On a sleepless night, there was a fire raging in the castle of a Kingdom. Its fiery blaze could be seen from the stars as it illuminated the night sky and its soldiers fending off foreign invaders.

Sitting on the steps of a dimly lit throne hall, an elegantly dressed scholar with a chiselled face fanned himself questioned the silhouettes approaching him “So Long Li, you would sell your own people to its enemies for a worthless throne?”

“Not for the throne. But for the relic that you’ve supposedly found in the ancient ruin.” With a devilish grin, the person named Long Li who was leading the group stepped closer to the scholar,

“Ah, that makes more sense. If it existed it should be worth more than this throne after all. But if I had it, what makes you think I’ll ever give it to you?” The scholar stroke his chin and smirked.

“Hand it over and we’ll end your life quickly, otherwise when we detach your head from your body, we’ll bind your soul to eternal torment.” Long Li demanded with a menacing smile.

“Eternal Torment? You dare speak to me of time? Do you not know my title? Brazenly marching into my castle, and threatening me with empty words. I suppose I’ve been an excellent host up till now, I shall now send you off. Forcefully of course.” The scholar snorted, snapped his bamboo fan shut and pointed it towards the unruly mob before him.

“Guh…”

“Ahh!”

The group of people that who had followed Long Li to confront the scholar started groaning. Within seconds, their bodies had aged decades their hair started turning white as their skin shrivelled up and withered. The scarred man watched with widened eyes as their silvery white hair started falling off their heads and their flesh started to decay. Leaving nothing but their bones and valuables.

Long Li’s eyes widened in shock, the group that had followed him had already ascended from being mere mortals, it was highly unusual for them to die from old age due to their extremely long lifespans.

“Understand your place peasant. I’m letting you live because it's distasteful to kill clan members.” The scholar elegantly flicked his wrist to open the fan, and resumed fanning himself.

“You think too highly of yourself Withering Sage of the Long Clan. Have you forgotten about the strongest warriors from the neighbouring kingdoms? The strongest from almost all of the kingdoms in the vicinity have banded together to take that relic away from you.” The scarred man sneered.

“Hmm, I see. Leaving you alive would be a hindrance then.”

“Wait! No!” Long Li desperately shouted. He had made a fatal mistake, initially, he was pardoned by the scholar known as the Withering Sage. But his unbridled provocations would now cause his death.

“A man must take responsibility for his actions, a blockhead like you wouldn’t understand though.” Long Li’s life quickly faded with a mere wave of the Sage’s hand.

However, Long Li’s words lingered in his mind.

“I can handle the enemies from the immediate North, South and West. But if the Eastern Sage comes into play which he most certainly will…” While deep in thought, the Sage furrowed his brow, it appears he was in dire circumstances.

The Withering Sage heaved a sigh and decisively stilled his heart and mind for the decision which he was soon to make.

He raised his palm and collected the valuables from his withered enemies and took out a tiny colourless gem which was no larger than his pinky. He then took out an old withered satchel from his robes and fed everything into the gem.

The gem greedily devoured everything and barely changed at all.

“Incredible! It devoured resources equivalent to an entire Kingdom's fortune! Furthermore, it’s now red...” The old man was shocked by the colour change of the gem, but he was flabbergasted by the gem’s capacity for treasures.

“Crash!”

The ceiling of the throne hall caved in and numerous legendary figures jumped in, each individual giving off an oppressive aura and bursting with power.

“Withering Sage, or rather, Long Xia. Your Long clan is on the verge of extinction and your empire is about to be razed. Hand over the rumoured relic and we will quickly end your life.” A gold-clad full-armoured knight shouted. It appeared that he was the leader of the group.

“Hahaha! You old fogeys would invade my kingdom just for a relic that may not even exist? F*ck your ancestors, you lying snakes! You’re clearly here to pillage and rob my kingdom for all of its wealth! To think we all sat down and called ourselves the Wuxia Alliance and proclaim that we were a righteous and just!” The Withering Sage maniacally laughed and mocked the figures in front of him.

“Such audacity! You will answer for your crimes!”

“Hahaha! I answer to no man or god! You imbeciles have dulled over time! It’s time for you to disappear!” In a crazed fervor, the Withering Sage shrieked. Blood ooze from every pore of his body and boiled away, shrouding him in a bloody red mist.

“The bastard’s was buying time to burn his longevity blood!”

“F*cking bastard! Use all your defensive treasures! Burn your longevity blood as well!”

“You battle senses have all dulled! Hiding behind the curtains and making moves like bickering old men is your downfall! This place shall be your burial site!” The Withering Sage declared as he started making hand signs in the air. With each hand sign made, a bloody red rune appeared and circled him and he aged several years.

“He’s attacking!” Shouted the gold-clad warrior.

But it was already too late the Sage deftly completed all the hand signs causing the blood runes exploded, unleashing a massive explosion that obliterated everything within a 500 li radius.

The legendary figures had mostly burst into pools of blood, with barely a handful of survivors who had managed to escape to the edge of the explosion.

As the explosion cleared, only a barren wasteland remained with the Sage at the centre of it.

Having had used his Secret Art, the Sage who was originally in his prime had aged tremendously and had to lean back against his throne for support. He held up the colourless gem and inspected it.

“How curious, there’s a smaller black crystal in the centre now. It appears to have absorbed my Dao of Time and perhaps some of my knowledge. If only I could test it some more..” The Sage smiled and slowly slumped and laid down on the ground as entire body started disintegrating to ashes, such as the cost of burning all of his Longevity Blood.

Eventually, nature will reclaim the barren wasteland and its land will be populated with valuable spirit herbs and beasts. With a wealth of treasure waiting to be claimed and a peculiar gem in the centre of it all.