The Immortal Path Is Crowded

The wind whistled sharply at high altitude as a massive dark-feathered bird cut through the sky with steady movements. On its back, six figures traveled in silence… or at least, they tried to.

At the front, an older man with a well-groomed beard kept his hands behind his back as he observed the horizon. His expression was calm, but not distant; there was a composure in it cultivated through years, one that inspired respect rather than fear. Behind him, five youths adjusted themselves as best they could, some looking down nervously, others with eyes shining in excitement.

“Elder, how much longer until we reach the sect?” one of them asked, leaning forward slightly, unable to hide the anxiety in his voice.

“And is it true there are cultivators there who can fly without spirit beasts?” another added almost immediately, his eyes full of curiosity.

The elder let out a soft chuckle, bringing a hand to his beard as he slightly turned his face toward them, without completely taking his eyes off the path ahead.

“Patience…” he replied in a calm tone, though with a trace of pride. “The sect you are heading to is no ordinary place. If you are fortunate enough to be accepted, you will see things you cannot even imagine right now.”

One of the youngest clenched his fists in excitement.

“Then… will I be able to become as strong as you one day, Elder?”

The man glanced at him from the corner of his eye, a playful glint crossing his gaze.

“As strong as me?” he repeated, then shook his head lightly, smiling. “If you work hard enough… you might surpass me.”

The words were not grand, but they were enough to ignite the group’s spirits. Even the quietest among them lifted his head slightly, as if those words had touched something within him.

However, just as the atmosphere began to relax, the bird’s body suddenly tensed.

A sharp screech tore through the air.

Its wings flapped violently and, without warning, the creature halted abruptly, forcing everyone to grab on to avoid falling. The elder frowned instantly, his hand pressing firmly against the bird’s back as he raised his gaze.

“What is—” he didn’t finish. The air in front of them distorted, rippling like water under moonlight.

Several meters above, space twisted slightly, and from it emerged a woman dressed in red. It was as if she had always been there, waiting. The elder felt his heart suddenly accelerate.

That is… spatial movement… His pupils contracted slightly, and his breathing became more restrained. A Nascent Soul cultivator…? No… this is different… even the patriarch does not feel like this…

A chill ran down his spine like a mountain breeze. This woman… her power surpassed anything he had ever felt.

Behind him, the youths did not fully understand what they were seeing. To them, the scene was simply astonishing. One of them even opened his mouth unconsciously, while another tugged lightly at his companion’s sleeve.

“Did you see her appear…?” one whispered, as if afraid speaking louder might draw her attention.

“Is that… an immortal…? How did she appear out of nowhere?” another asked, incredulous.

No one answered. Above them, the woman in red did not pay them the slightest attention.

Her expression was tense, her brow slightly furrowed as her gaze swept across the valley like an invisible blade. Then, without warning, a silent pressure spread from her body.

Her spiritual sense unfolded like an invisible tide, sweeping across thousands of li, passing through mountains, trees, and rocks without resistance. Everything it touched was laid bare before her perception.

The elder felt it—not as a force pressing him down, but as something far more terrifying… as if every corner of his being was being observed, analyzed, dismissed.

And then… the woman’s expression changed. Her gaze fixed on a point in the valley, on a small hill that seemed insignificant at first glance. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

The surprise on her face lasted only an instant before vanishing, replaced by a cold anger that did not need to erupt to feel dangerous. Her eyes narrowed as her spiritual sense sank into what lay within that cave, and what she perceived made her expression harden even further, as if confirming something.

“…What a mess,” she murmured, her voice low, yet the air around her trembled faintly, as if even space reacted to her displeasure.

Without warning, she took a step and simply vanished from the sky, appearing above the hill as if distance had never existed. Her presence fell upon the place with invisible weight as she raised her hand with almost casual ease.

Where the hill once stood, the ground trembled and a dull crack spread through the air. In an instant, the mountain was torn from its roots: rock and earth burst outward in cascades of dust, and its peak vanished, leaving only the bare base like an exposed bone. There was no explosion, yet the air vibrated with the violence of its disappearance, as if a titan had ripped it from the world.

The silence that followed was suffocating.

In the sky, the spirit bird screeched in panic, its body tensing as it tried to turn and flee. The elder, who moments ago had maintained his dignified bearing, completely lost his composure; his hands clutched the feathers tightly as he struggled to control the creature, his breathing turning erratic despite himself.

“T-this… that kind of power…” he managed to say, his voice low, nearly broken, his gaze unable to leave the red figure.

Behind him, the youths were completely frozen. One opened his mouth, but no sound came out; another swallowed with difficulty, feeling his heart pounding violently against his chest. Even the most talkative among them, who moments ago had been full of questions, now remained silent, as if any word would be an offense in the presence of something so far beyond them.

“Elder… that…” one finally whispered, not daring to finish the sentence.

But the elder did not respond.

Below, the air around the woman began to distort slowly, as if boiling. It was not a direct pressure, yet feeling it was enough to understand it was not something an ordinary cultivator could withstand. Her figure descended unhurriedly, and with each meter she lowered, the tension in the surroundings increased, as if the world itself held its breath.

Then space shattered again.

A silent crack opened to the side, and from it emerged a tall, broad figure dressed in black robes adorned with golden dragons. His presence was not as sharp as the woman’s, but it carried a different weight—deep and stable, like a mountain that had witnessed countless eras pass.

Upon seeing the destroyed surroundings, his calm, almost indulgent smile twisted slightly, and he let out a sigh that mixed resignation and amusement.

“Always so direct…” he murmured, shaking his head lightly.

His gaze then shifted toward the group in the sky. There was no hostility in it, but neither was there real attention; still, he brought a hand to his chest and made a simple gesture of apology, more out of habit than necessity.

“Apologies for the fright,” he said calmly, as if it were a minor inconvenience.

Without waiting for a response, his figure moved again, following the red-clad woman’s trail, his expression returning to that almost teasing calm that never seemed to leave him.

Above, the group remained in absolute silence; the elder was still in shock, while the youths barely dared to look at one another.

Only one did not look away: a young man at the back of the group observed the scene with narrowed eyes, his expression very different from the others.

His fingers slowly curled, and for an instant, a faint curve appeared at the corner of his lips, as if this… interested him.

As she descended, the scene that greeted her was no different from what she had already perceived with her spiritual sense, yet seeing it directly made her expression harden even further.

The ground was devastated, the spiritual energy of the surroundings disordered, mixed with a clear trace of demonic energy that had yet to fully dissipate; near the girls lay a half-destroyed body, twisted in an unnatural way, as if it had been consumed from within.

Her eyes swept across everything in an instant before stopping on her disciple.

The young woman was crouched beside a boy of her age, her posture tense, as if she had been holding herself together by sheer will until that moment. Upon noticing her arrival, she lifted her head, and the expression on her face changed instantly; more than fear, what filled her eyes was relief, as if she had seen a final hope in the midst of disaster.

“Master…!” her voice trembled as she stood up hastily, stumbling slightly in her rush as she approached. “Please… check him! I don’t know what’s wrong with him, even though we gave him many pills, he won’t wake up…!”

The words tumbled out, almost without order, and yet she did not stop; her hands trembled as she pointed at the boy on the ground, her breathing unsteady and her eyes beginning to fill with tears. The woman in red watched her in silence, noting how her composure was gradually falling apart.

She wanted to ask what had happened, but she didn’t.

“Calm down,” she said instead, her voice firm, not raised, but enough to anchor the girl who seemed on the verge of collapse. “I will check him first.”

Without wasting more time, she raised a hand naturally, and the boy’s body lifted smoothly from the ground, held by an invisible force that brought him before her. The closeness allowed her to perceive his condition more clearly.

Her spiritual sense extended without resistance, enveloping the boy’s body with absolute precision; the moment it made contact, her eyes narrowed slightly.

Upon touching Jin’s soul, the woman in red could not help but feel surprised.