Blossoming Path

Chapter 195: Return to the Beginning

Darting between patrols was easy.

The Verdant Lotus disciples had been stationed throughout the village, but they weren’t difficult to spot. Their lanterns cut clean paths through the darkness, swaying gently as they moved through their routes. I had already worked out the timing. It was simple enough. Injured and still recovering, their steps were slower, their rotations less disciplined than usual.

That was precisely why I didn’t ask any of them to come with me.

I couldn’t.

They had fought for my village, endured grievous wounds, and still pushed themselves to patrol, to protect what they could. I had no right to drag them into another reckless endeavor to complete a personal quest.

That’s why this would be a solo journey.

I double-checked my satchel, adjusting the straps across my shoulders. I did a mental count of what I had in my storage ring. I had prepared a myriad of elixirs, carefully selected for what lay ahead; ones to restore stamina, to counteract poisons, to restore my qi. But among them, tucked carefully into a reinforced container, was something more volatile.

The Bloodsoul Bloom essence.

I wasn’t stupid enough to drink it, but if something in that forest needed another taste of an explosion, I’d be more than willing to oblige.

And immediately stopped.

Two unwavering presences stood like immovable sentries.

I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t have time for this.”

Tianyi and Windy did not move.

Windy curled slightly, flicking his tongue. Tianyi, arms crossed, stared me down. They both blocked the path to the door.

“You’re not going alone,” she said simply.

“Yes, I am.”

“No, you aren’t.”

We locked gazes, neither of us willing to back down.

“I’m serious,” I said, tightening the strap of my satchel. “It’s too dangerous. I don’t know what I’m going to find out there, and I can’t—”

“Then all the more reason to go with you,” Tianyi interrupted. “If it’s dangerous, you’ll need us.”

I sighed. “I can’t let you go.”

Windy flicked his tail, slithering forward and tilting his head. Although I couldn't understand what he was saying, the intent was clear.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Guys, please. I need you to stay behind. If something happens here while I’m gone—”

“I’ll tell the disciples.”

I froze.

Tianyi’s wings fluttered slightly, her tone light, almost casual. “If you don’t let us go, I’ll go up and tell them exactly what you’re doing. Then you’ll have an entire squad following you into the forest.”

I gaped at her.

She blinked innocently.

…They had become very cunning.

Windy, not missing a beat, coiled around my wrist, securing his victory.

I exhaled sharply, rubbing my temples. “You two are insufferable.”

Tianyi smiled. “I learned from the best.”

I shot her a look, but in the end, I sighed, conceding.

I wouldn’t admit it outright, but I felt relief.

Deep down, the idea of going back into the forest alone, where we had fought and nearly died against the envoy, terrified me. The cold, the trees, the silence that had nearly swallowed me whole…

I wasn’t sure if I was ready.

But with them by my side, that fear lessened.

“Fine,” I muttered. “But you follow my lead.”

Tianyi and Windy exchanged a look, satisfied.

With that settled, I turned my attention back to the village. The night was deep, the cold biting against my skin. But the brief switch in patrols gave us just enough time. A few hours before morning practice. That was all I needed.

It was now or never.

The forest loomed ahead, the trees stretching into the darkness. I pushed forward, weaving through the undergrowth with measured steps, Tianyi gliding silently beside me, Windy coiled around her shoulder.

The yellow, glowing orbs marking my quest were unnecessary. I knew the way.

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The path was etched into my mind. Not by the system, not by glowing markers, but by memory.

Windy seemed to have questions about where we were going. But from my peripheral, I could see Tianyi having a mental conversation with him. I didn't know how much she knew. But she was there for the ancient ruins, and the subsequent triggering of the Heavenly Interface. It didn't matter.

If they were tagging along, I'd explain it to them once we got there. Once I understood exactly what the Interface is trying to tell me.

Almost a year ago, I had walked this path for the first time. A naive boy, chasing a butterfly, thinking I’d make a fortune by catching and selling her.

Tianyi had led me deeper into the forest than I had ever dared go.

And now, I was returning.

But it wasn’t the same forest.

And I wasn’t the same boy.

I moved swiftly, covering several li in silence. The air was cold, but I barely felt it, my focus honed entirely on the path ahead. The trees blurred past, the terrain shifting beneath my feet as the land dipped slightly—

And then I saw it.

The waterfall.

Frozen solid.

A sheer wall of ice, cascading mid-motion, suspended in time. The pool beneath it was buried under frost, the surface unbroken.

I came to a slow stop, exhaling through my nose.

The last time I had come here, I had failed to enter, nearly breaking my skull trying to poke my head through the waterfall and encountering nothing but stone. But now, standing before it once more, I understood one thing clearly.

The Interface hadn't summoned me here for no reason.

How do I open it again?

The first time, it had simply… let me through.

I furrowed my brows, lifting a hand, palm facing upward, then pressed it gently against the frozen wall. The ice was solid beneath my touch, cold seeping into my skin.

A quiet glow emanated from my fingers as heat surged outward. My hands trailed a large circle as the ice cracked, melted, and the water evaporated into steam, carving an entrance just large enough for me to pass through.

Behind it—

Nothing.

A solid wall of stone.

I hesitated, then slowly reached out.

Half-expecting solid rock. Half-expecting nothing.

My fingers passed through.

A ripple, like the surface of a still lake disturbed by a single drop.

I inhaled, steadying my breath.

Then stepped forward, Tianyi and Windy flanking me.

And with that, I entered.

Quest: Return to Origin has been completed.

The moment I stepped inside, I was struck by how untouched it was.

It was exactly as I had left it.

Dust hung thick in the air, disturbed only by our entrance. The walls were the same aged stone, the silence oppressive, the faint scent of damp earth lingering like a whisper of time long since passed. My footsteps echoed lightly as I moved forward, eyes tracing over the symbols carved into the walls, the same ones I had seen before but dismissed too quickly.

I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

Tianyi and Windy moved ahead, curiosity driving them forward.

I followed, stepping closer.

The carvings were old, almost too worn to be legible. Age had left them coated in dust, their edges softened by time. I ran my fingers over one, feeling the uneven grooves, the way the stone had chipped and fractured.

I knelt, brushing off the thick layer of dust before blowing against the surface. A plume of fine particles scattered into the air, revealing the etchings beneath.

Even with the symbols now exposed, parts of them remained unreadable. Sections cracked, missing entirely, or eroded beyond recognition. But as my gaze lingered, I felt something pressing against my thoughts.

Intent.

The words seeped into my mind, not as sound, but as clarity, an understanding that came from somewhere deeper than language.

"We did not understand what we had found at first. It was not from our world. It was something greater, older, and powerful beyond reckoning. A fragment of a cosmic script, descending from the Upper Realm."

A cosmic script? The Upper Realm? My mind spun with possibilities. What did they mean by not from our world? Did they mean an artifact? A technique? A piece of divine knowledge?

Or… was it the Interface itself?

I exhaled, steadying my thoughts. It made sense. If the Interface was something that transcended mortal understanding, then it had to come from above. But from where? And from whom?

I moved further along the wall, eyes scanning for more. The next section was too damaged to read, the carvings so worn they might as well have been mere scratches in the stone. Frustrated, I kept going.

The next passage was clearer.

"The world was fractured. Knowledge lost. Each era clawing at the scraps of the last. We could not let this continue. If the path to ascension was meant to be walked, it had to be walked together."

I swallowed, the weight of the words settling in. They weren’t just recording history. They were justifying something.

"So we took the fragment and created a system. Not for one sect, not for one kingdom, but for the world itself. A beacon to illuminate the path, to preserve wisdom, to refine and improve endlessly. To ensure nothing was lost. To bring the world closer to the heavens. And it was beautiful."

My breath caught in my throat.

This… this was the origin of the Interface.

A creation.

Not by a single person, but by a group.

A system meant not for the privileged few, not for those hoarding knowledge behind sect walls, but for everyone. A means to preserve, refine, and perfect understanding so that no generation would be left grasping in the dark.

I pressed a hand against the wall, as if feeling the pride of those who had carved these words.

This wasn’t just divine intervention. It was human ingenuity. Or… perhaps something in between.

Tianyi had moved ahead, but I barely registered it. My mind raced through the implications. Had they succeeded? Was the Interface the system they had made? If so, what had gone wrong? Why did it only resurface now?

The deeper we went, the more the walls fractured.

The symbols became harder to read.

I stopped in front of another passage, my pulse quickening as I made out the next set of words.

"But we were fools. We thought we had found a gift. We thought we had ensured prosperity. The _______ would not accept it."

The missing word. The carved-out space where something—someone—had been deliberately erased.

Who had refused it? Who had seen this grand vision, this attempt to unify knowledge, and rejected it?

I ran my fingers over the gouged-out section, feeling the jagged edges where the stone had been forcefully marred. Someone had not just removed this word. They had erased it. Scrubbed it from history with such force that even the intent pressing into my mind was fragmented, incomplete.

I exhaled sharply, forcing myself to move on.

The next passage made my breath hitch.

"It held similarities to another… an ancient evil, a name spoken only in hushed tones. Almost a millennium ago, it nearly devoured the world. We had seen records, stories of those who fought against it. A being that thrived on submission, on forced growth through pain and sacrifice."

"And then we realized—the script, the source of our Interface… it was not the first time it had descended from the Upper Realm. It was not the first time it had been shaped into something greater."

"The Heavenly Demon—"

The words stopped.

Not because the text ended.

Because something had stopped the writer.

The wall was slashed, the etchings violently defaced, as though someone had carved over it in desperation. I ran my hand over the grooves, feeling the wild, uneven strokes. The intent lingering behind them was urgent, alarmed—and something else.

It took me a moment to place the feeling.

Shock.

And beneath that, a deeper, more painful emotion.

Grief.

I took a slow, shuddering breath, stepping back. The Heavenly Demon. The name alone sent an uneasy ripple through me.

Whispered from the lips of the converts, chanted in their endless fevered prayers.

This was no coincidence.

I swallowed, my throat dry. What exactly had these people discovered? And what had they unleashed?

I turned my head, realizing I had reached the end of the cavern. The tunnel narrowed into the final chamber—the same place where I had first awakened the Interface.

The stone tablet awaited.

Tianyi and Windy were already there.

Tianyi stood still, her gaze fixed on the ancient slab, her wings twitching ever so slightly. Windy coiled beside her, staring as well, his tongue flicking as though tasting something on the air.

I approached cautiously. “Tianyi?”

She didn’t look at me right away. When she finally did, her eyes glowed faintly in the dim light. “I can’t read it.”

I blinked. “Then… what is it?”

Her wings flexed slightly before she shook her head. “I don’t know. But when I look at it… I feel sad.”

Sad?

I frowned, stepping closer.

At first, the tablet appeared the same as before—massive, worn from time, yet unbroken. But as I approached, the words carved into its surface resonated.

And I could see them.

They were clearer than the fragmented writings on the walls. The intent behind them was strong, as if whoever had written them had poured the last of their strength into ensuring they remained.

"If you are reading this, then we are no longer here."

My fingers curled into a fist.

"They came too soon. We did not have time to understand. To prepare. It was just as we made our discovery, the world had only begun to embrace the Interface when the darkness returned. We had thought ourselves safe. We had thought we had ensured progress. But history repeats itself, and we were blind."

"Do not forget why the Interface was created. Do not let them twist it. Do not let them turn it into a tool of subjugation. We built this to raise the world, not to shackle it."

"Remember us."

The last line was written differently.

The grooves were deeper. The strokes were rougher, uneven, desperate.

As though the writer was running out of time.

"Don’t let them win."

The words punched through me like a strike to the gut.

This was the work of someone who had dedicated their life to the Interface. Someone who had believed in its purpose, in its ability to uplift, to preserve.

Someone who had watched everything they worked for fall apart.

And in their final moments, all they cared about was its preservation. Perhaps that's why the quest hadn't given me a reward. Every other quest had a clear objective with a material benefit. Refining a technique, completing an alchemical breakthrough, or testing my limits. This one was different. The Interface sent me here not to reward me, but to show something. Something that couldn’t be measured in stats or abilities.

And that truth alone was the reward.

A lump formed in my throat.

Tianyi and Windy watched me carefully. Neither spoke. Neither needed to. But the curiosity was there. A desire to know what made me react like this.

I turned to them, inhaling deeply, steadying myself.

“…I’ll explain everything,” I said.

And with that, I ended the chapter of silence.

And began a story that should never have been forgotten.