The Southern Ji Family was also one of the four branch families of the Ji Clan, and the others also had the term; Western, Northern and Eastern included in their names respectively.
Each of these branch families was regarded as slaves to the Ji Clan, and they were always the ones who were in charge of gathering information, resources, labor, pleasure, and even sometimes being used as cannon fodders in several skirmishes happening within the Ji Clan.
Anyone who was sent to a branch family was considered incompetent and useless by the Ji Clan, and as a result, they all consisted of several nuclear families of ex-descendants who had been kicked out of the clan for one reason or the other.
Currently, the Southern Ji Family is led by the family head; Ji Tang, and his two trusted brothers; Ji Wang and Ji Fang; both had families of their own and their children were considered core members of the Southern Ji Family.
Any other castaways who were sent to the family from the clan would have to resort to being the subjects of these three figures, and if they were unwilling, they could challenge any of them or their position in a duel.
The Ji Clan believed that only those who had great strength were worthy of holding any position in and around the clan's area of influence; and due to this rule, a *biennial* tournament was created for anyone who wished to challenge others who held any position whatsoever.
Furthermore, the duels that happened during these tournaments were always life-or-death battles; a type of duel where it was up to the victor of the duel to determine the loser's life or death.
Contrarily, this possibility of death didn't faze the members of the Ji Clan and instead, motivated all of them to redouble and even re-triple their efforts when cultivating; as those who were in positions of power didn't want to lose the benefits and protection that came with their positions.
Others who have been serving and enduring these people were simply cultivating madly so that they could at least, enjoy these benefits once in their lifetimes.
This tournament was also a way to settle internal grudges and display one's talents, as it was not only for the older generation of the clan.
Those of the younger generation who feel they aren't any weaker than some older generation descendants were also being given the chance to step onto the stage and back their claims with their fists.
As a result of this setup, there was always a steady supply of people moving in and out of the branch families and the clan; this resulted in every branch family consisting of people of different age groups and even relations.
Everyone linked with the Ji Clan is ranked according to strength, starting from being an outer family member to an Inner member, Core member, Elder, and Head of the branch family.
Amongst all these social hierarchies, Daniel realized that he had now transmigrated into the body of a little boy named; Ji Min, who had a very complicated social standing.
Ji Min was a little kid who had just clocked seven, and even at such a young tender age, he already had the looks and also radiated a natural charm that seemed to be sealed by his lack of maturity.
His pupils were pitch black and were just like his lush flowing hair; it was almost like they were made of black ink since they dimly reflected any source of light.
A perfectly slender nose sat above two lips which could woo any lady even if it wore an angry smirk.
His eyes brows looked just like his hair and finally, he had jaws that made him look like people who were casual on the outside but deeply tranquil within.
But amongst his features, what attracted people to him the most, was his skin.
Though he had an athletic build, and he was muscle-toned in all the right places with abs that were slightly pronounced but soft, they all still paled in comparison to his tanned skin glittered like gold and felt like he was born only a few hours ago.
Sadly, whilst all of these nice and promising traits did bring trouble to Ji Min, what eventually became the cause of his misfortune was his peerless talent.
You see, within the Ji Clan, there were three requirements to qualify to be a candidate for the position of the next patriarch.
The first was to be from one of the three direct bloodlines of the clan founders; the second was to possess at least a Peak Qi Sea Stage Cultivation at no more than thirty years of age, and the final criterion was to have defeated both grand elders of the clan in a duel.
The first was to ensure that the candidate remains within a selected group of people to prevent chaos; the second was to ensure that the candidate was talented, and the final was to ensure that the candidate could protect their clansmen and their possessions.
It was recorded in history that, the clan founder; Ji Li, achieved a Peak Qi Sea stage cultivation at the age of twenty-one, and had reached the 3 Star Core Formation stage at thirty; having formed three silver cores.
Then by fifty. he was said to have already reached the Peak of the Core Formation stage and was only a step away from forming his Dan.
Ji Li's fame rose quickly until he caught the interest of Yun Shan; the abandoned bastard of the Yun Emperor who had led twelve other experts like Ji Li to initiate a coup that had saved the empire from political self-destruction and financial extinction.
After the coup, Yun Shan rose to power and shared the empire with his comrades who were later known as the Twelve Guardian Clans of the Yun Empire.
These twelve clans shared a cardinal area of the four kingdoms of the Yun Empire, namely.
The Winter Grass Kingdom to the North.
The Autumn Leaf Kingdom to the South.
The Summer Cloud Kingdom to the West.
and finally,
The Spring Rain Kingdom to the East,
where the three guardian clans; Bai, Lei, and Ji clans call their home.