1 Li Xian

"Huff!" "Huff!" "Huff!"

"Finally!" As the bright rays of the sun fell on his eyes, he saw a massive town filled with thousands of people and houses. The sky was clear. There were no signs of animals and pets in his sight. A young boy over five feet eight inches wearing a white shirt with a cloud-white robe stands at the peak of the mountain.

He had a sword sheathe in his waist. His robe was a little tattered, but his pale face was sparkling those black pupils. He combed his hair short, appropriately, with a thin face. His body was slender, wearing long blue pants and a pair of blue slippers.

Holding the hilt of his sword, he muttered, "Today is the day, I must awaken Sword Path and become a Sword Master. Heaven and Earth are silent, I will prove my Sword Heart in the path of Sword."

This boy's name was Li Xian. He just turned sixteen yesterday, and today he wants to awaken his talent.

Xuanwu Continent, a place filled with countless martial artists. Here, people cultivate essence. Between Heaven that lies above the mortal world and earth that lies beneath the human world, contains unique energy known as Spiritual Energy.

A person who has turned sixteen can awaken a talent that can draw spiritual energy into their body and cultivate essence. Essence is the source of immortality and cultivators chases immortality by condensing essence in their body.

There are three main types of talent in this world—a talent for swordsmanship, a talent for martial artists, and a talent for spiritualists. A person who has the talent for swordsmanship has hidden sword meridians inside their body. A person has a limit of nine sword meridians.

Having one sword meridian is the lowest talent while having nine is the highest talent. A person who has the talent for a martial artist can awaken the battle spirit. Li Xian has no interest in Martial Artist or Spiritualist, so he naturally doesn't know much about it.

But in this world, everyone knows Swordsmen are most fearsome, Spiritualists are most noble, and Martial Artist is most common. The town in front was known as Jingui. This town was established by the primitive Golden Tortoise, part of Xuanwu, one of the four noble beasts.

There are one sword school, four martial sects, and three associations in Jingui city. Li Xian walked down the hill and slowly walking towards the city. The entire city was spread thousands of miles. It was completely covered by the Tall Walls made out of a Jingui shell.

Xuanwu continent is not a peaceful continent. Here power regime and strength are everything. Li Xian, who was just a child, had already suffered a lot after the death of his mother a year ago. He had learned how arrogant, brainless, cruel, and lawless people could be. Of course, he hasn't seen many nor talks to anyone.

Strength is divided by realm. Each realm is a riddle that a person needs to pass through by certain cultivation. Cultivation for a swordsman starts from Junior Swordsman, Swordsman, Sword Master, Sword Grandmaster, Sword Lord, Sword King, Sword Saint, Sword Emperor, and Sword Ancestor.

Just like a swordsman, martial artists are divided into nine realms; Junior Martial Artist, Martial Artist, Martial Master, Martial Grandmaster, Martial Lord, Martial King, Martial Saint, Martial Emperor, and Martial Ancestor.

Each realm is divided into nine ranks, from one to nine. Each rank has four stages; Low, Middle, High, and Peak. Cultivation is a long journey, and one must have a solitary heart to walk in this path. As for Spiritualist, he has no idea.

His mother didn't tell him anything about it except they cultivate the spirit. What is spirit? He doesn't know. He only knows his mother was a Junior Martial Artist in the fifth stage before her death. She died in the hands of High-Tier Rank One Monster, but her death was rather mysterious, and he doesn't believe his mother is dead.

Why? Because she was knowledgeable, domineering, and he didn't find her body. Except, he only found her letter where she told him she was gone from this world.

They don't have enough money to live inside the city, so they live outside where the monster roams. In Xianwu Continent, monsters are divided into nine ranks. Rank One is the lowest, and Rank Nine is the highest. And each rank is divided into three tiers; Low, Middle, and High.

Cultivators have no advantage against monsters whose bodies are strong as stones and tough as iron. Only those cultivators who have cultivated a sword art or martial art to perfection can go up against these monsters in the same realm.

From his mother, he learned about Arts and Techniques. Arts are fighting styles that can be utilized for offense, defense, and movement. Techniques are procedures to cultivate energy. Techniques are further divided into two types.

Cultivation Technique and Secret Art. Cultivation Techniques are used to cultivate energy. Secret Art is used to improving a certain kind of energy, sacrificing another kind of energy. This is why Secret Art is a Technique even though it has art in its name.

Techniques cultivate energy, and art uses that energy for fighting. Techniques and Arts are divided into four realms; Profound, Spirit, Earth, and Heaven. Each realm is further divided into four stages; Low, Middle, High, and Top.

'Low, Middle and High, whether it is techniques, monsters, or humans, everyone has these three layers. Why does this exist? Is it to make people realize their place and status? Or does this have any deep meaning?' While Li Xian recalled everything his mother told him, he couldn't help but frown over this subject.

Just when he was about to think deeper, his depressed look disappeared with excitement flashing in his eyes. Passing through different houses and people, he reached in front of the tall building. Besides this building was the Sword School.

He had to register his name on the gate since many people come from different villages to the city.

This building was part of the Sword School but not completely under it. When he saw this building, he got excited as if he has seen a mine of gold. At the same time, he tightly held the pouch hanging on his waist in his right.

As for his sword, it was hanging on the left side. At the same time, he gazed move and saw dozens of youths talking around him. Looking at the swords on their waists, he could guess their identity. But he was conflicted about whether to talk with them or not?

He used to listen to whatever his mother used to say. From her words, he has a vague idea about these youths' personalities. Most of them are arrogant and brainless. This is what his mother told him. Some will treat him as a beggar if he doesn't show his skills and wealth.

In his mind, he still remembers each of her words 'Listen Xian, people of this world are greedy and arrogant. They won't care about you unless you show your strength or uniqueness. They won't hesitate to betray you if you ever let your guard down.'

'If you ever fall in love, never look for high-class family girls. Most of them are cruel, arrogant, cold, manipulative, or vixen. Either they will seek you for the benefit or make you go through many troubles to chase them.'

'If you ever join the Sword School, you need to avoid two types of girls. One is the cold type and the other is the shy type. For a cold-type girl, you need to spend hours and days just to melt their cold heart and be their man. In the end, all you get is to wait another five years because they came from high-level families and the family won't allow the girl and you to be together until you have enough strength to get them.'

'As for shy girls, you just need to help them and ignore them. Why? They can love you and love you very dearly. But they can be easily manipulated. There are many evil people in this world. And these people can manipulate those shy girls with the snap of their finger. In the end, either they get impure by those people or you add another trouble to yourself.'

'Instead, if you ever want to fall in love, find a girl who is domineering as your mother. A girl who comes from a low background but still can keep up with your step.'

While falling in deep thought, he found himself in distress. He wanted to ask people around him, but he doesn't know whom to ask.

"Hello! Do you need help?" Suddenly, a warm voice sounded from his back. His heart jerked for a moment. He slowly turned his head, followed by his body, and saw a young man. This young man was wearing a cloudy shirt with white pants.

He had deep blue pupils, and his long black hair was tied. He had a sword sheath in his waist. His face was slender and whitish. Fortunately, there was no sign of a big chest. Otherwise, Li Xian would have admitted him as a girl.

"Umm…. Ahhh. ….. C…Can... Where should I go to register to join the sword sect?" For a moment, words couldn't come out of his mouth. This might be the very long time he has ever talked to a person except for his mom.

It was an earnest feeling for him.