It had been a long night. The sky was clear, revealing the brilliant stars and moon above.
But among the stars, brilliant lights of nine colors sparkled, creating a breathtaking spectacle.
"A unusual occurrence has occurred in the sky. A divinity from another world has come to ours!"
An old man in a gold robe stood on the highest building of the imperial city in the Land of Nine Prefectures and gazed up at the sky.
Behind him, in orderly rows, were thousands of martial arts professionals groveling on their knees. It seemed as though they were holding out for instructions.
"Zing!"
Suddenly, a flash of lightning with nine distinct hues joined the rumble of thunder. It descended from the heavens and crashed into the turf.
The night got instantly brighter. Even before the lightning hit, the ground was shaking.
But when the nine-colored bolt went through the ground, it didn't hurt anything. Instead, it vanished into the air.
At the same time, darkness covered everything again. The sky looked darker than it had before.
But right now, the old man's eyes were brighter than usual, and he was so excited that he was shivering. Then he pointed to where the lightning had hit and said, "Bring all the babies born in Qing Continent tonight back to the imperial city."
"Yes, sir!"
The thunderous answer resounded through the night. Hence, the martial arts professionals from the imperial city marched all over Qing Continent to look for the divine body that the imperial family could use.
In a blink of an eye, five years had passed since that fateful day. The spectacle was still fresh in the people's minds, but they had no idea what the imperial family had done.
There were many sects in the Qing Continent, and the Azure Dragon Sect was one of them.
This day was a big one for the Azure Dragon Sect, since they were actively seeking new members. Crowds gathered outside the Azure Dragon Sect for this once-a-year event.
The disciples from the outer group, however, were the busy ones at this time. After all, they were responsible for a lot of logistics.
Being a disciple of the outer sect was cumbersome. They were not only the people with the lowest rank in the sect, but outsiders looked down on them as well.
The reason for this was easy to understand. People thought that if someone was a disciple from the outer sect, they didn't have much talent and wouldn't do well at anything in their lives. So, they thought less of the people who joined the outer sect.
"Hey, what's your problem? Do you have any idea who I am?" A beautiful mother holding a boy chastised a youngster loudly.
"I'm really sorry. It's getting late, and the sect is about to close. Please come back tomorrow." The youngster had a delicate face that made him look young, but he had a brave look in his eyes.
His name was Chu Feng, and he was 15 years old. He was one of the tens of thousands disciples that belonged to the outer sect of Azure Dragon Sect.
However, even though Chu Feng was a disciple from the outer sect, he was different from the others. He didn't feel a sense of inferiority, and he didn't degrade himself. In fact, he was calm and fearless whenever he talked to other people.
"Huh? Come back tomorrow? Do you think I'm an idiot? We're deep in the mountains right now, so where do you want to us to stay?"
"You must arrange a place for me to live, or I will find your elders and discuss this with them!" The woman refused to give up and grabbed Chu Feng's clothes.
"Chu Feng, are you in trouble?" At this moment, a sweet voice suddenly sounded from behind him.
Chu Feng looked in that direction and saw a girl in purple walking toward them. Even though she was smiling, she was looking at the woman with sharp eyes.
When the woman saw the girl, her face changed in a big way. She seemed to be scared right away.
The girl's purple robes signaled that she was a disciple of the inner sect.
The woman mutely uttered a curse. She thought that because of her position, she could bother the young man in front of her.
Who would have thought that a disciple from the inner sect would help this young man who doesn't seem to be anything special? Well, she couldn't afford to offend an inner sect discipline!
"It's nothing! I'm just asking this young boy here some questions," the woman explained.
The girl first glared at her, and then finally said two words. "Get lost."
At this moment, the woman couldn't help trembling, and her face turned livid.
She didn't hesitate at all. She quickly grabbed her child's hand and left. She lost her balance and fell awkwardly out of fear.
Seeing this, Chu Feng shook his head helplessly, and then bowed to the girl beside him while saying, "Thank you, Miss Chu Yue!"
"Hey! Don't talk to formally to me! We are family." Chu Yue was a little unhappy.
She was right. Chu Feng and she were indeed family. They were born into the same aristocratic family, the Chu family.
Chu Yue was the cousin of Chu Feng, and she was only one year older than him.
But Chu Yue passed the test and joined the inner sect three years ago. This made her one of the inner sect's disciples. In fact, she was now one of the Spirit Realm's Level 4 martial artists.
"We are bound by the sect's regulations." Chu Feng responded with a bright grin on his face.
But when Chu Yue saw Chu Feng acting this way, she was upset. "Why don't you take the test this year, Chu Feng? Are you still not a Level 3 martial artist?"
To this, Chu Feng provided no response. No one could read his mind despite his grin.
Seeing this, Chu Yue took a silk sachet from her waist and handed it to Chu Feng. "If you use this to train, you might be able to advance to the third level of martial arts!"
Chu Feng opened the sachet, and a forceful burst of spiritual power was released from it. After that, a finger-sized transparent Immortal Spirit Grass appeared in his hand.
"Chu Yue, this is too expensive! I can't take it!" Chu Feng quickly returned it to her.
The Immortal Spirit Grass was a medicine used when someone was practising martial arts. It was extremely rare, and it was beneficial to the martial arts practitioners within the Spirit Realm.
To ensure that they could cultivate faster, the Chu family provided each of them with one Immortal Spirit Grass every year.
It seemed that the Chu family was the one who had given Chu Yue this Immortal Spirit Grass, too. However, she didn't take it and gave it to Chu Feng instead. Chu Feng was touched by this, but he couldn't bear to accept it.
"I said that I'm giving this to you, so just take it! Do you still think of yourself as my relative?" Chu Yue was upset.
"I can't believe how giving you are right now, Chu Yue. What, the Immortal Spirit Grass was so simple to share that you could do it with anyone?"
"As you can see, I'm also your brother. I'm on the cusp of ascending to the Spirit Realm's fourth level. Would you consider giving me the Immortal Spirit Grass instead?"
A young man that looked around the same age as Chu Feng walked over. He was also wearing the uniform of a disciple of the inner sect.
His name was Chu Zhen, and he was also from the Chu family. Five years ago, he joined the Azure Dragon Sect together with Chu Feng. However, he had become a disciple of the inner sect two years ago.
"Chu Zhen, you have already broken through the third level of the Spirit Realm and successfully cultivated your energy. Even though you don't have the Immortal Spirit Grass, you can still progress."
"But Chu Feng hasn't figured out how to nurture his energy just yet, so the Immortal Spirit Grass is more crucial to him." After that, Chu Yue firmly put the Immortal Spirit Grass into Chu Feng's hands.
"Yes, you're right. However, it's a pity that he doesn't appreciate your kindness!" Chu Zhen shrugged.
"Who says that I don't want it?" Chu Feng smiled and held the Immortal Spirit Grass. "Chu Yue, let me borrow the Immortal Spirit Grass from you today. I'll return you twice the amount in the future."
"Alright." Seeing that Chu Feng had accepted it, Chu Yue was already very happy. She just agreed casually, and she never thought about how Chu Feng could return it to her.
"Just how do you plan on giving it back? It's ridiculous to let you use it." It was clear that Chu Zhen was feeling down.
However, Chu Feng smiled and ignored him. Instead, he said to Chu Yue, "Chu Yue, I will participate in this year's examination to join the inner sect."
"Bah! Do you even qualify to do so? If you can pass the examination to join the inner sect, I'll give you all the Immortal Spirit Grass our family has given us this year!" Chu Zhen looked suspiciously at Chu Feng.
"Are you serious?" Chu Feng did not believe it.
"Chu Yue can testify for me, but what if you don't pass the exam?"
"Then, I will give you all the Immortal Spirit Grass that belongs to me this year." After Chu Feng finished saying this, he continued his duties as a disciple of an outer sect.
"Chu Zhen, we are family! Why do you always make things difficult for Chu Feng?" Chu Yue looked at Chu Zhen unhappily.
"Huh? Family? Chu Yue, you should know that Chu Feng is not a member of the Chu family at all!
He has joined the sect for five years, but he can't even pass the examination to join the inner sect. He's an embarrassment to the family!
Who in the Chu family likes him? You're the only one that treats him kindly, and you even gave your Immortal Spirit Grass to him!" Chu Zhen didn't understand.
"Urgh! You are really stubborn." Chu Yue was a little angry. Then, she walked away after glaring at him.
However, Chu Zhen stood there and smiled. He was delighted. Although he did not get Chu Yue's Immortal Spirit Grass, he knew that Chu Feng's Immortal Spirit Grass this year would all be his soon.
Soon, it was already night. The place where the disciples of the outer sect were resting was dark as well.
After a busy day, everyone was very tired and went to bed early. By this time, only the lights in Chu Feng's room were still on.
He sat cross-legged at the head of the bed and took out the Immortal Spirit Grass that Chu Yue had given him. Then, he whispered, "I hope that you will be full after eating this Immortal Spirit Grass."
After saying that, Chu Feng closed his eyes and put the Immortal Spirit Grass between his palms. Then, he started chanting a mysterious spell.
At this moment, the energy in the Immortal Spirit Grass began to flow into Chu Feng's body along his palm. It then finally gathered in his core.
However, at the same time, the sound of someone chewing could be heard. It came from his core, and it was as if someone was eating.
If someone looked through Chu Feng's skin right now, they would see thunder and lightning in the middle of Chu Feng's Dantian.
This ball of thunder and lightning was made up of into nine colors. Each of the colours were gigantic, and it contained destructive power that didn't belong to this world.