Zhua Zhou Ceremony 1

To most babies, this ceremony was symbolic, but almost scripted. There was a reason why most children in the Li Clan chose Swordsmanship. Ever since they were born and was allowed to leave their courtyards, the parents would usually bring their child around the compound and one of the most common places to go was the training yard. At the training yard, almost every day, there were soldier conducting drills, waving their swords around and sparring against each other. The sword, being the most seen object, soon primed each child into choosing it as their symbolic item. Li Tian had already seen through this and sighed in dejection. 

'Why must I only choose from these five items? Why couldn't there be something related to technology?' Ever since Li Tian had entered this world, the thing he wanted most was to access the internet of this world. He craved the instantaneous gratification he could receive from entertainment sources. When watching 'Big Jack', Li Tian discovered that the world's animation skills were in fact better than his original world, making him curious about all the other types of entertainment. 

'The last thing I want is to be studying or risking my life everyday…' It was not wrong to say that Li Tian no longer needed to study hard. In the beginning, his Intelligence stat had been maxed out, and with that meant that he could remember or understand concepts at devilish speeds. Even with this advantage, Li Tian does not want to make use of it and would rather just play around. 

The other day Li Tian had asked his mother for a computer as he said that he was curious about it. Sadly, her reply was that in the Li Clan, Li Kui forbade children from possessing any form of technology until they turned 16. The patriarch lectured about how technology addiction was a serious problem in today's youths and he did not want his grandchildren becoming an internet addict. 

Li Tian could see the rationale behind his grandfather's words. Unfortunately, what made this sad was that before Li Tian was born in Terra, he was already an internet addict and an otaku. It was like asking an avid smoker to drop down from smoking two packs of cigarettes to zero. This rule was torture for the little baby. If it were not for the fact that he had a system that could provide him with animations to watch, Li Tian would've attempted to slip out of the Li Clan secretly to look for a computer. 

'Wait a minute…' Li Tian had a flash of inspiration. 'Couldn't I just choose the scroll and do Strategies? System, students learning strategies are given computers to do work, correct?' 

[Yes, students enrolled in a University's Strategy program are mandated to possess laptops for conducting battle simulations.] 

'Alright! I've decided on what occupation I shall pick then!' A smirk formed on Li Tian's face. To him, what was reading and understanding a few strategy books? Li Tian was confident that he would be able to skip a few grades if he showed that he was talented enough. 

'Once I have attained myself a laptop, all I have to do is act like I am hardworking, and no one would be able to discover what I am doing in the sidelines…' 

Two weeks later, as planned by the Li Xian and Ming Guang Rong, the Li Clan celebrated their youngest's first birthday in the Patriarch's dining quarters. Li Kui's home was certainly the largest out of everyone else's home and so, every major gathering would be held over there as there was more space. The people invited today were not only from the immediate family members of Li Xian, but also Li Xian's auntie's and uncle's families. Although everyone lived in the same compound, they rarely interacted with each other as they all had their own jobs and own family gathering. Only on important occasions would everyone gather together. 

Today, Li Tian looked especially cute and adorable to his family. The little intelligent baby had rosy cotton cheeks that were extremely squishable. Many of his cousins and aunts could not help themselves but squish his face. Li Tian could only bear with it for now as he was the guest of honour today. The baby wore a traditional blue silk wear that was custom-made for his slightly taller body. He wore a rounded hat that was also blue in colour. 

Since Li Tian could speak earlier than most babies, this was shocking to most of the Li Clan family members when the baby started thanking everyone for their well wishes. Unlike his past, Li Tian was born into a mega family and was given a diamond spoon. He knew that he was more privileged than others. In the Li Clan, there were hundreds of helpers that oversaw the logistics and cleaning in the house. As such, once everyone available today had arrived, the helpers started to take out the countless dishes. It made Li Tian, who was still on a liquid diet, extremely jealous. After all, he had the soul of an adult, but the body of a baby. 

Today, Li Kong, the youngest son of Li Kui and Li Kang, the second youngest son of Li Kui, was not able to attend the birthday celebration. Li Kong being the Divisional Commander of the Li Army, was sent on the secret war mission in the Scorch Desert, with Li Kang, the Head of Command of the Li Army, taking a crucial position in strategic positioning. Their wives and children were here without them, but their absence did not dull the cheerful atmosphere. Several of Li Xian's cousins were also not here today as they were either on an overseas trip or also taking part in the war. It was Li Tian's first-time meeting many of the youngsters that were either around his sibling's age or older. 

He could tell many of them were not interested in being here. After all, this celebration had nothing to do with him. The most notable older children that he remembered were his three first uncle's eldest children. He had long heard stories about the three eldest grandchildren of the current Li Patriarch. Li Bu, the eldest son of Li Kui, had a son in his early twenties. His name was Li Ze Ming, a year four student in the Sword and Saber Department of the Central University of Hua. He was the current Dragon of the university. 

In every major university in the Land of Hua, every student has a chance to compete for a chance to be in the University Dragon and Tiger Martial Ranking. A student was given an estimated rank by a battle system. Eventually, when one had a high enough rank, they were allowed to challenge someone inside the University Dragon and Tiger Martial Ranking. There were only 100 positions in this ranking. If a martial cultivator was able to enter this ranking, this meant that they were most likely going to be an influential martial cultivator once they leave the school. Only the first-place martial cultivator would be given the nickname of 'Dragon' and the second-place martial cultivator would be the 'Tiger'. 

This nickname of Li Ze Ming meant that he was already the best martial cultivator in the Central University of Hua, which was the best Sword and Saber Department in the land of Hua. 

The eldest son of Li Kang was a second-year student at the Central University of Hua. His name was Li Ming and was the grandson that Li Kui had bragged about in front of the other clan elder when Li Ming was still a toddler. Li Ming, however, was still a genius in his own right. He was currently the Dragon of the Second-Year Dragon and Tiger Ranking studying in the Sword and Saber Department. 

It could be seen that normally Year 4s in universities would dominate the University Dragon and Tiger Martial Ranking. As such, the schools had devised a First to Third-Year Dragon and Tiger Ranking that would separately classify each of the students within the year that they matriculated. Only Year 4s did not have their own separate ranking and would have to just compete against all of the other years. 

Li Ming was not only the Dragon of the Second-Year ranking, but was also ranked 76 in the University Dragon and Tiger Martial Ranking, which was very high for his age. 

The eldest son of Li Kong was Li Jun Xiang who just matriculated into the Central University of Hua. Unlike the other two, Li Jun Xiang had entered the Strategies Department of the Central University of Hua. Most of the student that entered a Lifestyle department, they would not be extremely proficient in martial arts. Li Jun Xiang was just as the stereotype had described. He was all brains and no brawn. Regardless, the young adult was already known as the Strategic Fiend of Central University, as he had led his mock army in his school competition and gotten first place amongst all the freshman of other universities.