1 Ji Tian

Ji Clan was located in the Southern Mountains Region on the Ji Mountain Range. Its history stretched back countless years and is very prominent in the region.

Five enormously vast mountains soared into the sky. Four of these mountains encircled the last mountain, the tallest of all which gave off a lofty aura even from afar. Near the forefront of the mountains, at its base was a huge behemoth city, Ji city, stretching thousands of miles, with cloud towering towering walls surrounded it.

It was mid-summer, and dark clouds filled the starry night. The muffled roar of thunder resounded which could be heard in the distance, and from the dense humidity in the air, it seemed rain would begin to fall soon.

Currently, in a relatively remote area of the city, a lean young man dressed in black cloak was sprinting obscured to the ordinary eye. He appeared to be about nineteen or twenty years of age, who's eyes that usually sparked with determination were hidden under by the look of urgency on his face. 

It was none other than Ji Long, first young master of the aristocratic Ji Clan of the Southern Mountains Region. He was also relatively famous as having achieved the cultivation of, Foundation Establishment, before the age of 20. If anybody were to behold the current appearance of Ji Long they would be shocked by his current demeanor, in his own clan territory.

"I guess it won't be long before I can stabilize my cultivation at Foundation Establishment. That will make me a real expert in Foundation Establishment! My progress will be incredible!"

He glanced back at the towering city wall, looking very pleased at having circumvented it the way he did. Then he blurred into motion, disappearing like a ghost into the dark forest surrounding the city.

Ji Long had recently broken through to the second realm of cultivation, Foundation Establishment. 

In this land, cultivation which cultivators cultivated on the road of Immortality was divided into five known realms.

First was Qi Condensation, in which one starts to absorb spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the body, which is further divided into 9 layers.

Second was Foundation Establishment, in which one builds their foundation, spiritual energy flowing through one's meridian channels, to refine the body so the body would be more suited for cultivation and condensing the spiritual energy into a spiritual liquid.

Third was Core Formation, when the spiritual energy was gathered in a central location, into a Core inside the Dantian.

Fourth was Nascent Soul, Break the Core to produce a Nascent Soul.

Fifth was Deity Transformation, Comprehend the heavenly law and obtain a Domain. Then form an Origin Soul by fusing that domain with the Nascent Soul.

According to the rumors, cultivators in the Nascent Soul realm can survive without the need of body, with their soul alone. Whereas Deity Transformation realm cultivators can destroy large scale cities with a flick of their finger.

**

After running through the forest for a short time, Ji Long caught sight of a young woman in an azure garment, standing there proudly, her back to him.

"Wan'er!" he called out. "I got the Revolving Heaven Pill! It wasn't easy, but thanks to my status in the family, I managed to get into the family treasury, and steal this pill!"

Looking excitedly at the young woman, he held out the crafted box which he had taken out of his Interspatial Ring.

The young woman turned, revealing a strikingly beautiful face.

"So, Ji Long, you finally succeeded." Reaching out with fingers as beautiful as Jade, she said, "Hand it over so I can take a look."

"Alright." Without the slightest hesitation, Ji Long handed the box to the young woman.

She took it, then opened it to reveal a purple medicinal pill. A medicinal aroma immediately filled the area, and the pill itself seemed to glow with purple color, casting purple light onto the young woman's face, making her look even more attractive than before.

"Okay, Wan'er," Ji Long said. "I got you the Revolving Heaven Pill. Now we can run off together like you promised, right? Come on, let's get going."

"I'm sorry, Ji Long," she said, putting the box away into her Interspatial Ring. Looking at him coldly, she continued, "I won't be running off with you, and don't ever bring up this subject again." 

Her words struck him like a lightning falling from the heavens.

Staggering backward a few paces, his face became pale, he said, "Wan'er, I abandon my clan for you! I stole a Revolving Heaven pill, all because you said we would run off together. Now you're changing your mind? Why? Why would you do something like this?"

"Pathetic!"

Suddenly, a voice reverberated out. A moment later, a figure emerged from the darkness of the forest. He was a handsome man in his twenties, tall and strapping, with long black hair falling on his shoulder without any restraints and pitch black eyes with a merciless look, dressed in plain gray robes.

It was Ji Tian, the deputy master of the punishment hall of the Ji clan, also the son of the grand elder Ji Shen of the Ji clan. He had high prestige and status in the clan, and the elder council greatly valued him. Furthermore he was already a late stage Foundation Establishment at the age of 25.

"You...What are you doing here?" Ji Long asked, his face ashen, having a bad premonition in his heart because he knew how ruthless this person is.

Wherever Wan'er didn't seem to be surprised about the sudden arrival of Ji Tian, instead looked relieved.

Face incomparably cold, Ji Tian laughed lightly. "Of course, it is to apprehend the traitor of the clan who colluded with outside forces!" 

"You…." In an abrupt manner, Ji Long suddenly exploded into action. He lunged at Ji Tian, his palm pressed forward as If wanting to suppress anything in front of him.

"Earth-Suppressing-Palm!" he shouted, immediately resorting to a deadly Cultivation art unique to the Ji Clan, used to materialize a huge palm to suppress heaven and earth! Whom size and power depended on cultivation base and comprehension of the caster.

"Idiot!" Ji Tian said, his eyes glimmering with disdain.

"Earth-Suppressing-Palm"

A transparent wave of spiritual energy shot out from his hand, materializing a huge palm with earth shaking aura, slamming into Ji Long. Before he could even fully implement his Earth-Suppressing-Palm, he was slammed into the ground, where he vomited up a mouthful of blood. Forming a deep pit with him as the center.

Ji Long whimpered as he thought back to everything that had led up to this point. In an adventure of his, outside the clan territory, he had encountered wan'er, whom he had fallen for at first sight. She treated him with tenderness and compassion for a time, whereupon she asked for his help to get the Revolving Heaven Pill. He had pondered the matter for some time before making his decision. And now, here he was. As he thought about these things, he fell unconscious.

Ji Tian suddenly felt several spiritual fluctuations coming in their direction, whom he immediately recognized as his subordinates. He knew that he had to speed things up.

"Well, it's time to wrap things up" Ji Tian said coldly as he drew the drager he was carrying.

Whoosh!

Spiritual energy surrounded it as it shot straight towards Wan'er, entering from the center of her eyebrows and exiting from behind her head, ending her life, not giving her a chance to react, only leaving a mess of her still warm corpse.

He did not even look at her corpse, whom he had manipulated for today's situation to play out, but instead took out a talisman that shone with a strange grey light, which his father had given to interfere with divination, and stamped it on the bare ground.

Gray light shone in the surroundings blinding him in the process for a few seconds before disappearing, bringing no visible changes on the surface. But he knew that if any cultivator in the future tried to divinate about what happened here, they would certainly fail in their attempt.

Only a moment later, several figures appeared in front of him. One of them was a man wearing a suit of cold-forged iron armor that weighed no less than a hundred pounds, making him look like a vicious beast. He was Ji Luo, a person directly under him, the deputy master of punishment hall.

"I have seen, deputy master," shouted Ji Luo and others as they clasped their fists.

"Men, apprehend the traitor and bring him back to the central mountain. He will be Judged by the elder council once we get back, and collect the Revolving Heaven Pill from that filth "

"Yes, sir," replied Ji Luo. Without any hesitation, they quickly started Executing the orders.

Ji Tian went up to Wan'er's corpse and took his drager which lay near her. He surrounded it with his spiritual energy, and wiped away the filth on it. He looked at his reflection on the drager, those eyes which seemed as deep as abyss. As he thought about today's incident and how it will affect, he smiled lightly, to which if anyone who knew his true nature saw, would be shocked because this can only mean he is up to something big.

"That's how you devour a behemoth… one bite at a time"