When Wang Xianxian opened his eyes again, he found himself lying in a bed.
Looking around, he confirmed where he was—the school infirmary.
He slowly raised his hand, looking at his calloused palm, and tears involuntarily rolled down his cheeks.
"Another dream..."
Wiping away his tears, Wang Xianxian pulled out the pendant from his pocket—a small yellow gourd.
As he gazed at the gourd in his hand, he fell into deep memories.
Ten thousand years ago, the Celestial Gate descended from the sky.
The revival of spiritual energy, the arrival of beasts, and a new calendar began.
People called the day the Celestial Gate appeared the *Day of Origin*.
In Celestial Calendar Year 1, on January 1st, the Celestial Gate descended.
In Celestial Calendar Year 100, on January 1st, the Celestial Gate opened, and spiritual energy revived.
In June of that same year, beasts descended upon Wu Xing, plunging humanity into a dark age.
Faced with these powerful beasts, humanity threw everything they had at them but could not stop the slaughter.
In just three months, over half of the world's 3,000 countries were annihilated.
On June 6th, in Celestial Calendar Year 100, the first human to awaken a *Heavenly Profession*, Ji Xuanyuan, was born.
By Celestial Calendar Year 105, only 30 countries remained.
In March of that year, humanity formed a united army to resist the beasts.
In Celestial Calendar Year 125, on August 8th, the united army suffered a devastating defeat against the beasts.
At that point, the remaining countries were on the brink of extinction, and humanity began to band together in families for survival.
In Celestial Calendar Year 200, on January 1st, large numbers of humans began to awaken Heavenly Professions and Talents.
People discovered that when human children reached the age of 15, they could awaken both their Talent and Heavenly Profession.
By Celestial Calendar Year 500, on October 10th, a group of Heavenly Professionals gathered at the ruins of the old Xia Dynasty to build the first modern city—Yinxu, now known as the Xia Empire's capital.
In Celestial Calendar Year 666, on June 6th, the first human martial artist, *Ji Xuanyuan*, reached the Great Emperor Realm. That same year, the Xia Rebirth Alliance was established.
In Celestial Calendar Year 777, on September 1st, Ji Xuanyuan found himself in peril, and the beasts launched a massive attack on the alliance.
In a critical moment, *the Sword Emperor*, *the Pill Emperor*, *the Wine Emperor*, and ten other emperors emerged, successfully repelling the beast invasion.
By Celestial Calendar Year 888, on November 11th, Ji Xuanyuan broke through the Great Emperor's shackles to reach an unknown realm and was titled the *Human Sovereign*.
In Celestial Calendar Year 999, on September 9th, the Beast Sovereign, *Di Tian*, and ten other beast emperors joined the Xia Rebirth Alliance.
In Celestial Calendar Year 999, on October 1st, the Xia Empire was reborn.
In Celestial Calendar Year 2000, a conflict broke out between the Human Sovereign and the Beast Sovereign.
The country was engulfed in civil war, and the beasts took advantage of the chaos, inflicting critical damage.
In Celestial Calendar Year 2005, the third princess of the royal Ji family and the second prince of the imperial Di family eloped out of love, giving birth to a son, *Yun Tian*.
In Celestial Calendar Year 2500, Yun Tian reached the Great Emperor Realm, and with his dual lineage, he successfully quelled the internal strife.
In Celestial Calendar Year 3000, Yun Tian broke through the Great Emperor's shackles, standing alongside the Human Sovereign and Beast Sovereign, and was later known as the *Spirit Sovereign*.
From that point, the Xia Empire entered a golden era of the three sovereigns ruling together.
In Celestial Calendar Year 3500, for the prosperity of the Xia Empire, the three sovereigns relinquished their power to the people. They hosted a grand banquet for the emperors in the capital and symbolically relinquished their military authority, creating a lasting historical legacy.
By Celestial Calendar Year 3510, a new government was formed, and the royal families and imperial clans officially withdrew from the nation's political stage—up until the present day.
Today is May 1st, in Celestial Calendar Year 12001.
Throughout history, Great Emperor powerhouses have made immeasurable contributions in humanity's defense against the beasts.
To honor the Great Emperors, families of these emperors are given the title *Imperial Clans*.
Wang Xianxian was born into one such family, the *Sword King Clan*.
The Sword King Clan's ancestor was none other than the *Sword Emperor*.
Thanks to the Sword Emperor, the Sword King Clan experienced unprecedented glory.
*A Great Emperor will not fall, and the Imperial Clan will never perish!*
As long as a Great Emperor exists, the Imperial Clan stands unshaken.
However, the unexpected—unsurprisingly—still happened.
Three thousand years ago, the Sword Emperor mysteriously vanished during an expedition into a secret realm, and his whereabouts remain unknown to this day.
Without the Sword Emperor, the Sword King Clan suffered retribution and suppression from its enemies.
Fortunately, due to fear that the Sword Emperor might not actually be dead, the enemies refrained from completely annihilating the clan.
With intervention from the state and the royal family, the opponents chose to back off and used a slow, weakening strategy to stifle the Sword King Clan's growth.
Thus began a decline for the Sword King Clan that lasted three thousand years.
By the time of Wang Xianxian's grandfather, the Sword King Clan had fallen to the status of a second-rate family.
On the brink of bankruptcy, his grandfather abandoned the Imperial Clan's dignity and arranged a marriage with a family of much lesser standing—the Mo family.
The Mo family had built its fortune on the spirit wine industry, and thanks to the high-quality wine they produced, they amassed considerable wealth.
The Sword King Clan needed this wealth to save their business, and the Mo family hoped to rise in status by leveraging the prestige of the Sword King Clan.
Ultimately, Mo Wange, the daughter of the Mo family, married Wang Jiannian, the third son of the Sword King Clan patriarch.
The Mo family showed the utmost respect to the Sword King Clan and spared no effort in helping them escape their crisis.
The two families lived in harmony for a time.
Life should have continued that way, but once again, the unexpected struck.
But this time, the incident was an earth-shattering joy for the Sword King Clan.
That afternoon, the strength of the Sword King Clan's descendants suddenly skyrocketed!
After consulting the ancient texts, the clan found the reason for the surge—*the Great Emperor's bloodline*!
An Imperial Clan is an Imperial Clan because its members carry the bloodline of a Great Emperor.
This bloodline blesses the descendants, enhancing their talents and strength.
What happened to the Sword King Clan's members that day was proof to the world that the Sword Emperor had not only survived but had grown even stronger!
In no time, this news spread across the globe like a storm.
Upon hearing it, the heads of various major families quickly shifted their attitudes, attempting to restore relations with the Sword King Clan.
After that day, the Sword King Clan regained its former glory.
They once again became the lofty *Imperial Clan*.
When a blind man regains sight, the first thing he does is discard his cane.
The sad truth about human nature is that those who return to power often treat the hardships they endured as unbearable shame.
And the Mo family became the greatest shame of the Sword King Clan.
As an Imperial Clan, the Sword King Clan had its own pride.
If they hadn't been desperate, they would never have married into the likes of the Mo family.
As a result, with their newfound resurgence, the Sword King Clan saw the Mo family as an eyesore and a thorn in their side.
The Mo family, with keen foresight, sensed the looming danger.
Mo Kang, the patriarch of the Mo family, made a decisive move—cutting ties.
By playing on family sentiments, the Mo family managed to avert disaster.
They relocated to the remote borderlands to rebuild their business, distancing themselves from the Sword King Clan.
However, Mo Wange, Wang Xianxian's mother, became the sacrificial lamb of this union.
At the time, Wang Xianxian had just been born.
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