Long Tian was merely eight years old when he achieved the peak of the Body Refining Realm, which was the tenth stage. Throughout the entire country, he was at the top, his talent matchless amongst the people of his generation. Even the kids from the Royal Clan weren't a match for him. But even then, he never grew complacent and always kept working hard.
There was only one source of motivation behind his hard work. After his father's death, he wanted to be stronger. Strong enough so that his mother won't have to worry about him. He wanted to have the strength to uncover the identity of the people behind his father's death and take his revenge. He wanted to be strong enough to protect everyone; so that none of his family members would ever be endangered just as how his father was. Even as a child, Long Tian knew the importance of strength.
He continually strove to better himself, working hard every day to achieve his goals. Every time he made a breakthrough, he would happily run to his mother and tell her everything about it, just to see the proud and happy look on her face. Long Tian felt comfortable every time his mother praised him. Another thing he liked was reading. He had already read every book his clan had by the time he was eight. Whenever he wasn't cultivating, he could always be seen reading.
That very day was the same, he went to the national library to read. The Kingdom's national library boasted of having the most extensive collection of books in the entire country. Although the Long Clan also had a considerably extensive library, it was more focused on the aspect of quality rather than the quantity. The national library, on the other hand, qualified in terms of quantity, and it even housed several rare books that were hard to be found elsewhere. Thus, he went to the national library often. After spending a few hours reading, Long Tian would leave.
Since he was the young master of the Long Clan and more importantly a genius, he had two protectors arranged for him, both at the peak of the Spirit Establishment Realm. They would secretly follow Long Tian to protect him as per the clan master's order. At that time, Long Tian was in his clan's golden carriage, which had a grand dragon symbol on it, representing the Long Clan.
Normal bandits wouldn't even dream of approaching that carriage as they knew what the symbol represented. The Long Clan was one of the top powers in the nation. Normal bandits wouldn't even dream of stealing any of their shipments, much less attacking a carriage carrying a clan member.
Long Tian was in his carriage, pondering on the things he had read in an old book back in the library. It was a book detailing the myths and legends of the continent. Suddenly, the carriage stopped abruptly. Only dead silence ensued in the area outside the carriage. Confused, Long Tian went out of the carriage to figure out what had happened. But as soon as he left the carriage, he was shocked by the sight which greeted his eyes.
His carriage driver lay dead on the ground, and a masked man could be seen standing in front of the carriage. Even though he was at the peak of Body Refining Realm, he still couldn't judge another person's cultivation.
Only cultivators starting from the Spirit Establishment Realm could see another's cultivation level. There was always a wide gap between the peak of Body Refining and the Spirit Establishment Realm, but even then, Long Tian still knew that he was in danger. The person in front of him was undoubtedly stronger than him since he was unscathed in front of his carriage, which meant he had effortlessly killed his driver and guards.
He knew that his guards had already died at the hands of the masked assassin because even after all that had happened; they didn't come forward to protect him. There was only one possible answer; they were dead. Long Tian instinctively knew that he was the main target; his driver and guards were just collateral damage. It was a trap to kill him, and it was one with no possible means of escape for him.
Long Tian hid his hands behind his back; within his grip, a red jade meant for emergencies. He secretly crushed it as he faced the masked man.
It was a jade gifted to him by his grandfather for his protection after his father was assassinated. It was a part of a relatively expensive pair of jades, one being in the hands of his grandfather, the other with him. When one of the jade gets crushed, the other would be destroyed as well, alerting the other holder.
While gifting it to him, his grandfather made him promise that he would always carry it with him and use it whenever there was even the slightest hint of danger.
"Do you feel safe after crushing that jade?" Mocked the masked man. His eyes were full of delight at the scene in front of him.
"Who are you?" asked Long Tian. Although he knew it was a stupid question and the guy probably wouldn't answer, but he had to delay the enemy so that his grandpa could come and save him.
"Those tactics won't work on me, boy; I know the purpose of that Jade. I assume your grandfather will be here in around 5 minutes. But the thing is, boy. That's just enough time for me to kill you a hundred times." The masked man laughed hysterically.
'How did this masked man learn about not only this jade's existence but also its function?' Long Tian thought.
He was shocked to learn that his only saving grace was discovered. It would take his grandpa some time to arrive at his location. This was currently the most dangerous moment of his life. He had to somehow survive against an enemy who was probably in a realm higher than Spirit Establishment. In other words, two full realms higher than him!
"Why do you want to kill me?" Long Tian asked carefully.
"Is there a need for me to tell you, boy? You should be glad that you are dying at the hands of someone like me." The masked man sneered.
"At least, tell me your name? Are you scared of a person who will soon be dead? Or is it that you aren't confident that you can kill me?" Long Tian mocked.
"Hahaha! Me? Afraid of you? Kid, are you trying to make me die laughing?" The masked man rebuked back.
"Enough chit chat; it's time for you to die, boy!" The masked man shouted as he lunged towards Long Tian.
Even though Long Tian was standing at a distance of 50 meters from the assassin, he could still feel his killing intent. The assassin probably had already slaughtered countless people to have such a strong killing intent.
Long Tian got ready to fight as he knew that the only option he had was to survive until his grandfather comes to help him. He had to endure for just a few more minutes.
Although these five minutes looked like a short period, Long Tian felt as if it was an eternity. Especially when the one he was facing was an elite assassin two full realms higher than his. Long Tian put one of his hands in his pocket and grabbed a talisman.
Just like that, two people faced each other. A masked killer at the early stages of the Gold Core Realm going against a boy only slightly older than eight years and who was at the peak of the Body Refining Realm. A fight for his life was about to start; his survival depended on the outcome of this battle.