8 - 14

Chapter 8: Worldly Affairs

Translator: DavidT Editor: celllll

As time passed, Ling Tian had arrived in this world for a year already. It was the 7th of July the next day; it was also Ling Tian's birthday and the Ling family had already made preparations for a large banquet. It was also the "one-year-old catch" for young master Ling as well. To the Ling family, this was an extremely big event with all the upper echelons within the Sky-Bearing Empire coming to witness the event. At the same time, they will also have a meal and bootlick the Ling family. [1]

A year was enough for Ling Tian to understand many things. With his intelligence, the conversations amongst his family members were enough to give Ling Tian a basic understanding of this world. But as he became more informed about this world, Ling Tian became more and more confused.

This world, or rather, planet, was extremely different from the Earth which he lived on in his previous life. However, there were many similarities between them. On this planet, there were three large continents: Heavenly Star Continent, Heavenly Sun Continent and Heavenly Wind Continent. The continent which the Ling family was in was the Heavenly Star Continent. All of the three continents were separated by a large ocean.

However, the humans on the three continents were not as complicated as those on Earth. The inhabitants on the three continents were all of the same skin color. If they were to be compared to the people on Earth, they would be the yellow people representing the Chinese people. It is as though this planet was completely ruled by the yellow people. Furthermore, those demon clans, bestial humans and magic which Ling Tian imagined were non-existent in this world.

On the Heavenly Star Continent, the Sky-Bearing Empire was not the only empire. There were a total of seven to eight large and small empires. The relationships among the empires were not able to escape from mutual deception and war. However, the strengths of the various empires were similar with their territorial lands evenly divided. As such, all of the empires all covetously eye on one another, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

What made Ling Tian the most surprised and puzzled was that the culture on this planet was essentially the same as that on Earth. Here, they also revere Lao-tze, Confucius, Mencius, Han Feizi and others. At the same time, everyone here spoke Chinese as though it was a planet-wide language.

In this world, there was also martial arts. However, as compared to the various sects on Earth, the martial arts in this world was just too pathetic to be compared. Almost all of the martial arts techniques here focused on external martial arts. There were only a few martial arts manuals which were able to allow one to cultivate inner Qi.

The battles in this planet were fought by cold, hard steel all over. If Ling Tian were to compare the state of this planet to Earth, the state of this planet would be like the Sui and Tang Dynasty, where technology was extremely lacking.

Ling Tian lamented to himself, "With the amount of knowledge I have, I can be said to be like a super prophet on this planet. Goodness, just how would I be able to keep a low profile? Almost everything I say will be like the perfect edition. Furthermore, there are no computers on this planet, no internet, no television or any media. The most ridiculous thing is that there isn't even the most basic media like newspaper! Not to mention the fact that there aren't the XuanHuan or Wuxia novels which I like to read…"

"F**k!" As Ling Tian thought about all of these, that was the first word which floated up in his mind! How can I survive like that! Ling Tian was completely frustrated.

After taking a look at his grandfather's study once, Ling Tian completely gave up. In the large study, almost all of the books were narrative history and could be said to be the most hypnotic type of books. Apart from the one book called "Legend of Heavenly Star Emperor", the rest of the books were filled with derogatory praises which can make a person puke for a full three days and three nights after reading it. Only his grandfather would be able to pick it up and read it happily every day! From time to time, he even recited them out loud with joy...

The thing which Ling Tian's grandfather liked to do the most was hug his grandson while holding a biography in his other hand. He would then read it out and attempt to influence his grandson with culture. After going through a round of that, Ling Tian completely did not like his grandfather anymore. That feeling was even worse than when he was beaten up in the garbage chute and had his martial arts crippled in his previous life. If he had a choice, Ling Tian would rather sit on the Tiger Bench than hear his grandfather recite. [2]

My goodness! Even the words 'completely frightening' can barely explain just how it feels. I believe even Buddha would not be able to endure it! Out of helplessness, Ling Tian could only find a hypnotic martial art from his memory and practiced it bitterly. He did not expect it to have any other use other than to hypnotize himself when he was suffering from cultural influence by his grandfather.

As such, from that day on, whenever his grandfather hugged him for a session of cultural influence, Ling Tian would hypnotize himself and the effect was wonderful!

Ling Tian became silent. He was completely pessimistic and disappointed in this world. He had lost all confidence in this world.

If not for the fact that it was just too rare a chance for him to be reincarnated with his memories, Ling Tian would most likely have stopped eating to commit suicide.

In that year, the only thing which Ling Tian gained was that the pure XianTian Qi had finally entered the first stage with the help of the Divine Dragon Shaking Formula.

Do not look down on the fact that it was only the first stage. You have to know, Ling Tian used pure XianTian Qi to set the foundation for the first stage of the Divine Dragon Shaking Formula! In the martial arts world, this was something which only existed in legends! This meant that Ling Tian would never face the difficulties of breaking through the different acupuncture points which normal martial arts cultivators would face. As long as he continued to cultivate, the Qi absorbed would be transformed into pure XianTian Qi in his body.

If the meridians of an ordinary martial arts cultivator were like small streams with many obstructions, then the meridians in Ling Tian's body were like large smooth flowing rivers! The both of them just cannot be compared with each other! The difference between Ling Tian and an ordinary martial arts cultivator was like a pauper born into a poor family and a prince born into the imperial family!

After entering XianTian, the biggest benefit was that one would never enter cultivation deviation. In this year, Ling Tian had entered into a martial arts world which he could only dream of entering in his previous life: immersing himself completely in martial arts without any worry of disturbances. Due to the fact that he still had to play the role of an infant who did not know how to walk or speak, he had a full 24 hours each day to cultivate.

This was also something which could not be avoided: If Ling Tian were to run around the place and spew vulgarities from the day he was born, no one would think that he was a genius. Instead, they would only think that he was a monster!

When he was tired of cultivating his inner Qi, Ling Tian revised all of the martial arts formulae which he obtained from his previous life to ensure that they were all still committed to his memory. In this planet where martial arts knowledge was scarce, Ling Tian knew just how large the wealth of knowledge he had was! If he were to casually use any of these martial arts formulae from his mind, it would be enough to cause a large earthquake on this planet! All of these would be the treasures for him to build his legend and protect his life in future and nothing could go wrong with them.

After carefully sorting through all of the martial arts formulae in his heart, Ling Tian began his next step. That was to sort through all of the martial arts techniques in his mind which consisted of various fists, swords, palms, movements and many other techniques.

In his previous life, Ling Tian's martial arts was crippled. After being saved by Ling Meng'er, he stayed by the shore of the Eastern Ocean alone and the only things which entertained him were online games and novels. Because he had a martial arts background, he was naturally more interested in fighting-type games. As he sorted through all of the martial arts techniques, Ling Tian had once again found the feeling of playing online games!

Of course, the greatest difference between playing online games and what he was doing was that one was killing in a virtual world while another was a simulation of battles in his mind. Although both were virtual in nature, Ling Tian was able to emulate all of the actions with his own limbs now. As such, the moves which Ling Tian simulated were those of close combat to achieve a one-hit kill.

It must be said that it was indeed a large job for Ling Tian to sort through all of this information. There was an uncountable amount of information in Ling Tian's mind and it was simply impossible to sort through all of that in just a single year. Thus, Ling Tian only picked and chose those which he felt was more important. His first choice was to protect himself especially since he felt so helpless and unsafe. Thus, his safety was his utmost priority.

As Ling Tian lay in the cradle, he closed his eyes, looking as though he was silent and contented. But in reality, his mind was moving rapidly and incessantly.

[1]: This is an event where various items such as books, brushes, abacus and many more would be placed in front of a child for him to pick one. The item which he picks would be indicative of his inclinations in future.

[2]: The Tiger Bench is a cruel method of torture used in China which may result in death.

Chapter 9: Yang Family Head

Translator: DavidT Editor: celllll

Ever since he first lay on the cradle in this life, Ling Tian fell in love with such a feeling. It was as though he had returned to the ocean, the only time in his past life that he could ever feel at ease. Lying on the cradle gave him the impression that he was on board his yacht, facing the sunset and feeling the waves bob the boat up and down. As such, for this period of a year, Ling Tian spent almost half of it lying in that cradle.

"Tian'er, my darling." A gentle voice drifted over, causing the corners of his mouth to unconsciously tug upwards into a happy smile. With hands as delicate as snow and soft as cotton, they lightly pulled him into an embrace. Looking upwards, a tender and warm face filled his vision, with eyes full of indulgent love. This was Ling Tian's mother, Chu Ting'er. Beside her was a middle-aged man, about thirty years of age, with a squared face streaked with resoluteness. Hmm, he could still be considered handsome. A gentle smile rested upon his face, akin to the spring winds, and an expression of satisfaction could be seen from his eyes. This could only be his father, the one who possessed the most authority in the military inside the Empire, the Head General Ling Xiao.

Ling Xiao stooped over, giving Ling Tian's delicate baby face a light kiss. The stubble on his face felt like steel needles, bringing a brief moment of discomfort to Ling Tian, to which Ling Tian glared at him in unhappiness.

"Haha, this little fellow seems to be unwilling, hmph hmph… I'll give you more to be unhappy about, haha!" As he spoke, Ling Xiao gave him two more kisses. Ling Tian ended up with a face full of saliva.

Chu Ting'er playfully pushed her husband to the side, saying, "Shoo shoo shoo, your beard is so stiff, you're prickling the baby."

"Hahaha, is that so? Why didn't you voice it out last night then? Heh heh heh… Aiyah!" Ling Xiao spoke, only to have the tender part of his waist being severely pinched by an angry and embarrassed Chu Ting'er. Ling Tian did not need to cast his eyes over to guess how wretched his father's face was right then. At that point, he suddenly understood this famous saying from his previous life: love and pain will always go hand in hand.

"Our son is just beside us; what nonsense are you spouting now? To think you are already a father!" Still simmering with the remnants of her anger, Chu Ting'er rebuked huffily.

"Hehe, what can this small child possibly know? Don't you agree with me, son?" With the reply appeared a handsome face in front of Ling Tian, winking at him.

"Hmph! Woo… stop meddling!" Hearing the voice of the close-to-exploding Chu Ting'er suddenly become much softer, Ling Tian looked over, only to see her buxom and towering chest being impressively covered by a lecherous hand softly massaging it.

Ling Tian was filled with fury! F**k, are you treating me like I'm invisible by displaying such poisonous scenes to corrupt a young person's mind so publicly? Ling Tian angrily grabbed onto that lecherous hand, viciously hauling it off.

"Hahaha! Our son is blaming me for infringing on his territory, hoho!" A crisp and bright laughing voice sounded out.

With her chest finally freed, Chu Ting'er, with a face flushed with embarrassment, spoke half laughingly and half in embarrassed anger, "You baddie!" This soul-stirring sight moved Ling Xiao and he couldn't help but lightly grasped onto his wife's slender waist and moved towards her mouth.

"Dong!" However, a kick on his stomach from Ling Tian, still in his mother's embrace, effectively shut him down.

"Hahahaha! This little fellow is so domineering!" The couple laughed out together this time round.

A pair of footsteps was intermittently heard as it drew closer, before the person spoke, "Sire, Madam, the guests have arrived. The Grand Sire requests that Sire and Madam make their appearance." The voice belonged to a delicate and pretty-faced servant girl standing beside the couple who lightly whispered to them.

"Ok, I understand. Go tell the Grand Sire that we will be right there."

"My goodness, this should be the Young Master right? Ever since this old man stepped out of Phoenix Cry this year, it is my first time seeing a baby! This is a little token from me, nothing great." Carrying their son, Ling Xiao and his wife had just walked into the grand hall when a viridian colored jade charm floated in front of little Ling Tian.

"Sir Wang came all the way from another kingdom, braving much hardships. How could I accept this sort of generous gift from you? Please retract your gift sir," Ling Xiao courteously replied.

This Sir Wang was an old man with a snow white beard and a body covered with well-made robes. Both his hair and beard were meticulously trimmed and one could tell that he paid the utmost attention to his bearing. Ling Tian curiously opened his eyes, only to see Sir Wang showing his displeasure by blowing up his beard.

"General Ling's words have a problem there; this gift was presented as a token for your son's first year, and not for General Ling. With so many imperial officials on scene, General Ling doesn't have to worry about any possible imperial impeachment because of bribery!" The crowd burst into laughter at his words, echoing his sentiments.

He had to be joking; Ling Xiao was currently akin to the Right-Hand Minister, with authority below one and above tens of thousands. Even if an official was tempted with greed, who would dare to go onboard this tiger to pick its fleas? Impeach him? That person had to be sick of living! The officials present all thought silently to themselves: This old man Wang just caused all of us to break out in cold sweat with that one joke!

"Hahaha, if that is the case, it would be disrespectful for me to reject you. Then, let this Ling accept your gift in place of my son." Ling Xiao only cracked a smile, seemingly unaffected by this matter.

"No, this is exactly the opposite; it is General who is giving me respect instead!" Ling Tian could not help but roll his eyes; it seemed like this person was going all out to flatter his father, so he couldn't possibly be part of the enemy camp.

"Has this little brat been named yet?" A similarly white-haired old man moved over this time. Ling Tian received a shock. He was already a year old, but it was the first time someone had dared to call him "little brat" in front of his grandfather and father. It seemed like this guy was not as simple as he seemed.

"Hehe, Old Yang, this old man here handpicked the name. He's called Ling Tian, isn't the name splendid?" His grandfather, Ling Zhan, stood up as he spoke while laughing. As he listened, the more Ling Tian felt that something was wrong. Although Ling Zhan's words contained a trace of laughter, Ling Tian could sense a deeply buried hint of coldness. It seemed like this Old Yang… wasn't a simple person at all.

"Pa! Pa!" As Old Yang lightly clapped, he praised, "Indeed your style, Grandfather Ling, to even give such a domineering name to your grandson. Good, such an imposing name, hahaha! I desire to rise above the heavens, mm, what a good name this is!" [1]

As he finished speaking, the whole hall of over tens of people immediately fell into absolute silence!

This Old Yang's words could be said to have committed a capital offence. The emperor was also known as the heavens, and yet Ling Zhan gave his grandson the name of Ling Tian. Even though it could be passed off as a joke, one could also frame Ling Zhan for heresy.

"Hehehehe, this statesman is too polite. Just like how your grandson was named Yang Huang, this old man got a rude shock when I heard it that day, wondering when the Yangs actually gave birth to an emperor. Hehe…" Ling Zhan's eyes flashed with a chilling ray, not yielding in the slightest. [2]

Ling Tian was enlightened, as so it turned out, this old chap was actually the head of the Yang family, Yang KongQun. They were the only ones out of the six great family clans in the Sky-Bearing Empire who had the ability to contend against the Ling family. So they were the bad guys. No wonder his face looks like it is constantly asking for a beating! Ling Tian thought to himself angrily.

"Hahaha, so from your Old Ling's words, ordinary folks are prohibited to name their children with the characters of 'dragon' or 'phoenix'? Aren't you being too much of a nitpick, Old Ling!" Twirling his goatee, Yang KongQun spoke smilingly.

"Hehehehe, if a single phrase from this old man is nitpicking, is it logical for you to talk about my grandson?" Ling Zhan was full of anger. Damn that Old Yang. When his grandson was born, Ling Zhan had gone there with good intentions to congratulate him. However, not only did Yang KongQun not return this favor, he chose a day like his grandson's first year celebration to pollute the atmosphere! If he had known this was going to happen, he would have stirred that wine he prepared for Old Yang's grandson's full month into a pot of mixed soup before sending it to them!

Both old men glared at each other like cocks fighting for supremacy, neither willing to compromise. The surrounding civil and military officials could only look at each other in dismay, keeping mum in fear.

These two men were people in the Sky-Bearing Empire whose feet could cause the land to shake by just a mere step, and whom their own classes could not afford to offend. One was the Ling family's clan head, the Empire's number one Duke, parent of the imperial consort and Head General; the other was the Yang family's clan head, the current Prime Minister of this empire, father of the present empress, father-in-law of the current emperor!

If one were to seek death and attempt to interrupt them, they would bring upon themselves a disaster of epic proportions. Those seated nearer to both the old men started to wipe their sweat surreptitiously while edging backwards. All came with good intentions to flatter them and get into their good books, yet they ended up in the middle of a battle between the apex powers of the Empire. The crowd could only lament their misfortune.

Yang KongQun puffed up his goatee and said, "Old Ling, this old man here was only making a casual remark. When did I ever say that your grandson's name wasn't good? This old man here came with good intentions to congratulate you, but look at you, repaying kindness with animosity." [3]

Ling Zhan drew back the corners of his mouth, forming a smile that was not really a smile, as he retorted: "That is true. Both of us old fogeys gave good names to our grandchildren. However, this old man's grandson's seems to be brighter than yours, heeheehee."

Yang KongQun decided to quit while he was ahead and only chuckled, "You may say that, but this old man is much busier as compared to you. Haiz, I have to placate three grandsons every day, and the worst part is that I still have two granddaughters. One minute I'm carrying one, the next, another; this gives me backaches. This kind of hardship is hard to endure. Unlike you, Old Ling, who only has one and is so free, only having to carry him once every few days. You even have time to spend taking care of your garden. What an envious lifestyle!" As he spoke, the latter hammered at his waist in pretense with a face full of grievances.

Although Ling Zhan was fuming deep inside, he could not come up with a suitable retort. His family was small in number, especially so in Ling Tian's generation, where only "One seedling could be seen in a three thousand miles plot of land". [4] Yang KongQun's words were obviously targeting at the fact that his house was not as flourishing as his. However, the truth was as such, and Ling Zhan could not straighten his back from this insult. He could only hatefully glare at his son as he scolded, "Useless thing!"

Ling Xiao had his arms coiled around his wife and child all this while, engrossed with watching the two old men fight it out. How could he have foreseen disaster falling from the sky? Now that his own father's anger was directed towards him, he could only shrink back without a word, putting on a bitter expression. If his father were to suggest that he take a concubine in front of the crowd, he would be placed in a difficult situation.

Chu Ting'er's face was red with embarrassment and anger. Stretching out her slim fingers that were smooth as jade, she gave her husband's waist a vicious pinch and twist. As a daughter-in-law, she naturally could not speak out even if the Grand Sire's mouth was without tact. However, by her side was a human punching bag; it would be a waste if she did not utilize it!

Ling Xiao could only draw in a breath of cold air, grimacing in pain.

Ling Tian's little face appeared to be excited at the whole lively scene that was unfolding in front of him. However, he was actually sneering to himself: Old Yang, you need not look so pleased. Since you dared to offend this Young Master here, I'll make sure I'll send your three grandsons into the palace to be eunuchs in a few years' time and trick your two granddaughters over to be my concubines. Then I'll see how arrogant you can be! Heh heh heh…

Upon seeing the battle between the two come to an end, the crowd could also finally breathe easy. They immediately burst out into idle chatter in an attempt to shift the attention of the two old men away from each other in case they decided to go for another round. If they were to start another battle, then wouldn't everyone that had come here today seem like they were here for the purpose of watching a show instead of celebrating? Furthermore, how could anyone of their class be able to such a fiery show without penalty?

Conveniently at that moment, an earth-shattering sharp voice sounded from the front door, "The Emperor, Empress and the Imperial Consort have arrived!"

[1] The surname "Ling" in Ling Tian's name can also mean to rise high(er). In this case, paired with his name of "Tian", meaning sky or heavens, his name means to rise higher than the heavens itself.

[2] The "Huang" in the name Yang Huang is a homonym that sounds like emperor. Thus, the grandfather was rebutting that they named their child as an emperor, which was also treasonous.

[3] Actual phrase for "repaying kindness with animosity" was supposed to be "Dog Bites Lü Dongbin". The original phrase says "狗咬吕洞宾,不识好人心", which is trying to say that the dog (person) cannot tell the good person's intentions and thus bites the hand that feeds it.

[4] "One seedling could be seen in a three thousand miles plot of land" literally refers to the fact that Ling Tian was the only offspring of his generation. Do note that the Chinese mile is only 500 meters.

Chapter 10: Framing The Queen

Translator: DavidT Editor: celllll

Ling Tian almost laughed; he finally heard the classic script line.

In his past life, he was pulled by his sisters to watch a few different dramas, especially those of the Qing dynasty. There was always an official crying out like that. As such, the most memorable thing Ling Tian had about those shows was the phrase, "The emperor has arrived!" He thought that he wouldn't be able to hear it anymore after entering a different world! Who would have thought that it would still be shouted out in reality? Ling Tian could not help but think to himself, Don't tell me this line also came to this world with me?

As everyone stood up to receive him, a man who looked about 30 years old dressed in a yellow robe walked in front. He had an average-sized figure and showed signs of putting on weight. His nose and mouth were lifted with an aura of nobility surrounding him. Beside him, there were two beautiful ladies dressed extravagantly. Standing beside each other, they each had their own separate kind of beauty.

Ling Tian knew that one of the two was his own aunt. With a single glance, he was able to immediately identify her. Perhaps, it could be said that he was able to do so even before looking. The lady to the right of the emperor who emitted a chilly and irritable aura was definitely not his own aunt. The lady to the left of the emperor who had a friendly aura and was beaming with excitement to rush over was definitely his aunt, Consort Ling Ran.

After paying greetings to everyone, Ling Ran ignored her status as a consort and ran over, snatching Ling Tian from Chu Ting'er's bosom. The next instant, Ling Tian's face was full of saliva from her kisses, "Hahaha, little thing, you're finally not asleep! Aunt has come over to check on you a few times but you were always asleep like a pig. I say, little thing, were you born in the year of the pig in your previous life? Stupid little pig, fragrant little pig, aunt's Ling Tian piggy... Hahaha…"

Ling Tian broke out in sweat! This aunt of mine is really so... valiant! To think that she has come to see me a few times already. What a pity that I have always been asleep...

"Hahaha, sister-in-law, this little child is so fragrant. He is such a cute little piggy! He is just too beautiful to death! Ah! No no no, I can't say death! Let aunt kiss you again!" Ling Tian stared at his overly enthusiastic aunt with anger. Aunt, although I am your nephew, I am not a clump of dough. It hurts to be rubbed all over by you, you know?

"Haha, since younger sister loves to have a son so much, you should find the time to have one with the emperor. Then you will be able to play with him all day, hahaha." Chu Ting'er teased Ling Ran softly.

"Ah, sister-in-law, you're being annoying. Little Tian, hahaha, you're so fair. This aunt just can't get enough of you. Brother, look at little Tian Tian's eyes. Wow, he has double eyelids. Also, also, his face is just so comfortable to rub... Ah, what are you doing? Quickly return him to me!" Ling Xiao could not bear to see his son get bullied by Ling Ran like that and snatched his son back. Then, he scolded sternly, "You are already a consort; how can you be so unrestrained without bearing your image in mind? Can't you be more refined? You better be careful that the emperor doesn't divorce you! What? Let you hug him for a while longer? My son's face would be all bruised by you if I were to allow that!"

A yellow-dressed figure then walked in front of Ling Tian and said, "Haha, how would I do that? Ran'er's temperament is just naturally so lively. After so many years, she is still as lively and innocent as ever. We really like him. Hahaha, come little boy, let your uncle give you a hug." Following the gentle voice, Ling Tian felt that he was in the arms of another person. He then opened his eyes and looked carefully at the emperor's face as though he was extremely curious. In actual fact, Ling Tian could see the expressions hidden under the emperor's eyes extremely clearly. [1]

This was the advantage a child had. Facing a one-year-old child, everyone's guard would inevitably be reduced greatly, revealing the thoughts which they would usually hide completely. After all, even if the one-year-old baby was a genius, just what would he be able to understand?

But no one would ever guess that Ling Tian actually had a mental age of 26 years old! At this moment, Ling Tian could see the complicated look in the emperor's eyes. There were a few elements of joy, worry and contradiction. Plenty of emotions flashed by his eyes and they were all committed to Ling Tian's memory.

Following which, another pair of fair hands hugged Ling Tian. Those were the hands of the empress who had been standing behind the emperor. Ling Tian knew that the empress, Yang Xue, was the precious daughter of the Yang family head, Yang KongQun. This lady was also the person he wanted to meet the most after he knew that someone wanted to poison his mother and him! Ling Tian then lifted his head and observed this lady closely.

Unsurprisingly, this empress lowered her head as though she was only focused on teasing Ling Tian who was in her arms. But from Ling Tian's angle, he was able to see a hidden coldness in her heart together with a deep hatred and worry! However, she was still able to betray her heart and said, "Emperor, take a look at how cute this child is!"

Ling Tian's face turned cold. This lady is definitely related to that event! She is definitely going to be a trouble eventually! Now that I have not grown up yet and am still unable to protect myself, it would be best for me to find a way to restrain her. I must definitely restrain her power!

Very quickly, a cunning smile appeared on his face; Ling Tian had an idea. As though he was mumbling something, he stretched out both his hands, with one of them grabbing a strand of hair by her cheek and the other pinching the jade peaks right in front of him. At the same time, he struggled and bit down…

"AH!!" An ear-piercing shriek sounded and the empress let go both of her hands. One of her hands reached out to her hair while the other to her chest. As for Ling Tian, his small body began falling to the floor. The surface of the hall was made of solid limestone. Everyone then began to exclaim and Chu Ting'er almost fainted from shock.

While many words would be required to describe the scene, it all happened in an instant. Ling Ran who was the nearest had rushed forward, saving the small Ling Tian right before he fell onto the floor.

The whole event took place at a lightning-fast speed; Ling Tian was already in Ling Ran's bosom before everyone even got to react to the situation. However, everyone clearly saw that the empress was the one who let go of the child all of a sudden. Her action simply looked like it was premeditated. Furthermore, the emperor and royal uncle Yang KongQun actually did not have any reaction when the child fell down. Instead, the one who caught the child was Ling Ran who was slightly further away.

The next moment, everyone was dumbfounded and the place was filled with pin drop silence! Everyone all thought, Sh*t just got real. Things probably won't end so easily! Everyone present is extremely worried. This matter can be big or small. If it is small, the emperor will just suppress the matter and ensure that everything is status quo on the surface. If things get blown up big, it wouldn't be impossible for both the families to fight. If something like that happens, the winds in the Sky Bearing Empire are going to change for sure!

However, what everyone did not see was the delightful smile on Ling Tian's face. The 20 to 30 strands of hair on his right hand silently fell and left no trace on him. As for his left hand, he rubbed his index finger and thumb together as he wore an evil smile on his face, reminiscing something.

"Empress, what is the meaning of that? How can you bear to harm such a small child?" Ling Ran, who was hugging Ling Tian, still had a lingering fear as her body trembled slightly. The moment she composed herself, she began to roar like a lioness. Following which, Chu Ting'er clumsily sprinted over with a face full of tears. She hugged Ling Tian's small body tightly in her arms as her body trembled and she began to whimper.

Ling Zhan's beaming face turned ashen as his eyes turned red. He glared at the empress who was in panic with a killing intent rising in the atmosphere! Even though he was in front of the emperor, he did not conceal it in the slightest! Ling Xiao's face was completely dull without any expression, with his hands holding on to the hilt of his sword!

Facing Ling Ran's interrogation, the empress's face turned pale as panic filled her eyes. She then stuttered, "No no no, it wasn't on purpose. I... just now, that child... He… pulled my hair. He... pinched my… He... I... I really didn't do it on purpose, emperor!"

A wave of killing intent towards the empress filled the place and the atmosphere became deadly. All around, everyone from the Ling family was filled with a killing intent as they grabbed the hilt of their swords. The empress couldn't bear with the pressure and broke out into tears.

The emperor's face turned ashen and he shouted out with a wave of his sleeves, "Men, send the empress back to the palace!" At this moment, the emperor was already certain that this was definitely a conspiracy between the empress and her father. However, this conspiracy was just too brainless; she actually enacted such a lousy act in front of the emperor! Did they really think that the many officials and generals present were idiots? Now that they created such a huge trouble, how would he be able to settle the matter easily? A chill flashed past as he looked at Yang KongQun! It seemed that he had given them too much leeway!

"Wait!" Ling Zhan squeezed his way out of the crowd and said, "The empress is going to leave like that? Don't tell me you are not going to give this old man here an explanation?" The chill in his tone was like the chilly winds blowing from hell.

Duke Ling was enraged!

This was something intolerable! The Ling family had a single descendant for three generations and his son had no activity for five to six years after they got married. After waiting for so long, his daughter-in-law's stomach finally rose up as she gave the Ling family a new child. Everyone in the family was extremely careful when taking care of him, caring for him as though he was tofu. But never would he have expected that on such a joyous occasion, Ling Tian would be almost killed by this woman under the watchful eyes of everyone! Too bold! So what if you're from the Yang family? Don't tell me this old man here would not dare to kill you!

Yang KongQun also became flustered as he stepped forward and anxiously replied, "Duke Ling, everyone saw that it was a misunderstanding!" Knowing that they were in the wrong, Yang KongQun had already lost the pride his displayed earlier. How could he still be concerned about his face at such a moment? Thus, he lowered his pride.

Ling Zhan laughed out loud as his voice became solemn, "Misunderstanding? HAHAHA, misunderstanding? Yang KongQun, you old bastard! You dare say that such a thing was a misunderstanding? My grandson was almost killed in the hands of your daughter and you dare brush it off as a misunderstanding?"

Yang KongQun was enraged by the fact that he was called an old bastard. However, he could not do anything about it. As sweat filled his whole face, Yang KongQun held on to the arm of Ling Zhan and said, "Old Ling, listen to me, this was indeed a misunderstanding. This, this, sometimes, people's hands would slip…"

Ling Zhan's face changed, "Slip of hand? Yang KongQun, what if this old man has a slip of hand too?" A chilly voice sounded. The killing intent within it was not concealed at all. "This old man's hand will slip towards the three grandson of yours. Yang KongQun, what do you think about that?!"

[1]: In China, the emperor likes to address himself as "we" instead of "I".

Chapter 11: Empress Yang Xue

Translator: DavidT Editor: celllll

"Elder Ling!" At the side, the emperor finally could not bear to continue sitting on the sidelines, lest this hot-tempered Duke Ling really gets rid of the three grandsons of the Yang family. When that happens, the matter would be irreparable and even his Sky Bearing Empire would follow both their family clans and disappear from the face of this earth. "No matter what, it was the empress's fault today. Elder Ling can be assured that I would give Senior an appropriate answer!"

The emperor had no other alternatives. He was the monarch of a nation, but he just can't afford to provoke these two old men! He had no choice but to put down his pride and hold his grievances inside his heart. He thought to himself: In all the generations of emperors, I am probably considered the most cowardly and spineless one. Now, there are two people in the court whom I do not dare to provoke! If it wasn't to maintain the stability of this country, why would I bother to suffer such anger?

Since the emperor had spoken, even if Ling Zhan was unwilling, he still had to give face to the emperor and back down. After all, he was the emperor. Besides, with all the civil and military officials present, if he were to slap the emperor's face in front of so many people, it would be the end of the line for his family even if the time has not come. It seemed like Ling Zhan still had to bide his time for the matters of the empress.

Furthermore, after the momentary rush of anger, Ling Zhan's head also gradually cleared. He began to find the matters a little too outrageous to believe; knowing how devious Yang KongQun was, how could he resort to carrying out such a joke of a plan? They had competed their whole lives, and Ling Zhan was very clear that this was completely not his style. Thus, he could only shake his head with a face full of depression.

The empress YangXue was then escorted by Yang KongQun himself back to her palace since Yang KongQun himself was unassured of her safety. As the head of the Yang family, Yang KongQun was naturally extremely familiar of the ways his opponent Ling Zhan worked! This guy was naturally lawless and fearless; even though his daughter might have been crowned Empress, in that old fogey's eyes, the title had no meaning. And if it went from push to shove, Ling Zhan would not have any second thoughts. If no one was able to give a satisfactory explanation to the latter for today's incident, with a suitable compensation, it didn't matter that his daughter had the title of Empress – her head would still roll!

Before they left, Yang KongQun unexpectedly turned his head back to stare directly at Ling Zhan. He spoke in a heavy tone, "Ling Zhan, we have fought with each other for our whole lives; you know me as well as I know you! If I really wanted your grandson's life, how would there be such a situation as today's taking place? While I may not be able to take care of your entire Ling family, do you think the life of this little thing would faze me, Yang KongQun?"

Yang KongQun was extremely direct and serious in his manner of speech, showing how unbridled he was! As he spoke, all civil and military officials including the emperor were at the scene. Such lawlessness! However, Yang KongQun knew that only by doing so could he even have the chance to protect his daughter's life. Only by doing so could he restrain the raging flames of Ling Zhan's anger.

Furthermore, although such words seemed to be filled with a bold spirit, this undoubtedly served as a form of explanation to Ling Zhan, and Yang KongQun was undoubtedly admitting his weakness. Following this line of thought, this showed that he was admitting his inferiority in his heart. To such a prideful person like Yang KongQun, this was worse than death. However, Yang KongQun had to do such a thing, because no matter how brash he was, he could not be compared to Ling Zhan who did not even recognize the heavens if he were to be riled up! This old fogey could literally do anything and everything!

Hearing this proclamation from Yang KongQun, the emperor's face twitched slightly. However nasty-sounding the words were, it was actually the best method for the imperial family. At the very least, both families would not cause any trouble in the near future.

However, deep in his heart, the emperor Long Xiang was feeling terrible. In his life, he had never wanted to exterminate the two unbearably domineering great families as much as today! He was clear that as long as both of them continued thriving, the imperial family's standing would forever not be rock solid and stable. And yet, if one of them were to fall, then the entire Sky Bearing Empire would follow suit and collapse!

It was either that both of them would survive, or if not, both of them would fall. There was no third option! Thus, he could only endure.

Having finished what he wanted to say, Yang KongQun turned around to leave. Ling Zhan stood with furrowed brows, deep in thought for what seemed like half a day before he suddenly smiled. As though nothing had happened, he exclaimed, "For all of you great lords for making the effort to attend this ceremony today, this old man expresses his utmost gratitude! Especially the emperor, who specially took time off his busy schedule to grace my humble home. This truly makes this little old man's face glow in happiness. At this point, this old man first thanks the emperor for his generosity." As he finished, he sank into a deep bow, bending deeply from above his waist.

Long Xiang hurriedly helped him up, saying in a pleasant tone, "Elder is too polite, today's matters leave us in deep embarrassment."

Ling Zhan laughed heartily while replying, "You are exaggerating too much, Emperor!" At this point, his eyes sparkled as he ordered, "Men, bring up the items! this old man wants to see what kind of interesting item his grandson would pick up, hahaha!"

The crowd couldn't help but prostrate in admiration of Ling Zhan! Facing such a matter, a normal person would be angered beyond reason. To have one's children suffering from such a shock, most would have already carried their darlings into the inner chambers. However, this Duke Ling here was all frowns and glares one moment, yet as happy as a lark the next moment! This kind of face-changing technique had already reached the point of perfection! He carried on as though nothing had ever happened and even insisted that his grandson carry on with the item-choosing. This, coupled with the fact that it seemed like for him to be able to dominate all under the heavens from a young age, as well as to stand strong for forty over years, he definitely had a thing or two up his sleeves!

Some of the officials who had long held disagreements deep in their hearts now silently heaved a sigh of relief. As it turned out, this distracted old man was actually playing a pig to eat the tiger. Thankfully, no one in their class ever dared to step out to challenge him. This was truly wise of them. Judging by this old fox's standard, he would be like those who would make his helpers count the silver he was about to get for selling them… one had to again reassess the abilities of the Ling family.

In his heart, Ling Tian felt that his grandfather should have gone to his world to act in an opera theatre!

However, in actuality, those people had actually overestimated Ling Zhan. Ling Zhan had already held some suspicions that this matter was not carried out by Yang KongQun. If one wanted to insist that this was absolutely not a coincidence, then they could only point fingers at his empress's daughter for trying to act smart! If that was the case, he would definitely not take such a short-sighted woman as a matter to be worried about.

At this juncture, Yang KongQun was sitting with his daughter, Empress Yang Xue, in the carriage, wearing a grave expression: "What exactly happened back there? You would normally be more capable of controlling yourself."

Yang Xue wanted to cry, but no tears came out; even her own father was also suspecting her! "Father, today's incident was really an accident!"

Yang KongQun scrutinized her face, as though he was scanning her face with some profound method, before speaking, "Continue."

Yang Xue finally gained some semblance of calmness, and narrated the incident that happened just now, tearfully saying: "I was suddenly in pain from both my head and chest. How could I not let go?"

This caused Yang KongQun to furrow his brows and remain silent. At this point, both parent and daughter had the same doubtful thought in their hearts: Who was the exact mastermind behind this? Could it be that there is a hidden fourth powerhouse in Sky Bearing Empire?

Both of them never thought of the baby that caused this fiasco; after all, that was just an infant who would even stutter when calling for his parents.

Yang KongQun thought for a long while, before saying, "Even if it wasn't you, and even if this whole thing was an accident, this tactic has definitely crossed your mind before, hasn't it?"

Yang Xue could only lower her head to signify her agreement.

Letting out a deep sigh, Yang KongQun remarked bleakly, "A woman that has been married out is just like water that has been thrown out. Dad is not blaming you. Instead it would be stranger if you did not think that way." Letting out another sigh, he seemed to have aged all of a sudden.

Yang Xue was naturally intelligent and quickly grasped what her father meant by such a sentence. Although it seemed like both the Ling and Yang families were at loggerheads with each other, their lives were actually intertwined. If the Yangs were to destroy the Ling family, then that would also be the end of the road for the Yangs. Only because both families had misgivings over each other and were curbing the other, could the present scene in Sky Bearing Empire remain. If one family ceased to exist, the uncontrollable rise of the other surviving family would definitely catch the attention of the royal family which would eliminate them to prevent this force from rising up any further.

Thus, from another angle, to extinguish the Lings was to destroy his own family bloodline! The thought of this led to Yang KongQun's current mood.

However, Ling Xue had her own reasons for thinking so. Her own son, the current crown prince of this dynasty, was already three years old, and she had to start planning for her son's future. The power held by the Ling family was too immense, whether it was in the government or military, they were both equally and unreasonably powerful. In the past, the Ling family had no descendants and thus even if they had the ambition, this would only lead to their own downfall due to the lack of heirs. However, times have changed. With the addition of this little thing, this could be said to be the tipping point.

The Ling family was simply too large and too powerful, to the point that even the royal family was unable to rest easy any longer. If they were to have any ambitions, then the empress's son would definitely not be safe. Yang Xue was naturally unwilling to see such a scene. Thus she put in the effort to set up countermeasures, planning to let both her family and the Ling family drag each other down. Once her son steps up to become the emperor, he would still be able to provide some form of leeway for her family. As long as her son managed to sit on the throne, even if the Yangs were to be on the decline, they would have the chance to rise again from the ashes. However, if she were to let the Ling family snatch the advantage, then this would not just be a problem for the Yang family, but even the royal family would become like scattered ashes and dispersed smoke!

Before she entered a marriage, she was just a pure and innocent girl from the Yang family! However, she was now first a mother and thus had to look out for her son. Secondly, she was the empress of this current dynasty and would of course have to protect the foundation of the royal family! Lastly, she was considered a female of the Yang family. Thus, although she felt guilty towards her father, she did not think that she had done anything wrong.

Yang KongQun let out a long sigh, seemingly aging a few years in a short time. Only after a long while did he finally speak, "The Lings shouldn't be finding you for trouble but will definitely pay closer attention to you. I will not stop you from doing your thing, but at least within the next few years, you are not allowed to carry out any plans." He sighed before he continued in a tone of melancholy, "Take care of yourself, only then will you be able to defeat the enemy. Ok, we're almost at the palace. I'll head back first." As he finished, he did not wait for Yang Xue to reply and left the palanquin directly.

Yang Xue stared at her father's silhouette as the rims of her eyes reddened. However, she did not say anything in the end.

After getting down, Yang KongQun stood for a while, as though awaiting some form of reply from her. However, sensing that YangXue was not going to talk, he gave another deep sigh before putting his hands behind his back and walking away. Two steps later, he suddenly stopped and slowly spoke, "He is but an infant. Even if he is a genius, you still have time before he becomes an adult. Why not take a few years to observe? For all you know, he might not even be worth your attention. Don't give in to groundless fears. At most… if the worse comes the worst, it is still not too late to carry it out!" Hearing this, Yang Xue's eyes suddenly gleamed.

As he finished speaking, Yang KongQun strode away briskly, never turning his head back once. His daughter was, after all, not merely his daughter anymore. At the same time, she was the mother of the current Crown Prince, and the emperor's wife! Being her father, he had already made her life difficult for her past eighteen years. There was no need to continue making her life difficult. This matter would be left for her to do as she deemed fit.

Watching her father's shadow slowly disappear, she noticed that it was more slouched than before, which left her in a daze and unable to speak. Her eyes started to brim with unshed tears. It was a good while after that before she finally regained the clear and cold look in her pupils, with her gaze slowly turning back to a frosty look. Lazily stretching out on the seat, she coldly ordered, "Proceed on to the palace."

Chapter 12: Catching the Fragrance Bag

Translator: DavidT Editor: celllll

In front of Ling Tian was a long table with a myriad of items placed on it. On half of the table, there were sabers, spears, bows and more. They were more than enough to show the expectations the Ling family had of Ling Tian: To be a great general like his father.

As Ling Tian took a glance over all of those things, he understood plenty of things. Become a general in future? Ling Tian had honestly not thought about that before. Since the heavens are giving me another chance, how could I be satisfied at just being a general of a small nation?

On the other half of the table, the things there seemed extremely insignificant. There were the essential items for scholars like a calligraphy brush, ink and more. Furthermore, there was even a small stamp on the table. Ling Tian could not help but laugh bitterly. There just isn't anything for me to put up a show.

His small body stood atop the large table as he glanced at all of the items. But he did not stop at any of the items as he glanced through them all. Everyone stared at this small little child with interest as their eyes widened in shock when they saw that he was not interested in any of the items present! Just what does he want?

Everyone present had witnessed this "one-year-old catch" many times already. No matter what, the child would definitely choose something for sure. Even if they did not like it, other children will still pick up some of the items and play with it like a toy before putting it down for sure. However, they had never witnessed a ceremony where the child was uninterested in anything. Everyone could not help but think to themselves, He is indeed befitting of being the successor of the Ling family. He is so composed and steady even at such a young age.

Consort Ling Ran let go of the emperor's arm and with a fragrant wind, she went to the side of Chu Ting'er who was by the side of the table. With an amused smile, she looked at her nephew and asked, "Tian'er, are you not going to choose anything?"

Chu Ting'er stared at her son nervously as she thought to herself, Little brat, choose something at least. She was nervous to the point where she almost wanted to choose something on her son's behalf.

Just at this moment, Ling Tian's eyes lit up as he looked towards Ling Ran's waist. On her waist, there was a fragrance bag which was hanging there! Ling Tian's eyes then gleamed with joy as he ran towards his aunt.

Ling Ran was completely elated, "Little Tian Tian, you are indeed close to your dear aunt, hahaha! Ah?" Before she even finished laughing, her joy had already turned into shock! She stood there at a loss, looking at Ling Tian who had already grabbed onto the fragrance bag which was on her waist! His fair soft hands grabbed tightly onto the fragrance bag and he refused to let go! At the same time, he cried out in a barely audible voice, "I... want this!"

Ling Zhan's face immediately darkened! He glared fiercely at Ling Ran and almost wanted to throw this daughter of his, who was a consort, out with a single fist.

Ling Zhan had seen many young masters from the different noble families grabbing fragrance bags or other things similar to it during the "one-year-old catch" ceremony. All of them who grabbed fragrance bags were all mercilessly mocked by his grandfather! A classic playboy in the making! Today, he was also afraid that this little brat here would also end up choosing something like this. Thus, he commanded all of these things to be thrown out for the ceremony today, lest he ends up becoming a laughingstock. Furthermore, he instructed that all the fragrance bags on the ladies must be removed for today. Duke Ling was extremely meticulous in his planning and did not allow anything to go wrong.

But no matter how meticulous he was, the only one he forgot was this daughter of his who was in the imperial palace. Today, it could be said that the fragrance bag on Ling Ran was the only one that could be found in the Ling family mansion! Things were just so coincidental!

As all of the officials who were present saw that, they were all dumbfounded and tried their best to control their laughter! Even the emperor, Long Xiang, who was extremely dissatisfied with the empress also couldn't help but break out into laughter. Watching the colorful emotions on Ling Zhan's face, everyone found it increasingly difficult to hold back their laughter. Perhaps, this was just like how a smart man would end up falling to his own ingenuity.

Ever since all of the officials entered the Ling family mansion, they had realized that there weren't any fragrance bags on the ladies in the mansion. If there were only one or two who did not have fragrance bags on them, it might be a coincidence. But if all of them did not have any fragrance bags on, it was enough to show that something was wrong. Although everyone present was silently cursing this cunning old man for cheating as such, who would dare to say it out in the open?

If the Ling family placed the fragrance bag on the table openly and Ling Tian grabbed it, everyone would only tease him for a moment and forget about it. However, now that there wasn't a single fragrance bag present in this gigantic Ling family mansion with a population of over a thousand, Ling Tian still unexpectedly ended up grabbing it! Furthermore, it was the fragrance bag that the consort herself was wearing! Seeing how Ling Tian's little face turned red from grabbing on to the fragrance bag so tightly, everyone could not help but laugh out even louder.

Chu Ting'er's face turned red as she took a step forward, wanting to snatch the fragrance bag from Ling Tian. But she never expected Ling Tian to hold onto it so tightly that she wasn't able to snatch it over! Seeing how his wife and son was fighting over a fragrance bag, Ling Xiao could not help but laugh despite his anger, "Forget it, if it wants it, then let him hold onto it." As he said that, he took a deep breath, feeling extremely ashamed.

Although the "one-year-old catch" ceremony was not enough to determine one's future, there were many people who believed in it. They all broke out into a hearty laughter with an extremely bright smile on their faces, particularly those officials who had been teased by Ling Zhan and his son.

Ling Zhan took a deep sigh of exasperation as he pointed at Ling Ran with his trembling hands. After he trembled for a moment, he did not say anything and walked out of the room. It seemed that this was no small blow to this old man and he would probably not attend the banquet being held later. Ling Xiao could not help but lament bitterly in his heart, If my father is not going to appear, then don't tell me I will have to bear all of these on my own? His face darkened at that thought.

The emperor, Long Xiang, coughed once he managed to reign in his laughter with much difficulty and asked seriously, "It is getting late already and we are getting a little hungry." As he said that, he was hinting that the banquet of the Ling family cannot be avoided. All of the officials then celebrated excitedly.

As Ling Ran saw the situation unfold, she knew that she had just gotten herself into a lot of trouble. Thinking about how black her father's face was when he left, her heart began to beat rapidly. Originally, she wanted to escape from her father and run back into the palace. However, Ling Tian clung onto her body like he was a koala bear and grabbed on tightly to her fragrance bag without letting go. Not able to make him let go of her anytime soon, she could only helplessly hug Ling Tian in her arms. With a bitter laughter, she complained in her heart: Little fellow, little fellow. You have gotten your aunt into deep trouble.

On the banquet, Ling Ran sat beside the emperor, Long Xiang. Although she had a high status at the head of the table, she could not sit down properly as though there were pins and needles beneath her. She hated the fact that she could not turn into a gust of wind and disappear from the banquet.

All of the officials present felt that they did not make a wasted trip at all! Not only were they able to witness the war of words between the two heads of the Ling and Yang family, but also watch the exciting act by the empress. Finally, they were finally able to see Ling Zhan suffer from his own medicine after laughing at all the children who grabbed the fragrance bags. In the end, his own grandson grabbed the fragrance bag; the one and only fragrance bag!

With an excited mood, the officials had faces full of smiles. Their conversations were full of joy as their appetite and alcohol tolerance were particularly good. In the hall, all the officials exchanged toasts with each other as some of them began to drink heartily despite the fact that they were in the presence of the emperor and consort. As for Ling Tian who was the mastermind of all these, he was already caught back into the room to be taught a lesson by his mother, Chu Ting'er.

After a few glasses of wine, Ling Ran's mood gradually became composed and she managed to force herself to eat something. Seeing that the emperor, Long Xiang, was about to be done with his meal, she began to whine and pester him to return back to the palace. Long Xiang had always doted on this consort of his a lot and naturally knew what she was worried about. Thus, he agreed without delay.

Before announcing that he was leaving, there was a young servant maid who exited from the bedroom. She then knelt on the ground and said, "Old madam said she has not seen consort for a long time already and misses her greatly. She hopes that the emperor will permit the consort to stay in the mansion for a few days."

Ling Ran was startled as her face became dull, with tears almost streaming down. Long Xiang also laughed bitterly, looking at her helplessly, "Since old madam has such a request, Xiao Ran, stay here for a few days then. We will send someone to fetch you back to the palace a few days later." He then instructed Ling Xiao who was already red from the alcohol, "Ling Xiao, I will allow the consort to stay in the mansion. We will be returning back to the palace first. Uncle Ling's mood isn't too good. Please help me to say goodbye to him." Following which, he laughed and walked out.

Looking at the emperor leave, Ling Ran's mood was completely ruined. She had no choice but to follow the servant maid, walking in like a zombie.

Not too long later, a thunderous roar sounded. Everyone in the hall then looked at each other, bursting out into an amused laughter.

Chapter 13: Feigning Weak

Translator: DavidT Editor: celllll

Backyard.

After the prank, Ling Tian also received his punishment. His snow white butt had an imprint of a large palm, obviously the doing of his father.

After the ceremony, Ling Zhan found an opportunity to teach Ling Xiao a lesson. Like an erupting volcano, he scolded Ling Xiao viciously. When Ling Xiao escaped pitifully, he was still not spared from two rods from his enraged father. With a stomach full of grievances, Ling Xiao was naturally extremely indignant. The moment he went back to his room and saw Ling Tian, he slapped Ling Tian's butt without a second word. Following which, he was thrown out of the room by Chu Ting'er who was angered like a lioness.

Then, Chu Ting'er began to apply medicine to Ling Tian's butt with a face full of worry and heartache. As she applied the medicine, she began to shed tears of heartache. Ling Tian felt extremely weird. With a modern spirit of 25 years old, he had a mother who was younger than him. Now his whole body was completely naked as his mother was rubbing his smooth butt while consoling him.

Ling Tian originally thought that he would be extremely embarrassed by it. He even thought that he may have some dirty thoughts in his mind if such a thing were to occur. However, when he really encountered it, Ling Tian was surprised to find that his heart was completely pure! There was only the deep feeling of him being touched. As his mother's hands began to touch him, he felt that his body was extremely comfortable all over. From that gentle hands and eyes filled with love, Ling Tian felt a deep sense of belonging. His nose could not help but turn sour as tears rolled down his face.

In the past, he had deeply wished for the care of a mother, the loving consolation of a mother. However, his mother from the previous world only left him a pile of soil and a few photographs which turned yellow. In his past life, he was only able to reminisce the smile of his mother in his dreams at night. Now, all of these were extremely real as they existed beside him in reality! Ling Tian was satisfied.

"Aiyah, this stubborn bull. How could he bear to deal such a heavy hand to his own son? I must definitely teach him a good lesson later. He is too much. He is going to anger this old lady to death. Ting'er, don't be too sad, even Tian'er isn't crying. What a good child…" Old madam Ling walked into the room slowly. As she saw the handprint on her grandson's butt, she was enraged and almost shed tears of heartbreak.

Chu Ting'er wiped away her tears and swallowed hard, "This also can't be blamed on my husband. It can only be blamed on the fact that this child is just too disappointing. Of all the things he could have chosen, he just had to choose his aunt's fragrance bag, making his grandfather so angry for no reason. It is only right for him to be beaten."

Old madam's Ling's eyes narrowed as she scolded angrily, "Don't mention that old folly! He only knows how to be concerned with face. So what if our grandson likes the fragrance bag? Who wouldn't like something so nice smelling? Besides, even if our grandson likes women in future, don't tell me we wouldn't be able to find them for him? Don't tell me we won't be able to afford them. That father and son pair are just making a mountain out of a molehill. Let this old lady give your husband a good scolding! I rushed over so quickly because I was afraid that he would beat my grandson. But I still came too late and did not make it in time! Hmph! Just see how I teach him a lesson later! Aiyah, my poor grandson, look at his smooth skin… Just how could he bear to deal such a heavy hand? Come, let grandmother give you a hug... hahaha, you're too obedient!"

Ling Tian was extremely glad. This grandmother of mine is just too amazing. It seems like in the eyes of this old lady, everything I do is definitely right. Everything I do would definitely be supported by her. Hahaha, I like!

After living in this household for a year, Ling Tian somewhat understood how the Ling family rose to prominence. After he understood that, Ling Tian deeply understood how wise this saying was: Chaotic times will definitely produce heroes! Circumstances would definitely mold heroes!

The head of the Ling family, Ling Zhan, was a hero who was born from such chaotic times! The Ling family was originally only a middle tier family. At that time, Ling Zhan who was still the young master had met Long ChengTian in a chance encounter. The both of them hit off really well with each other and became sworn brothers. From then on, the Ling family had become the spearhead for Long ChengTian! As the many blood battles were fought, almost all the elites of the Ling family were wiped out. Ling Zhan also rose into prominence after that great war! He became the greatest contributor to the founding of the Sky Bearing Emperor after stepping over countless of bodies. Rising together with him, the Ling family also became ranked alongside the five greatest families as the sixth greatest family!

According to what Ling Tian understood from this one year, Ling Zhan was definitely not someone who was extremely scheming with a deeply hidden agenda. The only reason he was able to walk this far was because of the chance encounter which he had. Fortunately, he did not die. Just when the Sky Bearing Empire needed a general with heroism and prestige, Ling Tian took up that responsibility as the commander in chief of the nation's army. He then led the troops to war, spreading the territory of the Sky Bearing Empire and making many accomplishments. His only son had also inherited his legacy and was even more accomplished than his father. But there were also disadvantages about that: he had also inherited that straightforward attitude of Ling Zhan.

Although the Ling family had great authority and power now, the Ling family did not have deep roots after all. There were few talents within the Ling family and they just could not be compared to the other great families which had prospered for over hundreds of years. Through the hundreds of years of accumulation, their resources were as high as the mountains.

As he understood all of these, the first thing that Ling Tian did was to take in a deep cold breath! Goodness, an idiotic family like this is actually able to win itself a standing in such a competitive empire? They were still able to expand to such an extent without falling? This was nothing short of a miracle in Ling Tian's heart! The people in this world are just far too kind. They were actually able to hold themselves back from this piece of juicy fat meat? There is actually something as good as this in the world? This is a complete joke! Ling Tian did not believe it at all.

There could only be a single reason the Ling family was able to enjoy its power without falling: Someone was keeping them from falling! Furthermore, it was definitely not a single power; there were definitely more than one power supporting the Ling family in the dark. All of these powers who were supporting the Ling family definitely did not have any kind intentions, just like the Yang family which was together with the Ling family in the Sky Bearing Empire. From a certain perspective, it was just like the Ling family having a large tree to rely on, sharing their glory. Although the two families were opposing each other, Ling Tian believed that this enmity was definitely created by the Yang family. Following which, their enmity will be slowly deepened until the point where both parties are unable to live with each other peacefully. In other words, the Ling family was the existence which the late emperor, Long ChengTian, and the late Yang family head supported to fight the Yang family!

The Yang family had no choice but to take a step back. The Ling family closed in on the Yang family for the same reason. The reason the emperor would support the Ling family was definitely to strike at the Yang family, preventing them from dominating the Sky Bearing Empire. Now, this motive of his was almost perfectly achieved.

Ling Tian had every reason to believe that the reason for the rise of his family was definitely not as simple as it seemed. There were definitely the shadows of the other great families. The other great families would definitely not want to see the Yang family or the Ling family dominate the whole Sky Bearing Empire on their own, becoming a hidden threat to their family. Thus, it was only natural for them to support the Ling family to strike at the Yang family. Ling Tian was able to deduce that his own family was nothing more than an anomaly, the product of the complicated situation on the continent.

Ling Tian could even feel that there will definitely be many spies from the imperial palace and the Yang family in this Ling family mansion of his. As Ling Tian thought about this, he could immediately sense danger coming his way.

The first thing Ling Tian decided was that he must definitely keep a low profile before he was able to protect himself and his family, trying his best to avoid the attention of the other families. If he were to let them find out that the successor to the Ling family was a heaven-defying genius, the good luck his family had would definitely reach its end!

After constant planning, Ling Tian had finally taken the first step to feigning his weakness: the 'one year old catch' ceremony today. Ling Tian understood that the moment he caught the fragrance bag, he would definitely become the greatest laughingstock across the continent for the next few years. At the same time, as they laugh at him, they would definitely let their guard down. The catch of this infant would be able to exchange at least three to five years' worth of time for his family. Even if he were to become a laughingstock, it was worth it!

As long as he was able to continue feigning weak, he would definitely be able to slowly form an organization that solely belongs to him with his experience from his past life. After the different powers take notice of him, they would be shocked to realize that they had already missed the best opportunity to deal with him!

Hehehe, this daddy here is considered a genius even in the 21st century. If I am going to deal with all you barbarians whose brains have not been fully developed, then there is really no justice in the world, Ling Tian thought to himself.

Of course, Ling Tian felt that the matters today were not completely perfect. The reason for that was the young man who revealed a killing intent towards him when he was just born. Ever since Ling Tian saw him when he had just been born, Ling Tian had never seen him again. Ling Tian had never forgotten about him before because he was just like a lurking venomous snake in his own family! He was extremely dangerous and Ling Tian did not know just how many of such venomous snakes there were in his family.

Just where did this venomous snake go in this past year? Just what has he been doing? Will he harm the family?

Chapter 14: Small Accomplishment

Translator: DavidT Editor: celllll

The days passed one by one as Ling Tian constantly worried as he hypothesized… The years also drifted by. In a blink of an eye, Ling Tian was already five years old.

The winter wind was biting cold, and large snowflakes fluttered about, blanketing the heavens and earth in a silvery white color. Mid-winter was fast approaching.

Deep into the night when all was quiet, the snowflakes still floated down, unhurriedly and unceasingly.

In the secret chamber, the temperature was, however, warm like spring.

Ling Tian was alone inside, his small body completely naked as he sat with both knees crossed, his hands forming lotus seals. His face was warped with agony as his body dripped with sweat all over. This was the critical juncture.

Ling Tian knew that if he wanted to survive in this world where the rules were more complicated than his previous world, the only option he had was to quickly raise his own strength, so he could deal with any unexpected twists along the way. Within these five years, because of the experiences Ling Tian had in his past life, he familiarized himself to the point that he had cultivated to the peak of the third stage for his Divine Dragon Shocking Formula. Now that he was approaching the fourth stage, he isolated himself behind closed doors, so as to rush forth and break the shackles to the fourth level.

In his previous life, he had practiced the Divine Shocking Dragon Formula to the upper tier of the fifth stage by the age of 15, which made him a miracle beyond miracles in the Ling family. Ever since this formula existed, in the past millennium, no one had ever heard of someone reaching the fifth stage when they were merely 15 years of age. This was also the main reason Ling Tian was the target of much jealousy in his previous life.

In this life, Ling Tian had used XianTian Qi, which was considered the pinnacle of martial arts as his foundations, and thus his improvements as compared to his past life were miles apart. Of course, due to the difference between XianTian and HouTian Qi, the strength he could unleash currently was definitely even larger. From his own estimates, if he could successfully overcome the barrier leading to the fourth stage of this divine formula, just relying on the aid given by XianTian Qi, he would already be comparable to his previous self when he was at the peak of the sixth stage! Such a result was unbelievable even for Ling Tian himself.

Now, he had reached the most important part! Ling Tian had already felt the signs of a breakthrough occurring, through his spiritual sense, he could see the true Qi inside himself boiling as though it just came from a pot which someone had opened. They revolved unceasingly through every single meridian in his body; and for every revolution they made, Ling Tian would intentionally add on a bit more strength to it, to further catalyze the speed of the revolution.

This sort of method was actually the brainchild of Ling Tian and its purpose was to ensure that the revolution would continue to retain its original strength and not fade as it passed by each of his acupuncture points. Even though this method's efficiency was extremely high, practicing such a move would result in unbearable pain to the user. It could be compared to trying to force a hundredfold amount of water through a small rivulet of water, where the sides of the water channel would definitely not be able to take such a pressure and might even result in an irreparable scene of destruction! Ling Tian's meridians could be compared to those channels, struggling to endure the tyrannical pressure of the XianTian Qi. If he were to lose control, he would end up destroying his meridians and crippling himself!

Ling Tian gingerly circulated the XianTian Qi inside his body, holding his breath as he calmly waited. The amount of Qi within him grew larger and larger, and the speed became faster and faster. It grew to the point that it started to indistinctly form the shape of a tornado within his DanTian. Ling Tian could even sense the high speed of True Qi being circulated as it produced a "xiuxiu" sound through his spiritual sense. Ling Tian's body turned completely red, with a few areas beginning to exude beads of blood. Veins started bulging out from his forehead, as though earthworms were occupying that area.

Finally, the inner circulation of his True Qi reached maximum velocity, and many more areas under Ling Tian's skin started to gradually tear, in which dark red blood could be seen. There was not a single spot on his body that was not resisting pain, and the torment from the depths of his soul all the way to his physical body was the very limit of what he could bear. At this point, Ling Tian understood that if he were to continue forcing and consolidating his Qi and strength, his body would probably explode from being unable to withstand the pressure.

He could only forcefully stabilize his state of mind and manipulate the powerful Qi current to smash on his Guan Yuan acupuncture point before it spiraled out of control. By breaking through his blocked Guan Yuan acupuncture point, this symbolized that his arterial and meridian pathways no longer had any blockage. This was the point when one could be considered a high level martial arts practitioner.

His body was wracked with pain akin to being torn apart, and under the influence of the true Qi, his hair band snapped apart with a "beng!" sound. However, the stock of black hair on his head did not fall, but rather shot straight upwards towards the sky, as though he had really became a real Super Saiyan!

"Hong!" A tremendous sound went off within Ling Tian's sea of consciousness, as his Guan Yuan acupuncture point suddenly burst open, with the immensely strong true Qi rushing through and only settling down after nine further cycles of circulation within his body.

There was a patch of water stained on the floor. It originated from Ling Tian as he perspired while enduring the pain to the point that formed a distinct circle around where he sat!

Only at that exact moment where the true Qi burst past the Guan Yuan acupuncture point, did Ling Tian finally relax his entire body as an incomparable comfort began to permeate his self. He felt that his whole body was wonderfully comfortable and warm, as though it was made up of cotton. Caught up in this feeling, he felt as though he could really soar up into the sky from where he was seated and twirl around in the sky… At this point, he envisioned himself transforming into an immortal. Comparing that moment of bliss, Ling Tian felt as though all the hard work and pain was totally worth it!

This sort of feeling made Ling Tian reminisce about his past self. It was just like an opium addict of decades whom, after stopping for a month, lighted up a stick for a smoke. This sort of feeling was… as though he had lost all strength and even his spirit felt weightless, beginning to float upwards and away...

Laughing mockingly at himself, Ling Tian began to recollect all these weird thoughts within his mind and continued to activate his divine formula. With every passing cycle of activation, the blood spots on his skin lessened by a portion to the point where after countless days, his skin actually recovered to its original crystalline and jade-like appearance before he broke through his blockage. Letting out a drawn-out breath, Ling Tian slowly opened his eyes, in which a trace of radiant light flashed momentarily.

Checking his body in a very satisfied manner, Ling Tian then stood up, putting on the robe that was placed by his side. Although he had no idea how long he had spent sitting in this secret chamber, he was sure that it did not exceed four hours. However, if he did not exit the chamber soon, he was sure that his mother would start to worry. Even though he took the opportunity of going out only in the dead of the night to practice his martial arts, he did not know whether his mother would be afraid of him catching a cold and hence come over to his room in the middle of the night to cover him up.

This secret chamber was built within Ling Tian's bedroom, for the convenience and secrecy of his training. At the age of three, he started to secretly hollow out an underground space below his small room for his practice purposes. The size of the room was only about three to four meters squared, and for him who had been cultivating since he was in his mother's womb, this was merely a piece of cake. It only took him a couple of nights to finish excavating the soil and rocks, moving them to the garden with no one noticing.

Gently knocking up the limestone tile above him, Ling Tian's tiny body slipped out like a wisp of smoke and securely caught the tile just as it was about to crash onto the floor, placing it back gently with nary a sound.

Ling Tian smiled in satisfaction as he strolled to the window, staring entranced at the silver white world beyond the window. Soft snowflakes slowly spun down, giving a dreamlike illusion. Ling Tian suddenly felt a mysterious surge of loneliness emanating from within his heart.

Ever since he had crossed over to this world, this sort of feelings was commonplace. It was as though in the boundless heavens and earth, he was the only one who was alive! In the dead of the night when there was no human noise, this sort of loneliness would act up vigorously.

To be physically in this world, yet spiritually not belonging here. To have a body of a five-year-old, yet to have the mental capacity of a thirty-year-old adult. This sort of discrepancies often caused Ling Tian to not know if he should laugh or cry and also gave him grief beyond measure.

He did not have a lack of human company around him and his current family was extremely harmonious. With his grandparents showing care and concern from deep within their hearts and his parents constantly pampering and showering him with love, to any common person, the Ling Tian now was at a place too high for them to reach, having owned almost everything that was needed. However, no one understood what Ling Tian was really thinking deep inside. No one could understand the deep-seated chill in the depths of his heart, as well as his desolate feeling of loneliness. Even though he was the core of thousands of people, Ling Tian's heart forever remained solitary!

Of course Ling Tian understood that since he had already arrived in this world, wanting to go back to his original world was simply a fool's delusion. The only thing he could do was to accept the truth and continue living on as best as he could. While he was trying his best to do so, this did not mean that his heart felt relief. Because he was constantly repressing his emotions, Ling Tian occasionally felt that he could not bear with this sort of pain, and this sort of repression could not be understood even by his closest kin. Ling Tian would undoubtedly continue repressing his emotions till the end of his life, because this secret was only privy to himself.

Crossing worlds through his spirit! Carrying the complete memories with him as he crossed over! This sort of feeling was not admirable at all; just purely the part of loneliness would be enough to drive someone insane!

In the past when Ling Tian was bored, he would often log onto the web to read stories about the characters crossing to a different world and would be totally engrossed with them. However, Ling Tian now understood. It turned out that crossing over was actually such a painful matter!

Ling Tian deeply inhaled, his eyes flashing with all kinds of emotions: nostalgia, hatred, joy, pining, bliss and loneliness… There were hundreds of varieties of different emotions! If someone were to have witnessed this scene, they would have seen that the expression in his eyes literally held a whole life story within it! Of course, those who witnessed it would definitely treat this five-year-old child as a demon or monster!

Closing his eyes, Ling Tian forced back the tears that were about to spill out. No matter the case, in this current environment, there was little time to be spent on such sentimental thoughts. The him now had too many things to complete! A learned scholar who weeps with the passing of seasons in this disorderly world would only be sentenced to an early death.

Suddenly, Ling Tian's heart palpitated as he sensed something. Outside his door, a pair of soft footsteps sounded, followed by the low voice of the female attendant on duty outside his room speaking in an extremely respectful tone. This was followed by a gentle voice lightly questioning the attendant. Ling Tian could only smile bitterly; it seemed like his mother Chu Ting'er had come to check on him.