The cultivation world is divided into ten major cities, controlled by the most powerful cultivation factions in the world. Each city location wasn't chosen on a whim, as they are located on the Heavenly Conqueror Dragon Earth Vein.
This massive earth vein has ten mountains, each mountain has the purest spiritual qi in the world.
The vein was discovered twenty thousand years ago by the Heavenly Conqueror . At that time, this man was the strongest cultivator in the world.
After conquering the world, he was given that name.
Using the Earth Vein, he ascended to the Void Transformation realm, breaking the mortal world barrier and ascending to a higher domain.
From then on, the most powerful factions moved their strongholds to each of the vein's ten mountains, creating a cultivation city in each one.
Each cultivation city has its unique and distinct atmosphere, with different factions having their own codes, regulations, and beliefs. They all compete for the resources and the spiritual qi from the vein, leading to intense rivalries and battles between them. The cities are also the hub of commerce for the cultivation world, attracting cultivators from all over the world.
***
Blood Moon City, one of the ten major cities, remains shrouded in darkness at all times, permeated by Yin Qi, attracting devils, ghosts, and yin cultivators.
Unlike the other cities, it operates autonomously and is not subject to any factional authority, a place where killing and chaos are as usual as sunlight for the remaining parts of the world.
In a forgotten corner of the city, lies the unremarkable Free Heart Inn.
A man was sitting alone observing the dimly lit street outside the inn until five men appeared sequentially, encircling him while maintaining their silent gaze upon him.
He looked at them expressionlessly and said in a flat tone," It's not too late to regret your decision."
The five men looked at him silently.
No one responded, knowing that there was no coming back, and regret won't do them any good.
The man was none other than Liang Yifei who looked at them and sighed, opening his space ring.
Liang then took out five black formation disks and handed a disk to each one. "Each one of you will go to one of the ten major cities and place the formation disk in the previously arranged location. When the time comes to activate it, I will notify you."
The five men nodded, and soon each one of them left on his own, leaving the Inn empty as it was before.
Of these five men, each one of them was once a talented cultivator, but talent wouldn't do them any good if they offended any of the powerful factions.
The first one was called Li Gang.
One day, he returned to his home only to find his dao companion's lifeless body on the ground. After investigation, he found out that one of the Divine Phoenix Sect elders took a liking to her special physique.
Although the city rules forbid killing, the city he was in is the Rising Flame City, one of the ten major cities.
The elder who killed his companion was a Nascent Soul cultivator.
In a city controlled solely by the Divine Phoenix Sect, no one dared to question him.
Drenched in anger and sadness, he noticed a man standing behind him. The man asked him with a cold voice, "What would you do for revenge?"
Li Gang let out a loud laugh filled with madness, and responded emotionlessly, "I'll do whatever it takes to take revenge."
Liang handed him a piece of paper, " I can give you the revenge you want, but the cost might be your life. If you agree, then drop a few of your blood essence here."
Desperate for revenge, Li Gang didn't waste a moment and dropped a few drops of his blood essence on the paper.
***
The second man was called Guan Wei, an arrogant man who underestimated the power of the Heavenly Conqueror Sect. He insulted their elders and disrespected their founder. This angered the sect, which in return sent their disciples to kill him.
They nearly killed Guan Wei, who barely escaped with his life.
Once Guan Wei recovered, he found out that his sect was exterminated and all his fellow disciples and elders were killed.
He had nowhere else to go, so he decided to become a wandering cultivator, then later on he coincidentally met Liang Yifei and signed the same contract with him.
***
The third man was called Zhang Lie, a disciple of the Hidden Moon Sect. His sect was attacked by a group of bandits, and Zhang Lie was the only survivor. He realized later that these bandits were from the Heavenly Thunder Palace, the faction that controls one of the 10 major cities, Thunderbolt City.
They attacked his sect, coveting one of their treasures. He had no resources, no money, and no family to support him. He wandered around aimlessly, hoping to find some way to survive and take his revenge.
***
The fourth man was called Han Zhi, a talented young cultivator who was a part of the Dragon Terrace sect that controls the Dragon Terrace City of the ten major cities. One day, he was accused of stealing a valuable artefact from the sect's treasury. He was innocent, but the sect didn't believe him.
They expelled him and put a bounty on his head. He had no choice but to flee to a different region and hide from the sect's disciples who were hunting him.
The fifth man was called Li Xin, a disciple of the Green Lotus Sect.
This poor man fell in love with a female cultivator who belonged to the Immortal Jade Sect that controls the Myriad Fantasy City.
When their relationship was discovered, the sect executed the girl he loved.
He was stripped of his status, humiliated publicly, and exiled from his sect. He had nowhere to go and no one to turn to. He wandered around, bitter and resentful, plotting his revenge against those who wronged him.
All of them signed a contract with this man, Liang Yifei, a contract that would lead them to a certain death.