It was a new day in Blue Turtle Village, and everyone went about their business as usual.
Cultivators looked for ways to earn spirit stones and resources for cultivation, and most of the time they sold talismans, pills, or other items they crafted themselves, or simply searched for information about where they could strike fortune.
Those who found opportunities then began preparing for their adventures and challenges, eventually becoming customers of the first group.
As for the mortals, they were also present, walking through corners and alleys with their heads lowered, going to the places where they could trade their hard labor for a bit of food for themselves and their families. Of course, if one of them happened to cross paths with a cultivator in a foul mood, it would be the women or children at home who would leave with heavy hearts the next day in search of sustenance.
All mortals knew that not returning at night likely meant never returning again.
And as for fleeing that city and their bitter lives? Impossible.
The same cultivators who had tormented them and whom they feared were the very ones protecting the walls from being overrun by powerful spiritual beasts capable of devouring them in a single bite.
Although humans dominated the world because they had the most peak experts, spiritual beasts were not far behind, thanks to their vast numbers, the fact that all their descendants could cultivate, and their superior strength within the same realm.
Mortals would simply be throwing themselves into the beasts' mouths if they tried leaving on their own. The cute little birds on the trees could often kill them just by flapping their wings from a distance.
Even Nascent Soul cultivators didn't dare to be so reckless outside and always traveled in groups.
The central continent was a land of extreme wealth, but with it came extreme danger.
Thus villages, cities, countries, and sects were formed. Each one commanded vast stretches of land and protected humans from extinction in these regions… obviously not out of goodwill, but out of necessity and for the sake of their own interests.
If the human race became too weak, it would quickly be swallowed by the race of spiritual beasts, and soon those in power would be devoured too. To prevent such a scenario, they still had to keep the flame of human strength alive.
This reality was also the reason Aotian felt helpless about his recent plans. He wanted to clean the trash out of the city, but feared killing too many or frightening them into fleeing, leaving the city without strong protectors.
Should that happen, tens of millions of mortals would die the next time the city was attacked by beasts, unable to rely on the protection of the former cultivators—and that was something Aotian could not allow.
As he made his plans, in Blue Turtle Village, just when the day seemed perfectly ordinary, a terrifying aura swept through the city, knocking everyone to the ground with faces drained of color.
Despite being called a village, it was actually a massive city with one hundred million inhabitants, yet that aura still managed to sweep it entirely from end to end.
Although it could not force anyone so far from its epicenter to kneel as was happening nearby, when cultivators recognized the terrifying aura of a Soul Formation cultivator, they did not hesitate to throw themselves to the ground humbly of their own will. And the mortals, seeing this, were even more frightened and wished they could bury their heads into the earth as they knelt.
But despite the fear, everyone already knew the recent rumors.
And seeing that the aura seemed to be heading toward the Su Family, the rumors appeared to be confirmed, and that family that was already powerful was about to soar completely.
Aotian watched all of this through the eyes of his avatars spread throughout the city.
At the Su family entrance, everyone waited respectfully, trembling.
Patriarch Su and Young Master Su led the crowd.
Then, from the clouds, a middle-aged man with blue hair and gray robes arrived.
He appeared to be in his fifties, but his true age was far greater.
Descending slowly until he stood before the large family and its many members, he looked around the crowd until stopping on Patriarch Su, who stepped forward with a smile.
"Greetings—" The patriarch, before he could speak, was interrupted.
"Who you selected. I will take him now," he spoke with short patience, making everyone swallow the greetings they were about to offer.
"T-That… it's him, sir… my son, Su Jincheng." Patriarch Su quickly pointed at the boy, who kept his head bowed, and shot him a glance that Su Jincheng immediately understood, lowering his head even further.
The man stared at the father and son, and his gaze lingered on Young Master Su for a brief moment before he snorted.
"Very well. Although his qualifications barely suffice, and he is not that young, I will take him." With a trace of disdain in his eyes, he appeared beside the youth and grabbed his shoulder.
He then tossed something toward Patriarch Su who, upon catching it, saw that it was a token with cloud patterns on one side, and the characters Celestial and Mist. On the other side was written Cai.
'Elder Cai…' Aotian reflected upon seeing the surname.
"This is my token. You can use it to obtain a few things, but don't overdo it, as I will not truly act to help you. Everything depends on you, and from now on, my karma with the Su Family is officially severed," the man spoke coldly, and without looking back, ascended into the clouds carrying Young Master Su.
The Su Family, despite his harsh words, remained humble and smiling, and inwardly they were even ecstatic.
It didn't matter what that elder had said. One way or another, they had his symbol and one of his members in the Celestial Mist sect, a true Void Refinement–level sect. From now on, they could walk sideways through the city and do whatever they wanted, without anyone daring to challenge them.
"Hehe… I want to see if that young lady from the Gao family dares to reject me now. Even if she refuses, would her family still dare refuse? Even if she doesn't want to, she'll have to accept."
The Su patriarch heard one of the young men of the family laughing lasciviously.
"Hey, Brother Chenyu, I was also eyeing that young lady from the Gao family. You're not going to compete with me, are you?"
"Hehe… Elder brother, do you really think I'd fight you over a woman? How about this: you enjoy her first, and then I'll have my turn. After all, once we're done with her, no one will bother taking responsibility for her, right?"
"Hmm… that doesn't sound bad. Then let's do as you say, little Chenyu. Looks like you've gotten smarter since last time."
"What are you talking about, elder brother? I just don't want to get beaten again and miss out like last time."
The two began talking about their conquests and plans, and soon other young men joined in, proudly commenting about the women they had forced or deceived, as if showing off trophies.
The patriarch's eyes, which had been smiling happily and proudly, secretly grew darker and darker.
'Well… destroying only this Su family shouldn't destabilize the entire city, right?'
With that thought, the celebrating Su family—rejoicing in their bright future—had no idea they were already doomed.
The patriarch's words soon reached their ears.
"Don't go out today. Call all family members back. Today we will have a great celebration, and there will be a big surprise for all of you, one I'm sure will make everyone very happy."
Smiling, he announced it, making the crowd even more excited.
What they didn't know was that the "everyone" who would be happy, as he referred to, was actually everyone in the city, who would celebrate the death of that family the next day.
…
Dragged at high speed by that elder Cai of the Celestial Mist sect was the young master Su, whose real name was Su Jincheng.
Well, actually it was only Aotian's avatar's Divine Incarnation.
At first, he planned to kill that cultivator called elder Cai and pretend to be him to have easier and freer access to that sect, but he didn't like killing without judging.
Of course, in the beginning the man didn't leave a good impression. After all, who repays someone who saved their life by grabbing a random clan member and throwing them in as an outer disciple of their sect?
At the very least, he should be more selective when searching among the family members, finding a good seedling and accepting them as a direct disciple.
So at first, he judged him as an ungrateful and unpleasant person.
But upon seeing that man quiet and solemn, Aotian slightly changed his opinion.
'Maybe there's more to this.'
Lost in thought, the journey continued for several days.
And on the day of their departure, blood also stained the halls of the Su family.
Only a few members survived, and those were the gentlest among that sinful family.
In their minds, the only thing protecting them from being killed by the family's enemies was a token engraved with the word Cai, which somehow ended up in the hands of the leader of those survivors.
There was also the reputation of that young master who left with the Soul Formation cultivator, which in the end also protected them.
But when people asked who had done that, all those survivors did was tremble, look toward the dark corners in terror, and whisper:
"The shadows…"
…
A week after their departure, young master Su and elder Cai finally saw a massive city stretching as far as the eye could see.
"This is it," Elder Cai, for the first time in the entire trip, spoke, his gaze softening as he saw the city bathed in sunlight.
"So big…" the young man murmured, amazed.
Aotian wasn't pretending; he had truly never seen such a magnificent and colossal city.
After admiring it a bit more, and seeing that elder Cai went silent again after those few words, he couldn't help asking with uncertainty:
"This… elder, I've heard that every spiritual vein exists together with a mountain. Why doesn't the Celestial Mist sect seem to have a mountain?" he asked, seeing the city on a flat plain, without even a single elevation.
Elder Cai remained silent for a second, seemingly unwilling to answer, but just as Aotian was about to give up, he heard his voice.
"That is not the Celestial Mist sect… that is Celestial Mist City."
He spoke simply, leaving Aotian confused.
But his next words shocked him.
"The Celestial Mist Sect possesses a true sixth-level spiritual vein, not an environment of that level artificially created through formations. Any sixth-level spiritual vein or higher forms its own separate world, where the vein itself resides."
"What you see now… is merely the entrance gate to our sect."