1 Li Chunfeng

The early winds of the dawning air swirled around the tall Shen Hong Mountain, its summits surge out of the clouds, coating the entire haven with mists.

The twilight sun glints not a cold nor warm light that saturates the fogs, scattering them away, and revealing the treasure hidden within.

Actually, it was not a treasure, but homes that number a thousand, all standing tall at the mountaintop. At the foot of the mountain, a long white staircase was bridged to the summit, the path that leads to a large inscribed signboard atop the wooden gate — [SHEN HONG SECT]

Shen Hong Sect. A sect not lacking any kind of martial experts, young heroes, and legendary individuals.

Yet among the thousands of experts lies a retired legend; not whom simple, a person whose name once shaken the entire pugilistic world.

Li Chunfeng. A name that shines brighter than the star, a name that even a hundred years went on, was still a hot topic.

He was a Man of Destiny.

Why you may ask?

It happens during the turbulent period, year 120 of the dark age, where a blue-clothed swordsman, a sword dangling on the back, emerged out to the world.

No one took the swordsman seriously. However, when his sword was unsheathed, thousand of invaders were decapitated.

Everyone was alarmed.

That underestimated swordsman would be known in the present timeline as the Swordsman of Destiny, but many call him the founder of the Shen Hong Sect — Li Chunfeng.

"Cough...Cough..."

"Master! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Stop worrying about me, Yuan."

Within the spacious room, a white-haired elder was seated atop the luxurious bed, heavily coughing. His complexion was ashen, ridden with scars, and wrinkle all over his face.

Eyes filled with reluctance and reminiscent, the elder stared outside the windows and sighed.

The people present in the room were solemn. They were all the sect's important people, sect's elders, and renowned martial experts. But when they looked at the elder, their gaze was full of respect, but somehow a hint of denial was also reflected.

"When was the blossom last sprouts? A year? A decade? No, perhaps, a century? A promise for a lifetime will never be fulfilled. A broken promise is not a promise, but helplessness." Li Chunfeng sighed as he closed his eyes. Memories buried flashed in front of his eyes.

Before becoming a prominent figure, he was but a talentless nobody. Hailing in the deserted Shen Hong Kingdom, he walked one step at a time towards the peak of the cultivation.

He had experienced 200 years of a bitter life and another 300 years of an extraordinary life; but those 500 years, he had not achieved any of his goals.

Smiling bitterly, Li Chunfeng turned his head around. A middle-aged man was standing beside him.

The middle-aged man was someone whom he admired. His successor, in other words. He had taught the man for a couple of years, and all the fundamentals were honed to perfection. He couldn't find someone better than the man who he can leave his worry after he died.

As long his successor remains, the prosperity of the sect will continue.

"Yuan, how long has it been since I began teaching you?" said Li Chunfeng.

Yuan Gu, the current patriarch of the Shen Hong Sect, cupped his fist. "It has been exactly fifty years."

"fifty years..." Li Chunfeng mumbled, "Back then you're but a hot-blooded young man, but now, you've great responsibility in your hands. Time sure flies fast, don't they?"

Yuan Gu clenched his fist. After some hesitation, he said, "Master, why not..."

Li Chunfeng cut him off and smiled as he looked at the sunrise. "No. Yuan, remember, fate is inevitable. Mortals cannot reverse the cycle of death. Only transcendence tribulation does."

"But master, does it exist?"

Yuan Gu's particular question was stuck on Li Chunfeng's head for days.

Those days turned into months, as months turns into years, finally, at the faithful day.

Li Chunfeng was standing at the edge of the mountaintop, his expression peaceful, staring over the vast sky. His iconic blue robes wave lightly on the breeze.

Even time immemorial, the mystery beyond the sky was never unraveled. Everyone walks in the path of cultivation to seek what spectacle it hides. To be free from the confinement of the world and seek the truth. But not a single one succeeded.

There was an old saying that's origin unknown,

"Transcend the Tribulation, Grasp The Sky"

This old saying has been circulating in the primordial era even in the current era, but almost everyone stops believing in it. However, everyone still walks in the path of cultivation, seeking truth.

What is life?

Once one had this question in mind, one is already walking in the path of cultivation, seeking what answer you want to find.

Li Chunfeng turned around.

Yuan Gu and a couple of other people stood behind him with bowed heads.

"Someday, a tribulation will descend, and some extraordinary someone will transcend. When that day happens, Yuan, you'll witness a spectacle phenomenon you'd never foreseen. Heaven is cruel and fate is inevitable, but destiny is unpredictable." said Li Chunfeng calmly, "You'll never know what will happen, do you agree?"

Yuan Gu lifted his head. He could see the split image of his master's youthful appearance full of vigor and laughter, how he miss those days. Despite the sadness, he swallowed the bitterness and answered, "Right."

Li Chunfeng laughed and stared at the sky. "My time's up. Yuan and the rest of you...Shen Hong Sect is in your hands. Make sure to treat it well. Xue'er, I'm coming."

With those last words, he slowly turns into pieces of fragments.

With his scattering specks, he closed his eyes and immersed himself in his thoughts.

"Heaven is cruel to those who defied it...Living for thousands of years is inhumanly impossible, reviving someone is even more ungodly unthinkable. but I had done everything I can. Now's the time for my rightful punishment."

Yuan Gu watched his master scattered into the air. He ran and wanted to piece the disappearing fragments together, but he could not touch them. Tears fell out of his eyes as he knelt there in the cold mountaintop, as people around pat his back and shook their heads.

— Year 316 of the New Era. Li Chunfeng, the Swordsman of Destiny, died.