In the Blue Cloud country exists a city called Azure city. Just outside of this city was a cave, a shepherd was currently passing by when suddenly a blue light flashed and there appeared a teenage boy that looked about 13 years old. He had long black hair, handsome facial features and a lean body. His eyes were blue which the shepherd found weird, he never saw people with blue eyes in his entire life.
The boy approached the shepherd and asked ‘’Mister, what country is this?’’
The shepherd laughed and replied ‘’Boy did you fall out of the sky? We are in the Azure province of the Blue Cloud country of course’’
The boy was still staring at the shepherd with a blank expression, then he tried to search his memories and found something.
‘’North Star’’ he thought to himself while frowning a bit.
‘’Thank you for the information mister’’ said the boy while turning around and walking towards the city.
‘’What an interesting fellow’’ thought the shepherd and walked away.
The boy was walking towards the city gate, some people were just passing through with no problems. But when he got to the gate, the guards suddenly stopped him.
‘’Where do you think you’re going beggar?’’
The boy suddenly realized that he did not know what he was wearing, he looked down at himself and saw that his clothes were all tattered and ripped apart.
‘’I’m sorry misters, I just got into a small accident not so long ago and need to get new clothes, I hope you will not make things difficult for me’’ said the boy with a blank expression, with his hands crossed behind his back.
‘’Okay then if you are here to buy clothes then prove that you have money for it, otherwise you can scram’’ said one of the guards arrogantly.
Suddenly the boy’s expression turned serious and his eyes were shining bright blue. The two guards felt a pressure that they never before felt in their life. Before they realized it they were both on their knees and it felt like a deity was looking down on them from above.
A voice like thunder sounded inside their heads ‘’you are not qualified to talk down to me’’
Suddenly the boy felt a hand touch him on the shoulders ‘’That is quite enough boy, these guards will die if you exert any more soul pressure on them’’
The boy turned around and saw the shepherd that he met before, but now he was dressed in some fine clothing and his look was different, he looked middle-aged, he had black hair with some traces of gray and a well-built body.
‘’Why don’t you come inside the city with me, I will show you around’’ said the mysterious shepherd while smiling.
They boy nodded and followed him inside. The two guards stood up and looked at each other with terrified faces ‘’That was…chief Cao Chen’’ said one of the guards.
‘’Yes, he will definitely punish that kid now’’ said the second guard.
The boy and the shepherd were inside the city now, while walking beside each other the shepherd said ‘’My name is Cao Chen, I am the chief of the Azure Dragon sect of this city, what about you boy?”
The boy looked at Cao Chen, after some seconds he smiled and replied ‘’I guess you can call me Tianshen’’
‘’Tianshen? Such an imposing name’’ smiled Cao Chen.
‘’That was quite the soul pressure you used there, I can see that your cultivation is only at the first stage of Qi Accumulation, very impressive Tianshen’’ said Cao Chen smilingly.
‘’In a way cultivation depends on the soul, one’s cultivation and fighting prowess is only as strong as their soul after all’’ said Tianshen.
‘’Impressive, you only look about twelve or thirteen years old but to have such knowledge and wisdom is rare. How about this Tianshen, join my Azure Dragon sect, I guarantee I will not mistreat you’’ said Cao Chen while smiling.
Tianshen kept silent, soon they reached a peak of a mountain inside the Azure city.
‘’This is the Azure Dragon sect, we have thousands of disciples coming from other cities and villages around the area’’ Said Cao Chen proudly, but then his face fell a bit as he continued ‘’we were once the top sect in the Azure province, but that was a thousand years ago, all we have left is the legacy of our founder, and we can’t even be considered top ten in the province now. So I will understand if you will not want to join my sect’’
Tianshen looked at Cao Chen with his mysterious eyes, after thinking for a bit he said ‘’Best in the Azure Province? How about I help you make this sect the best in the whole Blue Cloud country?’’ Said Tianshen with a faint smile.
Cao Chen looked at him dumbfounded, 'the best in the whole Blue Cloud country' was a hell of a statement to make. But something told him from this boy’s expression that his confidence was not a mere boast, as a cultivator who has lived for quite a long time Cao Shen could tell when someone was merely boasting.
Although he still did not fully believe in what Tianshen said, Cao Chen laughed and said ‘’so be it, I can see that you are talented, your cultivation might be the lowest of the lowest but the amount of soul power you have is abnormal, you can become a core disciple here and climb your way up the ranks’’
Tianshen smiled and replied ‘’Core disciple? How about you make me a legacy disciple and I guarantee that your sect will rise to the top of this country in a year?’’
Cao Chen could not help but open his mouth, was this little boy making fun of him? Legacy disciple? Each sect had only one of those and they were second in the hierarchy only to the chief and equal to the vice-chief, one could not just become a legacy disciple. Strength was also a huge factor to be a legacy disciple, but this boy was just in the early stage of the Qi Accumulation realm. Not to mention that the decision needed to be made by all of the elders of the sect.
The world of cultivation was divided into nine realms:
Qi Accumulation realm, Core Formation realm, Earth realm, Sky realm, Heavenly realm, Martial King realm, Martial Emperor realm, Martial Venerable realm
and the Saint realm which was the highest cultivation that could be achieved as far as the historical records of the continent said. Each of them were further divided into nine stages from one which was the weakest to nine which was the strongest.
Cao Chen looked at the boy in front of him that had a confident smile, he did not know why but he could not help but trust in him, there was something enigmatic about this boy.
After a couple of minutes Cao Chen said ‘’Come with me, we shall meet the elders and we will decide, but don’t get your hopes up, even though I am the chief, there are some things that even I can’t just do on a whim, so I hope you can prove yourself to them, i will not interfere no matter what’’
Tianshen smiled and said ‘’you should not worry about such a trivial thing, tomorrow you will be announcing a new legacy disciple’’
Cao Chen grabbed Tianshen and flew into the sky, it is worth mentioning that not many cultivators could fly in the Azure province, it was a sign that the person has reached at least the Sky realm. After a while they arrived inside a majestic tower that had a dragon statue coiled around it. When they entered inside there were 9 elders waiting for them, they all stood up and greeted with cupped fists ‘’we pay respects to the chief’’.
‘’Sit down, be at ease everyone’’ smiled Cao Chen, Tianshen had a good impression of him until now, in the world of cultivation, meeting nice people was not such a common occurrence as it worked by the rule of the jungle, the strong always ruled the weak.
Tianshen stood in the middle of the room while Cao Chen sat in the main seat and spoke ‘’elders, I have gathered you here today because I think I found us a peerless genius, and it is in our best interest to make him into our legacy disciple, that if of course if majority will agree’’
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Whispers instantly broke out between the elders, they were all sizing up Tianshen, suddenly a man with white long hair and long beard spoke ‘’chief, picking a legacy disciple is not such a trivial matter that can be done on a whim, we don’t know of this boy’s origins, not to mention his low cultivation, we have two or three core disciples that are much more worthy of the position, so how is he even remotely qualified to represent our sect as a legacy disciple?’’
Before the chief could speak Tianshen suddenly lifted his hand up and signaled for Cao Chen to let him handle it.
Then Tianshen pointed to the elder that just spoke and said ‘’you, how long have you been stuck in the 7th Sky realm?’’
The elder was astonished ‘’boy how dare you not show respect to the elders and refer to them as ‘you’?’’ he said angrily, but deep down he was still trying to figure out how did this weak boy see through his cultivation, and not only that, the boy also could tell that this elder has been stuck on the same level for years.
Tianshen was no longer smiling and had a blank expression, he replied ‘’first, I am still not a member of this sect so I will not be addressing any of you with your titles, second, by tomorrow I will be the legacy disciple so the only one that will be addressed by me with his title is Cao Chen, and third…’’ by this time Tianshen’s eyes were shining blue and the elders could sense a faint pressure coming from him which made them shiver ‘’…you a not qualified for me to address you otherwise’’
All the elders were dumbstruck, what an audacious fellow. That aside though, they just realized that they have been scared by this young 13 year old boy who was at the first Qi Accumulation realm.
The elder that has just been scolded by Tianshen suddenly smiled and said ‘’what a soul pressure, for a thirteen year old boy of the first Qi Accumulation realm to have this much soul power is unheard of’’
He suddenly sat down and continued ‘’Tianshen was it? You can call me Jin Hai, do you have some advice for me as to how to advance my cultivation? It is indeed true that I have been stuck in the 7th sky realm for years now’’
Tianshen’s expression went back to normal and he crossed his arms behind his back while speaking ‘’you practice pill concoction right? I can tell by your soul power, unfortunately the pill concoction technique you practice is not suitable for you and that is the simple reason why your cultivation has not progressed. If I become the legacy disciple I will give you a new pill concoction technique which is suitable for you and your cultivation will start improving again in about a month’’ said Tianshen confidently.
By this point most of the elders were impressed, but some were still suspicious.
Then another elder that looked the eldest one of everyone spoke ‘’how about me Tianshen? My cultivation has not improved for the past fifty years, what could be the reason?’’
Tianshen looked at the elder and replied ‘’you have reached the end of your potential, plus if I am not mistaken, you have used some kind of technique to prolong your lifespan for the past 50 years. To be quite frank, it is amazing you are still alive and your cultivation has not deteriorated, so you should feel lucky’’
The elders looked even more amazed, by their looks Tianshen could tell that they knew the answer to the question, they were just testing him.
Suddenly the chief Cao Chen spoke ‘’as you can all see, Tianshen has the knowledge and wisdom of an old monster, even though he is thirteen, he is undoubtedly a peerless genius that has the potential to bring our sect to its former glory or maybe even beyond that, I want to call a vote. If more than half of the nine elders will agree, then Tianshen shall be our new legacy disciple starting tomorrow’’.
The elders all looked at each other, then another man stood up which sat the closest to the chief, he had an ugly expression on his face and was clearly not happy with what was occurring in front of him.
He spoke in an arrogant tone ‘’ Cao Chen as the vice-chief I am against this, he is clearly too weak to be a legacy disciple, plus we have my son Kong Feng, he is the strongest disciple we have and he is definitely more suitable to be the legacy disciple, his talent is excellent and as you all know, his combat prowess is also amazing since he can fight opponents one cultivation level higher that himself’’
Cao Chen frowned, this vice-chief Kong Zhi did not put him in his eyes and addressed him by name in front of the rest of the elders, that was a clear challenge of authority. Everyone in the sect knew that Kong Zhi had his eyes on the chief seat for a long time, the only reason he is still the vice chief is because Cao Chen is a bit stronger.
Cao Chen sighed, he knew this would happen and that Kong Zhi will never agree to give the position to anyone but his son.
Suddenly a chuckle was heard by the elders, they realized it was Tianshen.
Tianshen came forward and said ‘’ he can fight people one cultivation level higher than him? What is so amazing about that?’’
Kong Zhi laughed loudly and pointed his finger at Tianshen while saying ‘’brat you are talking as if you can do any better, I’m curious to see you try’’
‘’sure’’ replied Tianshen instantly while having a blank expression.
‘’Good, good. Guards, bring us some disciples of the second Qi accumulation realm to fifth’’ said Kong Zhi.
''Kong Zhi, isn't 2nd Accumulation realm enough? asked Cao Chen worryingly.
''He was the one who bragged so let us see if he can back up the talk and if he is indeed worthy of being the legacy disciple'' said Kong Zhi with an evil grin on his face.
The guards soon came back with four disciples, 2nd through 5th Qi accumulation realm.
Kong Zhi explained what was going on and the disciple started staring at Tianshen like they would eat him for breakfast. ‘’Is this a joke?’’ they thought, 1st Qi accumulation level is the lowest of the lowest, just barely above the mortals.
Tianshen saw how these disciples were looking at him, he then looked back at the elders and said ‘’Just a warning to everyone here, when I fight, I fight to kill, do not blame me if none of them come out alive’’
Before the elders could respond the strongest disciple out of the bunch said ‘’Looks like even bugs can shamelessly brag nowadays, so be it, let’s have a death match’’
The elders looked at each other, then at Cao Chen then slowly nodded in agreement. If Tianshen wanted to be their legacy disciple he has to at least be this amazing.
The four disciples charged at Tianshen but before they could get close, they felt their movements slowing down and a couple of seconds later they stopped completely, they looked at Tianshen and realized that he was not in front of them anymore. Then they felt a chill run down their spine, they felt a killing intent so strong, it’s enough to drive people mad from fear.
It felt like a deity was passing judgment upon them. Then they heard an imposing but at the same time ghastly voice coming from behind them:
‘’I told you that when I fight, I fight to kill’’ and before they knew it all four of their heads flew up into the sky. All this happened in the span of 10 seconds. Tianshen wiped the blood off his hand and crossed his arms behind his back again while staring at the elders. By now most of them were thinking ‘’what kind of demon is this kid?’’ No thirteen year old should be so experienced and efficient in killing. A thirteen year old boy just chopped off four heads like he was cutting grass, and did it with a straight face, not to mention all four of the opponents had a higher cultivation but all ended up equally miserable.
Then Tianshen spoke ‘’I assume this is enough to prove that I can not only fight opponents one level higher than me, but at least four levels higher, now tell me, Kong Zhi, what is so amazing about your son?’’