Tao landed hard, rolling to absorb the impact, his body screaming in protest from exhaustion. Jian wasn’t as graceful, his boots digging into the soft earth as he nearly collapsed to his knees. The world around them was still, unnaturally so, in stark contrast to the chaos they had just escaped. For several long moments, neither of them spoke, both gasping for breath, their minds struggling to process what had just happened.

  Jian ran a trembling hand through his sweat-matted hair. "What was that?"

  Tao let out a slow breath, his pulse still pounding. "Whoever they are, it looks like they were trying to get in here."

  Jian scoffed, shaking his head. "I’ve never seen anything like that. Those cultivators… that Guardian… we were like ants caught between titans. If we had hesitated even a second longer…"

  "We wouldn’t be having this conversation," Tao finished grimly. He clenched his fists, feeling the lingering tension in his limbs. "I thought the beasts would be enough to shift the battle, but even with them attacking, those ashen robed cultivators barely faltered."

  Jian exhaled sharply. "And that formation breaking… the way everything collapsed at once. It was like a dam bursting. Do you think they meant for that to happen?"

  Tao hesitated, keeping his face neutral. "Maybe. Or maybe they lost control of the formation. Either way, we were lucky to escape."

  Jian nodded but still seemed troubled. "I don’t like it. We got out, but it felt like the real danger was only beginning."

  Silence stretched between them before Jian suddenly tensed. "The lotus. Do you still have it?"

  Tao reached into his robes, pulling out the Obsidian Cloud Lotus. The dark petals shimmered faintly in the light, absorbing the soft glow of the realm around them. Its power remained steady. It hadn’t changed since they had taken it, yet it felt different in their hands, heavier, more significant.

  Jian carefully examined it. "It’s definitely stronger than Profound Grade… but I’ve never seen a Heaven Grade plant before. I don’t even know what it would look like."

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Tao nodded. "Neither do I. But if this isn’t one, then what else could it be?"

  Jian ran a hand over his face. "We’ve got something priceless in our hands, then. If we weren’t targets before, we are now."

  Tao sighed, tucking the lotus safely back into his robes. "Let’s recover first before we think about what comes next."

  As the tension eased, they finally took in their surroundings.

  They stood in a sealed valley, encased by sheer cliffs that reached high into the sapphire sky, their surfaces covered in moss and streaks of silver veined stone. Unlike the dense wilderness they had just left, this land was open, stretching out before them in rolling fields of emerald green grass that shimmered faintly under the strange light above. The sky itself was unlike anything in the outside world, deep, endless blue streaked with soft golden clouds, casting a warm, diffused glow over the landscape.

  A crystalline river wove through the valley, its waters glowing with pure spirit energy, feeding into terraced fields carved into the hillside. These terraces, though partially overgrown, still bore the unmistakable signs of careful cultivation: structured rows, faint traces of spiritual formations flickering along the edges.

  Jian turned in slow wonder. "This place…"

  Tao took a steadying breath. "It was a cultivation ground."

  A forgotten one, but a cultivation ground nonetheless.

  The valley, once shaped by human hands, had been left untended. Some of the terraces were completely overrun, the carefully arranged pathways now buried under creeping vines and wild vegetation. Others remained untouched, protected by weakly flickering defensive formations that still struggled to fulfil their purpose.

  In the distance, a tall pavilion stood at the valley’s heart. The structure had once been impressive, but time had worn its edges. Despite this, a faint spiritual resonance still pulsed within its walls. Surrounding it were clusters of spirit plants, some still thriving and giving off an intense Qi signature despite years, maybe centuries, of neglect.

  Jian’s gaze drifted toward one of the terraces where something still glowed faintly behind a flickering formation. "Some of the defences still hold. Whatever is behind them… hasn’t been disturbed."

  Tao exhaled slowly. "Then it’s worth investigating."

  Jian nodded. "Let’s recover our strength first. Then we see what secrets this place holds."

  Tao glanced back toward the portal nervously. "I don’t think we have much time before those robed figures start making their way in."

  Jian tensed. "Right… We also need to find another way to escape. I don’t think we can go back the way we came."

  They had no idea where they were, nor what they had stumbled upon. But one thing was clear: this valley still held treasures waiting to be uncovered.