Gravity Files a Complaint

On a quiet little mountain deep in the forest, a gentle spring trickled over smooth stones, whispering softly like it was sharing some ancient gossip only nature could understand. Birds chirped, leaves rustled, and everything seemed peaceful—too peaceful. Because behind that calm surface... danger was quietly lurking.

SPLASH!

A sudden noise—something fell into the spring with surprising speed and volume.

"Yaaaaah! How cool! How refreshing!" A black crow was happily flapping its wings in a small pond formed from the spring's overflow. The bird was splashing like it hadn't bathed in centuries—probably true—and its voice was full of blissful joy.

"Ahhh, water! Sweet, sweet water! If only a dozen beautiful fairies were here helping me scrub my wings, this would be paradise!" the crow cackled loudly, sounding like a mix of a drunk uncle and a washed-up playboy.

Da Huang crow continuously,to bath in that water pond as if, it was his father's swimming pool.

Meanwhile…

Deep inside another cave not too far away, Su Chen sat cross-legged, focused in meditation. His aura trembled slightly—like a soda bottle someone had just shaken—and then—

BOOM!

The air vibrated. A surge of wood-attributed Qi rushed into his body like hungry fans at a noodle giveaway. In an instant, cracks echoed through his bones—CRACK! CRACK!—and just like that, he broke through to the Foundation Building Realm.

But before he could even celebrate, everything around him shifted.

"Wait, what the hell?" Su Chen blinked—and suddenly found himself floating mid-air in a vast, surreal world.

It was a still, silent lake of seven-colored water, perfectly calm without a single ripple. Right in the center, an enormous majestic green lotus bloomed, exuding a noble aura that felt like a dignified old sage silently judging his entire existence.

"…The heck?" Su Chen muttered aloud.

His voice echoed like thunder across the strange world:

"THE HECK… THE HECK… THE HECK…"

The sound repeated for a good five seconds like a broken divine speaker system.

Su Chen quickly clamped his mouth shut, horrified. Note to self: No yelling in weird mystical mind realms.

He floated in silence for a moment, slowly piecing things together.

Wait a minute... this must be my Sea of Consciousness. And this seven-colored lake… it must be the manifestation of my Innate Sacred Dao Fetus Physique!

That green lotus… could that be the Wood Sovereign Script? Holy crap, it's beautiful…

For a solid minute, he just floated there, admiring the scene like a first-time tourist in his own brain.

Then, reality kicked in. Alright, now how do I get out of here?

And just as the thought passed his mind—poof!—he was back in his body.

The cave was the same. The spring still trickled. Nothing had changed... except for one crucial detail:

Su Chen felt absurdly powerful.

Like he could beat up ten of

his previous selves without breaking a sweat.

More importantly—he grinned—he could fly now.

After sitting in the same spot for what felt like ages, Su Chen finally stood up with a satisfied sigh. As always, he dusted off his clothes with the elegance of a man who had absolutely no dirt on him, yet acted like he'd just survived a mudslide.

With a spring in his step, he walked to the mouth of the cave and looked up at the sky.

"Alright… let's see if this actually works," he muttered, cracking his neck like a seasoned expert who'd done this at least zero times before.

Channeling a bit of Qi to his feet, he gently pushed off the ground.

And—whoosh!

To his complete and utter shock, his body rose smoothly into the air—ten whole feet off the ground, hovering like a particularly smug leaf caught in a breeze.

"I… I'm flying," he whispered, eyes wide.

Then louder, "I CAN FLY! Hahaha! Cultivation is AMAZING!"

"Where's gravity?! Where's science?!" Su Chen screamed as he spiraled through the air like a confused frisbee. "Screw you, Phys Ed teacher! You said this crap was impossible!"

Drunk on excitement, he pumped his fists mid-air like a toddler who just found out gravity is optional. "Let's see how high I can go—maybe thirty feet? Fifty? I might just touch the clouds toda—"

Swish! Swish!

He soared upward like a human firework on discount rocket fuel. Thirty feet. Fifty. A hundred. His robes flapped like laundry in a storm.

But then—something changed.

The Qi beneath his feet flickered like a cheap lantern in the wind.

His smile froze.

"...Huh?"

And then, just like that, he began to fall.

"FUCK! FUCK! I'M DYING!" he screamed, flailing through the air like a tragic chicken who flew too close to the sun. "WHY?! WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN?! I try to enjoy life for ONE second, and the heavens say 'let him perish!' This is just like that time I fell off a roller coaster in my last life—AND THAT WASN'T EVEN MY FAULT!"

"Aaaah!" Su Chen screamed as the ground rushed up to meet him. He squeezed his eyes shut and thought miserably, If I survive this, I swear—I'll never enjoy life again. Not even a little. Not even a snack.

SPLASH!

He crash-landed into a small pond that had formed near the spring, sending a mighty wave of water into the air. The impact was so strong, he sank straight to the bottom like a sack of spiritual potatoes.

Unfortunately, he wasn't alone.

"WHO THE HELL HAS NO EYES?!" a loud, indignant voice squawked.

Da Huang, the chubby crow who had been enjoying a peaceful bath, flapped out of the water in a rage and hopped to the edge of the pond, feathers dripping. His small black eyes scanned the ripples furiously, trying to spot the idiot who had dared ruin his sacred bathing time.

Meanwhile, deep underwater, Su Chen lay motionless with his arms stretched out like a dead fish. So this is how it ends... drowned in a bird bath, he thought grimly. But oddly enough, he didn't feel like he was dying. In fact, he felt… fine?

He slowly raised a hand toward the surface and circulated some Qi to push himself upward.