Adou, it's time for us to go

[Year 57, age 83.]

[Drawing a new trait...]

[Extraction successful!]

[“Personal BGM” (Green, Rare): Whenever you make an entrance, a BGM fitting the situation will play automatically. It’s not useful for much, but… damn, that’s cool!]

[Would you like to adjust the trait?]

[Yes/No]

[You chose No.]

[The past few years had been remarkably comfortable for you.]

[Both your body and mind had been given a thorough rest.]

[You had rarely enjoyed such an easygoing life, so the experience brought you new insights and realizations. With the support of “Mortal Bone,” you gained a new divine ability.]

[Rain Prayer: Perform a ritual and pray for rain to ease a drought.]

[A brand-new Earthly Fiend divine ability.]

[Used on its own, this divine ability could do nothing more than make a certain area receive rainfall.]

[But if you could adapt divine arts for your own use, you might be able to produce effects resembling the forbidden water magic of a fantasy world. It could be used for both offense and defense, and had a wide range of applications.]

[You had no idea how to adapt it.]

[Then there was no need to comprehend it.]

[Once you reached Vermilion-Purple Star and entered the Ji Clan, you could simply look for the answer in the Ji Clan’s Myriad Books Pavilion.]

[Or perhaps the Ember Society on Vermilion-Purple Star would have an abundant collection of divine arts as well.]

[“Your Majesty!! Something terrible has happened!!”]

[You were practicing calligraphy in your study when the chief eunuch rushed in and threw himself onto the floor, shouting.]

[Your “Signal Light” had already become a passive ability, remaining active at all times. If there had truly been any danger, something unusual would have appeared in your field of vision long ago.]

[There was nothing.]

[So you calmly said,]

[“What is it? Stop shouting and compose yourself.”]

[“It’s Young Master Zhong! He-he-he-he-he-he beat up another classmate! This time he went too far—he broke one of the boy’s legs!”]

[“Oh… Which child was beaten?”]

[“The son of Marquis Huai Ming, Conglala!”]

[The Young Master Zhong in question was naturally A-Dou. And judging from the three-syllable, repetitive name, Conglala was clearly a dragonkin.]

[The capital had a royal academy specifically for the children of imperial relatives, high officials, and other nobles.]

[The academy did not teach cultivation. Its curriculum consisted entirely of ordinary academic subjects.]

[All the students were relatively young children.]

[Of course, “relatively young” had to be considered in the context of different races.]

[Dragonkin had much longer lifespans and matured far more slowly. To them, even a twenty-year-old was still a child.]

[For humans, twenty was obviously no longer considered young.]

[Over the past few years, you had discovered several more highly gifted human children among the common folk.]

[After obtaining their parents’ consent, you brought the children to the capital and took care of them there.]

[Once they turned three, they all began studying at the royal academy. They could keep A-Dou company while also helping you cultivate more talent for the human race.]

[There were many different races at the royal academy.]

[Influenced by their parents, the children looked down on humans to some degree, and bullying was therefore common.]

[Unfortunately for them, A-Dou had been born with divine strength. His physical abilities were even greater than those of the demon race students. He was only eight, yet he was already as tall as a teenager, with a burly build, astonishing strength, and a body as hard as stone.]

[He could truly be said to have fought his way from the youngest class to the oldest without ever meeting an equal.]

[The human children at the academy all rallied around A-Dou, treating him as the undisputed king of the children.]

[With him protecting them, no member of another race dared bully a human child. If anyone tried, A-Dou would beat them senseless.]

[Every time he caused trouble, you would punish him severely afterward.]

[That was necessary. Otherwise, even your sycophants would think you were showing excessive favoritism toward the human race.]

[Only the chief eunuch truly understood you. He could see that punishing A-Dou was not what you really wanted, but he never exposed the truth. Instead, he would often use the little authority he possessed to favor A-Dou.]

[The chief eunuch was a dragonkin as well, but all he cared about was winning the emperor’s favor. He never gave any thought to anything else.]

[“Send Marquis Huai Ming an Epic Spirit Treasure and two hundred thousand Origin Stones as compensation. Bring A-Dou here. I’m going to punish him severely!”]

[“Yes!”]

[Not long afterward, you saw A-Dou in your study. His face was swollen and bruised.]

[The little fellow was only eight, yet he was already one meter sixty tall.]

[Any onlooker would have had to ask: Is this really an eight-year-old?]

[He shot you a sidelong glance without saluting or kneeling, his face full of arrogance.]

[You dismissed the servants from the study, sat on your imperial throne, and said with a smile,]

[“A-Dou, fighting again?”]

[“My name is Zhong Yanqing, not A-Dou!”]

[“All right, all right, A-Dou. Why don’t you tell me why you beat someone up today? I heard Conglala hadn’t bullied you or any of your fellow humans.”]

[“His father, Marquis Huai Ming, submitted a memorial last month proposing that humans across the world pay three times as much grain tax!

Food is the people’s first necessity! Why should we humans work the fields and still pay the highest grain taxes, just to support this bunch of other races?

I couldn’t beat Marquis Huai Ming, so I beat his son!”]

[“Oh… Then why did you wait until today to beat up his son, when his father submitted that memorial last month?”]

[“I need a justifiable reason before I hit someone! Conglala hadn’t done anything wrong before, so of course I couldn’t beat him. But today, he did something wrong!”]

[“What did he do?”]

[“He talked back to the teacher! He said that since the teacher had no cultivation, he wasn’t fit to teach them!”]

[The teacher A-Dou was referring to was not human, but A-Dou respected teachers and valued their teachings, so he held no prejudice against him.]

[Watching A-Dou speak with such clarity and reason, you couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. How could this possibly be an eight-year-old child?]

[There were many things you had never taught him, yet he seemed to possess a certain awareness by nature.]

[“I really ought to educate you properly…”]

[A-Dou was not afraid of you in the slightest. He lifted his chin defiantly.]

[“Go ahead and punish me! I’m not afraid of you!”]

[“I’m taking you away from Blazing Light Star.”]

[“Huh?”]

[A-Dou froze, his oversized head clearly unable to process what you had said.]

[“What kind of punishment is that? Are you exiling me to another planet?”]

[“No. I’m going with you.”]

[“Nonsense. You’re the emperor. How could you leave your own country?”]

[You smiled.]

[Then you snapped your fingers, and a clone leaped into existence.]

[Because of the trait’s effect, the clone always maintained the same appearance as you, even though you currently looked like a member of the dragonkin.]

[“From today onward, he will remain on Blazing Light Star in my place. As for me, I’m taking you with me to explore the vast sea of stars!”]

[A-Dou scratched his head.]

[“I-I don’t understand…”]

[You threw your head back and laughed. Then your appearance shifted, returning to Chen Dong’s face.]

[“The truth is, I’m not dragonkin. Just like you, I’m human!”]

[The next half hour was a profoundly shocking experience for A-Dou.]

[His small worldview was completely reshaped on the spot.]

[“So all of this was part of your plan with the Ember Society? Before long, we humans will sideline the other races and become the true rulers of Blazing Light Star?”]

[“That’s right.”]

[“Hahaha! That’s wonderful! Then why do we have to leave?”]

“I still have things I must see through. The little Firelight Star shouldn’t be your final destination either, A-Dou. The destiny you bear belongs on a far greater stage!”