The Enigmatic Rebel: I Overturned the Twelve Provinces

Twelve Provinces Continent

In the Southern Province, the boundless South Sea is dotted with countless immortal mountains and islands. This is the favored haven for many independent cultivators, for there are no great sects here, and strife is rare. Even disciples from the major sects of the Central Province cherish this land as a place for training and wandering.

The South Sea is home mostly to the practitioners of the Pure Truth tradition. What is Pure Truth? It is the solitary cultivation of tranquil alchemical arts. These cultivators are detached from worldly affairs, free of desires and ambition. Most of their sects forbid marriage or bearing children, rarely receive outsiders, and never meddle in the disputes between the Orthodox and Pure Truth traditions of the Twelve Provinces. They live by the creed of self-perfection and the pursuit of immortality, leading lives of their own design. They bear no personal names, only Daoist titles, often ending with the character "zi."

Yet there are exceptions—such as the place where our story’s protagonist appears...

On the shore of a small island in the South Sea, a youth burst forth from the ocean. He was about sixteen or seventeen years old, simply dressed in coarse cloth, his black hair brushed back, his features delicate with a hint of youthful naivety between his brows.

Upon reaching the shore, the youth circulated his true qi to dry his clothes. He glanced around, as if searching for someone, and, seeing no one nearby, strode across the sand and flew towards the island’s interior.