Upon waking Xing Zheng had discovered himself on the tallest mountain in the Azure Rain Sword Sect. Leaving the small cave abode Xing Zheng found a middle-aged man meditating at the very peak of the mountain. The man sat in a lotus position with his dark azure robe completely dry even though a drizzle fell everywhere even on this peak.

Examining the man Xing Zheng was surprised to discover he was of medium build and physically he seemed to be around Xing Zheng’s age. However the power radiating off him bespoke a different story, it was an ancient power one that had seen rain weather away from the tallest mountain. After speaking with his savior Xing Zheng was astonished to find out that the founder of the Azure Rain Sword Sect was this man and he was a Nascent Soul realm cultivator who had retired to this lesser region to cultivate in seclusion.

The man had grown lonely cultivating in isolation and so had taken some disciples many years ago which eventually led to the establishment of the sect. Eventually, even without active recruiting, word had spread of a powerful sect in the drifting mist mountain range of the twisted territories and so many came to join growing the sect little by little. The man was named Lin Qiu and he had reached the Nascent Soul realm 10,000 years ago.

If not for the absurd amount of power the man was displaying, Xing Zheng might not have believed him. Even for his clan, whose empire stretched over a far larger region than the twisted territories, having a few Qi Condensation ancestors with an initial step foundation stage supreme ancestor was already extraordinary. As far as Xing Zheng knew, even the overseer of the entire Supreme Greater Region, an area that consisted of 30,000 lesser territories ( One Lesser Region = approx. 153,692,352 Km2, 300 Lesser Regions = One Greater Region, 100 Greater = One Supreme Greater Region), was a peak Core Formation Cultivator. Nascent Soul level figures could slay foundation stage cultivators in the millions and destroy dozens of Supreme Greater Regions if angered.

How had someone so powerful ended up in this backwater Lesser Region? Lin Qiu had been less than forthcoming about this matter and had instead offered to take him as a direct disciple. It turned out what Xing Zheng had done in his last offense against the insect swarm had been enlightenment through directly touching the Dao Laws that governed Lin Qiu’s Azure Rain Sword style.

Touching Dao Laws, Lin Qiu had explained, was something cultivators normally only did regularly at the nascent soul stage, perhaps at the core formation stage if they were talented. To touch the Dao Laws, and at that, the ones associated directly with Lin Qiu’s sword style, at the mere mortal realms meant that Xing Zheng truly had some fate with cultivating this path. Thus began Xing Zheng’s path as the youngest member of the Azure Rain Sword Sect to become a legacy disciple of the Patriarch.

Immediately Lin Qui gave him a cave abode on his mountain and instructed him to meditate on his enlightenment to break through to the master martial artist realm. It only took Xing Zheng nine days of meditation to increase the number of raindrops he could see to the limit of the small success stage, 1,000 raindrops a second, and breakthrough to the master realm. This enlightenment attained through touching the Dao Laws had been truly heaven-defying, accomplishing in nine days what he had failed to do in 15 bitter years of cultivation!

Lin Qiu had been full of praise for him and had immediately given him the 10,000 Drops Birthed from the Sword technique and the 10,000 Years of Looping Rain Weathered the Mountain Cycling technique. The Sword technique benefited greatly from Xing Zheng’s small success with his Rain Reflecting 10,000 Visions Mental technique as it directly combined the martial artist's swordsmanship with the mental exercise to mark each point. Each marked point would act like a raindrop the user had perceived and their sword could flow through to hit each perceived point without the worry of missing allowing for an incredibly fluid and swift assault.

Now that Xing Zheng had reached the master realm he could actively control his mental energy to cycle into his dantian allowing him to generate the qi of heaven and earth which allow him to generate phantom attacks, by starting an attack and injecting qi into it which would carry a qi phantom to finish that attack. Simultaneously hitting with his physical weapon through a completely different path of attack. This would multiply the speed and number of his sword strikes while rapidly draining his mental energy. In this way, Xing Zheng had spent the last 128 years studying the Azure Rain Sword style honing his mastery of these three techniques.

During this time he progressed to the grandmaster martial artist realm and then further to the Supreme Grandmaster martial artist realm. After progressing to Supreme Grandmaster Xing Zheng had spent the last century strengthening his cultivation to finally make the breakthrough from the mortal realms. Finally, he felt as if the first true steps of his immortal journey would begin.

Thinking back, all those years ago he had been utterly awed by the qi condensation ancestor coming to oversee the heir assessment Xing Zheng couldn’t help but feel that this all may be a dream. He, the discarded trash of the clan, was now about to rise to the same cultivation stage as that revered figure. A broad smile attached to Xing Zheng’s face as he started up the mountain path reviewing all the preparations for today.

Today the tribulation of ascension was his alone to face everything that had to be set up on his mountain peak by his own hands. The heavens were already angry enough when a mortal upturned them to ascend let alone when one tried to do it by receiving outside help. His master had told him the stories of countless powerful cultivators who had brought their entire sects to ruin by trying to cheat the heaven’s will and secretly receive help. No Xing Zheng would be facing the heavens on his terms today.

Checking over his equipment Xing Zheng listed them quickly. Firstly a set of formation flags, that would form a defensive shield of neutral energy, with enough spirit stones to power them equivalent to his current qi levels. Next, he had his sect robes that offered a defensive power strong enough to black anything under the master martial artist realm and eased conversion of qi to elementally aligned qi. Finally, his prized possession was his azure water sword strapped to his side in its deep blue azure sheath.

This sword was a quasi Nascent magical treasure that was equal to a supreme qi treasure. Each one of Lin Qiu’s direct disciples received one of these swords personally refined by him using his nascent fire. The Azure Water Sword was the most precious thing Xing Zheng owned and when he used his Azure Rain Sword style in conjunction with it the techniques displayed 140% increased effectiveness.

Speaking of technique, Xing Zheng, in preparation for this tribulation, had solely focused on increasing his attainment in his core three techniques those being: rain reflecting 10,000 visions, 10,000 Drops Birthed from the Sword technique, and 10,000 years of looping rain weathered all of which he had attained master level attainment in.

Working his way up the mountain path Xing Zheng cleared his mind of all emotions becoming one with the rain that fell counting each drop within 3 feet of him. Centering himself in such a state the peak of the mountain seemed to arrive in mere moments. Determination was all that remained today, Xing Zheng’s true journey towards the Eternal Dao would start or end there was simply no other result.