About 500 years ago, the Yunling Empire was still known as the Tianming Empire and belonged to the Li family. The current imperial royal family, the Yun clan, was the most powerful clan within that empire.
At the time, they possessed several experts at the Soul Pill Realm. However, the Emperor of Tianming, having lived through long periods of peace, became blinded by the superficial prosperity before him, eventually turning into a dissolute and tyrannical ruler. During that era, the empire suffered from years of severe drought, and the common people had nothing to harvest, yet the Emperor, believing the slanderous words of his sycophants, insisted that the populace was living as well as he was and continued to increase taxes.
This finally led to uprisings in every corner of the realm, with countless cultivators joining the cause. The Yun clan had made efforts to intervene; their then-patriarch offered constant counsel, but the Emperor, growing impatient, ordered his guards to execute the patriarch on the spot. Thoroughly disillusioned, the Yun clan issued a rallying cry. To the Emperor's surprise, the call was answered by all, and they led the rebel army to storm the capital.
Chapter 36