The Immortal Path Is Crowded

Inside the cave, the air, still heavy with the remnants of the battle, seemed to have come to a halt. The four young women remained a few steps away, looking at each other with flushed faces and a mix of nervousness and confusion that none of them dared to name out loud, while their gazes returned again and again to the crouched figure beside Jin’s body.

Bai, kneeling at his side, had her face completely red. Her hands still hovered near her lips, as if she didn’t know where to place them after what she had just done, and even so her eyes did not leave the young man’s body.

The embarrassment was still there, evident in the way she avoided breathing too heavily, but little by little it was displaced by something else when she noticed a change.

Under her gaze, Jin’s wounds began to close.

The torn skin tightened, the blood stopped flowing, and the damaged muscles began to recompose themselves at a visible speed. It was as if a warm force ran through his body from within, pushing vitality back into every corner.

Bai blinked, surprised, and then a clear joy crossed her expression. “It’s working…” she murmured almost without realizing it, leaning a little closer to observe better, while behind her the other girls also held their breath. The one who had been crying brought her hands to her chest, visibly relieved, and the calmest one nodded in silence, although the tension in her shoulders did not completely disappear.

For a moment, it seemed like everything was over, but the illusion vanished when Jin’s body tensed abruptly.

A spasm ran through his figure and, in the next instant, a line of blood slid down from the corner of his lips. Then another. And another, also flowing from his nose and eyes, as if something inside him had torn again, but at a deeper level.

The joy on Bai’s face froze.

“What…?” she managed to say, but the word died in her throat when the blood began to flow more forcefully.

Panic hit her head-on. Without thinking, she opened the vial again with trembling hands and took out another blue pill. This time she did not hesitate; the embarrassment was completely cast aside as she leaned over him again, her breathing unsteady as she repeated the process with urgency, forcing him to swallow the medicine.

Behind her, the other girls no longer tried to hold back.

“What’s happening?!” one exclaimed, taking a step back, unable to look away from the bleeding.

“The wounds were already healing!” another added, clearly shaken, looking at the girl with the vial as if expecting an answer that did not come.

Little by little, after ingesting the second pill, the bleeding began to stop.

Jin’s skin stopped tightening violently, and his breathing, though weak, stabilized slightly again. Bai remained leaning over him, not daring to move.

The relief did not last.

As soon as the effect of the pill finished stabilizing his body, a new convulsion ran through Jin, much more violent than the previous ones. The blood burst out again without control, but this time it did not simply flow; his skin began to crack into fine lines, as if his body could no longer contain what was stirring inside.

The girls froze for an instant, unable to process what they were seeing, until panic once again took hold of the group.

Bai was already moving. Her hands, still unsteady, pulled another pill from the vial and she immediately leaned over him, forcing him to swallow it with an urgency that made it clear she was no longer thinking about anything else.

The effect manifested again, stopping the blood and halting the cracks. However, this time no one said anything. They all understood it: it wasn’t over. The cycle continued.

Every time the effect of the medicine disappeared, Jin’s body collapsed again, as if something inside him was destroying him over and over from a deeper level. Bai did not stop; every time it happened, she repeated the process without hesitation, while the others remained around her, tense, confused, unable to do anything but watch.

Time inside the cave became blurred.

The uneven breathing, the sound of blood, and the faint clinking of the vial were the only constants. One of the girls walked back and forth without control, another clenched her fists tightly, and the calmest one kept her gaze fixed on Jin.

Bai opened the vial again, but her hand stopped when she realized that only one pill remained.

She held it between her fingers, feeling for the first time the true weight of the situation. Her mind tried to think of a solution, but time gave her no space.

Jin’s body twisted again, and Bai, with her teeth clenched, did not hesitate before giving him the last pill.

The four girls held their breath, their eyes fixed on him as the effect did its work once more, this time, however, the collapse did not come immediately.

Several heartbeats passed in absolute silence, until suddenly, Jin’s body gave one last spasm, weaker than the previous ones, and then became completely still.

Bai reacted first. She quickly leaned in, bringing her ear to his chest while holding her breath, her hand pressing firmly as if she needed to confirm it herself.

An instant later, she let the air out slowly. “…He’s still breathing.”

Relief appeared on the others’ faces, though it was not complete. Bai did not move immediately and continued observing Jin, her brow slightly furrowed, as if trying to understand something that did not quite fit.

There was something strange. His breathing was there, his body was still alive, but even so the sensation persisted. Bai hesitated; she did not know how to explain it, not even if it made sense, but it was unsettling… as if something was missing, as if Jin was there and at the same time not entirely. A silent chill ran down her spine.

The silence left by Jin’s last spasm did not bring relief, but an even deeper unease. None of them knew what to do in the face of that change; the bleeding had stopped, his body was still alive… but that empty sensation emanating from him made even remaining close unsettling.

The gazes began to cross between them, filled with nervousness, as if they expected one of them to have an answer, but no one spoke. It was Bai who finally broke that inertia.

Her hand slowly rose to the necklace around her neck. Between the stained fabric and the faint trembling of her fingers, her nails brushed against a small crystal embedded in the pendant. She hesitated.

It was only a few seconds.

But the conflict was clearly reflected in her expression. Her lips tightened, and in her eyes a shadow of hesitation passed… followed by a firm decision, though weighed down with guilt.

In silence, she circulated Qi toward the crystal, provoking an immediate response from the object.

A faint light emerged from within it, soft but clear in the dimness of the cave, as if a silent signal had been sent somewhere far away.

The change was enough for the other girls to react.

“S-senior sister Bai…” one of them murmured, taking a step forward with evident nervousness, her eyes fixed on the glow of the necklace. “Did you just…?”

Another clenched her fists, visibly unsettled, looking between the crystal and Jin’s body. “Did you call the hall master…?” she asked cautiously, as if fearing the answer even before hearing it.

Bai did not take her gaze off the crystal immediately. The light gradually faded, until it disappeared completely, leaving behind an even heavier silence. Only then did she lower her hand, slightly closing her fingers around the pendant, and nodded.

“There was no other option.”

Her voice was low, but firm.

The other three exchanged glances immediately. The reaction was almost instinctive; one frowned with concern, another lowered her gaze as if she had committed a serious fault, and the one who had been the calmest until now let out a soft sigh, though the tension did not leave her posture.

Calling the master implied far more than they could imagine, and nothing about it was simple. Bai fixed her gaze on Jin again; guilt shone in her eyes.

“If I hadn’t…” she murmured, barely audible, as her gaze hardened, “he probably would have died right here.” This time, none of them contradicted her.

In a place where the sky and earth seemed to have dissolved into a sea of clouds, three figures remained suspended in silence. The mist flowed around them as if avoiding contact, forming soft currents that drifted without disturbing the stillness of the place.

The man in white robes stood at the edge of that ethereal expanse, his hands behind his back. His silver hair fell naturally to his waist, moving only slightly with the invisible breeze, while his gaze remained fixed in the distance, as if observing something beyond what that space could contain. There was no trace of emotion on his face, but the calm that surrounded him carried a weight that made it difficult even to hold one’s gaze upon him.

A few steps behind, the other man contrasted completely. Tall, with a robust build, his presence imposed itself like an immovable mountain. The black robe he wore, adorned with golden patterns of dragons and mountains, seemed to come alive with every slight movement of his body.

His arms were crossed over his chest and a serene smile rested on his face, an expression reminiscent of a buddha… calm, but impossible to fully read. His eyes, however, were not on the landscape, but on the third figure.

A woman stood before them.

Her fair skin, almost like polished jade, contrasted with the deep tones of her red and violet garments, which spread elegantly around her. Her bearing was impeccable, but in the way she held her gaze toward the man in white robes there was a faint tension.

Finally, she spoke, breaking the silence without disturbing the calm of the place.

“Venerable Shen, first allow me to greet you on behalf of our sect master.” Her voice was clear and respectful, accompanied by a slight inclination of her head. “She congratulates you for finally taking a disciple… and for the prosperity this will bring to the sect.”

As the clouds continued to flow, the man in white robes remained silent, not responding immediately.

His gaze did not change, as if those words had been nothing more than a slight disturbance on a still lake. However, after a few moments, the air around him seemed to grow slightly denser, as if his mere existence reacted before he did.

Finally, his eyes moved and settled on the woman. His expression did not change; it remained serene, almost indifferent, but deep within his gaze there was a barely perceptible nuance.

“Could it be that Leng Yuexuan could not come to visit me herself?”

His tone was calm, without any emphasis, but the irony flowed naturally, like a current beneath the surface.

The woman in red held his gaze, although the slight tension in her shoulders revealed that it was not easy for her to respond. Before she could do so, the silver-haired man let out an almost inaudible sigh and slightly averted his gaze, as if he had lost interest at that point.

“Let’s leave those formalities for later,” he continued, with a more plain tone, though no less heavy. “They are bothersome.”

The atmosphere seemed to lighten slightly after those words, but it did not last long. His gaze returned to her, this time more focused, as if he had finally decided to pay real attention.

“That was not the main reason someone as meticulous as her sent you here… was it?”

The woman in red remained silent for a moment, and this time the tension in her expression gradually faded. Her shoulders relaxed slightly, and when she spoke again, her tone no longer carried the initial rigidity, as if she had freed herself from an invisible burden.

“Without a doubt… you are the one who knows her best,” she replied, letting out a soft sigh before continuing, her voice regaining a more natural flow. “It is true, this visit is not only out of courtesy.”

She paused briefly, organizing her thoughts, while the man in black robes at the side continued watching with that calm smile, clearly interested in how the conversation would unfold.

“In this occasion we left the sect so that some disciples could gain experience in the outside world,” she finally explained, “but… certain situations have arisen that we cannot ignore.”

Her gaze grew a little more serious.

“There are matters that must be communicated directly… and they could not wait.”

“I am sure the venerable is already aware of the increase in demonic energy and the rise of demonic cultivators in recent decades…” the woman continued in a firm voice, though her gaze did not leave the figure before her.

The man in white robes did not turn immediately; he simply nodded calmly, a slight gesture, but enough to indicate that this was not new information to him.

She hesitated for just an instant before continuing, her expression growing more serious as the sleeves of her dress swayed with the air.

“But… recently several first-rank sects have been mysteriously destroyed,” she added, and this time her voice lowered slightly, as if even saying it out loud carried weight. “Even when I personally went and investigated with my innate soul ability… I found nothing unusual.”

That was when something changed.

Venerable Shen finally turned his face, not completely, but enough for his profile to be revealed. His expression remained serene, but there was a faint hardness in his gaze.

“…If even you could not find anything,” he murmured in a low tone, almost reflective, “then something is moving behind our backs.”

For an instant, the wind seemed to stop, and his voice barely broke the silence: “The world… is becoming more and more chaotic.”

His words were not loud, but they fell with a weight that made even the man in black robes stop smiling for a brief moment.

The woman in red felt the atmosphere tighten, and when she slightly parted her lips to continue, her expression changed abruptly. One of the earrings on her ear emitted a faint glimmer, barely visible, but enough for her gaze to turn somber in an instant.

Urgency crossed her face.

However, before she could speak, Venerable Shen’s voice interrupted her, calm but firm, as if he already knew what was happening.

“It seems something happened to those girls you brought…” he said, finally turning his gaze toward her. “Go. There is no point in continuing this conversation here.”

She nodded immediately, and with a slight movement of her hand, the space around her began to distort like the surface of a lake disturbed by a stone. In the next instant, her figure disappeared without a trace, as if she had never been there.

The sea of clouds regained its stillness after the woman’s departure. The wind flowed gently again, as if nothing had happened, but the atmosphere still held a subtle tension, almost imperceptible.

The silver-haired man remained motionless, his back turned, his gaze lost in the distance. For a few moments he said nothing, as if he were listening to something others could not perceive. Then, without even turning, he spoke in a calm tone.

“You should go as well, Mo Tianhai…” his voice was steady, but carried a nuance difficult to ignore. “I have the feeling that someone you know is involved.”

The man in black robes raised an eyebrow slightly. The calm smile on his face became a bit more rigid, almost uncomfortable, as he looked to the side.

“Don’t be like that, Shan…” he replied with a hint of complaint, bringing a hand to the back of his neck as if it bothered him more than he wanted to admit. “You always say things in such a roundabout way… can’t you be more direct?”

Even so, there was no real annoyance in his words.

Venerable Shan did not respond. He remained silent, as unchanging as ever, which only made Mo Tianhai let out a resigned sigh. His shoulders relaxed slightly as he shook his head, muttering something under his breath that could barely be made out.

“Tsk… you’re still the same as always…”

With a single step, his figure vanished, as if he had crossed an invisible crack in space, disappearing without leaving a trace.

The sea of clouds fell silent once more.

Now completely alone, Venerable Shan remained still for a long moment. The wind gently stirred his white robe while his gaze drifted toward an undefined point on the horizon, as if he were observing something beyond the visible world.

“I wonder… what the heavens are planning…” he finally murmured, his voice little more than a whisper that dissolved into the clouds.

Far from there, deep within a valley surrounded by mountains that rose like swords toward the firmament, the atmosphere was completely different.

The air was heavy with a suffocating stillness.

In the middle of that valley, a young man with hair as dark as the abyss sat in a lotus position. His eyes were closed, his breathing slow and deep, and a sword rested across his knees.

A sharp hum broke the silence at irregular intervals, as if the weapon had a will of its own, as if something within it was trying to awaken.

Although the young man remained motionless, for an instant his fingers tightened around the hilt, and the air around him grew noticeably colder.