Hou walked forward behind Nine Clouds Purple Miasma, he watched as those months side watched with reverence.
'Modern cultivation is much more amazing than I once thought. With what seemed like ease Nine Clouds Purple Miasma created real intelligent life. Perhaps I was being arrogant before. To think I thought I could fight him easily. Even if I could use my spirits it would be hard and I wouldn't be confident.'
As Hou was thinking about what he saw he did not look to the sides too much, he looked up instead. This was for two reasons, the first was to maintain his reputation.
The second though... As Hou looked at The Hilt, he felt a connection. He was not sure why but for some reason he felt that The Hilt was more than a simple stone tower.
"Now pay your respects, placate yourself under The Hilt!" Nine Clouds Purple Miasma gave Hou his orders.
Hou stood in front of The Hilt, a massive rough stone pillar. It was the size of a normal mountain and seemed completely normal.
He followed tradition and knelt, paying respects to the sect, he closed his eyes. However as he did, he felt his body start to vibrate.
With a similar sensation to astral projection, his body and consciousness were separated. His consciousness was sucked into the hilt and he fell into a dream state.
While in the dream state, he could not control himself or speak. He was merely an observer to the events that would unfurl.
Hou got a series of memories and events placed into his mind. It was the creation of the Nine Clouds Sovereign Sect.
The sect had existed for longer than anyone currently living, it was there before modern cultivation.
It las in a dark and unforgiving land, the world was overrun with spirits and powerful creatures that humans were incapable of dealing with.
Then the first Spirit Master, Zhou Tian was born. He was born in a small village of farmers, the child of ordinary parents. But Zhou Tian was far from ordinary.
From a young age he was said to have looked into the soul. He was not focused on his physical body, he did not work hard in the farms his family survived on.
Instead, Zhou Tian sat down and observed something...something he did not understand. He felt his own consciousness, but he also felt some other consciousness in the world.
This was the birth of what we know as qi, he had felt a consciousness not born of his own body, but something else.
And through careful experimenting through the years he progressed. He worked on his farm in the day, but at night he focused on qi control.
Decades later, Zhou Tian aged 30 had found the soul. He had controlled qi. Just with qi he could do amazing things, superhuman strength and telekinesis. This was the birth of qi arts.
Then one day, he got too greedy, he had broken his soul. He gathered too much qi and he could not hold it...
Zhou Tian died that day.. his soul shattered and his consciousness was fleeing from himself. However at that crucial junction, a spirit had found him.
The spirit saw attraction in Zhou Tian's qi filled and destroyed soul. Qi was a good for spirits, without QI they could not cause action.
However just like Zhou Tian, this spirit was greedy. It was sucked into his soul and it was absorbed. Zhou Tian and the spirit then became one. Their knowledge and creation becoming one.
The spirit too had a soul, a large souls called an inner world where it could cause action to occur. However now Zhou Tian had absorbed the soul and become the first Spirit Master. What was known at the time as a cultivator.
Zhou Tian was the very first who created cultivation and begun humanity's rise over all!
There the memory that Hou was observing sped up and he was jolted into the future. An elderly Zhou Tian sat upon an opulent throne. He had gathered many spirits becoming unparalleled below the heavens.
But Zhou Tian had grown tired of life, he yearned to begin a new cycle and release him from this boring life. In order for this, Zhou Tian decided to create multiple children, splitting himself into parts.
He had three children, all inheriting a part of him. He activated spirits and using their power created life, but in turn he had died.
One of these children, the memory focused on in particular. A small boy named Yao Tian. He had inherited all of Zhou Tian's qi but no spirits.
While the other children all lived their lives with ease, eventually dying and releasing all the spirits...Yao Tian had other plans.
Instead of following his father's footsteps he chose to step on new ground, forging his own path. Hou then flash forwarded once more and realised who Yao Tian was.
Yao Tian was the Great Earthly Master of Heaven! He worked in the background for hundreds of years and created modern cultivation. He had used all of the qi he was given and formed his soul not into a spirit's inner world but something new.
He formed his soul into a spirit stone and gathered not spirits but laws, the very essence of everything.
Then once more, the memory sped up hundreds of thousands of years showing Yao Tian in his final moments do what modern cultivators call "The Breath of Life and Death".
Yao Tian, in his final moments, changed the very essence of the world. He had gotten rid off all terrestrial spirits and instead allowed laws to inhabit the material world.
He had destroyed the spirit world and given freedom to all. All the spirit inside were sent out as laws and formed into Yao Tian's children.
One of these children was The Tenth Cloud, Sovereign Sky Monarch. He was the creator of the Nine Clouds Sovereign Sect!
Hou woke up in a cold sweat as he was sent back to his body freely. He was supplicated on the ground, breathing heavily.
"That is the story of how the Nine Clouds Sovereign Sect formed. I cannot say whether it is all factual but this is the basis for all the majority sects, the story of Zhou and Yao Tian, the Saviour's of humanity. You have gotten a privilege experiencing it first hand, you might even feel your comprehension on laws and manipulation will be better. That is all normal and expected..." Nine Clouds Purple Miasma informed Hou of what he just witnessed.
Hou was listening but was still overwhelmed by the experience he just had, he sat supplicated for a full day comprehending what he saw.