Within the planet of Xiuzhen, three continents that occupy a large amount of the land found on the planet, could be seen. One of the continents hold the largest plot of land, yet they are the weakest in terms of cultivation. This continent is named the Azure Dusk Continent.
Inside the Azure Dusk Continent, there exists a clan that has been feared by most of the cultivators due to their special bloodline, allowing them to rule over the Azure Dusk Continent like the back of their hands.
But...
That age is now over. With most of their high leveled cultivators dead thanks to the passage of time, that clan has withered to a state where it could only be called strong amongst other words.
This clan is the Hua clan.
"Hua Bailian! Come to the ancestral hall at this instant!" A loud voice that came from a woman resounded throughout the clan's inner walls, allowing the one to be called to hear it easily.
Hua Bailian, the one called, was currently admiring the trees and plants around her as she sat on a nearby bench while reading a book...only to be disrupted by that voice.
Tap!
With the book she was reading closed shut, she placed it on the bench as she stood up and sighed. "What is it this time? Is it some sort of reconnaissance mission? Is it a killing mission? Either way, I'm already 412 years old so shouldn't I be not doing this?"
Without any choice, she summoned all of the qi she had within her body, and dashed towards the ancestral hall of the Hua clan.
As she dashed towards the hall, multiple clan members couldn't help but look at her and stare as they mesmerized by her beauty. White hair, a face that radiated superb beauty, and...
Fox ears.
Indeed, fox ears. Hua Bailian was the only member of the Hua clan to be born as a half-blood, having the blood of a fox spirit and the great Hua clan. This led her to be bullied by multiple clan members, but she shut them up with her prowess in cultivation and combat, easily reaching the Martial Emperor realm within the first 25 years of her birth.
But one day, a man took a fancy to her all of a sudden and asked her to be his wife, to which of course she refused. Who would marry someone they didn't know? Little did she know, this meeting would change her life forever.
Seeing that she had extremely monstrous talent in cultivation, the man cursed her to be stuck at her current realm, which was the Martial Emperor realm.
Being stuck for over 390 years, she decided that it wasn't worth worrying over, deciding to just refine her strength in other aspects while living a carefree and relaxed lifestyle.
...
Hua clan, ancestral hall.
Pa!
The door to the ancestral hall was forcefully pushed open by Hua Bailian, making all of the people inside the ancestral hall stare at her in an instant.
"Eh?" Hua Bailian, who wasn't expecting to be stared at by multiple people that were multiple times older than her, instantly became timid and bowed respectfully as she said, "H-Hua Bailian greets the elders."
"Bailian, sit." After greeting the elders, a womanly voice resounded throughout the ancestral hall, which was also the same voice that called for her.
Looking around the ancestral hall for a bit, she found a comfortable seat and couldn't help but ask, "Why did the Matriarch call me?"
The ancestral hall. Not only was it the place to revere the ancestors that helped shape the Hua clan, it was also the place where the current leader of the Hua clan, the Matriarch resided.
"Hua Bailian, I need you to do something for me," the matriarch replied.
"Can I ask what I have to do?" Feeling that the thing the matriarch wants her to do cannot be declined, she decided to ask.
"As you know, the Huang clan is already growing in power, with their Grand Elder recently breaking through the Supreme Principality realm. I want you to go there and ask them if our clans could make an alliance."
Closing her eyes for a bit, Hua Bailian pondered over how she would go about this request. After a bit, with all of the elders beside her looking at her, she looked at the Matriarch with a smile and opened her mouth.
"How about...I don't want to?"
...
"Shi Li, you're up next!" Shi Xingtai's voice resounded throughout the voice, making everyone on the center stage look at Shi Li, who was of course the patriarch's son.
"Oh!" Shi Xingwan, who was almost dozing off from boredom, was suddenly jolted awake as he heard his son's name. He stood up from his seat and looked at the center stage, seeing that his son was slowly walking towards the raised platform.
Shi Li, on the other hand, didn't mind their stares and gradually walked up the stairs that led to the raised platform, positioning himself at the side of the strength measuring pillar.
'Ah shit. This is definitely nerve wracking,' Shi Li couldn't help but think to himself as he could feel multiple people staring at him. Some were staring at him with curiosity, some with respect, and some with a grim intention. Although he made sure to not leak his nervousness out, he couldn't help but shiver as he grabbed the sword his master gave him, Sundering Flame, from his back.
Closing his eyes for a bit and taking a few deep breaths, he tried to calm his heart that was erratically beating thanks to him being stared by multiple people. After a while, he opened his eyes and stared at the strength measuring pillar like it was a Rank 3 Beast that he fought within the Forest of Ruin, as if he was being forced to push out all of his strength in order to live.
Although Shi Xingtai opened his mouth and said some words to Shi Li before he started, Shi Li felt that the words were incoherent and murky as he raised his sword up to the sky and channeled all of the strength within his body and soul towards the tip of his sword, making the sword faintly glow an orange light.
Swoosh!
Gradually, this orange light intensified, making Shi Xingtai and the others look at Shi Li's attack with interest. Even Shi Shisi, who thought of Shi Li as a sort of rival, was not spared from this curiosity.
Feeling that his sword had reached its maximum potential, Shi Li swung his sword down, shooting out an orange sword light that had multiple condensed wisps of golden sword light within it as he said...
"[Flame Slash]."
Bang!
An explosion that didn't lose out in terms of loudness when compared to Shi Shisi's attack, was formed. This shocked every participant and even Shi Xingwan as well, seemingly surprised at Shi Li's improvement.
Not long after, the white haze, that usually covered the pillar before the person's amount of strength, dissipated, revealing a three digit number that truly shocked everyone to the core as Shi Li walked down the platform as they were appalled at Shi Li's current strength.
1.
3.
0.
130 ren.