Chapter 1 - Awakening of the Martial Spirit
On the Canglan Continent, one had to awaken their Martial Spirit in order to become a Martial Artist. Only through the awakening of their Martial Spirit would they be able to communicate with the Heaven and Earth and absorb the Spiritual Qi in order to progress in their cultivation.
There exists many different kinds of Martial Spirits, simply too many to count. They were separated into four great ranks: Huang, Xuan, Di and Tian. These ranks were divided even further into ten more grades.
The higher the rank of the Martial Spirit, the stronger the speed, capability, and potential of the cultivation. Thus, the chances of becoming a formidable expert in the future would be even greater.
Presently, in Luo River Kingdom, Linshui City, the Qin Clan were holding a Martial Spirit Awakening Ceremony.
Atop a pitch black altar sat a cross-legged disciple with handsome facial features and his face filled with pride. Beneath the altar was a crowd of the Qin Clan’s disciples as well as their elders.
This disciple was ’Qin Changkong’, he was the son of the Qin Clan’s Supreme Elder. Within the Qin Clan, he was only second to the Young Lord of the Qin Clan, Qin Nan.
For that reason, the disciples around him, as well as the elders, held a hint of expectation on their faces.
At this moment, the pitch black altar began to move as it emitted threads of white light. It was like a dream, like a fantasy; it was as if it had manifested into large transparent serpents, making its way into Qin Changkong’s body. One could see it incessantly circulate within his body with just the naked eye.
Hu!
The roar of a majestic beast suddenly resounded from Qin Changkong’s body.
Immediately, yellow rays protruded from the back of Qin Changkong’s body. When the fifth yellow ray appeared, the silhouette of a colossal, fierce and malevolent white tiger manifested. It was as if the King of Beasts had descended upon them and issued a ferocious and formidable roar.
At this moment, all the elders and disciples present felt a huge sense of oppression.
“This….” The elder responsible for the ceremony was dumbstruck before immediately composing himself. He wore an incomparably excited expression as he cried out, “Five golden rays! Five golden rays! This is a fifth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit! A fifth-grade Huang ranked Beast Martial Spirit!”
This sentence was like a bolt of frightening thunder as it was thrown into the crowd of people, causing the complexions of the entire crowd of elders and disciples to erupt.
“What!? A fifth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit?”
“Heavens! This time our Qin Clan has actually produced a top-rated genius!”
“......”
The complexions of the present crowd were filled with great shock, they felt that this result was inconceivable.
It had to be known that if a fifth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit was placed within Linshui City, it would still be a top-rated genius which only appeared once every three years. Moreover, the achievement of those who had fifth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirits or above would be limitless and of great importance.
They originally thought that Qin Changkong could only awaken a fourth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit.
Qin Changkong’s face revealed a delighted expression, he also did not anticipate that he would unexpectedly awaken a fifth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit.
Upon seeing the astonished gazes of the elders and disciples, Qin Changkong couldn’t help but give birth to great arrogance within his heart. His gaze swept across the room before landing on a disciple with a plain appearance. Qin Changkong’s eyes were filled with provocation.
This disciple was the current Young Lord of the Qin Clan, Qin Clan’s number one genius, Qin Nan.
“Alright, next! Qin Nan!” The elder in charge of the ceremony quickly reacted and immediately shouted. A trace of expectation rose within his eyes.
Now that a first-rate genius like Qin Changkong had appeared, then based on Qin Nan’s innate talent, his awakened Martial Spirit naturally wouldn’t be any worse than Qin Changkong.
In that case, possessing two first-rate geniuses would cause the future of the Qin Clan to be no small matter.
Accordingly, after the elder in charge had called out this name, the currently astonished disciples and elders all turned their gazes towards the average looking youth in unison with high expectation within their eyes, so much that it even exceeded their expectations for Qin Changkong.
Qin Nan. Not only was he a legend within the Qin Clan, but he was also one in Linshui City.
Qin Nan was the son of the head of the Qin Clan. At a young age, he had learned how to read and write by the age of 6; and by 8, the fame of his calligraphy had reached Linshui City. He then abandoned literature for Martial Arts at the age of 9, practiced Fist Art by the age of 10, and by the time he was 11; he was able to bare-handedly hunt tigers. He practiced saber arts at the age of 12, mastered ten different Martial Skills at 13, and was struck by lightning at 14. This caused his entire body to become wounded. By the age of 16, he was able to create a Saber Skill which was classified as a middle-grade Martial Skill, causing a huge shockwave throughout Linshui City.
Previously, an expert whose cultivation had reached “Martial Emperor”, had heard about Qin Nan’s accomplishments, and stated, “This disciple’s innate talent is no small matter; his awakened Martial Spirit will definitely be of fifth-grade Huang rank or even higher! His future accomplishments definitely won’t be normal.”
That single sentence from the Martial Emperor had a great effect. Qin Nan hadn’t even awakened his Martial Spirit but was already granted the title of Linshui City’s number one genius.
Qin Nan wore a pitch black gown, and along with his slightly pale skin, it seemed as if he had just recovered from a serious illness. Under the crowd’s attentive gaze, his complexion seemed extremely tranquil; he had no arrogance or impatience as he walked towards the altar.
“Hu! This day has finally arrived…..”
Qin Nan thought to himself as he took a deep breath and ignored the gazes of the crowd, he then sat down cross-legged before tightly closing his eyes.
Immediately, threads of white rays floated from the bottom of the altar, incessantly boring into Qin Nan’s body.
At the same time, after the surrounding disciples and elders saw Qin Nan enter this state, they began to seethe with excitement.
“I have a feeling that Young Lord Qin Nan’s awakened Martial Spirit will not be a simple matter!”
“Yeah! Young Lord Qin Nan’s innate talent is higher than Young Master Qin Changkong who had awakened a fifth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit, therefore it’s certain that his Martial Spirit will also be even greater!”
“Someone surpassing a fifth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit? Since the beginning of the Qin Clan, there hasn’t even been a single one!”
“Shut up! Don’t disturb Young Lord Qin Nan! If something were to happen, would you be able to take responsibility?”
The atmosphere was incomparably passionate. Other than the generations of youth revering, there were even some elders who were praising without cease, their heart was filled with great expectations.
However, as Qin Changkong witnessed this scene, his former happiness and arrogance from awakening a fifth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit instantly disappeared, his complexion turned extremely ugly.
“Humph! Our Martial Spirits are decided by the heavens, everything else doesn’t count.” Qin Changkong commented coldly, “Are you guys seriously thinking that a fifth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit is worth nothing? Do you think you have the ability to awaken it? It’s possible that when the time comes, Young Lord Qin Nan’s awakened Spirit might only be of a second-grade Huang rank!”
Following his words, the gazes of the surrounding disciples and elders carried despise as they looked at him.
However, these disciples and elders did not retort, after all, the current Qin Changkong possessed an innate talent of a fifth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit; his status was of great importance.
Qin Changkong was being frowned upon by everyone. Although he was in a bad mood, his heart felt increasingly calm. Qin Nan’s innate talent had been on display ever since he was a child, it even caused the Martial Emperor to be astonished. Hence, his awakened Martial Spirit couldn’t possibly be of a mere third-grade Huang rank.
As he thought about this, Qin Changkong gazed firmly at the altar.
“Qin Nan, you better awaken a Martial Spirit which is lower than fifth-grade Huang rank, or at least one that doesn’t surpass a fifth-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit….”
Qin Changkong couldn’t help but curse Qin Nan.
At this moment, the fluttering lights which were emitted from the altar began to shine brighter and brighter.
As he sat on the altar cross-legged and basked under the white rays, Qin Nan’s face slightly turned red. From within his slightly weak and thin body, a sharp and dreadful roar of a beast resounded.
The whole crowd practically stopped breathing at the same time as they heard this roar.
A “Boom” sound echoed forth and a yellow light abruptly ascended from within Qin Nan’s body. Under the gaze of the nervous crowd, the ascending yellow light unexpectedly came to a stop, followed by a great saber wreathed in flames which gradually floated out from within the yellow light.
In just an instant, the disciples and elders immediately turned stagnant.
One yellow ray? First-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit? The lowest type of Martial Spirit? How could this be possible?
Even Qin Changkong who had just been incessantly cursing Qin Nan was stunned, his face filled with astonishment. Qin Changkong didn’t expect that Linshui City’s number one genius, Qin Nan, was only able to awaken a first-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit, the poorest type of Martial Spirit!
As he sat atop the altar cross-legged, Qin Nan slowly opened his eyes and was met with the idle expressions of the crowd.
“Scarlet Flame Saber, first-grade Huang ranked Martial Spirit…..”
Qin Nan read the sentence within his heart before his mind jolted and he retracted the floating Scarlet Flame Saber into his body. He did not show sorrow nor despair, instead, the corner of his eyes glimmered with concealed delightfulness.
Translator: Tofu
Editor: Mantou (Special thanks to Zihan for proofreading)
