Immortal Druid

It had only been a few days since I was displaced into this domain, yet it felt as though I had already lived an entire season within it.

After leaving the cave through the jagged gash torn open by the Heavenly Tribulation and ensuring Zhao Yan was safely delivered to a nearby village, I wasted no time. The anomalous cultivator remained my highest priority. Every instinct I possessed warned me that whatever force lingered behind him did not belong in the Natural Order.

I was far from the domain I once called home, stranded in a land whose laws and factions were unfamiliar to me. Seeking aid from the Willow Order was not an option. Instead, I turned to the one network that never failed me, the wilderness itself.

Through my connection with beasts, I gathered fragments of truth scattered across forests and plains like the local factions or the cultivators. However, it was not the cultivators I was worried about. Villages had gone silent. Herds had thinned. Even the rivers carried unease in their currents. Most troubling of all were the creatures I encountered that bore signs of corruption, subtle at first glance, yet unmistakable to my senses. Something had tainted them.

Despite my efforts, the anomalous cultivator eluded me. Even my Druidic Insight found no trace of him. Still, the animals proved eager to help, almost excessively so. They lingered around me longer than necessary, their wariness replaced with an odd affection.

According to them, my presence was… soothing.

“I-I heard something, big one,” a small squirrel chittered as I carefully set its mended leg back onto the earth. Its tail flicked nervously, but its eyes shone with excitement. “Funny flying humans, with shiny sticks, they gathered not far from the broken hills. They spoke loudly. Important, yes, very important!”

That piece of information led me further than any trail I had followed so far. From there, I learned that the disturbance caused by the Heavenly Tribulation I had invoked when resurrecting Zhao Yan had not gone unnoticed. Cultivators had gathered, drawn like moths to flame.

When I finally found their encampment, I did not hesitate. Taking the form of a harmless white cat, I slipped past their perimeter with ease. Beneath the soil, I guided a creeping Thorn Whip toward the central tent. Then, invoking Nature’s Stride, I followed its path and stepped through space itself.

I emerged inside the tent, undoing my Wild Shape in the process.

Two figures stood within, their presence heavy enough to warp the air. The leaders of the Steel Sky Sect and the Stone Spire Sect. The woman held herself with sharp elegance, her sword already halfway drawn. The old man stood like an unyielding pillar, a spear materializing in his grasp from his storage ring.

“How dare you interrupt this meeting?” barked the old man, his eyes narrowing as they flicked toward his counterpart. “Xing Mei, is this your doing? Sending tricks to test me?”

The woman, Xing Mei, scoffed, her lips curling. “If I intended to kill you, Xu Ping, I would not insult myself by sending a cat. I would come personally.”

So, that was there name, huh? Convenient.

“Let’s not fight,” I said, raising my hands in what I hoped was a calming gesture.

“Yuu are one of them, aren’t you!?” Xing Mei’s voice cut through the air as she vanished and reappeared at my left in a flicker that defied ordinary Nascent Soul teleportation.

Her sword shot toward my eye. I caught it with my palm, the steel punching straight through my hand, but I didn’t let go. Forcing myself forward along the blade, I drove past the pain and seized the guard, my fingers clamping over hers on the hilt. Her sword arm locked in place, the tip halted a breath from my face.

“You’re wearing their colors,” she hissed, her gaze sharp with suspicion.

Only then did I realize my mistake. I should have remained in the form of a cat or, at the very least, changed my attire before revealing myself.

Before I could respond, a crushing force descended upon me. Xing Mei’s technique bloomed as she anchored me in place, gravity itself bending to her will around us. My body grew heavy, the ground beneath my feet resisting even the slightest movement.

At the same instant, Xu Ping moved.

He was behind me.

I felt the shift in the air before I saw him, the spear in his hands humming with condensed power as he executed a technique honed over decades, perhaps centuries. The tip of his weapon aligned with a lethal precision aimed directly at my spine.

“Not so fast,” I remarked, slowly losing patience.

I had already anticipated the old man’s thrust.

The moment Xu Ping shifted his footing, I invoked Nature’s Stride and slipped through space, reappearing behind him. It should have been a clean reposition, a moment to reset the tempo of the fight. Instead, the ground beneath my feet trembled, and a ring of stone figures erupted upward in a violent surge.

Clones.

Each one bore his likeness in crude detail, their arms already moving as spears formed in their grasp. They struck in unison, their timing precise enough to leave no obvious gap.

I twisted, deflecting one spear while forcing my body between two others, but even then, their coordination pressed me back. Before I could counter, a violent burst of qi tore through the camp. The tent above us was ripped apart, shredded like paper in a storm.

The battlefield opened.

And I saw them.

Sword Frenzy and the… other guy, I faintly remembered a scion of some sect.

The swordsman moved first.

He lunged straight for Xu Ping, his killing intent unrestrained, blade descending in a sweeping arc meant to cleave through both defense and life.

“Foolish child,” Xu Ping growled, raising his spear to meet the strike.

Steel met steel.

My eyes narrowed as I recognized the weapon in Sword Frenzy’s grasp. Blackedge Eclipse. The blade I had once gifted to Xing Ning. Even from a distance, I could feel its weight distort the flow of qi around it.

Xu Ping blocked it, but just barely.

His spear held, yet his hands trembled from the impact, the strain visible even across the distance. A major realm advantage meant little when facing a weapon that defied reason.

Before the clash could escalate further, the young master burst forward, his spear flashing as he forced himself between them, breaking the exchange with a precise, controlled strike.

“Enough!” he barked.

“Don’t lose focus!” Xing Mei’s voice cut through the chaos as she pointed directly at me. “That one is the enemy!”

Both Sword Frenzy and the young master turned.

Their eyes widened the moment they saw me.

“This man is an assassin!” Xu Ping declared sharply. “He infiltrated our meeting and attacked without warning!”

Around us, the gathered cultivators stirred. Qi flared in waves as some began forming techniques, while others raised their weapons, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. They really were not going to listen. At this point, my hand had already healed from my natural health regen, but if I had my way, I didn’t want to fight them.

Ah.

Right.

It finally occurred to me what the name of the Sword Frenzy guy, and the… other guy.

“Kang Wen. Xu Lei,” I called out, my voice cutting through the tension as memory finally settled into place. “Are you really going to let your fellow cultivators attack me like this?”

The reaction was immediate.

Both men moved without hesitation, stepping in front of me as they turned toward the others, their presence forming a barrier.

“Stand down!” Kang Wen shouted, his blade lowering slightly but still ready. “Show some restraint. We know him.”

Xu Lei nodded sharply. “Give us a moment. There’s no need to escalate this further.”

Kang Wen continued, his tone firm. “He is Young Master Xing Ning’s benefactor.”

“And he is the expert I told you about,” Xu Lei added, addressing the old man as he glanced back at me briefly. “The one I encountered while pursuing Kang Wen.”

I stepped forward, positioning myself between them despite their protective stance.

“My name is Wo Li,” I said evenly. “And I have no intention of fighting you.”

“Kill him,” Xu Ping snapped immediately. “Xu Lei, get away from him! This man killed you, did he not?”

I exhaled, already expecting that.

“It was because he trespassed into my forest,” I replied calmly. “But he is alive now, isn’t he?”

Without waiting for further argument, I turned and walked toward the jagged gash in the earth, the same one that had led me out of the cave days ago. The blue stones lining its edges glimmered faintly, like fragments of the sky embedded in the world below.

“There is something I need to show you,” I said, glancing back once before stepping forward.

Then I dropped.

The descent was swift, the wind rushing past me as gravity took hold. Mid-fall, I cast Thorn Whip, guiding the vines with precise phytokinesis to catch and slow my descent, lowering me gently onto the stone below.

I looked up toward the opening.

Voices echoed faintly from above.

“Hold your positions!” Xing Mei ordered. “No one else moves!”

Xu Ping’s voice followed, equally firm. “The same applies to you lot! Stone Spire disciples, stay where you are!”

A moment later, four figures leapt down from the gash.

Xu Ping. Xu Lei. Xing Mei. Kang Wen.

They landed with controlled precision, weapons still in hand, their gazes locked onto me with undisguised caution.

That was only natural.

“What is the meaning of this?” Xu Ping demanded, his spear angled slightly forward. “You will explain yourself.”

“It will be easier if I show you,” I replied.

I turned and began walking, leading them deeper into the cavern. The path soon narrowed into a confined tunnel, its walls uneven yet distinctly shaped by recent disturbance.

“This tunnel… it is relatively new,” Xu Ping muttered, his voice edged with suspicion.

I glanced back at him. “And how can you tell?”

His expression hardened, a trace of vitriol slipping through. “Because my sect has been exploring this cave system within this secret realm for a long time. Long before the Steel Sky Sect ever involved themselves.”

I could feel the tension between Xu Ping and Xing Mei sharpen with every step we took through the narrowing passage. It was no longer just caution directed at me; it was the weight of accumulated grievances pressing against fragile restraint.

Xing Mei was the first to snap.

“Let us not pretend innocence, Xu Ping,” she said coldly. “Who was it that initiated the invasion? Oh, right. The Stone Spire Sect.”

Xu Ping’s expression darkened immediately. “We would not have acted if your sect had not defamed us for a crime we did not commit.”

“Defamed?” Xing Mei scoffed. “Those were just words. I even attempted dialogue to clarify the matter. And what did you do in response?”

Xu Ping let out a harsh breath. “Words? Then what of the time that Sword Frenzy attacked our branch sects?”

Xing Mei laughed, though there was no humor in it. “Then shall we ignore how your precious son, Xu Lei, has been leading raids on our outposts?”

“You dare call me out for hypocrisy?” Xu Ping shot back. “When you have done the exact same?”

Their voices echoed against the stone, each accusation feeding the next.

As they argued, my thoughts drifted briefly to Xing Ning. To how he had ended up in the Serenity Lake Domain. The ambush, the chaos, the separation from his group. His stumbling path that led him to the Hidden Village of Leaf, and everything that followed after.

I said nothing of retrieving his corpse.

Not yet.

We reached a vast chamber soon after, and the argument faded into uneasy silence as the space opened before us. The walls were lined with ancient murals, their colors dim yet enduring. At the center of it all was the figure of a young man, his expression serene, almost detached from the world.

I stepped forward.

“That man,” I began, my voice steady, “is Lu Jing. An immortal from ancient times. The forefather of an organization known as the Dark Order.”

They said nothing, but I could feel their attention sharpen.

“The tragedies that have befallen your sects were not coincidental,” I continued. “They were orchestrated. The Dark Order has been moving behind the scenes, manipulating events to draw your attention away from this place.”

I gestured toward the mural.

“Sealed within this chamber, long ago, was a fragment of Lu Jing. This is his burial site. And in their attempt to resurrect him, the Dark Order devised a series of schemes from conflicts, provocations, and escalations. It was all to keep you occupied while they carried out their work.”

With a subtle motion, I guided the surrounding plant life. Vines crept along the ground, responding to my will as they unearthed what lay buried beneath the soil.

It was corpses… or what remained of them.

Broken bodies, stripped of life and purpose, their forms damaged beyond recognition. Bones jutted at unnatural angles, yet fragments of clothing still clung to them, enough to hint at their origins.

“These are the members of the Dark Order I recently slaughtered.”

I had not been gentle in destroying them. With a wave of my staff, the vines tightened and pulled the remains back into the earth, allowing nature to reclaim what was left.

Silence followed.

Then doubt.

“And why should we believe any of this?” asked Xing Mei.

Xu Ping’s grip on his spear tightened. “You expect us to trust the words of a stranger who infiltrated our ranks and speaks of ancient immortals as if they were common knowledge?”

“For the greater good,” I replied simply. “Because if you do not, more will die.”

I paused briefly before adding, “I failed to kill the resurrected Lu Jing.”

Tension thickened, heavier than before.

“Please,” Kang Wen stepped forward, his voice urgent. “Sect Leader, at least hear him out.”

Xu Lei followed, his tone equally firm. “There is no harm in listening. If there is even a chance this is true, we cannot ignore it.”

Xu Ping remained silent for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Xing Mei, on the other hand, looked less angry now and more conflicted.

“I would rather end this war,” Xu Ping said at last, his voice lower than before. “We have already suffered enough losses. Continuing this will only bleed us further.”

Xing Mei exhaled slowly, some of the tension leaving her shoulders. “I am… of the same mind.”

Their responses were not what I expected. No outrage. No burning desire for vengeance. It was utterly unexpected. They were leaders first, more than anything. Should I provoke them? Show them Xing Ning’s body? Maybe bring Zhao Yan here?

“When our sect lost the key to this secret realm, we were forced to consider drastic measures. Stealing the Steel Sky Sect’s key was one such option.” said Xu Ping as he glanced toward the tunnel we came from. “But now, with that breach, such actions are no longer necessary. We will endure our losses. And we will make peace.”

Xing Mei’s eyes widened.

“…We lost our key as well,” she admitted slowly. “And our first thought was the same. It’s to take yours.”

The realization settled between them like a weight.

Xu Ping’s gaze sharpened. “Who advised you?”

“An elder of my sect,” Xing Mei replied, her brows furrowing. “I had my suspicions. It felt as though something was pushing us, guiding events toward conflict. But I never imagined…” She trailed off, her expression darkening. “…that it came from within.”

Xu Ping let out a bitter breath. “The same applies to us. An elder suggested the course of action.”

The chamber fell into silence once more.

This time, however, it was not filled with hostility.

It was filled with understanding and the quiet, unsettling realization that the enemy they had been fighting might never have stood before them at all.

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