Zhang Xiaotian stared at the Awakening Stone in front of him with a frown.
'My father was a Rank 4... the greatest talent our clan has had in many years.'
He had the blood of a powerful man. Better blood than Zhang Feng or Zhang Baicheng.
He should be more talented!
He just needed the stone to find it within him...
He took three deep breaths before raising his hand.
Below the platform, Zhang Feng sneered, his chest puffed out higher than before, looking like a fighting cock whose ego had suddenly swelled.
"What's the point of preparing if, in the end, it's fortune that will determine whether he awakens? He's an idiot," he sneered.
"Haha, you're right, Brother Feng." Baicheng nodded. "They always said he was much smarter than you, but the way I see it, he's just another idiot who only knows how to swing a sword."
"Hmph." Zhang Feng shook his head. "Of course. And now that I've awakened..." His eyes flashed dangerously. "I'll prove it to all."
A mocking smile blossomed on his lips, while a cunning but dangerous look crossed his eyes.
Xiaotian tried to calm himself and feel inside.
The blue energy was warm and mysterious; he had always wondered where it came from, but he had never been able to understand it.
Over time, he simply accepted that there were mystical and inexplicable things in the world, such as the fact that a stone could emit energy capable of revealing one's hidden talents.
This energy soon entered his body, but with visible slowness. It seemed to be searching carefully inside him, layer by layer.
That slowness made the First Elder frown.
'I haven't seen slowness like that since his father...' He frowned and clenched his fists.
'It can't be... right? You're not going to get a high-ranking talent when I'm so close... you little bastard.
The First Elder couldn't hide the annoyance in his heart, which revealed his thoughts on his face.
The elders nearby frowned as they looked at him; they felt that this guy... was planning something strange. When he felt those gazes, he immediately returned to normal and smiled calmly.
At that moment... the stone lit up.
He awakened!
The First Elder looked at the stone slowly, his heart tightening, and his eyes widened.
"Rank 1, F-grade Specialization talent, Wind Swordsman!" he shouted with evident glee.
The lowest rank and the lowest talent grade!
As expected, this kid was completely useless...
A huge weight lifted from his heart and settled on Xiaotian's.
'Rank 1, Grade F...' He sighed, and his mind succumbed to despair.
It was too low... a rank 1 was someone who would remain at the bottom of society for the rest of their life. The lowest of the low. The disgrace of the cultivator society.
At best, they could work in administration or as local guards. With a lot of resources, they could become pillars of some small clan or sect, but... he lacked those resources, and the family wasn't going to spend them on someone so useless.
While he was in despair, the First Elder said some words of congratulations, which he completely ignored. He told them a few more things and said that in two days they should meet in the Clan Hall to collect their first Spirit Crystals, which the clan would give them before they left for the Sect...
Xiaotian didn't care. As soon as everyone said goodbye, he walked slowly to his residence, in one of the remote courtyards of the family mansion.
When he touched the door, it fell down. He looked at it with a sigh and didn't stay to fix it like he had done other times.
Since his father had died, he had to live like this. In continuous misfortune and marked misery. The only courtyard that the family maids did not clean was this one, so he had to fend for himself for everything. The clan only gave him food.
Somehow, that food rarely reached him, as he spent his days at the Sect, doing jobs for them to earn a little money.
He staggered to his own room and stared at himself in the mirror.
His gaunt face was remarkably beautiful. Long white hair, tied in a ponytail, fell down his back, giving him a strangely manly and beautiful appearance.
But he seemed to have aged a few years... perhaps from sadness and despair.
He became a cultivator, but his competitors were stronger and more talented than he was, and they also had more resources.
'Without a place in this family, I'm afraid resources will be hard to come by. I'll have to rely on hunting and the little that the sect gives me,' he thought. Fortunately, now that he was a cultivator, the sect would give him a few more crystals.
Very few because he was very weak, but any help was welcome.
Although in reality, he had a plan.
To obtain his father's legacy.
'Everyone in the clan wants it; I know that. And I know there must be some plotting to get it. But there's something you don't know, and that is that he told me how to get it when I was two years old,' he thought.
He didn't know how he remembered those words, but his father had said them to him when he was looking after him in his room. No one else was around, and he was just a baby, but those words remained etched in his memory.
Therefore, he has the advantage.
His father's legacy is not only that of a Rank 4 man with Grade A talent, but something more. The legacy of a man who would possibly reach the mythical Emperor Realm of Power if given time, which is already the ultimate power of the Ashblade Empire.
For someone born in this corner of the world called Woodshade, he was worthy of being remembered as the greatest genius in the city.
In this world, people like him, whose talent is insignificant and whose resources are insufficient to grow, can only be saved by a legacy like that.
Knock*
Knock*
Knock*
The sudden knocks on the door startled Xiaotian.
He frowned and went to open the door.
Some familiar faces greeted him...
Zhang Feng, Zhang Baicheng, Zhang Lucheng, and Zhang Xiao Ding.
They were all close cousins, sons of his father's brothers.
The last two... had come with him to the clan; they had been members of the Sect for 2 to 4 years.
"What's going on?" Xiaotian asked.
"Grandfather is calling for you. He said to report to him immediately," said Zhang Lucheng, one of his older cousins.
Xiaotian nodded; the sun was already beginning to set, which meant he had been staring at himself in the mirror for a few hours.
'I didn't realize.' He sighed.
"Okay, I'll be right there," said Xiaotian, turning around to look for his cloak.
Suddenly, his arm was grabbed, and he couldn't move.
He turned around and saw that Lucheng was holding him.
"It's not necessary. The old man is upset, so you'd better hurry."
Xiaotian frowned. "Finding a cloak wouldn't take me a minute," he retorted.
"I said it's not necessary," Lucheng growled, and suddenly a punch flew from his fist and hit Xiaotian's nose.
It was a blow from a strong and talented cultivator who had been cultivating for two years. Xiaotian couldn't resist it; his mind felt dizzy, and although he tried to balance himself with his legs so as not to fall, it was in vain. His body fell to the ground, and he hit his head, moaning in pain.
Despite that, his hand clung tightly to his sword. Although he was dizzy and saw about eight people in front of him, he still gripped his sword with all his strength and raised it.
A swordsman never loses his sword.
Lucheng clenched his fists when he saw him like that. 'Damn you. I'll take that damn sword out of your hands,' he swore to himself.
For now, though, he did nothing.
"Grandfather has said: bring him here immediately," he sneered.
Everyone immediately grabbed him and dragged him away.
Minutes later, they threw him on the floor of the main hall.
An old man sat in the main chair, while a few other elders sat beside him.
The first, third, fifth, and seventh. Of the nine elders, four were here.
Even though his nose was bleeding, Xiaotian no longer felt dizzy, so he was able to get up, albeit with difficulty, and wipe his nose.
"Grandfather," he said, feeling a small lump in his throat.
He hadn't seen him since his father died...
"Hmph. You bring shame to the Zhang bloodline," roared the gray-haired old man. "Rank 1, grade F? Just a Wind Swordsman! What a disgrace!"
Xiaotian lowered his head...
Undoubtedly, it was the worst combination possible. Grade F was surely a step above the unawakened Xiaotian in sword handling.
What was the point of that?
"Gather your things," said the old man, throwing him a bag of money that rolled to his feet.
Xiaotian frowned and looked at the bag at his feet, confused. For a brief moment, he couldn't understand what his grandfather was saying...
"You'll see what you do with your life, but the Zhang Clan has nothing to do with you. My son should never have had a child with that crippled bitch," his grandfather declared.
Xiaotian looked up sharply... those words had touched his heart and made it clear to him what he meant.
But some words hurt him. The ones that were said against his mother.
He stared at him. His mother died to give him life; in his heart, she was the most wonderful woman this world had ever known.
His father attested to that every time.
But she died because of the old man, who was now insulting her in front of him.
He was his grandfather, but he hadn't seen him since his father's death more than six years ago. Despite living in the same mansion, he never visited him.
He really felt no affection for this old man, beyond a slight brotherly bond they had had when he was a child, and his father was still alive. That's why he felt anger at his words.
Even so, there was nothing he could do but clench the sword in his hand.
"Fine." Xiaotian nodded. Without saying another word, he turned and left, "escorted" by his cousins.
The old man finally stood up and walked to the window. "When is Luo'er coming back?" he asked.
The First Elder spoke. "I don't know, Father. I informed him about the city tournament to see if he could come, but apparently, he is busy with Tower affairs."
"I see." He nodded. "You will send him a letter that I will write later, only he can read it."
"I understand, Father."
With that, the old man left the hall.
...