The Forest was an untouched goldmine, a million miles of crimson that expanded between three separate empires.
Why was it untouched?
For hundreds of thousands of years a mighty tier six beast claimed this forest as his domain, the Blackwood Dragon.
No one dared to face them, as the dragon was said to be descended from an ancient and tyranical monster.
Until one day a newly promoted tier 6 cultivator rallied his sect.
"Why should we fear this monster! Think of the riches..."
This Sovereign convinced his elders that they could kill the dragon and claim its lands, founding a nation of their own.
Five tier six, more commonly known as Sovereign Realm cultivators, set out with their sect's treasured weapons and surrounded the dragon.
After much blood and destruction the dragon was injured and its blood flooded the ground altering the very landscape.
The vegetation had the greatest change, various types of trees had their trunks turn ashen, and their leaves red.
The Sovereign Realm cultivators utilized a great formation and delivered a massive blow. The great dragon plunged into the ground shattering mountains that stood for millennia.
The cultivators rejoiced, even after losing half their number, the great dragon was on it's last breath. They readied their weapons and then felt the weight of mountains upon their shoulders.
A tangible sense of oppression that could only be delivered by someone of unmeasurable depth.
A rogue cultivator intervened, saving the dragon and sealing the great forest.
He began casting seals and the forest saw speeding lights escaping the forest, some willing some unwilling.
All the cultivators were forced from the forest and a large seal formation was placed, shielding the forest from cultivators.
Over time, the forest continued to absorb the blood of the Blackwood Dragon, causing unforeseen changes.
The vegetation and even some of the beasts mutated.
Creating the Blackwood Forest.
If not for the powerful wandering cultivator, the dragon would have been slain and the forest plundered..
Yet it was saved, the seal spanned the whole forest, and restricted anyone with cultivation from entering.
All the while the Blackwood Dragon continued to cultivate, for tens of thousands of years it has waited.
Some believe that the great dragon had died, some believe it still waits for the day of reconning.
After so many years the seal had started to weaken and slowly each empire encouraged weaker cultivators to settle this new land while the powerful were still restricted.
Opportunity and calamity go hand in hand.
The forest isn't kind to those that wish to claim it.
Many beast kings have already claimed vast territories and sired great hordes of kin.
It wouldn't be long before these Kings came to welcome their guests.
It was time for blood.
---
At the Thousand Serpent Sect's second gate
---
Wu Tianmo sat on a halfway broken wall holding a bamboo scroll, surprisingly it had stood the test of time.
He read,
"Entry Requirements for the Thousand Serpent Sect..."
He cleared his throat imagining an elder of the sect gazing down at hopeful cultivators,
"Outer Disciple Entry Exam Requirements... Must be at least at the 1st Stage of the Meridian Opening Realm and under the age of 20. Spirit roots must be above mortal grade."
Wu Tianmo was taken aback,
"Meridian Opening Realm just to be an outer disciple?... What was the strength of this sect to have this level of entry requirements."
He kept reading,
"Inner Disciple Entry Exam Requirements... Must be at least at the 1st Stage of the Core Forming Realm and under the age of 30... Or possess Superior or higher grade spirit roots."
This sect must have been powerful if Core Forming Realm cultivators were only inner disciples. The Dao Protector from before wouldn't have even qualified to be an inner disciple...
Wu Tianmo began to reminisce, of the good old days when his clan was still around and experienced Elders guided his way.
The elders of our clan went over these Spirit Roots... lets see they went, mortal, common, superior, earth, and heaven grade. The higher the grade, the more attuned to the element your spirit roots possess. I was only from a branch clan yet after they discovered I possessed dual heaven spirit roots they made me the young master of the whole clan!
He quickly closed the scroll, placed it back down on the ground and continued up the mountain.
Fortune favors the bold.
If this sect was really so strong, there must be something left over.
Yet he quickly restrained his greed, even if this sect left things behind, there would be powerful restrictions guarding any treasure.
How dare a mere Body Reforging Cultivator come to plunder... To even entertain such ideas was courting death.
This was a powerful sect and he needed to proceed with caution.
As he continued up the mountain the spirit energy got denser and denser, it was clear that the higher you went, the higher cultivation required to cultivate within.
Spiritual Essence flowed throughout the galaxy, sometimes, it would cause changes in the world itself.
Channels within the planet would form like veins within the body, and at certain points it would gather and refine the surrounding essence.
After hundreds of years the refined essence within the spiritual veins would create spiritual eyes which produced the refined essence.
Once the channel possessed a spiritual eye it was considered a spiritual land, which depending on the tier of the spiritual eye would produce refined spiritual essence. The higher the tier, the more dense and special the refined essence.
A Body Reforging Realm cultivator could cultivate within a tier one spiritual land but a tier two would overwhelm their bodies causing an explosive death.
A Meridian Opening Realm cultivator could cultivate with a tier one vein but the Spiritual Essence wouldn't be dense enough to improve their cultivation.
Without a tier two spirit vein, their realm would stagnate and even regress if they weren't careful.
A tier one spirit land extended for tens of miles, yet a tier two could cover hundreds. Commonly these spiritual eyes would be within mountain peaks, the higher on the mountain one was, the denser the spiritual essence.
The further one got from the spiritual eye within the vein, the less dense the mana. This allowed high level sects to provide for all levels of cultivators.
Powerful sects would occupy higher tier spirit lands and relegate weaker disciples to the outer and inner ranks, further from the vein.
Wu Tianmo frowned, he could tell that he would only be able to reach the third gate before the Spiritual Essence would overwhelm him. He walked to the gate and pushed open the doors, a creaking noise could be heard as the large Blackwood Doors swung open.
This time there was only one building, it was a large pagoda with over three floors. On it hung a sign,
"The Thousand Serpent Sect's Entry Library?"
He opened the second scroll from the previous gate,
"The first test of the exam, comprehension. Master one of the tier one techniques in under three days and you will pass the first test."
Wu Tianmo smiled,
"It's as if I'm testing to become one of them, lets see what kind of martial skills this ancient sect has to offer..."
He walked towards the door and suddenly heard the sound of hissing coming from every direction.
"Oh? So you all didn't run? Let this patriarch show you....."
Drawing his sword he turned around, a bead of sweat trickling down his brow.
A large Initial Tier 2 Serpent looked him dead in the eyes. Its red eyes narrowing as its long crimson tongue flickered.