Prologue: Heaven’s Fall (诛仙)

Translated by: Amberleey

Author: 萧鼎 Xiao Ding

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Location: Ariolona

Time: Long forgotten.

The World Favours No One.

In the past, there were no concrete explanations of why earth shattering calamities like thunderstorms and draught happens. These seemingly insuppressible and unpredictable disasters had caused numerous suffering and deaths for centuries and mankind have come to realise how powerless they were against these ferocious natural afflictions. This have greatly troubled them, and they fell into despair.

Feeling helpless, mankind comforted themselves by believing that there was a greater, higher force that lives among the unreachable clouds above them. At the same time, they believed that the dead goes deep underground as their final place to rest. This place underground came to be known as Hades.

Overtime, folklore about Heaven and Hades spread throughout the continent. Several have come to worship the Gods invented by them. From the beginning of time, no living creature was able to triumph death. For a long time, man embrace life and the idea of death terrified them. This fear, amplified by an abundance of horrifying stories of Hades, prompted man to seek the possibility of immortality, a state where one could live forever, conquering death.

Mankind were physically weak compared to other living creatures. However, every living creature have the potential to nurture one's spiritual strength to exponential heights. Captivated by the allure of everlasting life, many scholars and scribes dedicated their whole lives in search of a way to achieve immortality.

In the present day, though the key to immortality had yet to be discovered, a handful of people were able to unearth the mystery of the universe. With the aid of enchanted artifacts, man were able to use their bodies as a vessel to unleash waves of powerful energy, enabling them to fight back with dexterity against the harsh world. Legends said that the strongest practitioners could live up to a thousand years! Fueled by the immense hunger to attain immortality and avoid death, several joined these teachers to train.

Ariolona was an extremely vast and spacious region. The Central, blessed with the most resources, was the most populated area with 80% of Ariolona's population residing in it. Around the borders of the Ariolona (Namely the Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western Zones), there were many dangerous beasts that dwells in the mountains and in lakes. In addition to a myriad of plants there that administer deadly poisons and tribes of barbarians that slaughter men to drink their blood, a very small percentage chose to live in these areas.

Legend has it that there were primal creatures that lived for over ten thousand years and were still alive today dwelling in the deepest part of the mountains. No one has yet to catch a glimpse of these majestic creatures.

In the present day, there were countless men and women pursuing the arts of immortality. The numbers have grown so large that people with different approaches and beliefs to the practice started to branch out and form their own clans. These clans started to build their own unique philosophies and training methods, eventually creating their own powerful trade secrets and techniques.

Although the answer to true eternal life have yet to be discovered, the growing conflicts between these clans separated them into Good and Evil. The bitter strife between the two bodies were the cause of numerous fighting and bloodbaths among themselves.

With the prospect of eternal life so elusive that it was questionable, people started to train for the next best thing: the immense power they could receive from Immortalism.

In recent times, the Good emerged strong and dominant while the Evil retreats back into the shadows. The majority of Ariolona's land resources were owned by several clans from the Good side, which were lead by the three major clans that were recognised as the backbone of Immortalism. They were 'Qing Yun Men' (Taoist Gateway), 'Tian Ying Si' (Buddhist Sanctuary) and 'Feng Xiang Gu' (Fiery Incense Valley).

The story unfolds at Taoist Gateway.