Xing Zheng calmly observed the sight below him as he descended through the sky on his Azure Water Sword using his vital treasure link with it to move it in the air while he stood atop it. Below him stood a grand palace that stretched on for miles around with layers of pavilions and smaller buildings were arranged. From the highest points of the palaces waved endless banners of gold with a black sword shaped like a lightning bolt emblazoned on them, lighting clearing shapes around the sword represented sword shadows that were birthed from the black lightning sword.

It had been 786 years since Xing Zheng had seen this place with its high flying standards. The gold that gilded every surface and intricate calligraphy work that decorated all the window panes was just as pristine as then if not more. On the stone paved pathways murals of fierce generals lead thousands of men into battle against all manner of foes from beasts to enemy countries. Each of these murals contained a historic event in the empire's history, a great triumph or military event that had been cemented in the now almost 11,000 years since the empire's inception.

Technically the empire was two centuries shy of 11,000 years of history but it was close enough in Xing Zheng’s approximation. This palace complex was of course the main palace of the Xing empire of whose royal lineage included Xing Zheng himself. Now just a hundred or so meters off the ground he regarded the military procession gathered to welcome his homecoming.

The irony of this grand welcome juxtaposed with the way he had been thrown to the wayside by the clan was not lost on him. When he had been an obstacle they were willing to throw him away like yesterday's trash, now that he was a vaunted ‘immortal’ who could disdain them from above with power they plied him with milk and honey. Of course his master, Lin Qiu, had disposed him of the idea that Qi condensation cultivators were immortal. Apparently until achieving true immortal status cultivators were referred to as “ spirit realm cultivators” as they cultivated the spirit realms of Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul and Supreme Unity.

Upon first discovering that one did not achieve the state of a true immortal multiple realms higher than his master, who had already lived for over 10,000 years, Xing Zheng had felt like he had truly been the frog in the well his entire life. If one needed 10,000 years to become a nascent soul cultivator how long then to achieve the supreme unity stage above that? And then to break through supreme unity and cast off mortality becoming a true immortal?

Doing this must take hundreds of thousands of years! This amount of time was truly incomprehensible to his mind, truly an amount of time that saw the formation and weathering of mountains and seas. Bringing his attention back to the procession he had to admit it was impressive and most likely intimidating to the mortal realm martial artist. The grand army of the Xing Empire was on full display spears held in steady parade stance pointing to the heavens, officers on proud fully armored and ornamented horses stood at the head of their columns.

In the center head of the grand army procession stood a single figure with long hair, his eyes were a deep brown and his gaze was sharp giving one the impression two swords were stabbing into their soul when his eyes were met. He wore steel grey robes with a crest that was a yellow lightning cloud with a black sword shaped like lighting on top of it, his brother Xing Hai the current mortal emperor of the Xing Empire. In the gentle blowing breeze Xing Zheng noticed his brother's once dark black hair was now filled with streaks of white and the wrinkles of age spotted his once perfect and fiercely handsome face.

Behind Xing Hai stood a group of men who looked old yet young, they carried themselves like wizened old sages and their hair was low cut having completely turned white. Most of them wore robes not of the Xing Empire but with personal crests and colors ranging from tigers to dragons and from the darkest reds to the brightest whites with all colors in between.

These men Xing Zheng had never met however he knew them to be the Xing clan ancestors, those emperors who had held his brothers position and ascended to qi condensation prolonging their life and retiring from the mortal world. In this way they were able to circumvent the nonintervention policy expected of most righteous path cultivation organizations, ordering their mortal descendants to do their bidding while controlling them from the shadows.

This was something of an open secret between the cultivation forces within the Xing Empire although it had surprised Xing Zheng when he had questioned his master on how the Xing Empire ruled this territory. Apparently the Xing Empire was a part of the large area known as the All Realms Supreme Greater Region which was ruled by an immortal sect known as the Beast tamer sect. However with such a large area to rule the Beast tamer sect could not directly manage all of it so allowed local forces to control small portions of the All Realms Supreme Greater Region and simply demanded a certain portion of resources as tribute from those powers.

To determine these local rulers the Beast Tamer Sect had allowed all of the smaller powers to contest territory using their mortal descendants forbidding anyone who was in a spirit realm or higher to compete. This policy allowed the forces to fight while not involving anyone powerful enough to do real damage to the assets of the territory as fights between high level cultivators tend to decimate large swaths of land destroying their resources. Like this the Xing Empire had risen through the excellence of their mortal descendants from a mix of smaller kingdoms absorbing them one at a time until it became the superpower it was today.

This was one of the reasons many of the sect’s accepted the larger empires ruling these areas and bargained with them for their sect lands. Although these sect’s might have the power to destroy the Xing Empire they in turn had the backing of the Beast Tamer Sect who was far more powerful than any local super power. Would their backers simply remain quiet while the Xing Empire was assaulted by hostile cultivators and in the process letting their precious territory resources go to waste?

Certainly not, in that case the Beast Tamer Sect would annihilate then using some old Nascent soul cultivator. This reminded Xing Zheng of just how powerful his master was; normally he was the level of existence that could not be contained in an organization smaller than the Beast Tamer Sect possibly larger. Speaking of larger organizations he had been astonished to find out that the Beast Tamer Sect likewise only ruled a portion of the territory controlled by an even larger super sect!

Larger super sect’s allowed smaller immortal sects like the Beast Tamer Sect to battle in much the same way they allowed the mortal kingdoms to fight over territory only their battle usually allowed fighters up to the limits of the spirit realm. Only True Immortal and above cultivators were barred from fighting over territory at that level. Wars between sects on that level were said to only happen every hundreds of thousands of years and sometimes even a million years might pass without one! However when they happened the battles decimated entire regions, singular strikes from cultivators of that level would destroy the entire Xing Empire hundreds of times over.

Lin Qiu had also hinted to him that even the Super Sect that was above the Beast Tamer Sect fought for its territory under an overlord in a similar fashion however he never directly said as such. The possibility truly worried Xing Zheng, what would happen if true immortals actually fought? Wouldn’t that level of power unravel all of creation?

In any case the ancestor cultivators of the Xing clan had been using this power structure to extract resources from their mortal empire while allowing them to save face in front of the cultivation world. Most of them didn’t even consider themselves a part of the Xing Empire anymore and simply viewed it as their own personal resources and thus they wore their own personal colors to this procession.

They had come here today to evaluate him and let him know that he was still an outsider as he had not ascended in the clan and thus should not expect to split the empire's resources, his sect should still do the job of raising his cultivation. In other words they were here to bully him and his brother’s 800’th birthday. Thinking of this he finally got to the ground and landed in front of his brother, their eyes meeting.

“Elder Brother, it's truly been too long! How is your health, are you doing well?” Xing Zheng greeted his brother with a smile and open arms, he truly held no animosity for him only wanting to reconnect old familial ties. He knew he had a short time left, his brother had never felt he could succeed in ascending the tribulation of Qi Condensation and as such was still a mortal Supreme Grandmaster. Although this realm extended his life 800 years was pushing the limits of his age and he most likely did not have many left. With his brother's life drawing to a close Xing Zheng had truly felt the need to reconnect with him in his final years.

“Welcome honored brother, the ancestors and I have been waiting to see you. I apologize for our lack of communication. The campaigns have kept me busy as I assume your pursuit of the Eternal Dao has kept you. Come let us have a celebration, it has been hundreds of years and you're coming home! We are the only siblings left from our heir assessment truly we were meant to walk the path side by side brother!” Xing Hai met him with the same jovial energy and happiness he had exuded; however Xing Zheng could hear the tiredness and age in his expression.

“ Greetings nephew Zheng” an aged voice came from one of the ancestors, a man who looked only about 20 years old but whose eyes spoke of hundreds of years of wisdom long pure white hair flowing down his back, surprisingly he was dressed in formal Xing clan martial robes with the Xing Empire crest emblazoned on the back “I won’t shorten your time with Nephew Hai I hear you have much to catch up on however when you find time I and the other Ancestors would speak with you. Currently we are staying in the Jade lightning palace please come when you have the time”

With that said the man raised his Qi aura for a moment and Xing Zheng was shocked to feel his cultivation base, Core Formation realm! To Xing Zheng’s knowledge the strongest ancestor was at the realm of peak Formation Establishment and he had heard no news of someone breaking into Core Formation. It seemed there truly were crouching tigers and hidden dragons everywhere even in mortal empires.

“Of course honored ancestor I shall visit upon my earliest convenience” saying the words Xing Zheng bowed to show his respects, he had contempt for these men and their scheming however he saw no reason to be rude or raise their ire.

With this the ancestors all mounted flying swords and rushed away with so much speed that they created great shockwaves of air knocking down the two nearest columns of soldiers and nearly causing some of them to be impaled upon each other's weapons. Sweeping his gaze around Xing Zheng truly was impressed at how large the stone paved parade ground was, it had to at least be 5 km wide and tall, truly a large enough space to practice army maneuvers in.

With the ancestors gone Xing Zheng followed his brother to a set of pavilions that were setup in the middle of the army on the parade ground. Inside flew the colors of gold and black intertwining the roofs of the pavilions while golden and black flames spouted from torches in amusing patterns accentuating dancers and musicians so numerous and loud they seemed to dwarf the army. All around good food and wine flowed and he spent the night celebrating with his brother. Xing Hai did tire after just a few hours and retired to the palace leaving Xing Zheng to mingle with the younger members of the family, those who were too young to be involved in the scheming.

Doing so lifted his heart, it had been hundreds of years since he enjoyed himself to this extent and while he had never been one with a great love of music and dance he did not disdain them either. In this way 2 days of celebration passed and with Xing Zheng’s peak Qi Condensation cultivation he did not feel the least bit tired. He was enjoying showing the younger generation some sword basics with a wooden sword on the morning of the third day when his brother found him with a serious expression on his face.

“Brother I understand there are things we have not spoken of. Time has truly torn too great a rift I think for me to mend, however upon reflection I have a way to do so. Would you do me the favor of meditating in a practice chamber for a day. I fear you will stop these preparations if you see them but I feel it must be done!” Xing Hai spoke in a firm voice, the voice of his elder brother sang true to Xing Zheng

“Brother what you ask is a pittance, a day of my time? Bah take a year, those scheming men have kept you busy working and campaigning in the military all these years such that even your heaven defying talent could not breakthrough yet! Come to the sect with me on reprieve we have ways to relieve your bodies ails and help you raise your realm. I will personally do everything to guarantee you ascend to the spirit realms!” Xing Zheng offered, he truly had no enmity with his brother and after speaking with the family and finding out the ancestors had suppressed his brother so much by giving him as little time to cultivate as possible his anger at them had been stirred.

“The life of an emperor is for her people, brother… I regret not the time spent securing our borders and keeping the peace. In my place the ancestors have already decided who will ascend the throne, little choice to me besides” Xing Hai surprisingly smiled and poked him in the stomach with a finger “since when do you talk back to your older brother, simply listen and I’ll show you something good!”

As Xing Hai walked away flanked by his bodyguards Xing Zheng could not help but wonder at the sadness he sensed behind his brother's smile. He had tried to put up a strong front but obviously something was bothering him that could not be spoken of in the open. Figuring there was little that could be done about the matter at present Xing Zheng mounted his flying sword and flew to the Xing Clan main family training grounds.

Landing in the dirty training ground that was full of young hopeful Xing sons emotion stirred deep in his chest. The training grounds were sectioned off with low wooden fences that had gates with a banner holding the Xing Crest at each corner of the squared fencing. Inside the fences was a 25m by 25m bare dirt clearing where young fighters could spar and even have small group fights.

These training arenas were stacked together horizontally with the back edge of the training grounds being lined with small 10m by 10m wooden meditation and resting huts that served for small breaks and as sleeping quarters for those staying multiple days to train techniques. Opposite the huts were racks lined with practice spears, swords and other assorted weapons which gave way in the center to the path that led into the grounds. Sighing Xing Zheng chose one of the huts that was not occupied and assumed a lotus position choosing to meditate for the day.

Upon rousing the next morning a runner informed him that preparations had taken longer than Xing Hai had anticipated for his surprise event and asked Xing Zheng to give pointers to the younger generation. Meanwhile Xing Hai would send a summons for him when he was ready. Not being the type to complain, Xing Zheng set about gathering the youths in the grounds and giving them a few pointers on sword techniques.

It was not only sword techniques as a cultivator who ascended the mortal realms Xing Zheng’s understanding of spears, sabers and even unarmed techniques was incredibly solid and more than enough to instruct the young Xing martial artists who did not favor the sword. While he was busy showing them a particular set of 18 palm techniques that had been famous in ancient times his summons came and with it thunder sounded high in the sky heralding the dark clouds that now blanketed the horizon.

By the time Xing Zheng arrived in the parade grounds it was pouring rain, the water seemed to fall upon his robes yet run off him without wetting him. Arriving Xing Zheng stood at the foot of a stairway leading up to a towering dais from all sides forming a wide and short flat topped pyramid. At the four corners of the pyramid were lit blazing bonfires that burned with black flames casting an eerie light on the ground and stage. Surrounding the stage stood row upon row of Xing Clan Soldiers, an army that was ten times the size of the military procession gathered for his welcoming, they belted a rhythmic chant some beating on drums that vibrated the downpour of rain.

Eyes questioning Xing Zheng slowly ascended the stairs, the downpour of rain a company now instead of the foe it had once been. In the solitude of the round's fury all other sounds seemed to drown out as he approached the flattened stage atop the pyramid like dais. There in the center sat his brother with only pants and a pitch black sword laid across his lap.

“Xing Hai what is the meaning of this? What do you mean to do?” Xing Zheng’s eyes were wide at this point in confusion, did his brother mean to try to kill him with these mortal troops? He might now be able to kill all of them but if he truly meant to escape they had little to stop him.

“I challenge you as a fellow scion of Xing to a duel! The emperor challenges you, do you answer?” Xing Hai spoke with a thunderous voice qi flexing into the words, each word sent out a shockwave that formed a dent in the cascading rain.

“Why Brother? To what end are you doing this?” Xing Zheng bellowed in a fury unable to understand what had brought this on

“Hmph I am the emperor I need no reason, my will enough is reason! Guard yourself!” With that the air cracked as Xing Hai seemed to turn into a streak of lightning, a streak of black the inside the yellow light from his qi the only sign of his sword as it hissed forward.

Xing Zheng felt the pressure of the sword coming forward and also saw the slight shimmer of its edge, this was the hidden secret of the Xing Clan sword style. At high levels of mastery the heat of the lightning imbued into the sword was large enough to make mirages in the air. If manipulated correctly it would throw off the opponents perception of the strike by small margins making the lightning fast cuts and thrusts almost impossible to block.

With a sigh Xing Zheng brought his sword fingers up with his right hand and issued a single slashing motion outward. Although Xing Hai moved fast with Xing Zheng’s much higher cultivation realm and techniques gained from his nascent soul master it was as if the “lightning fast” Xing clan sword style was standing still. With the single sword finger slash Xing Zheng pushed his qi into his 10,000 Drops Birthed from the Sword technique and projected 1,000 sword phantoms of the slash outward in all directions.

The force of these sword phantoms scattered his brother's techniques with the rest of the strikes hitting his qi defenses and causing deep cuts. Quickly he pushed his sword into the ground skidding to the right of Xing Zheng who had now calmly walked halfway to the center of the platform. Xing Hai frowned deeply and rose to his feet raising his sword once again.

“Surely you see there is no point in continuing?” Xing Zheng said irritably, this was not a fight he had come here to have

“Brother we once pursued the martial peak together, will you disrespect me so? If you have any love left for me then give me face here today, this is my most powerful technique! Let this old man see the peak of the world before I meet my end! Let it be at the hands of a master, not at the scheming of clerks and bankers!” Xing Hai Bellowed and raised his sword in salute black lightning flickered on the blade as he sheathed it

Xing Zheng recognized the technique but also didn't, it was the same technique that had given him his scar but it had been mastered to the extreme. He had heard from Lin Qui that once a technique was mastered to a certain extent one could start customizing it to be a wholly original version suited to the user, increasing the ability of even lower ranked techniques by leaps and bounds. Indeed Xing Zheng felt this strike would have broken through his previous defensive move with ease.

“So be it… Disappear with the rain!” Xing Zheng spent softly however with the amount of qi he pushed into the words each one pressed down on the entire parade ground like a mountain.

Focusing inward, Xing Zheng gathered all of his qi, starting to activate his meridian inscriptions. One by one he poured qi into them as he started with the first three he had ever inscribed. These qi condensation meridians had each of his core techniques , his cycling, sword and mental technique, inscribed on them making them twice as effective and cost half of the energy control and use.

Next came the 6 meridians that contain 3 pairs of energy formation cores and an area control technique known as 10,000 Drops Birth the Void. This technique took control of the ambient qi that he had used in previous techniques, drawing it and using it to generate more Azure Sword Qi and disperse it in the air. The next two were mental energy control cores inscribed into his meridians to each add how much energy his mental energy could control over again onto what he could do( ie if he could control 100 units of qi with 10 units of mental energy each core makes that 10 units of mental energy control 100 more units of qi combining to 300 in total) with both meridian cores activated. Finally was the main technique core inscribed in the last meridian he had opened on his journey through qi condensation.

This formation, whose cores were spread through his meridians, were the result of painstaking cultivation he had undergone. During most of his cultivation in Qi condensation setting up his meridians to power this formation technique had made him weaker than imbuing them with stronger techniques that directly increase battle power, although the cores could be used separately to aid him so would other techniques and cultivation methods. The real power lay in the An Instant Births 10,000 Epochs of Rain technique formation core inscribed into his final core.

A strike that would gather all the ambient qi used by him and his opponent over the course of a battle multiple it and form 10,000 sword phantoms for each attack he had made during the battle, each phantom strike twice as powerful as the original blows. Normally this technique was activated after a longer fight and would leave him completely exhausted and unable to fight for a few hours, with his current 1,000 techniques turning into 10,000,000 he figured it would consume about 25% of his reserves. His brother had asked him for this strongest blow as a martial artist and technically this was the strongest attack he could do this now on the instant.

With the formation cores full of energy Xing Zheng activated the technique. Instantly hundreds of thousands of sword phantoms formed in the sky above the stage, blocking out the sky. So saturated with Azure Sword Qi were the phantoms that they dripped condensation qi which turned into mini swords so sharp they pierced the stage as they fell in a drizzle.

With a single motion Xing Zheng drew his Azure Water Sword and unleashed the technique through it at 140% the power it would have been. The world became black for Xing Hai as he charged into the storm of sword, his black lighting strike cleaving through thousands and thousands of sword strikes, little by little he was eroded and chipped, turning the world black as he felt his body reducing to dust.

Following the technique Xing Zheng raised his sword in a salute to his brother before sheathing it, somehow through sheer force of will Xing Hai’s body was holding together. He stumbled close to Xing Zheng and clasped a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry brother, this was the only way. The ancestors they… have my son, thought I'd rebel if I ascended. It seems your martial path will be a lonely one… my condolences. Show them brother… our dream of reaching the apex… carry my spirit with you” Xing Hai whispered the words forcing his essence to keep his body intact long enough to speak dissolving into dust at the final one.

Xing Hai’s son? He had never spoken of him nor had Xing Zheng been made aware he had a nephew! With this revelation Xing Zheng’s head was sent spinning, with his anger and fury boiling to the maximum he sent out a wordless roar that thundered into the stormy sky, imbued with such force and Qi that it flattened the entire army that had gathered to witness this moment. Xing Zheng vowed then and there he would see these ancestors pay for what they had done to his brother. With this he sent a talisman to his master informing him that he would be pursuing demonic cultivators in the Xing Empire for the next century, he needed time to get close to the ancestors and there was nothing they liked better than a loyal dog doing their bidding.