Soaring Sword Sect
The five lightning Bolts flew down to the Baishen Plane at velocities capable of splitting the land it hit. But oddly, once the lightning bolts hit their designated locations, there was no further sound. Almost as if, wherever the lightning bolts struck, they were absorbed.
Xue Bai knew what the phenomenon was, but most of the people of the Baishen Plane were ignorant. The five lighting bolts each targeted a Child of the Plane and were the blessings given to them by the Plane itself.
"Young Master, what were those lightning bolts?" Xiao'er asked with fear in her voice.
'Those lighting bolts came from the heavens themselves and looked so terrifying!'
"Those Xiao'er are the beginning of a new era! Now Xiao'er, it's time I am going to go join the Soaring Sword Sect." Xue Bai excitedly yelled as he ran back to his home.
He had been holing up at home for too long! He wanted to have fun in this world! And now that the Children of the Plane had been chosen, it was the perfect time to do so.
"AH! Young Master, wait for me!" Xiao'er shouted.
She only noticed Xue Bai had left by the time he had already run dozens of meters away from her.
The run back to the Estate didn't take long, and after about 10 minutes of running, Xue Bai made it back.
Ignoring the greetings of the many soldiers and servants, Xue Bai continued to run through the Estate and made it to his parent's courtyard.
Sensing Xue Bai long before he made it inside, Li Rou stepped out and looked at her son, who looked like a child ready to cause chaos.
"So this is what you meant earlier when you said the world is going to change then." Li Rou asked as she looked at Xue Bai.
She, too, noticed the heavenly lightning bolts and Xue Bai storming to her courtyard a few minutes after couldn't be a coincidence.
"Yes, Mother, the world is changing now. And I want to go join the Soaring Sword Sect now. The annual recruitment is happening in a few days. I need transportation." Xue Baic calmly spoke as he looked at Li Rou.
Xue Bai had long told his parents of his desire of wanting to join the Soaring Sword Sect, so Li Rou had no objections.
"I'll tell the Wang Twins to take you first thing after sunrise. But, for now, go and rest." Li Rou spoke before going back into her courtyard.
Xue Bai also was fine with her arrangements and, after thanking her, ran to his courtyard to prepare for the journey.
"Young Master! You abandoned me! You know I can't run as fast as you. Why did you go so fast!" Xiao'er cried out as she walked into his courtyard.
Though Xiao'er was almost a Realm higher than Xue Bai, she hadn't trained in any Movement Techniques, making her speed extremely slow compared to others in her cultivation realm who had. And for Xue Bai, who trained in High Yellow Grade Movement techniques, beating Xiao'er in a race was simple.
"Oh. Sorry, Xiao'er. I got too heated and forgot about you." Xue Bai awkwardly spoke.
He was lost in the moment and got too excited and forgot that he was much faster than Xiao'er.
Thankfully after coaxing the maid for a few minutes, he managed to calm her down.
And after lighting a few mind-calming incense sticks, Xue Bai went to sleep for the night in preparation for the trip tomorrow.
In a deep sleep, thanks to the incense sticks he lit, Xue Bai dreamt through the night, only awakening until Xiao'er had to shake him.
"Young Master, the Wang Twins, and Mistress are waiting for us! Wake up!" Xiao'er yelled as she shook her Young Master.
Hearing the shouts of Xiao'er, Xue Bai shot up like a rocket and started to prepare. And after breaking a personal record, Xue Bai quickly got ready for the trip.
Grabbing the stunned Xiao'er, Xue Bai charged out of the room and ran to the meet-up spot outside the Estate.
As Xue Bai ran through, he could hear the various murmurs of the soldiers talking about him. Apparently, Li Rou had told some of the servants that he'd be joining the Soaring Sword Sect today, allowing the rumors to spread. And since Xue Bai took no effort to conceal his cultivation base at home, most of the servants could detect his heaven-defying cultivation speed.
However, since most of the servants didn't ever leave the Dukedom, his cultivation base hadn't been announced to the outside world yet, surprisingly.
"Young Duke seems to have advanced again! Heavens a 13-year-old Bone Strengthening Realm cultivator!"
"Not even just the first stage either, but Young Duke reached the second stage!"
"And those Wang Clan members walk around bragging about their Young Duke! Just wait till our Young Duke slaps all of their faces!"
Smiling at their bragging, Xue Bai continued to run past them and soon made it outside, where he found the Wang Twins and Li Rou waiting for him.
"Bai'er, I am going to follow you to the Soaring Sword Sect in case the Wang Clan tries and do something scandalous during your trip." Li Rou said after Xue Bai got within earshot.
Xue Bai agreed.
Though he was slightly uncomfortable traveling with his mother so far, it was better than dying an unjust death in the middle of nowhere to a Wang Clan member.
Seeing that Xue Bai didn't have any disagreements, Li Rou nodded before entering the carriage.
While she could sit on the top of the carriage like Big Wang does, after reaching the Xiantian Great Realm, she didn't even have to keep her spiritual sense out to be able to see her surroundings.
As long as she was conscious, she had a constant bird's eye view around herself that spanned further out than Big Wang could detect even with his Spiritual Sense.
So instead of sitting on the uncomfortable roof of the carriage, Li Rou would rather sit in the very well-designed and pleasant interior.
Xue Bai, hand in hand with Xiao'er, soon followed suit and entered the carriage. And after telling Big Wang they were ready, they set off.
The Southern Continent was split into five regions. The largest and most expansive of which was The Great Xuan Empire occupying almost 50 percent of the continent!
However, a lot of the area they covered was barren and desolate of Spiritual Qi, making it unattractive for the other three forces to try and take by force.
Other than The Great Xuan, the Three Great Sects each controlled an area of around 15 percent. But unlike The Great Xuan Empire, all the area that the Three Great Sects controlled was blessed land filled with Spiritual Qi.
Moreover, the Three Great Sects were constructed on the Northern Shore, making it extremely close to the Central Continent and therefore giving it even purer and denser Spiritual Qi.
The capital of The Great Xuan Empire was also built on the shore, but only a few could live in the capital, making it incomparable to the Three Great Sects. However, with a much better cultivation environment than its competitor, the Three Great Sects also were much harder to join.
The minimum requirement to join was a Middle Yellow Grade Martial Vein, and even then, you could only become a servant disciple. To truly become an outer disciple with a chance of rising in the ranks, you had to have a High Yellow Grade Martial Vein.
To become a Core Disciple and have the opportunity to travel to the Central Continent, one had to have a Black Grade Martial Vein.
Of course, one could travel to the Central Continent without one, but to do that, you'd have almost to sell your freedom to a Core Disciple. And since most who could join the Three Great Sects had pride, that choice wasn't very popular.
However, Xue Bai wasn't worried about any of this. To the outside world, he had a High Black Grade Martial Vein, and even in the Central Continent, that was something high tier, let alone the backwater Southern Continent.
The only reason he was joining the Soaring Sword Sect was to intercept all of the chances Wang Yu was fated to get, while also gaining a free ride to the Central Continent. If it weren't for that, he would most likely continue to hole up in his home while plundering the continent.
"Mother, do you have any connections in the Soaring Sword Sect? Why did you come instead of Father or Uncle Huo?" Xue Bai asked.
Xue Bai didn't think that his mother only came out of curiosity and guessed that she came with another motive.
"A cousin of mine is an Inner Elder there, and I would like to see her." Li Rou casually answered.
"Mother, you never told me about your family. Besides Uncle Huo, where are the rest of your family?" Xue Bai asked curiously.
Li Rou never did speak about her family to him. And over the years, he had gotten curious.
Xue Bai knew that Xue Feng came from a small family of commanders, and after awakening his Peak Yellow Martial Vein, he had become their pride. But since he had grown too fast, he ended up becoming estranged from his parents and cousins. So after becoming a Duke, Xue Feng arranged for them to be a Viscount family living in Snowy Wind City.
However, after years of estrangement and no communication, Xue Feng didn't like speaking to them and let them live their own lives.
"My family is a group of runaways, Bai'er. We were actually from the Central Continent, but after years of decline, we chose to come here to the Southern Continent. Where danger was less, and the requirements to live peacefully were lower." Li Rou simply spoke and didn't speak any further.
And even though Xue Bai tried to ask for more, she stayed silent, even going as far as to close her eyes and start cultivating.