“Come, rejoice, you will become a part of the Great Divine’s will.”

The two sickles glistened in the night sky, reflecting the bright moonlight.

The man laughed, cackling eerily, as he slowly walked towards Li Jian, knowing there was no escape.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but the only sacrifice here will be you.”

“A mere 6th level Mortal realm dares to defy the Great Divine? Kekeke.”

‘If I was in the 9th level of the Mortal realm, I might be able to stand a chance…’

The man continued to laugh.

“I’ve collected many things from these past few weeks of sacrifices. Do you know what the Great Divine is, my child?”

Li Jian didn’t respond.

“Hmph, so you won’t entertain me even a little bit? There was once a sacrifice awaiting his end, but was blessed by the Great Divine. He aided me in the sacrificing of his own kin with no remorse. Come, my child, kneel before the Great Divine.”

“Fuck you and your trash divine.”

‘There has to be a way for me to get the hell out of here.’

Li Jian closed his eyes as he began sifting through his collection of memories.

A few seconds later, Li Jian looked at the man and smirked.

“What's so funny, my child?”

“Your existence.”

Li Jian began focusing and gathered much of his spiritual energy into his hands.

Noticing the strange fluctuations of energy, the man hesitated for a moment.

In an instant, Li Jian lunged forward.

The man, sensing danger, braced himself by raising his sickles, waiting to counter Li Jian.

When Li Jian got within a few meters of the man, he brought forth both arms and clapped his hands together.

The collision of the energy created an impact causing a sonic boom.

The man had no time to react and was thus knocked away, crashing through the trees.

‘That should knock him unconscious for a little.’

Using this opportunity, Li Jian continued to sprint towards the city.

After a few minutes, the man woke up in a berserk state of mind.

“Interesting… A most peculiar child! You will regret your actions, my child.”

The man spit out a mouthful of blood and disappeared into the forest.

---------------------------------

Jade Moon Sect: Inner Sect

---------------------------------

Night had already passed and the morning sun had begun to rise.

A disciple caused a commotion as he sprinted towards the mission board.

The Elder at the counter looked over and saw a familiar face.

“So you’ve decided to resign from the mission I suppose?”

“I’ve gathered some clues into the investigation.”

“It’s okay, train hard and you… What?”

“As I said… I have come across some clues regarding the S rank mission.”

The Elder, unable to process Li Jian’s statement, was baffled.

“It’s barely been a full day and you’ve already found some clues?”

“Yes, I made my discovery last night. Now, who shall I speak to about this matter?”

“If what you present to me is valuable, then I will send it directly to the council.”

Li Jian pulled out multiple sect badges and placed them on the counter.

The Elder stared at the multiple badges in front of him and was baffled yet again.

“These are…”

“I picked these up from the disciples who were murdered near the Veiled Mist forest. I stayed hidden and was able to see the murderer. He wore a black cloak and wielded two sickles. This man was also going on about something called the Great Divine.”

The Elder stood up immediately after hearing of the Great Divine.

“Disciple Li Jian, you will be rewarded for your contributions and the successful completion of the mission at a later date and time. For now, I must go report this matter to the council.”

The Elder gave Li Jian a short congratulations before hastily leaving.

Li Jian let out a sigh of relief and also left.

---------------------------------

Li Jian’s home

---------------------------------

“Welcome home, big brother!”

Li Jian nodded.

“Good morning, Little Bei.”

“How was your trip?”

“It was… Fruitful I guess.”

“Would you like me to prepare breakfast?”

“No, that won’t be necessary. I’ll be in my meditation room, don’t disturb me unless absolutely necessary.”

---------------------------------

Meditation room

---------------------------------

Li Jian sat there calmly, controlling his breathing.

‘I must reach the Spirit realm as soon as possible…’

Luckily, Li Jian now had a vast library of knowledge at his disposal.

‘Let’s see… what can I do…’

‘Concealing Shadow… that’ll be useful, but not what I need right now… Hmm...'

‘...Spatial Awareness!’

“Perfect!”

‘If I’m able to completely master the Spatial element again, my cultivation will surely rise again in no time!’

During the Ancient era, Li Jian had a peculiarly strong memory and was able to memorize everything with ease.

“Being aware of space and the intangible is an innate ability special to cultivators who do not have an affinity with the basic five elements. Compared to other elements, the spatial element demands perfect and precise control over spiritual energy in order to manipulate space.”

‘I’m surprised I was able to grasp control over spiritual energy already at such an early level… It was only to a small degree, but I guess it’s time to hit the basics again.’

Li Jian held out his hand, gathering spiritual energy.

The area around his hand began distorting as the pressure continued to increase.

After a short while, the energy became more chaotic and Li Jian wasn’t able to control it any further.

He released the energy and began panting.

‘I can’t believe it’s this difficult to control spiritual energy for a prolonged period of time for me! I definitely need this practice.’

Minutes turned to hours…

Li Jian continued to train, perfecting his control over space.

A few days later, Li Jian exited his meditation room.

‘My control isn’t perfect yet, but it has improved by leaps and bounds.’

‘I’ve even reached the 7th level of the Mortal realm.’

Li Jian, an inner sect disciple, was only twelve years old and had the cultivation of a 7th level in the Mortal realm.

His achievements had already earned himself the title of a genius - one that would be destined for greatness.

Many of the inner sect disciples were around the ages of fifteen to eighteen.

Those disciples ranged from the 5th level to the 9th level.

Breaking through a level within a realm was an easy feat compared to breaking through to a new realm.

It was understandable if a cultivator was stuck at the peak of a realm for many years.

“Big brother, have you gained anything from training?”

“I’ve gained a lot!”

Li Jian smiled and looked at Wang Bei.

“Did I miss anything while I was in the meditation room?”

“Your friends came by, but I told them you were training. Also, an Elder came by and dropped off a letter.”

“A letter? Where is it?”

Wang Bei brought out a letter and handed it to Li Jian.

“To Inner Sect Disciple Li Jian, we of the council reward you with 10,000 contribution points for your achievements of completing the S rank mission.”

‘10,000!? Holy shit!’

“Little Bei, I need to head out. I’ll be back later.”

“Okay big brother.”

Li Jian didn’t waste any time and headed for the shop immediately.

---------------------------------

“Did you hear? Someone completed the S rank mission!”

“What?! Who!”

“A new inner sect disciple! Li Jian!”

“Li Jian? The one who crippled Lu Bao and fought off three disciples who were higher leveled than him??”

“Yeah, I mean there’s really only one Li Jian in this sect, but anyways yeah him.”

Li Jian once again became the talk of the whole sect, gaining more popularity and fame.

Many disciples dubbed him the next genius of the era.

---------------------------------

“Li Jian, that bastard.”

“Head Elder, what should we do?”

“We can’t do anything with Princess Bai and the Patriarch watching our every move.”

“Then it’s hopeless…”

“No. Fetch me Xiao Xue.”

---------------------------------

The Inner Sect Shop

---------------------------------

“Welcome young disciple.”

“Greetings, senior.”

Li Jian bowed towards the inner sect shopkeeper and made his way to the available items.

‘Let’s see what this small shop has for me…’

Amongst the many shelves were items that were all far more valuable than the ones displayed in the outer sect shop.

High grade medicinal herbs, spiritual elixirs, skills, etc.

‘Oh how interesting, they have Dwarved Phoenix Leaves in this era still… Should have been extinct by now.’

‘Hmm… I don’t see anything too outstanding… What?!’

Li Jian stopped in his tracks and shook in excitement.

‘No way!’

[Cloak of Invisibility]

Use it well.

10,000 Contribution Points.

‘To be selling an invisibility cloak to mere children of a sect… Fools!’

‘Although it’ll cost me all of the contribution points I just received, it’s definitely a priceless treasure I must have.’

“Senior, I’ll be purchasing this item.”

The Elder grabbed the cloak of invisibility and looked at Li Jian.

“Is there a problem, senior?”

“You best not be using this for any perverted reasons, young disciple.”

The Elder gave Li Jian a look before finalizing the purchase.

“Many thanks.”

Li Jian took his newly acquired cloak and put it on.

It looked like a regular, black, travelling cloak, but once the cultivator weaved in some spiritual energy, they would become invisible.

The effect would only be useful against people or enemies who were weaker than the cultivator.

Someone with a higher cultivation would be able to see the disturbance of the invisibility cloak.

‘Now that I have an invisibility cloak, I’ll be able to escape most life threatening dangers. Even better, once my control over my spiritual energy becomes more proficient, nobody in the Mortal or Spirit realm will be able to see or sense me.’

---------------------------------

“Father, I’ve sent multiple scouts out around the perimeter of the forest. I’ve called back all of the disciples who took part in the mission as well.”

“Bai’er, make sure none of the disciples or anybody in the city learns about the Great Divine.”

“Of course.”

“You may leave.”

With a worried look, Princess Bai left.

“Didn’t I say he would bring disaster upon Jade Moon City?”

“Silence, I’ll handle the matter with Li Jian later. What matters most right now is the damn Great Divine.”