Acknowledgment of Ancestry

Inside the ancestral hall, the atmosphere was solemn and heavy.

Beneath its towering dome, a Golden Sacred Dragon statue cast entirely from dark-gold Starsteel stood at the center. Its head was raised high, its eyes lowered slightly as it looked down upon every descendant who entered.

Below the statue, rows of golden ancestral tablets stood in neat order. From the founding emperor to the late emperor, each bore a name and posthumous title, like lamps that would never go out.

Beneath them stood dozens of silver tablets bearing the names of those who had made great contributions to the Imperial Clan and the empire throughout the Ji Family's history.

Those who had upheld the empire with their own flesh and blood were enshrined here even years after their deaths, alongside the Sacred Dragon,

receiving the offerings of their descendants together with generations of emperors.

Dongfang Haoyue knelt on a prayer cushion. On the stone altar before him, a dark-red Bloodline Inheritance Stone glowed faintly with bloody light.

Above that glow, the phantom of a Golden Sacred Dragon slowly appeared. Five claws grew from each foot, and its eyes blazed like torches.

"It is indeed the Imperial Dragon Bloodline," the Ji Family's Great Elder said slowly, a complicated note in his voice.

Similar expressions appeared on the other elders' faces. They all knew how much shock and upheaval this newly emerged son of the emperor could bring to the empire.

After a brief silence, the Great Elder straightened his robes and faced Dongfang Haoyue. "In the year 4832 of the imperial calendar, Dongfang Haoyue, formerly of the Dongfang Family, has been verified by the ancestral hall's Bloodline Inheritance Stone as a bearer of the Ji Family's Sacred Dragon Bloodline. His status as a member of the Imperial Clan is beyond doubt."