Weeks passed and finally, the Golden Trail Merchant Caravan arrived in the Nix Tribe for their yearly passing. The once prosperous Snow Peak City laid barren. Dead bodies, burnt buildings, fallen walls, and dried blood marked the landscape. There were no survivors. The merchants quickly fled and shouted from the mountains to the rivers the horrible news.
For the first time since the attack, the western powers found out about the attack that had eradicated one of its most powerful forces. But, strangely enough, no action was taken. As if nothing had happened, a strange but restless silence covered the continent.
…
Tens of thousands of miles five eastern ships returned gloriously home. The other half of dozen ships had separated a while ago to return to the Lunar Sky Sect. Seeing the Zhao Capital, the familiar eastern architecture, and the city port cheers started emerging from the victorious soldiers. This served as a stark contrast to the hundreds of tied of westerners in the bottom who had already been branded as slaves.
As a reward, Zhou Magistrate permitted soldiers to take back as their own some of the things they took from the fallen Nix Tribe. This included slaves, but some slaves with rune or knight cultivation were reserved and the soldiers needed to spend merit points to get them.
The western continent had a different power path than the eastern continent, moreover, they had primarily two paths while the eastern only encompassed one main path. Yes, there were differences on the eastern side; for example, sword cultivators, formation masters, alchemists, and more. But, all of them still embarked on the primary path of cultivation. While their western counterparts engaged in the rune sorcery path and the knight body path.
Although both are similarly powerful the rune sorcery is seen in western culture as more mysterious, rare and difficult. The ranks are as follows:
Rune Sapling
Rune Master
Rune Lord
Rune Saint
To reach the rune sapling realm one must make a connection with an element and form a rune seed. This part, although it seems simple, is extremely hard, and without the assistance of other Rune Sorcerers to empower the elements in the environment, one would find it nearly impossible without heaven-blessed talent. This seed formation takes place for all western children in their ten-year-old coming of age ceremony. In cities, children, from the most prosperous cities to the most isolated pieces of countryside alike, made their way to Runeship Association buildings on their ten-year-old birthday to wait for the select day's Rune Sorcerers would open their doors, allowing any child 10 years of age inside, enacting a service to heighten the presence of elements and releasing the restrains of those destined for Runeship.
Runeship talent is partly tied to blood and most tribes' direct descendants have no problem awakening. Thus, helping maintain the tribe's hegemony generation through generation.
On the other hand, the knight path is not seen as lowly or " bad", but because of its easier accessibility, it's not seen as highly as its counterpart. Although almost everyone can embark on the knight path, as it's basically refining and training one's body to utter perfection, very few can reach its true heights. Similar to how almost anyone can achieve an outstanding body physique with chiseled muscles and impressive prowess, very few actually do. Hard work and dedication are simple concepts but hard to achieve. The Knight path ranks are as follows:
Knight
Great Knight
Enlightened Knight
Weapon Saint
The path is special because the human body is already refined to perfection and to its utmost limits by the end of the Enlightened Knight realm. The solution came about in the far past, the famous Enlightened Knight Rowling found a way forward, his ancient time contemporaries kept trying to find new ways to push the human body, but in the process, they had forgotten that knights were not just flesh and bones, they also had external help: weapons. Using his sword, he was able to combine sword and human into one and make his sword an extension of his body, manifesting sword aura. Consequently, becoming the first Weapon Saint or more specifically the first Sword Saint. Years passed and countless other knights carved their way forward becoming the first spear, ax and more saints.
But not many are able to reach beyond the Great Knight and Rune Master realms and the slaves on the ship were clearly not so powerful. With only 13 Great Knights and 3 Rune Masters, the rest being lower ranked knights and saplings.
As the ship finally embarked, outside the ship, as goods, slaves and soldiers left, spontaneous auctions started. With soldiers showcasing their "plunder" and various merchants shouting bids to get such "plunder". But, for a certain white-haired girl, who had been separated from all of the other slaves since departure, her future was "special".
On the deck of the ship watching all of the disembarking on go, and the ensuing chaos stood Zhao Bao surrounded by beautiful western slaves and an unchained Rose.
"Damn that Lunar Sky Sect, they dare to take most of the loot and then act all high and mysterious! And that Nix miser, nothing valuable in the vaults, what can I even do with rune manuals in the eastern continent with no elements ugh! " shouted the Zhao Marquis swinging his arms around, but upon laying eyes on the beautiful young Rose a smirk rose and a thought emerged 'oh but you did leave something valuable'.
"At your service lord" feeling his gaze, shouted the young Rose with a cheerful smile while doing a noble curtsy.
"Ha, yes indeed" surprised at her response a slight frown emerged on his forehead but quickly disappeared as he called for his retainers and disembarked.
"Call the carriages, let's go." heeding his command dozens of Zhao soldiers started clearing a path through the chaos.
Cheers emerged from the city inhabitants watching their lord descend from the ship. When the Marquis raised his fist, everyone but his entourage took a knee, and only after he lowered his fist did they rise. Clearing way through the crowds a path formed to a file of golden carriages pulled by deer-like green-furred beasts with wooden horns emerging from their ears as branches from a tree, powerful demon beasts.
As soldiers started pushing around a dozen western women towards the back carriages with the unchained Rose in their midst, the Marquis whistled pointing at Rose, and said
"She's with me." thus she was brought to the most extravagant carriage in the line
Arriving at a large and grand estate with hundreds of servants and many courtyards the ladies were brought to separate guest rooms.
As they were guided in, the lord's concubines, ladies finely dressed with full-body white makeup, all stood in the front courtyard greeting the lord and welcoming his return.
Amidst all of this, Rose's mind contrary to her stoic face was full of rumble. She was no idiot, no she was quite the opposite; lauded as a genius since she was young, and reaching the peak Sapling realm at the age of 13, or one year ago, she was simply renowned for her intellect. Upon being forcibly boarded onto the ship, seeing her mother dead, and her people chained, and understanding that her father was also most likely dead, mental chaos ensued.
Weeks were spent crying and in despair, with visits from the Zhou Marquis augmenting her hatred. But, it was one day as she walked through the ship and saw her uncle Nix Reno a mighty peak Rune Master chained, pushed, and whipped by eastern soldiers did she "wake up". This was her situation and no amount of tears would fix it.