Whose fated opportunity?

"Come closer."

A voice sounded again in the deep, dark Passage, faint and distant yet seemingly close, with such tremendous drawing power that both of them stepped forward without realizing it.

Meng Yuan had toiled through two or three lifetimes just to glimpse the secrets of immortals. Naturally, he would not shrink back now.

Seeing Meng Yuan step forward, Pei Liuguang immediately followed. She reached out and took his hand, giving it a squeeze to signal that they should proceed cautiously.

The Passage was too dark to see anything, and so utterly quiet that they could clearly hear each other breathing.

Only after a dozen steps did they dimly make out a hazy light ahead.

Another fifty-odd steps brought them to a grotto at the end.

The grotto was spacious, with a piece of fluorite overhead that glimmered a pale green.

Below the fluorite stood a stone platform covered in strange patterns.

Behind the platform, a gray-robed figure sat cross-legged.

"Snakes and insects crawl and wind along the ground. The Sword-Nurturing Bottle tempered your sinews and bones; the Heart-Refining Candle tested your hearts and steeled your resolve. You have passed both trials. Though a common snake cannot become a dragon, it may yet become a flood dragon."

The gray robe covered the figure entirely, even his head and face, making it impossible to discern his appearance.

There was also a set of skeletal remains in the grotto, but nothing else.

The gray-robed figure had spoken, yet his head remained bowed, without the slightest sign of life about him.

Only his left hand protruded from his sleeve, plainly nothing but skin and bones, like a chicken's claw. A copper coin tumbled ceaselessly between his fingers.

Hearing him reveal the origins of the two preceding trials, and that they had indeed been tests, Meng Yuan and Pei Liuguang stepped forward and bowed.

"Give your names," the gray-robed figure said.

"This junior is Pei Liuguang, a descendant of Lord Qingyun."

"This junior is Meng Yuan. I belong to none of the three families and merely happened upon this."

The gray-robed figure fell silent. After a long while, he asked, "How are things outside?"

"Dynasties rise and fall, and the people suffer," Meng Yuan said.

"The people suffer, yet even that is a Peach Blossom Spring." Only after a long while did the gray-robed figure sigh. "To be born at dawn and die at dusk may not be a misfortune."

He spoke as though cultivating the immortal path were something terribly tormenting.

Meng Yuan and Pei Liuguang exchanged a glance, neither knowing what to say.

After waiting a long time without the gray-robed figure speaking, Meng Yuan bowed again. "Immortal master, may I ask where the Peach Blossom Immortal is?"

The copper coin danced over the gray-robed figure's left hand. Only after a long while did he say, "She has passed away."

Was that her skeleton? Meng Yuan and Pei Liuguang exchanged a glance but dared not ask further.

The gray-robed figure kept his head bowed, hidden within his robe. He continued, "It has been a long time since anyone came. Tell me what has happened outside over the years."

Both Meng Yuan and Pei Liuguang were rather puzzled. If this immortal did not know what was happening outside, why not go out and look? Or was he unable to leave?

Neither knew what methods immortals possessed, so naturally they dared not lie. Besides, there was no need to.

Pei Liuguang immediately began recounting how the Peach Blossom Immortal had accepted disciples over the past nearly two thousand years, then spoke of the three families guarding the tomb as seas turned to mulberry fields outside.

"The earthquake three hundred years ago..." The gray-robed figure's voice was hoarse. He seemed to give a laugh, then asked, "How many people have come here in these three hundred years?"

"Immortal master, since the Peach Blossom Immortal opened this place, twelve people in total have stumbled inside, all of them men." Gone was Pei Liuguang's usual grinning, indolent manner. She merely bowed her head and answered honestly, "But since the earthquake three hundred years ago, only one person has come here: this friend of mine, Meng Yuan."

At these words, the copper coin on the gray-robed figure's left hand stopped. He gathered it into his palm, hiding it from sight, but said nothing more.

Meng Yuan waited a long time, then ventured boldly, "Please instruct me, immortal master, and grant me a method to seek immortality."

A dry, hoarse chuckle burst from the gray-robed figure's throat. "You wish to seek the immortal path?"

"Yes," Meng Yuan answered.

"Even if you end up like me?" The gray-robed figure pulled open his robe, baring his chest. Each rib stood out beneath his skin, without the slightest flesh.

Chains were wrapped around both his feet.

This supposed immortal was plainly imprisoned here.

As Meng Yuan and Pei Liuguang looked on in surprise, the gray-robed figure finally raised his head, revealing a head that was likewise nothing but skin and bones.

It was nothing more than a skull wrapped in skin!

"Why are you like this, immortal master?" The immortals Meng Yuan imagined soared freely through the heights, dining on wind and drinking dew, not lingering half-dead like this.

Moreover, the three tomb-guarding families had said that the Peach Blossom Immortal could fly through the heavens and burrow through the earth. Yet this gray-robed figure had none of an immortal's grace or bearing. Instead, he resembled a beaten dog by the roadside, imprisoned here.

"A tomb ought to hold dry bones. Did you expect a beauty of white jade?" The gray-robed figure's mouth moved slightly, even managing a trace of a smile.

Meng Yuan did not understand.

Pei Liuguang stared, dumbfounded, then asked, "Immortal master, your words are so profound and mysterious that they are difficult to understand."

The gray-robed figure said, "Cultivating Immortal Methods means drawing from outside and bringing forth from within. The Spiritual Qi of this world was drained long ago. Only a wisp remains here, enough for someone to cling to a last breath."

"Do you mean this world is a barren tomb where cultivation is impossible?" Meng Yuan understood at once.

"You are very clever." The gray-robed figure smiled again, looking all the uglier, even terrifying.

"According to what you say, immortal master, to study the immortal path, we must go to another world?" Pei Liuguang asked.

"You are clever too." The gray-robed figure lowered his head again.

"Please tell us, immortal master, how can we reach another world?" Meng Yuan asked directly.

"That is easy."

The gray-robed figure's voice was exceedingly hoarse. "There is a Magic Array beneath me. With it, one can leave this place."

Could it really be so convenient? Then why don't you go back yourself?

Meng Yuan had far too many questions, but no way to resolve them.

Yet Meng Yuan himself had engineered many coincidences, such as killing Lü Yinglong, sleeping with Chen Yuyin, and even traveling all this way.

Coincidences might exist in this world, but one still had to be on guard.

Meng Yuan became utterly vigilant, terrified of encountering another Chen Yuyin.

In his previous life, Meng Yuan had expended enormous effort prying secrets from Chen Yuyin's mouth. But right now, he had no way at all to get a hold over this gray-robed skeleton.

Meng Yuan exchanged a glance with Pei Liuguang. They chatted all day and had developed some understanding, so they immediately grasped each other's meaning: hear him out first.

"Please guide me, immortal master." Meng Yuan bowed once more.

"Young people, your hearts are frightened, and you are far too wary. There is no need." The gray-robed figure actually smiled. "Even in a withered land, fragrant grass may grow. I was ordered to remain here precisely to receive newcomers."

"Immortal master, were you waiting for us two blades of fragrant grass?" Pei Liuguang asked blankly.

"No." The gray-robed figure smiled again, rather desolately. "But I cannot wait any longer. That you did not fear the Heart-Refining Candle shows that you too possess deep blessings and fortune."

He looked them over, then continued, "The heavens are high and the road is long. This time, I can receive only one person."

As he spoke, the gray-robed figure extended his left hand from his sleeve, and the copper coin began dancing between his fingers again.

Soon, the coin vanished into his clawlike palm. He raised his left hand slightly and pointed at Meng Yuan, forcing a strange smile onto his skeletal face. "You. Only you have the aptitude!"

"Immortal master, do you mean I cannot cultivate immortality?" Pei Liuguang asked, her eyes widening.

But the gray-robed figure paid Pei Liuguang no further attention.

Meng Yuan felt little excitement at this moment. He had thought he would have to endure a great battle, or even play games of wits for several more lifetimes. He had never expected things to go so smoothly.

Moreover, judging by the gray-robed figure's words, Meng Yuan thought that after toiling through several lifetimes, he had finally met an immortal, but the immortal had not been waiting for him. He had been waiting for someone else.

The immortal had settled for him instead.

He might have stolen someone else's fated opportunity to meet an immortal.

For a moment, Meng Yuan thought of Lü Yinglong.

In his second life, Meng Yuan had learned of Lü Yinglong's fated opportunity. In his third, he had hunted down and killed Lü Yinglong, stolen his opportunity, and taken his wife. He had truly eaten him clean and wiped his mouth...

Did that person fail to come here because of my meddling?

In his second life, Meng Yuan had become a strategist and then a minister. He had stirred the winds and clouds, and might already have changed certain people's fates.

In his third life, Meng Yuan had seized the opportunity and conquered the realm, inevitably changing many people's fates.

But in this life, Meng Yuan had neither stolen any opportunity nor taken another man's wife, much less stirred the great currents of the world.

Yet in his previous life, he had never heard of any outsider coming to Peach Valley.

Even those of the Three Surnames had failed to get past that candlestick. Pei Liuguang was even less likely. In his previous life, she had died young, and he had only seen her grave mound.

As for the life before that, presumably no outsider had come to claim the opportunity either.

No one had come to meet this opportunity in all three lifetimes. Could that person have been held up in every one?

Meng Yuan did not know how much truth there was in this gray-robed immortal's words, but since he was here, he would try even if it meant mountains of blades and seas of fire.

"This junior, Meng Yuan, bows in thanks, immortal master." Meng Yuan bent forward, exceedingly devout.

That year, Meng Yuan was twenty-two.