The Departure

Li Zian yawned, stretched, and left his small mountain abode, stepping out into a chilly breeze after a long night of cultivation.

The sky was covered in a blanket of thick, dark grey clouds, frost was creeping up the grass and trees, and only a few people were out and about in the outer sect.

Then Li Zian noticed it- a giant crater right next to his mountain abode with dried blood fused with the dirt all around it.

He had felt a slight rumbling last night but had assumed it was somebody breaking through- he was in a sect after all, it wouldn't be rare for people to break through.

However it seems his judgement was wrong.

Hastily, he made his way across the valley to Li Shen's house where he rapped on the door until he finally opened it.

Li Shen seemed tired, as If he hadn't slept for weeks, and he was shivering violently.

"Brother…" Li Zian was at a loss for words.

"Come in," he said quietly, and so Li Shen followed him inside.

The fireplace was roaring, and there was a gentle warmth present throughout the abode, but Li Shen continued to shivered.

'Cultivators don't fall ill because the qi in their bodies neutralises any forms of disease. So it must be caused by something else…'

Li Zian swept his divine sense over his older brother and felt the terrifying oppressive aura of the Body of Decay.

The aura was twice as powerful since he last checked, and it was beginning to eat away at his normal aura that belongs to a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator.

"The body of decay… It's going to awaken soon, isn't it?" Li Zian asked.

Li Shen nodded his head and sat down at the table. There was a moment of tense silence.

"Elder Yang has suffered major injuries and is recovering. I have no backing anymore," he confessed.

"How could he be injured? He was fine yesterday…"

Li Zian's mind raced back to Elder Yang's normal condition yesterday, and then he recalled the rumbling at the dead of night.

"What happened last night?"

Li Shen hesitated, and then spoke, "An intruder broke into the sect last night. Elder Yang attempted to stop the intruder and was heavily injured. The intruder managed to escape in the end…"

Li Shen sighed and looked up at Li Zian.

"What will you do now?" Li Zian asked him, worry audible in his voice.

"There's only one thing I can do. I have no backing, and that witch from the Feng family will soon get to me. That and the Body of Decay…"

There was some more silence. "What will happen when the Body of Decay awakens?" Li Zian asked.

He already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from his brother.

"The Body of Decay is a unique physique that releases a special type of decay qi. This qi affects everything around the barer of the body, and as you can expect it causes decay upon everything it touches. Everything I go near will die until I manage to control it…" His voice quivered as he spoke, and his hands trembled.

"But where will you go? There's nowhere safe for you anymore…"

Li Shen was quiet for a moment and then answered.

"I'll head north, to the Barren Regions."

"The barren regions… But that place is…"

Li Zian shivered when he thought about the Barren Regions.

In the far north of the Earth-Shattering Continent exists a massive wasteland filled with snow, tribal warriors and death. The spirit beasts that live there are the most dangerous in the entire continent, and the spiritual energy is cold and violent.

It's one of the most dangerous environments for a cultivator of any realm. Nevermind a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator…

Li Zian was given a book by his grandfather several years ago about the history of the continent's many regions.

The Barren Regions supposedly formed after a great 'tribulation'- a trial from an unknown force that allows beings to become stronger.

There existed a massive, prosperous civilization in the Barren Regions, filled with cultivators from the Body Training Realm to the Mysterious Realm.

However, the tribulation put an end to all that- it was so powerful that it changed the entire landscape, forming volcanos, splitting the earth and spreading cracks across the continent.

This was how the land they lived in was given the name 'Earth Shattering Continent'.

The cause for the snow was due to the countless volcanoes that erupted due to the tribulation, spreading ash across the sky and creating a deep, dark winter that persists on to this day.

The spiritual beasts that lived there adapted to the hostile environment, growing in strength, and the cultivators who survived were forced to leave.

Mortal humans ended up taking residence in the Barren Regions, where they underwent mutation due to the violent spiritual energy that ravaged their bodies.

They couldn't cultivate, but in return they acquired powerful bodies that have allowed them to rule the Barren Regions for the past thousands of years.

A few cultivators travelled to the Barren Regions, seeking opportunity, wealth and power from the hostile environments.

Li Shen's Body of Decay wouldn't be able to harm anybody in the Barren Regions, but he would also lead a life of isolation from the rest of the world.

"Surely there's a better option than the Barren Regions!" Li Zian complained, but his brother shut him down immediately.

"That's my only choice. That way the rest of the world will think the Li family is long gone, and there'll be less trouble for you. And innocent people won't die, just like those Li family guards…"

He looked down, and his fist trembled.

'An eight-year-old caused the death of innocents who were simply trying to help him. He always seemed somewhat different after that day, and now he's become almost another person. The guilt that's racked up inside of him must be unbearable.'

"I've made my resolve. You need to cultivate hard and become strong enough to avenge the Li family."

"I… I will," Li Zian nodded his head.

"Good," Li Shen ruffled his younger brother's hair. "When you're at the Deity Transformation Realm, visit me again."

"The Deity Transformation Realm? That'll be in decades!"

"Exactly. That way you don't have to see me at my worst…"

Li Zian gulped and nodded. "Okay then. When I reach the Deity Transformation Realm, I'll make sure to find you in the Barren Regions."

"It's a deal then."

The two stared at each other for a while, and then Li Shen sighed.

"I've not been with you for the last five years, and now I've seen you for merely two days and we're separating again."

"We'll meet each other again though, I know it." Li Zian said, determined.

"Yeah, I know. I should probably go now," he stood up, his body still shivering from the violet power of the Body of Decay.

"How will you leave the sect?" He asked, confused.

"When I made my way to the sect, Father gifted me a flying sword," Li Shen smirked and waved his hand.

A one-meter-long sword appeared in his hand, and he let go of it.

The sword hovered in the air horizontally and followed him as he made his way outside.

"But can you leave… just like that?"

"I've accepted a mission to kill some spirit beasts. I'll just act like I'm making my way to that mission, then I'll throw my sect medallion away."

"As easy as that?" Li Zian was surprised by how easy it was to abandon a sect.

"Yep. You'd be surprised by how many disciples run away just like this. They're always the weak-willed ones though. Anyways, that's enough."

He leapt up onto the flying sword. "I'll see you again… One day."

"Yeah… I'll make sure to work hard and reach the Deity Transformation Realm!"

"You've got a long way to go. See you…"

Li Shen turned away and soared through the sky on his flying sword, around the snow-capped mountains and off into the distance.