Night. The full moon hung high, and the stars were scattered across the sky.
But amidst the galaxy, nine-colored lightning coiled, exceptionally dazzling.
"When strange phenomena appear in the sky, it must be the descent of a divine body."
Atop the Imperial City of the Nine Provinces Continent, an old man in gold robes stood with his hands behind his back, gazing up at the night sky.
Behind him were tens of thousands of Imperial City experts, neatly kneeling on one knee, as if awaiting some order.
"Buzz"
Suddenly, the lightning coalesced into a Nine-colored Divine Thunder, which struck down from the nine heavens above.
In an instant, night turned to day. Before the Divine Thunder had even landed, the earth began to rumble and tremble violently.
But when the Nine-colored Divine Thunder touched the continent, it did not cause terrible destruction; instead, it vanished into thin air.
At the same time, the earth was again shrouded in night, and the once brilliant starry sky had dimmed considerably, as if some essence had been extracted, returning to its former calm.
But at that moment, the old man's eyes were unusually bright, and even his body trembled with excitement. He pointed to where the thunder had struck: "In the region of Qingzhou, all children born tonight must be brought back to the Imperial City!"
"As you command!"
A thunderous reply rang through the heavens, and tens of thousands of Imperial City experts set off for Qingzhou, determined to find the divine body for the dynasty.
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, five years had gone by. Although people still remembered that earth-shattering scene, no one knew what the dynasty had done.
In the Nine Provinces Continent, within Qingzhou, sects stood in great numbers, and the Azure Dragon Sect was one of them.
Today, it was again the day of the Azure Dragon Sect's annual disciple recruitment. Outside the sect, there was a sea of people.
But at this time of year, it was the Outer Disciples who were busiest, as all reception duties fell upon them.
Being an Outer Disciple was an unrewarding task that brought no benefits. Not only did they hold a low status in the sect, but even outsiders looked down on them.
The reason was simple: Outer Disciples were considered to have extremely poor aptitude, destined to achieve little in their lifetime, so they were naturally despised.
"Hey, what attitude is that? Do you know who I am?" A richly dressed woman led a boy and pointed at a young man, scolding loudly.
"I'm truly sorry, but it's getting late and the sect is about to close. You two should come back tomorrow." The young man's handsome face was still youthful, but between his brows there was a hint of heroism.
His name was Chu Feng, fifteen years old, one of the tens of thousands of Outer Disciples of the Azure Dragon Sect.
But among the Outer Disciples, Chu Feng was different. He did not feel inferior or wallow in self-pity. He faced everyone fearlessly and composedly.
"Come back tomorrow? Do you take me for a fool? Where are we supposed to stay tonight in this deep mountain wilderness?"
"You must arrange accommodation for us, or I'll go find one of your elders to reason with." The woman refused to let go and actually grabbed Chu Feng by the collar.
"Junior disciple Chu Feng, in trouble?" Just then, a sweet voice suddenly sounded.
He looked up and saw a purple-clad girl approaching. Although she had a smile on her lips, her sharp eyes were fixed tightly on the woman.
Seeing the girl, the woman's expression changed dramatically, and a strong fear rushed forth.
For no other reason than the purple robe the girl wore—that was the mark of an Inner Disciple.
The woman silently cried out, having thought that her status would allow her to bully the young man.
But she never expected that this inconspicuous young man actually had an Inner Disciple as a backer, someone she dared not provoke.
"It's nothing, nothing. I was just asking this young brother about something." The woman explained with a smile.
The girl first glared at her, then said only one word: "Scram."
At that moment, the woman's body trembled, and her face turned ashen.
But without any hesitation, she took the boy and quickly walked away. In her panic, she even fell over, looking utterly humiliated.
Seeing this, Chu Feng shook his head helplessly, then bowed to the girl. "Thank you, senior sister Chu Yue."
"Don't stand on ceremony with me. We're family." Chu Yue was a little displeased.
She was right. Chu Feng and she were indeed from the same family, the Chu Family.
This Chu Yue was the daughter of Chu Feng's second uncle, only one year older than Chu Feng.
But Chu Yue had passed the Inner Sect exam three years ago and became an Inner Disciple. Now she was a Spirit Martial Fourth Level expert.