From that very moment, a time many Immortal scholars would regard as the starting point to the greatest change the universe would experience, five thousand years passed.
In that time the planet the Soaring Sword Sect resided in, Planet Deep Grey, would see inumerable changes. Heros would rise and fall, the old would eventually wither away with newer generations taking their place. Once again renewing the cycle, the newer generations would follow their predecessors path. Rivers would dry up, but new forests would take their place. The new would always take the place of the old, until they become old themselves.
However, one key thing didn't change in Planet Deep Grey. The Immortal masters that ruled over it in the past would remain in their peak, controlling the plant with an iron grip. The Divine Empress from the Divine Li continent would remain the overlord of the planet, invincible in her might. The ancestors of the Nine Elusive Sword Sect would continue to uphold the traditions of the Nine Sovereigns Continent. The incredulous demons of the Yin Devil Corpse Sect would carry on with their rampaging slaughter throughout the Corpse Dragon Continent. The impervious Thunder Cicada Bloodline of the Quan Clan would remain a source of great fear in the Supreme Cicada Continent. Even the demonic Purple Immortal Swans would remain at the top of the food chain in the Divine Edge Forest, as they had for many eras before.
The reason for their overwhelming stability being the terror of the many realms of Immortal Cultivation. Vein Opening, Blood Strengthening, Bone Molding, Core Formation, Nascent Soul and Soul Divination. Climbing through these realms, cultivators turned into gods that controlled the destiny of the world. There even existed legends that once one surpassed Soul Divination they would become immortal beings, able to outlive the sun itself.
As long as one had satisfactory spiritual veins and bloodlines, no matter their species nor birth, they would have the opportunity to live for eons to come.
All these years later a shocking scene happened that would be the beginning of a cataclysmic shift on the planet.
At the edge of the Dragon Corpse Continent resided a small Immortal City far away from any mortal's reach. The city was called Hidden Tiger City, named after the ruling Hidden Tiger Villa that resided there. Many Immortal Sects reside in the city that is more comparable to a mortal country in size and population, but none of them can compare to the impervious Core Formation elders that slept deep within Hidden Tiger Villa.
At the core of the Hidden Tiger Villa's sect grounds resided a prosperous restaurant known to the public as Hidden Tiger Pavilion, a popular spot for the young geniuses and lords of the City. Unlike normal restaurants that only supplemented mortal feasts with bare nutrients, Immortal Restaurants such as the Pavilion offered legendary Spiritual Dishes. Most cultivators used supplementary Immortal Pills for nutrition, but the Spiritual Dishes of these types of restaurant provided even greater benefits for the cultivation processes of the young cultivators in the city.
Tonight at the middle of noon, the restaurant was filled to the brim with patrons. Cheers of laughter could be heard from outside the pavilion as friends feasted and drank the finest delicacies the Immortal World had to offer. Music performed by beautiful maidens with Zithers streamed to ears of the many guests like a smooth waterfall that descended in a magnificent fashion, creating a sort of inner bliss and tranquility.
The most passionate of said diners were at the table at the corner end of the pavilion. The table was filled with legendary dishes such as Ice Tiger gall placed on a bed of noodles hand-made from Westland Wheat. To satisfy their thirsts there was dozen year old wines brewed by the famous Golden-Eared Monkeys of the Divine Edge Forest.
The youths at the table were having a grand old time, each of them clearly drunk beyond their minds. Topics ranged from the local politics of their city to which ladies or gentleman they were vying for, with crude jokes sprinkled here and there.
The most intoxicated of the group was a dashing youth wearing golden robes handcrafted from the silk of the much sought after Golden-Heaven Silkworm. The dashing youth's name was Gu Jie, the great-grandson of one of the Hidden Tiger Villa's mighty elders.
"You know I heard that … that the Great Devil Liu is gonna be hunted down pretty soon," yelled Gu Jie in his drunken splendor.
In what seemed like a millisecond the entire pavillion transformed from a raging beast to a still mouse.
"Whaaat? Who cares, it's just… umn it's just something I heard."
Unlike the Nine Sovereigns Continent that was ruled by Righteous Immortal Cultivators, the Dragon Corpse Continent was mainly controlled by cruel Devil Cultivators. The Hidden Tiger Valley itself was a Devil-Path Sect. Not much separated the two types of cultivators except for a small difference in Cultivation styles. A small difference that had caused worlds of pain and blood spilt. Devils viewed Immortals as vile hypocrites and Immortals viewed Devils as disgusting monsters. They were both right and wrong.
Therefore any cultivator that held the title of Great Devil was a being to be feared in the Dragon Corpse Continent. Nascent Soul cultivators that could live up to five thousand years, some with special methods even longer. Great Devil Liu wasn't an exception, heck he was renowned for his cruelty among the Great Devils.
But this wasn't the reason for the sudden quite. Even in his drunken state Gu Jie could tell something wasn't right, since no one in the bar except for him would even move. They were all frozen like statues, not even the slightest twitch of an eye in sight.
That was except for one person. At the other end of the pavilion sat a small old man in dirty robes, slowly blowing on his hot tea. He didn't look like anything special, had he not been in this pavilion most probably wouldn't be able to tell him apart from a mortal. Yet this was what was most terrifying of all.
A cold drip of sweat ran down Gu Jie's back. There existed many Spiritual Arts for telling the cultivation of others, yet even with the entire arsenal of the Hidden Tiger Villa's techniques he couldn't separate this old man from a mortal. All that could mean was that he was someone far above his cultivation realm.
Gu Jie took out his natel Spiritual Artifact, an ancient Immortal Sword crafted from a mysterious dark spiritual wood, prepared to fight to his death. Had he been a bit less drunk he would have remembered that someone capable of freezing the whole pavilion was not someone he could face on equal grounds.
"Who are you?!"
The old man ignored Gu Jie, placing his attention on the tea he was still blowing on.
The silence further enraged Gu Jie, maddening him to a degree that caused water to start gathering around his eyes. Dropping his sword, Gu Jie fell on his knees. Gu Jie had been raised by mighty beings, he was by no means of the word a coward, but this old man had created a knot in his stomach.
"What do you want?"
The old man continued to ignore Gu Jie, starting to take small sips of tea. A small smile appeared on his face as he nodded slightly at the quality of the tea.
This further sign of disregard was the last straw for Gu Jie as a stream of tears running down his face. He couldn't understand what was happening to him, but for some reason this old man's silence was his undoing. Was it some sort of rare Spiritual Art or was his presence just so terrifying?
After slowly finishing his tea the old man turned to Gu Jie, but by then he had already turned to a muddle of tears and snot, barely keeping sane.
The old man sent a Spiritual Transmission to Gu Jie, a special but common Spiritual Art that allowed for cultivators to send mental messages to others. Depending on the cultivation and quality of technique of the cultivator, the further they could send a message to.
Without even hesitating Gu Jie spurted out a great secret his sect had worked arduously to find, "Some powerful loose Great Devils are chasing after his head."
"I don't know. I swear I wouldn't lie to you if I know somet…"
The old man interrupted him,
All the old man did next was nod to Gu Jie. Gu Jie didn't know why but he felt genuinely happy, a type of happiness he had never felt before. It was as if all the joy he had ever felt in the past was just meaningless loud noise, none of it comparing to that moment.
Instead of tears, blood started running down Gu Jie's eyes as his eyes hollowed out.
"Thud". The only sound in the entire pavilion was Gu Jie's corpse falling to the ground. He had died.