Cultivating Immortality, Starting from Childhood Sweethearts

Samadhi Cave lay beneath Huorong Mountain.

Many cultivators had originally set their sights on Blood Bodhi Mountain, hoping to seize a Blood Bodhi fruit.

But the fruits had already been taken. Now, Blood Bodhi Mountain was nothing more than a barren wasteland, stripped of anything valuable. There was no reason to go there anymore.

Within the Rootless Secret Realm, only a handful of places held top-tier treasures, and Samadhi Cave was one of them.

More and more cultivators began arriving at Samadhi Cave.

Fortunately, the cave was vast, like an intricate underground tunnel system. It stretched deep and twisted in all directions, large enough to accommodate thousands of cultivators.

But inside Samadhi Cave, the real danger wasn’t the environment—it was the cultivators themselves.

One could never know when they might walk into an ambush, meeting an untimely death.

Many believed that, yes, the Rootless Secret Realm contained treasures. But weren’t the treasures carried by other cultivators just as valuable?

Sometimes, looting was simply more efficient.

And in a place like Samadhi Cave, where the lighting was dim, the walls surrounded you on all sides, and ambushing someone was ridiculously easy—there was hardly anywhere to run.

That was why, in every past opening of the Rootless Secret Realm, Samadhi Cave had always been a haven for outlaws.

But this time was different.

This time, everyone in Samadhi Cave was eerily quiet. Not a single person had the mind to ambush another.

As they walked through the cave, their foreheads were slick with sweat, their steps cautious. Eyes darted nervously, scanning their surroundings. Beads of sweat kept forming, as if they were on high alert for something unseen.

“Senior Brother, how are we supposed to get out of here…?”

A young girl named Hu Sheng clung tightly to her senior brother’s arm. Her once rosy lips had turned pale.

They came from a Nascent Soul-level sect and had been granted two slots to enter the Rootless Secret Realm, hoping to seek out fortuitous encounters.

They had never intended to come to Samadhi Cave.

They weren’t after legendary immortal-grade treasures. Ordinary spirit treasures from the secret realm would have been enough.

But somehow, they had wandered in by accident.

At first, they thought it wasn’t a big deal. With a map and some caution, as long as they avoided ambushes, they could still make it out.

But soon, they realized—

The map was utterly useless in Samadhi Cave.

The cave had transformed into a labyrinth.

They had lost their sense of direction. North, south, east, west—everything was distorted.

The map in their hands had become nothing more than a worthless scrap of paper.

Wang Song patted his junior sister’s hand gently. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you out of here.”

“Mm…” Hu Sheng nodded.

Even though she knew her senior brother was just trying to comfort her, his words still gave her a small sense of reassurance.

“Watch out!”

As the two of them continued forward, Wang Song suddenly shouted.

He pushed his junior sister to the ground—

A barrage of throwing daggers whizzed past, embedding into the cave wall before exploding.

“Heh… this little chick is quite the beauty.”

A group of cultivators emerged from the shadows.

Wang Song and Hu Sheng scrambled to their feet, facing several men with obvious ill intent.

“I say we tie up the guy and have some fun with his junior sister. Make him watch every moment.”

One of the cultivators sneered.

“Sounds good to me.” Another chimed in.

“Then it’s decided.”

The leader licked his lips. “Get them!”

At his command, the four men lunged toward Wang Song and Hu Sheng.

“Run! I’ll hold them off!”

Wang Song shoved his junior sister away.

“Senior Brother! I won’t leave you!” Hu Sheng cried.

“Go! If you don’t, neither of us will make it out alive!”

Wang Song wove his fingers into a seal.

Countless water ropes formed in front of him, intertwining into a dense web.

“Senior Brother! If we die, we die together!”

Hu Sheng bit down hard on her lip, refusing to leave.

The fight broke out in an instant.

Hu Sheng and Wang Song weren’t weak. If it were two against two, they might have had a chance.

But they were outnumbered. And their opponents’ techniques were insidious—clearly the kind honed by rogue cultivators with no regard for honor.

“Senior Brother!”

Hu Sheng was kicked aside, tumbling to the ground.

As she struggled to get up, she saw it—

A blade slashed down toward Wang Song.

Her eyes widened in horror as she watched her senior brother get cleaved in two. Blood sprayed through the air.

“What a shame.”

The leader of the group flicked his blade, sending droplets of blood splattering onto the cave wall.

“Your senior brother won’t get to see you having fun with us.” His lips curled into a wicked grin. “No need to be scared, sweetheart. It’ll feel real good. You’ll enjoy every moment of it.”

The four men closed in step by step.

Hu Sheng clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug deep into her flesh.

“Heh… heh… heh…”

Just as she was about to burn her lifeblood, preparing to take them down with her, a soft chuckle echoed through the cave.

“Who’s there?!”

The four men spun around, eyes darting in all directions.

“Agh!”

A shrill scream tore through the air.

The remaining three turned sharply toward the source.

What they saw made their blood run cold.

A woman in a crimson dress stood before them, her delicate, pale hand buried deep in their comrade’s chest.

She pulled her hand out, lifting his still-beating heart.

Blood dripped slowly from her slender, jade-like fingers, sliding down in elegant rivulets.

She was breathtaking.

Tall and graceful, her figure was accentuated by the red dress that clung to her form, tied loosely at the waist with nothing more than a single strip of fabric. Her curves, as soft as rolling hills, were on full display.

The dress ended just above her calves, its hem jagged and uneven, as if it had been ripped apart at random.

The contrast between the crimson fabric and her fair, delicate ankles was striking.

But her hands—her hands were the most captivating of all.

Slender and flawless, they looked like a sculptor’s masterpiece. Just one glance was enough to make a man want to take them, to hold them, to never let go.

The woman turned slowly, her movements unhurried.

Her fingers stretched out, her wrist tilted downward—

The heart slipped from her palm, landing on the ground with a wet plop.

The remaining men swallowed hard.

For a moment, it felt as if it were their own hearts that had just been torn from their chests and dropped onto the cold stone floor.