In a dark forest on the outskirts of a solitary village, lay the body of a young man covered in bruises. His eyes look lifeless as he stares blankly into the darkness around him, yesterday he was just another youth about to step onto the path of cultivation with dreams of flying through the sky, battling armies and slaying monstrous beasts. But all that changed, it was like a nightmare only that he couldn't seem to wake up from it. When all the youths who have come of age were called for the awakening ceremony, he had high expectations for himself and thought that things were beginning to change, he could finally start his first steps toward his dream of becoming a cultivator, he would finally be able to leave his village and experience the world.
It was a morning just like any other, the day that would twist his life inside out, walking towards the town hall he pondered about the various possibilities that could occur that day, of how he would prove himself and garner the praise of the village folk and his family. As he reached the hall, he was asked to join the others in the courtyard, there were several young men and women from the village present there all seated on the ground anxious and hopeful, waiting for the elder. He took his place among them with his mind still occupied with the future.
There was the sound of a bell tolling and accompanying it came the sound of footsteps, the village elder walked into the courtyard along with the representative from the Azure Saber sect.
The elder , was an old man with a bald head and beady eyes, he walked with a limping gait as he looked around at the hope of the village, within him swirled worries about how this year's ceremony would go.
The representative named Li was an effeminate man with an aquiline nose and eyes that seemed to look down on the villagers like they were mere ants in his presence, he wore regal robes and had an air of authority. Having to come to this backwater village wasn't something he wanted to do but he had to follow the rules of the sect to test for any suitable disciples for the sect in its surrounding domain. Though he didn't hold much hope of finding anyone of talent here.
The awakening ceremony began as they were called forth one by one to have their spiritual roots tested by Li.
The fifth youth that came before Li to be tested was a tall and pale looking young man, Li didn't have much hope about him either as the last four didn't amount to much, he wondered if he should report to the sect not to bother with wasting resources on this village.
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The man was called Wen, as Li tested his roots, Wen was calm, unaware of the fate that would befall him soon.
Li placed the awakening stone on the Wen's arm and the formation within it activated, glyphs that danced like fire with a red hue lit up the stone's surface, it marked an otherworlder's remnant soul, immediately Li touched Wen's forehead and imbued some of his qi, causing Wen to collapse onto the ground shocked and in fear. Li proceeded to cripple Wen's meridians, and beat him to death as his family ,friends and village curse Wen as an abomination. His corpse is thrown into the Azure forest by the villagers.
This is the world of Heqart, one of the Three thousand minor worlds, calender year 6784, during the reign of the Sovereign VioletSpear of the Overworld. Heqart is a world of sparse Qi, the energy that permeates everything. Under the banner of the current Sovereign, it is one of the worlds dominated by righteous sects.
Every year many suffer Wen's fate as they contain remnant souls of otherworldly beings within them, any time such a being manages to fully awaken, it destroys entire worlds and shifts the paradigms of the Universe. Every cultivator who detects such an otherworlder is to eliminate them before they can grow into a potential world-ending calamity.
Back to the solitary village , with no name of its own other than being called the village by all its inhabitants, the rest of the awakening ceremony proceeds without a hitch, Li breathes a sigh of relief as it ends, there were three youths with some low level of talent who were able to awaken and enter the first realm of the Absorption stage, he bids farewell to the elder as he departs with the new disciples towards the Azure Saber sect. Life in the village continues as normal, the villagers have forgotten about Wen and have gone on with their lives.
As Wen's corpse rots in the forest over the months, only his bones remain. Ten months after his death, his flesh started to grow back and his bones aligned themselves, then his vessels, nerves and meridians began to regenerate within him.
'Thump Thump', Wen wakes up suddenly as his heart keeps beating louder and louder before returning to normal. He lies there in the forest staring blankly into the darkness, dreams and hopes shattered, fated to be shunned and vanquished.
He had heard tales of the Otherworlders, they were the enemy of all mankind, now that he was considered harbouring one, he was in shock, then there was a breaking somewhere inside him, memories and thoughts foreign to him began to emerge, they seemed to call to him, enticing him, promising him of revenge and above all freedom from his miserable existence.
As he pried open the break within him, he fell into a trance, where he saw his life flash before him, his naivety was fading away and in some sense he too had awoken atleast into knowing the true nature of people and how far they would go to save themselves.