Chapter 1: Chapter 1.1 - The End of the Line

A lone battered man stood in the middle of a desolate land, staring up at the sky filled with dark clouds. He was unwilling to accept his fate. After all, he is a peak master of his sect. To be reduced to such a sorry state, he felt that the heavens have wronged him. If he had known earlier, he would've killed those people who betrayed him. Thinking back on the events a few days ago, he did not expect that out of all the people in his life, his very own martial elder brother, with whom he has spent most of his life fighting alongside with would be the one to betray him. He could only smile bitterly at the thought.

"Ah... XinWen truly is unwilling..." he muttered in a weak voice as he saw another lightning formed within the dark cloud looming above him. True to form, the dark cloud looked ominous and oppressive. As if bringing with it nothing but despair like the desolate land where Li XenWen stood.

In his condition, with his spiritual energy spent and exhausted, being struck by lightning would surely spell his death. A dark chuckle escaped his lips "I can't die yet. Not until I bring justice to their betrayal." And just as fast as the thought crossed his mind, a blinding light was the last thing he saw.

A loud booming sound was heard throughout the land and after the cloud dispersed, two shadows came out of their hiding place and approached the area where Li XinWen stood just moments ago.

"So, not even ashes remains... Such a shame. I was really hoping to get that heavenly treasure off him..." this came from a man wearing a white robe adorned with red lining at the edge. The man's expression was cold as he stared at the aftermath of the recent event.

A woman came forward, disbelief clouding her face over what she just heard from the man. "Shixiong, I don't believe that such heavenly treasure would be destroyed by a lightning tribulation for a peak kongming stage..."

"Shimei, do you think that was a normal lightning tribulation for a peak kongming stage?" he asked. "I believe that was not a normal lightning tribulation but instead... divine's tribulation."

As soon as her elder martial brother mentioned the words divine's tribulation the woman's eyes widened in disbelief. "Impossible! Wen-gege has already entered Dacheng stage?!"

"No. He was still at peak kongming stage. The only explanation is that... the treasure is truly heaven-defying. Or else, do you think the heavens would strike on XinWen without reason? As soon as XinWen bound the treasure to him, the divine tribulation had been triggered..."

"Oh... then... Wen-gege is really gone? He won't turn into a loose immortal?"

At this question, the man closed his eyes and spread out his spiritual sense. "There isn't even a lingering spirit of him left in this world. Shimei, let us return to the sect and report this to Shiye. You know what to say, right?"

The woman nodded her head and the two of them left for the sect without ever looking back.