The Fourteen Sons of Heaven

Time always passes slowly, just like playing chess where you can only make one move at a time.

Many things cannot be rushed, nor do they need to be.

It's like playing chess - no matter how hurried you are, you can't make two moves in a row.

But as long as you don't rush, your turn will come eventually.

As for how it will end, that's hard to say. But the game goes on, each piece played marks a change.

You can't only look at the result, right?

Life is the same.

Though there are exceptions, like Chen Xia who insists on taking two turns in a row, calling it activating a trap card and skipping his opponent's turn.

This really stumped Big Yellow Dog. Scratching his head, he still didn't understand what a trap card was. After a long pause, he finally asked doubtfully:

"Aren't we playing chess?"

"It's chess, but not traditional chess," was all Chen Xia said in reply. At the same time, he controlled his cannon to fire two shots.

Big Yellow Dog didn't understand, but didn't ask more. He just kept playing - after all, he could never win.

One cheats, one gives up, but somehow they still enjoyed their game.

Time passed slowly in Blue Sky Sword Sea. This batch of probationary disciples had been there for four hundred years without realizing it. After another hundred years, the competition to become formal disciples would begin.

Among these cultivators, the most promising was undoubtedly Li Yang, the only heir of an emperor in this batch.

The others who could advance to become formal disciples would be selected from the supreme and mythic ranks below him.

It's worth noting that Li Yang's batch of probationary disciples was the weakest at Blue Sky Sword Sea in thousands of years.

Not only because there was just one heir of an emperor, but also because there were fewer supreme and mythic ranks, whose strength was not top-notch either.

More interestingly, the batch right before them was the strongest. That was Chen Xia's batch.

The reason was simple - three emperor's heirs, with exceptional supreme and mythic ranks below them.

And then there was Chen Xia, who could be considered the fiercest emperor's heir in Blue Sky Sword Sea's history.

Some even joked that they didn't need Emperor Capital and Qiu Li, the other two emperor's heirs, nor those supreme and mythic ranks. Chen Xia alone would be enough to be called the strongest.

This was meant as a joke at first, but no one could find any counterarguments.

After some thought, it did seem true.

Of course, there were those who disliked Chen Xia and insisted on rebutting, "There can be five hundred disciples in one batch, each with their own roles. Can Chen Xia do everything alone? No, he can't!"

Indeed he couldn't, but he could defeat those five hundred, then make them do the work.

That's also everyone fulfilling their roles.

These had been the minor affairs at Blue Sky Sword Sea recently. But there was also a major event.

Blue Sky Sword Sea had bestowed titles on the fourteen heirs of emperors among the sect's disciples. Together they were called the Fourteen Children of Blue Sky.

This was no trivial title. It would be recorded in the sect's ancestral hall, to be revered by future generations like the sect's past grand elders and patriarchs.

It was like elevating them to that level, except it would only happen after their passing. For now they were still lacking.

With the Fourteen Children, naturally there was also a ranking. The last place needed no guesswork or debate.

It surely belonged to Li Yang of this batch. Above him, it followed the existing ranking of formal disciples - using ready-made lists to slot them in.

But when it came to the top two, there was some dilemma.

By status and standing, the top spot should go to Jia Gao, the first to become an elder and now the loftiest emperor's heir.

Jia Gao was also the first emperor's heir Blue Sky Sword Sea had recruited in thousands of years. His cultivation level was at the peak of Inverting the Sea Realm, and he could break through to the Heaven Mending Realm at any time.

Logically, Jia Gao was undoubtedly number one.

But that was logically. There were also irrational opinions - Chen Xia.

Reaching the peak upon debut, unmatched among emperor's heirs of the same batch. Beheading Qiong Qi, the number six emperor's heir from the previous batch. Imprisoning him in the sword prison for five hundred years. After being released, he even crippled the Fourth Elder of Laws.

Each of these would have been a great honor that any other emperor's heir could boast about for days.

Chen Xia had checked them all off, and was now in the seat of the Fourth Elder of Laws, hardly inferior to Jia Gao's standing.

This number one position became difficult to assign.

Both had their own valid claims and capital.

So that first spot on the Fourteen Children was left empty for now. They would wait a few hundred years more, and see who among Chen Xia and Jia Gao could take that crucial step.

If Jia Gao broke through from the peak of Inverting the Sea Realm to Heaven Mending Realm, the first spot would undoubtedly be his.

Conversely, if Chen Xia's cultivation level rose further, or his standing increased again, he could also claim the first spot.

Though Chen Xia was already Fourth Elder of Laws. For his standing to rise further, people really couldn't imagine what position that might be.

After the Fourteen Children were established, there would naturally be an enthronement ceremony. This was a major event at Blue Sky Sword Sea recently. They had also invited the seven major sects nearby to observe.

At this time, boats crowded around Blue Sky Sword Sea. Cultivators arrived continually, also bringing generous gifts.

While they called it observing, Blue Sky Sword Sea was really showing off their might.

The visiting cultivators knew this too, so they didn't dare cause any trouble, for fear of Blue Sky Sword Sea making an example of them.

Among them, the most relaxed was the Master of Jade Terrace Mountain, since he was on "good terms" with Chen Xia, the Fourth Elder of Laws.

Now that Chen Xia was one of the Fourteen Children, he was naturally even more delighted, falling just short of blurting out "I know Chen Xia!"

During this time, the Master of Jade Terrace Mountain specially sought out Chen Xia under the guise of chatting about Old Monster, but mainly to give Chen Xia gifts.

Now that Chen Xia's status was rising higher and higher, he had to seize this chance to cling onto Chen Xia's leg.

Naturally, Chen Xia accepted the gifts, but definitely wouldn't do anything in return.

The Fourteen Children's enthronement ceremony took place atop the Giant Sword. Just the observing cultivators numbered one hundred thousand, all prestigious figures in the star realm, with any lower excluded from observing.

Li Yang went first as the last seat, dressed in golden threaded feather clothes and dawn jade crown. With a hundred people holding up his golden yellow train, he walked slowly onto the high stage, his gaze full of arrogance.

It was quite a grand spectacle.

The processions of emperor's heirs after him were only more ostentatious.

Blue Sky Sword Sea had specifically urged them to make their entrances bigger and more majestic. The bigger the better.

So when Emperor Capital and Qiu Li appeared next, they sat on longan bone golden sedan chairs, carried by clan members at the Mountain Moving Realm onto the high platform, their processions magnificent.

The subsequent emperor's heirs arrived with even greater fanfare, some even having flood dragons pulling their carriages and mythical beasts as their mounts.

But just as things were reaching a climax, the atmosphere suddenly changed.

A figure in blue strolled out casually, with nothing and no one in front or behind him. He came swinging his sleeves leisurely, even secretly stifling a yawn along the way.

Just like that he ascended the platform, without a word, and went straight to stand at the front of all the emperor's heirs, a smile tugging at his lips.

The hundred thousand cultivators below were struck dumb, rendered completely silent.