The sun never truly rose in Qinglong Realm.
Instead, golden spiritual mist thickened into ribbons as a new day awakened.
Huzaifa stood atop a barren mountain—once forgotten, now etched with a newly carved name: Rootspire.
It was here the Infinite Sect would begin.
Below him, more than three hundred cultivators gathered—disillusioned disciples, rogue ascendants, fallen sect elders, and dreamers.
All united not by bloodline, nor by doctrine, but by choice.
> "You're really going to do this," MIRA said, arms crossed, lips twitching in a half-smile.
> "The heavens resist change," Huzaifa replied. "But they can't stop what's already evolved."
He raised a hand.
A spiral glyph pulsed in the sky. Light etched itself into the air, forming a wide, circular foundation—the Infinite Emblem. It didn't float. It anchored, sinking into the mountain itself as if stitching soul into stone.
> "Welcome," Huzaifa spoke to the gathering. "This place is not your escape. It is your ignition."
> "You will not be taught what to be. You will become what you already are."
As he spoke, his voice carried both with breath and through every system-linked core. His will entered them like sunlight entering seed.
And they bloomed.
> System Transmission: Founding Node Established – Infinite Sect Origin Complete.
> Host recognized as Sovereign of Rootspire.
> Evolution Thread active.
---
Inside the Infinite Sect's first teaching hall—a formation-built amphitheater woven from floating stones—Huzaifa stood before the first class.
> "Before you evolve, understand what you rise from," he said.
With a wave of his hand, a projection formed: the Realm Ladder of Qinglong.
[Qinglong Realm's Cultivation Path]
> 1. Qi Rooting (9 Layers) – The cultivator begins attuning to natural qi, rooting into the spiritual energy of the realm. Foundation.
2. Core Condensation (Early–Mid–Late) – Energy is formed into a crystalline spiritual core. Traditional cultivation often ends here due to risk of instability.
3. Soul Blooming (Petal, Blossom, Crown stages) – Spiritual essence fuses with consciousness. Soul techniques become usable. One's intent gains shape.
4. Nascent Heaven (Initial–Sky Ascension) – A nascent "inner world" forms. Qi becomes semi-conscious. Most sect elders reside at this stage.
5. Immortal Foundation (Bronze–Silver–Golden Core) – The cultivator defies the mortal realm's limits. They cease aging, and may form their own laws of power.
6. Ascendant Path (Five Trials) – Five major tribulations: Flame, Storm, Spirit, Karma, and Void. Each trial must be personalized.
> 7. Celestial Crown (Crown, Eclipse, Star stages) – A cultivator's essence resonates with one of the realm's celestial forces. They can affect laws of reality in small regions.
> 8. Realm-Breaker (Singularity Core) – Few reach this. Their spirit seed transforms into a black hole of intention, drawing in laws, creating new mini-realities.
Huzaifa paused.
> "You are taught to climb," he said. "But we will spiral upward. Each level not a ceiling—but an orbit."
> "Infinite growth. Infinite personalization."
The room went silent.
Then the youngest disciple raised her hand.
> "Sovereign… what are you?"
Huzaifa smiled.
> "I am the realm after realms."
---
In the Jade Clarity Pavilion, a spy knelt before a masked figure cloaked in shadows.
> "He's built a sect. Not on rules, but freedom."
> "Then we'll give him war in the name of order," the voice replied.
Elsewhere, a council gathered—sect masters of old rivalries who had not met in a thousand years.
> "He threatens the doctrine of constraint. He must be erased."
> "How? He cannot be measured."
> "We will summon the Lawbinders."
> "They are extinct."
> "Then we will awaken them."
The Infinite Sect's rise was not unseen.
And neither was it unchallenged.
---
Every Infinite Sect disciple was to face a Spiral Trial—a personal realm formed from their deepest fear and unrealized truth.
Su Lin entered first.
Inside, she stood before a sea of broken glass. Each shard showed her face—a face that never succeeded.
> "You are not enough," the shards whispered.
But she took one step.
> "I am becoming."
The spiral flared.
Outside, she emerged with glowing eyes and qi like living water.
Her realm had expanded.
One by one, the disciples entered.
Each emerged different.
Not merely stronger.
But reconstructed.
Huzaifa watched silently.
> "They are becoming infinite," MIRA said.
> "Not infinite," he corrected. "They are becoming themselves."
---
Huzaifa stood at the summit of Rootspire, surrounded by his core disciples.
In the sky above, the stars had shifted—forming a spiral constellation that had not appeared in eons.
> "They react to you," MIRA noted.
> "Because I am not separate from them anymore."
He raised his hand—and the Infinity Code pulsed.
Every disciple's spiral glowed.
Power surged—silent, internal, but vast.
> "From here on," Huzaifa said, "we enter realms uncharted."
> "We go not to conquer. We go to awaken."
The peak vibrated.
A dimensional rift opened in the sky.
> "Next world awaits," he said.
And the Infinite Sect stepped through—not as invaders.
But as evolutionaries.
---