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-------- 15 Years Later -------
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Within the Mortal Emperor Realm, on one of the five continents, the Southern Continent...
The southern continent was ruled by the Hartfield Empire. The Royal Hartfield Family that ruled the continent, lived in the capital city.
Hartfield City...
In the Royal Palace, a meeting was going on, in the throne room of the Emperor. The atmosphere within the hall was tense, and the court officials and those with grand positions were all there.
The meeting today was one of utmost importance as His Majesty, the Emperor was to select a candidate as the Crown Prince
But he had chosen someone that no one ever expected him to choose.
"Your Majesty, please choose a better candidate!"
A middle-aged man with red-colored hair and a full-grown beard stood and spoke. Among many here, he was the one who was most against the decision of the Emperor. His name was Thomas Hartfield.
Thomas Hartfield was the eldest cousin of the Emperor, as he was from the same generation as him.
"The person you intend to choose isn't suitable for the position of the Crown Prince."
"Even though we all acknowledge the fact that he is incredibly intelligent and holds great wisdom. In the end,d what matters is his strength," Thomas said.
"It is true, Your Majesty. If the person you choose is unable to cultivate, there would be dissatisfaction among your subjects. And also we would become a laughing stock to the other Empires. Please reconsider, Your Majesty!" Another man stood up and bowed as he spoke.
The man also had bright red-colored hair and was the next strongest after Thomas. He is Kaiser Hartfield, also the Emperor's cousin.
At this time the Emperor seated on the throne only looked on with a calm gaze and didn't respond. He instead just listened on with a poker face. His thoughts could not be discerned by his expression alone.
The Emperor looked young, unlike the other men in the hall who had mostly middle-aged appearances. But do not be fooled by that as his real age is as old as the others in the hall.
He is even older than some of them. His appearance was maintained because of his very high cultivation realm.
The Emperor's name was Markus Hartfield. He had been in rule for a long time now and used to have two other brothers who competed with him for the title of the Crown Prince back then. But he defeated them both and killed them and all their supporters.
He was a very ruthless fellow back in the days. And as one who feared nothing in the world.
But he had become much wiser now, due to his experience gained through the years, along with adventures throughout the realm, which let him know that the waters are deeper than he thought it was.
Markus Hartfiel didn't have a son. And was the first of his lineage to not have a single son, as part of his offspring. Rather, he had only one child, one daughter.
Maybe he would have had more children if he had taken in multiple wives and concubines like his predecessors.
But he did none of that, and only had one wife. This then brought them to the current situation where they had to choose a Crown Prince from among his family.
He had chosen his adopted son, Arthur Hartfield, as the candidate. But members of the royal family were against his decision.
Because Arthur had no cultivation. And had been deemed a waste that is unable to cultivate.
But only he knew that there was more to that claim than meets the eye. Unfortunately, he could not share his knowledge on that matter.
He had already expected that he would be faced with opposition on the matter, so he had planned for it in advance with the help of Arthur.
Previously, he had been prepared to be forceful about it. But Arthur advised him against it, as it would cause things to become complicated.
Instead, he was given a suggestion, and although he was doubtful of doing it this way, he decided to go with it anyway, because of the trust he had in his adopted son.
"Alright, I have heard you all," said Markus.
"And I have come to a decision. You all said that my adopted son's strength is the main reason right?" Markus asked.
The officials and noble family heads did not respond, but their expression revealed their answers. They held no regard for a waste that is unable to cultivate.
"Well, let's do it this way, lest you all say that I am partial in my judgment. The title of Crown Prince of the Hartfield Empire would be given to whoever wins the Grand Martial Arts Tournament, regardless of their origin!"
After speaking, the Emperor vanished from the throne.
Thomas and Kaiser, both looked at each other with a competitive gaze. As they believed that the Emperor had already given in to their demands.
Which means they both had each other as competitors. Although there were other noble families present, they weren't part of the competition.
They didn't even consider for once that Arthur can win the Grand Martial Arts Tournament. No, not win, they did not even consider that he would participate. After all, what can a waste do?
Although someone among them there was of a different idea.
'They have no idea,' he thought.
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A few hours later…
Within the Royal Library, where all the books, and knowledge that the royal family had amassed over thousands of years, were stored. On the eighth floor, which was the highest floor one could reach, before the highest ninth floor.
A teenager of about 15 years old, closed the book he just finished reading. He had white hair, blue eyes, and a very handsome face that would even put beautiful girls to shame. But still gave off a manly aura at the same time.
The young man was dressed in golden robes with a silk-like texture, and the pattern of a dragon embroidered on it. His expression was one of joy, at the moment, as to why…
"Hah, finally!"
"I could be said to have finished all the books in the Royal Library, except for the ninth floor. Although the Emperor said that there isn't any book there."
This youngster was none other than, Arthur who had grown up to his teenage years after his successful reincarnation.
When he regained consciousness, he found out that he was already a few months old, as his soul was in slumber when he was born.
Due to that, he did not know who his parents were. He only knew that he was brought here by the Emperor who had left for a journey and was adopted as the Emperor's son.
The Emperor had intended to make him inherit the throne. And no one was against it as he revealed extremely high intelligence and wisdom from the day he could talk. This led everyone to anticipate his growth.
But their high expectations were met with greater disappointment when he was found unable to cultivate.
Arthur could still remember that day. How their attitudes all changed in an instant. As he was looked on with disdain after that incident.
Those that attached themselves to him, avoided him like a plague, and only a select few stayed with him.
But he still proved himself in the following years with his intelligence and a hidden ability that he had, and soon he made more friends and gained a backing that was enough to protect him without the Emperor needing to interfere.
The ability to sense things that no one else could; Fortune and the Fate of people of things. Although he had no control over such power and senses them at random.
When he turned five years old, he could sense the fortune of people, and with that he allowed the empire to reap a lot of benefits, though he did all that under the disguise of being smart and a little lucky.
He also used that to make powerful friends and raised a secret force of his own.
"Now it is time for the real fun to begin," said Arthur.
The truth wasn't that he was unable to cultivate. But rather his body was sealed with a powerful seal that even the Emperor, Markus Hartfield was helpless against.
He panicked a lot in the beginning as he didn't know how he would survive in a cultivation world without the ability to cultivate.
But as time went by, he noticed that the seal was weakening on its own, and by his calculations, it would be completely unsealed after he had turned fifteen years old.
And he also sensed that there is a fortuitous encounter that can be gotten in that same year.
"My Fate Sense is awesome, all right," Arthur said.
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--------End of Chapter----------------
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A/N: So Arthur is already fifteen and he is late on the cultivation journey...what next?
Approaching 15k words...gonna join the ranking soon. Please leave a review behind...it helps.