The country where Zhang Ruochen is now is called "Yunwu Commandery", which is just one of thousands of counties in the eastern region of Kunlun.
The so-called county state is actually the first county of the First Central Empire, which must pay tribute and pay taxes to the First Central Empire every year.
The monarch of the county is called the "king of the county".
Zhang Ruochen's current identity is the ninth son of Prince Yunwu.
Lying flat on the cold, hard wooden bed, Zhang Ruochen was still thinking about tomorrow's sacrificial ceremony.
"The original owner of this body didn't activate the 'Shenwu Seal' at the age of sixteen. He must have been abandoned by the gods. What should I do to have a greater chance of opening the 'Shenwu Seal'?"
In Kunlun Realm, if one wants to open the "Shenwu Seal", one must obtain the approval of the gods.
Known as the divine grant of military power.
During the sacrificial ceremony, a divine bridge of heaven and earth will appear between the God Realm and the Kunlun Realm, connecting the two realms. After enjoying the sacrifices, the gods will bestow some gifted humans with the "Shenwu Mark" to help them open the door of cultivation.
The higher the talent, the sooner the "Shenwu Mark" can be obtained.
In Zhang Ruochen's previous life, when he was still in the womb, he activated the "Shenwu Seal", which can be said to be a natural genius.
In this life, when he was sixteen years old, he hadn't activated the "Shenwu Seal", so he was basically a person who was abandoned by the gods. Even if you participate in the sacrificial ceremony tomorrow, it is almost impossible to obtain the "Shenwu Seal".
Zhang Ruochen couldn't fall asleep, so he sat up from the bed, holding a white spar in the shape of a jujube pit in his hand, with two sharp ends and a three-dimensional middle, crystal clear without any impurities.
He began to study this white spar, perhaps, it could help him, get the approval of a certain god, and open the "Shenwu imprint".
This white spar was a gift given to him by Emperor Ming during his sixteen-year-old coming-of-age ceremony.
Zhang Ruochen didn't know what this white spar was, but he just wore it next to his body. Unexpectedly, after eight hundred years, it was still on him.
"I will come from eight hundred years ago to eight hundred years later, maybe it has something to do with it."
Zhang Ruochen held the white spar tightly, closed his eyes, and the figure of his father, Emperor Ming, appeared in his mind. I don't know if his father is still alive?
That night, it snowed heavily in Wangcheng.
In the early morning of the next day, the entire royal city was covered with thick snow, and the vermilion palaces, pavilions, and pavilions were all wrapped in a layer of ice sculpture snow clothes.
The winter solstice, the coldest day of the year.
Warriors from the entire royal city gathered outside the ancestral halls of the emperors, and under the leadership of the county kings, offered sacrifices to the gods.
Outside the ancestral hall of the emperors, there is an ancient altar built with huge stones. On the altar, not only tens of thousands of livestock were tied up, such as cattle, sheep, pigs..., but also many powerful beasts chained up.
Civil and military officials, martial arts monks, princes and concubines, countless teenagers and girls waiting to open the imprint of martial arts, and even some babies who are still in their infancy.
This is a national grand ceremony, not just in the royal city, every city, every small town, and every village in Yunwu Commandery will hold sacrifices.
"Hmm! Ninth brother, you are sixteen years old. Even if you participate in the sacrificial ceremony, you will not be able to obtain the 'Mark of Divine Martial Arts'. Why do you want to show yourself?" The eighth prince Zhang Ji put his hands behind his back and smiled coldly.
The sixth prince stood next to the eighth prince, with a cold face, he said: "It is said that a dragon has nine sons, each of which is different. What a hero father is, but he gave birth to you, a waste. The mark' has not been opened, and the face of the royal family has been completely disgraced by you. What are you doing in this world? Why don't you die?"
This sentence is a bit exaggerated, but it is the voice of several princes present.
The family affection of the emperor's family is the thinnest, and it is vividly reflected at this moment.
In the Kunlun world, there are not many people who can activate the "Shenwu Seal", at most one in ten people. It can be said that the status of every warrior is extremely high.
Of course, for martial arts experts, it's another matter. Martial arts masters have a strong bloodline, and future generations will pass on the strong bloodline, and the probability of opening the "Martial Imprint" is much greater.
King Yunwu County has nine sons in total, eight of whom have activated the "Shenwu Seal". Only Zhang Ruochen, who is already sixteen years old, still has not activated the "Shenwu Seal", and has become the laughing stock of the royal family.
Many people laughed and called him "tiger father and dog son".
There are even some rumors in the court, claiming that Zhang Ruochen is not the biological son of Prince Yunwu. Although it was just a rumor, it also made the face of the royal family dull.
Therefore, most of the other princes thought that Zhang Ruochen was a disgrace to the royal family, and they didn't regard him as a brother at all, wishing that he would die sooner.
In recent years, even the Prince of Yunwu has been somewhat alienated from Zhang Ruochen and Concubine Lin. Pushed away by other concubines and princes, Zhang Ruochen and Concubine Lin were finally kicked out of the main hall last night and forced to move to the side hall.
Zhang Ruochen just stood there silently, ignoring the fifth and eighth princes.
Before you have enough strength, any verbal dispute will only make others look down on you even more.
Concubine Lin stood with the other concubines, seeing the ostracized Zhang Ruochen, her heart ached, but there was nothing she could do.
"The sacrificial ceremony, begin!"
The national teacher of Yunwu County stood above the altar, holding a volume of blessings, and began to recite.
Then, above the altar, snails and big horns were blown, and graceful court ladies in colorful clothes rang chimes, chimes, and 16 kinds of musical instruments.
Then, kill the livestock and sacrifice the blood to the sky.
"Wow—"
The rich blood energy turned into a thick beam of light, which shot straight into the sky, shattered the clouds, and rushed into the vast sky.
Suddenly, a starlight flew down from the sky and landed between the eyebrows of a six-year-old boy. It merged with the boy's body and turned into a crimson "Martial Imprint".
There was an exclamation from the crowd, "Xue Dutong's youngest son has opened the mark of martial arts at the age of six!"
"The imprint of the Chiyan Divine Martial Arts belongs to the fourth-rank Divine Martial Seal. It's too powerful and has a bright future!"
The mark of Shenwu is also divided into grades, from the first grade to the ninth grade.
The mark of the first-rank Shenwu is the weakest, and the mark of the ninth-rank Shenwu is the most powerful.
Everyone stared at the six-year-old boy with envy.
At the age of six, he opened the mark of the fourth-rank martial arts. He can be called the proud son of heaven, and his future achievements will definitely not be low.
Among the many generals in Yunwu Commandery, a burly man patted his chest, laughed loudly, and was very excited, "Okay! As expected of my son, Xue Liang, there is a banquet in the capital tonight, everyone must come to appreciate it." .Ha ha!"
"Wow!"
From the sky, countless starlights flew down, fell into the eyebrows of young boys and girls, and turned into marks of martial arts.
Among them, the first-rank Shenwu marks are the most, and there are very few teenagers who can open the second-rank Shenwu marks. The most powerful person is still the son of Xue Dutong, and the fourth-rank Shenwu marks are beyond the reach of everyone.
After all, there are only a small number of people who activate the mark of divine martial arts, probably only one-tenth of the total number. Everyone was inexplicably excited, and finally got the approval of the gods and opened the door of martial arts.
Those teenagers and girls who did not activate the mark of Shenwu were all very disappointed, and some even cried bitterly. It can be said that some families are happy and some are sad.
Seeing that the sacrifice was about to end, Zhang Ruochen still didn't activate the mark of Shenwu.
At the age of sixteen, he hadn't opened the mark of divine martial arts, so it was almost impossible to activate the mark of divine martial arts. From now on, he could only be a mediocre ordinary person.
Everyone ignored him, like a speck of dust in the corner, not paying attention at all.
Concubine Lin also had a little fantasy at the beginning, hoping that her child could create miracles and open the mark of martial arts. Even if you can't become a martial arts expert, at least you can strengthen your body so that you won't be tortured by illness again.
As the sacrifice drew to a close, Concubine Lin's hope turned into disappointment, even despair.
Just when Zhang Ruochen thought that he could not open the mark of Shenwu, the white spar that he held tightly in his hand shone slightly.
At the best moment before the end of the sacrifice, a starlight fell from the sky, fell on Zhang Ruochen's eyebrows, and turned into a white circular mark of martial arts.
"Wow!"
A burning sensation came from between the eyebrows, and immediately spread throughout the whole body.
It's on!
Zhang Ruochen was so excited that he finally opened the mark of Shenwu.
As long as the mark of Shenwu is activated, he doesn't care about it even if it is the mark of first-rank Shenwu.
At first, no one paid attention to Zhang Ruochen, but the moment Zhang Ruochen opened the mark of Shenwu, it attracted everyone's attention.
"That's not Ninth Prince, he's sixteen years old, and he's weak and sick, yet he can activate the mark of martial arts!" Many people stared at Zhang Ruochen with unbelievable eyes, thinking it was inconceivable.
The sixth and eighth princes standing beside Zhang Ruochen also widened their eyes, showing surprise.
How can this be?
Concubine Lin looked at Zhang Ruochen, and she shed tears of joy when she saw the imprint of martial arts on Zhang Ruochen's brow. She rushed to Zhang Ruochen and hugged Zhang Ruochen's body tightly, "Chen'er, you finally did it! You did it! "
An old eunuch next to the king of Yunwu County walked up to Zhang Ruochen, and said with a smile: "Congratulations, Concubine Lin, congratulations to Your Highness the Ninth Prince for opening the mark of martial arts! The queen asked the old slave to invite His Highness Ninth Prince to come over, and she will personally Test the grade of the Divine Martial Mark opened by His Royal Highness the Ninth Prince!"
"queen!"
The smile on Concubine Lin's face immediately froze, and she nervously protected Zhang Ruochen behind her.
"Mother, let's go see the queen!"
Zhang Ruochen noticed the subtle changes in Concubine Lin, and thought to himself, it seems that this empress queen is not a good person, so she should be more careful.