The next morning I had no mercy as I woke the entire Night Parade regardless of hangovers. If they could drink all night, then they can work all day. If they can't, then next time, they'll practice restraint.
When the night parade was assembled. The four Patriarchs began to issue out orders. While my mother collected all of the resources looted during our campaign. The reconstruction of the Night Parade was underway as the key figures sat in the great hall with the Twin Kingdom Envoys.
The Twin Kingdom's national emblem was a Cyan Stallion in honor of their Matriarchal Ancestor Macha. Due to Macha, the women of the Royal Family have an innate beast taming ability. They also have fire red thick hair with nearly untamable waves and curls. They also have deep green eyes that put emeralds and the vibrant green of nature to shame. Though, the history of the kingdom could only be explained in its entirety by the royal family.
"Tell me of that," I spoke while pointing at the cyan horse on the clothing.
I watched closely as one of the twelve envoys' eyes drifted to a veiled woman. She then stood up with the help of an associate.
"Can you not see?" I asked, noticing her eyes were lightly shut.
"No, lord." the woman spoke with a faint Irish accent that shocked me to the core.
Besides a few family's, most of the people in the deep south reflected the Chinese culture. Even still, those like the Ironwood clan had mixed so much, their ways were indistinguishable from the main culture of the deep south.
To hear an Irish accent mostly meant that the Twin Kingdom still taught their ancestral language --Gaelic. And most importantly, the woman in front of me was more than an envoy.
"Can you tell me about the horse?" I asked.
"I can." She replied the accent ever-present, "Our Ancestral Mother, Macha, was a Reincarnate. Although rare, she was. Unfortunately, she was not of the cultivation world and had a hard time adapting. However, in her middle years, she reached Martial Foundation and became a beast Tamer... Forced into a marriage, she made the best of her situation by pushing her husband to become a king. She was a warrior and easily recognized for her variant cyan war worse that had attribute for water."
"Very interesting," I replied, "Well, I guess it's time for business. So why have the envoys of the Twin Kingdom sought out this humble Emperor."
"E-Emperor?" the blind woman asked. "Are you not the General of King Gu?"
"No...King Gu is dead. Has been for a while now."
"B-but..." an envoy stammered.
"Yes, I have been using his name in conquest. So you all will all be dealing with me from this moment on. If the Twin Kingdom would rather go to war, that's fine too." I added.
"No! No...Emperor Vamoria is fine." Said the Blind woman.
She then gestured, and a man stood up with a letter sealed with golden wax. Shane took the letter and brought it to me. Looking it over, I was very pleased with its contents.
"Unfortunately, I can get more by destroying your kingdom. If my investigation is right, the Prince is a disciple of the Warlord Sect. Inner disciple, to be exact. I also heard the King has given way to another set of twins in the same generation. The young Princess has yet to go to the Queendom for training. Why is that?" I asked, already knowing the answer due to my spies.
One Envoy stood up, enraged. The blind woman turned her head, and the man sat down.
"I feel that lying to the Emperor would be without gain. Honestly, the eldest prince is in love with heir highness. The king blamed his sister and deemed his first children corrupted. The second princess resides in the Queendom, disinherited, and the new generation twins remain in the kingdom, far away from the Queen. If the Emperor wants treasures from the eldest prince, it won't happen. That relationship is nonexistent." The blind woman explained.
"And how does the Queen feel about her eldest nephew?" I asked.
"A burden. She was too caring because of her fate not to have children of her own. Unfortunately, the Prince is warped, and now she has no one. Besides a niece that never talks to her and rarely answers her summons."
"How unfortunate." I sigh, "Take this letter to the twin royals and tell them that my Night Empire has one request in exchange for their lives. The Queen."
The envoys gasped.
"A-are you not married already?" the blind woman asked.
"But my father-in-law is not." I replied, "Send the Queen, and your Twin Kingdom can live peacefully under my boot. Also, the Lunar Temples are now a forbidden zone, approaching is courting death. What have you?"
"W-we...We will send word. As soon as we have an answer, we will inform his highness." the blind woman bowed.
After the Envoys left, I looked to Situ Ren. "You can handle this. If they agree, good. If not, you are charged with flattening the kingdom and returning with a wife. I can't have a depressed General. Besides, the Situ Clan needs a new heir."
"Do you not want it?" Grandma Xiong asked.
"No. Neither do I want the Vamoria Clan. According to your customs, you all think I'm the heir. In truth, my sister is the first young lady. The clan belongs to her." I laughed, " Naturally, at the end of my life, I'll be an Emperor or a humble old man that sweeps the courtyard for his grandchildren and descendants."
Everyone looked as if their brain stopped working. They then looked at the smiling Nimue and realized that they actually had no idea who the young lady really was. But they knew that she was the person they were destined to kneel behind and put lips to ass from that day on.
"Shane." I then called out, pulling the attention back to myself, "Gather the unit...It's time to enter the first temple."
"Departure?" he asked.
"First light," I replied.
Instead of leaving the palace, I made my way to the King's quarters then sat in the middle of the room. In half a breath, I was settled in a meditative state.
Entering my sea of consciousness, I was overjoyed to meet with the vastness of my sea. My recent breakthrough in sound had done wonders for me.
"Sixth Expansion, Ninth refinement." I gasped, "I'll be damned..."
Shifting my mind thoughts towards my body, I thoroughly examined myself before diving into my interspatial ring. Within the ring was an old bone scroll with Elven script written in a vertical format.
Due to the Nature Sutra and the Ecliptic Battle Body technique developing their own physiques, there wasn't a recorded method to awaken the bloodline and acquire a bloodline physique. I can also be considered a hybrid due to the ancient elven and draconic bloodline within me.
After a long search, I found a cryptic scroll written by a man named Jinro Eldunari. What made it cryptic was that only a third of the script was a bloodline awakening technique. The remaining two-thirds appeared to be ramblings.
The Bloodline Awakening Technique, The Lightning Fire and Metal Technique was a mix of Acupuncture and lighting fire using acupuncture needles as lightning rods to create an array.
It was completely mad or absolutely genius, depending on which world you came from. And If I wanted to awaken this bloodline, it would take a lot of effort.
Bloodline ranking correspondences with races of the world --Mundane, Deamon, Mythic. Each rank had levels from one to three. The weakest and highest-ranking bloodlines were known to be the absolute hardest to awaken.
As for my physique born from my bloodline, there's no way of knowing what it will be. After all, I'm the first cursed child to live to this point.
With Bloodline awakening being the next step within Martial Foundation, I activated my Martial Intent and began to practice the bloodline awakening technique to cultivate Lightningfire. On the other hand, I opened the Hands of Eros martial skill to practice.
The Hands of Eros received from Rowena Vex is a six-part martial skill that began with learning the meridians, nerves, and acupoints in the body, then it turned to basic massage techniques. As it progressed, it turned the targets into horny slaves beneath one's hands, drawing out yin or yang qi for dual cultivation, expanding and tempering the meridians, opening acupoints with the touch of a finger, and one-touch orgasms, among other things.
By the end of the technique, mastery over the body was given. It was a two-for-one deal as the technique will account for the first portion of the lightning fire and metal technique, and it will also help me establish a foothold in the future once I attend the Flaming Heart Sect.
Hours passed. Day turned to night and the back to day as the sun peaked over the horizon. The figures in my mind stopped practicing then faded away once I heard several knocks on the room door.
Wu Zexi entered the room then dressed me in my armor from my father. I was then handed a High-grade earth double-bladed polearm.
"Little Wu, you should be entering tempering marrow soon, right?" I asked.
"Yes, Master," she replied.
"Hmm, over the years, I taught you many weapon skills. Which do you prefer?"
She hesitated, then said, " Miaodao..."
I looked at the small girl with a smirk. She was tall as five feet and an inch. Memories of her time with the Miaodao flashed in my mind. The Miaodao is a two-handed long saber reaching forty-seven inches. In the hands of Wu Zexi, it was a bit amusing until she began to move, and it became extremely terrifying.
"Miaodao it is," I spoke as I pulled the long saber from the interspatial ring.
Taking the sword from her waist, I put the Miaodao in her hands. "Are you ready?"
"Hmm." she nodded her head and squeezed her new weapon at the peak of mortal grade.
Leaving the palace, my unit was awaiting, along with generals and clan elders. Before I mounted my horse, I walked to my father and put the Hands of Eros in his hands.
"Let Situ Ren have a look as well. No one else. It's top-secret Night Parade business." I whispered, causing my mother to squint at me.
My father leaned away from her then opened the manual. After flipping through the pages, his eyes sparkled, and he praised his filial son. The tide of battle within his bedroom was about to change with that new technique.
He then pressed the manual into Situ Ren's chest before pulling me into a big hug. "No matter who comes from the Cultivation World, consider them dead."
"Hey. Hey, no. Pick your battles wisely." I corrected him. "If they aren't interested in the temple, leave them be."
As we chatted, Situ Ren looked through the manual and praised this great son-in-law some more. He then looked at Situ Qing and delivered a silent prayer for her.
At least grandchildren are guaranteed, he thought.
At that moment, Situ Ren and my father shared a looked and resonated with one similar thought causing them both to hold their stomachs in jubilant laughter. All I could do was shake my head before hugging my mother and taking my leave.
Outside of the Capital on Temple Road.
"Nim," I called out.
"What do you want, kid?" she asked.
"You've already awakened your bloodline. Your essence cultivation is on track. You should focus on resources for soul cultivation. It's harrowing and hard to refine the soul to its peak. The right medicine can help you."
"Pft, I'll just ask mom for that stuff."
"No, high-ranking pills are almost always on shots are drastically lose effectiveness after a few doses. If you want a solid foundation and strong martial soul, walk your way up." I instructed.
I looked offer to her, and she gave me a silent nod showing that she understood. Nimue was never a difficult sister. We always cared for each other in our way.
Just as I was about to turn away, I noticed a familiar purple jade hairpin in her hair. Nimue noticed my gaze. She gave me a warm smile and another nod. She knew...
'You're still my brother, kid,' she thought at that moment. 'I wonder if he knows?'
Releasing a sigh, I pushed my thoughts aside and made a note to talk to Nimue about our parents later.
"Listen up!" I shouted to the unit behind me, "Use this opportunity to contribute to the Night Parade. Contributions will be rewarded handsomely. I wasn't everything this place has to offer. I don't care if it's ancient scripted etched into the wall. We're taking it!"
The unit cheered in response.
"Shane, you know what you have to focus on. Alessia, you should look for things to improve your combat prowess and bodily strength." I spoke to my left.
"And what about me?" Situ Qing asked.
"QingQing..." I sang with a smile, "Naturally, my beautiful Empress can take the Legacy of both temples."
Situ Qing smiled, "I'm not that greedy. You should give the second Temple to brother Shane if you don't want it."
"Hahaha, Sister Qing is the best!" Shane shouted with a smile from ear to ear. Even his dimples decided to express their Joy.
"Haa," I exclaimed, "I gave that rotten boy the Golden Body. What legacy does he need?"
"Brother Orym sure knows how to give with one hand and take with the other." he pouted.
"Crybaby." I scoffed. "If you want it, it's yours. But don't blame me for what happens next."
Shane shivered.