The Immortal Commoner: Sowing Chaos

Soaked and refreshed, Chen Feng climbed out of the glowing pond. That felt…amazing. Seriously amazing.

He shook his head, droplets of the Qi-infused water flying off him like tiny stars. Okay, deep breaths, Chen Feng. What was that stuff even?

"Qi?" he muttered to himself, still dripping slightly. It had to be Qi, right? Stories and legends whispered of such things. He'd read enough dusty scrolls and listened to enough old storytellers in his former life to recognize the *feeling*. That vibrant tingle, that deep-down warmth spreading through him… no ordinary water did *that*.

This pond...this *glowing*, *energy-boosting* pond… It couldn't just be random, could it? This wasn't some misplaced hot spring with extra minerals. This felt…intentional. Like the cave itself had decided to spring a magical surprise on him. And frankly, after weeks of rock-rubbing boredom, he was absolutely here for magical surprises.

One-off miracles were rare, even in made-up stories. Maybe… maybe this was a *sign*? A sign that finally, *finally*, something interesting was happening in his immortal, cave-bound existence? A sign from…from who exactly? Cave gods? Crystal spirits? He wasn't picky, he'd take any divine intervention he could get.

Or, you know, just really weird water. But *really* weird water that made him feel like a million bucks. A million bucks and a sudden urge to punch through a rock wall. Not that he *would* punch a rock wall. Civilized immortals didn't go around defacing natural cave formations, even if they could regrow a broken hand in five seconds flat. Still, the *urge* was telling. This water was potent stuff.

He glanced back at the gently shimmering surface of the pond. The soft blue light pulsed gently, like a slow, steady heartbeat. If this cave had *this*, then what else was down here? His mind raced ahead, already picturing secret gardens filled with spirit herbs and chambers echoing with ancient chants. Probably getting ahead of himself. But still… a guy could dream, right?

Could there be other places like this? Other ponds? Rivers? *Oceans* of this stuff? Imagine swimming in an ocean of pure Qi! He'd probably emerge as some sort of… Qi-Super-Man. Or just really, really wrinkly, if he stayed in too long. Theoretically, though. Oceans of Qi. The thought made his herb-gathering fingers twitch with excitement.

"Okay, calm down there, buddy," Chen Feng said aloud to the empty cave. No need to get ahead of himself just yet. One glowing pond at a time. One step at a time. He shouldn't build castles in the air before finding at least, like, *one brick*.

Still… the thought lingered. This pond…it felt significant. Like a hint of something bigger. Something… *important*. Like he'd stumbled onto the appetizer before a grand, Qi-licious feast. And Chen Feng was *hungry*.

If this little pond held so much… "Source?" he questioned the cavern walls. Was there a source nearby? It felt concentrated, potent. This couldn't just be rainwater seeping through spirit rocks or whatever. Though, spirit rocks *were* a thing in those legends too, weren't they? He'd need to brush up on his lore if he was serious about this Qi-hunting business.

It didn't seem like just random runoff, that was for sure. The sheer density of energy… it tingled on his skin even now. Even out of the water, he felt…vibrant. Alive. More than just his usual immortal-alive. This was *sparkling*-alive. Like he could outrun a mountain and then have a pleasant chat with it afterwards. Maybe. He wasn't going to actually *try* to outrun a mountain. Too much effort.

He walked around the edge of the pond, his bare feet padding softly on the crystal floor. Examining the rock around it. Was there a vein? Something feeding it? A little… Qi-pipe? He squinted at the crystalline structures, hoping to see some indication, some clue.

Nope. Just rock and crystals. And glowy pond water. Very mysterious glowy pond water. Not a single pipe in sight. No little spirit-faucet. Just… glowy water emanating pure awesome. This was getting more and more perplexing. And perplexing usually meant interesting. And interesting was precisely what Chen Feng's cave-life had been lacking.

"Hmm," he hummed, scratching his chin. Where did all this Qi even *come* from? Did Qi-ponds just spontaneously generate themselves? Like magic mushrooms but… wetter and significantly more invigorating? Unlikely. Everything had to come from *somewhere*. Even magic. Probably. Hopefully? He really didn't understand how magic actually *worked*. Another thing to add to the list of things he needed to figure out about this weird, wonderful world he was stuck in.

It couldn't just spring out of nowhere. Magic trees? A hidden vein of spirit stones? A sleeping dragon? All potentially viable options. Well, maybe not *viable* as in *likely*. But viable in the 'possible and exciting if true' kind of way. A dragon would certainly solve the source mystery pretty quickly. And probably introduce a whole lot of *other* mysteries, mostly involving teeth and fire.

Okay, scratch the dragon for now. Too much wishful thinking maybe. But some source…there had to be a source. This much concentrated energy couldn't just manifest from the geological ether. Even in a world where immortality was a casual Friday kind of thing, there had to be *rules*. Or at least, guidelines. Qi source guidelines. He made a mental note to write those guidelines down once he figured them out. For… posterity. And, you know, general immortal knowledge dissemination.

"Logic, Chen Feng, logic!" he told himself, throwing his hands up a little. Even immortal herb gatherers needed logic sometimes. Especially when faced with glowy ponds of suspiciously powerful water. Logic was his friend. Logic and… a healthy dose of adventurous curiosity. Yeah, those two would be his trusty companions in this quest for the Qi-source.

This cave system seemed pretty big. Lots of twisting tunnels. Lots of potential hiding spots for… qi-generating whatsits. 'Qi-generating whatsit' was a very technical term, he felt. Very scientific. Perfect for describing the source of mysterious energy phenomena in caves. He'd have to remember that one.

If this pond was like an *outlet*, there must be an *inlet* somewhere else. A main pipeline of Qi-goodness. Like a spirit-river flowing beneath the earth, gurgling with pure, unadulterated energy. Okay, maybe "gurgling" wasn't very majestic. But still. A pipeline! A source! He felt like a Qi-plumber, ready to trace the pipes and fix any leaky…spirit-valves? He really needed to work on his analogy game.

Maybe deeper? He had been exploring mostly horizontally. What if the real treasures lay below? Below *him*? Into the earth? Into the darkness? He hadn't really considered vertical exploration yet. Too focused on finding the exit at first. Now that exit was, uh, conceptually abandoned, perhaps a downward trajectory was in order. Downwards! Into the unknown! Exciting. And slightly terrifying.

He shivered, despite the lingering warmth from the pond. Darkness beneath darkness sounded…unsettling. Like the cave was whispering secrets it wasn't quite ready to share. Secrets that might involve…cave monsters? Giant spiders? Crystals that tried to eat your socks? Okay, maybe not sock-eating crystals. But something sinister. Caves were rarely just sunshine and spirit ponds.

But also… exciting? A little bit. Adventures in subterranean darkness sounded way more interesting than rearranging crystals. Don't get him wrong, crystal-rearranging had its moments. Moments of… arranging. And… crystals. But battling mythical cave beasts for the source of untold spiritual power? Now *that* was a Tuesday afternoon activity worth considering.

"Alright, adventure time it is!" Chen Feng declared to the cave. Time to become an underground Qi-source hunter! What could possibly go wrong? Besides getting lost forever in the dark depths, of course. But small details, those. And probably getting eaten by something. Or falling into a bottomless pit. Or triggering some ancient cave-curse. You know, minor stuff. But hey, he was immortal! So really, what *couldn't* go wrong? The possibilities were endless. Endlessly…perilous. But endlessly exciting too. Right? Right. Adventure it was!