Page 73 of Immortal

His gaze held mine. “Does it look different from how it was afar?”

“Everything looks different when you take a closer look,” I said quietly.

Even now it didn’t seem real that I was standing in the shade of Kunlun. A towering mountain of bluish-purple stone rose from the jade-green grass. Snowy mist embraced the slopes, clouds enveloping the peak. The ground was carpeted with tiny flowers, the petals pointed at the tips like stars. Cypress trees lined a narrow pathway that wound up the mountain, then vanished from sight.

“My soldiers should be near.” I looked around, but there was no sign of them.

“They are further west,” he told me.

Suspicion stirred. “You knew where they were all this while,” I accused him. “Did you take this route to avoid them? Did you maintain this relentless pace so the guards from the palace couldn’t catch up?”

“Of course,” he replied unrepentantly. “My time alone with you is precious. And we are also in a hurry.”

I scowled but couldn’t fault the latter. “Where do we go from here?”

“First, to the gateway. The way to the Ancient Grandmaster’s place lies there too.”

“Who is he?” I asked.

“One of the oldest and wisest immortals. His place is well hidden, as the way there changes—few find it, unless he wishes them to. He can help us get word to Queen Caihong.”

“Perhaps he can help us against the Wuxin,” I said hopefully.

Zhangwei shook his head. “He doesn’t like to involve himself in such matters.”

“But this affects us all.”

“The Ancient Grandmaster has lived unscathed through countless wars; he will emerge untouched from this one. His greatest love and only care is the Tree of Everlasting Life.”

“A tree?” I repeated in disbelief.

“This tree existed long before the immortals. Some whispered that it was first spark of life, but who knows? Regardless, it possesses great power—not as a weapon but of protection.”

As we walked up the slope, Kunlun seemed a wilderness, shaded by unkempt stalks of bamboo, the pathway pitted and worn, wildflowers blooming in tangled profusion. Yet with each step, my spirits rose, the rich fragrance of flowers and herbs invigorating my senses, a rare tranquility filling me.

The rough stone beneath my feet morphed to amethyst, veined with iridescence. The bamboo grew more evenly, tall and straight, interspersed with clusters of peonies. Ahead, the trail forked, the wider path on one side broken in the distance, large cracks running through the stone—while the other led to a narrow opening in a stone wall. A strange energy thrummed from it, my chest pulsing with sudden awareness.

“This is where the gateway lies.” Zhangwei’s voice dropped in warning. “Be on your guard.”

I pointed to the other side. “Where does this lead?”

“Once, toward the skies,” he said solemnly. “But after the Wuxin descended to your world, the Celestial Emperor decreed this pathway too dangerous and it was destroyed. Now it leads nowhere. You could wander these mountains for eternity and never find your way out.”

I shuddered as Zhangwei and I turned onto the smaller path, slipping through the gap in the stone. It opened into a wide clearing, the soft ground blanketed by moss, glistening with dew. Pale birch trees rose like icicles, encircling a vast lake that stretched out beyond my sight. Tendrils of light curled from its crystalline waters to spear the sky, its surface crowded with lotuses in vivid hues. At the far side, a large pavilion rose from the waters—an unusual shape, like three round pavilions joined together, the interior concealed by panels of brocade that hung straight down. The gilded roof was crowned with a sculpture of a dragon facing a phoenix, a luminous orb trapped beneath both their claws. How could such a place exist here? Yet after seeing the wonders of the realm above, nothing seemed impossible with the might of the gods.

The warmth in my chest intensified, my scar throbbing now. “This lake doesn’t seem real . . . it doesn’t feel a part of my world.”

“Some believe this place was formed when a dragon and a phoenix fought over a pearl,” Zhangwei told me.

“A pearl seems a small prize.”

“Not when it possessed great magic,” he replied. “These powerful creatures fought ferociously to claim it, crashing into mountains, gouging chasms with their claws. Evenly matched, they battled until the heavens shuddered. In the tussle, the pearl was dropped, striking the ground to form this lake. Desolate at the loss of their treasure, the dragon and the phoenix chose to remain here. According to legend, their bones lie at the bottom of this lake, their blood fused with these waters.”

“Do legends exist in your realm?” I asked. “Or is this ‘history’?”

“Our stories are more truth than myth,” he acknowledged. “Dragons swim in our seas, phoenixes fly in our skies—yet they still strike awe into our hearts. It grieves me to imagine these majestic creatures losing their lives over such a thing, that the beauty here sprouted from strife. I would rather think of it as a legend.”

I fell silent, mulling over what he’d said, the feelings this place roused in me. “The pearl’s magic—was this how the Divine Pearl Lotus formed?”