Fire Realm, in a large mountainside. A village hunter walked up the mountain to try to catch animals to feed his family. He was dressed in hunter clothes and had a machete on his side as a weapon, a bow and quiver with arrows on his back, and a small sachet.
Underneath his shirt, he had countless scars, showing the fact that he was a man with a story, and also, quite the experienced hunter. As the man walked on his path, he was constantly muttering:
"Weapon God, please bless my weapon to be sharp enough to slay my pray. Animal God, please send a prey my way so that I can feed my family today. Life Goddess, please protect my life so that I can survive this hunt as I always did."
Every time the hunter went up the mountain, he always prayed like this. He did not know whether his prayer was heard. However, he still believed given the fact that he had survived for so long.
The hunter was familiar with the surroundings so, he quickly find the trail he usually used and followed. This path had the highest chance of finding prey. Along the way, he will also look at the plants on the ground.
Once in a while, he would recognize one, took it, and placed it on the sachet he carried with him. In that way, the hunter walked for more than an hour before he finally encountered two rabbits.
With great expertise, he pulled his bow and two arrows at the same time. He pulled the string with all his string and as swiftly as possible,
Swish! Swish!
The two arrows flew with tremendous speed and force, and each one hit a rabbit in the eye. These two little creatures did not have the time to react. The hunter rushed to his prey to check. He removed the arrows from their heads, then took out a string to tie the two rabbits on his body to carry.
Then, he hurried to leave this place as he feared that the scent of the blood would attract other animals. For him, these two rabbits were enough to feed his family for at least 3 days. If they stretched their meals, it could last for a week.
Unfortunately for the hunter, fate seemed to have other plans for him. While he was rushing home, he heard a roar that send chills down his spine. He raised his head to see a large boar that was more than 5 meters tall.
"Devil Animal?" The face of the hunter displayed great fear as he knew that devil animals were the enemies of humans. And only with the protection of the Gods that humans could have such a safe place to live and prosper.
Without hesitation, the hunter rushed in a random direction. He discarded all his weapons, herbs, and even the rabbits. He knew that his priority was to save his life first.
He also knew that his speed was far slower than the boar despite his larger frame. So, he did not hesitate to discard anything that could slow him down.
As the hunter ran for his life, he could feel the breath of death rapidly approaching him. Many times, he wanted to give up and accept his fate. However, thinking about his wife and two children back in the village, he gritted his teeth and continued to run.
For them, he wanted to live. As such, with his determined will, he ran even faster. A few minutes later, when the boar was really closed, the hunter saw a cliff ahead.
He did not pause even for a second and jumped down. He wanted to take a gamble. If he survived the fall, the worst-case scenario is that he is injured, but his life is saved.
If he dies, it's better than becoming this beast's food. He was also betting that the devil animal will not be as crazy as him and jumped too. And he was right.
As he fell down, he saw the massive boar look at him with resentment. The hunter had a slight smile on his face after seeing this. Then, he prepared for the worse.
Fortunately for him, fate seemed to be in his favor this time. He did not hit the ground as he expected but instead crashed into a river.
'Thank the Destiny Goddess I learned how to swim in the next village river," thought the hunter as he surfaced from the bottom of this river.
The hunter looked around to see a cave not too far from him, so he swam over there to take a look. He was currently thinking about how to get out of this situation.
After walking in, the hunter was careful not to encounter another dangerous animal. So, he walked slowly. Luckily for him, the cave seemed unnaturally brightly lit.
After walking deep inside, he saw a few things inside the cave. However, his eyes were immediately fixated on an orb that glowed golden in color. The hunter wondered whether this thing was valuable enough to make himself and his family rich.
He rushed to catch it and observed it. Unfortunately, he lacked the knowledge to know its true value. So, he looked at the other things around. He picked up a book. Regrettably, the hunter did not know how to read.
Fortunately, this book did not care about this fact. As soon as the hunter held the book, a large amount of information entered his mind, almost making him faint.
Immediately afterward, his eyes changed. The ignorance of common folk living in a small village was gone, replaced by the wisdom of discerning the truth of the world.
"So, that's how it is," muttered the hunter with a wry smile: "The so-called Gods are nothing but mortal who slowly acquires their strength. To keep the people at the bottom in their places, they made it their mission to keep them ignorant.
"Hahaha."
The hunter laughed maniacally for more than five minutes before stopping. A ruthless light flashed across his eyes.
"God Swallowing Technique? Very well."
The hunter looked at the orb in his hand and knew its purpose; it contained a small amount of reputation that can allow him to enter the first step of cultivation, the Divine Shrine Realm.
Without hesitation, the hunter began his cultivation journey. In just three days, he opened his Niwan Palace and created half of his Divine Shrine inside his Sea of Consciousness.
After his cultivation was finished, the hunter took the last item that was in the cave; it was a weird rectangular piece of paper with strange writing on it. From the information he received inside his mind, he knew that this thing was called a talisman.
As long as he wears it around his body, he can hide from the other Gods and prevent them from knowing that he has begun to cultivate. So, he turned it into a pendant and wore it around his neck.
Although he knew that this method was not safe, the hunter had no other choice. From what he just learned, only after having divine energy could this talisman be staid inside his body.
After making sure that there was nothing else around, the hunter began to climb the valley he just jumped of from. After entering the Divine Shrine Realm, his body reached the peak of human limits. Although not extraordinary, it was more than enough to climb this tall slope.
After climbing up, the hunter did not immediately return to his village but searched for the previous large boar to hunt. Previously, he was afraid of what the Gods called "devil animals".
Now, he knew that these things were nothing but animals that absorbed the spiritual energy in this world and evolved. Unfortunately for them, they do not have a complete cultivation system and could only absorb energy passively.
As such, their growth is limited. Plus, the Gods used them to control mortals and also cultivate.
The hunter wanted to kill the devil animals, then spread his deeds to all the villages in the surrounding to gather reputation and cultivate faster. He will not swallow another god until his cultivation reached a certain level.
This hunter was not the only person who accidentally receive a fortunate encounter that allowed him to walk on the path of cultivation. Thousands of people like him across the Fire Realm did so too.
And not just this realm, but the remaining 35 realms too.
While the Supreme Gods were still deciding whether to accept Li Jun's offers or fight with him to death, a chaotic situation was slowly being developed in this world.
Supreme Gods like the Destiny Goddess who is very sensitive to the changes of the world felt that something was wrong again. Unfortunately, the secrets of Heavens were hidden by Li Jun's group, rendering most of divination and calculation useless.
Additionally, over time, Destiny Goddes felt her doom rapidly approaching.. She did not want to wait for her fate, so she began to plan ahead.