Chapter One

Within an isolated courtyard manor, a boy was sitting under the light of an oil lamp, reading a book.

The name of the boy was Lin Feng. Lin Feng was 8 years old today, and like every other birthday he could remember, he got a new book as a gift. Lin Feng loved books, loved how they could take him to a different place, a different life, away from the boredom, isolation and indifference of his daily life.

Lin Feng was the eldest son of one of the most powerful merchants in the small town where they lived, Lin Suo. However, because he is the son of a concubine he has no right's to inherit the families business and as such, him and his mother where sent to live in this isolated courtyard manor, around one hour walk away from the town center.

The main wife of his father, jealous of the love he gives to my mother and afraid of the fact the she was able to give birth to a boy before her, forced his father to segregate the both of them from the main family compound and send away.

As Lin Feng was reading, there was a knock on his door. A beautiful woman in he mid twenties entered his room and with a gentle smile scolded him. That woman was his mother, Lin Mei.

"Feng'er, what are you still doing up? I clearly remember telling you that your father would come visit tomorrow and that you should go to sleep early in order to welcome him when he arrives." Scolded Lin Mei, a loving expression in her eyes.

"But mom! I'm in the best part of the book! The hero just confronted the evil demon and is getting ready to kick his arse!"

"No excuses young man, you will go to sleep this instant!" Lin Mei said, mirth clear in her eyes.

"Fine, fine! But, can you please tell me the story again? THAt one!" Lin Feng said, excitement clear on his childish face.

"Sigh... Feng'er, you always ask mother to tell you that story. Will you ever grow tired of hearing it? Honestly!" Lin Mei said, still with a loving expression clear in her gentle and warm face.

Lin Feng ran to his bed with a speed only possible to those who are that young, and with the cover pulled to his chin, he eagerly waited for his mother to start the story.

Lin Mei, seeing that there was no way to get out of telling her son the story for what seemed like the 1000th time, chuckled ruefully and sat down on a chair by the bed.

"All right, i'll tell the story. But not in it's entirety, i still maintain that you must go to sleep early so that you can welcome your father in the morning" Said Lin Mei, patting his head with a wry grin on her lips.

Lin Feng simply nodded furiously, and waited with baited breath for the story to begin.

With a chuckle at her mischievous son, Lin Mei started,

"In the beginning of the universe, there was only Shenzu. He was the void, and the void was him. He was the chaos, and the chaos was him. He was creation itself, and creation was him. However, Shenzu grew lonely, and in his solitude he decided to create himself a partner to share eternity with. This was the birth of the Maiden Manah, daughter of creation and mother of all." Intoned Lin Mei, with a soft, soothing voice.

"Was Maiden Manah very pretty? I don't think she could be prettier than you Mom" Said Lin Feng, with a curious look.

"Of course she was! Maiden Manah's beauty is said to be enough to cause the heaven's to weep. Now will you let me continue the story?" Said Lin Mei, with laughter in her voice at her child's clear attempt at being charming like his father.

Lin Feng just nodded, already becoming sleepy after being in the comfortable bed for a few minutes.

"After living together with Shenzu for countless eons, Manah convinced Shenzu that they should create something out of the infinite void that was the universe at the time, so with their combined power they created the elements and out of the elements came stars, planets and galaxies. This was the birth of the cosmos." Said Lin Mei, amused by her son's efforts to stay awake.

"That wasn't all that was born though was it Mom?" Asked the sleepy Lin Feng, stifling a yawn.

"No it wasn't, Feng'er. Out of the elements something else was born, beings with power great enough to rival Shenzu and Manah herself, they were the Four Great Divine Beasts. The Vermilion Bird, ruler of fire, the Black Tortoise, ruler of earth, the White Tiger, ruler of air and the Azure Dragon, Ruler of Water and Guardian of Magic, the most powerful of them all. From their birth, came the Elemental Planes, from which the Elementals were born, created with the purpose of maintaining the balance amongst the elements of the universe." Continued Lin Mei, already preparing to put an end to story time so her son could finally go to sleep.

"But Mom, i thought Shenzu and and Manah were the most powerful beings in the cosmos? They are, after all, the creators of everything!" Said Lin Feng, quoting from one of his many books.

Lin Mei looked proudly at her son. She always felt proud when her son showed knowledge that most children of his age could at most parrot, but not really understand.

"They are, my cute child. However the Divine Beasts are not to be trifled with, they were born from the primordial elemental energies of creation. Something even Shenzu and Manah could not control, but only guide." She said, deciding that this was a good place to stop. Her child was already half asleep and keeping him awake any longer could cause him to loose his sleep.

"All right, Fen'er. It's time to sleep, and i'm serious this time. No more delays, young man!" Said Lin Mei, playfully shaking her finger at Lin Feng.

"Fine. But tomorrow i get to hear the whole story!" Said Lin Feng, with a pout so adorable it could move even the most cold hearted of people.

"Ok, my love. Sleep well, and may the Maiden Manah grant you good dreams" Said Lin Mei, while kissing her child in the nose, causing his to sleepily giggle.

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In the middle of the night, Lin Feng woke up to loud noise coming from outside his house. Thinking it might be a burglar, he tip toed to the window of his bedroom and peaked at the outside. Not seeing anything, he thought that maybe he was hearing things. However, not even 5 seconds after such thought, he heard the noise again. This time it was far louder, like the clap of thunder and he realised it was coming from the sky.

However, when he looked, there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. The star shone brightly in the clear night sky, which only puzzled the naturally curious boy even more.

Deciding to investigate closer, he stealthily opened his window further, and with the nimbleness of those his age, jumped outside his room and started looking at the night sky.

What he saw, shocked and awed the Lin Feng more than anything he had ever seen in his entire life short life.

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He saw two men, engaged in battle, flying in the sky!

He gaped, staring at the two figures fighting viciously. Flashes of swords, and the clang of metal hitting metal reverberated through the silence of the night.

'Immortal Cultivators! Those are Immortal Cultivators, just like in the stories' Thought Lin Feng, with excitement bubbling in the pit of his stomach.

"Situ Fei! You think you can escape after trying to steal the core teachings of my sect!?" Yelled one of the man, wearing pale blue robes, and wielding a slim sword, glowing in the moonlight.

"Hahahaha, Lu Tian! You think you can stop me with your piddling sword arts and cultivation?! I may not be strong enough to defeat you, but i am more than strong enough to flee! Will you chase me to the ends of earth?! Dream on!" Shouted the other man, dressed in pitch black robes, with a red moon symbol on the back. He wielded a vicious looking saber, that looked like it had reaped many lives.

As they continued to fight, sonic booms echoed in the night and the sounds of the emergency bells from the town ringed loudly.

In the ground, Lin Feng continued to watch, transfixed by the sight of the beings he only knew of from the stories he had read in his favourite books.

Suddenly, a sound came from behind him and when he looked he saw his mother, with a terrified look on her face, running in his direction.

"Feng'er, come back inside! It's not safe here!" Shouted the woman, frantically running towards her child.

"Mom! Those are Immortal Cultivators, just like in the books!" Oblivious to the danger, Lin Fen shouted back to his mother, and continued to watch.

The fight seemed to be reaching it's zenith, when suddenly a flash of sword Qi, dazzling in it's brightness came rushing towards Lin Feng. Lin Mei screamed with horror at the scene and ran with even stronger frenzy towards her beloved child, who was only now realising the grave danger he found himself in.

Lin Feng, after seeing the flash of Sword Qi, was terrified and glued to the spot. The oppression that the attack brought was enough to cause blood to run from his yes, nose and ears.

When Lu Tian, saw this scene his face turned ugly beyond compare, and after taking a look at Situ Fei, he rushed towards Lin Feng and with a wave of his sleeves, threw Lin Feng into the direction of his mother. However, while his actions only took a few seconds, it was enough for Situ Fei to take advantage and flee with all his power. By the time Lu Tian look in the direction Situ Fei was, he was already at least a thousand meters away. With a shake of his head and a furious snort, he gave chase, though the hope of catching someone so close to his own power when he was doing everything he could to escape and had such a head start was very slim.

Lin Mei, holding the now unconscious Lin Feng was crying tears of relief, while absolute terror still gripped her heart in a cold vice, terror not for her life but for the life of her only son.

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Morning came, and Lin Feng slowly woke up, feeling very tired and his body ached like he had taken the beating of a lifetime.

'What happened? Did i fall from my bed in the middle of the night?' Thought Lin Feng groggily.

Then everything came crashing down on him, all the memories from the past night. At first Lin Feng was incredibly excited because he got to see Immortal Cultivators. However, once he remembered the terrifying sword qi that came in his direction, he became white as a sheet, and that's when his mother came into the room. Lin Mei looked exhausted and as if she had aged 10 years in one night.

"Feng'er, you're awake! Thank the Maiden Manah!" Cried Lin Mei, hurrying to his side as inspecting his body with a critical be teary eye.

"I'm okay, Mom. More importantly, those were Immortal Cultivators! I never thought i would get to see the heroes of those stories in real life! Although i think one of them was a thief, that's not very heroic" Frowned Lin Feng, who seemed to be recovering the excitement of seeing such an awe inspiring scene.

"Oh, Feng'er! You nearly scared mother to death! How could you leave the house in the middle of the night! What would i have done if something happened to you!?"

"But Mom! There were noises outside, like thunder but with no rain nor clouds in the sky! I couldn't help myself!" Complained Lin Feng, as if an 8 year old boy leaving his house in the middle of the night to investigated loud and suspicious sounds was the height of normality.

"Do not talk back to me young man! You're in serious trouble! I almost saw the yellow river when that sword Qi came in your direction! You're grounded for an entire year, you hear me? A whole year!" Scolded Lin Mei. Clearly the fear of loosing her son had quickly turned into anger, and she was having none of his excuses.

"A whole year!? Mom, that's too much!" Cried Lin Feng, horrified at the idea of not being able to visit the town and play with the few friends he had for an entire year.

"Hoh, still talking back to me?! Do you want the punishment to be increased to 2 years!? I'll do it, young man!" Lin Mei was clearly having none of his nonsense, at least not until the fear of loosing her son had time to abate.

"Ok, ok, Mom! I promise i'll behave!" Lin Feng nearly jumped out of his skin, seeing his usually gentle mother being to strict.

"Humph! I'll go make you some food, you've been asleep for almost a full day and missed two meals already! Your father came to visit, and after hearing about what happened he called a doctor. After being assured that you would be fine, and had just suffered a shock he had no choice but to return home. You know how Lin Ming is, she can't stand me and would prefer Lin Suo never visit us at all." Said Lin Mei. She didn't hide the fact that the main wife of Lin Feng hated them. Considering how clever Lin Feng was, he had long ago picked up on her feelings.

"Ok, mom! I really am hungry." Lin Feng said with a cheeky smile on his face, patting his grumbling stomach.

After Lin Mei left the room, Lin Feng started thinking about the things he saw last night. While being attacked was certainly scary, he couldn't help the feeling of awe and longing he felt after witnessing the power of Immortal Cultivators. They could fly in the sky, what feeling of freedom must that bring!

It was this day that Lin Feng, who previously was only interested in books swore to himself that he to would have that kind of power one day. It's not like he had to worry about his family, being the son of a concubine.

And so began the story of the man who would one day tear the heaven's and shake the earth with his powers.