Zheng Xiang was from the Zheng Clan of the Silver Mist City in the Xin Kingdom's Southern region.
He was the adopted son of the Zheng Clan Patriarch, Zheng Wuhun, but wasn't accepted by the Zheng family members. Because of this status, the younger generation of the Zheng Family would often assault and harass him. Only a few members like his adoptive father, adoptive brother Zheng Guyu and adoptive cousin Zheng Yue would treat him kindly as a part of the family.
He started cultivation at a very young age, but he was met with a very mysterious accident at age ten, which affected his cultivation speed pretty badly. Already being an outcast in his clan, he was shunned even more by clan members of his generation. It was only on a mission a few months back, when he had to hunt down a few mortal bandits, did he start to feel his cultivation picking up speed after he consumed all the resources that those bandits had. After this encounter, he was certain that to increase his cultivation, he was going to need monstrous amounts of cultivation resources.
It was his luck that he met his adoptive cousin a few days before the Inner Court Entrance Hunt that he could have a breakthrough and increase his cultivation realm. His cousin, Zheng Yue, was an Inner Court disciple and had access to many resources. So when she met him, she gifted him some Middle ranked Qi Strengthening pills hoping that he could perform well in the Hunt.
Once his cultivation increased, he devised a plan to get maximum benefits out of the Hunt. This was the reason why he ranked himself at last in Round Two, where everyone had to hunt down low-ranked Qi Stealing Moles and get as many beast cores as possible to rank higher.
However, instead of hunting Qi Staling Moles, he just roamed around. He did this because he knew all the beast cores were going to the sect, not to his dantian, and the only beast cores he was gonna get were from the battles he needed to win in the next round. So, he decided to hunt as few Qi Stealing Moles as possible.
And when he was ranked, at last, he didn't worry about not getting anything; he was confident in his cultivation realm.
As Round Three began, he was unstoppable, in the end ranking himself in the Top three. Though he didn't get the most beast cores, he did get a significant number of them, and with the amount of Qi Strengthening pills he was going to receive the next day, he was the real winner of the Hunt.
So when he opened his eyes the next day, he headed for the First Peak to get his resources without any delays. And this was where he met another anomaly from the hunt, Fang Chen.
At first, he didn't wish to interact with that guy because of the rumors he had heard about his arrogant nature. But unexpectedly, Fang Chen was the one who broke the ice, and it turned out that he was the exact opposite of what he had in his mind. Fang Chen wasn't arrogant and conceited. Instead, he seemed like a knowledgeable person and gave off a calm vibe.
This purely coincidental meeting was very fruitful for Zheng Xiang. He came to know of the Sword Intent and also about many other things.
Both of them talked and received their things together. Only when Fang Chen decided to go to the Third Floor of the Martial Book Pavilion did he lose sight of him.
After Zheng Xiang had chosen a Rank 4 cultivation manual, he decided to head down instead of waiting for Fang Chen because he wasn't sure how long that guy was gonna take, and this was the first time he had met him, so no need to waste his time here.
And when he was about to exit the Martial Book Pavilion, he met a core disciple he had also seen during the hunt, Yuan Shuchun.
She invited Zheng Xiang to a banquet at the Heavenly League later tonight, but he had other plans, so he could only refuse. And for a second, he felt like Yuan Shuchun direct an intense killing intent against him, but this was only for a moment. The next second only a serene smile was present on her face. But this small encounter was enough for alarm bells to ring in his mind and put Yuan Shuchun in his 'people not to mess with' list.
Yuan Shuchun just said it was alright and he can still come if he changes his mind, and then she left, heading for the upper floors.
Zheng Xiang could only sigh as he headed for the Second Peak. However, just as he had stepped out of the Martial Book Pavilion, he saw someone familiar.
He saw his cousin, Zheng Yue, giving out flyers to the new Inner Court disciples. Without wasting time, headed to greet her.
Zheng Yue was surprised and elated when she realized that her little brother had become an Inner Court Disciple.
They chatted for some time before Zheng Yue invited him to the Zheng Alliance. This was a little league of the Zheng and its subsidiary clans in the Gracious Sword Sect.
With no choice, Zheng Xiang accepted her invite and headed to the headquarters of the Zheng Alliance.
As usual, he was treated with indifference and contempt by his fellow clanmates, but he endured because he thought that his sister would be in trouble if he started fighting these people.
But when those disciples started to call his rank in the Hunt a fluke and even called him a cheater and started to challenge him for a duel, he couldn't stop himself and accepted the challenges, in the end beating the crap out of those disciples.
With his mood ruined, he left the Zheng Alliance with a frown on his, and when he was about to pass the Martial Book Pavilion, he saw Fang Chen coming out of it. Curious about what he got from the Third floor, he tapped on Fang Chen's shoulder to ask him about it.
…
Ye Tian Yun was surprised to see Zheng Xiang still at the Martial Book Pavilion, not at the Second Peak. But before he could ask anything, Zheng Xiang spoke first, "Brother Fang, how did your visit to the Third Floor go? Did you find anything interesting?"
Ye Tian Yun shook his head in denial as he said, "Well, I didn't get anything worth mentioning, except for the invite by Yuan Shuchun for the banquet. I assume you have also met her?"
"Ah, don't ask about her. As soon as I rejected her invitation, the whole air around her changed. I felt I was just one breath away from certain death."
"Ah? Was it you who rejected her? She did mention one disciple rejecting her invitation. I thought it was another friend of mine."
"Oh, she did? It looks like she is the kind who doesn't easily forget things. Ah, and who's the other friend you talked about? I thought you didn't have friends with your rumored arrogant personality."
Ye Tian Yun just smiled and replied, "Well, I do have some good friends. One of them has a decent level of talent. You may not have heard of his name; he is from the Ninth Peak, Xiao Ming."
Zheng Xiang rolled his eyes, "Decent talent? Xiao Ming? You do know that he is ranked at the very top among all disciples? Also, Yuan Shuchun mentioned Xiao Ming when she invited me; she said he would definitely come. In fact, she was kind of very happy about it."
Ye Tian Yun was surprised at this claim when Yuan Shuchun met him; her mood wasn't even close to being good when she mentioned her meeting with Xiao Ming last night.
Ye Tian Yun turned and looked at the Heavenly League's headquarters at the other side corner of the First Peak, 'Things will be interesting tonight. I hope Xiao Ming is as powerful as the reports stated.. And since the manual wasn't here, it will definitely appear during the banquet.'