“Son, I’m your father’s sworn brother. I am your uncle, according to the seniority in the family…” The voice of the Golden Light was still shaking excitedly, “I finally found you, after so many years, son. How late it is!”
Ding Hao was somewhat confused. “Wait. You said you’ve waited here for endless years, b… but I am just 16 this year. Di… Didn’t you make a mistake?”
It didn’t make sense in terms of time.
“There can’t be any mistake. Only the blood of my younger brother’s eldest son, born of his lawful wife, can melt into this round piece of jade which was taken from Mount God’s Grace of Jade of the Ancient Qinling Mountain, the highest mountain on the God’s Grace Land. It is the token of love of my brother and his wife.”
The Golden Light was quite excited when it looked back upon the old days.
“Ah, my younger brother was beyond comparison. He was known as ‘the First Genius on the God’s Grace Land’. He had millions of people under him. What a handsome hero he was! H could come and go freely in such a forbidden area as the Ancient Qilian Mountain; he took this piece of jade easily, sculpturing ‘In the Palace of Eternal Life on the 7th of July, at midnight we whispered with no one nearby’ on it which won the Goddess Yu Qing Cheng’ s heart. Hahaha…”
Ding Hao was even more confused.
The God’s Grace Land?
The Ancient Qilian Mountain?
Millions of people?
The what and what?
As far as he was concerned, that land was called the Land of Infinity, divided into five areas which were the Eastern Region, the Southern Region, the Western Region, the Northern Region and the Central Region. It was so vast that even God couldn’t walk through it. The Snow Province already covered millions of square-miles which was the smallest state in the Northern Region.
There were scores of states in the Northern Region, covering millions of square-miles.
And the Northern Region was the smallest of the Five Regions. Therefore, the whole land was supposed to be over millions and millions of square-miles.
In this land, there was no God’s Grace Land that he knew. He had never heard of it.
Wasn’t this a peculiar name of a local area of the Five Regions?
“Son, you seem to be unaware of your own ancestry. Is this correct?” asked the Golden Light.
Ding Hao nodded.
As a poor boy who grew up in the slums, he thought he should have no extraordinary experiences and no memories of his childhood, but when he walked on the Swordsmanship-Seeking Sect’ s Heart-Seeking Ladder he unexpectedly saw such amazing images obscurely: the fight among Gods in golden armor, killers like demons, a young couple who held a pair of kids and numerous faithful defenders who tried to protect them at the cost of their own lives…
Suddenly, a lightning bolt flashed over Ding Hao’s head.
It suddenly came to him, the reason why he was so familiar with the face of the statue of the saint which he saw when he sat on the altar at the top of the great golden tower.
The form of the armor was exactly the same as the one worn by the young man who held the baby in the image of the Heart-Seeking Ladder, and the two of them looked much alike.
“It seems that my brother made painful efforts to protect you…” The Golden Light sighed.
A golden palm, from the Golden Light, slowly reached toward Ding Hao from overhead.
Ding Hao frowned.
“Take it easy, son. I won’t hurt you. I’ll help you learn what on earth your pedigree is. Let me tell you what happened that year and what your mission is…” the Golden Light said mildly.
Ding Hao hesitated a little and abandoned the plan to escape.
His instinct from the Mind Essential told him that the Golden Light was not trying to trick him.
And he himself was eager to know the identity of the body he lived in and where it came from.
Just like a loving hand from a senior member in his family, the golden palm touched his forehead lightly. A warm wind from the palm went into his brain and then one episode after another appeared like an accelerated film that rushed into his head.
Then all became clear.
He saw many eccentric pictures.
……
……
The God’s Grace Land.
It was a magic world covered in infinite wonders.
The region was vast and great, a home to uncountable sagas and sages, where giants of different ancestries alternated on the stage and left a many beautiful legends about how the heroes strove for their ideals.
Some Super Sects and Ancient Families controlled this land.
One of the greatest in the East was called the God’s Palace.
It had such a long history that it even dated back to remote past ages.
The chief of the God’s Palace was called the Emperor of Gods, who administered trillions of giant lives and participated in the process of nature as one of the few superb Gods. His army was invincible and the most terrifying force in the whole land.
He had 13 sons under his command.
Every one of them was a genius in the world.
Of the 13, the eldest, Ding Shengtan, and the youngest, Ding Chaoqun, were the very best, whom people called “the pair beyond time.”
However, Ding Chaoqun wasn’t the son Emperor of Gods’ wife. It was said that he adopted the boy and listed him as one of his 13 sons because the boy was very talented.
At its zenith, the God’s Palace controlled an immeasurable piece of land.
Yet no one could predict the future, even though it was all sunny days.
War broke out. The leader of the Yu family (bird-man family) from the West opened fire and millions of Yu forces intruded the Ancient Qilian Mountain area.
The Emperor’s wrath was aroused and he ordered his eldest son Ding Shengtan to lead the God’s army to march and defend against the Yu forces in the Ancient Qilian Mountain.
It was a big war which lasted half a month, leaving mountains of corpses of soldiers whose blood flowed like a river. Ding Shengtan, with his incomparable talent, struck fiercely against the Yu family and forced them to retreat 300 thousand miles until they reached the outside of the Ancient Qilian Mountain. The leader of the Yu army had no choice but sign a cease fire agreement and leave.
On the way back home, the morale of Ding Shengtan’s army was high; they lifted their flags up to sky.
Fleets of warships of the God’s Palace made their way through the clouds and flew between the earth and the sky in proper formation.
At the front…
An immense warship covered in purple smoke shone with golden light, moving as magnificently as a king patrolling his territory.
Behind the dragon bow of the ship stood 4 or 5 strong men who were big and tall. All of them wore golden armors and had unfathomable power.
It was none other than the eldest son and his own brothers.
“Big brother, this triumph represents a bloody defeat to the Yu; the bird-men won’t dare to offend us at least within a thousand years. What a delight it is! Hahaha!” The eighth son laughed happily and continued, “Our father plans to ponder over the mystery of infinite incarnation and decided not to deal with the God’s Palace affairs in person. He even has the idea to pass his throne to one of his sons. Big brother, given the merits you’ve made today, you are the best candidate!”
Ding Shengtan shook his head and laughed. “Our father like to be enigmatic. How can you and I guess what’s on his mind? I think our 13th brother is promising and fit for the throne, too.”
Ding Shengtan was slender and tall, with skin like white jade and a handsome elegant face. Divine light wreathed him from top to bottom. Even the top of his hair shone with divine light. A lightning wink of his golden eyes was so alluring that it felt as if an electrical shock went straight to your heart. When you saw it, you came to learn that the cycle of nature was an illusion. With excellence of power just like a king, he was indeed the most handsome man in the God’s Palace.
The eldest son of the Emperor was beyond compare.
A mysterious charm flowed around him as he talked with people, making them agree with him naturally.
“The youngest? The 13th?” Ding Chulin smiled coldly and said, “A bastard of unknown origin with impure blood lineage? He is damn hypocritical and a true vile character, how could he be the heir?”
“I agree.” The 4th son Ding Xinghua nodded and said, “Big brother, the youngest seems to be honest and even his Excellency Wen Sheng hasn’t found any ill omens. But I’ve always believed that he’s scheming something with an wicked goal. So we have be cautious. Furthermore, he is our father’s foster son and no one knows his origin except for him… Big brother, you have to keep an eye on him!”
Ding Xinghua was born with almighty double pupils, who was able to tell truth from falsehoods and know people’s minds. Thus he usually didn’t criticize someone without reason.
Ding Shengtan laughed and said, “It is reasonable that his Excellency Wen Sheng can’t find anything wrong, but how can our father do it? All of you have found faults in our 13th brother, but I like him. Our father trusts him a lot, and he deserves it. It will be OK if he inherits the throne and administers the God’s Palace. Actually, I don’t desire the throne. Although it sounds majestic to be the Emperor, it is really hard and laborious to administer trillions of lives. If our father wasn’t distracted too much by the God’s Palace affairs, he should have already evolved into the immortal state… Haha, to me, I would rather have a good time with my wife than inherit the throne, hahaha.”
“Big brother, you are so…” Ding Lin said angrily, “What should I say! Since you married Yu Qingcheng, you seem to only want to indulge yourself in her tenderness.”
The 8th brother’s serious face caused Ding Shengtan to laugh.
“Big brother’s choice is reasonable. The throne is not as good as you think,” the silent 3rd brother Ding Xingyun interrupted.
“Anyway, I don’t want our throne to be taken away by a bastard of unknown origin,” Ding Chulin said with extreme anger, “According to what you said, 3rd brother, are you supporting the damn hypocritical d*ck?”
Ding Xingyun didn’t utter a word.
Of the 13 sons, only Ding Xingyun was taciturn in daily life and careful about his words.
“Hum, even if you didn’t haggle over the bastard, I as the 8th brother will pick a fight with him.” Ding Chulin smiled coldly.
Hardly did he finish his sentence when the tolls of the war bell were heard further ahead.
After a lightning landed on the ground, a giant eagle appeared and said human words, “Your Graces, the God’s Palace warship is coming.”
“The God’s Palace warship?” Ding Chulin frowned. “This place is about 30 million miles away from the capital and there’s no God’s Palace fortress within tens of thousands of miles; how could there be any God’s Palace warship? Did you ask clearly which fleet it belongs to?”
The giant eagle said, “The Mo Ke fleet under the 13th’s command.”
Ding Xinghua said unexpectedly, “The soldiers of our youngest brother? Why are they here?”
“Big brother, be careful. This fleet is the best in his army as well as his bosom fleet. There are quite few thumbs in it. I’m afraid he’s not bearing any kind ideas if he’s sending such a warship!” The 8th brother quickly and anxiously told Ding Shengtan.
Ding Shengtan smiled and said nothing. He ordered the God’s Palace army to hold their fire. His brothers and he himself transformed into light and instantly moved to the warship in the front.
