WHERE AM I?

EARTH KINGDOM [ SOUTHERN DESERT]

The pace of his heartbeat increased as his life force slowly returned to his body. 

In that moment, he started breathing again.

"Uhhh..." he groaned in pain, his whole body sore, as if all energy had been drained out.

He raised his head from the sands and found himself totally lost in a desert.

The sands were swirling violently in the air surrounding him and the desert view seemed endless to him.

"Where is this place?" he asked himself as his head was void of any memory. 

A more urgent question popped into his mind, and he was no longer concerned about where he was at the moment.

"Who am I?" he asked, standing up from the sands and looking up to the sky.

He saw a bright light from the sun and found it harsh.

"I can't remember anything," he murmured as he looked around himself. 

He glanced down at his body and found that he was bare. He was completely naked without any piece of clothing. 

The swirling sands behind him didn't give him a clear view of what was behind him.

"Why can't I remember who I am or where I am? Something is wrong; I have to think harder," he mumbled.

His entire body was broken, and he could barely stand upright. His joints were weak and could barely aid him in walking.

Just as he moved a few steps forward, he heard the sound of camels crunching on the sands behind him.

The next thing he knew, a strong whip wrapped around his neck from behind and pulled him into the sands.

"Ahhh!" He screamed in pain as he fell forcefully onto his knees.

There were six camels in all, and each one had a rider. 

"Welcome to the land of the living, strange boy!" The rider who used a whip on him said.

The rider hopped off his camel and walked towards him.

"My name is Chen! What is your name, boy?" The rider said, shoving his head forward.

The young man clenched his teeth. He didn't like how Chen pushed him.

"I don't know my name, I can't remember," the young man muttered, and Chen and the other riders laughed at him.

"You must be a comedian, boy!" Chen said.

"We found you lying naked here in the sands, and we have been waiting for you to regain consciousness so we can ask you questions," Chen said, and the young man was confused.

He wondered who they were, and he also wondered who he was at the same time. The confusion was driving him mad.

"What village are you from? Do you know where you are?" Chen asked shoving his head again.

He hated it when Chen shoved his head. He didn't remember anything yet, but something told him Chen wasn't in the position to treat him that way.

"I don't know. I can't remember anything, my name or where I am from," he said, and they all laughed.

Chen kicked him on the back of his head, and he fell into the sands again. 

They all laughed and mocked his weak nature. They were warriors and possessed strength.

Chen stepped on his head with one foot and pressed his head hard into the sands to the point he was struggling to breathe.

In that moment of struggle, the young man's mind opened up, and he began to remember. 

It was like the pain was triggering his memories to return.

Scattered pieces of his memories began to recollect in his head as he struggled to breathe. The laughter of Chen and the others faded into the background, and all there was is a memory of him in another world, in another realm.

The young man visualized himself in a serene area, a realm known as the Air Tower. It was extremely beautiful and peaceful, surrounded by light, until darkness crept in and everything changed. Na'ru the dark Demon took over the Air Towers, his home.

"I remember..." he said in his mind.

"My home, the Air Tower..."

"I remember now!" He screamed through the sands, spitting out the ones Chen had forced him to eat. 

He raised his head when Chen took off his foot.

"I remember... My name is Tao Wei! I'm an immortal, I was the strongest cultivator in my sect, and I was about to defeat Na'ru, the Air Demon," Tao whispered, his mind trying to recollect the rest of the memories as he spoke.

The riders watched him with awe of what he was saying. They all thought he was losing his mind.

"Boy, you must be losing your mind. Immortals do not exist; you must be trying to fool us," Chen said, stretching a whip across his back.

"Ahhhrrgh!!" Tao Wei screamed in pain. He clenched his teeth as rage surged through him.

How could humans be treating him like he was a slave? He was Tao Wei, the greatest immortal cultivator of the transcendent sect in the Air Tower.

Tao got back on his knees and then picked himself up again.

"No, I'm not trying to fool you. I am the immortal protector of the Air Tower. The Air Tower is my place of origin, I am not from this place, please tell me how I can get back to the Air Tower!" He begged.

His heartbeat raced with urgency; he had an unfinished mission in his original realm.

He recalled everything. The spiritual fight between himself and Na'ru, the Air Demon in his quest to ascend the Elder realm and rid the Air Tower of evil. But then he remembered how Na'ru defeated him and threw him through a mysterious portal.

"I almost defeated him, but all of a sudden, Na'ru became stronger, he overpowered me and my fellow warriors of light, he took over the Air Tower and sent us through different portals, that was how I ended up in this world," Tao narrated. 

Tao was desperate for their understanding, but all they did was laugh at the stories he was telling them.

"Instead of fooling us, you are making a fool of yourself boy," Chen said, and they all laughed out loud.

"I bet you are one of the refugees from the neighboring village. The desert master is in need of servants; maybe we should take you to him. Besides, with your ability to tell jokes, you'll be a good entertainer for him," Chen said and he pulled Tao closer and cuffed his hands. 

Tao glanced at the cuffs on his wrist, and he closed his eyes in an attempt to harness his Qi and channel it to break free from the cuff, like he used to in the Air Tower, but it didn't work.

"What is happening? My powers, where did they go?" Tao murmured, and Chen laughed.

"What powers, fool?" Chen mocked him, spitting on his face.

"Where are you taking me? I'm no refugee, I am not from this realm, my village is not here, I'm from the Air Tower," Tao begged as Chen strapped his cuff to the back of the camel.

"Na'ru, he did this to punish me. He took my powers and sent me into the human world to suffer; please don't let him win this war," Tao said and Chen laughed.

"There is nothing called an Air Tower, Towers are built on concrete lands. We are all humans and there are no immortals," Chen said.

His words frustrated Tao. He knew what he was talking about and hated to be seen as a fool. 

He was a superior immortal in his world and was well respected because he was so powerful, and his power to harness his Qi was exceptional.

"You all may be humans, but I'm not, I am an immortal!!" He screamed into Chen's face, and Chen frowned.

"All right, let's see how much of an immortal you are," Chen said, pulling out a dagger from his belt and stabbing Tao in the side of his gut.

"Ahhh!!" Tao screamed in pain as blood gushed out. He fell on his knees, and his life force dwindled at once.

He had never seen himself bleed before, but now, he was no longer an immortal.

"Now you know immortals don't exist!" Chen said, and before Tao knew it, Chen's boot hit his face, and there was a total blackout.

Darkness enveloped Tao’s senses, and he felt as if he were drifting between worlds. In this state, memories flooded him — of the battles in the Air Tower, of the shining realm he had once protected.