The Silver Dragon glided like a phantom through the night sky, its hull cloaked in invisibility. Silver veins pulsed across its body as the spirit stone within the core thrummed with life, releasing power beyond the imagination of this world. The engines hummed with restrained fury, carrying Krish across the heavens unseen.
Inside the cockpit, the air was tense yet calm. RC's holographic projections floated around Krish, displaying maps of the land, scattered rumors, and energy signatures that flickered like stars.
Krish stood tall, his cloak hanging loosely from his shoulders, eyes fixed on the shifting lights. He spoke with the unshakable tone of someone who had faced death countless times.
"Analysis," he commanded.
RC's voice was steady, though laced with calculation. "Following your destruction of the Iron Fang Sect, multiple forces are mobilizing. The Cloud Saber Sect has dispatched their sect master, Yun Qingshan, accompanied by twenty disciples. The Azure Spirit Hall has sent Lady Lan Yuer herself. Independent cultivators and bounty seekers are converging as well. Their shared objective is clear: investigate you… and if necessary, eliminate you."
Krish smirked faintly. His eyes glowed under the console's pale light. "So the world can't sit still anymore."
"Correction," RC said. "They categorize you as a destabilizing factor. Probability of open conflict: ninety-two percent."
Krish chuckled quietly, shaking his head. "Good. I want them to come. Let them bring their sects, their blades, their elders, their titles. None of it will matter when they stand before me."
He turned his gaze toward the wide cockpit window. The stars stared back, endless and cold, reflecting in his sharp eyes. For a long moment, he was silent, his expression unreadable. Then he spoke, his voice low and almost distant.
"These people don't know. They don't understand. If I told them, they wouldn't believe me." His lips curved into the faintest smile. "That I am older than all of them. That I have lived 2001 years already."
The words carried a weight heavier than steel. No boast, no arrogance—only truth.
---
Whispers in the World
Far below, rumors spread like wildfire.
At roadside inns, merchants spoke in hushed tones.
"They say he crushed Fang Tianlong's saber with his bare hand…"
"No, no, he rides a silver dragon that spits lightning!"
"He doesn't even cultivate, yet he is stronger than sect masters! How can that be?"
In Azure Spirit Hall, disciples knelt before Lady Lan Yuer, her moonlit beauty veiled behind icy calm. Her eyes glittered as she listened.
"A man who does not cultivate, yet surpasses leaders and elders," she murmured. "Such a one cannot be ignored. Whether demon or god, we must learn the truth."
Far north in the Cloud Saber Sect, Yun Qingshan's saber rang as he drew it half an inch from its sheath, the sound slicing the silence. His aura was sharp as mountain steel.
"An outsider overturns balance," he said coldly. "If left unchecked, he will make every sect tremble. Yun clan blades will taste his blood."
---
The Mortal Cultivation Stages
As the Silver Dragon sailed on, RC shifted his projection. A framework of glowing symbols filled the cabin, outlining the cultivation system of this world.
"This world operates on a twelve-stage mortal hierarchy," RC explained. "These stages are universally recognized across sects and clans."
1. Body Tempering – strengthening flesh and bones beyond mortal limits.
2. Qi Refining – drawing and storing the world's energy within.
3. Foundation Establishment – laying the stable roots of cultivation.
4. Core Formation – condensing a spirit core within the dantian.
5. Golden Core – refining that core into immense power.
6. Nascent Soul – forming a soul avatar that can exist outside the body.
7. Soul Transformation – refining and strengthening the nascent soul.
8. Spirit Severing – cutting mortal ties, stepping toward transcendence.
9. Void Fragmentation – shattering mortal limits of body and spirit.
10. Immortal Ascension – breaking the chains of mortality, entering the Immortal path.
11. Heavenly Dao Comprehension – aligning with universal laws, commanding the heavens.
12. Eternal Sage – the peak known to this world, bending reality itself.
RC paused, before adding: "In this land, very few reach Spirit Severing. Ascension is a myth. Eternal Sages are legends spoken in whispers."
---
The Immortal Path Beyond
The projection flickered, showing incomplete fragments of ancient texts.
"But," RC continued, "records also reveal stages beyond mortality. The Immortal Realms."
13. Loose Immortal – one who forcefully ascends, unstable, their life hanging by threads.
14. Earth Immortal – tied to the laws of nature, wielding authority over land and elements.
15. Heaven Immortal – aligned with the skies, channeling heavenly force with each breath.
16. True Immortal – perfected beings, flawless in body and dao, eternal in soul.
17. Mystic Immortal – masters of hidden truths, bending profound mysteries at will.
18. Golden Immortal – their light shines across realms; their souls cannot be extinguished.
19. Immortal Emperor – sovereign of all immortals, whose will commands ages, whose existence shapes eternity.
RC's voice grew quieter. "The people here cannot even imagine these stages. To them, Eternal Sage is the summit. But the Immortal path stretches endlessly beyond their grasp."
Krish's faint smile returned. "They chase crumbs and call it a feast. While I…" He clenched his fist, silver light sparking across his knuckles. "…I stand above them already. To these people, I am a storm that should not exist."
---
Return to Stone Fang
Krish guided the Silver Dragon back toward Stone Fang Town, the birthplace of his legend. Smoke still curled from the ruins of the Iron Fang Sect's halls, but the town bustled with strangers—cultivators from distant sects, spies hiding in taverns, bounty hunters lurking in alleys.
RC's sensors pulsed. "Warning. Estimated incoming coalition: three peak-stage elders, ten mid-stage cultivators, forty disciples. Arrival imminent."
Krish rolled his shoulders, joints cracking. "A warm-up, then."
He left the Silver Dragon cloaked above the clouds, descending into the town alone. His boots struck the dusty ground with unshaken confidence.
The marketplace fell silent. Old Man Wu, the tea seller, nearly dropped his cup when he saw him.
"You… you've returned," Wu whispered, voice trembling. "The sects are coming. Why risk it?"
Krish accepted a steaming cup, sipping calmly. "Because this is where it started. And if they want to face me, let it be here."
---