Xiao Yifeng stared, his eyes wide with disbelief as the two jade pendants pulsed with an eerie, spectral blue light. A tempest of shock raged within him. It was too soon. According to historical records, the activation time hadn’t arrived, yet the keys were waking up.
"Xiao Feng, there’s a voice coming from inside the pendant. Listen." Su Miaoqing handed him one of the vibrating jades.
As soon as his fingers brushed the cool surface, a voice resonated directly within his mind—cold, mechanical, and ancient.
"The Reincarnation Immortal Abode is opening. Confirm entry. Aspirants, inject your Spiritual Qi."
It was undeniable. The Immortal Abode was opening its gates. Xiao Yifeng’s mind raced, analyzing the anomaly. Why now? Then, a realization struck him. The Abode likely operated on a strict fifty-year cycle. In his previous life, when he obtained the key, he must have just missed the window, forcing him to wait decades. He had mistaken the waiting period for the activation cycle.
"Xiao Feng, what do we do? Should we go? An Immortal Abode... it sounds thrilling!" Su Miaoqing’s eyes sparkled with eagerness, her body practically vibrating with excitement.
Xiao Yifeng looked at her, his expression guarded. Their journey thus far had been too smooth, instilling in her a false sense of security. She treated this like another treasure hunt, unaware that the Reincarnation Immortal Abode was a meat grinder compared to the minor realms they had looted previously.
He was torn. Given the Abode’s treacherous nature and their current cultivation, they were walking into a deathtrap. Logic dictated they retreat. But if they walked away now, the opportunity would vanish for another fifty years. The jade keys were single-use consumables; to waste them was a sin.
The pulsing light grew frantic, the mental summons turning into an urgent siren.
"Senior Sister, we can go," Xiao Yifeng said, his voice dropping an octave. He gripped her shoulders, his gaze locking onto hers with an intensity that froze her smile. "But this time, you must obey me without question. This place is not a playground. It is a slaughterhouse."
Su Miaoqing pouted, her cheeks puffing out. "Hmph! When have I not listened to you? People call me the Senior Sister, but I’ve been following your lead the whole way!"
"I promised your mother I would bring you back alive," Xiao Yifeng interrupted, his tone brooking no argument. "If you throw a tantrum or hesitate even for a breath, I would rather forfeit this chance right now."
Sensing the cold steel in his voice, Su Miaoqing’s playfulness vanished. She saw the gravity in his eyes—a look she rarely saw. She nodded solemnly. "Okay. I understand. I’ll listen to everything you say."
"Good." Xiao Yifeng’s expression softened slightly. "Inject your Qi."
They channeled their spiritual energy into the pendants. Instantly, the blue light intensified into blinding pillars that shot heavenward, piercing the atmosphere and churning the clouds above into a violent vortex.
The sky tore open.
A terrifying, ancient pressure descended from the swirling void. Slowly, a single Giant Eye materialized within the storm. It was indifferent, cosmic, and cold. Its gaze swept over them, scanning the jade pendants, then their bodies, verifying their right to enter.
Under that gaze, Su Miaoqing felt her knees buckle. She felt insignificant—a mere ant beneath the scrutiny of a god. The color drained from her face as the reality of Xiao Yifeng’s warning sank in. This was no ordinary treasure hunt.
The Giant Eye blinked once, satisfied, and faded back into the darkness.
Two beams of azure light descended, encasing them in a traction field. As their feet left the ground, Xiao Yifeng instinctively reached out and clamped his hand around Su Miaoqing’s delicate fingers.
She looked at him, startled. A flush rose to her neck, but she didn’t pull away. She saw his profile, rigid and focused on the abyss above, his jaw set in grim determination.
Hand in hand, they were swallowed by the vortex.
By the time their senses returned, the world had dissolved into silence.
They stood upon a floating rock, drifting in an infinite, pitch-black void. The darkness here was absolute, heavy and oppressive, broken only by the faint, ghostly luminescence of countless meteorites drifting like dust motes in a sunbeam. It was a stellar graveyard—empty, cold, and dead.
Their jade pendants flared again, projecting a beam of light that pointed toward the deeper darkness. The rock beneath their feet shuddered and began to drift, following the guidance of the light.
"What is this place?" Su Miaoqing whispered, her voice trembling in the suffocating silence. "Isn't this an Immortal Abode? Why is it... dead?"
Xiao Yifeng remained calm, his memories of his past life stabilizing his mind. He tested the air; the spiritual Qi was thin, the atmosphere identical to the records. So far, so good.
"Hahahaha! I, Wang Laoxie, have arrived! The Reincarnation Immortal Abode belongs to me!"
The silence was shattered by a booming, uncouth roar. A streak of light tore through the darkness nearby—a meteorite hurtling forward, carrying a figure wrapped in wild, chaotic Qi.
"Wang Laoxie? You dream too big. How could such a grand event proceed without me, Liu Yue the Tyrant Blade?"
Another streak of light cut across the void, passing uncomfortably close to Xiao Yifeng. Standing atop the second rock was a hulking figure with fiery red hair. A massive golden broadsword was strapped to his back, and a jagged scar bisected his face, giving him a menacing sneer.
Xiao Yifeng’s pupils constricted.
He didn't know Wang Laoxie, but the man’s aura was turbulent and dense—at least a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator. And not the trash-tier Ninth Grade Golden Core; this man had formed a Core of at least Third Grade.
But Liu Yue... Xiao Yifeng knew him. A disciple of the Heavenly Blade Sect. In the future, he would be known as the "One-Armed Blade," a cripple who still terrified the Jianghu. But here, in this time, his arms were intact, and his power was at its peak.
Trouble, Xiao Yifeng thought, his mind racing. Golden Core cultivation is graded one through nine, with one being supreme. These aren't paper tigers like the ones we killed in the Ten Thousand Buddha Kingdom. These are true elites.
"Xiao Feng..." Su Miaoqing gripped his arm, her voice tight with panic. "Are they here for the treasures too? Their auras... they’re terrifying."
"Senior Sister, the competition is far deadlier than I anticipated," Xiao Yifeng said, his voice low and urgent. "If we go in looking like stray cultivators, we’ll be crushed before we even see the first trial."
"What do we do? They’re Golden Core experts. We can’t fight them!"
"We don't fight. We bluff." Xiao Yifeng turned to her, his hands already moving to his belt. "Senior Sister, strip. Now."
"W-What?" Su Miaoqing’s eyes bugged out, her face turning the color of a ripe tomato. She hugged her chest defensively. "Here? Now? Have you gone mad?"
"We need to change into the formal robes of the Wentian Sect," Xiao Yifeng snapped, discarding his outer robe and reaching into his storage ring. He watched the floating rocks converging toward a distant gate. "We have to borrow the tiger's skin to scare the wolves. Hurry! We’ll talk while we change. If we arrive looking like nobodies, we’re dead!"
"But... right here in the open?" Su Miaoqing looked around the dark void, tears of embarrassment welling in her eyes.
"Nobody is looking! Just change!"