Xiao Long ran for his life, as the heavens shook and the Immortal chased, he didn’t know where he would go but anywhere would be better than this place, all of a sudden he saw a cave, he didn’t know if he would survive, but it seemed better than nothing. He entered the cave. It was small only around 10 ft wide and 5 ft long, and thankfully nothing was in it. The Immortal passed him. He had been exploring an old ruin when he had found two jade slips, a strange bag, and a necklace. Then the Immortal had found him. He had descended and upon seeing what Long held, cast a spell and fired it at him. He barely managed to escape.
Now Long had hidden in this cave and prayed to the Buddha that the Immortal would not find him. The Shaking Heavens passed. He pulled out the Bag, the Slips and the Necklace. He didn’t know why the immortal, a Qi Cultivator would try to kill a lowly mortal like him but knew it was due to these items. He put on the necklace, now that he had some time to examine it, it was a simple leather necklace but a large diamond in the shape of a moon in the center. The bag was yellow, with the designs of heavenly creatures running through it, and the Jade Slips had strange characters in language that felt ancient and powerful. What were these? And why did the Immortal want them?
Long stared at the items, he knew that Immortals often used Jade slips to record powerful cultivation methods, strange pill recipes, and even martial techniques. Long reached in to the bag, inside he felt it was much much bigger on the inside. His heart quickened, he knew what these were. A Qiankun Bag, and Jade slips. Qiankun bags were only used by the rich and powerful. But even the weakest Immortal had one. Which meant these Immortal Artifacts. Inside the Qiankun Bag, Long found three old dusty tomes, each decorated with the language of the immortals. He put them back afraid mere presence could alert the Immortal his presence.
His heart sickened as he realized something, his town, his home would be destroyed by the immortal looking for him, the stories and tales that he heard in the old rhymes sunk into him, as he remembered that offending an immortal meant that you likely die along with you entire village. His town was the only thing within a hundred miles that resembled civilization. Which meant the Immortal would destroy.
He couldn’t run home not now, the Immortal would expect that and would be waiting for him there. No, the village was dead. He needed to run soon. He reached into the bag again this time finding a large sword. It was twice as large big enough for him to stand on. His mind quickened, a flying sword, which all Immortals used for transportation, could help him find a city from there he could join the local sect, the Mystic Azure Sect. If he had talent. He reached into the bag again. The sect examiners had come by around last month, he wasn’t old enough to attend the ceremony at the time since he was only fifteen years old, not old enough examiners. But he had seen the process. He pulled a clear glass orb. A Spiritual Sensor, meant to show someone thier spiritual roots.
The Examiners had said that there were multiple grades, White meant Mortal, which meant that you could never cultivate, Red meant Profound, the most common type after Mortal it allowed for decent cultivation, Gray meant Steel, which was even rarer, it allowed for even better cultivation, people with these roots were considered minor prodigies, Blue meant Sky, Purple meant Spirit, Gold meant Heavenly. Those three were unheard of being heaven talents that would allow them to see all the wonders of Cultivation. In addition, there were subgrades: Low, Middle, High, Peak. The darker the color the better the grade, and the lighter color meant a worse grade.
The Examiners had said that a light color meant Low, a regular color meant Middle, a deep color meant High, and an unadulterated deep color meant Peak, the deeper the color the spirit root. Spirit roots were attuned to an element, which were Wood, Water, Fire, Earth and Metal, while other mutant elements like Thunder and Wind would give someone a bigger advantage in cultivation, and if they were lucky they could have two elemental attunements, maybe even a fusion between two elements. Finally, the maximum someone could have was three, even those who had three but all of them were low profound were hailed as prodigies. Even One Low-Profound Wood Spiritual Roots could give him a chance of survival, it could streamline his way into the world of cultivation and could help him survive.
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He touched the orb and asked it what the Sect Examiners had told the hopefuls to say, “Show me my Potential.” he said. The Orb lifted into the air, and started spinning. The lifted into the air and started glowing, first white, then Red, then Gray, then Blue, then Purple, then finally Gold, the gold got deeper and deeper eventually showing itself to be pure unadulterated gold, then the Orb glowed again, the raging gold-thunder burning with fire appeared on the orb, then light and darkness appeared, finally Wind blew with lightning bursting in it appeared on the orb. He caught his breath, triple spirit roots each Peak-Heaven, one with a mutant fusion of Thunder and Fire, one a mutant fusion of Light and Darkness, and one with a Fusion of Wind and Lightning.
Shock filled him, the thoughts of thieves in the night, of having to survive in the wilderness vanished. This could be why the Immortal was hunting him, not only for these artifacts but for his potential, so he could take it for himself. He put back the Orb and the sword, then touched the Jade slips, knowledge flowed into him. This Jade Slip had held the Peak Heaven, Triple Adaptive Supreme Dragon, it wasn’t meant for any one element but could be used by all of them. Perfect for him, and it was meant to be used by someone with triple spirit roots, even better than.
The technique had said that he needed to focus on the Mystical Qi of Heaven and Earth into his body. Long reached into the bag again, this time he pulled out a set of blank white clothes, which shifted at his touch, and injected more knowledge into his head about its capabilities, it was meant to absorb impurities released during cultivation, which it would burn away. It shifted into a replica of his clothes, he quickly swapped clothes and threw the old ones in the back of the cave.
The Triple Adaptive Supreme Dragon said that to achieve the first minor realm of Qi Refining as it was called. Long felt no he knew the Immortal had moved on, had thought that he had managed to escape to the village he acted on that feeling. The Technique said that the way to cultivate it was to imagine Thirteen Pillars reaching into the heavens and to imagine building the Pillar with the strongest materials possible. He reached out and started drawing in the Qi.
The Pillar rose quickly. giving him power. Then he placed the capstone. The Slip approved somehow let out a wave of satisfaction. Then he retched, a stream of black gunk streamed from his mouth, and erupted from his pores, pain like the thousand fires of death blazed through him. But there was an undercurrent to the suffering, one of pride, of power, the Dragon never backed down, it never surrendered. The technique gave him power, it sapped away the pain and left the pure unbridled strength beneath. The clothes burned away the impurities. He ascended to the first level of Qi Refining and became a cultivator.
Long shakily stood up, he needed to get to the Sect soon. The examiners had said that if a disciple was ever lost, they simply needed to find the largest source of spiritual Qi. he instinctively used an ability that all cultivators have Qi Vision, it would allow them to see Qi. He stepped out of the Cave and activated his vision. In the distance thousands of miles away was a city shaped object. It was clear that it was the Mystic Azure Sect. His sword would be a way to get there. He grabbed it out of the Qiankun Bag, now that he had ascended to the first minor realm of Qi Refining, it responded to his touch, bonding with him. His feet gripped it like it was glued to the sword and he set in the direction of the city. Sword light bloomed around him as he bursted through the skies. But before he left, he used the sword to carve a message in the cave wall. “Long was Here”
