Blood Baptism Ceremony!

Within a room inside the Palace of the Green Cloud Kingdom, Queen Lin was calmly sitting in her chair when suddenly, she heard a disturbance.

*Crack*

*Crack*

…

Multiple sounds of broken wood resounded throughout the room which made her serene face frown. She opened her eyes and looked towards a wall where seven inconspicuous wooden pieces had cracks in them.

"humph!" she coldly snorted and before long, a strong gust of wind came from the windows and seven black colored mists entered.

"Useless trash, you guys couldn't even kill a mere barbarian and his family. Why did I even made all those sacrifices to satisfy some garbage that couldn't even do a simple job?" she berated the seven mists that came from the windows.

"Forgive us master but we didn't know that the man had strength greater than that of a Bronze Combatant" A voice suddenly came from one of the black mist that entered.

When Queen Lin heard those words, her brows creased as she clenched her fists tightly, so much so that they turned completely white.

"I didn't expect a mere barbarian would have that sort of strength" the Queen commented while the gears in her mind turned as she thought of a plan. She turned towards the seven mists and ordered,

"Go and issue a bounty at the Blood Inn for the head of that barbarian"

"Master, how much reward should we place on their heads?" a voice came from another one of the seven mists.

"Fifty Thousand Gold Teals" she spoke without hesitation. All seven mists were shocked and couldn't react for a long while.

"Master, isn't Fifty Thousand a little too much? The Lin Family's annual profit is only 75 Thousand Gold" one of the seven mists wanted to dissuade her from such a hasty and dangerous decision. The Lin Family didn't waste their profits but invested it to make even more money and one never knows when one would need a huge amount of money for something.

Queen Lin looked at the one who spoke coldly, "Do you dare question my authority?"

The one who had tried to dissuade Queen Lin become terrified, "Forgive me Master. I shall immediately set off and fulfill your command" All Seven mists left the room in a hurry through the window.

The Queen was once again alone in room and it fell into a silence. She sat down in her chair and closed her eyes to rest.

.........…..

The next day, General Yang opened his eyes early in the morning and he was surprised to find out his mother, sister and cousin to be already awake as well.

"My cute Angel has awoken, who is the good boy?" Shang Gu saw General Yang wake up and skipped towards him. She started pinching his chubby cheeks playfully and rubbed her face on them as well. She didn't know why but she had always liked her little cousin's cheeks as they have never lost their softness even until now.

Tears were coming out of General Yang's eyes as his cousin was pinching and stretching them a lot. He was flailing his arms but the heartless demon was not freeing him of her vicious clutches.

"Alright that is enough Little Gu, let Yang'er freshen up. You still remember the house rules right?" Shang Xu, the previous Queen and General Yang's mother came to his rescue. General Yang rubbed his cheeks softly to ease the pain before looking up at his mother curiously.

"What rules Mama?" he asked. Hearing his question and sparkling eyes, it was Shang Shuan, General Yang's sister that decided to answer his question.

"Our Shang Family house rules are many but one of the most important is to wake up early for breakfast"

General Yang became happy internally because what he loved most was discipline. He hurriedly went to wash his face and freshen up lest he makes a bad first impression on his Grandfather and the rest.

….

Entering the Dining Room, General Yang and co. saw quite some people were already sitting and he also saw new faces as well.

"Ah Sister Xu, you're here. I was just about to go wake you guys up" the brown haired lady who escorted them yesterday, Sister Jessica came to them with a smile. She led the four towards the seats that she had reserved for them.

Sitting down, it wasn't long before the rest of the seats were taken and the entire house had come for the breakfast. General Yang was looking at everyone curiously while the other children were looking at him and his family curiously as well.

Although everyone was curious, they didn't speak and ate their breakfast silently. General Yang also didn't speak as he could guess that not speaking during a meal must've been another rule of the house.

The breakfast could be said to be extravagant. There were many kinds of meats that looked extremely juicy as well as a variety of milk as well. Some milk was sweet, some was sour and there were many other flavors as well but all of them were completely white in appearance. Apart from meat and milk, there was a wide assortment of eggs as well. The breakfast table had mostly meat and milk, there were some kind of brown bread but everyone ate only three slices of that.

General Yang noticed that it wasn't just him and his family that had a huge appetite but everyone else as well. The adults were especially eating a lot, more than five times he usually eats. Even the adult female ate almost more than twice his own. General Yang wondered what kind of bloodline he and his family possessed that allowed them to have such high intake.

After almost an hour and half, everyone finished their meal. Currently the table was looking completely empty with dishes the seemed to be clean and the food was about to be served. During the meal, General Yang noticed that everyone took little amounts before refilling even with their huge appetite. He did the same as everyone and finally at the end he discovered the reason.

Everyone had to clean their plates completely and if they took in large amounts and couldn't finish them, it would've been frowned upon and hence was the reason everyone too less amounts and refilled if they felt like they weren't full but he doubted they would be by eating at least more than half a ton of meat.

Except General Hu and his three sons as well as Shang Shuan, everyone else helped with the dishes and also cleaned them afterwards. Everyone returned back to the dining table and tea was served which helped with the digestion.

"Father, could you introduce us to the guests?" a dark brown haired girl asked while looking at Elder Ming and after that, she gazed at General Yang intently, his cheeks to be specific. General Yang's cheeks tingled and his danger senses were going through the roof. He fearfully looked back the dark brown haired girl and inclined towards his mother.

Elder Ming looked towards his daughter and then towards General Yang, "The black haired lady is my Sister and the current Queen of the Kingdom, Shang Xu. The black haired girl on the wheel chair is her daughter and the Princess Shang Shuan. The blonde haired girl is my niece from my late Sister, Shang Gu" Elder Ming suddenly stopped here and took a sip from his cup but General Yang as well as other mature people noticed the mischievous glint pass in his eyes. The dark brown haired girl waited patiently for her father to finish but even after that he was silent.

"And the cu- boy?" the girl quickly corrected herself and started tapping her feet in impatience. Shang Gu noticed this and smiled playfully. She could've introduced General Yang as well but she understood Elder Ming's show and played along.

Meanwhile everyone else opened their eyes in surprise to realize that they were in the presence of a Queen and Princess. Their eyes began sparkling with awe and admiration.

Elder Ming took another sip and spoke, "Ah~ this tea if very nice"

The dark brown haired girl was frowning and looking at her father with her fists clenched. Sister Jessica sighed and thought it was enough teasing and decided to introduce the boy herself.

"The boy is Sister Xu's son, and also a Prince, Shang Yang" Sister Jessica introduced which made the dark haired girl satisfied and happy. She stared at General Yang and pinched rubbed her fingers together. General Yang's cheeks were tingling nonstop and he cried internally at the bleak future he foresaw.

"I have been informed that today the family will start the Blood Baptism Ceremony" General Hu suddenly said. Everyone looked towards him and their expression became serious.

"Yes, Esteemed Father. The preparations are already underway. Within half an hour, everyone is required to gather at the training ground" Elder Yan replied to General Hu. He nodded and continued sipping his tea in silence.

Everyone else excused themselves prepare for the Ceremony. General Yang looked fearfully at the dark brown haired girl who glanced at him one last time before she left. Shang Gu from the side noticed this and looked at the dark haired girl with narrowed eyes.

'No one shall have thoughts about my angel. He only belongs to me' she thought with a sneer and followed her aunt back to their room while getting close to General Yang.

...…..

After half an hour, the entire Town was gathered at a large ground. Within this ground, there were many animals of different shapes and sizes and there seemed to be the cubs and children of these animals as well.

The larger animals were struggling in their binds and shaking furiously. They looked at the men standing beside theirs cubs with utter hatred. Every child bar General Yang become a little scared when they saw the angry animals shaking furiously and releasing killing intent.

"Bring every child towards cubs of the beasts" General Hu commanded and his voice resounded throughout the training ground. Every parent held their child's hand, even Shang Xu as well and brought them towards the men standing beside the cubs.

"Do any of you understand the situation these beasts and their children are in?" General Hu asked in a loud voice while also releasing his pressure to negate the killing intent that produced fear in the children.

The children felt relieved and looked at General Hu in puzzlement. They looked at the struggling larger beasts and the innocent and small cubs beside them who were trying to reach out to their parents.

"T-they want to go to their parents?" one child suddenly answered uncertainly. Everyone looked towards the child and saw it was a little girl.

General Hu nodded in towards the girl, "Correct, the cubs wants to go to their parents embrace. Now, tell me why can't they?"

Another child, this time a black haired boy answered, "Because we have caught them and separated them from each other"

General Hu looked at the boy and also nodded towards him. "Indeed we have caught them and separated them. In this situation what does it make us?"

"The controller of their life" General Yang spoke up. The adults looked at him in surprise because of the words he chose to speak. General Hu was nodded calmly once again but internally he was surprised and relieved at the same time.

'The event three days ago didn't affect him as much as I thought it to be. His will and mind is stronger than others' General Hu thought.

"What this child spoke is indeed the bitter truth of the world. The strong are the controllers, the masters of those who are weak. In this situation, we are stronger than these animals and so we could easily separate form their children and-"

General Hu suddenly stopped here and looked towards the men standing beside the parent beasts. As if waiting for the sign, the men beside the beasts moved. They unsheathed their sword and within a single strike, they ended their life by stabbing them in their heart.

"-take their lives" General Yang finished his words. All the children except General Yang become terrified and frightened. Their bodies shook in terror as they finally realized what General Hu actually meant. They looked at the cubs that began crying and tears came out of their eyes. The cubs started struggling in their binds and moved frantically.

"This is exactly the situation all around the world. Those stronger than you will easily separate you from your parents, brother, sister and loved ones. Those stronger than you would be able to kill them on their whim and you, who are weak, will be like these very cubs, powerless to do anything"

General Yang's words were like swords that stabbed their hearts. They looked at their parents with tears in their eyes, and hope in their hearts that all this was a lie, it wasn't true. But they were revealed to the bitter reality, their parents looked down and away, not meeting their eyes. They wanted to run to their parents and ask them but they were held back by the men standing beside them.

"Answer me, will you be like these cubs, powerless forever or will you stand, strive, shed sweat and blood to become stronger and take your own lives and the decision on what to do with it into your own hands and protect your mother, father, sister, brother and everyone else that you care about and love"

"If so, then take that knife and kill your own weakness and powerlessness by slaying the personification of helplessness"

General Yang released his battle intent and so did everyone else. The children, even General Yang himself felt their blood boil in excitement and lust, lust for nothing but blood and power. Everyone, as if being controlled by an unseen force, grabbed the knives in front of them and beheaded the struggling cubs along with their innocence.

General Yang himself was also drawn in by the hidden force, an unstoppable force within his blood as he killed the cubs. He felt excitement, and he knew that this excitement didn't originate from Soul as a General but his Blood as a warrior.

An unimaginably strong force came from within his very soul and they wrapped around the souls of the beasts and their cubs. General Yang once again felt primordial fear coming from these souls as they were absorbed mercilessly.

Unknown to anyone, yellow two eyes within General Yang's soul opened, showing satisfaction and approval before they closed once again.

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Author's Note:

Hey there everyone. By now, everyone must be thinking when will General Yang start cultivation. Welp, all i can say is that wait no more. The next chapter is where General Yang will start his path of becoming a badass dude.

Comment your thoughts on the chapter and I hope you are enjoying the novel so far.