Nevertheless, you can still die. You should know that."

Ju Feng appeared to be having a more clearer perspective of the daimon tree. While talking to the tree, he could feel a gentle but powerfully deadly aura emanating from it. He had seen powerful demonic auras before when the demon army led by the daemon kings attacked them by the lunar mountain. But this small grey tree was beginning to generate a different aura. An aura which made the atmospheric condition of its surrounding area rang a primal danger alarm in his head.

Yes, he had felt extreme fear from powerful entities before. But that was on a different level of primal. From the primeval feeling he was having from the aura, he realized the tree could either come from the nether plane or the mortal plane. Probably, it could even be an ascendant daimon. 

"Come closer, child. I'm not going to bite you now, am I?"