First is the Great Era. What came before no one knows.
Next was the Heavenly Era. Born with the world and birthed by the Great Era.
The darkest age followed. The Hell Era. Born by the corruption of the Heavenly Era caused by the Devil Sage.
Five million years of darkness till a single swing sliced the world in half. The Hell Era died as brutally as it made its creatures suffer.
Not all death is followed by silence. Chaos reigned for a thousand years.
Finally, we have arrived in the new era.
The Earthly Era.
Hopefully, this one is better.
-Signed Immortal Qi Sea
…
Deep Blue Sect, Year 1100 of the Earthly Era Calendar.
A clear sky, warm summer rays, and a cool boulder to lie on. That was the life for Sadi.
"This… This is the life." Sadi mumbled, his eyes closed.
The gentle wind brushed his face, danced with his hair, and carried his stresses away with it.
The faint chatter from fellow cultivators made it feel like this was a dream.
The immortal paradise that he had dreamed of.
"Joining the Deep Blue Sect is the best thing that has ever happened to me. No longer do I have to worry about money or mortal affairs."
Taking a deep inhale of the fresh air, Sadi breathed out slowly with his eyes half-closed.
"Except for the required yearly mission, I'm not obligated to do anything. Cultivating at my own pace for thousands of years until I become a True Immortal. Then it's for all of eternity."
"Fate was kind enough to guide me here but too cheap to let me stumble upon great wealth."
He might have been wealth handicapped now, but it was better than having to work.
He was truly living the dream that many would kill for. Too bad the spots to enter one of the three most powerful sects in the Twin Tower Empire are limited.
The Heavenly Sword Sect, as the number one righteous sect, only took in the best of the best.
While anyone who joined the demonic factions' number one sect, the Dual Blood Sect, was either desperate or tricked into selling their life away.
The Deep Blue Sect, the number one neutral sect, was clearly the best option.
"Hehehe, suckers."
Sadi giggled to himself before taking a nap. His body relaxed as he enjoyed his leisure time.
This was the perfect life.
"Great Air Palm!"
Boom!
It wasn't perfect.
Shortly after those three words were spoken, Sadi was rudely awakened by the shock of his favorite nap boulder shaking as if an earthquake had hit it.
His eyes jumped open as he sat up.
He looked down and saw that a young man, deeply embedded in the boulder, was wearing the same blue robe as him. A fellow outer disciple, yet from how he had his pale face and blood on his chest, he was injured.
"Are you okay?"
Sadi jumped off and reached out to help the young man.
But the young man slapped his hand away.
"I'm good." The young man said softly.
His eyes were dim, but he still pulled himself out. He looked in the distance and sighed before walking away in silence.
Other disciples nearby spared a glance before ignoring it, going back to their own business.
Seeing this, Sadi shook his head. He could guess that this disciple had a conflict with another disciple.
It was common.
In his three months at the Deep Blue Sect, he had seen similar situations to this one nearly once a week. No one seemed to care about it.
As long as the conflict didn't rise to the level of killing, none of the elders would interfere.
They, like other sects, believed that these types of conflicts stimulated potential.
He personally disagreed, but what could he do about it? It was an old tradition dating back to the time when sects were first established, all the way to the Heavenly Era.
After watching the disciple walk away, Sadi turned to his napping boulder and wanted to cry.
"Dammit, this happens every time."
"Is there no other boulder people could crash into?"
He was speechless. Every couple of weeks, someone would crash into his napping boulder. It was like destiny.
"I guess I have to go to my second spot until it's done fixing itself," Sadi muttered.
He stuffed his pockets with his hands and took a last glance at his boulder. Although it looked like an ordinary rock, it had already begun repairing itself.
After a few days, it would be as if nothing had happened.
Compared to when he first entered the sect, this scene was no longer mind-boggling.
After sighing at losing his favorite spot again, Sadi turned around and prepared to leave.
But he noticed that someone was rushing towards him. Easily recognizing him as Nabel, a friend he made when he first joined the Deep Blue Sect.
As Nabel rushed towards Sadi, excitement shone in his eyes. Sadi saw that even to this day, everything about him was loose and messy.
His robes looked as if they were going to fall off at the slightest gust of wind, and his black hair was a mess.
It was so messy that it looked like he did it on purpose.
As Nabel reached Sadi, he stopped and gave Sadi a big hug.
Before immediately starting to talk shit.
"Sadi, how's your napping rock? Was it destroyed again?" Nabel asked with a smile.
Sadi's lips tightened as he complained his heart out.
"What do you think? It happens every time I start getting comfortable. Like, there are so many other places you can fight, you know."
"See? I told you that rock is a terrible spot." Nabel shook his head.
"That place is not good. For all we know, that rock is a sealed demon from the Hell Era, just waiting to wake up."
"Don't say I didn't warn you when you get eaten one day."
"Treat this as a sign from the Earthly Will to stop taking naps and focus on your cultivation."
"Speaking of– how far along are you now?" Nabel asked curiously, his eyebrows raised to the top of his forehead.
"I just broke through to stage 3," Sadi said proudly.
Nabel rolled his eyes at that and heavily shook his head again.
"Stage 3? At this rate, I'm going to reach the next realm by the time you get to stage 8."
Sadi smiled and said, "I'm taking my time. I don't see any rush to reach the peak of the Qi Refinement realm so soon."
"No rush?" Nabel clicked his tongue.
"I think there are plenty of reasons to rush. I would rather not be an old man when I break through."
Sadi shook his head, remaining confident.
"Once we break through to the Qi Sea realm, we get an extra one hundred years for every stage. Why not take our time?"
Nabel clicked his tongue at Sadi and said, "Everyone would beg to differ."
"I would rather rush and spend ten years prepping for the Qi Sea tribulations than gamble whether life as ash is comfortable."
Sadi nodded in agreement. He already knew that, but he wasn't at all afraid.
He had the confidence to pass his tribulation with certainty.
Because of his little secret, he was guaranteed to pass. But he would only use it during his tribulation.
Seeing that he couldn't convince Sadi to pick up his pace, Nabel dropped the topic. Instead, he swapped to something interesting.
"Sadi, did you hear what happened between the head disciple and Fairy Ayda?"
Sadi's interest piqued.
"No, what happened?"
Nabel's lips curled in a smile. His eyes looked left and right as if confirming that no one was listening, and he whispered in Sadi's ear.
"Word is, after a mission, Fairy Ayda has been sneaking into the head disciple's quarters every night."
Sadi's eyes widened from shock.
"You sure!? I thought Fairy Ayda made a vow to never fall in love or marry."
"That's what everyone else thought, too. Maybe she was lying to avoid her arranged marriage with a disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect."
Nabel raised his arms and said, "But hey,"
"These are just rumors. I can't confirm or deny any of it. "
Sadi mulled over the rumors and nervously gulped, wondering if they were true or false.
If this were true, it would be a big deal.
The Deep Blue Sect was divided into three disciples: Outer, Inner, and Core.
Among the core disciples, only one could become the Head Disciple—the strongest disciple in the sect and traditionally the next leader of the sect.
For the next sect leader to get into conflict with the Heavenly Sword Sect meant that the lowly outer disciples would get targeted.
That wasn't any good for him. Not good at all.
He just wanted to enjoy his new Immortal life, not worrying about being beaten up every day.
"Why were you looking for me?" Sadi asked to switch the topic.
"Oh yeah!" Nabel's eyes widened in circles as he remembered what he came here for.
He reached into his pouch and pulled out a crystal ball that was a little bigger than a fist.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Hold this for me. "
Nabel tossed the ball to Sadi and then pulled out another crystal ball that looked the same.
"Tada! Feast your eyes on my very first original treasure! I call it the Great Ball."
"From now on, you can call me Treasuresmith Nabel! Hahaha!" Nabel laughed with his full chest.
"Seriously, congratulations!" Sadi said sincerely.
He knew that creating treasures was an extraordinarily difficult task. To even qualify to be a Treasuresmith, you had to create your own white rank treasure.
These weren't mortal weapons. No, they were treasures for cultivators.
Able to absorb and release Qi and had their unique abilities.
Making white rank treasures was only the bare minimum to be considered a Treasuresmith.
It was so difficult that in all of the Deep Blue Sect, there were only one hundred Treasuresmiths.
Expanding further to the three top sects, there were fewer than two hundred Treasuresmiths.
Nabel puffed out his chest with pride and smirked.
But as a good friend, Sadi couldn't let Nabel's ego grow too big.
"But Great Ball…that name, to be honest, sucks."