Chapter 4
The Pillar of Origin
The Temple of Origin is just in front of the Da Jiang Palace.
Even when you are inside the Palace, you can see the huge Pillar of Origin standing tall into the clouds.
The PO is a blessing from the ancient gods, and the origin of martial prowess.
Legends have it that long long ago, the essence beast dominated the earth and sky, and the humans were like rats living on the planet.
And one day, the ancient gods sympathized with the humans and built the Pillar of Origin, so that young boys and girls can get their Zodiac Totem, and build their own homes and prosper.
Legends also have it that on the Worship Day, the ancient gods will stand above the clouds and look at the humans beneath.
And today is the most important day of the year.
Eligible young boys and girls of the Da Jiang City, as well as those from nearby towns, arrived early and waited patiently in the vast Temple of Origin.
The Kyrin Family members have the privilege to directly approach the PO, and do not need to join the crowd.
Besides, they also have other privileges.
For example, the commoners have to worship the PO in groups, each comprising of more than 100 people, by forming a circle around the PO, which has a diameter of more than 30 meters.
But the Kyrin family members and children of dignitaries can worship the PO individually, with a higher chance of being blessed, of course.
There is no other way to do it. Worshipping is a scarce resource, and the social hirarchy matters.
At 7 am, Ruahua led a ceremony of the whole crowd to pay tribute to the ancient gods, which took a whole hour.
Then the youngsters started to do their own worshipping, and the lucky ones got rewarded.
Everyone did their worshipping in the sincerest way, hoping that they can be blessed by the ancient gods standing high above and watching.
Jiang Zizai arrived late, and when he approached the PO through the special lane, several groups already finished their worshipping.
Both Lu Dingxing and Ruo Xiaoyue were very anxious.
"Boss, this is the sincerity flower I planted myself, take it when you worship, maybe it will help." Lu Dingxing said, handing over a bunch of white flower to Jiang Zizai.
Despite being tall and strong, Lu Dingxing's hobby is to plant flowers and take care of them.
He could be so gentle when he stares at his flowers that it was kind of scary.
"Panda, your flower won't work, just throw them away! " Ruo Xiaoyue was clearly not impressed.
They quickened their steps toward the PO.
Looking at the PO, Jiang Zizai had different feeling this time.
He was jealous of Lu Dingxing and Su Qianyu, for having their ZT with them.
He was jealous of his elder brother Jiang Junjian, for being the most talented and outstanding among his peers.
As a son of the Lord of the Purple Kyrin, he should have been better, and should have been stronger. But he had no idea how he hadn't been.
When they were just arriving at the PO, another team caught up with them.
A young man in gold robe led that team.
He was tall and had eyes in the shape of a peace blossom, which made him look proud.
Jiang Zizai is familiar with him. He is Jiang Junduo, the son of the Gold Kyrin Jiang Liu.
They were of similar age and were often compared with each other by the elders.
Jiang Junduo got his ZT at 9, which was a Yellow Category ZT, but when he was ten, his father found him the proper fuel for Evolvement.
His ZT then evoled to the Mysterious Category. Thus his temper and look became even more proud.
He was not very talented, but his father's resources and pills did help him, and he was currently at Level 5 of the Martial Realm, the same as Lu Dingxing.
He used to be very humble at Jiang Zizai's presence, but today, his attitude obviously changed.
He surpassed Jiang Zizai, and said mockingly, "Little Prince, you are so late this year, in the past you came very early and by this time, you could have kneeled down in front of the PO for an hour!"
"Cousin, this year is different. He knew he had no chance, so he is not serious. But if I were him, I wouldn't even have come." said a nine-year old boy standing beside Jiang Junduo. He was young, but his tone was very much like that of his cousin.
Jiang Junduo pretended to be angry with the boy and said to him, "watch your words. If you make the little prince cry, your parents will punish you."
Then he turned to Jiang Zizai and said jokingly, "Little prince, don't bother with him. This is his 1st worshipping day. He is not as experienced as you. Please let us know if he is not doing things properly."
Then they surpassed Jiang Zizai.
As the old saying goes, "If the tiger went down to level land, even dogs would insult him."
Jiang Zizai knew well. If he could not become stronger himself, he had nothing more to expect than to get to used to such ridicule.
"Boss, don't be mad. I will beat Jiang Junduo up when I meet him in the Kyrin Competition."
Lu Dingxing said, angrily.
"Well-experienced for the Worship Day", it was indeed an huge insult.
But Jiang Zizai said nothing.
He knew words were useless.
He looked at the huge PO and suddenly thought of the strange dream he had last night.
"Father, were you giving me guidance?" He thought.
The Temple of Origin was as crowded as the previous years. Obviously, what happened yesterday had not dampened people's hops for their young.
The Kyrin family members were higher up on the altar. And the boys and girls of the commoners are queuing up for their turn.
The youngster all looked anxious, and when their names were announced for worshipping, they knew that the most important moment for them in the whole year had come.
The commoners had to rely on the gods' blessing to change their fate.
Jiang Zizai saw his mother too. She was presiding over the preceedings with the other four lords.
She looked pale under the sun, and she cannot hide her anxiety and distress, even if she tried hard to.
When she saw his son arriving, she smiled a bit.
This would be his last chance.
Jiang Zizai knew the love his parents harbors toward him.
On the altar of the Temple of Origin, several groups of boys and girls, each having 100 of them, stood besides the PO after finishing their tribute, waiting anxiously.
They all had their eyes closed, their arms trembled while they touch the carvings on the Pillar of Origin.
Everyone of them would get their results with ten breaths.
If nothing happens within ten breaths' time. That meant a failure, even if you waited for much longer.
Jiang Zizai looked at the grandious PO intensely.
Suddenly, the first ZT appeared!
One young boy' arms lightened up, while a light oringinated from the PO passed through them and reached the central point between the eyebrows on the forehead.
Hong!
A mark of a fiery redish coler appeared on his forhead.
The mark was made of several single strokes, which vividly depicted a fierce tiger, with fires burning around it.
Wng…!
The mark suddenly shaked and expanded above the boy's head, forming a mirage of a huge fiery tiger, who roared fiercely toward the sky.
That, was the Totem!
"Xu Jiaying, Fiery Tiger ZT, Yellow Category!", came the announcement.
The crowd started making noises of congratulations and jealousy.
The young boy soon become the center of attention.
The mirage disappeared, and the mark on his forehead gradually became invisible. But people knew for sure that he was the lucky one.
"Father, mother, may you rest in peace in heaven! I have made it!"
The boy knelt down and broke into tears.
"Thank the ancient gods first!" An adult reminded him.
No matter what, his life had been changed forever.
His joy was in sharp contrast with the disappointment of the other 99.
He was the only one in this 100-boy-and-girl group who had been chosen by the ancient gods.
More and more groups came to the altar, and accompanying every ZT, dozens more would be disappointed.
Jiang Zizai used to be among the disappointed for many times.
Half a day quickly passed, and the tens of thousands of sons and daughters of the commoners concluded their worshipping. But the climax was yet to come.
Those who would now came to the PO were the sons and daughters of the TMMs, and their chance of being chosen were ten times larger than those of the commoners.
And the higher the level of the parents, the later came their turn to worship.
And, these ones are usually of a younger age. Most of them nine or ten.
More often than not, those ZTs that were awakened after the age of ten were mostly wasted.
"Wang Qiong, Huge Sword ZT, Yellow Category."
"Jiang Sha, Red Rabbit ZT, not categorized."
Some Totems were not powerful enough to be categorized, and the Book of Totem did not even bother to record them.
But to have one Totem was still better than having none at all, though their chances for Evolvement were slim.
Even among the same category, some are more powerful than the others.
For example, the Fiery Tiger Totem has a much greater potential than the Fiery Monkey Totem.
Usually, it is at the end of the day that the most powerful Totems appear.
That often happens when the Kyrin Family member's sons and daughters came to the altar.
For the descendents of the Lords, mostly 9 or 10 years of age, their chance of success could be as high as 80%.
The rest 20%, almost without exception could be blessed in their second year.
"Jiang Junxing."
When this name was called, Jiang Zizai felt a bit unconfortable.
Jiang Junxing took some big steps toward the PO. He was the 9 year old who ridiculed Jiang Zizai earlier.
He looked extremely confident, so much so that he did not seem to be sincere enough.
Jiang Zizai remembered that himself was like Jiang Junxing when he was 9. He was very sure of himself then.
His appearance on the altar attracted lots attention. The other four Kyrin Lords seemed to be talking about him, but Ruohua said nothing.
Jiang Junxing's hands touched the PO.
Hong…!
Immediately, a light originated from the PO and through his arms, reached the center of the eyebrows on his forehead, then a mark appeared.
The mark shaked and expanded, forming a mirage of a gloden Kyrin. The Kyrin did not roar, and had a stern look on its face.
The most striking feature of the golden Kyrin was that its mane, like that of a lion, swang in the air.
"Congratulations to the Lord of the Golden Kyrin! Jiang Junxing is blessed with a Golden Mane Kyrin Totem, the Mysterious Category, with a great potential for Evolvement! "
This was the first and probably would be the only Mysterious Category Totem for the day. People cheered and applauded.
All eyes were on the young boy.
Jiang Junxing tried hard to put on a modest look, but he could not hide his ecstesy.
"The future is ours!"
He made a fist and shouted to the tens of thousands of youngsters beneath him. The Totem of Gold Mane Kyrin Totem seemed to have already given him more strength.
The Mysterious Category ZT on his first Worship Day proved his talent.
"Congratulations, Jiang Liu."
Jiang Shang, Lord of the Fiery Kyrin, greeted Jiang Liu, the Lord of the Gloden Kyrin sitting beside him.
Jiang Liu put up a smile and said, "Thanks, brother Shang. Totem is just the begining. He still has a long way to go and he needs to practice diligently."
Jiang Shang touched his long beard and said "Golden Mane Kyrin Totem, among the best ones in the Mysterious Category".
Jiang Liu nodded, and said, "yes, yes. We are lucky."
His eyes turned to Ruohua, with a lustful look.
But the look quickly disappeared, and he said, "Ruohua, I heard that Zizai is also coming today. Where is he now? He should not give up!"
Ruohua looked at him and said, "He will not give up. And you don't need to worry about him."
Jiang Liu squeezed a smile on his face, and said, "I know you are under a lot of stress. Anyhow, Yunting is now in trouble. If Zizai proves to be a failure, that would be more than worse."
He then changed his tone and said, "However, even if the rules of the Kyrin family is rigid, we will not object if he remains a commoner and live a luxurious life for the rest of his life. After all, we are the same blood, and we have seen him grow up."
When Ruohua looked at him again, it was a look that was full of defiance.
"It is not a done deal for Yunting yet. Just be patient or you will regret it."
"You…" Jiang Liu was obviously offended.
But Jiang Shang stepped in. He patted Jiang Liu's shoulder and said, "don't talk too much."
"Ok, let's be patient. We have been witness this for 6 years in a row. It does not matter if we see it for one more time." Jiang Liu shrugged. He already saw Jiang Zizai.
It was Jiang Zizai's turn now.
When his name was announced, a sudden silence swept across the crowd,
The young boys and girls also knew the history of Jiang Zizai and they knew what awaited him if he fails again this time.
When Jiang Zizai walked up the altar and toward the PO, Jiang Liu made a huge sigh and said, "Had Yunting not done something treacherous, the boy would not have been so unfortunate. Poor boy. How is it that he could not get a ZT? The boy is punished for his father's sins. "
Ruohua clenched her fist, her nails biten deep into her skin.