Xie Changsheng had known since childhood that he was different from others.
In his eyes, everything in the world became orderly and clear, with patterns he could trace.
Whether cultivation arts or magic treasures, he could always see things others could not.
When he was three, his father took him to the Mysterious One Dao Gate.
That day, the sect master of the Mysterious One Dao Gate became so excited upon seeing him that he immediately announced he would take him as a direct disciple.
From then on, "peerless prodigy" became the label attached to Xie Changsheng.
Foundation Establishment at eight, Core Formation at twelve.
Cultivation was simply too easy for him.
Everyone called him a peerless prodigy seen only once in ten thousand years, the future leader who would restore the Mysterious One Dao Gate to glory. They had even bestowed the title of Dao Son on him early on.
His eventual succession as head of the Mysterious One Dao Gate was practically set in stone.
Xie Changsheng thought so too.
Later, as he grew older, he left the Mountain Gate and began traveling through the Eastern Region.
He met a few others his age who were every bit as absurdly gifted.
There was Zhou Yan, that boy from the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion who spent all day waving a battered fan, his belly full of schemes and mischief.
There was Song Chi from Hidden Edge Mountain, that idiot sword cultivator whose first act after getting beaten black and blue was not to fight back, but to fix his hair.
And there was Fairy Qingyin of the Jade Pivot Palace, Luo Qingyin, who seemed as cold as ice but secretly dreamed of becoming a wandering heroine.
These young prodigies from different sects fought their way into each other's acquaintance in