Year 258 of Taiping, Reign of Empress Cao Ming Yung

It was a typical morning in the lands of the Hong Kingdom. Birds were flying as the sun crested the horizon, providing a serene view for any fortunate enough to be watching. Suddenly, the ground began to tremble! If one looked carefully, one could see the approval of the heavens descending upon a cave hidden deep within the Eastern Mountains. After an incense time, the rumbling stopped, and a young man stepped out of the cave. His skin was tanned like a farmer’s, he was dressed in his sect’s iconic blue and white embroidered robes, with jet black hair arranged in a bun atop his head. All in all, he was average; average height, average charisma, and average physique. What made him stand out was his expression; his face was the picture of serenity, for his name was Lei Jianyu, and he had just cultivated to the pinnacle of his stage.

Jianyu was excited. After 7 long months of solitary cultivation, he was finally returning to the Cloud Runner Sect. During his absence, he had cultivated to the peak of Foundation Establishment, and would finally step into the realm of Core Formation upon his return. He had ascended beyond his wildest dreams, becoming a true cultivator. He would finally be able to become a Mentor in the sect. At the young age of 19, he was a veritable genius, and the council of Elders would have no choice but to accept his proposition.

But what excited him the most was the prospect of reuniting with his brother, Lei Zhaohui. A young Jianyu had found an infant Zhaohui alone on the street, another orphan on the streets of the capital. Even though they were not related by blood, Jianyu cared for and adopted Zhaohui as his own brother, even naming him. Zhaohui had a unique gift in the domain of defensive techniques, and was widely regarded as the future Patriarch of the sect. Even Jianyu struggled to break through his brother’s defense!

As he walked the well-worn path leading up to the Sect gates, he reminisced about his first day with the Sect. He had been so young, and had barely had enough silver for the application fee. But he had been confident in his abilities, and his luck had paid off. They had called him a one in a million talent, and after some deliberation, became the disciple of the Elder Liu. It had been so long ago, and yet naught but the blink of an eye in the long life of a cultivator. He could almost hear Elder Liu say, ‘All that matters is the present, for the present is the past, and the future is now.’ Elder Liu was nothing if not eccentric, and Jianyu’s memories caused him to chuckle with mirth.

As he returned his focus to the events at hand, he noticed that something was wrong. There were none of the typical sounds of cultivators sparring, mentors giving lectures, or the gossip between disciples of the Sect. Even though he was several li from the sect, he could usually hear the Sect with the gifts provided to him by his place on the path of cultivation. In fact, he heard nothing; not the leaves blowing in the wind, nor the insects scuttling across the ground, nor even his own breath. He instantly knew that he was in a Silence formation. It was incredibly uncommon, as it required an exorbitant amount of Essence Stones to acquire, and a small fortune to keep it active.

In fact, they were so expensive that he could not imagine any of the Sect Elders or the Sect Leader using one. This left two possibilities in his mind. Either a disciple had stolen one, or the Sect was under attack. Jianyu knew that this was the more likely of the two scenarios, and he quickened his pace to enter the Sect Gates.

Once he arrived, he noticed that the gates were unguarded and open, something that none of the elders would allow. This meant that whatever attack had occurred had pushed the defenders back to the inner courtyard. So he ran, past the dormitories, where disciples would normally be meditating on a lecture or improving their cultivation, past the treasure hall, filled with artifacts that mortal practitioners could only dream of, and into the inner courtyard.

What he found was a grisly sight. Everywhere, disciples lay dead or dying. He could see the mutilated bodies of 6 of the 7 elders, and the Leader Long was nowhere to be found. He searched for his brother among those living, and his heart leapt when he saw his characteristic white hair, a trait he had acquired from his unique bloodline. As long as his brother was well, all was good in the world. As he hurried to his brother’s side, the selfish part of his mind rejoiced, as it was common knowledge that a practitioner’s cultivation could be harmed, and even destroyed entirely by a significant loss.

After confirming that Elder Liu, his master, was not among the fallen, Jianyu ran to his brother’s side and embraced him, praying his thanks to the Gods that his brother was safe.

“Brother! You’re alive”, Zhaohui exclaimed as the brothers embraced each other. “It is good that you are here. And I see you have advanced your cultivation. Normally, this would be a cause for celebration.” His face turned dark. “But there is no time for that now. We will need it to fight against these traitorous bastards. As much as I would like to welcome you back, our time is short.”

“Traitorous? Who attacked you,” Jianyu asked. He could not think of any of the neighboring sects that would dare. The punishment that would result from the Jade Emperor would be too severe to risk their involvement.

“It was Elder Shao. He opened the gates to a force of Void Assassins a thousand strong, all at the Refinement stage or above. It was a slaughter. And to worsen the situation, Elder Shao’s entire faction defected with him. Shao was killed by Patriarch Long, but he was weakened in the process. He used the last of his Qi to kill 4 Assassins at the Core Formation stage. He is gone, though whether dead or captured, I know not.” Zhaohui grimaced before saying, “I estimate that only 30 of us are left, and there are at least 100 Assassins left. We have heard nothing from Elders Liu or Yu, so it is likely they are still in solitary cultivation."

Something was bothering Jianyu, though. If there were only 100 assassins remaining, why hadn’t they attacked yet? The answer his brother gave him was not pleasing. “They have been biding their time, regrouping, and waiting for us to die off, whether from untreated wounds, disease, or starvation. They’ve been sending token forces to fatigue us twice daily. In fact, a new force should be upon us soon.”

Jianyu began to shake with anger. “Those dishonorable heathens! Now that I am here, they will pay for this offense.” After calming himself, he opened his bag, which was filled with nutritional pills from his time in isolation. “Brother, you said starvation was a problem? I have at least two hundred nutritional pills. We must restore our strength before they attack again.”

Zhaohui’s defeated eyes regained a twinkle of hope for the future. “We may survive this after all,” he said to no one in particular. He gathered 3 outer disciples and directed them to distribute the pills, and to pass along the message to cultivate and restore Qi for the next confrontation.

Within the time it took for an incense stick to burn down, however, the Assassins attacked again.