Chong Yang sounded proud when he mentioned their history. However, Tianming caught onto something and asked, “The Ancient Devil Arm? Is there any origin to this arm?” Tianming had expected his father to be powerful, but he didn’t expect his father to be this powerful. Top three in the Theocracy of the Ancients?
“No. Who knows what’s going on with that arm? It’s just a name that I gave it,” said Chong Yang.
“Alright, what happened then?” Tianming thought they knew the secret to the arm.
“What happened after that? That was the beginning of our clan’s disaster!” Chong Yang was furious when he mentioned it.
“What happened?”
“On a certain day over forty years ago, Li Muyang entered the palace and stole the foundational treasure of the Ancient Theocrats, the Cyclic Mirror!”
“That’s it?” Tianming was a little puzzled.
“Not only that!” Chong Yang’s eyes turned savage when he recalled the past. “When Li Muyang stole the Cyclic Mirror, he also killed the Primeval Autarch’s only daughter. It was his favorite princess! That day, the entire nation was shaken and the Primeval Autarch went after Li Muyang personally, which left him seriously injured. But in the end, he managed to escape and could no longer be found. Since that day, the entire Ancient Qilin Clan was punished with the lifetime curse. Even today, every newborn of the clan must be given the curse. No one in the clan can escape this fate, not even us!” Chong Yang’s eyes turned bloodshot.
As he spoke, he gently lifted the hair covering his forehead and revealed a hideous black mark. The mark looked like a wildbeast that was composed of strange heavenly patterns. It looked similar to the Purple Blood-Imprint. With just a glance at it, Tianming felt his scalp going numb. No wonder Yun Zhenzhen also wore a headdress; it was probably meant to hide the mark.
“Do you know what this means?” Chong Yang questioned furiously. It seemed like he had diverted all his anger at Li Muyang onto Tianming. Gnashing his teeth, Chong Yang continued when Tianming shook his head, “It means slavery!”
Tianming trembled when he heard that. At first, he had thought these people just hated the mark for how it looked, but seeing the grief and anger in Chong Yang’s eyes, he suddenly felt a little complicated. He knew what slavery meant. However, Tianming knew that it wouldn’t be that simple, and asked, “What effect does it have?”
“Forty years ago, the Ancient Qilin Clan was the second largest clan in the Theocracy of the Ancients, and had a long heritage. But because of this curse, our clan became weak and declined. From that day on, we were forced to move from our ancestral land and build our new Manor City in the Infernal Soul Purgatory! In the past, only war criminals and villains were used to suppress the Infernal Soul Race in the Infernal Soul Purgatory. But now, that duty belongs to our Ancient Qilin Clan!
“Every single clansman of the Ancient Qilin Clan has to spend six months every year in the Infernal Soul Purgatory to maintain the operation of the Infernal Soul Barrier after the age of five. Otherwise, our curse will break out and kill us! During those six months, we’re not allowed to cultivate. So how are our descendants supposed to catch up with other geniuses? This was all given to us by the sinner, Li Muyang! If he didn’t steal the Cyclic Mirror and kill the princess, how could the Ancient Qilin Clan suffer such a disaster?” Chong Yang was venting all of his anger on Tianming.
“Li Tianming, you also won’t be able to escape from the curse!” Even Yun Zhenzhen was tearing up as Chong Yang spoke. She had been entering the Infernal Soul Purgatory since she was five. If she added all that time up, she had stayed there for seven years. And the Infernal Soul Purgatory wasn’t a place people should stay. Although Tianming didn’t know what the Infernal Soul Purgatory and Infernal Soul Race were, he could tell that it was a painful memory, judging from their expressions.
“You’ll be given the lifetime curse when we return. After all, you’re the son of Li Muyang, so you should stay in the Infernal Soul Purgatory for the rest of your life, atoning for your father!” Yun Zhenzhen’s eyes flickered with lightning.
“Yun Zhenzhen, what did you say his name was?” The three exalts looked at Yun Zhenzhen with shock in their eyes. They realized that they still hadn’t asked about Tianming’s name.
“Li Tianming.…” Yun Zhenzhen was baffled as she answered. Was that a strange name?
When Chong Yang heard it, he roared into the sky and glared at Tianming, “You have to change your name! This name is a taboo in the Theocracy of the Ancients. It’s a name that the Primeval Autarch has forbidden!”
“Li Muyang, are you trying to challenge the Ancient Theocrats? Trying to challenge the Primeval Autarch by giving your son this name?!” Jing Yue roared.
“What’s wrong with it?” Tianming and Yun Zhenzhen were both at a loss. Most importantly, Tianming’s name was given to him by his mother, Wei Jing. After all, Li Muyang had fled shortly after the deed.
“That’s because the princess that was killed forty years ago was called Jiang Lingjing, and her title was the Skyfate Princess, which is the same as your name, Tianming!”
Skyfate Princess? Tianming felt as if he had been punched in the head as he started to feel confused. Feeling a headache, Tianming asked, “May I ask what’s the ‘Jing(婧)’ used in Jiang Lingjing’s name…?”
“The combination of Nu(女) and Qing(青),” said Chong Yang.
Wasn’t that the same ‘Jing’ used in his mother’s name? Tianming felt a greater headache when he heard about that, and tried his best to calm himself down and sort out his thoughts. Firstly, my father killed the Skyfate Princess, Jiang Lingjing, and stole the Cyclic Mirror. My mother’s name is Wei Jing, and she gave me the name Tianming. Then, my mother went on a trip together with my father? Holy shit! The more he thought about it, the more confused he got.
“You have to change your name!” said Chong Yang.
With Chong Yang suddenly breaking up his train of thought, Tianming became even more confused, and it took a long time for him to get everything clear. Why do I have a feeling that this matter isn’t so simple? Li Muyang stole the Cyclic Mirror, killed the princess, and ran into my mother during his escape? What was the motive for him to steal the mirror in the first place? It doesn’t make any sense. Wasn’t he going to become the strongest in the Theocracy of the Ancients? Just what happened forty years ago?
For some reason, Tianming felt that all the answers were in the Divine Capital. He really wanted to know more about his father, and to look at the place his father grew up in. He wanted to know if his father had really committed an unforgivable sin. Anyway, he refused to believe that his father was such a villain. At the very least, his father didn’t sound like a villain, judging from what his mother told him.
The Divine Capital! But will these three people try and force my father to come out? Perhaps I’ll be able to find my answers at that time. The answers were all waiting for him in the Divine Capital.
“May I ask about my father’s relationship with this princess before the whole event occurred?” Tianming asked.
“I heard that your father killed the Skyfate Princess out of rage because he couldn’t get her!” Yun Zhenzhen mocked.
However, Tianming didn’t listen to her, but was waiting for Chong Yang’s answer. Forty years ago, Yun Zhenzhen hadn’t even been born yet, so how could she possibly know anything?
“They were lovers.” Chong Yang chuckled.
Yun Zhenzhen was surprised, as she had never heard about it. It was obviously different from what was circulating in the public!
“So why did he kill her, if they were lovers?” Tianming asked.
“It’s because they were lovers that he managed to coax her to steal the Cyclic Mirror before silencing her! Otherwise, how do you think he managed to steal the treasure?” Chong Yang mocked.
“What a bastard!” Yun Zhenzhen cursed.
In the end, Tianming took a deep breath to calm down. He’d decided that he had to figure out the truth, no matter what he had to face. There was no way he would take Chong Yang’s word for everything. Then again, Tianming had an intuition that came from his bloodline. He didn’t think that his father, whom he had never met before, would be someone that everyone hated.
……
It took them four days to reach the Divine Capital, even with the stunning speed of the Solar Flying Disc. High in the sky, Tianming could see the boundless city down below. But rather than calling it a city, it was more like a piece of territory that was equivalent to a fourth of the Grand-Orient Realm. However, he knew that it must be packed with people.
There were five rivers that converged in the Divine Capital, rippling with majestic waves that made them look like five stretches of seas instead. Tianming could sense the sheer density of the spiritual energy—this place far exceeded the Grand-Orient Sect and Heaven’s Elysium. It was no wonder that the Theocracy of the Ancients had built their capital here. It was also said that this place was the core of the Flameyellow continent. Although they had just arrived, Tianming was shocked by the majestic and ancient aura.
“The Ancient Qilin Clan’s Manor City is located in the southeast region, and beneath it is the Infernal Soul Purgatory. Furthermore, the only entrance to the Internal Soul Purgatory is located at the center of our Manor City. In the future, you’ll be spending a lot of time there until your father comes back to atone for his mistake. Then again, you probably won’t have a good time there, as the son of a sinner,” said Chong Yang.
“What are the Infernal Soul Purgatory and the Infernal Soul Race?” Tianming asked.
“You’ll know about it when you go in,” Jing Yue sneered.
“Have you thought of a new name?” Ling Xing asked. They would have to depend on Tianming to change the name. Otherwise, it would be useless, as long as Tianming introduced himself as Li Tianming.
“I won’t be changing my name,” said Tianming.
“Very well. Your name will definitely anger the Ancient Theocrats, and at that time, not even the Decimo Dao Palace can save you,” Ling Xing scoffed.
“The Decimo Dao Palace? What’s that?” Tianming caught onto something that Ling Xing had accidentally leaked. Sure enough, Chong Yang and Jing Yue both glared at Ling Xing when they heard that. However, no one explained anything to Tianming.
“I’ll first throw you in the Ink Manor when we return. I bet Li Muyang has a lot of relatives that want to meet you. From now on, you belong to the Ink Qilin Branch,” said Chong Yang.
“Ink Qilin?” Tianming still remembered that Mu Yang’s lifebound beast was a water and earth-type Ink Qilin that was the same as his Primordial Terraqua Dragon.
“Tomorrow, the Ancient Qilin Clan will hold a family meeting, and under the witness of everyone, we’ll impose the curse on you. Then, we’ll throw you into the Infernal Soul Purgatory!” said Chong Yang.
“You’re going to make it so grand?”
“How can your father come to learn about it if it’s not grand?” Clearly, their objective was not only to let Li Muyang learn about it, but also a declaration of their loyalty. The Ancient Qilin Clan naturally wanted to atone by personally sending the sinner, Li Muyang, to the Ancient Theocrats.
“Now, we’ll go to the Ink Manor!”