CHAPTER 43: A CRUCIAL CHOICE - II

"Whoever becomes our son’s master, please take good care of him, for he is a bright child with a good heart. Now please allow us to initiate the coming-of-age ceremony for our son, Feng Tian."

With that said, both Feng Liang and Feng Yue took a step aside and the faint yellowish glow of the growing dusk glistened within Lucian’s eyes. At the same time, the subtle smell of all kinds of flowers enticed Lucian’s mind.

His neighbors, whom he had seen once or twice, owned a flower shop next door, letting the entire street flood in their fragrance.

As Lucian took a few steps ahead and reached the doorstep of his house, he could finally see the crowd ahead. In front of his house, there weren’t just one or two, but tens of people gathered in complete silence.

Realizing that a young kid had appeared over the door, everyone’s eyes instinctively darted towards the kid. Subconsciously, they seemed pretty exhilarated, as if a rabbit had come out of its burrow on its own in front of a group of hungry hyenas.

It was for the first time that the old clans, who were forced to turn a blind eye to the drowning Fengs, were allowed to officially try to consume them for the sake of greater power.

Naturally, their glares were overbearing. For a moment, Lucian’s mind had weakened significantly. Even in the sun’s light, what he saw was nothing less than night. A night where countless glares were stuck to his body as if choosing which part to consume first. All while his backing, his parents had disappeared from his sight.

Any child in such a situation would’ve collapsed under such sheer pressure. But Lucian wasn’t a child. And he definitely wasn’t a coward to react to such shallow mental attacks.

Stepping out without a speck of worry on his mind, he inserted one of his pinky fingers into his right ear and began scratching it inside out. To the elders and young ones around him who were dressed in a wide variety and combination of clothes—signifying their martial lineage and mastery—it was like their faces had been slapped by a mere 5-year-old.

To escape the illusions of cultivators who had practiced for god knows how long? Such a feat was definitely not something they’d been expecting from a child. Maybe it was then that they realized the one who stood before them wasn’t just a child of some rundown clan but a legitimate lineage of the Feng clan.

However, that only added more to their greed. For even with widened eyes, those standing aback could help but smile viciously. Faint murmurs arose through the crowd, while Lucian simply treaded his path towards the very front of the crowd.

Then, with a loud and steady demeanor, he slightly bent his body forward. Cupping his hands together, he greeted the men gathered before.

"Greetings to the fellow followers of heavens." He said calmly.

Hearing his words, the crowd fell into complete silence while his parents’ jaws dropped, gasping as if they’d heard something they weren’t meant to.

Even the crowd, which had been looking down upon the child, suddenly changed their gazes. What Lucian offered wasn’t just a normal greeting. It was a challenge. A challenge to their authority that they couldn’t refuse.

Clenching their jaws in spite, the elders of the renowned sects and the young dragons of the hidden tutelage, as well as the rogues who made their name living a solitary life, and constant travels.

Everyone who stood in front of Lucian and claimed to be a cultivator under heavens, they had no choice but to respond. After all, if they didn’t, it was equal to defiling the reputation and belief of one in heavens.

With angered gazes, everyone who stood there lowered their heads and bowed in complete reverence as they cupped their hands together.

Seeing this, both Feng Liang and Feng Yue were visibly shocked because not once had they ever taught their son of such a custom. How did he know something that even his parents had forgotten long ago? And most importantly, why did he react such a way to the elders ahead?

With just a single sentence, Lucian had successfully placed himself on the same ground as the cultivators gathered before him. What Lucian said, it wasn’t something extraordinary for that would’ve caused the system to intervene.

It was something that this world had created and was actually taught to him by his parents.

’I guess those heroic bedtime stories weren’t that bad.’ Knowing that the elders had bowed, he couldn’t help but smirk. ’You wanted to consume me by using your authority as the elders of the big sects? Now what? How does it feel to be challenged by the same rules you all created?’

All are equal under heaven.

It was a rule and declaration created by the alliance of the 6 great clans who stood against the Fengs.

Their intention was simple: to abolish the sense of hierarchy on the path of longevity while revering the heavens as one’s creator. Although it was created with a positive mindset, it was also apparent that this was a contradictory statement.

A statement that contradicted heaven’s existence. But for Lucian, its meaning was different than that as well.

’All are equal under heavens, my foot. That is just straight up an extreme level of ass kissing. Claiming for heaven to be the ruler, while it was only meant to be a guardian and overseer of the realm of life. Either the heavens have grown just that arrogant, or this world has gone senile. But since they’ve dared to say to accept something so absurd, why shouldn’t I use it for my own sake?’

"Greetings to the fellow follower of the heavens."

"Greetings to the..."

"Greetings..."

One after another, countless greetings were offered in the name of heavens. Or at least, that is what the others perceived. Since even those elders could tell that the one they were bowing down to and the one they were greeting wasn’t heaven but a mere 5-year-old they wanted to crush.

Naturally, their demeanor and voice differed from one another. While some replied enthusiastically after being genuinely shocked by the kid’s intelligence, others spat words like poison. Lucian, however, did not raise his head until the very last. Because if so, how could he show others the smirk on his face?