Xiao Heng rubbed his eyes, peering blearily at his surroundings.
The eerie aura emanating from all directions made him instinctively uncomfortable.
In the distance, five strikingly peculiar white pillars stood, their tilted figures piercing into the sky.
Xiao Heng looked down at his feet. The ground beneath him was made of the same white material.
Where am I...?
Xiao Heng felt confused.
He was supposed to be on some uninhabited island, wasn’t he?
Could this be a dream?
Xiao Heng pinched himself hard.
“Ouch!”
The sharp pain jolted him awake instantly.
This isn't a dream?
Fear immediately gripped Xiao Heng.
Shivering, he scanned his surroundings.
In the distance lay an endless dark void, permeated with an ancient, weathered aura.
The ground beneath his feet and the five white pillars in the distance were both part of a single entity that floated in this space.
Xiao Heng suddenly felt this place looked familiar, as if he'd seen it somewhere before.
After staring intently for a while, an image flashed through his mind. The more he examined the details, the more similar it appeared.
Shocked, Xiao Heng stumbled backward and fell to the ground, trembling uncontrollably.
Is this... that skeletal hand?
Such a bizarre scenario defied everything Xiao Heng knew and understood. Fear instantly seized his heart, and he instinctively curled up on the ground, hugging himself tightly, like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.
But just as a newborn calf was unafraid of tigers, when nothing happened for a long time, his fear gradually gave way to curiosity.
He climbed to his feet and began cautiously exploring the area.
The palm where he was currently standing was relatively spacious, so he didn't need to worry about accidentally falling into the endless void.
The place was filled with broken walls and debris, as if an extremely fierce battle had once raged here, destroying all structures.
As he picked his way through the ruins, something soon caught Xiao Heng's attention: a broken longsword embedded in the ground, its blade covered in dark red bloodstains.
When Xiao Heng approached, he discovered the longsword had pierced completely through a skull, pinning it to the ground.
This place must have existed for who knows how long. For this sword to remain so well-preserved without much damage... it must be an incredible treasure, right?
With this thought in mind, Xiao Heng slowly stepped forward. Gripping the sword with both hands, he gave a mighty pull.
The sword came free from the ground.
However, before the delighted Xiao Heng could examine his newly acquired treasure, the ground beneath him suddenly began shaking violently.
"Treacherous Myriad Immortals Alliance!" The skull that had been impaled by the sword let out a furious roar and shot up into the air.
Xiao Heng was so terrified by this spectacle that he fell backward again. The longsword in his hands clattered to the ground.
The noise seemed to attract the skull's attention. A beam of dark light shot from its hollow eye sockets, striking the sword.
Boom!
The longsword disintegrated into dust amid the explosion.
Xiao Heng had instinctively leaped aside the moment the light appeared, avoiding the blast. But he still broke out in a cold sweat.
"Spare me, senior! Spare me!" Xiao Heng immediately knelt and kowtowed. While shouting, he kept his eyes fixed on the skull, ready to flee at the first sign of trouble.
His pleas appeared to work.
The skull's voice grew somewhat puzzled: "Eh? Not the Myriad Immortals Alliance? Where did this little kid come from?"
The skull then flew high into the air, making a circle as it scanned its surroundings.
Only after a long while did it return to its original spot, lamenting with a sense of loss, "So it's been this long..."
Seeing that the skull seemed to harbor no hostility, Xiao Heng breathed a sigh of relief.
He tentatively asked, "Senior, where are we? Can you send me back?"
The skull sneered, "You are truly strange, little one. Since you were able to come here, how could you not know where this is? And you dare ask me?"
Xiao Heng felt somewhat wronged. "Senior, I'm not lying. I truly don't know where this is!"
"Hmph!"
The skull, full of disbelief, swiftly flew closer, circling him repeatedly. It scrutinized him carefully through its pitch-black eye sockets.
"Eh? There are no traces of a ritual? How did you get in?" After a long while, as if having discovered something, the skull exclaimed in shock and suspicion.
"Ah?" Xiao Heng was baffled by the question.
But he quickly caught on: "The skeletal hand! I have a skeletal hand that looks exactly like this place!"
"Senior, we are inside that skeletal hand, aren’t we?"
"Skeletal hand?" The skull appeared to understand. "So that's how it is."
"Kid, you're not from the Xuanhuang World, are you?" the skull asked.
"Xuanhuang World? What's that?" Xiao Heng looked confused.
"Heh, it's what is commonly called the cultivation world. Kid, in the world you come from, are there legends of cultivators?"
Xiao Heng’s expression turned peculiar. After thinking for a moment, he decided to be honest: "To be frank with you, Senior, I come from the Great Li Dynasty. But not long ago, a few people from my hometown and I were brought to the cultivation world by a senior cultivator."
"What?" The skull seemed shocked and urgently asked, "Your true body is currently in the cultivation world? Are there any cultivators from the Myriad Immortals Alliance around you?"
Xiao Heng shook his head: "The cultivator who took us away from Great Li seemed to have encountered a cultivator from the Myriad Immortals Alliance. They accused him of some crime of 'Treason Against the World', and then the two sides fought. We took the chance to escape to a deserted island.
"Although that senior cultivator later found us, he has unfortunately died."
“Hmph. The Myriad Immortals Alliance really is rotten to the core. All he did was help mortals return to the cultivation world, yet they branded it Treason Against the World. If they want someone condemned, they’ll always find a reason.” The skull spoke with extreme anger and disdain.
"Little one, you must remember: Never let any cultivator from the Myriad Immortals Alliance discover that jade-white skeletal hand on you. Otherwise, your life will be in grave danger!" The skull warned him sternly.
"How could that be?" Xiao Heng’s eyes widened in shock.
"This involves the grudge between a great existence and the Myriad Immortals Alliance," the skull sighed, then began to recount a story from the past to Xiao Heng:
A long, long time ago, a True Immortal descended to the Xuanhuang World.
He was compassionate, benevolent, and cared deeply for all living beings.
Knowing the hardships and suffering of cultivation, he tirelessly expounded the principles of cultivation to all the cultivators in the world.
Many cultivators benefited from his grace, and their strength advanced by leaps and bounds.
The cultivation world thus entered an era of unprecedented prosperity.
However, when the True Immortal’s time in the lower world reached its end, and he prepared to return to the immortal realm, he was ambushed by a group of cultivators.
These individuals possessed profound cultivation levels and seemed fearless of death. They shattered the very passage connecting the immortal realm and the Xuanhuang World, leaving the True Immortal with no escape.
Under their relentless assaults, the True Immortal's injuries grew increasingly severe.
In the end, he fell, perishing within the Xuanhuang World.
Though the True Immortal died, his will did not fade.
Before his demise, he cast one final gaze upon the Xuanhuang World.
He imprinted every sight and object within the world into his memory. His will lingered, unchanging for millennia, and through a long process of transformation, it eventually formed a vast realm of consciousness: the Fallen Immortal Realm.
And those cultivators who ambushed the True Immortal that day were the original Myriad Immortals Alliance.
The sheer volume of information in this story took Xiao Heng a long time to fully process.
"Senior, why did the Myriad Immortals Alliance attack the True Immortal?" Xiao Heng asked.
"Why? For the sake of profit, of course! The True Immortal descended from the higher realm, carrying with him countless immortal techniques and artifacts. Obtaining even one of them would mean making a tremendous fortune.
"Take, for instance, the very foundation of the current Myriad Immortals Alliance, the Tianxuan Mirror—it was one of the artifacts the True Immortal carried with him, with boundless miraculous uses."
The skull's tone was filled with resentment toward the Myriad Immortals Alliance as it explained.
It then began to describe the wondrous aspects of the Tianxuan Mirror to Xiao Heng.
Xiao Heng, who had never encountered such a treasure before, listened with wide, gleaming eyes.
He couldn't help but exclaim indignantly, "The Myriad Immortals Alliance is truly despicable!"
After a moment, Xiao Heng asked another question, "How about you, Senior? Who are you? How did you end up in this state?"
The skull fell silent for a long time, as if lost in memories.
Finally, it spoke slowly, "Not all cultivators were as deranged as the Myriad Immortals Alliance back then.
"There were many, many cultivators who, having received the True Immortal's grace, felt immense gratitude and reverence toward him.
"When they heard the news of the True Immortal getting ambushed by the Myriad Immortals Alliance, they were heartbroken and swore to avenge him.
"They voluntarily formed the Immortal Avengers, an organization to oppose the Myriad Immortals Alliance.
"Unfortunately, the Myriad Immortals Alliance was too powerful, far more so than the Immortal Avengers.
"After millennia of being hunted and eradicated, the number of Immortal Avengers dwindled. Now, only I remain, barely clinging to life in this world.”
The skull's words carried an endless, tragic weight.
Xiao Heng, with his strong sense of justice, was deeply moved, his eyes reddening.
"Senior..." He wanted to offer some words of comfort, but the skull interrupted him.
"Haha, this old man doesn't need the pity of a young whelp like you!
"Before, I was reduced to nothing more than my consciousness, barely surviving in the crevices of this Fallen Immortal Realm, with no successor to carry on the Immortal Avengers’ legacy.
"But it seems the heavens have not abandoned the Immortal Avengers, delivering you right to me!" A faint, ghostly light shot from the skull's eye sockets, enveloping Xiao Heng.
"You, boy, are a once-in-a-millennium cultivation prodigy. With you joining our Immortal Avengers and taking up the banner to fight the Myriad Immortals Alliance, there’s nothing better I can ask for!"
As he spoke, Xiao Heng felt a storage ring appear on his finger. Simultaneously, a flood of information instantly filled his mind.
Most of it consisted of essential knowledge required for cultivation, and it even included a technique called the Sea-Calming Sword Art.
The skull withdrew the ghostly light and spoke slowly, "I have imparted all the fundamental knowledge needed for your early cultivation years. It will be sufficient for you to reach the Golden Core realm safely."
"However, remember this—you must conceal yourself carefully. Do not reveal your presence. That Eternal Heavenly Venerable of the Myriad Immortals Alliance possesses unfathomable power. After thousands of years, his strength likely rivals that of the True Immortal from ancient times."
Xiao Heng's expression turned grave. Then, somewhat awkwardly, he asked, "Senior, I'm still so young, and all by myself. Asking me to oppose the Myriad Immortals Alliance... isn't that somewhat..."
"Are you foolish?" the skull snapped. "You can recruit others! If you encounter companions with promising talent, bring them into the Immortal Avengers. After thousands of years of silence, our order desperately needs new blood.
"But you must ensure they're trustworthy. We cannot allow spies from the Myriad Immortals Alliance to infiltrate our ranks."
Xiao Heng's face brightened with hope. "That's wonderful!"
The skull continued, its voice growing weaker, "Transmitting the technique to you has drained my energy. I will soon fall asleep.
"For the foreseeable future, the affairs of Immortal Avengers rest in your hands.
"When new members join, bring them to the middle finger bone. The altar there is an esoteric treasure of our order. By praying to it, one may obtain techniques and artifacts.
"However, the altar possesses sentience and will only respond to reasonable requests. You'll understand the specifics once you use it.”
The skull's voice faded steadily, yet it continued listing instructions.
"Senior, how long will you sleep for?" Xiao Heng asked with concern.
"Heh, that's uncertain. I am already dead, sustained only by a fragment of lingering will.
"I might awaken in a year or two, or perhaps... never again.
"But if you still remember this old skull when you gain power, you can help me by collecting the Foundation Establishment Curios that manifest when cultivators die. These objects have lost their status as Curios of heaven and earth and are useless to others, yet they can aid my recovery."
Xiao Heng nodded repeatedly, committing every word to memory.
"One more thing. If you sense my presence vanish completely, it means this place has likely been discovered. Destroy the skeletal hand immediately and never return here," the skull instructed.
"Alright, that is all." With that, the skull seemed to have reached its limit, unable to remain conscious any longer.
"Senior!" Just before the skull fell completely silent, Xiao Heng hesitated briefly, then voiced the question burning in his heart.
"You never told me your name."
"...You are not yet worthy of knowing my name. When you truly shoulder the burden of the Immortal Avengers, you will learn it naturally."
With these final words, the skull turned illusory and vanished into the darkness.
"Senior? Senior?" Xiao Heng called out several times, but no answer came.
He sighed regretfully, gazing at the empty space around him. From his storage ring, he retrieved a silver necklace.
Following the method the senior had taught him, he focused his mind.
The silver necklace glowed with soft light, then darkness swallowed Xiao Heng's vision.
Moments later, he found himself back inside the flying boat on the deserted island.
Seeing that his companions still slept soundly around him, the previous events felt like nothing more than a dream. Yet the new ring in his hand and the necklace hanging against his chest reminded Xiao Heng that this was no dream. The young boy now bore burdens no child should ever have to carry.
Mentally and physically exhausted, he soon fell into a deep slumber.
Early the next morning, he woke before anyone else.
Making his way alone to the seaside, he recalled the technique that Senior Skull had taught him.
Closing his eyes, he began sensing the surrounding spiritual qi, quietly commencing cultivation.
Several hours later, Ye Feipeng, who had been searching for the missing Xiao Heng, detected the spiritual qi fluctuations near the shore and approached.
At first, Ye Feipeng noticed nothing unusual about the meditating Xiao Heng. But as he drew closer, Xiao Heng's eyes snapped open.
A pale blue, semi-formed water sword materialized abruptly, positioning itself defensively before Xiao Heng with its tip aimed directly at Ye Feipeng, poised to unleash a lethal strike.
Ye Feipeng staggered backward as if he'd seen a ghost, collapsing to the ground.
Trembling, he pointed a shaking finger at Xiao Heng, unable to form words for a long moment.