Snow had always fallen early in Northern Liang.
Before the markets grew noisy.
Before the soldiers rotated at the gates.
Before the palace braziers burned hot enough to chase away the mountain wind.
It fell quietly – like a secret the heaven wished to keep.
In the northern courtyard of the Liang Palace, a young man stood alone beneath a withered plum tree. His robes were thick, white fur trimmed at the collar, but the cold still touched his face. He did not mind.
He preferred the cold.
Xu Fengnian exhaled slowly.
A thin stream of white mist left his lips and drifted into the snowfall. His eyes followed the way each snowflake spiraled downward - not straight, not chaotic - each one guided by some invisible current in the air.
He reached out a hand.
A single flake landed upon his palm.
For a moment, it di not melt.
His gaze sharpened.
Strange...
He closed his fingers gently.
When he opened them again, the snowflake had turned into a thin shard of frost.
It melted a breath later.
Xu Fengnian lowered his hand.
He was sixteen this winter.
In Northern Liang, that meant little. Sons of generals were already breaking horses. Clan heirs were opening meridians. Sect disciples from neighboring territories were rumored to condense Qi by fourteen.
He however, was known for something else.
The "idle prince."
The wondering youth.
The one more interested in poetry and travel than power.
That was how the court saw him.
It was how he wished to be seen.
But beneath this calm exterior, something had begun to stir.
The First Stirring
Xu Fengnian sat cross-legged beneath the plum tree and closed his eyes.
His breathing slowed.
Within his body, darkness stretched wide.
Then-
A fainted thread of warmth flickered near his lowered abdomen.
The Dantian.
It was barely perceptible. A thin mist. No thicker than a strand of silk.
He had discovered it three nights ago.
No master had guided him.
No scripture had been hand3d to him.
He had simple watched the snowfall long enough... until something insided responded.
In the martial world of the Lower Mortal Plane, cultivation began with Qi Gathering. Most required manuals, sect instruction, years of breathing exercises.
Xu Fengnian had none of those.
Yet the Qi answered him.
Not fiercely.
Not obediently.
But curiously.
It circled slowly, like drifting snow caught in a courtyard spiral.
His brows furrowed slightly.
The Qi did not move like he had heard described by wandering cultivators.
It did not rush like fire.
It did not surge like thunder.
It drifted.
Quiet.
Cold.
Patient.
He guided it gently towards his first meridian.
The moment it touched -
A sharp sting.
Not violent.
But precise.
Like frost forming along a vein.
Xu Fengnian's breath trembled.
He did not stop.
The Qi spread thinner, coating the inner wall of his meridian.
Then -
The pain vanished.
In its place was clarity.
His hearing sharpened.
He could hear guards shifting armor outside the courtyard.
He could hear wind scraping along the roof tiles.
He could hear the distant howl of something beyond the northern wall.
A beast.
Small.
But restless.
He opened his eyes slowly.
Snow continued falling.
But now he noticed something else.
Each snowflake curved slightly as it neared him.
Not enough to alarm.
But enough to recognize.
He did not smile.
He only watched.
Something within had awakened.
Something aligned with winter itself.
The World Beyond Northern Liang
Northern Liang was only one territory among many.
Travelers spoke of Nine Continents within the Lower Mortal Plane:
• Azure East Continent – land of river sects and water-based cultivation.
• Blazing South Continent – volcanic fields and fire clans.
• Golden Central Continent – merchant empires and imperial academies.
• Shadow Western Continent – assassins, desert kingdoms.
• Northern Liang Continent – frontier lands and beast territories.
• Storm Isle Continent – archipelagos ruled by lightning sects.
• Verdant Wood Continent – ancient forests and spirit beasts.
• Frozen Deep Continent – far beyond Liang's borders, said to touch eternal ice.
• Fallen Star Continent – rumored ruin of an ancient celestial war.
But these were distant names.
Xu Fengnian had only seen Northern Liang's endless snowfields and fortress cities.
To him, the world was still small.
And that was how the story would begin.
A Subtle Warning
That night, as he slept, he dreamed.
He stood upon a broken battlefield.
The sky above was not blue – but fractured.
Massive chains stretched across the heaven.
Beneath them lay enormous figures, buried under ice and stone.
Thier eyes were closed.
One eyelid trembled.
Xu Fengnian felt something cold press against his spine.
A voice – not loud – but ancient.
"Snow... returns..."
He woke instantly.
Cold sweat lined his back.
Outside his chamber, snow fell heavier than before.
Far above the Lower Mortal Plane, unseen by Mortal eyes –
A faint ripple stirred within the Immortal Upper Plane.
The Immortal Upper Plane (Unseen)
Within a realm layered above mortal perception, an endless expanse of floating islands drifted in silver mist.
This was the Immortal Upper Plane.
Hierarchies existed there far beyond mortal understanding:
1. True Immortals
2. Dao Lords
3. Immortal Kings
4. Celestial Sovereign
5. Heaven Mandate Kepper
Above even them...
The Heavenly Dao Court.
Where laws were woven.
Where tribulations were decided.
A minor fluctuation echoed through the Dao threads.
A Heaven Mandate Keeper opened his eyes.
"Snow attribute resonance... from the Lower Mortal Plane?"
He closed his eyes again.
Too small to intervene.
For now.
The 400-Rank Path (Whispered Foundation)
In truth, the universe operated on a scale far beyond what mortal sect manuals described.
Cultivation was not merely divided into realms.
It was structured across 400 Ranks.
Grouped into Eight Major Tiers
1 – 50: Mortal Foundation
51 – 100: Earthly Dao
101 – 150: Heavenly Dao
151 – 200: Immortal Transformation
201 – 250: Immortal Lord
251 – 300: Celestial Sovereign
301 – 350: Primordial Law
351 – 400: Dao Origin
But such knowledge was sealed.
Fragments of it existed in ancient ruins.
And somewhere, buried beneath the snow of Northern Liang..
A broken stele bearing Rank markings lay forgotten.
Xu Fengnian knew none of this
Yet the Qi within him moved... differently.
As if it belonged to a path long erased.
Snowblade Dao – The First Hint
The next morning, Xu Fengnian visited the outer training grounds.
A minor noble youth mocked him.
"A prince who does not cultivate is merely decoration."
Xu Fengnian said nothing.
He picked up a wooden practice sword.
He swung.
Clumsy.
Ordinary.
But when the blade cut through air –
Frost traced its path.
Thin.
Fleeting.
Gone In a breath.
The instructor blinked.
"Wind?" he muttered.
Xu Fengnian lowered the sword.
He felt it again.
Not wind.
Not ice.
Something quieter.
Snow does not conquer like fire.
It buries.
It accumulates.
It waits.
Unseen.
Until mountains disappear.
The first thread of his Dao stirred.
Not fully formed.
Not yet named.
But the beginning of –
Snowblade Dao.
Beneath the Palace
Far below the Liang Palace foundation...
Deep within ancient bedrock...
A circular formation flickered faintly.
Nine chains radiated outward
At the center –
A fragment of divine bone.
Carved with characters older than the Nine Continents.
A sealed ancient god stirred slightly.
Just slightly.
The chains tightened.
Snow fell heavier above.
End of Chapter 1
The prince of Northern Liang stood in a courtyard of falling snow.
He did not know:
• The Nine Continents would one day kneel.
• The Immortal Upper Plane had taken notice.
• Sealed gods slumbered beneath his homeland.
• The 400-Rank Path would awaken through him.
• The Snowblade Dao had chosen its bearer.
For now –
He was only a young man.
Watching snow fall.
And learning how to breathe with it.