It's the year 2125, about a hundred years since the reawakening of Qi on earth, the human civilisation that has forgotten the existence of Qi for nearly ten thousand years and has diverted on the path of science and laws of physics.
An era of thousand years of prosperity as humanity recreated civilisations piece by piece, the emergence of new cultures and new eras
But everything and everyone changed a hundred years ago with the awakening of Qi one night, leading to global chaos as mystical treasures reappeared over earth's surface and lost cultivation techniques were rediscovered once again, leading to the reemergence of cultivators all over the world.
The new civilisation was a mix of the convenience of modern science and the strength of ancient immortal cultivation. Since the awakening of Qi, human settlements have evolved at an insane pace.
But it isn't just humanity that evolved; the living creatures on earth also evolved—the animals, insects, birds, and fishes; they also evolved.
However, due to various circumstances, they developed in different ways, giving rise to Monsters, Spirit Beasts, and Divine Spirits. In order to exist in this world that depends on balance like a needle, they can all use their incredible might to endanger the lives of the very cultivators.
The people need to constantly grow stronger; there is a lot of competition, so much that people have long forgotten the concept of laws and morality. The pretence of morals is still seen in society, but in their hearts, everyone knows they won't survive a day with those morals in this very society.
Only someone as naive as a newborn or stupid as a retard would think that something like morals or laws will save them in this world.
'And that someone is me...' A young man frowned; his limbs were tightly bound in iron chains as he was walking in the woods while being surrounded by several men around him.
'How stupid am I to fall for this?' Xiao Jun grimaced as another sharp rock cut through the sole of his ruined shoe. 'An "investment offer," huh? Yeah, and pigs fly too. I should've known it was too good to be true...' He let out a long, weary sigh, his breath fogging in the cold forest air.
These people seem to be dressed up in modern clothing, some in flashy shirts, some with costly clothing, but the centre of attention seemed to be this young man, Xiao Jun, who was dragged along by this bunch of people inside the woods.
He was a quiet, curly, white-haired young man wearing a black shirt and pants; his eyes were rare blue, like some sort of deep sapphire crystal.
'What's with them?' Xiao Jun thought, turning his attention towards the people who were dragging him along, 'They baited me while acting as investors and kidnapped me, and now they bring me here to this nameless countryside place? We have already been walking for 4 fucking days without rest already.'
A deep sigh escaped his mouth. 'At first I thought, what's the point of kidnapping me when I have no wealth or power to begin with? My family is poor as hell, but now I'm starting to think they are just a bunch of crazy bastards who want me to die of exhaustion and starvation by walking me around the woods for days...'
Xiao Jun seemed seriously exhausted, his shoes already falling apart by now, but as he was about to fall apart himself too, suddenly one of the men paused.
"We are here," he announced, pointing towards a wild cave beneath the cliff in front of them. The people nodded and quietly took out the torches in their hands, and one of them picked Xiao Jun over his shoulders.
'I guess, they don't want me to die of exhaustion?' Xiao Jun felt confused and the people just brought him along inside the cave, insides of the cave were full of animal carcasses lying around in the corners
The air was cold, humid, and thick with some strange pressure in the place that just made people not want to move further inside the cave, but these people didn't stop and kept walking until they found themselves standing at the very end of the cave, which was a stone wall.
Their leader signalled everyone to pause, and he himself stood at the very front of that stone wall while placing his arm over the stone wall, concentrating his attention over the wall.
Xiao Jun, unable to comprehend anything, remarked, "What is this, some kind of one-inch punch audition?"
The leader of the bunch opened his eyes, and with a chuckle, he turned his gaze towards Xiao Jun. "Something like that," he replied, and the next moment the palm placed over the stone wall suddenly transformed into a fist, all this while his wrist never moved an inch from the place.
But the wall did; right in front of Xiao Jun, he saw as cracks started to form across the stone wall, and it fell, crumbling down into pieces, revealing the sight of an ancient jade gateway, which seemed to be almost a dozen meters high and thick.
"Holy fuck ..." he muttered in shock but this time it wasn't just him who was shocked, the people who brought him along were also stunned
"We struck rich this time..." the leader muttered in awe, but holding down his composure, he signalled his subordinates to drag Xiao Jun forward.
Meanwhile, Xiao Jun himself seemed dazed by the grandness of that jade gate, it was literally glowing by itself in the dark end of the cave; nobody has ever seen a jade that big and huge.
'Just this alone... is worth a few hundred million at the very least.' Xiao Jun noticed with his mouth gaped, but the leader of the bunch who kidnapped him snapped him back to reality as Xiao Jun suddenly felt a cold sensation run down his wrist.
"Hmm?" with a bit of a surprised look on his face, he looked down at his arms, still confused, and there it was, blood leaking all over the place from a deep cut over his palm as the leader of the bunch was carrying a blade in his hand.
As the realisation of pain finally reached Xiao Jun, he jumped in pain yelling, "Are you crazy?!"
"A little bit," the leader nonchalantly replied with a chuckle and, without hesitation, grabbed Xiao Jun's bleeding arms and placed his blood-covered arm over the jade wall.
"ACK?!" Xiao Jun screamed in pain, jumping and pulling back, but that man who was grabbing his arm, it was as if he was made of some iron; his arms didn't even shake an inch despite all resistance from Xiao Jun.
But finally, as a few seconds passed, the green, glowing jade absorbed Xiao Jun's leaking blood inside itself; people could see the blood of Xiao Jun floating inside the semi-transparent jade gate, and the blood started to revolve in circles inside the gate before the very gate itself started to shake, and a loud sound was heard coming from the gate as it opened up like a grand entrance.
The Dragon's Nest welcomes the descendants of 'The Peerless Sage'!!!
Xiao Jun lost his pain for a moment as he heard those words; they were very familiar despite not having heard them in his life. It was an unexplainable feeling, and the air, which was coming from beyond that gate, seemed to naturally attract him inside.
"It was actually here?!"
"Legends weren't fake!"
"To think there would be actual treasure here like the records..."
"This wealth is insane?!"
For the first time, Xiao Jun noticed these people so excited, but he himself was in awe as he witnessed the sight inside. Unconsciously he himself stepped inside those gates, arriving in an enormous chamber.
The ceilings of this place were so tall that humans felt like some little ants, the whole place full of mountains of golden taels, hundreds and thousands of scriptures, books, and wooden and jade boxes everywhere, thousands of mystical weapons just floating around the walls.
This was the greatest treasure house anyone has seen since several eras, the grandest of all of them, so much wealth that a person can lose their mind by mere sight.
"... It's mind-blowing, isn't it?" The leader commented as he walked up to Xiao Jun and, with a soft smile, placed his arm around Xiao Jun.
Xiao Jun stood frozen, his breath caught in his throat. Words failed him, and even breathing felt difficult in the presence of such overwhelming grandeur. A mountain of gold taels shimmered like sunlight on water. Weapons floated along the walls like sleeping dragons waiting to awaken. It wasn't wealth. It was a kingdom.
His mind was barely catching up, but the next words from that man left Xiao Jun even more stunned.
"It's all yours."
He suddenly announced, just the mention of those words seeming to give Xiao Jun a little heart attack at the moment, but the leader didn't stop there.
"You know, Xiao Jun, I did some research about you. You are such a kind and honest man; I actually felt some guilt while doing all this to you.
Your father lost his business when you were little; you, who were supposed to grow up in wealth, were forced to survive in poverty, picking up so many part-time jobs at an early age and whatnot.
You're a kind one, Xiao Jun. A real 'hero'—the type that tutors kids and helps old widows. It's touching, really.
Honestly, I'm starting to become a fan of your Xiao Jun; you have so much stress in your life, so I was thinking, How about you give me an opportunity to relieve you of all the stress?"
"Opportunity?" Xiao Jun muttered in a daze, but suddenly he felt that familiar sensation of cold once again; his eyes slowly moved down, where he noticed a cold blade running straight through his chest.
"No life... no stress. Isn't that right?" The leader's voice was soft, almost kind, like he was doing Xiao Jun a favor. He pushed the blade deeper. Xiao Jun felt something snap—his ribs, maybe his heart. His chest caved in. His breath stopped. Warmth spilt down his stomach in waves. His vision tilted, and his legs refused to move.