Was There Really an Old Master in the Cave?

[A fictional world. Any resemblance to reality is purely a flight of fancy.]

[Leave your brain here.]

Verdant mountains rose and fell in an unbroken chain. Wild vegetation spread like a green carpet, tender grass covered the mountain path, and a gentle breeze carried the fresh fragrance of plants.

Two slender figures made their way slowly along the mountain trail. The young woman in front was around twenty, with exquisitely delicate features and skin as fair as snow. Her long black hair was loosely pinned up, a few stray locks falling beside her cheeks and making her look all the more innocent and sweet.

She had a graceful figure and an air as pure as a white lotus newly blooming in the mountains. She was the kind of beauty people could not look away from: Chen Siyao.

Yang Wanqing, walking beside her, was just as pretty and endearing, but her face was full of unease. Clutching Chen Siyao's sleeve, she asked timidly, "Yaoyao, are we really going to livestream in those deserted mountains ahead? We're just two girls. I can't shake this bad feeling. What if we run into wild animals or bad people? Why don't we turn back?"

Chen Siyao paused and turned toward her friend, a stubborn resolve in her eyes. She reassured her softly, "I already promised my followers an outdoor exploration stream. Since my contract with the streaming agency expired, my viewer count has dropped a lot. I can't break another promise.

"Don't be scared, Qingqing. There's a little village near this mountain, and the villagers often come here to gather things. It's usually very safe. We won't be in any danger."

Her voice was gentle, but it carried a maturity beyond her years. Ever since her older brother had mysteriously disappeared when he was young, she had lived with her second uncle's family. After she finally managed to get into university, they refused to pay for her living expenses or tuition anymore. She covered every expense herself with the money she earned from livestreaming.

She had already saved enough for tuition, but she wanted to use the summer break to gain more followers and earn more money, fighting for a secure future.

Seeing that she had made up her mind, Yang Wanqing could hardly refuse again. She nodded lightly. "All right. Let's start the stream, then."

Chen Siyao immediately took out her phone, deftly opened the streaming app, adjusted the angle, and aimed the camera at the Green Mountain and clear waters before them. Within moments, the viewer count began climbing, and soon four or five hundred people had joined.

She smiled into the camera, her eyes curving as her sweet voice rang out like a clear mountain spring. "Everyone, look where we are! I promised you an outdoor adventure, and here I am, right on time!"

Several comments immediately floated across the stream: [Caught you!] [Caught you!] [Caught you!]

[Yaoyao's Little Red Riding Hood]: Yaoyao really keeps her word! You actually went into the mountains! Those Green Mountain and clear waters look so relaxing!

"That's right, Little Red. If I promise you all something, I have to follow through." Chen Siyao smiled as she replied. Little Red was a longtime moderator in her stream and a fellow student at her university who had always looked out for her.

[Wind God~]: You two beauties are so brave, coming all the way into the mountains on your own to stream. Respect!

Chen Siyao knew that as long as they streamed the whole time, no one would dare try anything.

"Everyone, take a look. What do you think of this place? I picked it out especially for you."

[One Meal to Godhood]: It really is beautiful. Such lovely mountains and water. Makes me want to take a trip there too.

[Little Yu]: Where are you, streamer?

[White-Clad Warrior]: Look ahead, streamer! There seems to be a cave!

As soon as that comment appeared, Chen Siyao instinctively looked up. Sure enough, beneath a cliff not far ahead was a cave entrance half hidden by vines, its pitch-black depths impossible to see. She gave Yang Wanqing's sleeve a gentle tug. "Qingqing, look! There really is a cave up ahead."

The chat instantly erupted.

[I Am Ying Zheng]: Go explore it! There might be some secluded old master inside who'll send you straight to the top!

[East Gate Snowblower]: Isn't exploring caves what adventures are all about? Just go for it!

[Mountain Wanderer]: It looks a little scary, but Yaoyao's brave. She'll be fine!

The screen filled with comments urging them to explore. Looking at the pitch-black entrance, Chen Siyao felt a flicker of fear herself. But then she thought about how this stream was meant to be an adventure in the first place. Giving up halfway would not only disappoint her followers, but leave her feeling dissatisfied too.

She took a deep breath and turned to Yang Wanqing. "Qingqing, let's have a look inside. We'll just take a quick walk around and come right back out."

Yang Wanqing's face paled slightly, and she clung tightly to her arm. "Are you sure it won't be dangerous? It's so dark in there..."

"It's fine. I'll go first. Just stay behind me." Holding her phone firmly, Chen Siyao switched on its flashlight and headed toward the entrance.

Vines tangled around the cave entrance. After they pushed the foliage aside, a narrow, pitch-black passage appeared before them. The faint light from the phone cut a bright line through the darkness as they walked slowly side by side, their footsteps echoing softly through the silent passage.

After only a few dozen steps, the darkness before them abruptly fell away, and a bright, open expanse greeted them.

The cave concealed an entirely different world!

Stalactites hung overhead like a forest, their milky-white patterns glowing softly. The ground was as smooth as jade, and the air was fresh and pleasantly moist. Compared with the stifling heat outside, it was cool and comfortable here, like a secluded paradise.

Yang Wanqing instantly forgot her fear and exclaimed, "Wow, Yaoyao! This place is gorgeous!"

The chat went wild too—

[Zhijin Cave Enthusiast]: This looks so much like Zhijin Cave in Qianzhou! It's even prettier than Zhijin Cave!

[Just Order 188]: Did Yaoyao accidentally wander into a fairyland?

[Exhausted Wage Slave]: Where is this, Yaoyao? I really want to see it.

[Great Immortal Donkey]: A place this beautiful hasn't been developed for tourism? Seriously?

Yang Wanqing took out her phone and snapped pictures everywhere. She had never seen such a beautiful cave.

Both young women wandered around excitedly. The trip had been well worth it.

[East Gate Snowblower]: Wait! Yaoyao, look ahead. Isn't there someone sitting on that stone platform?

That comment stood out. Chen Siyao's heart gave a sudden jolt, and she looked up in the direction the camera was pointing.

Deep within the cave, a figure sat cross-legged and motionless atop an ancient stone platform.

The comments scrolled rapidly as well.

"There really is someone there."

"Who would be out here in the middle of nowhere? And those clothes don't look modern."

"Did Yaoyao run into a zombie?"

"Run, Yaoyao!"

"What's there to be scared of? There are so many of us watching."

At that moment, Chen Hao slowly opened his eyes, emerging from secluded cultivation.

For the first time, a ripple stirred in his mind after ages of stillness.

After transmigrating to the Primordial Nine Provinces, he had remained alone here when the path to immortality was severed. Through ten thousand years, he had long since become one with this world, spending his days meditating in seclusion, unconcerned with the changes beyond. He had sensed two faint signs of life approaching earlier, but had paid them little attention.

Yet when those two figures entered his cave abode, and their distinct presences and voices reached him, the dormant spiritual energy around him inexplicably trembled.

That voice...

Soft and sweet, with an unworldly innocence, it instantly cracked open memories sealed away for ten thousand years. The image surfaced of a small, timid figure calling him her big brother all those millennia ago.

Chen Hao raised his eyes. His gaze passed through the soft light inside the cave and settled on the innocent-looking young woman standing at the entrance.

Is that... my little sister? Have I finally returned to the modern world?

He had just graduated from university before transmigrating, and his little sister had only been ten then. She was the one he had never stopped worrying about.

Chen Hao's thoughts returned to the lands of the Nine Provinces in the Primordial Era, where spiritual energy had grown as thin as wisps of thread.

The divine lands of the Primordial Era, once filled with surging seas of clouds and crisscrossing spiritual veins, had become a barren expanse of deathly silence. The laws of heaven and earth were collapsing without a sound. The path to immortality had been severed, the Great Dao had fallen silent, and even the tiniest particles of spiritual energy in the air were dissipating at a rate invisible to the naked eye.

Chen Hao stood at the summit of the Nine Provinces, gazing at the figures before him, their auras vast and their imposing presence weighing upon heaven and earth.

Every one of them was in the Void Refinement Realm.

This was the highest realm the world of Blue Star could accommodate. They could live for thirty thousand years, split mountains and seas with a wave of their hands, and shift the stars with a thought. They were already the supreme beings of the mortal world. Yet now, the faces of these cultivators who had once looked down upon all living beings were filled with heaviness and helplessness.