The Gate to the Azure Cloud Sect

Leo turned the knob, his mind a blank slate, open to whatever the cosmic roulette wheel would offer. He pulled the door inward.

The view was not of a city, a forest, or a cave.

He was looking out from what appeared to be the side of a sheer mountain cliff. A light, misty fog swirled around a narrow stone pathway just outside the door. Across a chasm of dizzying depth, impossibly elegant pavilions with curved, tiled roofs clung to the sides of other mountain peaks, connected by delicate-looking bridges that seemed to be woven from solidified clouds. A gentle, melodic chime echoed on the wind, and the air itself hummed with a palpable, crackling energy that made the hairs on his arms stand up.

Below, in a massive courtyard carved from the mountain itself, hundreds of figures dressed in identical flowing blue robes were moving in perfect, synchronized unison. They practiced with swords, their movements so fast they were blurs, each swing cutting the air with a faint, whistling hiss.

He had stumbled into a wuxia movie. A full-blown, high-fantasy, Chinese-style cultivation sect.

As Leo stood there, gaping, two figures in more ornate silver-and-blue robes materialized on the pathway a dozen feet away, seemingly stepping out of the mist itself. They were an older man with a long, wispy white beard and a young, stern-faced woman with her hair in an intricate topknot. They had swords strapped to their backs and their eyes widened in absolute shock and disbelief the moment they saw him.

This was Elder Jin and his top disciple, Mei. They were patrolling the Outer Rim of the Azure Cloud Sect, a path protected by seventeen layers of complex arrays, spirit-detecting wards, and a defensive matrix powered by the sect's own Ancestral Vein of Qi. Not even a fly, let alone a mortal, could pass through unannounced. The defensive system was considered the pinnacle of protection in the entire empire, capable of repelling an army of ten thousand cultivators.

And this man... this stranger in bizarre, form-fitting blue leg-coverings and a thin, grey shirt... was standing in a doorway that had simply appeared out of thin air inside their defenses. A hole had been punched through their invincible shield as if it were paper.

"Who are you?!" Mei shouted, her hand flying to the hilt of her sword, her posture shifting into a defensive stance. "How did you breach the Grand Cloud Array?"

Leo, hearing only an incomprehensible, sharp-toned language, instinctively put his hands up in a universal "I'm not a threat" gesture.

Elder Jin did not draw his weapon. His mind, honed by two hundred years of cultivation and political intrigue, was working furiously. This was not a breach. A breach would have triggered alarms that would have shaken the entire mountain. This was something else. This man hadn't broken their wards; he had simply... ignored them. As if they didn't apply to him.

What kind of being could ignore the Grand Cloud Array? Only one possibility came to his ancient mind: a being who existed on a plane of power so far beyond their own that their most powerful defenses were as meaningless as a child's chalk drawing on the pavement. An ancient ancestor. A celestial master who had shed his mortal form and now roamed the myriad realms at will.

And this being's 'door'… it wasn't a portal of Qi. It radiated no spiritual energy. It was a mundane object, yet it connected worlds. It was a casual display of a power so profound, so subtle, that it was utterly terrifying.

Leo saw the old man hold up a hand to calm the young woman. He looked at Leo, not with aggression, but with a deep, cautious, and intensely respectful curiosity.

Leo decided to try his luck. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He opened a translation app he barely used, set it to Chinese (it was his best guess), and spoke into it.

"I am a traveling merchant. I mean no harm."

He held the phone out. The tinny, robotic voice of the translator echoed in the misty air. The language was archaic, the grammar slightly off, but the meaning was comprehensible.

Elder Jin's eyes widened further. A merchant? It had to be a disguise. A test. An ancient master pretending to be a common peddler to gauge their reactions, to see if they were worthy. It was a classic move, straight out of the old legends.

He bowed deeply from the waist, a gesture of extreme respect reserved for the Sect Master or visiting royalty. Mei, seeing her master's reaction, reluctantly but obediently followed suit.

"Venerable Senior," Elder Jin said, his voice laced with deference. "Your humble servant Jin of the Azure Cloud Sect apologizes for his disciple's impudence. We were unaware of your... arrival."

The translation app fumbled, rendering the flowery, respectful language as: Respected old person. My name is Jin. Sorry for girl. We not see you come.

Leo blinked. Respected old person? Okay, a bit rude, but at least they're not attacking me. He was just a random guy who appeared on their doorstep, so he figured he should be polite.

He bowed back, mimicking their deep bow. To Elder Jin, this was a terrifying sign. A being of such immense power returning a bow to a lowly sect elder? He was either incredibly humble or operating on a level of etiquette so far advanced it was beyond comprehension. Both possibilities were equally intimidating.

Leo, wanting to de-escalate, decided it was time to leave. He gave them a final nod, stepped back through his door into the quiet office of his new warehouse, and closed the portal, sealing the hole in their reality.

Elder Jin and Mei were left staring at a sheer, solid rock wall where a man and his magical door had just been.

"Master," Mei whispered, her voice trembling. "What was that?"

"That," Elder Jin said, his voice full of a reverence she had never heard before, "was a lesson." He turned his gaze toward the grandest pavilion at the mountain's peak. "Summon the Sect Master. Tell him we have received a visitor. An ancestor, perhaps, from a realm beyond the heavens. And we must prepare to receive him properly when he chooses to return."