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.
Each of these kingdoms was overseen by the strongest and wisest four of the Yun Emperor's descendants, and each of them took a cardinal region of these kingdoms that was closest to the Imperial Capital which was located at the center of the empire.
The royal family of the Spring Rain Kingdom for example was lord over the Western part of the kingdom, whilst that of the Autumn Leaf Kingdom was located in the Northern part of the kingdom.
This meant that all the twelve guardian clans were positioned on all sides of the empire, making them the first line of defense against any invasion.
Ji Li, being one of the top three strongest guardians, was given the eastern region of the Spring Rain Kingdom, making him the closest to the demon continent that faced the empire from the east.
He was mainly the first line of defense against beast tides and was in charge of ensuring that they do not overpopulate or gather enough strength to invade the empire.
But whilst Ji Li was all brawned and had no brains; his twin brother; Ji Ma, on the other hand, was more of a battle and political tactician, and also the progeny of the second-order bloodline.
With these, the Ji Clan was able to soar in strength and power to the extent that they were considered only below the Imperial Clan.
Then a few years after that, the twin came in contact with a very smart merchant who was able to turn the demon continent into a mine of resources, and in a few years, the Ji Clan began to rake in so much income that their fame began to attract not only the natives of other kingdoms but even the surrounding empires.
Ji Tang: the current family head was a descendant of the third bloodline order, and he was not only smart when it came to business, but was also scholarly, shrewd, and powerful.
He was already at the Peak of Qi Sea stage at twenty-eight and was known to have defeated a centennial demon beast who had cultivated for about five hundred years, and such feat alone was worth more than simultaneously defeating two grand elders who were only at the Peak of Qi Sea stage.
Everyone within the clan knew him being the next patriarch was a forgone conclusion, and some even began to call him 'Young Patriarch', a name that didn't rub the current patriarch of his time too well.
Ji Tang had only one child back then; Ji Rou, whose mother had died whilst giving birth to her, and as a result, Ji Tang cherished her a lot as not only did Ji Rou capture the looks and temperament of her mother, but also got her talent and took care of her father in her mother's stead.
However, the patriarch back then was a shrewd and greedy man; he was the descendant of the Clan founder and wanted to monopolize the seat of the patriarch for his descendants, and thus, he schemed against Ji Tang.
So, he sent Ji Tang into the demon continent to retrieve a precious herb that was being guarded by a four-hundred-year-old beast and ordered his son who was also one of the candidates for the patriarch seat to sneak into Ji Rou's chambers and impregnate her.
He felt once Ji Rou was pregnant with his grandson, then Ji Tang would become part of his family and since only one candidate could be nominated for the seat, he would simply choose his son to be the Patriarch.
He had thought Ji Tang wouldn't mind having his daughter as the Matriarch of the clan whilst being a grand elder himself.
On returning from his successful hunt, Ji Tang arrived home to find the apple of his eye not only defiled, but battered and emotionally blunt; she looked depressed, dead in the eyes, and tired of living.
Ji Tang blew up in rage and investigated the crime, and when he found out who it was, he went straight to the patriarch's mansion and almost killed his only son in broad daylight.
The patriarch feared Ji Tang on that day, as he seemed to have gone mad by rage, and his reasoning was blinded by the sheer desire to murder.
It had taken both the patriarch and the two grand elders of the clan to prevent Ji Tang from killing the patriarch's only son, and though he was repelled, he vowed that he and the entire patriarch's family would not rest until a blood price had been paid.
Fearing for his little family the patriarch accused Ji Tang of treason and ordered that he be killed as that was the right punishment according to the clan rules, but the majority of the clan descendants got behind Ji Tian instead, nearly causing a major coup on that day.
Word quickly traveled to the current Emperor, and knowing just how close the clan founder was to his ancestor and how valuable the Ji Clan was to the empire, the Yun Emperor himself had to intervene in the situation.
The emperor, looking to mitigate the blood feud between both bloodlines had ordered Ji Tang to be banished to the southern branch family until he raised a descendant who was talented enough to become at least, a grand elder.
This punishment was to keep him as far away from the greedy patriarch whom he banished to the northern branch family.
He then tried to placate Ji Rou by gifting her many treasures, but when he realized that the innocent lady was too long gone, the emperor raged bitterly and issued his harshest verdict ever.