The teleportation array blazed with light, runes sparking against the stone floor of the Eastern Desolate Frontier. In a pulse of radiance, Su Liana stepped through, her snow-white robes untouched by the harsh glow. Behind her followed Elder Zuo Tianhe, Master Hu, and finally the unconscious Karma Hi, carried like a prisoner of fate into a world that was not his own.
The guards stationed around the formation dropped to one knee at once. Their armor clattered against the mountain floor, their voices trembling as they called out in unison.
"Welcome back, Young Lady! Welcome back, Elder Zuo!"
Though the salute was directed at both, their awe was unmistakably reserved for Elder Zuo. To the Su Family, Zuo Tianhe was no ordinary guest—he was a High Elder of the Azure Edge Pavilion, the overlord sect that ruled the entire Eastern Region with unshakable might. A single word from him could determine whether the Su Family prospered for centuries or was erased in a single night.
The group moved together through the sect's sprawling mountain estate. The Su Family had long been one of the top clans of the Eastern Desolate Region, their power rooted deep within this land. Jade halls crowned mountain peaks like crowns of crystal. Waterfalls of liquid essence plunged from cliffs, their flow weaving into glowing rivers that ran like veins of starlight. Statues of ancient beasts lined the pathways—divine creatures whose bones had been carved into monuments after death, their silent gazes both protective and oppressive.
At the heart of it all stood the Hall of Authority, where Patriarch Su Qingyuan presided.
The man was already waiting when the entourage arrived.
Su Qingyuan's presence bent the air around him. His black hair, streaked with silver, fell like a dark waterfall past his shoulders. His features were weathered by age but carried an unshakable nobility, the kind of dignity carved only by centuries of burden. He wore deep azure robes embroidered with golden constellations, his aura vast yet restrained—like a star hidden behind clouds.
When the party entered, he rose from his throne immediately—not for his daughter, but for Elder Zuo Tianhe. To the shock of the gathered guards and servants, the Patriarch of the Su Family bowed deeply.
"Honored Elder Zuo," he said, his voice steady yet humble, "my Su Family is honored beyond measure by your presence."
For a man who ruled thousands, such humility was unthinkable—unless the one before him bore the crest of the Azure Edge Pavilion.
Elder Zuo inclined his head slightly, his expression calm, his bearing lofty. "Patriarch Su, your courtesy is noted. I have come only because of matters tied to your son, Su Chen. His fortune is no small thing. To the Pavilion, he is not merely a youth of promise, but a seed of destiny. Treat this matter not as a burden, but as an opportunity."
"Yes, Elder," Su Qingyuan said quickly, bowing again. Pride and hope wrestled with fear in his heart.
Only after this did he turn his eyes toward his daughter. Su Liana, whose aura in the outside world was cold and untouchable as a goddess, softened instantly in his presence. She bent her knees lightly and bowed her head.
"Father."
"Rise, my child," Su Qingyuan said warmly. His gaze flickered briefly toward Zuo Tianhe, as if seeking silent approval before allowing tenderness to color his voice.
Su Liana stood and gestured lightly. The guards carried forward Karma Hi, laying him upon the polished jade floor at the Patriarch's feet.
"I have returned," she said, "with news… and with him."
Elder Zuo's eyes sharpened. "Patriarch Su," he interrupted, his voice cutting through the hall like steel, "before anything else, there is a matter that must be reported."
The hall fell silent. Even Su Qingyuan raised a hand, bidding his daughter hold her words for later. His respect toward Elder Zuo was absolute.
"Please, Elder. Speak."
Zuo Tianhe's gaze swept across the chamber, heavy as thunderclouds. His voice was low, but every syllable carried the weight of mountains.
"When we followed the traces of your son, we discovered something alarming. The world he fled to—called Earth by its inhabitants—is no ordinary mortal realm. It contains hidden spaces untouched by mortals, yet it remains shrouded in ignorance. Worse, there are traces of repeated destruction and rebirth every few hundred thousand years. Such a cycle cannot exist naturally. Someone has tampered with that world. Someone has bound its life to mortality."
The Patriarch's eyes widened before narrowing swiftly, his control ironclad. He bowed again, deeper than before. "If Elder Zuo suspects such ancient meddling, then this matter cannot be taken lightly. I swear on my family's foundation: no whisper of this will leave these walls."
Zuo Tianhe's tone darkened. "It must not. If word spreads, enemies will swarm, and the balance of our region will fracture. Until the Pavilion Council and the Ancestors deliberate, this knowledge is sealed."
"Yes, Elder," Su Qingyuan said again, his voice low with reverence. Inwardly, his heart trembled. To hear such words was to glimpse storms that lay beyond comprehension.
Zuo Tianhe studied him for a long moment, then nodded. "You have raised Su Chen and Su Liana well. Continue to guard your foundation with vigilance. The Pavilion is watching."
With that, Elder Zuo turned, his robes whispering across the jade floor as he departed. His absence left behind a silence so heavy that no one dared breathe too loudly.
Only then did Su Qingyuan straighten. His shoulders eased, though his eyes still carried the shadow of Elder Zuo's warning.
At last, he turned to his daughter. There was pride in his gaze, but also weight. "Liana, you have grown. Even Elder Zuo acknowledges you. The Pavilion's eyes rest on you now."
Su Liana lowered her head modestly. "Father, all that I achieve is through your guidance."
Yet her composure wavered as she recounted her journey—the artifact's guidance, the strange world called Earth, the confrontation in the hotel, the resonance she had felt, and the mortal she had dragged back believing him to be her brother.
Her brows furrowed. "But something is strange. He did not recognize me. His eyes were confused. He denied everything."
Su Qingyuan descended from his throne, his robes flowing like starfire across the steps. He knelt beside Karma Hi and extended a hand glowing faintly with spiritual light. His probe lasted only a breath.
Then his expression hardened.
"This is not Su Chen."
Su Liana's breath faltered. "What? But… the artifact pointed to him. It has never been wrong!"
Her father shook his head slowly. "Artifacts follow fortune, not blood. This mortal may indeed carry a destiny—enough to rival your brother—but he is not of our line."
Her lips trembled. "Then… where is Brother?"
"That is the question," Su Qingyuan murmured. His eyes remained cold as he looked down at Karma Hi. "Until we know more, this man must not walk free. If he is tied to fate, releasing him may draw calamity upon us. Lock him in the Sage Suppression Prison."
Su Liana lowered her gaze, her heart torn between guilt and obedience. "…Yes, Father."
And so, Karma Hi was carried away, shackled by ancient arrays designed to suppress even the proudest cultivators beneath the Sage Realm.
Far away, in another time—
The Eastern Desolate Region shook with thunder.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
A massive stone loomed at the center of a barren field, its jagged surface etched with runes that pulsed hungrily. Spiritual energy poured into it, vanishing like water into sand.
Before it stood a youth with a wild grin.
Su Chen, second son of Patriarch Su Qingyuan. Talented. Pampered. Reckless.
The meteoroid he had discovered was no simple rock, but a relic of the ancient ages. For days he had poured spirit crystals and stones into its formation, draining his reserves until even his space ring lay empty. His father would have fainted at the sight of such waste.
But at last, the formation roared to life. Light swallowed Su Chen whole.
Two elders, chasing him across half the continent, arrived only in time to see him vanish.
"Young Master…!" one cried in horror.
But it was too late. The teleportation formation had hurled him far away—into a distant blue planet called Earth.
Thus began the chain of chaos that would shake not only Earth, but the Astral Vein World, and even the Celestia Realm above.
Back in the present, the Su Family Hall was steeped in silence.
Su Liana's voice trembled as she faced her father. "I will return to that world. I must bring Brother back. He has already been missing for more than a month. I… I fear something terrible has happened."
Her fists clenched at her sides. The image of Earth haunted her—its suffocating skies, its hidden spaces, its unnatural cycles of destruction.
"Something about that world is wrong," she whispered. "Even if Brother is alive… I fear it may not let him go so easily."
Patriarch Su Qingyuan's expression grew grim. He placed a hand, heavy and steady, on her shoulder. "Liana, you are learning caution. That is good. But do not underestimate fate. If Su Chen truly vanished into that world, then the heavens themselves may be playing a game we cannot yet see."
Su Liana bowed her head. Fear gnawed at her heart, but her resolve burned stronger than ever.
"I will not stop until I bring him home."
Far below the jade halls, in the depths of the Sage Suppression Prison, Karma Hi stirred.
His fingers twitched. His body shivered.
And in the silence of his soul, a cold, mechanical voice whispered once more—
[Quest Updated: Escape the Su Family Prison.]
Thus, his struggle in the Astral Vein World truly began.