Rain had fallen the night before, leaving the air damp and pleasantly cool the next morning.
The dawn sky was pale blue. At the Huang residence in eastern Wangjiang City, the servants had risen early, some sweeping fallen leaves from the courtyard, others tending flowers or feeding the horses and cattle—
In the main hall, Huang Fupei's family of five ate breakfast in a slightly subdued atmosphere.
Today was the day Huang Tian would have his spiritual apertures tested.
After a sip of soup, Huang Fupei looked at Huang Tian. "Once we've eaten, we'll leave for the inner city."
Wangjiang City had no official inner and outer city, but most members of the Huang Clan's main line lived near its center. Many people called that area the inner city to mark its prestige.
That was where spiritual apertures were tested.
Huang Tian nodded and continued eating without a word.
Taking his silence for worry, Sun Yun said, "Tian, don't fret. You've been clever since birth, quick to learn anything, and highly perceptive. You're sure to have spiritual apertures."
They were words of comfort, of course. Whether someone had spiritual apertures had almost nothing to do with intelligence or perception. It came down to parentage and fate.
If both parents were powerful cultivators, their child was almost certain to have spiritual apertures. If both were mortals, the chances were slim, no matter how clever the child.
Huang Fupei and Sun Yun were both first-realm Embryonic Breath cultivators. They were not strong, but they were cultivators, so their children's chances of having spiritual apertures were fairly good. Huang Du and Huang Yu each had one. Even a single aperture set them apart from mortals.
Huang Du was now thirteen. Dressed in a bright red brocade robe with a piece of lustrous white