Two generations ago — about twenty years after Lü Yang's current point in time — the Stain Sect would launch a campaign to annihilate a righteous sect: the Divine Martial Sect.
In that lifetime, Zhao Xuhe had eventually reached the perfected phase of Qi Refining and, together with Fairy Feixia, had become a steward of the Stain Sect's external marketplace.
That marketplace had been located at Skull Mountain, right beside the Divine Martial Sect's territory.
Before war broke out, the Stain Sect had secretly transported large quantities of resources under the guise of marketplace trade. It was said that it was during that time the two had discovered Foundation Establishment marvels.
When the war began, the two shone brilliantly, earned military merit, exchanged for another marvel, and commissioned an alchemist to refine the two into a single Foundation Establishment Pill—thus gaining the chance to break through.
Though they ultimately failed, the opportunity had been real.
