Beginning of Cultivation
Chapter 59: Xia Ni

Chapter 59: Xia Ni

At this moment, the crown prince also felt extremely bewildered. Although he was not initially certain he was the foremost among his peers, he acknowledged that there might be others stronger than him in the world. However, he did not expect to encounter a group today that surpassed him.

"Who are you? Why have you barged in here? I recall ordering the guards not to let anyone in. Ah, you are General Chu Wu, but who are the others?" the crown prince asked.

The seven had already assessed the crown prince’s strength, placing him in the middle stage of the body refinement realm.

However, they were curious about something: the crown prince’s age did not differ much from Sheng Yuan, Zhu Ji Feng, and Yan Meng Long. Yet, why his realm was a minor realm lower than theirs was unclear to them.

"They indeed did not let us in, so we sneaked here. Don’t worry, we merely speculated that you might be a cultivator and wanted to meet you." Jun Wu Xiao explained.

Hearing this, the crown prince understood their reasons. He himself had once sought to find out if there were other cultivators in the world. But then he realized that cultivators did not look much different from ordinary people, so he stopped searching.

Moreover, he remembered someone called the Demon God. He was certain that this individual was a cultivator, and his strength far surpassed his own.

Seeing that they genuinely harbored no ill intentions and were merely curious, and observing their relationship with Chu Wu, the crown prince shared his guess:

"If I am not mistaken, the person General Chu Wu once mentioned as the Demon God is also here. Moreover, I believe it is this gentleman."

He then pointed toward Jun Wu Xiao.

Jun Wu Xiao was quite surprised, he did not expect that both father and son could make such accurate guesses. The others were equally astonished.

"You are not wrong. But I cannot fathom how you could know that I am indeed the Demon God." Jun Wu Xiao admitted.

"Ha ha ha, I can’t believe it’s actually true. I’ve heard about the Demon God a long time ago, and after becoming a cultivator myself, I understood that the Demon God is like me. But having cultivated for much longer before, his strength is obviously extraordinary. Among those here, only you and this lady possess the most exceptional strength, but you are stronger, so I guessed it was you." the crown prince laughed and said.

"Very well, let me introduce myself. My name is not Demon God. I am Jun Wu Xiao." Jun Wu Xiao then removed his mask and spoke.

"My name is Yue Guang."

.....

The others also removed their masks and introduced themselves in turn, except for Chu Wu, as the crown prince had long known him.

"You need not address me as the crown prince. Just call me Xia Ni. Moreover, being cultivators, I know you would not fear me even if I were the emperor. However, I never expected General Chu Wu to be a cultivator. It seems his retirement over twenty years ago was to seclude himself for cultivation." Xia Ni introduced himself.

He wasn’t surprised by their youthful appearances, as he himself had noticed he looked younger after his breakthrough.

Chu Wu smiled and responded:

"You guessed right. I retired specifically to focus on cultivation."

Dao San Qian remembered the earlier curiosity of the group. Then he asked:

"Xia Ni, you are the same age as Sheng Yuan and the others, but why is your realm lower than theirs?"

Xia Ni sighed upon hearing this and sighed:

"Haiz, it is because of my father."

The group was taken aback, as cultivation was considered a highly personal endeavor, and they wondered how it could be influenced by someone else.

"Wait, how is it related to the emperor?" Yan Meng Long asked.

Realizing his explanation was not clear, Xia Ni elaborated:

"I was supposed to start cultivating at the age of fifteen. But when I first began, my father intervened because I am his only child and the future heir. He said I couldn’t ignore my studies because of physical training. After a heated argument, we made a pact: if I could acquire enough knowledge to be an emperor within ten years, I could then do as I pleased afterward. Eventually, he agreed, so I had to spend ten years studying. That’s why I couldn’t cultivate during that time, leading to a lower realm than the three of them."

Everyone finally understood and realized that being a crown prince was not as comfortable as it seemed. Their lives might be harder, but they were free to do as they pleased because they were all orphans from a very young age.

Jun Wu Xiao observed Xia Ni for a moment, then said:

"Why don’t you resemble the old emperor at all? Are you not his biological son?"

Everyone heard that and opened curiosity mode, but Chu Wu knew the truth, and he spoke up:

"You’re correct. The crown prince was adopted by His Majesty during a campaign to conquer another country, where he happened upon Xia Ni by chance."

Xia Ni nodded, indifferent to whether or not he was a crown prince, so revealing this matter was no issue for him.

"Is this not what they call a stroke of immense fortune? From an orphan to the crown prince of the largest kingdom in history. Truly, such luck is rare." Zhu Ji Feng exclaimed.

"Indeed, I must agree. Xia Ni, your fortune is truly great." Sheng Yuan nodded in agreement.

Everyone concurred that Xia Ni was indeed very fortunate to have become the crown prince so unexpectedly.

"But Chu Wu, does the emperor not have any other children?" Jun Wu Xiao asked.

Chu Wu then explained to everyone:

"Do you think His Majesty had the time? During the unification period, he was constantly conquering and stabilizing regions. Even though His Majesty now has difficulty walking, His Majesty is still so busy that he has no spare time. How could he find the time to marry and have children? Haven’t you noticed that this kingdom has neither a queen nor concubines?"

With this explanation, everyone finally understood. Indeed, after meeting the emperor, they could somewhat grasp his character. He was the type of person who, as long as he was breathing, would think of ways to develop the kingdom and improve the lives of his subjects. If he didn’t even care about his own life, why should he care about this?

Xia Ni nodded, respecting his adoptive father, although their paths were different. He said:

"I think that’s why my father adopted me. With me as the crown prince, he no longer needed to have his own children."

"Right. But he probably didn’t expect his son to choose to become a cultivator. So, how do you plan to be emperor then?" Jun Wu Xiao asked.

"I have to admit that thanks to my father’s efforts, everything is now much more stable. By the time I become emperor, things will likely be nearly perfect, so I’ll have fewer responsibilities. I might need to set aside some time to manage my affairs. But I think I should find a successor soon, otherwise I won’t have time to cultivate." Xia Ni spoke frankly.

Everyone understood that this was the best approach. Having a cultivator as an emperor was not ideal. An emperor has many duties, but a cultivator’s life is dedicated to cultivation. Finding a successor was the best option for both Xia Ni and the kingdom.