Stepping across the endless void between cultivation realms had once filled Chen Tian with wonder. Now, after countless lifetimes of wandering, it had become as natural as breathing qi.
Yet the sensation never dulled. That liminal moment when the vastness of an unknown realm opened before him like a scroll of heaven. The hollowness that consumed his dantian as his soul briefly dissolved into nothingness. The earth-shaking disorientation as he stepped onto spiritual soil that would reshape his very essence. Even as he ventured into the truly forbidden, these familiar sensations accompanied him like old friends.
Chen Tian drew in a breath of qi he had never tasted before. In his countless years of wandering, he had set foot in five of the Nine Sacred Realms, yet he immediately knew this was not one of them, nor was it his long-forgotten mortal birthplace in the Eastern Continent. No, this was something beyond the boundaries of heaven itself.
All vitality had withered on the desolate plane that stretched endlessly before him, a wasteland of gray dust that devoured every horizon. Above, the firmament arched pale as bleached bone. A black sun burned in that emptiness, casting shadows without substance. The only true shadows lay behind him and the ancient wooden door that had brought him to this forsaken expanse. Through it, he could still glimpse the resplendent realm they had abandoned.
Then he sensed his dao companions as they emerged, their shadows joining his own, the lifeless wasteland now occupied by four intruders. Long Feitian flexed his six phoenix wings, his immortal aura blazing with displeasure, he detested this realm as much as all others. Bai Yuehua gripped her Moon-Piercing Spear, but seeing Chen Tian unharmed, returned it to her spatial ring. Ancient Mu entered last, his tree-like immortal body rustling as his bark-covered face surveyed the landscape. The power of primordial chaos sealed the door behind them, leaving only weathered wood and a new realm to explore.
"Have we departed the Nine Sacred Realms, Elder Mu?" Chen Tian asked, turning to face the others. The ancient tree spirit's massive trunk swayed as he nodded gravely.
"No ancestor of mine has ever taken root in this accursed place." His ethereal tendrils extended toward the gray earth, but recoiled as if burned. "It is a realm devoid of all dao essence, yet the density of death qi..."
Bai Yuehua stepped forward with a gentle smile, her fairy-like beauty unmarred by concern. "I take it this is not your mortal birthplace, Brother Tian?"
He shook his head. "No, this bears no resemblance to the Eastern Continent. What of you, Feitian? Do the sacred archives of the Phoenix Clan contain knowledge of such a place?"
"They contain many forbidden truths." Long Feitian stalked past them, spreading a magnificent wing to shield his eyes from the dark sun as he gazed outward. "Unlike ignorant mortals, we do not believe the Nine Sacred Realms stand alone. But most realms beyond our boundaries are nothing but fragments and corpses... what purpose could visiting this desolate place possibly serve?"
"Do not dismiss it so hastily. I am certain this place contains heavenly treasures we could never find elsewhere." Chen Tian walked beside Long Feitian, peering toward the distant horizon. "Can your phoenix eyes perceive anything?"
"Perhaps." His rival offered no elaboration, moving further ahead to maintain distance between them.
Unhelpful as always. Chen Tian channeled qi into his eyes, drawing upon the highest levels of his Golden Core. Enhanced vision revealed nothing at first, the wasteland appeared truly infinite, but then he noticed something wrong with the horizon in one direction. A strange line had been drawn above the ground, as if there were two horizons. Unnaturally uniform, yet if mortals had constructed it, the structure would be impossibly vast.
A soft sound interrupted his observations. Glancing over, he found Long Feitian on one knee, his immortal face twisted in agony. His phoenix wings crumpled as if crushed by invisible mountains, and Chen Tian searched for attackers but found nothing. When he looked back to the others, Bai Yuehua and Ancient Mu struggled similarly.
"This place... it abhors our very existence." Long Feitian lurched upright with a grunt, but instead of advancing, he retreated toward the door. Ancient Mu's leaves rustled in agreement.
"I have felt few realms so hostile to cultivators. To proceed, we must constantly circulate our protective qi, and that would drain our foundations within hours."
"Brother Tian, do you not feel it?" Bai Yuehua steadied herself by channeling qi through her meridians, but her celestial complexion had paled. "I noticed it the moment I stepped away from the gate, yet you walk so easily..."
"This feels no different from any of the Nine Sacred Realms." Chen Tian frowned, examining the crimson ring on his finger, a bloody scar against the gray wasteland. He did not know its true nature, only that it had been gifted to him when he left the mortal world. Since then, it had allowed his body to survive in the alien qi of foreign realms. "The artifact must function here as well. I will scout ahead while you all adapt."
Bai Yuehua nodded and closed her eyes, beginning to circulate her cultivation technique to better harmonize with this realm's hostile qi. Ancient Mu floated near the gate in contemplation, while Long Feitian merely gave a curt nod. Once again, it fell to Chen Tian to take the lead, no matter how it wounded Long Feitian's pride.
Yet Chen Tian had taken only several steps before Bai Yuehua caught up, her delicate fingers brushing his arm. "Brother Tian... please exercise caution. I wish I could accompany you, but I need time to stabilize my cultivation base."
"Do not worry about me. We can see there are no threats for ten thousand li." Still, he patted her hand reassuringly and didn't leave immediately. "You are already adapting your defensive techniques, are you not? Now that we have formed our Golden Cores, you should have space for a specialized protective method."
"Yes, but I regret not planning my cultivation path more carefully. If I had known how strange realms could be beyond the boundaries of our world..." Bai Yuehua sighed, then gazed at him with an expression he couldn't quite interpret. "Do you ever wish you could return to the beginning and rebuild your entire cultivation foundation? If I knew then what I know now, I would have laid my dao foundation so much more perfectly..."
"And spend decades rebuilding from the Qi Condensation stage? No thanks."
"Oh, but imagine if you could. You have truly found yourself here among the Nine Sacred Realms, so you could establish a far superior foundation. I can envision it now... a field of golden dao flowers equal to the hero you have become."
Chen Tian felt heat rise to his cheeks and looked away from her earnest praise. It was true that his mortal origins felt like a distant dream, and he had only discovered his true potential after entering the cultivation world. When he examined his Golden Core, he could recognize many flaws that were now permanently ingrained in his foundation. If he could begin again...
He had no intention of doing so, but he discussed it to keep Bai Yuehua company. Her cultivation base was an elegant silver pagoda that resonated with lunar qi, yet she spoke eagerly of how she could redesign it. Surprisingly, she had given considerable thought to his own cultivation path as well. She possessed such a clear vision of a brilliant foundation that he almost regretted being unable to restart using her guidance.
Eventually, however, her qi reserves began to dwindle from the constant strain. He gave her one more smile as she retreated toward the door, then headed alone into the wasteland. Time to discover what secrets this realm concealed.
As it turned out, very few. Chen Tian maintained his orientation carefully, a simple task since his footprints were the only disruption marring the vast desolation. Except for that line in the distance, which gradually grew as he approached. Whatever it was stood impossibly tall and stretched beyond the horizon.
Though he had been warned against removing the ring, Chen Tian experimentally slipped it from his finger. He felt no different until he tossed it skyward... and plummeted to earth faster than the falling ring. Instantly the qi itself became poison, and the dark sun seared through his very soul. Shuddering, he scrambled through the dust until his fingers found the metal, relief flooding through him like cool water.
The ring clearly allowed him to survive in this realm before achieving the necessary cultivation level, but he could turn that advantage to his benefit, just as he had mastered every tribulation in his path. Any heavenly treasures found here could grant them power beyond mortal imagination. Chen Tian secured the ring firmly and strode forward into the wasteland.
"Well done, Chen Tian." The voice emanated from all directions simultaneously, but when he whirled about, he spotted a hooded figure floating above the wasteland nearby.
The exact same entity that had greeted him all those years ago. The same one who had guided him from his mortal life and bestowed the ring. Chen Tian had never expected to encounter Immortal Wei again, yet this felt far from a welcome reunion. Instead he found himself hesitating, long-buried memories and emotions from his mortal existence rising to overwhelm him.
"This place marks the boundary of the Nine Sacred Realms," Immortal Wei said calmly, drifting toward him without disturbing a single grain of dust. "You have grown formidable and traveled far. If you so desire, you could return to your mortal realm. Not in the body you sacrificed, but to begin a new, untainted life."
"I have no wish to return," Chen Tian said. He had known this the moment he saw Immortal Wei again, but speaking the words crystallized his resolve. "This cultivation path is superior to anything I could have achieved in the mortal world. I mean, I miss certain mortal comforts, but there is no comparison."
The hood tilted, revealing dark eyes filled with confusion. "Mortal comforts?"
"Merely things from my birthplace. Pay it no mind. What happens if we continue forward into this realm?"
"I would not recommend such a course, Chen Tian." Immortal Wei shook his head slowly. "This place holds too many dangers for you and your dao companions. If you wish to live your new life, return to the Nine Sacred Realms and cultivate to your heart's content. Here, you will find nothing but dead realms and ancient evils."
"But why are they dead?" Chen Tian walked past the hooded figure deeper into the wasteland, again studying that line across the horizon. Now it resembled an impossibly tall cliff face... "You said this marks the boundary of the Nine Sacred Realms, but something exists beyond, does it not?"
"I am here to offer warning, not answers. You are not safe in this place, and grow less safe with each passing moment. Choose wisely."
As Chen Tian turned back toward Immortal Wei, he spotted a speck of darkness in the far distance. It would have been imperceptible in most realms, but in this empty wasteland it blazed like a beacon. He focused his enhanced vision on the source, then involuntarily stepped backward as comprehension dawned.
Five Demon Sovereigns strode across the wasteland in perfect formation, their movements deliberate yet each step devouring li after li of ground. From this distance he could not discern what weapons they carried, but their colossal size was unmistakable. Though Demon Sovereigns no longer posed a significant threat since he had formed his Golden Core, he still felt unease remembering the years when they had been death incarnate.
Even now, could he face five simultaneously? With his dao companions, it would present little difficulty, but he doubted they could fight effectively in this hostile realm. How could five Demon Sovereigns manifest in such a barren place? They represented the third stage of demonkind, each birthed through the sacrifice of hundreds or thousands of lesser demons. He had encountered them only during the vast battles that occasionally spilled between realms.
Yet as he watched, Chen Tian realized something far worse approached. A trail of dust separated from the Sovereigns, smaller but moving with terrifying speed. It grew larger by the moment, a muscular creature with crimson skin, cloven hooves, and curved horns. Though less imposing than the Sovereigns, it sent a spear of dread straight into his heart.
"What manner of demon is that?" he asked Immortal Wei. "A local fleeing the others?"
"Demons are far more numerous and diverse than you comprehend." Was it his imagination, or did Immortal Wei almost smile beneath his hood? "You have traveled extensively, but you have not witnessed every threat the Nine Sacred Realms can spawn. Again, I suggest you decide quickly. Return with me to your mortal realm, or return to your dao companions among the Nine."
For safety's sake, Chen Tian retreated toward the gate, though he frequently glanced back. The entity gained ground rapidly, apparently inexhaustible. Immortal Wei seemed to imply it was also demonic, but Chen Tian had never encountered its like... was it possible a fourth stage of demons existed? The thought sent ice through his meridians.
Immortal Wei remained motionless as the demon tore past him as if he were mere illusion. Perhaps he was, simply some intellectual construct that guided travelers between realms. But there was no time for such speculation as Chen Tian realized he was too slow. Though close to the gate, the demon would overtake him first. There was no choice but to fight.
He drew the Hurricane Dao Sword from his spatial ring and readied his stance. His Golden Core already granted him speed surpassing most opponents, yet the demon ran as swiftly as he could move. With the Hurricane Dao Sword channeling his qi, his velocity increased dramatically, so he believed he possessed the advantage. It was simply a matter of landing a fatal blow before it could strike him.
As the demon approached, it released a bone-shaking roar. Its eyes burned with unholy blue flames, and when it opened its maw, he saw infernal fire gathering within. The flames erupted almost immediately, but he was faster, flashing past the demon in a blur of movement, seven strikes carrying the force of a hurricane slicing through its body.
On the far side, he found himself clutching a shattered blade.
Chen Tian stared at the broken hilt in disbelief and nearly paid with his life as another torrent of blue flame roared toward him. He managed to leap away, channeling qi through his movement technique, but shock still gripped him. Though he knew many cultivators surpassed his current level, it had been years since a weapon had been destroyed so effortlessly. Worse, the Hurricane Dao Sword had been a superior Golden Core artifact of tremendous power. Yet it had shattered in mere moments...
Retreat wasn't cowardice, it was the only rational response to such overwhelming might. Spotting the door ahead, Chen Tian drew great gulps of qi into his dantian, preparing to shout a warning to his dao companions. Their sole hope was to flee through the door and destroy it before the demon could follow.
"Retreat!" His call emerged ragged from exertion, but he saw them look up. Or perhaps they simply noticed the clouds of dust and the demon pursuing him. "It's a fourth-stage demon! Get through the door!"
Bai Yuehua drew her spear and adopted a defensive stance, while Ancient Mu began to glow with protective qi. Yet Long Feitian ignored his words, stepping forward as his phoenix wings spread wide and power surged through his bloodline. "Do you flee every time you encounter something new, Chen Tian?" He sneered as brilliant flames gathered around his wings. "Allow a Prince of the Phoenix Clan to handle this."
A blazing beam of phoenix fire erupted from his wings, and for a moment Chen Tian believed it might stop the demon. Yet an instant later, the creature plunged through the flames, apparently unharmed. It released another burst of infernal qi and Long Feitian dodged by taking flight, but shock was clear on his immortal features.
Then the demon was upon him in a leap Chen Tian couldn't track until it was over. One horn pierced through Long Feitian's chest. He crumpled as if already dead, but the demon grasped two phoenix wings in one clawed hand and tore them away, scattering bloody feathers as both bodies crashed to earth.
"You must go." Ancient Mu spoke in his creaking voice, filled with deeper weariness than Chen Tian had ever heard. "Do not waste the protection I can offer. At least, in the end, I can aid you one final time."
With those words, Ancient Mu gathered his millennia of accumulated power, leaves rustling with ancient might. A column of emerald light, his most powerful binding technique, descended from the heavens. Chen Tian had once seen it hold three Demon Sovereigns motionless for hours until reinforcements arrived, and it had single-handedly ended a siege by freezing all attackers in temporal stasis.
The column shattered the instant it touched the demon.
Though the force still drove the creature back, it returned to its feet immediately. It snarled as it straightened, shaking a horn dripping with Long Feitian's blood. Another column of emerald qi struck from above, but it held the demon for only heartbeats before it took another step forward. Ancient Mu could not possibly maintain such power for long, which meant he was sacrificing his immortal life for them. Chen Tian wanted to express gratitude, but there was no time. He saw that Bai Yuehua understood the same terrible truth and had begun retreating to the door. Though Chen Tian fumbled for his realm key, she had already begun using hers, slowly forcing open the passage between worlds.
"Prepare yourself, Brother Tian! I'll open it as quickly as possible!"
As he stepped beside her, Chen Tian realized that fleeing might not be possible and hesitantly placed a hand on her shoulder. "No... Yuehua, if there is only time for one of us to escape, it should be you. I am... I am merely a wanderer from another realm. You have a life to return to, a path to comp, "
Bai Yuehua silenced him with a fierce kiss. Chen Tian was too shocked to truly feel it, then she had already pulled back, tears streaming down her celestial features. "I want all of us to survive, but there may not be time. Live, Brother Tian. Avenge us."
"There should be sufficient time t, " His words were cut off by a scream of agony, and he couldn't help but turn, though he knew what awaited.
Blue flames licked through Ancient Mu's branches, incinerating him despite all the protective techniques he had cultivated over millennia. Chen Tian could see both his immortal body and his soul burning away, the being who had once been his teacher giving his eternal life to buy them mere moments. Already the demon turned to stare at them through the ashes, without satisfaction in victory, a machine of mindless destruction...
Too late, he felt Bai Yuehua's hand grasping his robes. Once he might have resisted, might have used his movement technique to take her with him, but shock had frozen his qi channels. So all he could do was stare at her tearful smile as the demon's claws swept toward her. Then the door crumbled and he was alone.
The Phoenix Clan's realm was brilliant and peaceful, yet now it felt cold as the deepest hell. White jade scraped his knees as he struggled upright, clutching fragments of the broken door. Around him, peaceful wisps of cloud choked him like poison. Nine suns danced overhead in their eternal ballet, yet their intricate movements could not warm him. Not when his life had cost the lives of all his dao companions.
"Interesting."
The words struck him like a killing technique and Chen Tian spun wildly toward the source. Immortal Wei floated behind him, backlit by one of the setting suns, a silhouette against the golden disc. Chen Tian's mind refused to process what he was seeing and he could only stare as the hooded figure drifted closer.
"Why would you have survived? I wonder if one of the others interfered... or perhaps there is something special about you after all." Immortal Wei sneered, all traces of otherworldly wisdom replaced by malicious glee.
"What... who are you?" Chen Tian asked, realizing his question came far too late.
Then agony erupted and his arm was gone. Chen Tian cried out in pain and clutched the stump, for a moment knowing nothing but torment. He stared in horror as Immortal Wei held his severed limb and understood he faced something far worse than the demon he'd escaped. Some of the Nascent Soul ancestors he knew might have battled the demon, but this...
"I jest, of course." Immortal Wei slid the crimson ring from his detached finger, then discarded the limb carelessly. "There is nothing remarkable about you whatsoever. Every visitor from foreign realms is so eager to believe in their own destiny."
Even knowing it was hopeless, Chen Tian couldn't surrender. Not in the face of such betrayal. He drew the fragment of his dao sword with his remaining arm and raised it toward his opponent, watching the amused smile through the weapon's broken edge.
Fingers closed around his throat, lifting him skyward. They could have crushed his windpipe instantly, but instead applied just enough pressure to paralyze him, the broken sword in his hand as useless as a twig. Immortal Wei gazed up at him with another cruel smile.
"Before you perish, I want you to understand that it was all deception. You were not brought here as reward for heroically sacrificing your mortal life, it was cosmic coincidence. You actually died in a meaningless accident, merely another statistic. The fact that your soul found its way here was equally random, but you were so desperate to believe it meant something more."
Chen Tian wanted to fight until the end, but the power was overwhelming. Beyond that, the words fell upon him with the weight of heaven's judgment. Years ago, he remembered doubting whether he had truly been chosen for anything. Somehow he had lost that skepticism, swept up in the lie that told him he was destined for greatness...
"Yes." Immortal Wei sighed with satisfaction. "There is the expression I wished to see. That makes this all worthwhile."
Then his fingers tightened and Chen Tian died.
At first, the rhythmic sound meant nothing. It was an alien call he barely remembered, a word in a forgotten tongue. Then suddenly he realized it was the beeping of a heart monitor and his consciousness returned to his skull.
Opening his eyes was agony, painful merely to perceive the world around him. Yet Chen Tian drank in the sight of the hospital bed. Not a healing jade platform of the Phoenix Clan, a warm restoration pool beneath the earth, or a medicine pavilion on some floating peak. Just sterile sheets in a lifeless room.
He was back in the mortal world.
Despite all logic, Chen Tian still reached for his dantian to channel healing qi. But of course there was absolutely nothing, because cultivation did not exist in the mortal realm. For a brief moment he wondered if it had all been a dream, yet he couldn't believe that. The memories of all the decades he had spent among the Nine Sacred Realms weighed upon him too heavily, and the deaths of his dao companions burned in his mind like brands.
Chen Tian forced himself to continue observing. His legs were completely encased in white casts, one elevated above the bed, which explained his immobility. The cold needle of medical tubing pierced one arm, so he kept it motionless, though his other arm could barely twitch a few fingers when he tried. Throughout it all, the heart monitor continued its steady reminder.
All he could think was that it must have been another cosmic coincidence. Immortal Wei was probably correct that he had been in an accident, casting his soul into the Nine Sacred Realms. Yet he still lived. Perhaps he had died for a moment before doctors revived him, or perhaps approaching death had been sufficient. When he perished among the Nine Sacred Realms, his soul had returned to his mortal shell.
He wasn't certain if that made sense, but he doubted anything made sense anymore. Most of what he had been told about the void between realms and the reasons souls traveled across it must have been lies. The entire time he had been a piece in some game Immortal Wei was playing, completely unaware of the truth.
But now he possessed a few jagged fragments he could trust, even as they cut into his mind. In his moment of victory, Immortal Wei had let several valuable clues slip. Realms beyond the Nine Sacred Territories, the fact that the ring held genuine power... Chen Tian realized something even more sinister. The way the demons had behaved could not have been coincidence, they had been used as tools. All the stories about them being mindless monsters must have been false, but what was their true purpose?
Once, he would have cast aside the bedsheets and risen to his feet. But his mortal body lay near death and his soul was shattered beyond measure. Only the constant beeping of the monitor reminded him that he still drew breath.
Inch by agonizing inch, Chen Tian formed his hand into a fist. He would find his way back to the Nine Sacred Realms and take vengeance on those who had orchestrated this betrayal. No matter how many lifetimes it required.