Zhang Ruochen’s current country was called “Yunwu County”, just one of the thousands of counties in the Eastern Region of the Kunlun Realm.
The so-called county state was actually the first county of the First Central Empire, and had to pay tribute and taxes to the First Central Empire every year.
The king of the county is called the “County King”.
Zhang Ruochen’s current identity was the ninth son of County King Yunwu.
Lying flat on the cold, hard wooden bed, Zhang Ruochen was still thinking about tomorrow’s sacrificial ceremony.
“The original owner of this body, who actually didn’t even open the ‘Divine Martial Seal’ by the age of sixteen, must be someone who was abandoned by the Gods. What do I have to do to have a better chance of opening the ‘Divine Martial Seal’?”
In the Kunlun Realm, in order to open the ‘Divine Martial Seal’, one must obtain the approval of the gods.
It was known as, Divine Authorisation of Martial Power.
At the time of the ceremony, a bridge of heaven and earth will appear between the Divine Realm and the Kunlun Realm, connecting the two realms. After enjoying the sacrifices, the gods will give some gifted humans the “Divine Martial Seal” to help them open the door to cultivation.
The more talented the person, the sooner he or she can obtain the “Divine Martial Mark”.
In Zhang Ruochen’s previous life, he had opened the “Divine Martial Seal” when he was still in the womb, so he could be considered a born genius.
In his current life, he had not even opened the “Divine Martial Seal” by the age of sixteen, so he was basically a person who had been abandoned by the gods. Even if he attends the sacrificial ceremony tomorrow, it is almost impossible to obtain the “Divine Martial Seal”.
Zhang Ruochen was unable to sleep and sat up from the bed, pinching a white crystal in the shape of a jujube core in his hand, sharp at both ends and three-dimensional in the centre, crystal clear and without the slightest impurity.
He began to study this white crystal, perhaps it could help him get the approval of a certain deity and open the “Divine Martial Seal”.
This white crystal was a gift given to him by Emperor Ming when he was sixteen years old at his Bar Mitzvah.
Zhang Ruochen didn’t know what exactly this white crystal stone was, and only wore it close to his body. Unexpectedly, after coming eight hundred years later, it was actually still on his body.
“The fact that I would come from eight hundred years ago to eight hundred years later might have something to do with it.”
Zhang Ruochen squeezed the white crystal stone tightly and closed his eyes as the figure of his father, Emperor Ming, appeared in his mind, and he wondered if his father was still alive in the world.
That night, it snowed heavily in the King City.
Early in the morning of the next day, the entire King City was covered in thick snow, and a vermilion palace, pavilions, and pavilions were all wrapped in a layer of ice sculpture and snow clothes.
Winter Solstice Day, the coldest day of the year.
The martial artists of the entire King City gathered outside the Shrine of the Emperors, and under the leadership of the County King, they sacrificed to the gods.
Outside the Shrine of the Emperors, an ancient altar was piled up with huge stones. On the altar, not only were tens of thousands of livestock tied up, cows, sheep, pigs ……, but there were also many powerful savage beasts chained up.
Civilian and military officials, martial arts cultivators, princes and concubines, countless teenagers and young girls waiting to open the divine Martial Seal, and even some babies still in swaddling clothes.
This was a national ceremony, not just in the royal city, but in every city, town, and village in the Yunwu County Kingdom, sacrifices were held.
“Lol! Ninth brother, you’re sixteen years old, even if you participate in the sacrificial ceremony, it’s still impossible for you to obtain the ‘Divine Martial Seal’, so why come and disgrace yourself?” The Eighth Prince Zhang Ji had his hands behind his back and smiled coldly.
The Sixth Prince stood right beside the Eighth Prince, and with a cold face, he said, “It is said that dragons have nine sons, and they are all different. What a heroic figure father is, yet he gave birth to a waste like you, sixteen years old, not even opening the ‘Divine Martial Seal’, the face of the royal family has been disgraced by you. What are you doing living in this world? Why don’t you go and die?”
These words were a bit too much, but they were the heartfelt words of the several princes present.
The kinship of an emperor’s family was the thinnest of all, and this moment embodied it to the fullest.
In the Kunlun Realm, not many people were able to open the “Divine Martial Seal”, only one out of ten at most. It can be said that the status of every martial artist is extremely high.
Of course, for martial arts masters, it was another matter. The bloodline of a martial arts expert is strong, and his descendants will pass down the strong bloodline, so the probability of opening the “Divine Martial Seal” is also much higher.
Yunwu County King had a total of nine sons, and eight of them had opened the Divine Martial Seal, except for Zhang Ruochen, who was already sixteen years old but still hadn’t opened the Divine Martial Seal, making him the laughing stock of the royal family.
Many people laughed and called him “the son of a tiger father”.
There were even some rumours in the court claiming that Zhang Ruochen was not Yunwu County King’s biological son. Although it was just a rumour, it still brought shame to the faces of the royal family.
Therefore, most of those other princes considered Zhang Ruochen to be a disgrace to the royal family, and didn’t treat him as a blood brother at all, wishing for him to die earlier.
In recent years, even the Yunwu County King had somewhat alienated Zhang Ruochen and Concubine Lin. Under the ostracism of other concubines and princes, last night, Zhang Ruochen and Concubine Lin were finally kicked out of the main hall and forced to move to a side hall.
Zhang Ruochen just stood there silently, not paying any attention to the Fifth and Eighth Princes.
Before having enough strength, any verbal arguments would only make others despise you even more.
Concubine Lin stood with those other princes and was heartbroken at the sight of the sidelined Zhang Ruochen, but there was nothing she could do about it.
“Ritual Ceremony, begin!”
The State Master of the Yunwu County Kingdom stood above the altar, holding a scroll of benediction and reciting it.
Subsequently, above the altar, **screws were blown, tuba horns were sounded, and a colourfully dressed and graceful palace maiden struck sixteen musical instruments such as chimes, chimes, and Bo bells.
Then, animals were beheaded and sacrificed to heaven with blood.
“Wow–”
The rich blood qi transformed into a thick pillar of light that shot straight up into the sky, shattering the clouds and rushing into the vast heavens.
Suddenly, a grain of starlight flew down from the sky and landed in the brow of a six year old boy, fusing with the boy’s body and transforming into a crimson “Divine Martial Seal”.
In the crowd, an exclamation of surprise was heard, “The youngest son of Commander Xue, at only six years old, he has opened the Divine Martial Seal!”
“The Red Flame Divine Martial Seal belongs to the Fourth Grade Divine Martial Seal. It’s too powerful, there’s a great future ahead!”
Divine Martial Seals were also divided into grades, from the first to the ninth grade.
The first grade divine Martial Seal was the weakest, and the ninth grade divine Martial Seal was the most powerful.
Everyone stared at that one six year old boy with envious gazes.
Opening the fourth grade divine Martial Seal at the age of six could be called the pride of heaven, and his future achievements would definitely not be low.
Among the many martial generals of the Yunwu County Kingdom, a stout-looking man slapped his chest and laughed aloud in excitement, ”Good! Worthy of being my Xue Liang’s son, tonight, the Capital Palace is hosting a banquet, so all of you must come and enjoy the honour. Haha!”
“Wow!”
Above the sky, countless more starlight flew down, falling into the brows of one teenager and young girl, transforming into transforming into a Divine Martial Seal.
Among them, the first-grade Divine Martial Seal was the most numerous, and there were very few teenagers who were able to open the second-grade Divine Martial Seal, and the most powerful person was still the son of the Xue Commander, with the fourth-grade Divine Martial Seal, which was too much for everyone to see.
The number of people who had opened the Divine Martial Seal was, after all, a minority, roughly only one tenth of the total number of people. Everyone was inexplicably excited to have finally received divine recognition and opened the door to the martial dao.
Those teenagers and young girls who didn’t open the Divine Martial Seal were all very lost, some even cried out in pain, it could be said that a few families were happy and a few families were sad.
It looked like the sacrifice was about to end, but Zhang Ruochen still hadn’t opened the Divine Martial Seal.
Not even opening the Divine Martial Seal at the age of sixteen, it was almost impossible to still be able to open the Divine Martial Seal, and in the future, he could only be a mediocre ordinary person.
Everyone ignored him, like a speck of dust in the corner, not getting any attention at all.
Concubine Lin also held a hint of fantasy in the beginning, hoping that her child would be able to create a miracle and open the Divine Martial Seal. Even if he couldn’t become a martial arts powerhouse, he would at least be able to strengthen his body and not be tormented by illnesses anymore.
As the sacrifice drew to a close, Concubine Lin’s hope, once again, turned into disappointment and even despair.
Just when Zhang Ruochen had thought that he would not be able to open the Divine Martial Seal, the white crystal stone that was tightly pinched in his hand lit up slightly.
In the best moment before the end of the sacrifice, a grain of starlight, descending from the sky, landed on Zhang Ruochen’s brow and transformed into a white circular Divine Martial Seal.
“Wow!”
A burning sensation came from the centre of his brow and then spread throughout his body.
It opened!
Zhang Ruochen was incredibly excited, finally opening the Divine Martial Seal.
As long as the Divine Martial Seal was opened, he didn’t care in the slightest even if it was a first-rate Divine Martial Seal.
Originally, no one had paid attention to Zhang Ruochen, but the moment Zhang Ruochen opened the Divine Martial Seal, it attracted everyone’s attention.
“That’s not the Ninth Prince, he’s sixteen years old, and he’s frail and sickly, he’s actually able to open the Divine Martial Seal!” Many people stared at Zhang Ruochen with an unbelievable look, finding it incredible.
The Sixth Prince and the Eighth Prince who stood beside Zhang Ruochen also stared with wide eyes, revealing a look of astonishment.
How was this possible?
Concubine Lin looked over towards Zhang Ruochen and after seeing the Divine Martial Seal on Zhang Ruochen’s brow, she shed tears of joy and immediately rushed to Zhang Ruochen’s face, hugging Zhang Ruochen’s fleshly body tightly, “Duan’er, you’ve finally done it! Made it!”
An old eunuch beside the Yunwu County King walked up to Zhang Ruochen and said with a smile on his face, “Congratulations to Empress Lin, congratulations to His Highness the Ninth Prince for opening the Divine Martial Seal! The Queen asked the old slave to invite Your Highness the Ninth Prince over, she wants to personally test the grade of the Divine Martial Seal that Your Highness the Ninth Prince has opened!”
“Queen!”
The smile on Concubine Lin’s face immediately froze, and she somewhat nervously shielded Zhang Ruochen behind her.
“Mother, let’s go see the Queen!”
Zhang Ruochen sensed the subtle change in Concubine Lin and said in his heart, it seems that this Queen Mother is not a good person, so he has to be more careful.
……
