The Beginning

As a standard, cultivation couldn't be started until the age of 13, which was when the first Realm of Cultivation would occur: unblocking the 8 Meridians.

Meridians were the vessels in everyone's body that allowed for the flow of Universe Genesis Qi. Generally, for untalented people, this process could even take a few years to do, but for someone like Wan Julong, who was riddled with talent, he had already unblocked all of his Meridians at the age of 11.

This was partly due to the blessing he had received, one that was still completely unknown, even to Wan Zu who had visited a few times after his birth. Despite this, however, it was undeniable that the boy was a genius that would only be seen every half a dozen millennia, maybe even longer.

Despite how ludicrous one might sound if said out loud, many thought that he might even be able to make it to the Saint Stage, if the Sacred Dragon Blessing was anything to go off. But, understandably, along with those who had high hopes, there was also people with some justified doubts.

The Saint Stage was not so lucrative for no reason. Even the greatest of experts had not been able to make that step.

Julong, however, was now in the Qi Nourishing Realm's Early Stage. The Qi Nourishing Stage was one of the crucial stages which really mattered. This was when someone would choose a Genesis Qi Scripture to follow. Some were not as powerful as others, and some also couldn't be changed. So, understandably, it was important that a genius was given the best possible Genesis Qi Scripture no matter the cost.

"Call Julong here."

Zao was sitting on the throne in the throne room of his family's estate. He had a few months earlier learnt about Julongs' incredible ability and his nearing breakthrough into the Qi Nourishing Realm, and as such had been going through Genesis Qi Scriptures for the day that he finally broke through. In his time trying to find an appropriate Genesis Qi for Julong to cultivate, he had even consulted with Wan Zu and he had come up with an almost un-refusable offer.

"Of course."

A few minutes later, through the door came Wan Julong. Looking at him, the first thing that would be noticed upon his presence in any room was the incredible shimmering golden eyes that seemed to drown out all forms of light around him. His long silky flowing hair with frosted gold tips followed behind. His hair had an elegant look that made it seem as though it had been made from some form of divine matter.

Coinciding with his beautiful eyes and hair, his young eleven-year-old face already looked like something handcrafted by a higher power, and his body, despite not training too often had already become lean and muscular. If he were to be compared to anyone his age, he would no doubt be labelled as the better looking.

There was a golden guan encrusted with expensive jewels sitting in his crown, tying his hair back and pinning even more majesty to his already brilliant figure. The hairpiece was accompanied by white robes with luxurious black accents, gold trimmings and pieces. Spiky shoulder guards and forearm guards filled with splendour covered his body. Made from gold, they sparkled in the light, bringing further attention to him.

He would truly have looked like a divine king if he was a little older. His sheer presence was already enough to make people long for him.

"I pay respect to the elders."

With a hand sign, he bowed, showing respect to his grandfather and other elders of the Wan family who had stationed themselves around the room.

"Julong, I have heard you have already unblocked your 8 Meridians."

He gave a small nod. It contained pride, he was clearly very happy with his progress.

"That is correct, I have stepped into the Early Stage of the Qi Nourishing Realm."

Wan Zao smiled. Perfect timing.

"Then calling you here was the correct choice. I have been recently going through Genesis Qi Scriptures to find you an appropriate Genesis Qi to cultivate."

Julong raised his in surprise, looking at Zao. He bowed again.

"Thank you Elder."

A small glint of arrogance filled his eyes as he looked at Julong. It was only going to get better, or so he hoped. Wan Zao was driven by the envy and praise of others, even if it was from his own grandson.

"In accordance with Supreme Sovereign Wan Zu, we are prepared to give you the most sought after technique in the whole region of Wanzu."

"Again, thank you Elder... but-"

A frown took over Zao's face, he should only be receiving thanks from the boy. He was hoping this was just some form of self-doubt.

"The blessing that I received - it has given me a technique to cultivate. It has shown me the final grade of Genesis Qi, resulting in Grade 10 Genesis Qi."

Uproar sounded throughout the throne room. Grade 10 Genesis Qi was unheard of, they weren't even sure if gods would be able to cultivate such a thing, let alone the child in front of them!

Wan Zao was one of the people who appeared to remain indifferent. He wasn't sure about what this mysterious blessing had shown Julong, and naturally wanted him to learn the technique he was going to provide to him. It had been approved by Wan Zu himself after all. However, the blessing that they had never even heard of had given him one, which couldn't be ignored, especially if it was predicted to be more powerful than the Sacred Dragon Blessing. That would mean there was not only incredibly good compatibility between the blessing and user at the time of learning it, but it might also be extremely powerful as Julong had proclaimed. The main issue was that if the blessing really was correct, he would definitely lose face and in turn, become something akin to a laughing stock for even suggesting a different Scripture.

"Julong... I urge you to do what you think is best. I will leave the decision to you."

Naturally, thanks to providing him with everything he had ever known, Wan Zao was expecting Julong to trust his judgement. But of course, even he could not be completely certain.

"However, remember this. If you do indeed choose your Genesis Qi Scripture, and it does not work out causing you to stagnate for too long, our Wan family will no longer support you."

Julong looked up at Zao with a little bit of shock on his face. He wasn't expecting those words but had no choice but to accept them.

"I understand... but I will continue on the path of the blessing."

Wan Zao nodded with gritted teeth. He had not expected Julong to actually overturn his judgement of Genesis Qi Scripture. He waved his hand signalling him to leave. He did not want to see the boy's face any longer.

"You may go now. Make sure to start training as soon as possible."

It was difficult to hear the malice in his voice, but it was well-received by Julong.

He nodded and bowed with a hand sign before leaving through the doors he had entered merely a few minutes earlier. That would officially mark the first time aside from the day Julong was born, Wan Zao had felt contempt for the boy.

...

Sitting inside a cave-dwelling filled with Grade 6 Genesis Qi was Julong, practising the Genesis Qi Scripture his Blessing had provided him with. It was known as the Ancestral Dragon Scripture, a Genesis Qi Scripture based on the Genesis Qi that was used by the Ancestral Dragon itself. The Scripture was unique in the way that it could only be used by people with dragon type blessings. Along with this, the Scripture was kept largely a secret. Because of this, it was incredibly rare to see someone using it. It was also a Qi that you could not stop cultivating in hopes of cultivating another Scripture. The Scripture was so powerful it would be impossible to do so without dying. For those who were not resourceful enough, thanks to the expensive temperament of the Scripture, it could be a grave mistake Cultivating it, but for someone like Julong, he did not need to worry so much, not when even Wan Zu seemed willing to provide him resources.

His Genesis Qi was currently without grade, due to him not practising any form of cultivation as of yet, but the Scripture was about to change that. Just by initially cultivating the Genesis Qi, one would be able to achieve Grade 4-5 Genesis Qi. A Super Genius would even be able to reach Grade-6 in some cases, depending on their Scripture. Some were easier to progress in after all, not to say it wasn't difficult to do nonetheless.

In addition to this oncoming upgrade of such a large magnitude, thanks to his blessing his innate Genesis Qi was a Gold Grade, the Highest Grade one could achieve aside from the different numerical ranking system. The way this colour phenomenon occurred was from someone's individual Qi Dwelling - they typically followed the same ranking as the Qi Grade colours, with Gold being the highest and therefore producing Gold Grade Genesis Qi. A few instances in which such a thing did not occur would be variant Dwellings like a Yin and Yang Qi Dwelling.

Thanks to the Qi Dwelling having been personally formed, very few Scriptures were powerful enough to the point that they could transform a Qi Dwelling to a different colour Grade, but both the Scripture he had received from the blessing and his own Qi Dwelling had Gold Grade Qi. There was also one more benefit from his blessing, which was his spirit. Thanks to the blessing he had an abnormally strong spirit and physical body structure, allowing for high-grade External Cultivation and Spirit Cultivation; he planned to cultivate all of them to the very max.

Two months quickly went by with Julong cultivating in the Grade 5 Qi Dwelling Cave provided by the Wan estate. He had managed to obtain pinnacle Grade 5 Gold Grade Genesis Qi known as Omni Python Qi. In addition to this, at the same time, he had reached the peak of the Qi Nourishing Early Stage.

He felt strong... very strong.

This might have been a good thing, but it was possible that this was also a bad thing. This single act could cause the loss of face of Wan Zao due to rejecting his offer of Scripture. In reality, he could be punished for boasting about his progress - something which didn't make much sense, especially because the Wan family wanted him to get stronger.

In all honesty, Julong didn't like his family very much. His mother had always treated him like he was never there and he could tell that the reason his Grandfather treated him so well was because of some ulterior motive. He could even feel his blessing stir at the thought of them.

Once he had exhausted his time at the Wan estate he would leave and search for a master to train him.

Little did he know that would be a nearing occurrence.

...

Walking through one of the halls in the Wan estate, Julong couldn't help but feel uneasy. He had been called to Wan Zao's personal office soon after he had exited the Cave Dwelling, and he could tell something bad was going to happen.

If his progress was good, he would probably cause Wan Zao to lose face, if it was bad, he would be scolded for not listening to his grandfather's choice of Genesis Qi Scripture. Such was his life in the family. Expectations, but no real praise.

He knocked on the door to Wan Zao's office, and promptly received a, "Come in."

He immediately walked inside before respectfully giving a hand sign and a bow to Wan Zao, who only nodded at him.

Julong hadn't been inside the office before, and immediately took notice of the many paintings hanging on the walls. There was one that really struck him, or rather, struck his blessing - if it's feeling of discomfort it provided was anything to go by. It was a simple painting of a small estate shrouded by a forest.

He wasn't sure what it was or what it meant but it didn't feel good. In fact, it rather mimicked the vibe of the office that he was in. Shrewd and cold. Something bad definitely happened there.

"Julong, take a seat," He pointed at a seat on the other side of the table to him.

Julong promptly did as he was told. Even if he was a Genius for his age of Cultivation, he could not openly defy the man in front of him. He was not only the current Wan Family Head, but he was also in the Law Domain Stage, something he was nowhere near being able to contend with.

"Thank you for calling me here today, Elder."

Wan Zao shook his head. They both knew what this meeting would be about and he still wasted the time for such pleasantries, even after bowing to him.

"I merely called upon you to look upon your progress in the past two months. I don't have much time, so let's make it quick."

"O-Of course." He flickered his gaze around the room for a second in anticipation of the response Wan Zao could give him. "I have reached the peak of the Early Stage Qi Nourishing Realm, and have achieved Grade 5 Gold Grade Genesis Qi."

Zao's face flinched. Something like that was unheard of for modern geniuses, let alone one who was 11. Though he was not very happy about it at all. It was likely that if he had chosen the Scripture picked out for him by himself and Wan Zu, he would not have achieved such a stage in just 2 months. That incredible progress could only be caused by the synergy between him and his Blessing.

If the other clansmen were to find out... He didn't dare think about it. Such an occurrence would surely cause ridicule to be strung upon him.

Just as expected, Wan Zao's face became ugly.

"Julong, did you perhaps come in here today hoping to gloat to me and intentionally make me lose face?"

"N-No, I would never."

His response was quick. What else was Julong to say? Even if he knew that whatever he said was useless, what else should he say? His grandfather, despite how kind he may have seemed from time to time, had the ability to become a horrid man. The ability to show his true colours.

A very dark scowl shrouded the side profile of Zao's face, the side which Julong could see. It had turned out exactly as he had thought it would, and they had only exchanged a few words. Wan Zao was furious.

The Wan family sure were snakes.

"Get out of this office. Do it before you make me do something I will regret."

Julong quickly stood up, bowed, and retreated from the room.

In the ensuing moments after leaving, he felt a powerful Qi undulation. It blew apart the wall in the office, making Julongs retreating figure move even faster.

Perhaps I should leave this place now.

He honestly felt in danger when he was in Wan Zao's presence normally, but today made it even worse. This was without taking into account the pressure that would exude from him. Wan Zao seriously terrified him.

Instead of retreating to his room or a Qi Dwelling, he opted to leave the estate, for good.

He would not go back to the Wan family. There was something off about them, and the sooner he got away, the better. The only problem was that his cultivation may be hindered. Even so, if he could find a Master, it may not be too serious.

He took the bare necessity and stored it all in his universe bag. After that he began to assess his goals, this was of course to leave the Wan estate, and in turn the Wanzu Region so Supreme Sovereign Wan Zu would not be able to send him back to the wretched estate.

Through countless sources, he had heard a Law Domain expert was searching for a disciple in the Purple Firmament Territory, protected by Supreme Sovereign Zi Xiao. Thanks to her being the Saint residing over the area, it was otherwise known as the Zixiao Region, just like how the Wanzu region was known by Wan Zu.

In accordance with his goal for a Master, he decided that the Zixiao Region would be his goal.