Yu Chen walked through the bustling streets of Jingnan, a small countryside city that had once been a simple intersection of two roads, centuries ago. Now however, it hummed with life. It had grown over the years, situated as it was at an important crossroads that was integral for the flow of goods throughout the Empire.

This was information he’d picked up over the last few days, strolling through town in the guise of a mortal.

He walked along, his hands clasped behind his back as he eyed the world around him in interest. His plain robes allowed him to blend into the crowd, appearing not so dissimilar from the others around him. He appeared to be nothing more than another young man out about town, and none would have taken for a hidden immortal.

Yu Chen was doing his best to avoid notice. These days, it was dangerous to be an immortal, and being a mortal wasn’t much better.

If word spread that an immortal was seen in Jingnan, death would follow. He’d seen it happen before, in cities not so dissimilar from this.

The people around him filled the air with endless chatter as they spoke of the mundane matters that pertained to them. Rising prices were always a popular topic, and salt was a main concern of the people, Yu Chen had heard many complain bitterly about the scarcity the ongoing war had created in the market. They spoke endlessly of the war as well, and everyone seemed to have family or friends who were on the frontlines fighting.

However, these weren’t the most popular topic on people’s lips these days. That would be the rumors currently spreading that a second front had emerged, and an unknown enemy had risen up, advancing into the heart of the Empire.

Yu Chen came to a halt next to two men who were arguing in front of a nearby fruit cart, making a show of examining the produce as he listened in on their discussion. If they registered him at all they paid no mind, continuing to discuss the latest news in the world.

“Shiqiao was burned to the ground, just two weeks ago, leaving nothing but ashes. They say not even the animals escaped alive, let alone the men and women.”

“You’ve got it wrong, it was Hongtu!” The other man rebutted, shaking his head. “Had the news from the baker on plum street just this morning. He heard it from a caravaner who saw it with his own eyes.”

“Bah!” The other man exclaimed, waving angrily. “Do you think I’m a fool? Hongtu’s to the north, Shiqiao is to the south, how would I get them mixed up?”

Yu Chen placed down a bit of mortal coin on the stall, before taking a bite of the apple he was holding as he slid past the two, continuing on his way. They paid him no mind, continuing to bicker back and forth.

There wasn’t much point in the argument as far as Yu Chen could tell, they were both right after all.

Shiqiao had been destroyed, and Hongtu, along with half a dozen other cities, and the numerous villages, towns and outposts that lay in between them.

It’d been weeks since Yu Chen had left the Secret Realm, and he'd traversed over a good bit of the Empire. It hadn’t taken long, however, for the first rumors that he’d come to associate with the bloody reavers reached his ears. They’d spoken of a new enemy, one that had come from the sea, and how they’d destroyed some famous port well known for its pearls.

Then the next rumor had come, and another after that, and Yu Chen realized they’d been troubling the Empire for quite awhile before the massacre that’d happened at the Secret Realm.

Everything, including at least three sects, had been destroyed in a path of destruction that had managed to bisect the empire, nearly entirely. It didn’t take a man with eyes to see that it was forming an arrow aimed straight for the seat of power, one that had cut down everything in its way.

The lives of countless mortals had already been lost, but those outside of that line of annihilation were relatively safe, at least for now. Immortals on the other hand, weren’t so lucky. The reavers seemed to have a particular lust for cultivators, going out of their way to lay waste to the surrounding sects and any area they’d heard one might be located.

The swathe of devastation they’d created had also neatly divided him from the Golden Mist Sect, cutting off any chance he had of reaching it alive. From what he’d heard they’d not only cut a path across the empire, they’d also formed a strong chokehold along the southern coast, blockading it and preventing others from passing through, not that anyone had bothered to try.

Thankfully they seemed rather confined beyond that, intent on reaching the Emperor’s palace, and Yu Chen had reasoned as to why that might be the case.

The Bloody River Sect walked a path of demonic cultivation, and a particularly vile one even among demonic cultivators, one that drove you towards indiscriminate killing, becoming stronger in the process. If that was the case, wouldn’t the strongest among them seek out the strongest prey to hunt? Perhaps it was the head of their sect himself who had left the river, cutting a path inland to slay the strongest cultivators in the Empire.

Yu Chen hoped that was the case, and shuddered to think that it might be otherwise.

Because if not, wouldn’t that mean their leader was stronger still?

Yu Chen shook away the thoughts.

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Letting out a low breath he walked through the gates, leaving the city behind. He walked along the busy road, waiting until the people around him disappeared before he cycled his movement technique, leaping forward as civilization began to recede, the land turning wild again as the uniform fields that covered it gave way to a large forest that spread throughout most of the region.

It only took a quick push for him to leap off the ground and land amongst the treetops, a method of travel that had quickly become his favorite way to travel.

He ran forward, leaping from branch to branch with graceful steps as he moved through the canopy with hardly a whisper, watching as the forest rapidly flashed by beneath his feet. He followed a large road that cut through the forest, creating a path towards the next civilized area.

He stuck close to it, having learned his lesson about delving too deep into these forests. He’d made that mistake once before, when he thought to take a quick shortcut, only to narrowly avoid a confrontation with a Stage 2 spirit beast.

He came to a halt as the forest ahead split into an intersection, one path leading towards the south of the empire, and another leading towards its outer edge.

His thoughts turned over as he sat above the crossroads, weighing the momentous decision that had been churning in his heart.

If he took the path to the left, he would risk his life to return to the past, settling things there.

He truly did wish to return to the sect and his old life, seeing which of his friends had survived and helping them weather the storms to come with the sect leader’s passing. Even more than that he wanted to visit with his family again, to see his mother’s face and laugh with his brother, and once again hear his father’s stern but gentle voice guiding him in what to do.

That was what he truly wanted.

However, that would only reignite the bonds of karma they’d already severed.

Just seeing them from a distance couldn’t be remiss, could it? Perhaps he could drop off some coin, ensuring they lived in luxury. They didn’t have to know it came from him did they?

He sighed, a low soft sound tinged with sadness, loss and remembrance that blended into the environment around him.

Making his choice, Yu Chen set off, continuing to move throughout the treetops.

Hours passed as he traveled, leaping high above the mortals who journeyed along the road beneath him. Some of them were lone travelers, while others formed small groups, or even larger caravans that were filled with the trade goods they carried across the empire.

Not a soul saw him pass, and if they heard a slight noise, the rustling of tree branches as he lightly landed above them, by the time they looked up he was already gone, far out of sight.

The sun slowly set behind him, fading over the horizon.

Yu Chen didn’t stop moving, and a journey that would have taken others weeks passed in a single day as he ran ceaselessly through the night. He landed in the grasses below as the forest around him finally came to an end, continuing to run as it gave way to bare grasslands that gradually transitioned into rolling hills as he moved through the land.

Villages appeared and disappeared in the distance as he traveled, until one appeared directly before him, blocking his way forward. Yu Chen didn’t bother to go around. It was the dead of night and he raced to the walls like a shadow. It was the matter of one small step for his powerful body to take him to the top of the walls, where he leaped, running from rooftop to rooftop as he passed through the town like a ghost in the night.

He ran until morning arrived, bringing with it the first rays of dawn’s light that pierced the night sky. The pervasive blackness around him began to fade, giving way to hues of dark blue, before softening into a deep purple. The sun climbed higher, lighting the sky with a riot of color that showered the horizon in stunning reds, oranges and yellows.

The world around him came alive as Yu Chen ran into the sunrise. The birds were beginning to stir, and he heard their chirps in the brief moment between when he’d land and leap again. Then the insects appeared as the sun climbed higher, filling the air with a low buzz as they went aloft, beginning their daily activities.

Yu Chen frowned before cycling his qi, covering his body in a thin aura that kept away the worst of the bugs. No one ever mentioned it, but they became a real pain when traveling at high speeds.

A strange noise rose up in the background, catching his attention, coming upon him so gradually that he hadn’t noticed it at first. It was a low rhythmic sound, like a distant murmur that tickled at the edge of hearing, soft and insistent.

He sped up, tirelessly approaching the source of the noise and listening as it gradually grew louder. It crashed, and then a lull would appear before he heard the noise swell up and crash again, some grand creation rhythmically pounding away as though he were listening to the heartbeat of the earth itself.

The ground transitioned again, bluffs beginning to appear as the terrain turned rocky, forming into great stone ranges that pierced into the air, dense with vegetation. He left the road, approaching the source of the noise. Springing into a nearby tree, he used it as a launchpad to send him up the side of the cliff, where he found some tiny outcrops from which to continue his ascent.

He leapt from precipice to precipice, having to climb higher and higher as he continued his approach. The noise had grown to the point that it practically roared, the crashes now forming sharp, explosive cracks that reminded him of the worst of the siege weapons within his dreams.

He landed on the ground, running towards a break he saw in the trees ahead -

And then he was through to the otherside, stumbling to a halt right before he ran off the edge of the thin slice of rock that jutted out, overlooking the most awe inspiring sight he’d seen in his life.

An endless expanse spread out before him in all directions, great roiling waves of honey-yellow waters that swirled in mysterious currents, waving entrancingly. The waters swelled before him, crashing into the rocks below with a mighty roar that echoed all around, sending up a spray of water that glistened like amber in the early morning light of the sun. A soft hissing filled the air as the water pulled back, the foam and spray sliding down the slick rocks to run back into the river, before the waters swelled forward, crashing against the rocks once more.

Boats meandered all across the surface of the mighty yellow river. Some were tiny things, little more than specks of dust adorning the face of the river, while others were massive contraptions of wood and steel that loomed domineeringly, cutting a formidable figure as they sliced through the waters.

He could see a city further down the coast to his right, nestled into a bay in the river. It was a great rambling thing built across the bluffs in many layers, surrounded by a series of concentric walls. Fine marble palaces adorned the top of the bluffs, the housing growing gradually worse through each successive layer of walls until it devolved into a sprawling mass of half built shanties that had spread to cover the coastline for miles around.

The large bay formed a natural harbor, and Yu Chen could see many boats and ships docked to the great wooden piers that stretched forth, anchoring them in place. He smiled as he saw his destination finally appear in sight.

In the end, A dragon always advances.

END OF BOOK ONE