Legend of the Last Cultivator

CHAPTER 5: Echoes of the Forgotten Path

The rain had stopped before dawn, but the weight pressing against Kai Ashford’s chest remained.

He woke after only a few hours of restless sleep, immediately reaching for his phone on the bedside table. The conversation with the mysterious girl was still gone. Every message had vanished as though it had never existed.

He stared at the blank screen for several long seconds before letting out a slow breath. “Did something happen to her?” he muttered quietly, worry creeping into his voice.

It was a strange feeling. He had never seen her face, never heard her voice, and didn’t even know her real name, but yet after everything that had happened, the silence felt unsettling. She had saved his life more than once. The thought that she might now be in danger because of him filled him with guilt.

Kai forced himself to get dressed and head to work. As he walked through the bustling morning streets, life appeared completely normal.

Office workers hurried toward train stations with cups of coffee in hand. Students laughed as they crossed intersections. Street vendors shouted to attract customers.

Looking at everyone around him, Kai almost envied their ordinary lives. They have no idea, he thought bitterly, no idea that somewhere above those clouds, satellites are searching for a man they’ve never seen… a man they only know as the Last Cultivator.

Blue Lantern Investigations was already lively when Kai arrived. His manager glanced up from a pile of paperwork. “You’re late again,” the older man said with an exhausted sigh.

Kai scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Traffic,” he replied. “You don’t even own a car,” the manager answered flatly.

Kai laughed awkwardly. “Then… people traffic?” The manager simply shook his head while Sophia Hart giggled nearby. “You should really practice lying,” Sophia said, smiling warmly.

“I’d rather not,” Kai replied with a grin. “I’m terrible at remembering lies.” Her smile lingered a little longer than usual before she returned to organizing case files.

Kai couldn’t help watching her for a moment. He had admired Sophia ever since joining the agency. She was kind, cheerful, and always willing to help others. But as his eyes drifted toward the business magazine lying on her desk, his smile slowly faded.

On the cover was billionaire entrepreneur Damien Sterling. Sophia noticed Kai looking at it. “Isn’t he amazing?” she asked excitedly. “He’s so young, yet he’s built one of the biggest technology companies in the country.”

Kai forced a smile in jealousy. “Yeah… impressive,” he replied quietly. He didn’t know why those words felt so heavy.

The manager suddenly clapped his hands. “Enough chatting, Ashford,” he said. “Kai, your client already picked up the dog yesterday. Nice work.”

“So… no more haunted neighborhoods today?” Kai asked hopefully. The manager handed him another folder. “Actually, there is.”

Kai groaned dramatically, “I really need a raise.” Everyone laughed at him that very instant. For a brief moment, everything felt wonderfully ordinary.

But deep inside, Kai knew his life could never return to normal.

Far across the city, hidden beneath layers of encrypted networks and reinforced walls, Aria Vale finally exhaled after an entire night without sleep.

Her apartment looked more like a command center than a home. Six large monitors displayed satellite trajectories, another showed government communications, ancient books filled one side of the room while cutting-edge computers occupied the other.

She removed her glasses and rubbed her tired eyes. “They almost found me…” she whispered. She replayed the cyberattack in her mind. It hadn’t been random, someone extraordinarily skilled had deliberately searched for her.

She quietly opened a hidden folder on her phone. Inside were dozens of files labeled only with strange symbols, but one file was different. It contained a single photograph, Kai.

Specifically, a blurry picture of him as a little boy standing beside an elderly man in white robes. Aria gently touched the photograph. “I promised him…” she whispered softly. “I promised your master I’d protect you.”

Her eyes drifted toward another folder marked EVELYN ASHFORD. She hesitated before closing it again. “Not yet,” she murmured sadly. “He’s not ready to know.”

Inside Human Defense Agency Headquarters, Director Evelyn Ashford stood before a massive holographic display. Red lines connected hundreds of surveillance satellites orbiting the Earth.

“Status report,” she said calmly. An officer stepped forward. “We’ve analyzed every Qi fluctuation recorded during the last forty-eight hours,” he reported.

“Results?” she asked. “The Last Cultivator appears… inexperienced,” he replied to her. Evelyn folded her arms with curiosity, “Explain.”

“The Qi output was unstable. Powerful… but uncontrolled,” the officer said. Another scientist nodded in agreement, “He has likely only recently awakened.”

A faint smile appeared on Evelyn’s face. “Then we still have time, don’t we?” She looked toward the holographic image of the Civilization Rift. “Before the immortals reach him.”

That afternoon, Kai’s phone vibrated unexpectedly. His heart immediately raced with joy because he knows what it means, she is back.

An unknown message appeared.

Unknown Number: “Sorry.”

Kai just stared at the screen for a bit. Another message quickly followed.

Unknown Number: “Someone tried tracing me. I had to disappear.”

Relief washed over him and without realizing it, he smiled.

Kai: “You’re okay?”

Several seconds passed, then came the reply.

Unknown Number: “For now.”

Kai hesitated before typing again. Curiosity suddenly got the best of him.

Kai: “Who are you?”

This time the response took longer. Then finally, she left a reply back.

Unknown Number: “Meet me.”

Attached to the message was the same location pin as before, an old independent bookstore tucked away in a quiet alley.

Unknown Number: “Tomorrow. Five o’clock.”

Kai looked at the address for a long time. His heart was filled with uncertainty. “This could still be a trap,” he muttered.

But another part of him whispered something different. She has saved your life every single time. If she wanted you dead, she has already had the chance. He slowly closed his phone. “I’ll go,” he said quietly. “I need answers.”

Evening arrived.

The old bookstore stood peacefully at the end of a narrow alley, its wooden sign swaying gently in the breeze.

Kai stopped several meters away. His heartbeat quickened with anxiety. He looked around carefully, no suspicious vehicles, no plain-clothed agents, and no strange machines. Everything looked ordinary, too ordinary.

His phone vibrated one last time.

Unknown Number: “Good, You came.”

Kai looked toward the bookstore entrance. The wooden bell above the door rang softly. Someone had just walked out, a young woman wearing a hood and a white face mask paused at the doorway.

She glanced toward Kai for only a brief second before quietly walking past him. Kai frowned in shock and surprise.

Was that…?

Before he could react, his phone vibrated again.

Unknown Number: “Don’t follow her.”

Kai’s eyes widened and slowly, he turned back toward the bookstore. The lights inside had suddenly gone out. The front door, which had been open only moments ago slowly creaked shut by itself.

From somewhere inside the darkened building, he heard the sound of a single page turning.