Sky Beyond was a flourishing sect, located in the far East of BurningSand province.
A year ago the term; glorious and powerful was what was used to describe the Sky Beyond sect. That is because of the birth of a certain child, Xu Qing.
The start of Xu Qing's birth marked the beginning of their fame, power and wealth. People all high and mighty as celestial lords provide Xu Qing with resources for his cultivation…
When Xu Qing came of age, five at most, he stepped into the realm of man. That is the first stage of the cultivation realm and it is said that even the strongest martial artist had not been able to achieve something as rare as this.
I mean, the boy's cultivation speed was what surprised a lot of cultivators because he happened to have gained the blessings of the heavens.
Another three years he stepped into the realm of earth, completely leaving behind the mortal body and entering the dao of spirit.
Sky Beyond's fame soared dramatically…
At 10 years, he left the realm of earth to the realm of sky. 13 to 14 years he stepped into the universe. A realm where a kid of about 17 to 18 years finds it very difficult to ascend and yet at 13 years, Xu Qing could do that.
Xu Qing's name was on everyone's lips, eyes widened in surprise and people sang his praises.
Eventually he was taken to the Immemorial Estuary– a place where every cultivator dreams of… a place where one's cultivation was bound to soar…
Unknowing to Xu Qing that going to the estuary was the beginning of his downfall.
At fifteen after ascending to the Precelestial realm…his cultivation stagnated.
For the next six months, there was no improvement and of course what the immemorial estuary wanted was for a disciple to bring them good fortune and fame and yet in the next six months, there was no news of Xu Qing breaking through so they assumed that he was stalling and waited.
Another six months…
Xu Qing fell a rank below, his aura as a Precelestial realm cultivator, vanishing in an instant.
That aura was no longer there… It was so sudden that Xu Qing couldn't understand what was happening.
Just falling by a rank was enough to make the immemorial estuary a laughing stock.
They immediately expelled him.
Xu Qing had stayed a year and 2 months in the estuary only to be expelled… What reason exactly? Failure!
The sky beyond sect was now the mockery of many sects.
"We thought he was a genius."
"How could we have known that this ge-NIU-s would fall by a rank…"
"He is so unlucky. To say he started really strong."
"There's no hope for him! He can never break through, ever again…"
"If the sky beyond sect ever wants to recover their glory, he has to be replaced. A new genius has to be born, if not, they are done."
There were more to be said from people, they were more to hear…
The sky beyond sect was ashamed and yet they tried to fix whatever was wrong with Xu Qing's cultivation. But when they checked, they could not find anything wrong yet something was amiss.
Xu Qing did not give up like any other cultivator would have done, he kept cultivating despite his vitality Qi dropping.
Another month later, he fell from the universe realm and became a realm of sky.
Worry was etched on his face.
What on earth is happening?
He did not know what could be done… yet he understood what he felt at the Precelestial realm. Almost like something massive was sucking away his vitality qi.
The little vitality Qi that Xu Qing was absorbing from the universe, whatever it is, was actually sucking it dry and it was taking more than Xu Qing could replenish which is why he fell from his initial cultivation realm a total of two times.
In fact, the more he falls below the rank, the more his ability to absorb vitality Qi is restricted. If he could absorb a whole bowl at the Precelestial realm, then at the universe realm, it is reduced by a little and it becomes lesser if one is in the realm of sky. Meanwhile whatever it is that was sucking his vitality qi dry still maintained the usual pace and Xu Qing dropped a rank again to the realm of earth.
By now, his clan members now saw him as trash…they mocked him. Even the elders who tried to help him in the first place stopped, seeing him as a lost cause. Probably saying how incurable his sickness is.
Everyone neglected and avoided him and it has always been that way with Xu Qing, trying to absorb more vitality Qi from the universe…
He sighed.
Fifteen years he is now in the realm of earth. At fourteen he had even surpassed many youths, now he is the one being laughed at… whenever he goes to the canteen to eat, he would be bullied by those his mates.
He would be struck by elders for no reason…he was afraid to step out that he would prefer to skip lunch not to experience the horror of being bullied by someone he would have been able to crush with a single slap before.
Xu Qing opened his eyes as vitality qi fluctuated around him, the air distorting, trying to condense and purify whatever he was taking into his cultivation channels. And yet something greedily devoured what he had absorbed for a complete two hours that Xu Qing worried that he would become a mortal again.
If that happens it would be very difficult to climb. If a cultivator falls down from the realm of man, they would never be able to cultivate again but if a cultivator falls down from the realm of earth to the realm of man, climbing back would take extra time and dedication.
However the normal pace can continue… that is if Xu Qing doesn't fall down to the realm of man. That is the mortal realm…
So if there was any other time to struggle, this is it.
Worry, fear and anxiety mounted like a lead that had him shaking, trembling…
And just at that moment, he heard a deafening knock on his door.