Who in This World Can Escape Death?

Who in this world can ever escape death?

No matter how peerless your beauty, how unmatched your charm, in the end you are but a rouge-tinted skeleton. No matter how exalted your birth, how vast your dominion, in the end you too shall become a handful of yellow earth.

Deathless longevity—it is what all desire. But there is no ageless beauty, nor any eternal emperor. Fair maidens and heaven-blessed heroes are no different from the common throng; none can evade birth, aging, sickness, and death. No one can live forever in this world.

Yet the legends of deathless immortality have always circulated through the ages.

Laozi, Zhuangzi, Bodhidharma, Chen Tuan, Zhang Sanfeng…

These names, etched across millennia, have driven later generations like an ancient spell, convincing men that immortality is not an utter absurdity—that some can indeed attain that realm.

But time is the most ruthless of all. As the years flow past, even the undying legends fade into the long river of time.

Until, after countless ages of silence, a miracle erupted once more from the mundane.

On the night of the fifteenth full moon, the heaven-blessed divine maiden Lan Nuo would sever her mortal ties on Red Dust Peak in the Kunlun Mountains and shatter the void to depart. Cultivators across the realm were shaken; the talk of deathless longevity blazed once more.

In the past days, over a hundred thousand people had surged into the Kunlun range—from princes and nobles to peddlers and porters, spanning every walk of life—all with a single purpose: to witness a miracle rarely seen in millennia.

At last the full moon arrived. The majestic Kunlun Mountains, vast and beautiful, seemed draped in a veil of hazy light under the silver moonlight, making this sacred mountain range as ethereal as a celestial realm.

In the moonlit night, Xiao Chen ran like the wind, his body drenched in blood, even his black hair stained crimson. But his chiseled, handsome face was filled with unyielding defiance, and his eyes, bright as stars, shone with resolute light.

He was fleeing for his very life!

The Royal Celestial Maiden Zhao Lin'er had sworn to destroy him, leading dozens of cultivators in a four-way siege. The Celestial Maiden's face was veiled in light silk, her figure graceful and curves exquisite. Her eyes were like autumn waters, her movements as light as a startled swan, as ethereal as a drifting immortal descending to the mortal world.

With no escape left, Xiao Chen charged toward Red Dust Peak.

Beneath the moonlit night, Red Dust Peak was ringed with a sea of people. The mountainsides were packed with figures, yet over a hundred thousand people gathered in utter silence, all gazing up at the white-clad woman on the peak.

On the summit, Lan Nuo stood in robes as white as snow. Bathed in moonlight, her immortal body seemed to radiate a faint holy glow. Her white garments fluttered in the wind, making her truly seem like the Moon Goddess, untouched by worldly dust.

Over the past half-month, she had twice attempted to shatter the void, but each time, at the moment of success, she had drawn back the foot that had stepped forward.

One step away, and she would be immortal for eternity!

But if she took that step, the vast world of red dust would leave her forever, severing all mortal ties forever.

To draw the sword of wisdom and sever mortal bonds—that required immense courage! For after crossing that threshold, in the endless years of deathless longevity, what awaited her might be endless solitude.

Heaven's heart is unfathomable; immortal love is like frost.

Today, she had stood from dawn till now, all the memories of mortal life passing through her heart. At last, the time had come to bid farewell to the human world. Blazing divine light suddenly erupted from the peak, shrouding the entire summit in a halo of sacred radiance.

Lan Nuo's skin was like ice, her bones like jade. In the holy glow of dawn, she was so otherworldly and pure. As the multitude watched, the void shattered, and she stepped forward—calm yet resolute.

In her final moment, she turned her head and cast one last look at the mortal world. That dreamlike, ethereal countenance would forever remain in the hearts of those who saw it. A hundred thousand voices cried out Lan Nuo's name in unison.

But the orderly shouting soon dissolved into chaos, as people noticed two figures racing across the summit—following Lan Nuo into the shattered void!

The chronicles of the Nine Provinces record: In the year 7316, the heaven-blessed divine maiden Lan Nuo broke the void by martial power. The Royal Celestial Maiden Zhao Lin'er was fortunate to form an immortal bond and entered the World of Immortality alongside her.

As for Xiao Chen, he was not fated to be recorded in the annals.

In the instant the void shattered, Xiao Chen was utterly stunned!

He had never imagined that he would come to enter the World of Immortality in such a manner. In that split second, countless thoughts flashed through his mind—family, friends… he would bid them all eternal farewell. He would leave this mortal world forever.

A desperate flight for life—that was how it ended. For many, shattering the void to enter the World of Immortality was a glory for the ages. But Xiao Chen would have gladly given up such a chance. He was so reluctant to leave this world. His parents, his loved ones… farewell forever! He bid silent goodbye to the world of men.

Xiao Chen did not know that the Royal Celestial Maiden Zhao Lin'er had also shattered the void and entered alongside them.