AN: (Loose Dragon Tail family --> Loose Longwei Family)
One moment it was spring, then in the blink of an eye, summer arrived. The Dragon Turning Room opened once more, quietly marking the passage of a full season since Yuan had come to the Longwei Management Pavilion.
These four months hadn't been especially fruitful in cultivation, he was still working toward awakening his next sense, but in terms of learning, they had been invaluable.
This time, Yuan had not buried himself entirely in training. At Old Man Feng's request, he took a step away from isolation and began to observe the world he lived in.
He learned of the Five Factions, the distinction between Inner and Main Families, and even spent a little time among the other children of the Pavilion, though always at a distance.
But most of his hours, when not cultivating, were spent buried in books in the Loose Long Family's neglected library. It wasn't well maintained, and the organization was poor, yet it held value. A quiet trove of forgotten thoughts.
The shelves overflowed with tales, of famed cultivators, disgraced traitors, vanishing sects, whispered rumors, and the fragile histories of fallen dynasties.
Yuan ignored the dramatic tales. He wasn't seeking excitement; he was searching for understanding. And in time, he found it.
According to one of the less-degraded texts, the world was divided into three great continents: the Heaven Ascending Continent, the Sky Islands Continent, and the distant Scattered Canyon Continent.
Yuan was currently within the Heaven Ascending Continent. The book placed their region close to the border of the Sky Islands. As for the Scattered Canyon Continent, it was said to be so far away that no mortal, no matter how long they lived, could ever reach it on foot.
Even ten lifetimes wouldn't be enough.
The books contained very little concrete information about the other two continents. Almost no one had ever truly set foot on the Sky Islands Continent, and the Scattered Canyon Continent, if it even existed, remained unseen by any known traveler.
Though the Sky Islands were considered "nearby," that word was only relative. According to the texts, it would take at least fifty to seventy years of constant travel from Dragon Tail Town to reach even the nearest island and even that was based on speculation.
Most of what was known came from wandering cultivators, solitary experts who appeared briefly, rested for a few days, and vanished again without explanation. They left behind little more than vague anecdotes and fleeting rumors.
The library held countless other entries too, family records, obscure legends, territorial disputes, but Yuan wasn't interested in idle trivia. He was searching for something more precise. Something that mattered.
What he wanted was to understand who truly ruled the world.
And so he focused on one thing: the current power structure of the Heaven Ascending Continent. The real families, clans, and sects that stood at the top, not ones like the Loose Long Family, who merely held a sliver of land.
The Sky Islands and Scattered Canyon Continents were veiled in mystery. What little was written about them was likely more than five thousand years old, fragments of knowledge warped by time, faded into myth. No one could confirm if any of it was still true.
In contrast, the Heaven Ascending Continent was better preserved in the records. Yuan eventually came across a detailed, relatively recent book documenting the continent's leading powers. It described ten major factions: five sects, three clans, and two great families.
They were not unified. Each faction acted alone. Some formed fragile alliances, but there was no continent-wide government, only a balance of tension and ambition.
At the top of the hierarchy stood the Bai Clan, one of the three great clans, described as the most influential power in the continent. After them came the Sweeping Sword Sect, famed for their martial dominance. And third was the infamous School of Fiends, feared for reasons the book did not explain.
Beyond their names and positions, little else was said. The rest was speculation and shadows, vague references to old wars, shifting treaties, and unverified betrayals.
The present world was shaped by these powers, but where had they come from?
Yuan read deeper, and in the brittle pages of an old, half forgotten manuscript, he found a tale that stirred something unsettling within him.
It spoke of the beginning of the Calamity Enduring Era, a time when chaos reshaped the entire world. In a single day, twelve colors descended from the heavens and began to slaughter everything in sight. The land cracked, kingdoms fell, and even ancient cultivators perished. The world was split apart and remade.
That day came to be known as the Day of Doom.
As Yuan read about the twelve colors, an image rose unbidden in his mind—twelve streaks of unnatural light tearing across the sky. The colors were vivid, otherworldly, and eerily familiar.
A chill crept over him.
He didn't know why, but something inside screamed to stop reading. His hands trembled. He almost obeyed.
He nearly closed the book. Some primal instinct told him to stop, that the knowledge here was not meant to be touched. But he forced himself to keep going, his hands slightly trembling.
According to the text, the Day of Doom was the cataclysm that gave birth to the three continents. From the ashes of the old world, new sects, clans, and families rose, born from survivors who clawed their way out of ruin.
To this day, it's said that countless ancient inheritances, remnants of the fallen era, remain hidden across the land, waiting to be discovered by those bold or desperate enough to seek them.
The Loose Longwei Family was one such survivor.
They had not risen through overwhelming might or divine blessing, but through fortune. Their founder had been no prodigy, just a clever man, lucky enough to live through the carnage and wise enough to build something from it.
Thanks to his leadership, the family had ruled a modest domain of mortal land for over nine thousand years. But that was where their legacy stalled.
The founder himself never advanced past the peak of the Blood Purification Stage. He only touched the threshold of Meridian Awakening, never crossing it.
His reign, like his cultivation, had limits. And those limits defined the ceiling of everything the Loose Longwei Family could become.
As Yuan's thoughts wandered, he stepped out of the carriage. He had arrived at the peak of the Loose Long Family's mountain, the place where the Dragon Turning Room stood.
Or more accurately, the founder's room, a small mansion once occupied by the progenitor of the Loose Long Family.
It wasn't luxurious by any means. Built from stone and wood in the same humble style as the homes in the town at the mountain's base, the structure was simple and unadorned.
Within the family, it was known as the Dragon Turning Room, but to outsiders, it was called the Founder's Mansion of the Loose Dragon.
Every season, the family allowed its most talented juniors to cultivate there for one month, as a tribute to the founder. Of course, that was the official story, what the Loose Long Family wanted the world to believe.
In truth, they preferred to keep the mansion's significance hidden.
None of the books mentioned anything special about it. Only Old Man Longwei Feng had spoken of it to Yuan directly. As for what made it special, even the old man claimed not to know the full truth.
He only said that at the beginning of each season, the room would naturally produce a purer form of spiritual essence, one that accelerated cultivation speed.
However, this effect only benefitted cultivators in the Mortal Awakening Stage. For those beyond it, the enhancement was minimal, merely a slightly better cultivation environment than the world outside.
If that purity had been constant, it would have been a treasure trove for cultivators in the Blood Purification Stage. But that was not the case. And while it could have been reserved to open once per year to provide a full month of focused cultivation for a single practitioner, the family chose differently.
That decision came from the founder himself. He had ordered that the Dragon Turning Room be used each season by the rising juniors of the family, to help them step more quickly into the Blood Purification Stage.
Since then, the order had remained unchanged, and no one had ever dared to question it.
And today, Yuan would experience the Dragon Turning Room for himself.
The group entering the Dragon Turning Room numbered, by Yuan's estimation, around forty to fifty people, ranging from children to elderly men. There was no discrimination based on age.
Entry into the room was based on merit, many had earned their place through accumulated contributions, while others, despite their age, were granted entry if they were close to a breakthrough.
The family allowed older members to benefit as well, especially to strengthen their ranks in preparation for future conflicts.
Yuan recognized a few of the children he had seen before during family meetings. Some even greeted him kindly, but he understood their politeness for what it was, respect for his backer, Old Man Feng.
Yuan returned their greetings with equal courtesy, offering just enough politeness to save face for their elders, but nothing more.
"Little Brother Luan Yuan! We meet again!"
The voice was sweet, teasing, familiar. Yuan turned and saw the twins approaching, the prince and princess he'd met back at the Longwei Management Pavilion.
Longwei Baoyan, sharp eyed and stone faced as ever. And beside him, his twin sister, Longwei Wenli, all warmth and charm.
"Prince Baoyan, Princess Wenli," Yuan said smoothly, his tone formal but easy. "It's been some time, an auspicious moment to meet again."
He offered a polite smile. "Shall we walk in together?"
Baoyan's gaze sharpened, cutting through the words like ice. He looked ready to decline outright, but Wenli beat him to it.
"Of course we will," she said brightly, then turned to her brother with a knowing look. "Won't we, Brother Baoyan?"
That look said everything, Don't argue.
Baoyan sighed under his breath. Yuan could almost hear the quiet curse behind his composed expression. But in the end, he gave a stiff nod.
"…No objection."
Wenli giggled, the sharpness in her gaze vanishing like mist. Light and carefree, she looped her arm through Yuan's.
"Come along, Luan Yuan!"
And just like that, she pulled him forward toward the Founder's Manor, dragging him into her pace. Baoyan followed a step behind, silent and clearly unamused.
Behind them, Yuan's original group stood frozen, watching as he was whisked away, too surprised to speak.