The day of the awakening ceremony had arrived and Jiang Mang woke up at sunrise. He stood up and got dressed before heading to the garden. The ceremony would only require assembly at noon so he was free in the morning. The wind was blowing and the leaves were ruffling with the wind while the sun was rising, Jiang Mang sat down on the ground and grabbed a leaf before he started playing a serene tune. During his tutelage in the forest, he learned how to play music tunes on leaves from his master. This small hobby became a habit to calm his emotions down or to pass his boredom. After a year he became proficient to play well-known tunes and later on as the years passed he started playing his creations and he could be called a master in his own right.
The moment the tune came to life the surrounding noises became clearer until a view of a garden came into his mind. It was almost like he was able to see the world that surrounded him. He had asked his master about this phenomenon which intrigued Invisible Leaf, who tested Jiang Mang's view in comparison to the real world. The results had shocked him because the projection in Jiang Mang's head was identical to the real world.
In other words, when Jiang Mang played music and calmed his mind to the point it was as still as water, he was able to see the world around him despite being blind. Invisible Leaf and Jiang Mang had tried to incorporate the latter playing music in combat but they never succeeded.
After an hour of playing serene tunes, he got up and headed for breakfast. The king, the queen, and the two concubines were already gathered together with his younger brother and sister. His eldest brother was attending the Sword Academy located in the kingdom. Every noble child had to attend an academy after the awakening ceremony. A person who awakened a beast type profound spirit would best attend Beast Academy located inside the kingdom of beasts and the other types like weapons, elemental or unique profound spirits have each a preferred academy which will provide a better environment for growth as a cultivator. The only non-specified academy would be the Imperial academy in the Chu empire where more often the more unique profound spirits will gather like a poison type profound spirit or a darkness type profound spirit or an uncommon weapon type spirit like a club or throwing needle.
The seated looked at him with different expressions, his father gave a stern but kind look while his mother gave a gentle look, his brother and sister looked at him with interest and a smile, the first concubine, named Luo Lan, who was the mother of his younger brother looked at him with a welcoming smile and the second concubine, named Ming Yue, mother of his eldest brother smiled at him but her eyes betrayed a sinister gaze. Unfortunately, he couldn't see and experience their expressions but he could sense their intents from a distance away as he could see through their hearts. This is a skill he picked up after learning to play music. After each session when his mind has become serene it becomes sensitive to every intent directed to him, this is a secret only he knows and has alerted him of the second concubine and his eldest brother.
He eventually reached the table and sat down to enjoy breakfast. He acted like any blind person and ate not as easy as a normal person would because apart from his master no one knew of his capabilities in detail. His family knew that he had an astounding sense of hearing and the ability to fight but they still thought of him as dysfunctional without the help of servants. Even his father thought that he would need to stay under the protection of the palace and would never be able to survive outside because of his disability. His father was only proud that his son was hardworking and happy that he would be able to fulfill a roll in the royal court instead of being a useless person without any worth, but Jiang Huang didn't have any higher hopes or expectations for Jiang Mang.
Ming Yue was happy at the side of the struggling young prince in comparison to his proud stride into the room because this showed that he was no threat to her son's position as the heir to the throne. She removed her sinister thought out of her head before continuing the meal.
The topic of the ceremony was brought up during breakfast but Jiang Mang only acknowledged that he would behave according to his status and make the appropriate decisions. After breakfast, noon approached fast and Jiang Mang headed towards the awakening hall were all noble children of the kingdom assembled. He was escorted by an entourage of two servants and ten imperial guards. When he arrived, the hall was already filled with noise coming from passionate children trying to predict what their profound spirits would be. He listened to the conversations and was planning to wait in solitude in a corner because he wasn't acquainted with any of the children from the noble houses beside Song Meilin.
However, his plans were dashed when a group from the Ming family strode over and spoke in a sarcastic tone: "Greetings second prince, we weren't expecting your attendance as you never leave the palace. As you are from the royal family you should be an accomplished fighter, would you be willing to guide me. Oh, I forgot that your second highness is blind please pardon me for my excessive request."
He was portraying me as a useless blind man to either anger me so that I would spar against him and embarrass myself or to make me acknowledge his point by pardoning his mistake. Unfortunately, Jiang Mang was probably the strongest fighter amongst all of his peers but this was only known to his father, mother, younger siblings, and his friend Song Meiling. These people had never divulged this information because it would sound like a joke to others that a blind child was an accomplished fighter and he had also asked them to not divulge this information as a safety measure against potential dangers.