4 Chapter 3: Cultivation

The tiger beast pearl can at least buy us a year's worth of time Li-li quickly help me set up the formation Qiang Zhi needs to rest the sword qui inside here is too dense for him to survive

Fragmented memories started flowing into the young boy's brain his name was Qiang Zhi, Qiang for power and Zhi standing for ambition his parents had given him this name in hope that he would have a pleasant and joyful life and become a powerful person in society.

His father was the Crown prince of the Shan domain {Mountain Domain} while his grandfather Lao Zhi was an emperor in the Monarch realm who had ruled for thousands of years but due to failing to comprehend the later parts of cultivation, his health was deteriorating thus a verdict was passed down on who was going to be the next king

Li Zhi being the second prince naturally couldn't let this occur. He was a natural born battle maniac and had achieved numerous battle achievements; in fact, his army was feared even in other continents gaining him the title of First General under heaven. He was a conqueror and he had his eyes on the throne his thirst for power was endless.

On the other hand, Ye Zhi decided to choose the path of a scholar filling his brain with a vast amount of information and was known as the Grand scholar though everyone knew that his ambitions were much grander and that he wanted to attain the title of sage. If anyone had asked who was the king of Mountain Domain it would undoubtedly be Lao Zhi but if the question was phrased in another way who ruled the territory then Ye Zhi would be the first, what surprised people most was that his cultivation was not lucking but almost on par with his brother.

The two duo then came to an agreement they both had influence in various places and their strength was on almost equal footing even if they had a battle the win would not be easily decided thus,

The battle of the throne was decided to be carried out by their children, the condition was whoever's child had superior talent would win the challenge and the loser had to be imprisoned in the ancestral grounds.

but the unexpected happened Qiang Zhi had a damaged soul when he was born this meant that he would never go past the spirit realm through his talent was graded as peak epic this alone was enough to enable him to inherit the entire Domain instantaneously and no one would dare to oppose, even the neighboring domains would curry favor with him.

Zhi Ruo had a peak rare talent although not as outstanding as an epic grade it still held a tremendous sway on the path of cultivation and not many had such a grade but it was clear she was going to be a powerful person in future and his father being a strong general many favored him, also knowing that he was going to be the future king, no one questioned when he was imprisoned for a year on the ancestral grounds.

The ancestral grounds was a sacred place for the residents of the kingdom but at the same time a deadly place it was a trial by fire meant to nature the younger generation, those who succeeded profited tremendously and those who failed were assimilated into the ancestral grounds and that was the majority only a few had ever passed and the last one to undertake the trials was the emperor.

It had already been a year since entering the ancestral grounds, the air was filled with sword qui making nothing visible it was like a dense mist beneath the mountain in the early morning, once the protective shield had used up all its energy the sword qui rushed inwards filling in the gap and penetrating into Qiang Zhi body, his skin turned pale as the final breath left him he died.

"Revolve"

Ye Zhi tried to infuse his profound energy to help but nothing happened his expression became ashen his strong will crumbled, the soul ripping agony pounded on his heart like a master crafting a divine weapon, weakness sipped deep into his bones making him fall down on his knees, he regretted it every single thing, he couldn't hold back his tears. If only I didn't fight for the throne......…

"Revolve"

Li-li was silent as streams started flowing down her chicks through the sword qui assaulted her she poured all her profound energy synching with her husband to protect their son. They knew he was dead but that silver of hope still lingered on their soul. They would perish together if need be.

"I haven't seen you grow yet please don't die on me"

"your mother loves you"

"Revolve…Revolve"

Plop!

Black filth poured out of his body making it pure and null of any impurities, like a vortex the surrounding sword qui was absorbed by Qiang Zhi flowing through his channels and nourishing his bones the pain wasn't something a normal baby could withstand but currently he was unconscious in a half-dead state otherwise the pain could have made him regained his consciousness

Each and every part of his body absorbed the sword qui converting it to sword essence making him have a silver glow, this continued for a full day with him having absorbed almost half of the sword qui that filled the area his strength having soared to the late stage of mortal realm.

He finally opened his eyes his path had just begun he would protect everybody this time he had made a promise and it was also his will

"Sword body realm complete ha-ha"

His laughter astonished the couple for a second

"Thank you ancestor" Ye Zhi shouted at the top of his lungs

Then they all joined in laughter they believed the ancestors had heard their cries and blessed their son Qiang Zhi blinked for a moment in confusion but started laughing happily again and hugging his mother never wanting to let go. He had seen how much his parents cared for him in this life and at that moment he swore to make them happy. He was going to be strong

The Ancestral Sword Scripture was the cultivation manual that he got from the Dao temple it was so profound that it made him want to cry when he received it none the less the requirements to train in it was so hard that he almost wanted to puke blood. Yet the power it held was unquestionable plus that elder was fated with him. The ancestral scripture was divided into three major realms; Body, spirit and soul and each realm sub dived into two minor realms transformation and link.

Transformation transformed the body spirit and soul to that of the sword while link linked it to the essence of the sword. Each of this realms needed a humongous amount of sword qui to advance and the crucial part was that one needed to reach the body transformation stage before the age of three years old. Normally elders would assist in the process by using various means but only the major sects had the techniques which the guarded heavily. Qiang Zhi had barely touched the Body link sword realm and had not entered it yet.

Though the reincarnation hall guaranteed revival it didn't foolproof for example if someone was killed yet you reincarnate only to be killed again by some misfortune you wouldn't be given a chance or if your will wasn't strong enough to live then you would suffer true death

Qiang Zhi was in such a situation had he not been in the ancestral grounds the chances that he could have died were pretty high but luck favoured him and his strong will made him pass through the ordeal.

The second part of the ancestral sword cultivated mental energy the Luminous Sword heart this was even more difficult than the later not only did one need lots of resources but ones comprehension had to be outstanding

"That old geezer told me I should cultivate both at the same time sigh will I even be able to form any mental energy?" he thought as he fell asleep.