Chapter 7: Forgotten Genius
Even though the outside hall was vast, the interior of the Changyang main hallways were even larger. Currently there were dozens of people strewn about, among them were a few middle-aged men who were dressed differently that stood out from the rest.
Bi Yuntian led Jian Chen to their seats in the front of the hallway. Those who had wanted to sit at the front had to have a high status in the clan, and since Jian Chen was the fourth son of the clan leader, he had the right to sit at the front. However, his own seat wasn’t created yet, so he had to share a single chair with his mother.
The lovable Jian Chen sat down on his mother’s lap gently and didn’t say anything.
In a flash, a line of people came streaming into the hall one by one before stopping in front of their seats. Among the newcomers was Jian Chen’s third aunt carrying her child along.
“Hey…fourth brother, today is the day you take the Saint Test. You have to work hard so you don’t let second sister down.” Changyang Mingyue’s pretty face smiled at Jian Chen as she spoke in a soft but enthusiastic voice. Although she was soft spoken, everyone in the hall had clearly heard who and what she was talking about.
“Ming Yue!” Her mother looked at her sharply as she spoke with soft rebuke.
Changyang Mingyue laughed and stuck her tongue out at Jiang Chen. Without any further words, she peacefully sat down right next to her mother’s side as her bright eyes blinked rapidly as she sized up the other people in the hall.
Soon enough, everybody in the hall were all seated while they all looked at Jian Chen from time to time with looks of expectations shown clearly on their faces. The reason why many people were gathered was due to Jian Chen’s Saint Test.
If it was any other child of the clan, then there would not had been such a massive turnout for the Saint Test. But Jian Chen wasn’t a regular child with no status; he was the child to the clan leader of the Changyang clan as well as having an innate talent blessed by the heavens. The whole clan had practically placed all of their expectations on this child, hence why when it was Jian Chen’s turn to undergo the Saint Test, every clan member would be there.
After all, Jian Chen had many different achievements under his belt, and the Saint Test would be another important milestone for him.
When everyone had settled down, Jian Chen’s father Changyang Ba stepped towards the middle of the hall and sat down on the throne that signified his status as the clan leader with a great blade right next to him.
Changyang Ba’s eyes stopped on Jian Chen for only a second but Jian Chen could see the faintest of smiles on it. Immediately afterwards, a voice spoke out, signifying the start of Jian Chen’s Saint Test.
“De Shu, I’m sorry to have you take control of the Saint Test ceremony.” Changyang Ba said politely towards the elder.
The elder looked to be around 60 to 70 years old white haired man who wore gray clothing. Although his face was full of wrinkles, his eyes were bright and filled with excitement.
The old man laughed, “The clan leader is too modest.” Walking towards the center now, he carried a smile on his face as he looked at Jian Chen before calling out in a friendly tone, “Fourth Master, if you please!”
Bi Yuntian looked at Jian Chen with a great look of affection and whispered, “Xiang’er, please go to where De Shu is standing so he can test for your Saint Force.”
“Okay!” Jian Chen said lightly. The clever child got off of his seat and with his small paces, he slowly approached to where the Elder De stood.
Without further ado, De Shu lifted his right hand where a small silver ring began to glow with a dazzling white light. Waving it over, the smallest of trembles could be heard coming from the ground before slowly increasing in sound. Right where there was nothing in front of them, a white stone half a meter large suddenly appeared. It was clear to see that the white stone had been polished countless of times; the entire rectangular shaped rock, the width and thickness was both at a meter long.
Looking at the newly emerged white stone, Jian Chen’s eyes blinked in surprise, he had felt quite curious about this stone but De Shu’s right hand had also caught his interest. He stared intensely at the ring on his middle finger, it was the ring he had seen from the books.
The Space Ring was made from rare but special materials, and could store items within the space of the ring. The smallest object it could store was a meter cubed, while the biggest object it could store was a hundred meters cubed. One could store and take out any inanimate object as they pleased. This was an item that was so expensive in the Tian Yuan continent that the common person would not be able to afford it.
Seeing Jian Chen looking at the Space ring adorned on his middle finger, De Shu laughed. Whenever he had summoned the white stone for the Saint Test, everyone around would give him the same exact look. In fact, he had seen the look so many times, he had lost count.
“Fourth master, please place a hand on the Saint Stone.” De Shu smiled.
The Saint Stone is a special rock that could measure the amount of Saint Force within a person’s body. Within the large Tian Yuan continent, there are many different items that could measure one’s personal strength. The Saint Stone used colors to represent a person’s strength–Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, and Purple.
Having the stone flash red meant that the person was still below a Saint in strength while an orange color meant that the person was at the same level as a Saint. The yellow color represents a Great Saint and blue meant the person was an Earth Saint Master. Lastly, a purple color represented a Heaven Saint Master. Any rank higher than the Heaven Saint Master like a Saint Ruler, Saint King, and Saint Emperor could not be ranked by the Saint Stone.
Hearing De Shu, Jian Chen focused back on the task and extended his hand onto the white stone called the “Saint Rock”.
At that moment, everyone’s eyes were focused on the Saint Rock. They all stood up in anticipation, anxious to find out how strong the gifted Jian Chen would be.
When Jian Chen placed his hand on the Saint Rock, De Shu extended his own arm to activate the Saint Rock through seemingly magical means.
Immediately, Jian Chen could only feel an odd type of energy pulse from the stone and into his arm. While the energy felt odd to him, it entered his body quite gently where it slowly circulated around before pulsing back out from his body and into the stone.
De Shu stared at the Saint Rock for any change in color, but after a short period of time, there was no change at all. Not even a single shade of color other than its original one could be seen.
“How is this possible, the Saint Rock doesn’t even have a sliver of color reflected!” De Shu couldn’t help but cry out in alarm. The smile that had been on his face slowly disappeared from his face and turned to look at Jian Chen’s own face with an odd expression. Neither of the two could believe what was going on.
Taking note of the look of shock on De Shu’s face and the still white Saint Rock, everyone subconsciously came to a realization. Their faces couldn’t help but slowly change as they looked at their neighbors, then back at the front. Blinking once, the look of abject bewilderment was noticeable on most people’s face while some people even sighed with looks of pity.
Changyang Ba’s face grew ugly while even Bi Yuntian’s face drained of color. Neither of the two looked as if they were refusing to believe the news.
De Shu gave a gulp, this result was unbelievable to even him. Immediately starting up the Saint Rock again, he had hoped that it was a mistake the first time. But alas, the tree had bore no fruit, and the rock no color.
Again, this result was inconceivable to De Shu. The fourth master had been called a gifted genius since he was born, but it had seemed as if he was nothing more than a cripple who couldn’t cultivate or use Saint Force at all.
De Shu couldn’t help but give a disappointed sigh as he looked at the silent Jian Chen with a complicated look. He turned around to face Changyang Ba, “Clan leader, the results are in. The Fourth master is unable to cultivate the Saint Force in any way.”
Upon hearing this declaration, Bi Yuntian’s face grew even more pale to the point that it was almost devoid of color. Looking at Jian Chen dumbfounded, she muttered, “That’s…that’s…not possible…how can Xiang’er…be a cripple…?” Right as she finished, her eyes rolled to the back of her head and crumpled down to the ground from her chair. For her son that was widely regarded as a genius to suddenly be found as a cripple, she couldn’t handle this shocking news at all. No mother in the continent would be able to, let alone a member of a very prestigious clan.
As everyone that had gathered around heard the results, they all gasped and looked at Jian Chen with pity and disappointment. Jian Chen’s aunts Yu Feng Yan and Ling Long on the other hand, let loose a breath of air. Seeing the mother and son’s unfortunate situation, the two aunts couldn’t help but rejoice silently to themselves.
“Ah, fourth sister…fourth sister, what’s wrong? Fourth sister, please wake up! Fourth Sister, please…please wake up!” Rushing to her side, Bai Yushuang anxiously tried to awaken the unconscious Bi Yuntian, but to no avail.
Hearing Bai Yushuang’s frantic yells, Changyang Ba immediately bounded over to Bi Yuntian and began to cry out, “Shuang Er, bring Yun Er to her bed!”
Even Jian Chen had rushed to his mother’s side without paying attention to anyone else. His right hand was already pressed against his mother’s wrist to check for her pulse. It took a few precious seconds, but he had eventually confirmed that his mother was in no immediate danger.
Jian Chen looked at his disappointed father amongst the crowd, and even he had felt helpless secretly. With a small sigh, he followed Bai Yushuang who was carrying his mother out of the hall.
“Ai…” Watching Jian Chen leave, Changyang Ba’s face clearly had a look of extreme disappointment. He had placed high hopes on Jian Chen before, but as the expectations were very high, so was the later disappointment. With this result in the end, his fourth son Xiang Tian was merely a cripple.
“Clan head, don’t pay too much attention to this. Although the fourth master cannot cultivate Saint Force, it doesn’t mean he isn’t a genius in other aspects or fields.” A young male clan member tried to console him.
Changyang Ba waved his hand and said sadly, “Let’s not mention this topic anymore. Everyone is dismissed.” Finishing his sentence, Changyang Ba stood up to leave the hall. Although he had acknowledged the fact that Jian Chen could be a genius in the other fields as said earlier, but Saint Force was the most important factor in this world, after all, strength is what mattered in the end.
The fact that the fourth son of the leader of the Changyang clan was a cripple spread throughout the Changyang mansion like wildfire. Some people regarded this new piece of information with joy while others were grievous. One thing was sure however; Xiang’er’s status in the clan would rapidly drop after this affair.
In a wide spacious room, Jian Chen sat quietly by the bedside. His tranquil face was dipped downwards and what he was thinking about was unknown to everyone else. His mother Bi Yuntian still hadn’t woke up, her eyes were still shut as she laid in bed. Aside from Jian Chen and some servant girls, only his third aunt Bai Yushuang and his second sister Changyang Mingyue were in the room.