It was Wei Ren's first time flying in the air. Seeing how powerful his father was, made him proud. Both father and son were standing on the blue flying sword and shuttling through air at a very fast speed.
"You have become almost as tall as me." Emperor Yan said with a smile.
Wei Ren felt he was imagining things. He was back with his family. He just nodded with a smile. "I wonder how mother is doing." He thought.
Suddenly a twinge of pain entered his left arm. The pain was not that great but for a mortal it was still a big wound.
He looked at his arm. White bones could be seen. When he looked closer he saw a black symbol dancing on his bone like a snake. It was revolving around his entire arm. Most of it was hidden by his flesh so he couldn't clearly see it. He used his right hand to open up the wound to take a closer look.
Immense pain made his body shudder. Emperor Yan noticed what he was doing.
Wei Ren used his finger to touch the black symbol.
Booom!
Wei Ren heard a loud explosion in his head. He immediately lost consciousness.
"Ren'er." Emperor Yan was caught off-guard.
He thought that Wei Ren had lost too much blood so he had fainted. He immediately channelled more elemental qi into the blue flying sword to fly faster.
_ _ _ _ _
When Wei Ren woke up he was laying on grass. He stood up. He looked at his arm. It was completely healed!
He looked at the unfamiliar terrain. He was standing on a cliff. Just one more step and he would have fallen into the valley. He looked up. The sky was completely dark. There were no stars, just dark black clouds.
The whole place felt ominous.
"Where am I?" He said in his heart.
Boom!!
A loud explosion occurred. Wei Ren turned his head to look far away. It was a strange place. He could only see up to a thousand meters. After the thousand meters there was dense black fog. Even some parts of the ground were covered in this flog.
A giant black stone stele had fallen in the valley between two hills from the sky. It was so smooth that it shined with lustre. There were only two words written on it.
It was an unknown language. But Wei Ren still understood it.
"Starmist Law." He read the words written on the black stone stele.
A loud screech shook the entire world. When he uttered the words 'Starmist Law', visions started to appear in the clouds. There was a black clothed man fighting a giant dragon. Everything was still too obscure. He couldn't make out the appearances of the man and the dragon.
Several other men also entered the scene. They were all fighting this man.
Wei Ren watched the legendary battle. The spells and abilities they used looked as if the gods were fighting. What really surprised him was that even though he was outnumbered, the black clothed man held his ground. He used a long black sword to kill more than half of them. He chopped off the dragon's entire head. But in the process he got injured. The battle ended and the black clothed man lost one of his arms. All his enemies had been slain by him. He stood in the clouds and looked up.
Suddenly he looked at Wei Ren who was standing on the edge of the cliff. His appearance was not distinguishable. The only thing Wei Ren could see clearly was a pair of eyes glowing with piercing white light. When their eyes met. Wei Ren heard a voice in his head.
"I conquered the mortal world, I destroyed the heavens and defeated the gods but I lost to my own Dao. Even I, Emperor Starmist couldn't finish my Dao. I don't know if the law is compatible with your body. But I will still give it to you. A dao seal on your memories will prevent it from getting stolen from your mind."
He pointed his index finger towards Wei Ren. A black light shot through his fingertip and entered Wei Ren's forehead. He felt as if he had been stabbed in his brain. He couldn't endure the pain. A vast amount of information was being imprinted directly into his mind. It was a cultivation technique called Starmist Law. He also saw a yin-yang symbol appear in his head and this symbol locked his brain with black and white chains. His memories were getting sealed.
Wei Ren fell to the ground and all the visions of the black clothed man started to vanish. He looked at the man for one last time before falling to the ground. The man looked like he was truly disappointed in himself. But the stone stele remained as if it was never going to get destroyed. It was the only absolute thing in this world. As he lay on the ground he felt a feeling of reverence in his heart for the stone stele.
Weird things kept happening to him all of a sudden. First it was the ambush and now this.
"Starmist Law…" Wei Ren said before losing his consciousness.
_ _ _ _ _
Blue Rose Kingdom.
Capital city.
When Wei Ren woke up he realised he was in his old room in the royal palace. "I am back?"
He sat up on his bed. His arm was wrapped up in a bandage. Even though he had been through so many things in one day he felt energized.
"Starmist Law!!" He thought in shock.
He realised something new with his body. His mind had new information. It was a cultivation technique. It was real! That dream was actually true.
When he concentrated he was able to flip through the entire technique like a book. While he was getting shocked by this new turn of events. There was a knock on the door.
Knock! Knock!
"Come in." Wei Ren shook his head and decided to take a look at this technique later.
A woman in her thirties opened the door. She was wearing a yellow gown. Her skin shined like the sun. There was a gentle smile on her face but her eyes seemed wet.
"Ren'er." She said with a gentle voice.
"Mother…"
It was his mother. Tears welled up in his eyes. He jumped out of his bed and took her in his embrace.
The last time he had seen her, he used to play in her lap but now he was taller than her.
Feng Yu's joy knew no bounds her son was finally back. She had waited for so long. They both hugged for a long time before leaving each other's embrace.
"I heard from your father about what happened, are you okay now? Does your arm hurt?" She asked in worry.
"It's fine." Wei Ren looked at his mother and warmth filled in his heart. All that time he was training. He wanted to be worthy enough to be called their son. Wei Yan and Feng Yu were the top cultivation experts in the kingdom. And their son was such a disgrace for them. He knew that these past few years the things they must have gone through must be very bad. They must have experienced countless taunts and ridicule because of him. This made him feel as if it was his fault for not being born into this world.
"Your father is investigating with several others to find out the culprits."
Boom! boom!
While they were talking a person came flying with loud explosions on a blue flying sword. It was emperor Yan. He entered the room through the open window. And almost fell on the floor as he was worried about Wei Ren.
Wei Ren chuckled as he saw his father stumbling in the window.
"Ren'er are you okay? How do you feel? Does your arm hurt?" Emperor Yan asked the same questions as Feng Yu.
"I am fine, father." Wei Ren said with a smile.
"Sigh…" Emperor Yan sighed with relief.
"Don't worry Ren'er, I have appointed my top men to interrogate the ambushers. We are currently investigating. As soon as they speak up, we will know who was behind all this. By the time he finished speaking Emperor Yan's eyes shined with anger.
Looking at his face Wei Ren was reminded of the way his father looked when he saved him from the black clothed attacker.
"Father, please set up a sound sealing formation." Wei Ren suddenly asked.
He was going to tell them about everything he had found out from his conversation with the attacker. But he was afraid that someone might be listening. Even though he couldn't cultivate he was still familiar with some of the things cultivators could do. Eavesdropping was a very easy thing to do for them.
"Oh?" Emperor Yan was surprised but he still complied. With just a wave of his hand green symbols appeared on the ground, surrounding the three of them. A sound sealing formation was set up.
"You can now speak freely." Emperor Yan assured with confidence.
After this, Wei Ren explained to them about all the things he saw and analyzed from the ambush.
Both Feng Yu and Emperor Yan were surprised to see how intelligent and smart their son had become. In his heart Emperor Yan was proud and happy that their son's training was not just for a naught.
"If Ren'er is right about this, then the person who ambushed him is probably someone from the royal family. Someone who is after the throne. Making sure that you don't attend the coming of age ceremony is the perfect way to strip you away from your right to the throne." Emperor Yan said with a serious face.
"Hmm, but who could it be?" Your father has great relations with all the heads of royal houses and nobles." Feng Yu asked.
"This is valuable information. Ren'er keep this to yourself don't tell anyone about this." Emperor Yan told Wei Ren seriously.
He had a very uneasy feeling about this. A person who is after his son's life is inside his royal family.
"So what about the ceremony? It was supposed to be today." Wei Ren asked his father.
"Don't worry son. Today was just the formalities and such. Actual ceremony is tomorrow. All the youngsters who want to stand in line for the throne will be there." Emperor Yan said with a laugh.
"Do you think I stand a chance against all the others?" Wei ren asked.
Both Feng Yu and Wei Yan were caught off-guard. They looked at each other not knowing what to say. It was a big problem because their son was not able to cultivate, the high council of ministers might not allow him to keep his right to the throne. Usually direct descendants of the current Emperor have the highest stake. If something happens to the direct descendants then the next in line prince or princess from another branch of the family is given the higher stake. General Wei Tian had the highest stake to the throne when his brother, and Emperor Yan's father passed away. But he refused to accept the throne. He wanted to keep his title as the protector of the kingdom and stayed a general. So the throne was given to Emperor Yan who was the only legitimate son to the previous emperor.
Technically Wei Ren had the highest stake but the council of ministers might try to create problems for him when it came to the actual time of ascension.
Emperor Yan looked at his son's face. He saw the seriousness and the maturity in Wei Ren's eyes. His son had truly grown into a complete man.
He smiled and said," Of course you do. You are my son. If any of those old farts try to make a scene I will give them what they deserve."
After saying this he walked up to the window and climbed on his Blue flying sword. "I will talk with that old geezer about the things you told me. You should rest now and heal." Emperor Yan said and then turned into a blue blur as he flew away.
That old geezer he mentioned was General Wei Tian.
"He is an Emperor but he comes and goes through the windows?" Wei Ren asked his mother with a weird smile.
Feng Yu burst into laughter.
"He acts tough but he is very clumsy. Especially after you were gone, he started training very hard to protect you from any danger." She explained.
"Protect me…training hard." Wei ren couldn't help but feel grateful for having such a loving father.
"Well enough about your father. You tell me, did you find some girl? Any daughter-in-law I need to know about?" Feng Yu teased Wei Ren with a cheeky smile.
"No...no…" Wei ren blushed and said.
"I should not let her know about that incident." He thought in his heart about the incident that happened two years ago. He had ordered his guards to infiltrate a building. He thought it was a spy base but it turned out to be a brothel. He was also part of the mission. When he entered the building hoping to see enemies, all he saw was lovely women dressed in revealing clothes. One of the prostitutes jumped at him and forcefully kissed him on the lips. Worst part was that he fainted and a small tent formed on his crotch. The whole incident was suppressed by Wei Tian and no one spoke about it again.
They talked for hours. Meeting after so long was like a dream for them. Wei Ren told her stories of how he had saved his soldiers in the battlefields. Most of them were about his heroism and victories.
Feng Yu listened to her son speak and felt as if the pain she had felt for all these years had faded away.
Soon it was evening. Feng Yu left Wei Ren alone to rest.
Wei Ren watched as she tucked him in his bed like a child before leaving.
"I am home." He said in his heart and closed his eyes.
When he opened them he remembered the dream.
He started looking at all the events. He entered that black cloudy region when he touched the black symbol on his left arm's bone. Then he saw the black robed man fight a lot of people. After the fight was over he gave me a message and a cultivation technique.
Wei Ren concentrated on a part of his memory. A giant book appeared in his mind. On the cover there were two words in plane handwriting - Starmist Law. It was a foreign language but he could still understand it. This technique was created by Emperor Starmist. The man he had seen in the dream called himself Emperor Starmist.
Before the starting of the actual technique there was a small passage.
-I was born with very weak meridians. Even gathering qi from the atmosphere was difficult for me, but luckily I found an immortal pill which gave a very long lifespan. I searched all the nine realms in search for a solution. I was a weak cultivator but I persevered. I have studied and researched almost all the cultivation techniques of this world. I devised a solution for people with weak meridians and small dantians. All my studies and the discoveries have been stored in this text. Not only the Starmist law I designed but also some of the intricate things about cultivation that no one knows about. For any person who finds this, remember, heaven is more dominant on those who have strong wills. So if you lack talent but you have a strong will then you can still achieve immortality because one thing that even the heaven fears is an unyielding will.
When Wei Ren finished reading he felt enlightened.
" I might be able to cultivate. Too bad I can't give this to my father." This was the first time he had truly felt this. He hated himself for not being able to cultivate. But now he might really have a chance.
When he read through the Starmist Law in detail he realised there were five parts in it. Namely Earth law, Sky law, Heaven Law, Soul law, and Void Law.
The only law he could study right now was the Earth law. Rest of the technique had a seal on it; he couldn't read them before mastering the first part which is the Earth Law.
Including the five main laws there were innumerable other techniques. Just reading the titles made him suck a cold breath. There were even cultivation techniques for spirit beasts. There was a technique that required a thousand years of training but it would give the user incredible power. There was a technique that uses up a person's life essence but that person would be able to move mountains and summon power of heavens.
" I've hit the jackpot." Wei Ren's eyes shined with happiness.
"I need to head to the repository." He covered his body with a loose blue robe and headed towards their repository.
Wei Ren tried to remember the way. After stumbling for a few times he found it.
He stood before a giant wooden door. It had two words written in gold: "Dao repository".
Every kingdom had its own Dao repository. They were protected even more than their treasuries. Cultivation manuals and secret skills were the reason a kingdom was able to protect itself.
Wei Ren walked over and saw that a young girl was standing at the door. She had a short sword hanging at her thin waist. Her red lips were like red roses. Just looking at her made Wei Ren remember the brothel incident that happened two years ago. He walked over to her and pulled a small blue rose insignia from his robe.
The moment she saw the insignia she felt a shiver run down her spine. This was the insignia handed only to the top family members of the royal lineage.
She looked at Wei Ren's unfamiliar face and wondered who this young boy was. But nevertheless. She opened the door for him.
A giant hallway presented itself to Wei Ren. He had been here before. When his father used to cultivate here, Wei Ren would come and force his father to play hide and seek in the giant repository. Little did he know, his father always knew where he was hiding because of his powerful senses as a cultivator.
The familiar bookshelves reminded him of his childhood.
"Where should I begin?" He thought. The repository was huge; thousands of manuals of cultivation techniques, battle formations, sealing formations, healing techniques and forbidden spells were kept here.
He walked over to a small room on the side of the main hall. An old man was sitting there on a mat, snoring loudly. He had a short nose and big eyes. His head was completely bald but his eyebrows were very long. Almost two feet long.
Wei Ren knew this old man. He was Old man Xiong. He was his father's personal assistant in this repository.
"Cough...cough."
Wei Ren coughed twice to wake him up.
There was no effect.
"Old man Xiong, wake up!" He said loudly. Still no change.
"OH! WHO ARE THESE HOT GIRLS IN THIS PLACE?!!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.
"HOT GIRLS, GIVE ME THE HOT GIRLS." Old man Xiong screamed and jumped onto the reading table. He had turned red with lust. When he realised Wei Ren standing there looking at him with a disgusted face, he fell down, face first.
"Still acting the same way." Wei Ren shook his head with a laugh.
Old man Xiong immediately jumped back to his feet. When he looked closely at Wei Ren's face his jaw dropped in shock and tears started welling up in his eyes.
"You...young master's? Ahh haaaa! You are back" He started crying and hugged Wei Ren's legs like a child.
Wei Ren stood there looking totally irritated by old man Xiong.
"Yes, I am back." He consoled him like a child.
"Ahh hhaaa…I knew you would come back." He still didn't let go off Wei Ren's legs.
"Old man Xiong. GET UP!" It was only when Wei Ren yelled did he get up.
"I need all the books about the basics of cultivation and some papers and a pen to write with. Do you think you can help me?" Wei Ren asked with a smile.
" Of course, young master." Old man Xiong calmed himself down and said.
He left like a bolt of lightning to gather all the things Wei Ren has asked for.
Wei Ren took a seat on one of the mats and waited for old man Xiong. He couldn't help but think about the young girl who was guarding the Dao repository. A small tent started to form on his crotch. He immediately presses it down with his hands.
"Not again!" He thought in frustration. This was his only weakness. Wei Ren used to call this "The Tent Formation".