Xue Bai's 'Awakening'
Stopping just a few feet away from Xue Feng, Xue Bai first paid his respects to his father.
"Father, your child has come." Xue Bai said with a ceremonial bow.
"Hahaha, Bai'er, no need to be so stiff! Come over and sit down next to me. It's almost time for you to turn 11." Xue Feng spoke with a huge smile that spread across his face.
On the Baishen Plane, birthdays were celebrated at the exact moment you were born rather than once the day changed. So Xue Bai planned to fake his awakening a minute after his birthday, which was just in a few minutes.
Complying with what his father said, Xue Bai sat at a table next to his father. Usually, as he was only the heir, Xue Bai would have to sit behind his father, but since today was a day about him, Xue Bai was allowed to sit side by side with Xue Feng.
Xiao'er was astute and didn't sit next to Xue Bai but instead stood a few feet off to the side out of respect. Though Xue Bai treated her well, she was still his maid. Sitting next to him at such a time would create many odd rumors.
Once Xue Bai sat down and made himself comfortable, Xue Feng finally stood up to speak.
"Guests from throughout my Great Xuan Empire, I welcome you all to the awakening ceremony of my pride and joy, Xue Bai!" Xue Feng announced loudly.
"Now there are about 2 hours until Bai'er turns 11, so you all can take this time and feast on the cuisine I have prepared for you all!" Xue Feng spoke as he clapped his hands.
Then, with the clap as a queue, an entire group of caterers entered the main hall carrying various expensive dishes and began serving them to every table.
"Enjoy!" Xue Feng finished as he sat back down.
—
The feast went on smoothly, but the food wasn't the main topic, as, during the feast, the whispers and gossip never stopped.
The largest talking point in the crowd was what rank Martial Vein the young duke would awaken. Unsurprisingly, no one guessed that Xue Bai would be a cripple. With parents like Xue Feng and Li Ruo. If he was unqualified to have one, then who would be?
The two guesses with the highest votes were either a peak Yellow–grade or a low Black-grade. And as for the elemental affinity, most people agreed that Xue Bai would follow his father and awaken an ice element affinity.
To this, both Xue Feng and his family and Yan Zhenyu and his wife laughed.
Only if the people in attendance at the party knew what Xue Bai's true Martial Vein rank was.
Discussion continued, food was eaten, laughs were had, and before anyone noticed, soon enough, two hours had passed, and it was a few minutes shy of Xue Bai's birthday.
Sensing the birthday of his son, Xue Fen turned to the main character.
"Bai'er, go up the stairs and sit on the Heaven's Bestowment Podium." Xue Feng spoke.
A Heaven's Bestowment Podium wasn't a spirit tool that could increase the chance of awakening but more of an item used to bless luck upon the person sitting on it.
The idea behind the Heaven's Bestowment Podium was simple. It was a 15-step tall podium that was built to look up to the heavens. It was believed that the closer one was to Heaven, the greater their luck would be.
That was also why geniuses were sometimes called heaven's favorites or children of the heavens.
The same principle was there with the Heaven's Bestowment Podium. By being in the sky above the ground, people would think they were closer to the heavens above and, therefore, would have a greater chance to awaken their Martial Veins.
It was an old tradition that had no real reason to be followed, but what tradition did make sense? Sometimes it was just hope that people needed.
Nodding, Xue Bai walked away from his table and climbed the Heaven's Bestowment Podium stairs. Though it was tall, with Xue Bai's cultivation, it didn't exhaust him, and he soon reached the top.
Seeing a meditation mat for him to sit on, Xue Bai walked over, sat cross-legged on it, and started to meditate while he waited for his birthday.
After about 10 minutes of waiting, Xue Bai got a voice transmission from his father, saying it was time.
Voice transmissions, like Spiritual Sense, were a fundamental ability for people in the Qi Sea realm and above.
The natural phenomenon of a Martial Vein was very easy to mimic, as all that happened during its awakening was a pulse of Spiritual Qi that spread out from the person who was awakening it.
And depending on the grade of the Martial Vein, the damage caused by the pulse would go up. But if the Martial Vein had an elemental affinity, then the Spiritual Qi pulse would be of that element.
So with Xue Bai's high Black-grade Martial Vein, the damage to his pulse would be equal to about a full power attack from a late stage Blood Exchange realm cultivator. And would also have to be of the fire element.
Thankfully, over the past year, Xue Bai's cultivation had advanced to the peak of the 8th stage of the Blood Exchange realm.
So to create a wave of fire with the power of the late stage of the realm was simple enough.
Concentrating his mind, Xue Bai summoned the fire element Spiritual Qi from his bloodline core and propelled it out of him.
From Xue Bai's body as a center, a huge ring of fire was created. Unleashing into the atmosphere, a huge power that rivaled peak stage Blood Exchange realm cultivators stunned the crowd at the bottom of the Heaven's Bestowment Podium.
"Oh, my heavens! That was strong propulsion, wasn't it?"
"Indeed, that was at least as strong as someone in the Blood Exchange realm."
"Then that means that the Young Duke awakened a low Black-grade Martial Vein?"
"Ha! I'm rich, Luo Fei. Pay up those thousand Spirit Stones!"
As the crowd was praising the Young Duke for his talents, an old white-haired Domain Lord realm cultivator stood up suddenly.
"That wasn't just a simple, early-stage Blood Exchange realm pulse. That was at least in the late stages."
At first, the crowd thought the man was talking nonsense, but after they recognized the man, everyone was stunned into silence.
Then, Senior Ye, does that mean that the Young Duke awakened a high Black-grade Martial Vein?"
Though the old man named Senior Ye was annoyed that he was questioned, he still nodded at the question.
"Not only that, but it wasn't a Spiritual Qi pulse but a ring of fire, meaning that it also has a fire element affinity."
After hearing the confirmation, the crowd instantly erupted.
Wang Yu, known as the greatest prodigy in the Southern Continent's history, only had a middle Yellow-grade Martial Vein. And it didn't even have an elemental affinity.
So Xue Bai, awakening a Martial Vein one grade higher and with an elemental affinity, stunned the crowd.
After the initial chatter died down, many attendees left the party early, each with different excuses. But Xue Feng excused them all with a smile. He knew that they were leaving to relay the news to their respective parties.
'The more the news spreads, the more allies we can lure in.' Xue Feng thought as he waved off the guests.
Xue Feng knew that the Wang Clan would also get the news, but after the death of the Grand Elder and his and Li Rou's increased cultivation bases, there was no need to fear them.
Though the Wang Clan had a much higher population and average cultivation, wars in the cultivation weren't won by numbers but by the strength of the leaders.
After all, even if there were a thousand Qi Sea realm cultivators, Xue Feng could wipe them all out with his Domain. Numbers meant nothing in the face of overwhelming power.
Also, the Wang Clan would never be able to fully declare war on his dukedom as long as Duan Zhen was alive, giving Xue Feng even more confidence. All Xue Feng needed to do was protect Xue Bai for another ten years until he reached their level.
As Xue Feng was lost in his own thoughts, Xue Bai stood up from the meditation mat and started walking down the Heaven's Bestowment Podium stairs.
"Father, Mother, your child has successfully awakened his Martial Veins." Xue Bai spoke as he reached the bottom.
"Hahaha, of course, you did. You're my son. If you couldn't, then who could?" Xue Feng laughed as he patted his son on the shoulder.
However, as Xue Feng looked at Xue Bai a little more, he realized something that annoyed him slightly.
"If only you had awakened my element." Xue Feng sighed. Feeling petty, he decided to put more effort into his congratulations.
Xue Bai winced as he pushed his father's hand off his shoulders. Even though they were pretending, Xue Feng had put a lot of force into the slaps. Most likely slightly annoyed that Xue Bai hadn't gotten his element.
"It's not my fault I didn't get your ice element, don't take it out on me, old man." Xue Bai whispered as he winced in pain.
Ignoring his son's remark, Xue Feng turned back to the crowd and spoke, "Guests, the party has finally reached its end. I need to start teaching Bai'er about cultivation, and I know you all would like to go back to your clans and rest, so you may all do so."
Though Xue Feng's words were ambiguous, all of the attendants knew that Xue Feng didn't want them here anymore. Also, adding to the fact that they needed to go back to their clans and report the breaking news, the rest of the attendants still in the main hall left as fast as they could.
Soon the main hall was empty except for Xue Bai's family and Yan Zhenyu and his wife.
"Brother Xue, I will also be taking my leave. Fengfeng has just come back from Wushen Academy, and I would like to accompany her. She's been in the dumps lately." Yan Zhenyu spoke as he stood up.
Yan Zhenyu had only come to the ceremony to show his stance as Xue Feng's ally. Now that the ceremony was over, he didn't need to stay any longer.
"Then take care on your return journey Big Brother Yan." Xue Feng bid the man farewell with cupped fists.
After seeing Yan Zhenyu, Xue Feng ordered the servants to clean up the main hall. The main hall was used for other things and was needed for tomorrow.
"Father, I am going to go back to my courtyard." Xue Bai spoke up.
Xue Feng didn't care much about what his son said and waved him off. The only point of this ceremony was for the outside world. So Xue Feng didn't care what Xue Bai did after it.
Getting permission, Xue Bai grabbed the petite hand of Xiao'er and went back to his courtyard.
Back in his room, Xue Bai called out to Xiao'er, "Xiao'er, help me get this carpet off me. It's way too uncomfortable."
"I think it suits you well, Young Master," Xiao'er commented as she went over to help.
"It's because of my beauty, not the outfit, Xiao'er. Remember that." Xue Bai responded arrogantly.
"Yes, yes, my Young Master is the most beautiful person in all of the Baishen Plane." Xiao'er sarcastically spoke.
"As long as you know."
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