Chapter 3: The Heavenly Emperor's Childhood, A Sword Dao Prodigy
1,025 words
In the mirror.
A tender young boy took some food from home, wrapped it in a cloth bag, and tucked it into his arms.
Then he quickly ran out of the house.
He ran toward the ruined temple outside the village.
In the ruined temple, an old Daoist with a head full of white hair sat cross-legged. He looked weak, his face ashen and lips cracked, showing he hadn’t eaten for several days.
“Sir, you must be hungry. Eat it while it’s warm—I kept it in my arms and brought it to you.”
Outside the mirror.
The cultivators were somewhat astonished.
“How unexpected—the merciless, cruel Heavenly Emperor was, in childhood, such an innocent, harmless-looking child.”
“At birth people are inherently good, no one is born a great villain. I suppose this must be one of his rare pure moments.”
The crowd sighed, feeling oddly conflicted about it.
Then someone stared at the old Daoist on the mirror and said, “This Daoist doesn’t look ordinary—his meridians are severed, his foundational base shattered…to suffer such grievous injuries and still live…”
People turned to look at the old man and many wore baffled expressions, “Why is there such dense fiendish aura around his body?”
Back in the mirror, the old Daoist grinned, his gaze falling on the boy. He nodded thoughtfully and praised him.
“Not bad, not bad—your bone structure is something not seen since ancient times.”
He said this as he casually tossed the sword in his hand to Gu Changqing, then took the food Gu Changqing had offered and ate it with difficulty.
Outside the mirror, the crowd snorted at the old Daoist’s words.
They thought it obvious—this boy would become the Heavenly Emperor. It would be odd if his talent were mediocre.
While they were mocking, they saw the boy casually playing with the sword flick his wrist—and a smooth blade-like sword force sliced out.
Seeing that flawlessly smooth cut across space, the old Daoist was stunned, and all the cultivators of the Justice Alliance were dumbfounded.
Regardless of whether they Grand Emperors or Quasi-Emperors, they stood there agape.
If they weren’t mistaken, the five- or six-year-old boy had just cut out a line of sword qi.
Moreover, this sword qi looked unusually mature.
Although not overwhelmingly powerful, it already contained the nascent embodiment of Sword Dao’s true meaning!
Everyone couldn’t help but be astonished.
Among those present were many Grand Emperors, Quasi-Emperors, and supreme strong ones. At five or six, most kids were still playing in mud—at best starting basic practice—yet the young Heavenly Emperor had already slashed out sword qi?
They knew that to slash out sword qi, one must grasp the true meaning of the Sword Dao!
How could a small child still in ignorance comprehend that?
The old Daoist in the mirror was also extremely shocked.
He immediately asked, “Have you practiced the sword before? Did a famous master teach you?”
Gu Changqing shook his head and looked somewhat bewildered. “No one taught me, and we don’t even have a sword at home.”
At that moment the old Daoist’s pupils dilated with visible horror.
Not only the old Daoist, but many Quasi-Emperors and Grand Emperors outside the mirror also wore faces of shock.
No one taught him?!
A five-year-old child with no guidance—how could he comprehend the true meaning of the Sword Dao?
A genius?
No… He should be called an unparalleled Sword Dao prodigy!
These people were the era’s top existences—no matter how they had swept through countless eons, they had never seen something so earth-shaking.
Even the male lead, Ye Chen, couldn’t help showing astonishment at the scene.
He had risen against the odds with unmatched talent, yet facing Gu Changqing who grasped sword intent at five or six, he could only watch on enviously.
“Unexpected—the young Heavenly Emperor’s Sword Dao talent is so terrifying. No wonder he could become the Heavenly Emperor later!”
They sighed.
However, someone quickly noticed something amiss.
“Why have we never seen the Heavenly Emperor wield a sword?”
That voice left everyone stunned.
Indeed.
A Heavenly Emperor who showed such extraordinary Sword Dao aptitude in childhood should have refined it all the way to transcendence in cultivation!
But why had they never seen the Heavenly Emperor hold a sword?
Could it be that even when the Heavenly Emperor was sealed, he never used his full strength?
Everyone involuntarily felt a chill.
If so, wouldn’t that indicate the Heavenly Emperor indeed kept a card up his sleeve?
At that moment, Jiang Minghuang said indifferently, “He was indeed a Sword Dao genius, but later, for some reason, his sword heart was destroyed.”
“What reason?”
Everyone looked at Jiang Minghuang in puzzlement.
“He never told me.”
Jiang Minghuang shook his head faintly.
There were too many secrets about his sworn elder brother that he couldn’t fathom.
“However,” Jiang Minghuang added, “I suppose if we keep watching, there will be answers.”
The crowd nodded in silence and continued watching, a trace of expectation arising in their hearts.
A Sword Dao genius who displayed powerful talent at four or five, once matured, would inevitably make the Sword Dao earth-shattering.
They wanted to see who had destroyed the Heavenly Emperor’s sword heart.
Who had ruined the once-relied-upon greatest asset of the now-infamous Heavenly Emperor?
“Old sir, I have to go back. If Mother finds out I stole food from home she’ll beat me.”
The boy in the mirror ran off without even looking back.
Night fell.
Gu Changqing woke from sleep—more accurately speaking, he was woken by noise.
He heard sharp screams.
He was frightened.
“Father! Mother!”
Gu Changqing ran into his parents’ room but found no sign of them.
He ran into the courtyard.
The household servants and maids lay all collapsed on the ground; the courtyard was thick with the stench of blood.
“Mother!”
Gu Changqing ran out toward the village.
On the village road bodies lay everywhere—people sprawled on the ground, familiar faces submerged in pools of blood.
In the distance flames burned, shrill screams echoed. Faintly, within the firelight, a figure shrouded in dense black qi flickered rapidly.
Wherever he passed there was blood and wails.