A massive crowd was pouring into a coliseum. It was mainly composed of the civilians of Thunder Cloud City.
There was a reason for the crowd today. It was time for the testing of destinies.
The minimum age for the testing of destinies was 6 years old since at this age, the child's body would be stable enough to endure the influx of energy required to ascertain the grade of the destiny.
It was also at this age that though still tender, their meridians would be strong enough to be tested.
Well, this would be the case for normal babies and children. I was a bit of an oddball since I was strong enough to be tested on account of my cultivation, but mom was being a mom and wanted to wait till I was old enough officially to do it with the other kids nearest my age.
As one could imagine, the civilians were discussing amongst themselves the results they would see today, as they filtered into the coliseum to watch the show.
"Who do you think will have the greatest destiny?"
"My money's on the young master of the Shen family!"
"Mines on Weisheng Zu!"
"Oh, really!? I think the young lady Qin Ling will be the highest!"
"Oh, that's the daughter of Mistress Qin Dongmei, right?"
"What about the mysterious son of Master Long Huangdi?"
"Hmph, him!? That cowardly Long Huangdi and his wife Long Nuhuang have hidden their son from the world. I bet they're ashamed of his obvious lack of talent. He probably has the most pathetic of mortal bodies! A di mortal physique!"
No, that wasn't a venereal disease that ravaged the body. Allow me to explain.
In this world, everyone had something known as a physique. Most people, and by people I mean humans, had what was known as a mortal-grade physique.
Mortal-grade physiques were the weakest of all and were usually in possession of a bronze destiny or worse.
Though one couldn't be sure of another's destiny unless one reached a certain cultivation level or possessed a device for that specific use, one could infer the physique based on the faint amount of spiritual energy that naturally entered the body outside of cultivation.
The spiritual energy that entered the body this way normally went towards nourishing it, strengthening the body. Of course, this kind of nourishing was slow and was something that most living creatures did as naturally as breathing.
Physiques usually existed in three major groups. Mortal, earth and heaven with sub-levels in each.
For example, within the mortal grade, the sub-levels would be—and this is from low to high—di mortal physique, zhong mortal physique, and tian mortal physique. All three grades followed the same trend.
Of course, most people were limited to the mortal grade. Very few were in the earth grade, whilst those with a heaven grade were rarely as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. Legend even had it that those with a heaven-grade physique were able to change their own destinies, but these were just legends.
There were even those that had physiques with special properties that were exceptionally rare.
"I don't know, I don't think Long Huangdi would do all that based on the physique alone."
This person wasn't wrong to think so. Though it was far more common to see a mediocre destiny in a mortal-grade physique, the chances weren't so dismal that it wasn't worth checking.
On the off chance that the destiny was good within the mortal physiques, there would be hope. As long as one had a good destiny, one could temper the body and strengthen it through training or cultivation.
"Bah! Think about it! He shuts off his family grounds for years and says nothing about his child while all the other family leaders flaunt their protégés all over the place, doesn't it strike you as odd?"
"Well, in any case. We will see the unveiling today."
"Hmph! We shall."
They were all packed in a huge coliseum with a massive arena below them. In the middle of the arena, stood a large black ancient steel stele.
It radiated the aura of the ancients. The vicissitudes of time wafted from the wear and tear that the onslaught of the ages levied upon it.
No one knew where it came from, only that it was called Destiny Scale and that it could appraise the Destiny a person possessed.
There were many treasures that could assess a person's Destiny. They weren't called Destiny Scales, though. The only reason this was called a Destiny Scale was that those characters were a bit of the few discernible words that could be made out on it.
The rest of the words were too mottled to make any sense. The scars of time left their marks everywhere, creating an indelible brand.
It could even summon the accompanying phenomenon, something that only top-level destiny appraisal treasures could do. A phenomenon was something that came hand in hand with a high enough destiny and only came through the first time the destiny was measured.
The ancient stele only activated automatically once every 12 years. Rumours were that it had other uses, but no one present knew what these uses were.
No one knew how old the ancient stele was either, only that it stood there long before the city came to be.
The aura and pressure that it gave made any effort to move it fruitless. It was with this in mind that rather than moving it, they instead built the colosseum surrounding it.
Soon, an old man ambled onto the stage. He said and did nothing apart from standing beside the ancient steel stele while he waited.
"L-Look! There they are! The 10 Great Family Leaders all came!"
Located some distance away from the main stands were the VIP stands. A group of influential people could be seen entering from the side, taking the seats meant for them.
The clamour of the crowd rose as the identities of the family leaders could be seen. A woman wearing a brocade patterned robe was the first to enter the VIP stands.
Her figure was striking and hot, while her facial features were soft and inviting. Her hair was a sable black, styled in a high bun. It immediately made her appear like a noble of sorts.
"Ah, it's Lady Qin Dongmei! She came! Oh, why couldn't I be born into the Qin family?" One civilian lamented.
"Yeah, right! You look like the butt duck!"
"And you look like the butt duck when it can't keep its food down!"
Most of the men couldn't help but complain and fantasise the moment this beauty entered the stands.
Qin Dongmei was a very good friend of the Long family and was also the leader of the Qin family.
For some reason, most of the offspring and members of the Qin family were women. It was so bad that they had to seek acceptable male candidates from outside the family to keep their family line going. This female intensive circumstance led to the family being one of a matriarchy.
"To think it's almost time to test the destinies of the children. That Long Huangdi has been scarce the past few years, but now I can see how far that son of theirs has come, and show them just what my Qin Ling is capable of."
As she entered, all the rest followed. One by one they came in, the leaders of the ten great families that governed Thunder Cloud City.
They all came in followed at last by Long Huangdi then City Lord Weisheng Zhensheng.
Another individual came in right after the City Lord, a woman who looked around with a somewhat impassive expression.
All the family leaders remained standing as the City lord went to the forefront of the VIP Box to address the public.
The individual who came in after the City Lord didn't bother to wait and sat down right away in the seat usually reserved for the City Lord.
The family leaders were aghast at the disrespect this person showed to the City Lord. But seeing how the latter said nothing about it, still preparing to address the public, the family leaders didn't comment on this.
After all, the background of this person couldn't be simple if she was allowed to come into the VIP section to begin with.
"Hello everyone!" He started. "Today is truly a glorious day, for it is today that we shall take a peek at the future our young ones have in store. Your support is more than appreciated!"
The crowd cheered after he spoke, causing a smile to appear on his face. He turned to take his seat to enjoy what would surely be an enjoyable show.
At this, the leaders all took their seats, causing the fervour of the crowd to rise to another level.
He then looked at the old man who stood below and nodded, prompting the latter to begin.