3 I Have a Gift for You

"That moment is not mine to share." Those simple words deeply hammered Feng Wu Shuang's heart. The loneliness within them a reminder that her love alone could not fill the many pits left within her beloved's soul. The difficulty of the task, however, didn't deter her and as she rested her head against his chest, her desire to make up for all the injustice he suffered and erase all the scars was only strengthened.

"No matter what those bored immortals and commoners whisper, you are the eldest prince. No one can take that away. Both Long Wei and Long Ming must honor you as their elder brother."

"That is irrelevant."

Hou Hui cut while letting go of Feng Wu Shuang.

"In fact, hearing my name, anyone can guess that my birth was undesirable. From the moment I was born, I was bound to be suppressed. My bloodline and a part of my soul were sealed, thus making me unable to merge the ancient laws I've cultivated into one and achieving dao fusion. I have been at the peak of the Dao Threading Immortal realm for more than five hundred years, but because of that slight, I can never breakthrough to the Great Dao Immortal realm. That being the case, no matter how hard I cultivate, I cannot become a God."

Rumors claimed Hou Hui to be below the Life Immortal realm. In fact, Feng Wu Shuang included, the people who knew his true cultivation level could be counted with one hand. The reason for that was simple. Was the empress to know him to possess such a profound cultivation base, his days would most certainly be numbered. To have reached Dao Threading with no resources and an incomplete soul was a shocking feat that would worry too many. There was simply no advantage in revealing it. Moreover, if the problem remained unsolved, time would make a fool of him as his juniors would rise to higher cultivation realms while he remained stuck there.

"In fact, it would be better if he acted like Long Ming. I feel no malice toward Long Wei and respect his hard work and diligence. But I cannot appreciate his good will. I cannot reciprocate his affection because behind him stands the person most dedicated to preventing my growth. To be close to him is to harm myself, I cannot do it. And I certainly won't entertain gossip and invite mockery by standing amidst people who do not want me there. I am not that thick skinned."

Turning his face away from hers, he would gaze toward the ceremony, apathetically.

"Do you really wish to hide here for a lifetime?"

Feng Wu Shuang seriously asked.

"While you can deceive the many with your meek outer shell, I know you. Your heart is full of ambition, you do not believe anyone to be your equal and deeply resent the seal that prevents your cultivation from soaring. In the last centuries you've sent your incarnations across all the corners of the celestial realm under various disguises to seek answers on how to break the seal. Perhaps you've already found one. But even if that was the case, what next? Cultivate into a God and still hide like a turtle?"

To her harsh words, Hou Hui had no reaction and merely remained silent for an instant while still gazing toward the ceremony.

"In fact, you're overreacting. This is no cause for celebration for Long Wei or anyone for that matter."

The oddity of the words forced a frown upon Feng Wu Shuang's enchanting face. In fact, if she didn't know him better, she would have thought he was speaking out of spite.

"And why is that?"

"It's simple really. The ignorant immortals jubilate at this opportunity to ingratiate themselves with the future emperor while the knowledgeable deceive themselves into thinking that this shameful sham is truly an occasion to celebrate. Not only do they deceive themselves, but they also attempt to deceive those surrounding them with their counterfeit smiles."

He spoke with indifference as if those words that stepped dangerously close to treason were nothing special at all.

"Long Wei is the most pitiful crown prince in heaven's history; because Long Wei shall never be emperor!"

.....................................

With great fanfare, the ceremony had ended. But while many also wished to use that opportunity to pay homage to the Heavenly Emperor and congratulate him for having such a good son, they were quickly disappointed by his prompt disappearance.

Only the Heavenly Empress remained to entertain the guests which she did with great ease, earning praise in lieu of her husband. Meanwhile, Long Wei had adopted a rather morose stance, speaking only a few polite words and mostly distancing himself from the guests. Once they began making their way home, the Heavenly Empress, Yue Li, quickly pulled Long Wei back to her quarters.

"What is wrong with you? This is your big day, the first step in your ascension to the throne! Why does it feel like it was my investiture and not yours?"

She asked reproachfully. Though she had existed for more than a hundred thousand years, the weight of time had left no trace on Yue Li's bewitching figure. A hundred thousand years ago she was the most beautiful woman of the dragon race, and a hundred thousand years later it was still the same. She wasn't one for makeup, she disdained them as her natural charm trumped any handmade product the world had to offer. Six feet tall with exotic silver hairs held in a simple yet elegant twisted topknot and long slender legs which forced so many to shift their gaze to avoid bloody tribulations, her austere stance and the blazing, domineering look with which she deterred so many made her look like an inviolable goddess while still heightening her charm.

"I apologize for not sharing your joy, but you know I never wanted to be crown prince. I only wish to serve you and imperial father for a lifetime. The throne doesn't interest me."

Long Wei seriously replied.

"Silly child! You are the first son of the Heavenly Emperor, the number one son of heaven! The throne was yours since you were born! If you do not want it, who should it be given to?! I have not been preparing you for all those years to hear such childish remarks! When will you finally pull yourself together?!"

She roared with soaring displeasure. For thousands of years she had been trying to convince that radiant son of hers that his rightful place was on the heavenly throne. But to no avail. When it came to such matters, he was a brick and she couldn't understand where his heavy reluctance came from.

"I am not the first son of t-"

"You ARE!"

Yue Li firmly cut.

"Long Wei listen to me very carefully. You and only you can bear the title of first son. There is no other and don't you dare mention that bastard in my face. He's just a runt born out of wedlock and possesses no right or qualification to belong to this family. Why do you think he was not surnamed "Long?" Besides Long Ming and you the heavenly dragon family has no other imperial prince, and you have no other brother."

The mere mention of Hou Hui could kindle ferocious waves of emotions within Yue Li's heart. Long Wei always believed it went far beyond simple jealousy and that there was a deeper story buried underneath. But he didn't wish to probe those ancient secrets.

"Yet at the end of the day, he's still my elder brother. I have always treated him as such and always will. As for the reason why he doesn't bear our surname, you know the answer to that better than me since you were the one who fought so hard against it in the first place on the ground of his "unknown bloodline." You originally wanted to have him expelled but imperial father didn't allow you to. So out of spite you locked him in that cold marble palace for him to "to be thankful, disciplined and learn reverence and filial piety." A joke really."

"You!"

"I apologize for offending you imperial mother. I shall take my leave and cultivate in seclusion to reflect on my sins. You can also punish me however you wish, but please no longer insult my brother. As for that throne, if I live long enough to see father abdicate and there is no one competent enough to shoulder that responsibility, I will not shrink from my duty. But until then, please forget about it."

And with a sweep of his sleeve, he left, leaving a still fuming Yue Li alone to fall into her seat. However, not long afterward she calmed down with a firm look in her eyes.

"No matter what, I will make it yours."

.....................................

Meanwhile Hou Hui and Feng Wu Shuang had moved to the courtyard. A place of luxuriant foliage full of rare, mesmerizing flowers that shimmered with lifeforce and shouldn't have been present in this place.

"I've seen this place dozens of times but am still amazed. This place used to be abundant in yin qi and totally unsuitable for this kind of garden. But you actually managed to exile the yin qi and replace it with life qi. Then grew these plants out of your own cultivation base. How did you do it?"

"A magician never shares his tricks; a master never reveals his secrets. Cultivate for another thousand years and maybe I will teach you."

Hou Hui smugly said while stroking his beardless chin.

"Arrogant prick."

"Flattery will get you nowhere."

Feng Wu Shuang rolled her head in disbelief. That man could get so incorrigible at times that she wondered how she could endure his presence daily.

Quickly however, Hou Hui's face recovered all its seriousness and he said.

"I will soon descend in a mortal world."

"Absolutely not!"

She categorically refused.

"You have already crossed a line and risked exposure by sending your incarnations. Although your uncle has been helping you hide them from the empress, once you personally go it will be impossible to hide! What do you think will happen if she gets suspicious and has you followed?"

Those were valid concerns. The empress was oversuspicious in nature and would definitely have him tailed. He was aware of it. But still, he had to go.

"Worry not. She believes my cultivation to be stuck at Soul Transcendence and will definitely not send a powerful immortal to follow me. At best it will be a peak stage Life Immortal. At worst, it will be a Dao Revelation Immortal. To say nothing about Dao Revelation. Even if it is a Dao Threading Immortal, if I do not want them to see anything, there is nothing they can see."

"But…"

"This is not up to discussion. One of my incarnations found the trace of an ancient artifact I've been looking for centuries. Once I obtain it, even if I cannot solve my current problem, there is still hope for great improvement."

In fact it wasn't just improvement. That artifact was the last part of a plan he had been hatching for centuries and the true reason why he sent out his incarnations. As long as he obtained it, he could change his fate!

Feng Wu Shuang however wasn't that optimistic. Hou Hui had cultivated four ancient paths to the peak of Dao Threading and would have already achieved dao fusion was it not for his incomplete soul. For an immortal cultivator, the bloodline issue was demeaning but secondary. It was the incomplete soul that truly prevented him from breaking through. But the more ancient paths were cultivated, the greater the difficulty. Hou Hui had cultivated four which was already unparalleled in this generation. To go a step further would mean at least a fifth one which was not realistic.

"At least first go see your uncle. If you won't listen to reason you should at least seek his advice on how stay out of the empress' sight. He has been helping you for so long, I'm sure he must have prepared something for a situation like this."

"Isn't that more suspicious? The lonely prince visiting the Yin-Yang God seems more disturbing than a visit to the mortal world."

"But the Yin-Yang God is your uncle, and it is well known that he's the only one who actually cares about you so there is nothing wrong with it. Although it will be the first time you actually take the initiative to go visit him. No terrible thing can be said about it, and if he can help you cloud the empress' vision afterward, it is totally worth it."

She was right and he knew it. However, he owed that imperial uncle of his so much that he truly didn't have the face to go ask him for more. Without him, he would have never reached his present level of cultivation. Without him he would have probably be crippled in infancy by the extreme yin that used to shroud his entire palace, and without him, he would probably not be alive.

"Alright, alright. I will go. But before that, I have a gift for you. I know you've always disliked the cold atmosphere in my palace, so I've especially cultivated a pure yang orb for you. Once you refine and integrate it into your immortal core, not only will you never be bothered by cold places again, but you can also use it to break through to the middle stage of the Dao Revelation Immortal realm. It will also save you some time to reach the late stage."

Hearing this, Feng Wu Shuang was flabbergasted.

"How much time exactly?"

"Hm, about three quarters of the time."