The doorway did not change.
It remained open, dark beyond the threshold, neither welcoming nor forbidding. No pressure emanated from within, no spiritual force spilling outward. And yet, the absence of sensation itself felt deliberate.
The Sect Master inhaled slowly.
He had walked into battlefields where the air screamed with killing intent. He had faced beasts whose presence alone crushed the weak.
This was different.
This place did not challenge him.
It waited.
He stepped forward.
The Vice Sect Master followed without hesitation.
Crossing the threshold felt… ordinary.
No spatial distortion. No dizziness. No tearing of consciousness.
Only a soft shift, like stepping from wind into shelter.
The interior of the hall was simple.
Stone pillars rose to a ceiling that seemed higher than it should have been, though the proportions never felt exaggerated. Light entered without a visible source, diffused evenly, leaving no harsh shadows.
At the center of the hall stood a low platform.
And upon it—
A man sat.
He was young.
That was unavoidable.
Not in bearing, not in presence—but in appearance. His face was calm, features unmarked by time. His posture was relaxed, neither formal nor careless.
His robes were pale, faintly textured like layered cloud, resting naturally against his form. They did not proclaim rank, yet they belonged here so completely that imagining him elsewhere felt wrong.
The Sect Master's thoughts stalled.
Not in fear.
In dissonance.
This… was the Lord of the Immortal Realm?
No.
The thought corrected itself without reason.
This was simply the one who sat here.
The Vice Sect Master felt his cultivation stir—then settle, as though reminded of its place.
Neither man knelt.
They did not need to.
They stood several paces away, waiting.
The man looked at them.
His gaze was steady, clear, unburdened by curiosity or judgment.
"You have come," he said.
The words carried no weight beyond acknowledgment.
"Yes," the Sect Master replied, bowing deeply. This time, his body did not force the motion. "We are caretakers of the fragment that touched your realm."
Lin Yuan inclined his head slightly.
"I know."
Silence followed.
Not because conversation had ended—but because it had not yet begun.
"You fear decline," Lin Yuan said.
The Vice Sect Master's fingers tightened within his sleeves.
"Yes," he answered honestly. "Our spiritual energy weakens. Our elders stagnate. Our disciples struggle to take even their first steps."
Lin Yuan listened.
He did not interrupt.
He did not reassure.
"You saw the path," Lin Yuan said. "You felt this place."
The Sect Master nodded. "This realm is… complete."
Lin Yuan's gaze drifted briefly toward the open doors behind them, toward the courtyard, toward the mountain and the clouds beyond.
"It is resting," he corrected.
The distinction lingered.
After a moment, the Sect Master spoke carefully.
"We do not know why our world declines," he said. "Nor whether this portal is salvation or calamity."
Lin Yuan looked back at him.
"Then do not decide yet," he said.
The Vice Sect Master was startled. "We… may leave?"
"Yes."
The word came without hesitation.
"This invitation does not bind you," Lin Yuan continued. "Return. Discuss. Observe."
He paused.
"When you are ready," he added, "the path will remain."
The Sect Master felt something loosen in his chest.
No contract.
No oath.
No command.
Only choice.
"We are not the only sect," the Vice Sect Master said cautiously. "Others will notice."
Lin Yuan's expression did not change.
"They will," he agreed.
The Sect Master hesitated, then asked the question he had not dared to voice before.
"May we speak of you?"
Lin Yuan regarded him for a long breath.
"You may speak of what you experienced," he said.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
Qingshi stepped forward silently.
"The exit is prepared," the attendant said.
The Sect Master bowed once more, deeper than before.
When they turned and walked away, neither man looked back.
They did not need to.
When they returned to their fragment, the sky had not changed.
The portal still hung above the world.
Quiet.
Waiting.
And for the first time in generations, the Sect Master understood something with unsettling clarity:
Their world had not been abandoned.
It had simply reached the edge of something far larger.
End of Chapter 16