The Immortal Alliance.
Its origins can be traced back to an ancient war between humans and demons.
At that time, the human race defeated the demons, and the strongest cultivators settled across the Five Regions, marking the beginning of the hereditary bloodline system.
However, as time passed, the bloodline system could no longer satisfy the needs of the countless cultivators in the world of cultivation.
In fact, it became a major obstacle to the advancement of the cultivation world.
This was because the system valued only bloodline ties—ignoring talent and comprehension.
Legend has it that the three founders of the sect system, disheartened by the way powerful techniques were locked away and inaccessible to most, created a new path for cultivators.
They established sects to explore a better future for all cultivators.
Thus began the era of master-disciple sects in the Central Region.
The Immortal Alliance was formed by the very sects founded by those three pioneers.
It was a coalition uniting smaller sects across the Central Region to resist the bloodline families of the other four regions.
The three sects established by the founders were: the Heavenly Palace, the Celestial River Sect, and the Profound Workshop Pavilion.
These became the core pillars of the Immortal Alliance in the Central Region.
The Heavenly Palace oversees military affairs.
The Celestial River Sect handles internal administration.
The Profound Workshop Pavilion manages logistics and supply.
They are equals in status and support one another in perfect coordination.
Together, they formed the shining glory of the Central Region—a single domain standing firm against the might of four others.
The responsibilities of the three great sects are clearly divided, and they are collectively honored by the people of the Central Region as the “Three Supreme Sects.”
***
At this moment, in the Qingyang Peak of the Three Mountains Sect—
A flash of mysterious light shot across the sky.
The glow quickly faded, revealing an elderly man in a dark robe.
His name was Meng Wei, a senior member of the Elder Faction.
“Elder Su.”
“Elder Meng.”
“The Immortal Alliance’s emissary has arrived. Elder Su, this way please.”
“Very well.”
Su Bai gave a nod, then walked out of his cave dwelling alongside the old man in the dark robe.
Their two figures crossed paths in the sky, turning into two faint black shadows and vanishing from sight.
Despite the calm expression on Su Bai’s face, inside he was silently cursing like mad.
The Immortal Alliance—this coalition led by the Three Supreme Sects of the Central Region—was not only responsible for defending against the four other regions but also for protecting the many sects within the Central Region.
And naturally, with benefits came obligations.
Like paying spiritual taxes.
Like responding to calls for mobilization.
Like the mission assigned this time by the Immortal Alliance.
But what Su Bai never expected was that the Sect Leader’s Faction and the Elder Faction would actually join forces to throw him—the one neutral, late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator with the potential to reach Core Formation—under the bus.
‘As for the reason?’ Oh, it was perfectly reasonable: as a member of the sect, he was expected to contribute.
And so, the elders decided—this time, he would be the one to take the mission slot assigned by the Immortal Alliance.
***
Rumble—!
A colossal flying vessel appeared in the sky.
Over three thousand feet long, it radiated an overwhelming pressure as it floated above the Three Mountains Sect, blocking out the sun.
[Under the watchful eyes of the sect elders, you board the great vessel. It’s led by a Core Formation cultivator. He sweeps his gaze over you, then clicks his tongue and mutters, “What a fine Core Formation seed… and they sent him here?”]
[Your heart sinks.]
[Moments later, you begin observing your fellow passengers. To your surprise, every single one is at the Foundation Establishment stage—most of them early to mid-stage. Late-stage cultivators are rare, and you are the only one at the peak.]
[Foundation Establishment cultivators as far as the eye could see. How many were there—hundreds? Thousands? Tens of thousands? Or maybe even a hundred thousand?]
[Thinking back to the cryptic words of the leading Core Formation cultivator, you immediately activate your one and only divination technique to assess your own fate on this journey.]
[The result…]
[Extremely Auspicious and Extremely Ominous!]
***
“Kehehehehe!! Brat! Hand it over!!”
“I’ll be merciful and leave your corpse intact!”
High atop a mountain range, a figure raced through the peaks while a shadow pursued him at terrifying speed.
In the blink of an eye, the pursuer closed the distance and reached out to grab the runner by the neck.
Alarms blared in Su Xiaohei’s mind.
At the very last moment, just before the demonic cultivator’s hand could seize his throat, he abruptly ducked, narrowly avoiding the strike by a hair’s breadth.
Without hesitation, he pulled a Blast Talisman from his robe and hurled it behind him.
With a thunderous boom, the talisman exploded with massive force.
The demonic cultivator had no time to react and was blasted back nearly a hundred meters.
“Aaaargh!! You little bastard! I’m going to flay you alive!!” the cultivator roared in fury.
His eyes were bloodshot, and his long hair had been scorched black, leaving him looking utterly monstrous.
“My master—my mother—is at the peak of Foundation Establishment, half a step into Core Formation! If you kill me, the moment she breaks through, she’ll hunt you down to the ends of the heavens!” Su Xiaohei shouted while sprinting, his voice full of defiant threat.
“Heh heh heh… So what? A demonic cultivator should act like a demonic cultivator. Today I kill you, and tomorrow she kills me. It’s the law of the jungle—only the strong survive,” the cultivator sneered, utterly unfazed.
Inwardly, Su Xiaohei was panicking.
Ever since three years ago—when Su Bai told him, “I’ll forget you.”—he’d been terrified.
That single sentence had shocked him into changing completely.
Gone was his carefree, lazy attitude.
From that moment on, he had thrown himself into cultivation with all his might.
He couldn’t let his mother forget him.
He had to form his own Golden Core.
He had to live for a thousand years!
At the very least… if he had to die, then he wanted to die with her.
After all, his life belonged to her.
If Su Bai were here right now, he’d realize that this little “pet’s” loyalty and affection would be completely maxed out if represented in game terms—off the charts.
In these three years, Su Xiaohei had gone down the mountain ten whole times.
Each time, he led exploration teams to ancient cultivator ruins.
And each time, he returned with bountiful rewards.
The others? His senior brothers usually ended up either dead or severely injured.
A few rare ones did rise to glory afterward… but their attitude toward him grew strangely reverent.
They started saying things like, “The weather’s turning cold—wear another layer,” or “Once the elders in the sect die off, and you break through to Core Formation, the Three Mountain Sect will be ours.”
Eventually, Su Xiaohei began exploring ruins on his own.
But it was as if fate itself wanted to mess with him.
Either he’d run into arrogant young heirs from powerful sects—and quietly take them out—or he’d stumble across severely injured disciples from those same sects and save their lives.
Like now…
He’d just finished looting an ancient ruin when, stepping outside, he ran straight into a demonic cultivator at the early Foundation Establishment stage.
Now he was being hunted down.
Thousands of thoughts raced through his mind, but in the outside world, only a few seconds had passed.
His gaze fell to the talisman clutched tightly in his hand.
This talisman was made entirely from jade—crystal clear and flawless.
A blood-red rune lay etched into its surface, exuding an ancient, timeless aura that seemed to whisper of millennia gone by.
It was his greatest find in the ruins.
According to the final words left behind by the ruin’s owner, this was a Heavenly Translocation Talisman—obtained from a greater cultivator’s personal realm.
Forged by a Dao-merged Immortal Lord, it could supposedly transport its user across all five realms in the blink of an eye.
No barrier, no formation, no restriction could stop it.
But time had not been kind.
After tens of thousands of years, the talisman had been eroded by the river of time.
It was now a damaged version of its former self.
As the demonic cultivator closed in, Su Xiaohei’s hands moved faster and faster to repair the talisman.
Su Bai’s side hobby was talisman crafting, and in his spare time, Su Xiaohei had picked up a few tricks.
Right now, he had no choice but to treat a dying horse like a living one—he didn’t expect to restore the full function of the Heavenly Translocation Talisman.
He just needed it to work… even if it teleported him randomly.
Seeing that the demonic cultivator was now only an arm’s length away, Su Xiaohei gritted his teeth and poured every last drop of his spiritual energy into the talisman.
Heavenly Translocation Talisman—activate!
In the next moment, golden light flashed and vanished—taking Su Xiaohei with it.
Only his fluttering robes remained, drifting slowly in midair.