Immortal Druid

[POV: Yuan Tao]

The Yellow River Continent was a land swallowed by gray skies and dying rivers. Ancient battlefields littered the wilderness, while abandoned sects stood like corpses left to rot beneath the heavens. It was a continent that had forgotten prosperity long ago, and perhaps because of that, it suited the Dark Order perfectly.

Within a hidden palace buried beneath a mountain range devoid of life, three figures gathered around a black stone table. The air itself felt heavy from the pressure leaking from their bodies. Every one of them stood at the Immortal Realm, beings capable of shaking continents and many domains.

The first to speak was Hao Lei.

“What exactly are we supposed to do about the Earthly Heart Continent?” Hao Lei asked in a tired voice while rubbing his temple. “Every operation we conduct there ends in failure. We lose manpower, resources, and influence, yet the Willow Order continues to obstruct us at every turn.”

Hao Lei appeared to be a pale young man dressed entirely in black robes. Thick eye bags rested beneath his eyes, giving him the appearance of someone who had not slept for centuries. Despite his youthful appearance, he had already lived for more than ten thousand years. He was a native of the Yellow River Continent and one of the Dark Order’s founding leaders.

His expertise in divination and forbidden arts had earned him a place within the organization. Among the three, he was the one most skilled at manipulating fate and uncovering hidden secrets. Unfortunately for him, recent events had made his abilities appear increasingly unreliable.

“That sounds more like your failure than ours,” Geng Chen said coldly. “If you had been more thorough when selecting people for the field operations, things would not have become this disastrous.”

She sat across from him dressed in flowing white robes that contrasted sharply against the dark hall. Geng Chen possessed extraordinary beauty, though her expression carried little warmth. Unlike Hao Lei, she originated from the Heavenly Star Continent, a place where ancient clans and immortal sects still retained fragments of their former glory.

She had joined the Dark Order because of her overwhelming personal strength. Even among Immortals, she stood near the peak. Having lived for over twenty thousand years, her experience vastly exceeded Hao Lei’s.

Hao Lei frowned immediately.

“Did you even read the reports?” he snapped. “The situation in the Earthly Heart Continent changed completely beyond our expectations. If you think the task was so simple, perhaps you should have gone personally.”

Geng Chen snickered softly.

“And clean up your mess for you?” she asked mockingly. “I already produced stellar results while invading one of the domains in the Heavenly Star Continent. Meanwhile, your plans continue collapsing one after another.”

Hao Lei exhaled sharply before forcing down his irritation.

“My apologies,” he said flatly. “I nearly forgot that Senior Geng Chen possesses over twenty thousand years of wisdom. If you are truly so capable, perhaps you should have handled the matter yourself from the beginning.”

The temperature in the hall plummeted.

A terrifying burst of qi exploded outward before either Immortal could continue. The pressure alone distorted the surrounding space, silencing both of them instantly.

“No one here is at fault,” an old man said calmly. “The discrepancy in our intelligence can be attributed either to fate working against us... or perhaps to my underestimation of the Willow Order.”

The speaker was Yuan Tao.

Unlike the other two, Yuan Tao looked every bit his age. His white hair flowed down his back like silver threads, while deep wrinkles marked his weathered face. Yet the aura surrounding him resembled a boundless abyss. Even Hao Lei and Geng Chen unconsciously lowered their gazes slightly in his presence.

Long ago, Yuan Tao had once belonged to the Willow Order.

He had served them faithfully as an Immortal before eventually betraying the organization. He had revealed their hidden territories, secret archives, and sensitive intelligence to another hidden force, causing immense damage that the Willow Order never fully recovered from. After abandoning them, Yuan Tao pursued his own ambitions in secrecy.

For thousands of years, he traveled the world gathering information regarding ancient immortals and forgotten ruins. While the current cultivation world continued declining, Yuan Tao searched desperately for remnants of the Age of Supremacy.

He refused to believe humanity had always been this weak.

The ancient records spoke of cultivators capable of splitting stars, overturning seas, and ascending beyond the heavens themselves. Somewhere along history, the world had declined. Spiritual qi weakened. Inheritances vanished. Entire realms of power became myths.

Yuan Tao believed the answer lay within the mysterious Dark Age.

That forgotten era remained one of the greatest taboos in existence. Most historical records regarding it had either been destroyed or intentionally erased. Yet one ancient immortal still possessed clues regarding that age.

Lu Jing.

Even after tens of thousands of years, Yuan Tao still remembered the terrifying ferocity of that man. If anyone retained answers regarding the fall of the ancient world, it would be Lu Jing.

And if they could uncover the secrets behind the Dark Age, perhaps they could restore the world to the glory of the Age of Supremacy.

That was Yuan Tao’s greatest wish.

He wanted to break the chains of fate itself.

The heavens claimed cultivators should accept destiny, endure suffering, and submit themselves before cosmic order. Yuan Tao rejected that completely. The world had suffered endlessly already. Entire generations lived and died in weakness while spiritual qi continued fading with every passing era.

If suffering was inevitable, then humanity deserved the power to resist.

And if gods truly existed somewhere beyond the heavens, then they had utterly failed this world.

Yuan Tao slowly looked toward his two companions.

“I thank both of you for answering my call,” he said solemnly. “In this era of declining qi, only people like us possess the courage to take drastic measures in order to set the world right again.”

Neither Hao Lei nor Geng Chen interrupted him.

“The Willow Order will continue obstructing our path,” Yuan Tao continued. “However, they are merely a shell of their former glory. Their Immortals have either vanished or disappeared into hiding. Their Soul Transformation experts have all perished, whether by my hands or by the hands of other cultivators.”

A cold smile appeared on his face.

“They may have miraculously gained the protection of a single Immortal, but he stands alone. Meanwhile, our numbers continue growing.”

Yuan Tao’s eyes gleamed with dangerous ambition.

He had already begun preparations to resurrect ancient Immortals and recruit them into the Dark Order. Ideally, by the end of next year, two more Immortals would join their ranks. Unfortunately, local powers across the continents continued interfering with his operations, making every step more troublesome than expected.

The failure within the Earthly Heart Continent especially irritated him.

The Immortal he intended to install as the public leader and figurehead of the Dark Order had died far too quickly. Years of preparation vanished in an instant.

Still, Yuan Tao had not lost hope.

“In one year,” Yuan Tao declared, “we will commence the operation to uproot the Willow Order completely from this world.”

At Yuan Tao’s declaration, Hao Lei immediately frowned.

“I still believe we are underestimating the risks within the Earthly Heart Continent,” Hao Lei said while folding his arms beneath his sleeves. “There is a reason that place remained largely untouched for so long. The Fairy Queen still exists there. If she interferes personally, none of us would possess the power to stop her.”

The underground hall became quieter afterward.

Even Geng Chen’s expression dimmed slightly at the mention of that name, though the change vanished almost immediately as she laughed dismissively.

“The Fairy Queen?” Geng Chen scoffed. “That ancient monster has not appeared for over a hundred thousand years. Why would she suddenly emerge now? Personally, I still believe we should have marched directly into the Earthly Heart Continent from the beginning, uprooted the Willow Order entirely, and seized every treasure hidden within their territory.”

Hao Lei narrowed his eyes.

“That recklessness is exactly why the Heavenly Star Continent nearly collapsed into civil war after your invasion.”

“And yet I succeeded,” Geng Chen replied calmly.

Yuan Tao ignored the brewing argument and quietly contemplated the matter himself.

He had indeed read records regarding the Fairy Queen during his time within the Willow Order. Ancient scriptures described her as a transcendent existence revered almost like a divine sage. Legends claimed she protected the Earthly Heart Continent personally and had once suppressed calamities capable of destroying entire civilizations.

However, Yuan Tao had never once met her.

Not even when he served the Willow Order as one of their Immortals.

After sixty thousand years of life, he found it increasingly difficult to believe the Fairy Queen truly existed. Most likely, she was merely a fabricated legend created to intimidate outsiders from targeting the Earthly Heart Continent.

Compared to a phantom hidden in ancient records, another existence concerned him far more.

The Sage.

Wo Li.

That man’s rise had happened too quickly and too strangely. Every report regarding him contradicted common sense. A cultivator reaching such heights within such a short period should have been impossible in the current era of declining qi.

And yet he existed.

Even Yuan Tao could not fully discern the depths of that mysterious Sage.

…

..

.

[POV: Kang Wen]

Before the discussion could continue further, another presence hidden deep within the chamber trembled slightly.

Far beyond the walls of the underground palace, Kang Wen suppressed his breathing completely while remaining fused within the stone itself.

No.

Not merely his breathing.

His heart had stopped entirely.

Even his blood no longer circulated.

Kang Wen remained hidden inside the wall like a corpse buried within stone. Only the faintest thread of consciousness remained active as the dark seed embedded within his body sustained him artificially.

It had taken him more than a century to reach this point.

Over a hundred years ago, Kang Wen had been captured and enslaved by the Dark Order. At first, he served merely as disposable muscle sent into dangerous operations. Later, after proving useful, he climbed higher into their ranks and eventually became a direct servant operating within their inner territories.

Throughout all those years, he remained patient.

He gathered information constantly while pretending absolute loyalty.

His rise into the Nascent Soul Realm during the past century greatly helped his position within the organization. Ironically, much of that growth came from the very dark arts the Dark Order forced him to cultivate, alongside the cursed seed implanted into his body.

Kang Wen hated every second of it.

Still, he endured.

Not once did he forget his mission.

Only recently had he finally managed to send a message back home regarding the location of the Dark Order’s main headquarters. That alone already made the risk worthwhile.

But today…?

Today was beyond anything he expected.

Three Immortals.

No...

Five.

Kang Wen’s mind shook violently as he listened to their conversation.

And worse still, they were preparing an operation against Sage Wo Li himself.

The Willow Order needed to know immediately.

If calculations remained correct, the Willow Order was likely preparing a full assault against this base already. Unfortunately, activating their long-range warp formation would require at least three years of preparation.

Meanwhile, the Dark Order possessed direct access to a teleportation formation connected to the Earthly Heart Continent.

That difference alone could decide the war.

Within the chamber, the Immortals continued discussing preparations.

“We should prioritize relocating the resurrection sites first,” Hao Lei said. “If the Willow Order somehow discovers them, decades of preparation would be lost.”

“The transport formations are more important,” Geng Chen replied. “Once operations begin openly, rapid movement between continents will become essential.”

“We should also move the ancient relics deeper underground,” added Hao Lei.

Yuan Tao silently listened before suddenly speaking.

“Someone is listening.”

Kang Wen’s eyes widened.

BOOM!

The wall around him exploded instantly. Stone shattered apart as terrifying force dragged Kang Wen violently from hiding. Before he could react, an old hand already gripped his throat tightly. Kang Wen struggled instinctively, yet his body failed to move even slightly.

Yuan Tao held him effortlessly in one hand.

“Impressive,” Yuan Tao said calmly while observing him. “You maintained a state of death in order to hide yourself from us.”

Kang Wen remained silent.

Everything Yuan Tao said was true.

Using the dark seed implanted inside him, Kang Wen forced his body into artificial death while preserving his consciousness. On top of that, he engraved formations throughout his flesh to harmonize with the walls and surrounding arrays. Every time he suspected an important meeting would occur, he arrived early and merged himself into the structure itself using earth techniques.

That was how he spied on them for decades.

For a cultivator once known as the Sword Frenzy, a man obsessed solely with swordsmanship and battle, such patience and caution demonstrated how seriously he took this mission.

Recognition suddenly flashed across Hao Lei’s face.

“Oh,” Hao Lei muttered. “I recognize him now. He joined the Dark Order’s lower seats roughly three decades ago.”

Kang Wen’s expression hardened immediately.

Without hesitation, he released control over the dark seed embedded inside him and attempted to destroy it alongside his own cultivation base. If he died now, they would gain nothing. Even in failure, he could at least protect the Willow Order’s secrets.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t that easy.

“I did not permit you to die,” Yuan Tao said coldly.

A terrifying force surged into Kang Wen’s body. His shattered breathing restored instantly. His stopped heart violently resumed beating. Even the collapsing qi within his meridians stabilized forcibly against his will.

Despair filled Kang Wen’s eyes.

Yuan Tao glanced toward Geng Chen.

“Be a dear and lend me a hand.”

Geng Chen sighed softly while standing from her seat.

“I truly dislike using this spell,” she muttered.

Her eyes met Kang Wen’s.

The world instantly blurred.

Kang Wen felt his consciousness sink beneath overwhelming mental pressure. Countless invisible threads wrapped around his mind, crushing resistance effortlessly. His thoughts no longer belonged to him.

Hao Lei stepped closer afterward.

“Tell us everything you think we need to know.”

Under normal circumstances, such a vague question would have been easy to resist. Kang Wen trained himself for years against interrogation techniques and mental invasions. But the spell engulfing his mind was far beyond anything he could withstand.

His lips moved unwillingly.

“I was tasked to spy on the Dark Order,” Kang Wen said mechanically. “My mission was to discover the location of the main base... identify escape routes... determine the number of active forces... and when the time came, sabotage transportation and mobility while allowing the Willow Order entrance into the headquarters.”

The chamber fell silent.

Kang Wen’s heart sank completely.

In the end, he had failed not only the Willow Order, but also his Sect.