Stand by the Heavens, an Immortal is born

As a Heavenly Blessing was appearing over Zhao Wei's household, many kilometers away, a single man was taking a casual stroll through the woods.

Just based on appearance alone, he would look like the kind old man you would meet down the street who'd offer you treats every time you visited. His skin was saggy and his limbs were thin and haggard. A gentle smile was always on his face and his eyes, which were barely visible fro the two thin line that were his sockets, shined with an unknown brilliance.

Following the man, several white robes youths with sword and spears marched solemnly behind him. And if one were to look even further beyond, they would find the shocking sight of a large scaled headless beast laying there.

One of the white robed youths quickly approached the old man. Getting onto one knee, he held out a platter with a large mass of flesh on it.

"The heart of a dragon, said to be one of the greatest delicacies under heaven. Served with only the best ingredients and alcohol for you sir!"

The old man gave off an even wider smile as he gave the youth's head a small pat. Picking up a pair of chopsticks on the side, the old man tore off a bit of the flesh and placed it onto his tongue. The unexpectedly sweet meat melted in his mouth as waves of vitality began to flow into his body. the meat's rich flavor mixed together perfectly with the herbs and seasoning it was cooked with. And picking up the cup also on the platter and taking a drink, a strong flavor crashed onto his tongue.

Eating the heart and drinking the alcohol have the perfect contrasting effect in his mouth. The mellow taste of the meat and the tyrannical flavor of the alcohol made a delightful feeling of perfect equilibrium.

Giving off a small chuckle, the old man placed the chopsticks back onto the plate and gave a small nod.

Opening his mouth, a voice as ancient as time itself spoke out.

"My disciples, long have I cherished your presence and kindness. I am getting older and more needy by the day. It must be rough for you having to take care of this senile old man instead of training..."

The youth with the platter gave off a worried gaze as the others immediately got onto their knees and bowed their heads. The one who stood at the front of the youths shouted out loudly, "We only do what we should, this is the minimum respect you deserve great master! If you ask for it, we will give you the world. If you want it, our lives are yours. Just command us and we will be obliged to follow!"

No one said a word of dissent. Although many might say that these youths were over exaggerating in their words, no one understood how much importance they placed onto this old man.

They were all willing to die if it meant he could live. After all, they wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for him anyway. This was a life debt that they could never repay.

The old man chuckled even louder while staring far off into the sky. His eyes, in all their brilliance, seemed to be gazing at a land far off in the distance. A strange aura formed around him as he stood there, a feeling of omnipotence surrounded this old man. It was as if those eyes of his could gaze at things that no others could.

"Don't be so dramatic Ling Chen, give me your life? Ha! I would rather die than let that happen."

The lead disciple that was called Ling Chen said nothing, but his head was brought down lower ever so slightly. No one could tell what he was thinking, nor could they understand where the old man was going with this.

Turning his sights away from the sky, the old man once more faced the youths. Slowly, ever so slowly he raised his arm up and brought it out to point in the direction behind him.

"I know you might find this tedious, and I am sorry for that. But please do one more favor for this old man today."

Ling Chen stood straight up and nodded his head in affirmation, "I will complete this mission even if it costs me my life!"

"Thank you Chen'er. And don't worry, you will not be harmed in any way. I'd say around thirty thousand kilometers in the direction I am pointing, there is a child undergoing their cultivation awakening. It seems this child is a heavenly fate, go there and offer him a chance to join our sect. And if things go well and he remains loyal and diligent, then he shall be my last disciple for this lifetime."

A sharp gasp could be heard among all of the youths. Although the old man called them all his disciples, among the entire group, only four were his true students. To suddenly hear that there would be a fifth was shocking to them.

And out of all of them, Ling Chen was the most excited.

"You mean I'll finally have a junior!"

"Haha, don't get so excited just yet Ling Chen. Before you can celebrate anything, your goal is to find your new junior safely first. It seems he might be facing some troubles right now. I do hope you can deal with the situation."

"Don't worry master! No matter who it is, if they dare to even harm a single strand of hair on my junior's head, I will wipe out their entire family!" Before the old man could even get another word out, Ling Chen already flew into the air and disappeared into the distance.

The old man couldn't help but sigh exasperatedly as he mumbled to himself, "No matter how strong you are Ling Chen, this might be an enemy even you will have trouble with. Now I wonder what I should do with the rest of the dragon? Hmmm maybe a barbecue would be good..."

While this exchange was happening, Xue Chang and Xue Hai were both staring at the sky with a cold sweat dripping down their backs.

Although they were not sure what the fingers floating above them were, they could tell that the one with the eternal characters wasn't a good thing.

Zhao Wei's voice could be heard shouting loudly at them from behind, "XUE CHANG! XUE HAI! Get away from there!"

The twins, hearing the words of their father, scrambled to their feet in a panic. They didn't even look back as they ran in the exact opposite direction of the fingers.

The second they moved however, a bolt of lightning suddenly shot down from the sky and landed in front of Xue Hai. Dropping back from shock and surprise, he cried out in a panic as tears began to well up in his eyes.

"Xue Hai!" Xue Chang didn't even hesitate as he ran back and grabbed his little brother's arm. Lifting him up, he dragged Xue Hai under the veranda right next to their courtyard.

Xue Chang felt his legs tremble and shake. He couldn't slow his breathing nor his heartbeat. The sounds of everything around him was getting drowned out by the rhythmic thumping in his chest as fear began to overwhelm him.

The lightning bolt was too close. If Xue Hai had been just a step further, he would've been struck and died. But where did it even come from?! The sky was clear as day the last time he checked. Why suddenly were storm clouds covering the area and two giant fingers just floating there in they sky!

The rainbow finger seemed okay, and just staring at it brought peace to his mind. But the other one was the one he feared. It was almost as if heaven and earth could not stand by this finger. The space around twisted and slithered around, as if its presence could cause space itself to change.

Looking over at his dad, Xue Chang couldn't help but ask about what was happening.

"Eternal Ascension. It is said that this apparitions are things that haven't been seen in thousands of years. Only rumors and descriptions of its existence still remain. Yet one of them has appeared here right before me. Does the heavens wish to destroy us?!"

Heavenly Blessing was the universe stating that someone had the fate to be heaven's equal. It meant that the receiver held limitless talent and the will to surpass all others, becoming something similar to a deity!

Eternal Ascension on the other hand... was a true curse. No one knew what Eternal Ascension truly was or where it came from. Some even theorized that it was formed from something beyond the heavens themselves. But this was only ever just that, a theory.

Heavenly Blessing increased the talent and cultivation speed of the receiver, but Eternal Ascension did no such thing. It was known as the greatest curse for cultivators because it had two main effects. The first was the absolute destruction of one's cultivation base or ability to cultivate. There was also a chance of death during the destructive process. Yet that wasn't all.

The main ability of the curse that gave the finger its name was an eternally youthful body!

When Zhao Wei explained this to Xue Mei, she looked at him with confused expressions.

How could an eternally youthful body be a bad thing? That was when Wu Jie entered the conversation.

"A body like that may sound wonderful, but it's much worse than you think. This body is forever frozen at the specific age of ten. After that your body stops aging and you receive eternal youth. But that doesn't mean you receive immortality. Although the body itself is young forever, the soul inside of the body ages much more rapidly than normal people. After forty years, the victim will die anyway. Unable to extend their longevity through cultivation, unable to age, and unable take spiritual force into the body. It truly is a damning curse! And once you die, your corpse turns into a pile of ashes automatically. You aren't even able to receive a proper burial."

Wu Jie finished his words and looked over to see the twins with faces pale white from the blood draining away. Xue Chang grabbed his little brother and stared up fearfully at the finger above. From the way they were acting, everyone present figured something out.

"Xue Hai is the target of Eternal Ascension isn't he?"

Ever since they were little, Xue Chang and Xue Hai always had some special connection with each other. It wasn't anything like the telepathy that twins were rumored to have, but they could almost tell what the other was feeling. It wasn't always constant nor accurate, but when one of them felt a very powerful emotion, the other would be barely able to tell. It was a unique talent of theirs. One that no one around could figure out the origins of.

As such, when the feeling of impending doom brought from the eternal finger appeared inside of Xue Hai, how could his brother not notice?

But that meant that if Xue Hai was the Eternally damned, Xue Chang must've been the Heavenly fate. Two brothers with completely opposing fates, no one knew how they should take this. Luck or curse, none of them could laugh at the situation no matter how insane it was.

"Honey, what do we do?" No matter how despairing the situation may have seemed, Cue Mei believed in her husband and hoped he had a solution to this. But fate wasn't so kind to them. Not only was this Zhao Wei's first time seeing such a tribulation, information about these apparitions were the one thing he knew the least about.

After all, how was he to know that his sons would be facing such a tribulation one day!?

Seeing the expression on Zhao Wei, Xue Mei couldn't help but grab her youngest child. Giving him a tight hug, tears trickled down here face as quiet sobs escaped her mouth.

No mother wanted to see her own son be cursed in such a way, how tragic this must be.

Yet there was no stopping what came next. The two fingers finally made a move! The two of them circled around each other and then pointed straight toward the twins. And without any warning, they flung themselves to them at speeds faster than the eye can see!

As the fingers approached, Xue Hai felt something weird appear in his chest. It was a strange feeling, almost alien to him.

Fear, anger, determination, and sadness all mixed into one. This was something he had never felt before.

But a split second later, he realized where these emotions came from. It wasn't him who was feeling these things.

Turning his head to the side, he could only shout out one word, "Brother-!"

No one could catch what happened next, but even if they could they would've been unable to do anything about it.

Xue Chang, without a second of hesitation, ran forward and jumped directly in front of the Eternal Ascension. Zhao Wei, Wu Jie, and Xue Mei watched in horror as the finger pierced through his chest and struck at his heart.

A heart wrenching scream could be heard as the ribs surrounding the vital organs were pulverized and his entire body became paralyzed!

"BROTHER!"

"XUE CHANG!"

Two sets of shouting sounded out as Xue Hai and his parents ran forward to their fallen family member. Wu Jie on the other hand was frozen there struck dumb.

He couldn't believe someone actually chose to take the damnable curse into themselves to save another. And he was even more shocked by the fact that he succeeded.

In all the history of the world, many heavenly fates have appeared before. And of course, seeking the power the blessings contained, many have tried to steal the good fortune from others without success. Yet no one had ever tried to sacrifice themselves by taking on its eternal counterpart.

Yet right here Wu Jie was able to witness a child, who only just recently reached the age of eight, virtually give up his life for the sake of his brother.

And actually succeed in his mission!

Suddenly, he remembered that he was a physician. And now that someone was injured, it was time to do his job.

With a solemnly resolute face, he ran forward toward Xue Chang, praying in his heart that the little boy he considered as his own nephew was alive.

Yet no one seemed to notice that the Heavenly Blessing had stopped in its track. Pointing directly at Xue Chang's mangled body, it seemed to almost be disgusted by the child. Instead, it turned its sights to his brother instead.

And while it was being ignored by everyone else, it broke into a beam of light and wrapped itself up around Xue Hai.

Wu Jie ran toward Xue Chang and began to check his pulse. Holding his wrist within his grasp, he tried to insert some of his spiritual energy into the body. But to his surprise, it was fragmented and disappeared.

How could he forget... the energy of heaven and earth, or spiritual force, could not be taken in directly to the body

Usually the human body was not suitable to take in spiritual force, and that it was difficult for most people to cultivate. Spiritual force was not something that belonged inside of the body, so it was usually rejected from the mortal vessel.

But humans were able to cultivate anyway, that was because they contained two things in their body. A dantian and an obelisk.

The dantian was a storage space inside of the body that would help control the spiritual force. It would constantly refine the energy and make it more suitable for humans. And the obelisk was even more important. The obelisk was the only part of the body that could take in and transfer spiritual force to the dantian. This was vital to all cultivators as it was the only method of obtaining spiritual force for them.

The dantian was precious yes, but even if it was destroyed, a new one could be built. But the obelisk was different, once broken it could never be repaired. This was because medicine for cultivating injuries used spiritual force to heal the body. But if the obelisk was broken and could not take in that force, then the medicine was useless. But it was incredibly difficult to break an obelisk, some people could injure theirs but that was nothing compared to losing it.

Xue Chang's situation was different though. The Eternal Ascension had directly eliminated his obelisk, not just injured it. Both his dantian and obelisk were completely obliterated and had no hope for repair.

Not only that but the severe injuries on his body made it almost impossible to keep him alive. If he wanted even a sliver of a chance to save the child, Wu Jie would need to put all of his focus and medical knowledge to the test and find a way to heal him without spiritual force.

To do this, he had to put all of his concentration on the task and not be disturbed. After asking Zhao Wei to guard him for a while, he immediately went to work.

Zhao Wei said nothing as he pulled out a blade and prepared for anything untoward to happen. He asked Xue Mei and Xue Hai to get behind him, in case something were to occur.

And lucky that he did, because just seconds later two dark shadows appeared out of nowhere, blade in hand. Facing off against the family, the shadow snickered and said, "It seems we came at a bad time Brother Zhao. I really do hope you don't mind our intrusion."

Although they spoke respectfully, their sudden appearance and menacing aura gave away their true intent.

They were the hired warriors of Xue Mei's siblings. Clearly they came here to cause trouble. The internal strife within the family for the position of family head was very serious and deadly. They weren't even afraid of the consequences of attempting to murder each other if it meant they were just s bit closer to their goals.

Zhao Wei was not surprised that they would try something during his sons' awakening, but he was shocked by who they sent. A Qi refinement level seven and Qi refinement level eight expert. Each of them he could handle on their own, but the both of them together actually posed a serious threat to him.

But he did not have time to worry about that, he had to buy as much time as possible for Wu Jie to work. He trusted his old friend and believed he would succeed in saving his child. And once he finished with that, they could both team up and finish off these assassins.

So all he could do was prepare for the worse. Bringing up his sword, Zhao Wei was ready to fight!