In the year 2020 of the Immortal Emperor Han Calendar, a deadly virus called the Immortal Slayer took the cultivation world by storm.
Tens of thousands of cultivators died at the hands of the Immortal Slayer virus, while millions more remained cooped up in their abodes, hoping to see the light of day again.
A year later, while every cultivator was doing their best to ward off the Immortal Slayer virus, a young scholar by the name of Sion was wandering through the woods when he heard a scream.
Curious, Sion hurried over to the source of the sound and couldn't help but let out a surprised yelp.
Laying on the ground was a man dressed in red robes with golden dragon patterns. Sion figured that the man was a noble who had just fallen from a cliff.
But when the young scholar looked around, he could find a single cliff nearby.
'Odd, really odd.' The young scholar cupped his chin and thought aloud.
Sion grabbed a long wooden stick near his feet before he started poking the red robed man in front of him.
"Hey~ Hey~ Hey~ Are you dead yet? I really like your clothing~ Can I take it from you?" Sion poked at the red robed man a few more times before the young scholar in front of him confirmed that the person in front of him was indeed dead.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Sion began looting the dead body with a carefree smile.
The young scholar first checked the man's pockets for any valuables. He found a jade ring and pair of glasses.
Next, Sion searched the man's body. He found an iron sword decorated in golden letters.
Sion couldn't read the inscribed letters so he concluded that the letters were just gibberish etched into the sword's blade for decoration.
10 mins later…
Sion stripped the man of his clothes before he proceeded to put on the red robes.
"These red robes are a bit too big for me–" The young scholar was just about to complain about the size difference when the golden dragon patterns suddenly lit up.
When the golden light died down, Sion noticed that the red robes that were previously too big for him shrank to perfect him.
"Oooh damn, are these limited edition size changing robes? This noble must've come from an incredibly wealthy family! I'm jealous!"
Thinking so, Sion quickly grabbed the sword and his baggage and bolted out of the forest.
It was only then did he think of the possibility that the noble man's family might come after him if they caught wind that a young scholar from the countryside was wearing size changing robes and a golden lettered sword.
Days later, Sion finally made it out of the forest and arrived at a village.
Just then, a giant gray cloud appeared above the forest. Sion looked at the dark cloud for a moment before he turned away and headed for the village's inn.
"BOOM!"
The gray cloud began its assault on the forest.
A thick bolt of lightning was released, striking the forest's damp and muddy ground, followed by roaring thunder.
"BOOM BOOM BOOM!"
The gray cloud released a few more lightning bolts at the forest before it stopped and dispersed back into white clouds.
Sion saw the whole thing unfold from the safety of his inn. He treated it as an act of nature and decided to go to sleep.
The next day, Sion woke up under a pile of rubble.
He became confused at the sight of the rubble. Looking around, the young scholar was surprised that the village he was staying in had been destroyed.
The villagers had become pools of blood while their houses had been decimated into sticks and stones.
The young scholar determined that him still being alive was the heavens' will and that it would be rude of him to ask the heavens' reason for killing innocent villagers.
As the saying goes, don't pry into things you're going to get fried for.
Sion scratched his head for a moment before he gathered his stuff and continued on his way.
Five days later…
The young scholar arrived at Shetun City, an important port city of the Jong Kingdom.
But before he could step foot into the city, two city guards crossed spears and blocked his path.
The two guards remained silent as they blocked him, while Sion was confused and tried to duck below the spears to get through.
That proved useless as one of the city guards raised his leg and kicked Sion in the face for attempting that.
The young scholar rolled backwards a few times before he got up and walked up to the guards again.
"Hey guys, what's the deal here?"
"Cultivators aren't allowed to enter Shetun City without the approval of the city's governor."
"Cultivator? But I'm a normal mortal man?"
"Then why are you wearing the Mortal Ascension Sect's uniform? Only disciples of the sect are allowed to wear that red uniform."
Hearing the guard's logical question, Sion was speechless.
Then, by wearing the red robes, was he a cultivator now?