Chapter 10 – The Battle Beast Hall (1/2)

Chapter 10 – The Battle Beast Hall

The next morning, when the sun was slowly rising higher into the sky, the whole of Grey City was already wide awake, as the noises revealed a hint of excitement.

Today was the first day of the year 9998, according to the Flame Dragon Calendar. Which also meant, that on this day the inhabitants of this continent celebrated the annual Flame Dragon Festival.

- Bili-Bong! -

The sound of firecrackers, mingled with the laughter of the playful children, were enhancing the festive atmosphere in the city.

In the Ye Castle, numerous servants streamed in and out of the corridors, as they were busy with the preparations for the upcoming ceremony. Some of them were cleaning the floor and windows, while others were decorating the main hall… Almost everyone in the castle was radiant with joyfulness.

At the same time, in the biggest courtyard of the Ye Castle, there stood several lines of teenagers and children, who were accompanied by their parents. In total, there were about a hundred people clustered here. Quite in discordance with the hustles and bustles outside, the people here were all silent, creating a solemn atmosphere. In the front rows, the children seemed to be the youngest and were about five years old. These young kids were eager to play around, however, their parents forbid them from making any noise.

“So many people this year…” Qinghan stood at the end of the left line, beside him was Qingyu, who had insisted on accompanying him. The crowd ahead of them were solely descendants of the Ye Family, who would all participate in the upcoming Awakening Ceremony.

For those who hadn’t summoned their battle beast yet, the Flame Dragon Festival was the most important day of their life. It would be the day their life changed, if they successfully summoned a beast.

Every descendant of the Ye Family would have three chances to take part in this Awakening Ceremony, at the age of five, ten and fifteen. If he or she had already resonated with the ancient power and had summoned a battle beast during any of these three chances, the awakening task would be finished. In other words, once the battle beast was summoned, the descendants would be banned from taking part in a second, or third, awakening ceremony.

A battle beast! It was really the blessed bestowment of the ancient ancestors for the Ye Family.

Once the battle beast was summoned into this world, it would have a powerful attack force and unique abilities. Ye Tianlong’s ‘bear of the earth’, for instance, would be as formidable as a cultivator in the Realm of the Emperor once it had reached maturity!

If you owned a high-ranked battle beast, you would automatically climb onto the hierarchical ladder of the Ye Family and even become a celebrity throughout the entire Flame Dragon Continent.

Fame, social status, money, beauty… All because of a battle beast!

- Ah! -

“I have to make it…” Qinghan whispered to himself, in order to give himself some self confidence.

All the people present were staring at the giant gate in front of them, on which three words were sculptured – Battle Beast Hall.

- Creak! -

The gate finally opened, revealing four elders, who stood squarely in front of the crowd.

“Your highness, four most respected elders of the Battle Beast Hall.”

Everyone bowed to the four elders, including Qinghan. As a third time participant, Qinghan was rather familiar with the procedure, as well as the four elders, who were in charge of the Awakening Ceremony.

“Forget the formalities, just come in and follow us!” One of the four elders said, whose beard was as grey as his hair. He seemed to be the leader of today’s event.

“Haha, you’re starting so early!”

A resonant sound arrived from far away and caught everyone’s attention mere moments before they were about to lift their feet across the threshold of the hall. They all jerked their head towards the direction where the sound came from. There, a man in a blue robe was flying in the air, clutching a little child in his arms.

“Flying in the air? He must be in the Realm of the Emperor!” Qinghan thought to himself. However, when the man in the air got closer, Qinghan’s lips curled up into a sneer.

“Your highness, leader of the City Major Mansion.”

The crowd bowed to the approaching man, including the three elders. Only the grey bearded elder didn’t bow, as he just nodded to the man with a smile. Qinghan and his sister unwillingly followed suit and also bowed to the approaching man.

The man was Qinghan’s eldest uncle, Ye Jian, who had risen to the status of leader of the City Major Mansion since Ye Tianlong had retired. The two families of Ye Jian and Ye Dao had been hostile towards each other for a long time. Not long ago, Ye Jian had fiercely objected to let Qinghan’s deceased mother be buried in the ancestral tomb. So it was no surprise that Qinghan didn’t like him... Let alone respect him.

“Haha, nice to meet you, Elder Tianqing. Today, my youngest son, Qingfeng, will participate in the ceremony. I just came here as his father to accompany him. So, please ignore me and do what you’re supposed to do.” Ye Jian replied, after he had arrived in front of the grey bearded elder.

Despite the casual and concise remarks, everyone was awed by his status as the leader of the City Major Mansion. Plus, he was one of the few cultivators of the Ye Family who could fly in the air, which served as another reason why people respected him so much.

Out of curiosity, Qinghan glanced sideways at his little cousin – who was actually an adorable child judging by his appearance, but the contempt and arrogance in his eyes really disgusted Qinghan. Sure enough! This cousin must be exactly the same as Qingxian, who was egoistic and inconsiderate!

Qinghan followed the crowd and entered the Battle Beast Hall. Three giant ancient altars were exposed in the middle of this spacious hall. Rows of seats were available in front of these three altars. Looking around, Qinghan dragged his sister to a corner in the left row and sat down.