Prelude
Cangxi Prefecture has an elevated landscape with continuous mountain ranges. However, if someone were to ask where the highest peak was, people would unanimously point to a certain place—a tall and slender mountain like a sword piercing through the clouds. There was a sect on the mountain known as the Spirit Sword Sect. It was an influential and prestigious sect in the realm of immortal cultivation, monopolizing the resources of an entire prefecture. Hence, the mountain was named Spirit Sword Mountain. At the summit of Spirit Sword Mountain, in an exquisite bamboo hut, an elderly man with a sword-shaped hairpin gazed at the clear starry sky. He held a silver longsword in his hand. The blade reflected the starlight, and intricate patterns flowed like ripples from the hilt upwards. However, they abruptly stopped halfway. The elderly man's brows furrowed as an ominous feeling arose in his heart.
“The sword light is broken, this is an omen of premature death. Senior Brother Sect Leader, are you calculating your own destiny?” As the sound of footsteps came from behind, a woman in a white robe and bare feet appeared behind the elder stargazer. She carried a yellow-brown gourd in her hand and held a green bamboo sword upside down, with the smell of smoke and alcohol all over her body.
“Fifth junior sister, next time remember to knock on the door.”
“I did knock when I left.”
“I mean my door, not yours.”
The headmaster sighed again: "What are you looking for me for?"
"Lend me money."
"...If I remember correctly, you still owe me twenty thousand spirit stone." The Sect Master said, his gaze serious and earnest.
The woman bitterly said, "Alas, isn't it because our Spirit Sword Sect is so poor? I am the fifth-generation elder of this sect, and I'm the second most capable person, yet I only receive a monthly offering of 500 Spirit Stones. How many years and months will it take for me to repay my debts? Brother, why don't you give up your position to me, so I can divert some public funds to repay the debt..."
"Junior Sister, if you really want to be the Sect Master, then..."
"Then you'll give up your position to me? Brother, you are indeed a righteous man!"
"I was going to say if you want to be the Sect Master, then you should give up wine, women and money, go into seclusion for three to five years, and wait until you reach the Nascent Soul stage before talking about it."
The woman in white immediately pretended that nothing had happened: "Brother, lend me some money."
"..."
"...who did you do a divination for just now? It looks like they’ll have an early, short life."
The head senior brother said in a deep voice: "Spiritual Sword Sect."
Fifth junior sister's expression changed, and she put down the debate about the wine: "No way!? The Spiritual Sword Sect is going to be exterminated!?"
"Not just the Spiritual Sword Sect, I'm afraid that the whole of the cultivation world is the target of that sword light. Do you remember the legendary Dharma-ending Age?...Alas, the sword light broke off after a third of it, I'm afraid that the peaceful days of the cultivation world will only last three to five years. Do we really have to spend a billion spirit stones to sponsor the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance to fix those five Primordial Divine Ships?"
"The Spiritual Sword Sect's Great Astral Divination Technique is one of the best divination techniques in the cultivation world, and senior brother is even more outstanding at it, so it can't be wrong. However, the immortal sword that senior brother used to divine just now doesn't seem to be the Year Sword."
The head senior brother was taken aback: "Not the Year Sword?" He quickly looked down to examine it carefully, and sure enough, the character on the hilt was not "year," but...
The next moment, the old man whose cultivation at the Nascent Soul Stage had made him famous across the state let out a terrified cry: "How could it be the Tea Sword!? Doesn't that mean we only have three to five cups of tea's time before the Dharma-Ending Age arrives!?"
The Fifth Martial Sister was also scared silly, the wine gourd falling to the ground with a thud. The golden wine flowed out, but she didn't care at all.
"Senior Martial Brother Sect Leader, how many times have I told you to wear glasses if you're nearsighted? How many years have you been unable to tell the difference between tea and tea . . . Forget it, now the Dharma-Ending Age is about to begin with only a few cups of tea left. Hurry up, Senior Martial Brother, and pass the position to me. Let me die in peace."
". . . Even if I die, I will not let the Spirit Sword Sect be shamed."
"I don't want to die for just five hundred spirit stones a month! I'll die with my eyes wide open!"
While they were arguing, time flew by. The last three cups of tea slipped quietly away.
On the top of Lingjianshan, the place closest to the starry sky, the bright starry sky is particularly dazzling. The stars of Zhoutian slowly and firmly operate, and each star trembles in a panic, just like pollen particles in water observed under the Weimi Divine Mirror. This is a strange sign that has never happened in the Kyushu Continent for thousands of years.
The elder brother and younger sister looked at each other, with the same shock in their hearts.
The Starry Sky Dayan Art turned out not to be fake, and the Dharma-ending Age just descended on the Kyushu indifferently, preparing to obliterate everything in the Xiuxian world mercilessly.
At the last moment, the head brother spoke in a low voice with a strange look.
"Junior Sister, there is something I wanted to say a hundred years ago but never had the chance. Now that the Dharma ending is here..."
As the head's old but magnetic voice delivered affectionate words to the other party's ears. The trembling of the stars became more and more intense.
"I think it's time to tell you my true feelings."
At the last moment, the Big Dipper moved, the stars bloomed like flowers, and the night sky was as bright as day. A broom-like meteor streaked across the sky.
That is the legendary herald of doomsday, Comet Halley. When the comet lands,** vitality dries up, and Dharma-ending Age will come...Lingjianshan is located on the top of the mountain, resisting the great array of the nine-day wind and wind, shaking suddenly, as if the sky is about to collapse.
The white-clothed woman's bright eyes flowed, reflecting the frantic rotation of a golden pill, and the bamboo sword she was dragging was dragged by her hand, lazily drawn upwards, but brought up a sky-shrouding light curtain, as if to hold it up. The falling sky is also up.
However, the sky remained unchanged after all, the meteor brushed past the Kyushu Continent, and after the stars moved, everything returned to silence.
The fifth junior sister hesitantly drove the bamboo sword to swing from side to side, sensing the changes of the vitality of heaven and earth like a tentacle.
"It seems...it's okay?"
The woman then turned around to seek confirmation from her senior brother, the head of the sect, whose cultivation level was two realms higher than hers - although she was not afraid of him in a real fight - and more authoritative on matters of great changes in the world.
The senior brother sighed, "At least it's not the end of the Dharma era."
"Oh, can the Great Derivation Technique also make mistakes? But it's okay, why do you look so disappointed, Senior Brother?"
"It's nothing."
"We've narrowly escaped the end of the world. Why don't we celebrate by reducing our debts?"
"..."
After the doomsday crisis passed, the sect master could only sigh when he recalled the surging passion he had just experienced. Apart from that, he was more puzzled.
The Great Derivation Technique is not infallible, but the premonition of the end of the world was not wrong. Just now, the Kyushu Mainland really passed by the destruction of the world.
The sect master was bewildered by this crisis that came and went so suddenly.
But one thing is for sure, the impact it brought is gradually infiltrating the Kyushu Mainland
The old man gazed up at the vast galaxy, sighed, and once again fiddled with the starlight sword in his hand, after pondering for a long time: "A great calamity will be followed by great fortune. After this crisis, the golden age of the world of self-cultivation may come... By the way, when was the last time we held a flying immortal conference?"
The fifth junior sister’s eyes widened: "Flying, flying fresh conference?" As she spoke, her saliva flowed involuntarily.
The old man ignored her, pinched his fingers and calculated: "It's been at least a hundred years. The next time, it will be held in twelve years. By then, the changes in heaven and earth should be evident. I don't expect too much. If we can recreate the prosperity of a hundred years ago, the Spirit Sword Sect will have hope of revival."
When it came to the revival of the sect, the smile on the fifth junior sister's face faded, and she let out a long yawn. The old man just smiled wryly.
"We missed the heyday of a hundred years ago, and there are only ten of us left in the golden generation. This time, no matter what..."
So the fifth junior sister couldn't even yawn, snorted coldly, turned and left.
At the same time, at the foot of Lingjian Mountain, in an unknown corner of Cangxi Prefecture, a baby was born into the world with a loud cry.