Wei Ren was caught off guard. Everyone in the palace was looking at him. He was the prince so obviously he was going to be the first one to undergo the ceremonial traditions. He calmed himself down and walked to the centre of the palace.
The frail old elder waved his hand. A giant black furnace appeared on the floor. It was big enough for five people to take a bath together. The frail looking elder walked to the furnace and placed his hand on it. He closed his eyes.
Wei Ren looked closely at what this elder was doing.
Whoosh!
A huge blue flame erupted in the black furnace. It almost reached the ceiling of the palace.
For a second it looked as if the flame had gone out of the frail elder's control but soon it calmed down and kept burning only inside the furnace.
Another middle aged elder got up from his seat and pulled a branding iron from his void ring. He held the branding iron over the blue flame.
Soon the iron was red hot. He pulled the iron out. He held the iron with bare hands but it looked like it didn't hurt him at all. He looked at Wei Ren but didn't say anything.
Wei Ren knew what he wanted to do. At this coming of age ceremony each young person is branded on their skin with their kingdom's insignia, a blue rose. He could get it branded wherever he wanted to. His father had it on his chest. He thought about it then pulled his right sleeve up.
The middle aged elder didn't hesitate. He immediately grabbed Wei Ren's arm and placed the red hot iron on his bicep. He already knew about this strange ceremony. His uncle had told him about this when they were coming back to the capital city.
The main emphasis was that a person branded with this rose will become a true servant of the kingdom. A person branded with this symbol will never betray his kingdom.
Secondly it was to test the minds of the young ones. The present elders all were looking to see if Wei Ren would scream in pain. Most youngsters do. And when they flinch the symbol is not perfectly branded. People who don't flinch and get the perfect branding are said to be the most loyal to their kingdom.
Wei Ren had prepared himself for this. He knew it would be many times difficult for him because he was a mortal and all the other youngsters had already started their cultivation.
A mortal would pass out from the pain. Wei Ren closed his eyes. He made a tight fist with both his hands. He tightly clenched his teeth so as not to scream.
Sizzling sound echoed in the hall. Everybody was silent. You could even hear Wei Ren's ragged breath when he was getting branded. Feng Yu looked at her son's face which was turning red. The elders were amazed to see how Wei Ren controlled himself. Even though he was panting he still did pretty good for a fifteen year old.
The middle aged elder removed the branding iron off of Wei Ren's arm. All that was left was a beautiful blue rose with perfectly clear five petals. This was the best shape one could get. Blue flame was used to give the blue colour otherwise it would have been just red.
"Haaa…" everyone almost simultaneously sucked a cold breath in shock. It was common knowledge to all these high level people that Wei Ren couldn't cultivate. Emperor Yan had imposed a strict law to make every person comply with this and keep everything about his son a secret. It was all for his safety.
Seeing how well a mortal child did, they all wondered if they would have been able to do the same if they had been in Wei Ren's place.
Wei Ren looked at his arm. He felt as if he would faint at any time. He walked to stand in front of Emperor Yan. He dropped to one knee. Lowered his head and said with a calm voice, " Wei Ren, son of Wei Yan, pledges his allegiance to the Blue Rose Kingdom. In wars and battles I shall protect the blue rose with my heart and soul."
After taking the oath he walked to his seat behind Emperor Yan.
Emperor Yan could no longer keep smile hidden. One could easily see the pride in his eyes. His son had far surpassed his expectations.
He looked at the frail old elder who was holding the list of names. And nodded. The old man immediately understood, he looked at the list and said the second name.
"From the Ming family...Wei Yu."
Wei Yu was Wei Ming's son. The person who had come to see Wei Ren when he was visited by Grand Healer Lu Sheng. Wei Ming had done a great deal to acquire the throne. But he failed and the throne was given to Emperor Yan.
Now he had prepared his son. Wei Yu was a tall young man who had dark hair and sharp features. He was also pretty talented in cultivation. He started his training at the age of twelve and by now he was already at the fifth stage of Qi streams. This means he had already opened Five Qi streams inside his body. For someone at his age, this was very impressive.
Wei Yu walked to the elder with branding iron and took off his robe. He had decided to get the rose symbol on his back. The middle aged elder didn't wait for anything and placed the iron on Wei Yu's back.
Wei Yu's face also turned red like Wei Ren but he didn't pant like him. His breathing remained calm. Five seconds later the elder pulled the iron back. A beautiful five petal rose was left on the skin. Just like Wei Ren, it was perfect. This scene didn't surprise anyone in the palace. It seems they had already expected this.
Wei Yu also went up to kneel in front of Emperor Yan and take his oath.
After him there was a young girl from the Huan family, Wei Qing, and after her there was a feeble and shy boy from the Long Family, Wei Chen.
Soon all formalities were finished and it was time to discuss the most important matter. Line of succession. Each youngster from the family branches is given a place in the line for succession. The person who is first has the highest chance. This generation's line of succession had yet to be formed. This was why Wei Ren was ambushed. Missing the ceremony would have resulted in his name being the last. Which would have made things incredibly difficult for him.
All the elders would vote to make the sequence. Person with the most votes would be at the very front. The Emperor also had a vote but his vote was worth ten points as compared to an elder's which is one. There were 109 elders. If you include Emperor Yan's vote, there were 119 votes in total.
A giant box was placed in the centre of the palace. Each elder took turns pointing towards the box. Every time an elder pointed, a flash of light would enter the box from the elder's finger. At last Emperor Yan made his vote. His flash of light was bigger than anyone else's.
The same frail old elder that had read the names walked to the box and opened it inside the box was a black stone. The black stone had five names written on it in a sequence. From one to five.
Everybody was holding their breaths.
"First in line for succession is...Wei Yu from the Ming family." The old man read plainly.
Emperor Yan gripped his armrest. Wei Ren was already expecting this outcome. His biggest drawback would definitely not give him the first spot. Even if all the elders from his family were to give him their votes, other elders would not do the same. Choosing the next emperor is no small matter. During Emperor Yan's era the outcome had been different. He was first in line even though his cultivation was not that strong at that time. It was mainly because all the elders feared his father, Wei Shan.
A huge wave of clapping entered their ears. Wei Ming, who was sitting as one of the elders, looked at Emperor Yan's face. "Now you know how it feels." He said in his heart. He was finally getting his revenge after so many years.
"Second in line for succession is...Wei Ren from the Yan Family."
Another wave of applause was heard but this one was not the same as the previous one. It was very short.
Wei Ren looked at his father's face from the side. He knew what his father was feeling. I have to cultivate. A fire burned in Wei Ren's eyes.
Soon all the names were announced. Surprisingly the short and shy boy Wei Chen was third and the girl was placed fourth. Last one was a boy from one of the weaker branches of the family, Wei Ling.
After the ceremonies was the banquet. Wei Ren didn't want to join but he had to. He was seated with the other youngsters in the line for succession. Five of them shared their own table.
Wei Ren looked closely at them. Wei Yu had remained quiet. Wei Qing was very cheerful and focused on the food. Wei Chen looked shy but he seemed nice. Last one was Wei Ling. He was the most strange. He seemed very rigid and paid attention to no one.
Wei Ren observed Wei Yu. Both were cousins but the number of words they had shared was very less. He remembered these four from his childhood. But too much time had passed.
"Elder brother Ren, how have you been? You left the royal City, we know nothing about you. Why don't you tell us something about your time in the military?" Wei Chen asked with a shy expression.
Wei Ren smiled and said," It was nice, I got to see how our soldiers protect our kingdom by risking their lives on the line."
"I also heard you won several battles against the Golden Crow kingdom." Wei Chen said with amazement.
Wei Ren just smiled and listened.
"What help can he offer? He can't even cultivate." Wei Yu finally spoke. His voice didn't even hide the mocking tone.
Wei Ren just smiled. Everybody knew that things would now get tense.
"What have you accomplished? Brother Yu. You have never even battled someone in real life." Wei Qing said with a mouthful of meat. She was the one Wei Ren liked the most. She always spoke her heart and never held back her tongue. She was very famous for being blatant about everything.
Frown appeared on Wei Yu's face.
"I have reached the fifth level of the Qi streams. Defeating all of you is easier than flipping my hand." He said with pride.
"Keep it cool, Wei Qing. We are at a banquet." Wei Chen tried to settle things.
"Stay out of this Wei Chen. Since she asked me, I answered." He replied with a snort
"What's so special about five qi streams? I have also reached the fourth stage. Junior Brother Wei Chen also made his breakthrough last month. Even Junior brother Wei Ling has reached the third stage." Wei Qing said with no change in her expression. She said while chewing on a big piece of meat.
"You…" Wei Yu glared at her. But he couldn't do anything. Everyone was present. If he did something bad, he would get punished by his father later for embarrassing him in front of everyone.
Wei Ling still was staring into the sky and paid no attention. Wei Chen was still acting shy and tried to calm Wei Yu down.
Wei Ren could see through all of them except Wei Ling. Wei Chen was shy but had a nice heart. Wei Qing, though bad at making conversation, was very talented when it came to cultivation. Wei Yu was just a spoiled prince but he was better at cultivation than any of them. He was probably the strongest in his own generation.
"I defeated five experts at the River Formation stage. I saved an entire platoon from getting ambushed. I also interrogated a prisoner who gave us secrets of the Golden Crow Kingdom. But I guess reaching the fifth stage of Qi Streams is a bigger accomplishment." Wei Ren decided to reply with a kind smile just to see how Wei Yu would react.
"So what? Saving a few measly soldiers. I will save the entire kingdom when I become the Emperor." Wei Ren swiftly replied.
"This is getting interesting." Wei Qing said with a chuckle.
Wei Chen feared that something bad aas about to happen. Wei Ling as usual drank his wine and paid no attention.
"So you will do something important only if you become the Emperor?" Wei Ren asked with a laugh. He picked his glass and sipped the sweet honey wine.
"Ha… you sure are good at using your words. In a few years I will reach the River Formation stage. By then I will surely secure my right to the throne. The gap between our statuses will become wider. A mortal... is a mortal. My contributions will be greater than yours. Just wait and watch." Wei Yu replied with scorn.
"Oh yeah? You are after the throne. A true Emperor does not seek power, he just protects his kingdom. The throne is worth nothing, I will serve the kingdom even if I am a mortal. Fancy titles mean nothing.
He had learned this from Wei Tian. Wei Tian refused to become the Emperor when Wei Shan passed away. He didn't care about his status or his title. He just wanted to protect his kingdom that is why even after so many years he still served as the general. He lived a simple life.
"More words. This is all you can do. There is something that can prove if you truly have the guts to support your words." Wei Yu knew he couldn't compete with his words.
"Whatever it is, nothing can shake my mind. I have spent actual time on a battlefield. If you have something to say then just say it." Wei Ren couldn't back down now.
"Six months from now will be our first mission assignment. All the youngsters of royal families take missions. It is conducted for every generation. We just have to score missions. If you can complete dangerous missions you get a higher score. The person who scores highest gets a special prize. Our ranks on the line of succession can even be changed and youngsters of royal families other than us five can also join the line of succession. Of course that means one of us will be removed from the list. Why don't you also take part in this mission assignment? If you get even half of my score, I will give you my spot as the first in line for succession and remove myself from the list forever." Wei Yu smiled and looked at Wei Ren with challenging eyes.
Wei Ren was in deep thought. Even though Wei Yu had given him an advantage. He still had some doubts. After all, a mortal competing with a cultivator makes no sense.
"And if you can't even win with this advantage, you have to remove yourself from the list." Wei Yu added with a smile.
Every person at the table looked at him. Even Wei Ling gave him a few glances.
" Have some shame. Elder brother Ren can't cultivate. This competition is truly biased." Wei Qing said while glaring at Wei Yu.
Wei Yu continued to smile. " He can turn down the challenge if he thinks he will lose. I am not forcing him." He chuckled.
"I accept your challenge." Suddenly Wei Ren said and looked at Wei Yu with a serious face.
He knew that after this mission assignment competition. His rank will definitely drop and his chances of becoming the Emperor will drop even further. So accepting Wei Yu's challenge was not as risky as others thought.
"Huh! Okay. It is decided then. Six months from now if you can score half as much as me during mission assignments, I will give you my spot and also remove myself from the list. But if you lose you will remove yourself." Wei Yu repeated the terms of the challenge one last time.
"Agreed." Wei Ren nodded.
He was feeling impatient. Instead of wasting his time here he wanted to go to the market place and buy the White grass pills so he could start cultivating. There were chances that it might not work but he still wanted to give it a try. With this new challenge he had accepted, he truly wanted to see if the Starmist Law could actually help him cultivate. This was also one of the reasons he accepted the challenge. If in six months he could get a decent cultivation base then scoring half as much as Wei Yu would be much easier.
The banquet lasted till midnight. Everyone started to depart. Emperor Yan drank quite a lot of wine. Although cultivators of his caliber can't get drunk. He was still intoxicated. He only needed to use his elemental qi to burn the alcohol in his body and he would be able to return to his senses. He was probably feeling down after today's events. Even though Wei Ren was just one rank from becoming the first in line. He knew as time passed, this would change. All the others would get stronger and their achievements would be far better than his son's. And soon he would reach the last rank because this line of succession is updated every year until the day the next Emperor ascends the throne and the method of updating it is using mission assignments. This way the youngsters not only complete missions to help their kingdom but also get worldly experience. Just training all day was not useful. Actual battle experience was even more important.
Ride back home was just as quiet. Feng Yu took Emperor Yan to their room. Wei Ren also returned to his room. He was waiting for the next day to start because tomorrow he would be trying to cultivate for the first time.