Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 974 - 969 Storm I

Chapter 974: Chapter 969 Storm I

"Let’s begin, thank you for your service." Diliya’s hands were trembling.

She was an Imperial Concubine, yet she couldn’t ensure the future and safety of her own child.

This feeling of weakness, this sense of powerlessness, was like a knife cutting through her heart.

Lin Xin lay in the rectangular frame, not crying or making a fuss, just quietly watching as the priest made a small cut on his arm with a dark purple Crystal Knife.

Crimson blood flowed out, dripping into the frame below.

Sss....

Faint yellow symbols emerged from the bottom of the frame, glowing with fluorescence.

The symbols represented aptitude.

There were ten symbols in total inside the frame, while ordinary people could only light up three at most; the strong could light up five.

The top-notch ones could light up six or seven.

Lin Xin thought for a moment and didn’t specifically enhance his aptitude.

To him, the natural aptitude of this body was sufficient—moderate, neither strong nor weak.

Enhancing it could indeed yield a better evaluation, but it would not help him observe this newly born world.

He was unsure about the extent of the most powerful beings in this place. Hastily enhancing his aptitude would only gather more attention and scrutiny, binding his hands and feet.

Moreover, the Mystical Realm could already be opened.

He was no longer merely an individual.

One symbol, two symbols, three symbols.

He had the conventional aptitude.

Next came the outstanding level, as the Priest and the celebrant both focused intently.

Imperial Concubine Diliya bit her lip, hoping for excellence but fearing that excessive brilliance might attract a shadow from above.

Such contradictory feelings tormented her deeply.

Sss...

The fourth symbol lit up.

And then it completely stopped.

The celebrant, who was about to take action, also halted.

Aptitude just marginally better than an ordinary person; this level of competitiveness was meaningless for the fourth Prince above.

There was no need for any underhanded measures. With such aptitude, no matter how hard one tried, they would only ever be a foil for the fourth Prince.

Diliya breathed a slight sigh of relief; this was the best outcome.

Lin Xin glanced at the Priest, then slightly closed his eyes.

"Congratulations, Imperial Concubine Diliya. The twentieth prince’s aptitude may not be outstanding, but it’s not bad either."

The Priest was also unwilling to destroy a newly born child, and this result was what he hoped to see.

"Thank you... thank you."

Diliya exhaled deeply, walked forward, gently held Lin Xin in her arms, and stood up.

The wound on the child’s arm had already been cleaned and bandaged.

The entire aptitude test had passed peacefully.

.........

In the blink of an eye, three years had passed.

Throughout these three years, Lin Xin merely increased his attributes methodically, each increase just reaching the limits of his physical development.

An average of twenty points.

This was the body’s maximum normal limit; any further increase would naturally trigger a bloodline activation, a deep excavation of ancient genes, which was commonly referred to as the evolution template.

The current genetic model could no longer support such stronger attributes.

In the Storm Empire, which was primarily technology-focused, individual basic qualities were much stronger compared to the Aojia Empire of his past life.

Among peers, Lin Xin’s attributes were at least five to six times higher than other children.

The ruling nation of the Storm Empire was the Storm Tribe.

They had special bloodline talents, with a high affinity for various powers of the Wind System.

Thus, many civilian children practice various wind system Cultivation Techniques, Combat Techniques, or Wind Attribute spiritual power training methods from a young age.

As a technology-dominated empire, the Storm Empire, although far behind another empire, Hert, in terms of individual strength, was still an Imperial Clan, giving Lin Xin a much broader range of options than the average person.

Derin Palace, Fifth District.

Lin Xin quietly sat at a stone table, practicing writing scrolls, which was akin to calligraphy in this world.

The Storm Empire’s script resembled golden symbols, somewhat like the Germanic system on Earth.

Today marked his exact third birthday, and he could choose a Foundation Establishment Technique.

In the Storm Empire, any affluent family with some means would allow their children to choose a future development path at a very young age.

One path in literature and one in martial arts.

The literary path involved cultural courses and spiritual power training, eventually leading to highly specialized assignments in the empire’s various fields of industry.

The martial path was about personal Martial Arts Cultivation Practice, entering the military, or joining various cultivation sects.

In today’s technological level, many Martial Arts Sects have actually integrated and absorbed technological elements, achieving terrifying breakthroughs and advancements.

Many renowned martial artists have, to varying extents, one or two pieces of technological organs or equipment as assistance.

Some techniques even draw from technological civilization, forming typical new-era Martial Arts.

For example, the Atomic Shattering Sword.

Lin Xin patiently practiced calligraphy; even at noon, no one came to disturb him.

No special talent, no solid background.

Besides the basic treatment for the Princes, he was unremarkable among the more than thirty Princes today.

Back then, just after he was born, his thrifty father married five more Imperial Concubines, and in just over two years, had over ten Princes and Princesses.

The brutal competition system made the battles among Princes and Princesses extremely cruel and resulted in significant casualties.

The life and death of an Imperial Concubine were more determined by her children. This is what is meant by a child’s excellence raising their mother’s status.

"Hong’er, today you should choose your Basic Techniques."

Imperial Concubine Diliya walked slowly into the courtyard, guarded by two servants.

Seeing her son obediently practicing calligraphy, her gentle face showed a hint of comfort.

Xu Hong had never made her worry since he was born.

He didn’t cry or fuss, ate when he should, slept when he should, which was very reassuring.

Unlike his competitive older sister, Xu Yejun.

"Your sister is executing tasks within a sect and can’t come back for now, so she can’t accompany you.

So I’ll personally take you to the Imperial Martial Arts Pavilion," Diliya said softly. "If there’s a particular Cultivation Technique you like, I can prepare in advance."

Nevertheless, Diliya was a princess of a small country, and while not comparable to a major wealthy family, some rare and stronger versions of Cultivation Techniques were still obtainable if not the imperial top-tier ones.

"I’ll choose for myself," Lin Xin replied indifferently.

At three-years-old, he could already converse fluently, which wasn’t considered extraordinary here.

He also wanted to see what the Martial Arts of this world looked like.

"There’s still time now, but if we go early we can queue early, Hong’er, you should change your clothes first and come with me."

Diliya came mainly to take Lin Xin to the Martial Arts Pavilion together.

"Alright."

Lin Xin went inside and changed into new clothes with the help of a maid, then directly followed Diliya onto the floating car.

The Martial Arts Pavilion was tens of kilometers away from their residence in Derin Palace.

No matter how many Imperial Concubines there were, they were still women favored by the Great Storm Emperor, so their residence wouldn’t be too far from the Storm Imperial Palace.

And the Martial Arts Pavilion was located within the Imperial Palace.

An Imperial Concubine’s status in the Imperial Palace was equivalent to that of an ordinary official, if not less than those with real power, akin to holding an empty position.

The Royal Martial Arts Pavilion was a spiral purple-black spire, dozens of layers high, piercing into the clouds, its top unseen.

Around it, many silver technology-armored guards stood watch, each guard possessing at least Warrior Level martial arts capabilities.

The basic martial arts division, according to the official standards published by the Storm Empire.

Is divided into Warrior, Martial Master, Martial Artist, and Master levels.

However, the actual division is based on battle achievements; the top few elite masters from a town or county are considered Warriors.

The top few elite masters from a city are considered Martial Masters.

And among dozens of cities in a large district, the individual ranking in the top few is a true Martial Artist.

So, here the martial arts are more gauged by influence.

As for Masters, they are considered the strongest on a planet.

It is said there is an even higher rank: Grandmaster.

At the Grandmaster level, it’s extremely scarce within the Martial Arts Circle.

Their physique is said to be incredibly powerful, able to traverse space, destroy warships. Comparable to powerful thermal weapons.

Although not reaching the level of stellar weapons, as elite strongmen deployed for air assaults, their strategic destructive power is terrifying.

The Storm Empire has only a handful of Grandmasters, mostly rarely seen in action.

The floating car stopped in front of the Royal Martial Arts Pavilion.

Diliya did not get off, letting her trusted Martial Artist, Geld, take Lin Xin to queue for registration at the Pavilion.

There was no queue in front of the Royal Martial Arts Pavilion, as not many Princes and Princesses opted for martial arts.

In addition, the Storm Empire was not known for individual martial arts, instead focusing more on spiritual power cultivation in a governmental role.

The strategic command of controlling battleship fleets was paramount. Therefore, the entrance to the Pavilion was rather deserted, with only a few individuals coming and going.

Geld, a tall and skinny black man, was a Warrior-level expert hired by Diliya after confirming Lin Xin wanted to choose the martial arts direction.

With Lin Xin, he walked to the Pavilion, quickly presenting the identity token to the guards at the entrance, then registering the date, aptitude, and setting the available options.

As a Prince, Lin Xin still had a bit of privilege.

Which was the freedom to choose any martial arts manuals from high, medium, to low levels within the whole Royal Martial Arts Pavilion.

Although the strongest Imperial Techniques were not here, the privilege was enough for Lin Xin to carefully understand the general system here.

After registration, he followed a clone bio-maid into the Martial Arts Pavilion.

In the deep pavilion, the First Layer already had more than ten young people in royal attire.

Ranging from small to large in age.

Most were Princes and Princesses.

The Great Storm Emperor favored many women each year.

Many offspring were born, and many Imperial Concubines died in battle, yet the remaining Princes and Princesses still held some qualifications.

This resulted in a significant number of offspring descendants.

Based on initial estimates, the Great Storm Emperor, in his three-hundred-plus years of rule, had left behind almost a thousand offspring.

Sometimes producing five or six in a year, or just one in several years. The speed was unpredictable.

At only three-years-old, even though he was male, his exquisite appearance was so charmingly cute, one could hardly discern his gender.

Wearing a purple robe, this royal attire resembling Earth’s Scottish kilt, could be worn by both genders.

This made distinguishing gender even more difficult.

Upon entering, he drew the attention of many Princes and Princesses reading books on the First Layer, just by his appearance.