The Five Great Sects

As they flew over villages, towns, and cities, the scenery below seemed to quickly slide past underneath them. Wisps of clouds brushed misty fingers over their skin and clothes, but the speed of their flight quickly flung away the clinging droplets.

The air this far above was crisp and cool, albeit a bit thin due to the altitude.

Fei Jin and Fei Yin stayed close to their senior brother since they knew that though he put on a casual front, he was still too weak. The second they saw him falter, they would immediately swoop in to offer support and carry him between them.

Qinghe smiled when he realized the reason they were flying so close to him. These kids were always like this. Even though they were just seventeen and acted childishly most of the time, they were in truth far more mature than they let on.

Thinking about it, it had been a little more than a decade since Qinghe first met them.

When they were children, Fei Jin and Fei Yin had been alone in this world. Their father was a high-level spiritual beast able to take human form and had only stayed till he sowed his wild oats before leaving for wherever the other spiritual beasts had retreated to. Their mother went through a risky pregnancy and died during childbirth. Though these half human twins had passed around from hand to hand and house to house, they had never found a stable home.

The children had been wandering the streets and forests, trying to fend for themselves, when they were captured by people who wanted to 'harvest' from them their beast-like components.

Their fangs and horns, wings and bones, their very blood and skin would have been extracted from them again and again while they would be kept alive in captivity so that they could continue regenerating—this had been the cruel fate awaiting them when the head disciple of the Heavenly Peak Sect, Chen Xiande, happened upon them on one of his very rare excursions to the outside world.

After being chased for months, the twins had been captured. The children were weary and weak by this time. One of their capturers had decided that they needed a lesson and had been torturing Fei Yin with a knife. He had expertly cut Fei Yin's vocal cords so that he couldn't scream, his beast-like vitality keeping him alive while Fei Jin thrashed about and screamed in his stead.

This was when Chen Xiande arrived. He chased away their tormentors and rescued the twins, bringing them back to the sect and depositing them there before promptly leaving to resume his journey.

The aftermath completely had to be dealt with by Qinghe.

He stayed by the twins' side until they healed and grew healthy. He personally treated the knife wounds and found medicine so that Fei Yin didn't completely lose his voice. He could still at least talk in a low whisper when he chose to. Qinghe distracted them with tasks and missions that they could complete to keep the twins socialized and to prevent them from withdrawing into themselves.

Qinghe had been their mother, father and brother all rolled into one from the moment they entered the sect.

When he had deemed that they were strong enough, Qinghe had taken them to find the bastards who had captured them and let the twins torment the group until they were satisfied, at which point the sorry mess was handed to the Sentinels since they were after all criminals with some cultivation.

In this way, not only did he cure their trauma for the most part, he also made them into capable and powerful people with rich experience.

The twins considered Qinghe to be their home and harbor, their only family. He had patiently and steadily taught them to cultivate. He gave them pills, scrolls, techniques and artifacts from all over the world to help them grow stronger. He had let them sleep in his room with him while patting their backs, comforting them silently after a nightmare. He had never withheld himself from them, freely giving them all he had to offer. No matter how ruthless or devious Qinghe could be, he only ever showed them kindness and tolerance, caring for them wholeheartedly.

So was it any surprise that they both worshipped the ground their senior brother walked on?

If Qinghe were to ever know the true extent of their devotion to him, he would be alarmed. But for all his perceptiveness, the current Qinghe was oblivious to it.

"All of you should stop worrying. I'll be fine for a few more days," Qinghe told them.

The twins pouted as Fei Jin said, "Senior Brother, we only want to keep you safe. Can't we?" Fei Yin nodded to show he agreed with his brother.

Sighing helplessly, Qinghe relented, "Alright then, I'll be counting on you till we reach the sect." What could he say, he had a soft spot for them.

The twins immediately brightened up.

Maintaining this harmonious atmosphere, the three of them reached the sect.

It was said that long ago, Heavenly Peak Sect had been the only righteous sect to survive the Great War between the righteous and demonic factions. All of the other four major sects had branched off from the Heavenly Peak Sect after that to reestablish numbers after the Great War.

Before the war, the subdivision of Silver Mist had been a part of Silver Moon Peak. The seers of Silver Mist had predicted the demonic faction's attack and the Heavenly Peak Sect had dutifully informed the other sects, only for it to be dismissed as a ploy.

It had been a time when people murdered each other on the streets, when powerful cultivators could wipe out whole households or sects to gain ownership of artifacts or to vent petty grudges. On top of that, beasts still wandered the world, adding to the chaos. There was even a renowned clan of beasts called the heavenly wyverns that went about murdering people and beasts alike, slaughtering and wiping out entire towns.

Trust was a commodity no one could afford, it was especially so among cultivators.

The result of this rift between the sects was that they were unprepared when the war came knocking on their doorsteps. Almost all of the sects were wiped out or scattered. Only the Heavenly Peak Sect that had been prepared was able to stand the assault.

The Great War had ended in a draw and both sides retreated to lick their wounds, swearing vengeance on the opposite faction. But then the Order of Sentinels was established by a descended deity, and murder and thievery no longer went unpunished. So both sides now maintained a precarious balance and more or less existed in concord.

After the Great War, the various peaks of the Heavenly Peak Sect diverged to form their own sects, existing in harmony and unity.

All this happened a few hundred thousand years ago.

Qinghe, Fei Jin and Fei Yin landed in front of the ten-thousand-step staircase that led to the top of the mountain and to the Heavenly Peak Sect.

This ancient Mystic Stairway, along with the Starry Mountain and the Spirit Guiding Cavern were three of the most famous places owned by the Heavenly Peak Sect, just like the Lotus Bud Pond or the Four Seasons Pavilions of the Drifting Clouds Sect, the Array Experimentation Valley and the Inner Dream Corridor of the Silver Moon Sect, the Floating Island of Artifacts and the Crystal Jade Tower of the Golden Sun Sect, or the Spirit Bewildering Forest and the Scorched Refining Grounds of the Lightning Sky Sect.

There was also the Battle Arena that was in the joint care of these top five sects.

Apart from the top-tier sects, there were hundreds of mid-tier and thousands of low-tier sects. Most of the mid- and low-tier sects were formed out of the remnants of the sects that had not survived the Great War intact. Of course, there were also sects that had formed anew. But the top-tier sects―or the Five Great Sects as they were often called―stood above them all. And of them, Heavenly Peak Sect was certainly the most revered, while the Golden Sun Sect was the most renowned since it had constant dealings with mortal towns and cities.

Therefore in the cultivation world, the status of Qinghe and Jing Shui was by no means low, and their friendship would certainly strengthen the bonds between these two top sects.

But Qinghe didn't plan to use this earnestly offered friendship in such a way.

The three crossed the stone arch at the base of the staircase by foot and promptly resumed flying again. This was because one of the features of the arch was negating spiritual power.

Within a few minutes, they started seeing sturdily constructed buildings used for housing the disciples, among other things. After a little while more, they reached the peak of the mountain and the hall where the sect master and the Elders carried out their duties.

Qinghe and the twins slowly climbed the aged stone steps and reached the doorway, a large pair of weathered ebony doors emanating age standing before them. With a swish of his sleeve, Qinghe summoned wind to push open the doors and strode in, with the twins following.

Walking past the Elders seated on either side, they reached the raised dais where the sect master was seated. Qinghe promptly cupped his hands and bowed, his pleasant voice resounding in the hall, "Master, your disciples have returned."