The makings of a Great Emperor

"Father, Mo..."

The moment Li Wangxian entered the main hall, before he could finish greeting his parents, Elder Lin and Elder Chen pounced on him and began running their hands all over him.

"Don't! There are people watching! Hey, Grandpa Chen, you don't need to check there!"

Li Wangxian wanted to cry but had no tears. The composed, steady demeanor he deliberately maintained each day crumbled on the spot.

Those in the know understand you're 'examining my bones' and 'measuring my spirit.' Anyone else would think you're molesting a little boy!

"Hehe! Don't be scared. Grandpa Chen is just checking your body."

Elder Chen flashed Li Wangxian a broad, open-mouthed grin.

What a sleazy smile!

Helpless against this shameless old man, Li Wangxian could only grumble inwardly.

In truth, Father Li and Mother Li felt the same way, but that did not stop them from smiling as they watched little Wangxian squirm. After all, who told him to always act like a miniature adult, depriving them of so much of the fun of raising a child?

Meanwhile, Elder Lin, wholly absorbed in assessing his innate constitution, was already trembling from head to toe with excitement at the feedback from his mystic art.

"Good, good! Sacred power surges like the tide, and his blood contains the Sun Divine Laws. This bloodline shouldn't fall far short of an emperor's son's, should it?"

With that result, tears streamed down Elder Lin's aged face beneath his graying beard.

Although Li Wangxian had always possessed peerless talent, losing nothing even when compared to the recorded childhoods of Great Emperors.

They had never been entirely free of worry. After all, ancient records contained no shortage of children who dazzled in their youth, only to amount to little as adults.

But now things were different. In their hearts, the Solar Holy Emperor stood unrivaled beneath heaven, above even the gods. With the Human Emperor's bloodline revived, this child was destined to dazzle the ages.

The Human Emperor—those two words bore enough weight to crush eternity. Even though he had undergone Dao Transformation a million years ago, his supreme renown endured.

Now even Elder Chen, who was usually so carefree, was so excited that his fingers trembled.

Yet he never stopped moving his hands. Again and again, he employed mystic arts to measure Li Wangxian's innate constitution and bloodline. At last, after who knew how many examinations, he finally confirmed it. All of this was real. The Sun Church had truly produced a divine son whose Emperor Blood had reverted to its ancestral source, nearly rivaling an emperor's son.

"A million years—or has it been several million? At last, the Saint Emperor's radiance will shine upon Ziwei once more."

At those words, no one could restrain the excitement that had long been ready to burst forth from their hearts. For a time, the Sun Church's main hall became a grand stage of overflowing emotion.

Some cried, some laughed, some laughed through their tears, and some cried through their laughter.

At that moment, only Li Wangxian, the person at the center of it all, remained relatively calm. But he knew his peace was destined not to last.

Sure enough, Mother Li soon scooped him up and began hopping about, pinching his little cheeks as she asked why he was not smiling and insisted that he smile.

Li Wangxian was helpless. Mother Li was normally gentle and virtuous, but every so often she became a little too lively-or rather, scatterbrained.

But when he saw that even Father Li, usually so mature and steady, was looking at him with pride on his face and an entirely unguarded smile,

What else could he do? He could only smile along.

A smile appeared on Li Wangxian's face as well.

After an indeterminate stretch of time, the hall finally quieted. Although joy still lingered on everyone's faces, at least they were no longer so excited that they could not control themselves.

Li Wangxian silently took out two scripture scrolls and handed them to Father Li.

"What are these?" Father Li accepted them and glanced down in puzzlement.

"The Sun Scripture, complete Sea of Bitterness Realm section"?

"Hm?" Father Li rubbed his eyes and looked again. The title was still the same. He raised his head to look at Li Wangxian, then opened the other scroll.

Written plainly upon it were the words, "The Sun Scripture, complete Dao Palace Realm section."

"Where did you get these two complete scripture scrolls?" Father Li's fingers trembled slightly as he unrolled them and began reading carefully.

He knew that his child had always been intelligent and levelheaded, never one to play childish pranks.

Did that mean these two scripture scrolls had truly been restored?

Had the true scripture contained within his Emperor Blood been passed down when his bloodline reverted to its ancestral source?

But if so, why were there only two scrolls, rather than the entire scripture?

"When my Emperor Blood reverted to its ancestral source, the Sun Divine Laws within my bloodline resonated with the profound meanings of the incomplete scripture. I used that resonance to comprehend and restore it," Li Wangxian answered calmly.

"What... you completed them yourself?" Uncle Jiang asked in shock.

"That's impossible! How could anyone restore an imperial scripture at this realm? Since ancient times, no one has ever heard of such a person!"

Elder Lin could no longer maintain his usual dependable demeanor either and exclaimed loudly.

Seeing the main hall once again become a grand stage of emotional turmoil, Li Wangxian inwardly flashed himself a victory sign.

That's what you get for staring at me and feeling me all over.

Li Wangxian secretly reveled in it, but his expression remained calm as he said, "Elder Lin does have a point. There are indeed some final emperor-level profundities in these two scrolls that I couldn't complete."

"Now that makes sense! Otherwise, if a Dao Palace Realm cultivator could restore an imperial scripture, that would be far too unreasonable." Elder Chen nodded in sudden understanding.

"How does any of this make sense?"

Everyone in the hall except Li Wangxian replied loudly.

"It really does make sense!"

Li Wangxian thoroughly agreed with Elder Chen and even offered a specific example. "Those emperor-level profundities really aren't something a Dao Palace Realm cultivator can fill in. At the time, I clearly felt that I had grasped something, but when I tried to restore them, nothing seemed right, no matter what I did. I couldn't write them down."

Amid the deathly silence, a vein on Father Li's forehead twitched again and again. For the first time, he felt that something seemed a little off about his child.

Oops. Looks like I showed off too much.

Looking at the utterly silent main hall, Li Wangxian felt secretly delighted, but also a little worried. He could not let his "true colors" be exposed just like that!

"What's wrong? Is something not right?" he asked the people in the hall with a feigned look of confusion.

Would someone as dignified as me, the Sun God Sect's divine son born embracing yin and yang, be the sort to talk big and show off?

Nothing about this is right!

Everyone in the hall was inwardly speechless, but they could not say it aloud. Would that not make them seem terribly untalented and ignorant?

Even if that was the truth, did they not have any dignity to preserve?

In the end, Mother Li, who had the fewest inhibitions, broke the silence. The greater her son's accomplishments, the prouder she was, and the more honor she gained.

Holding Li Wangxian, she said with a beaming smile, "My son Wangxian has the makings of a Great Emperor."

"Pfft!"

Upon hearing that familiar catchphrase, Li Wangxian finally lost all hold on his calm expression and spluttered.