"When I visited it, it was as prosperous and as famous as the Jade Leaf Empire. A home to countless talents and experts. The reason I chose it as one of the places to visit was because I heard a bard once sing about it during my travels.

The Bi Xie Empire, the land so blessed with luck that even a beggar had a chance of leaping to the heavens as long as they walked in there, having as much wealth and fortune as a dragon emperor.

While I didn't believe the bard, I was intrigued because of their name and a few stories I had heard during my travels. My interaction and loss to the black tortoise left me intrigued about these mythical beings. Their natural aptitudes and affinity for the manipulation and application of dao stirred something within me.

At the Jade Leaf Empire, while there were some whose accumulations in the dao rivaled mine, they were far and few in between, not numbering more than four, and even then I always felt that given enough time, I would exceed them. It was a future I grew to dread when I thought I would lack equals to delve into the mysteries of the dao with.

My hubris-filled fears were dispelled when I ventured out. I met cultivators whose understanding rivaled mine, with some even exceeding mine, with the latter group being small and primarily comprised of mythical creatures.

Losing is such a thing. Losing to the black tortoise, and almost dying at the hands of the three-legged golden toad, ignited something within me, that I came to know as excitement. While the better part of my travels for those sixteen years was just me pursuing rumors and sudden flashes of interest, the other part I was actively seeking out these beings, and it wasn't long before my sights were on the Bi Xie Empire.

I wondered if they had some connection to the Bi Xie. Their rumored fortune and good luck seemed to suggest it.

When I saw the Empire, the rumors of its absurd luck were proven to be true. Never have I seen in my life such a huge presence of the auspicious golden dragon of luck. Its ethereal presence was dense, filling the entire Empire. Seeing such a dense amount of luck, it became clear to me why so many cultivators at the cusp of a breakthrough all clamored to have their breakthroughs within the territory of the Bi Xie Empire.

It all made sense how the Bi Xie empire had managed to amass a fortune by providing a safe ground for breakthroughs. Such a huge amount of golden luck would definitely increase a cultivator's chance of a successful breakthrough, and even if they couldn't break through successfully, it could at least guarantee their life.

While I myself have never experienced the terror of tribulations with all my breakthroughs being awfully smooth, well the domain one was slightly stifling, but I got through it easily. It wasn't nearly as terrifying as my seniors made it to be but on my travels I got a clear picture on why it was so dreaded having seen some cultivators die to it, their bodies and souls lost to it.

<nulli>A pitiful way to go, losing everything you sacrificed for

when you're just at the threshold. The Bi Xie empire made use

of that fear and made a fortune and connections out of it. I was

surprised when I saw the list of countless renowned figures

who owed them a favor because the Empire provided a spot for

one of their juniors.

<nulli>From among the names, the sect master of the Sky rendering sword sect was one of them. He sought a spot for his

youngest disciple who was about to break through to the

domain realm. At thirty she was ready for that attempt, not as

young as I was when I made that leap, but I could see why the

sect master didn't want to risk it and opted to increase her

odds by borrowing the help of the Bi Xie Empire.."

Yang Qing paused his reading as he furrowed his brows.

"Sky rendering sword sect? Who were they?" he wondered

before he dived back, hopefully the scroll held the answers.

Based on the tone of the author, Long Wan, it seemed like he

held the Sky rendering sword sect in high esteem, so either it

held the same power as the Jade Leaf Empire, and the Bi Xie

Empire, or it was stronger than them, and if it was that meant

the Sky rendering sword sect was at the level of holy land. But

try as he may, Yang Qing had never heard of them, not even in

rumors.

He had to admit, that the author, Long Wan had thoroughly

drawn his curiosity. He couldn't help but wonder about his

identity too. For such an illustrious figure, surely there had to

be some mention of him in the history of the Jade Leaf Empire.

Hopefully, the scroll would shed a light on it somewhat.

<nulli>"The sect master's disciple passed her tribulation, with

the empire gaining the friendship of the sect master of the Sky

rendering sword sect, and his disciple too. It was pretty

ingenious really, as certain favors no amount of wealth could

buy.

<nulli>Even without the legendary Bi Xie, with the

resourcefulness shown, I could see why the empire prospered

so.

<nulli>I grew intrigued about the Empire the more I explored it.

It had its sense of uniqueness, one of them being the absence

of sects. While the Jade Leaf Empire limited the number of

sects within its territories, there were at least a hundred or so,

with some of them even having soul formation experts.

However, they did have some ties with the royal family, but

when it came to the Bi Xie empire, there was none at all.

<nulli>At first, I had thought the lack of sects was due to some

suppression or banishment by the Empire itself, but as it turned

out, it was the empire's prosperity that denied their

existence..."<nulli>