“`
Night had fallen, and the dark firmament was dotted with twinkling stars, the grand night enveloping everything.
Cheng Guang lay on his bed, his body covered in scabs of dried blood, which cracked and fell off like peeling skin at the slightest movement, revealing the pale, jade-like skin beneath.
Cheng Guang got up and walked to the mirror at the head of the bed to look at himself.
In his once pitch-black eyes, a faint purple hue lingered, and with each move, it seemed as if he could cause the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth to tremble, exuding an extraordinary nobility.
His handsome yet pale face had become a lot more angular at this moment, and the muscles throughout his body slightly bulged, strong without appearing bloated.
Cheng Guang clenched his fist, feeling a surge of strength that was much more potent than before.
Even without any cultivation at this time, just having changed his bloodline, his strength was incomparable to that of an ordinary mortal.
It was not until now that Cheng Guang realized why Wu Ling, who had seemingly never cultivated before, was still so strong.
People with the royal bloodline are naturally leaps and bounds ahead of ordinary folks.
If he were to compete with Wu Ling in brute strength now, Cheng Guang felt confident that he would crush her outright.
“Spirit Dao cultivation is different from Martial Cultivation,”
“In Martial Cultivation, one simply needs to continuously refine their blood essence, open their acupoints, and condense Qi at the early stages, but Spirit Dao is different. Specific cultivation methods are known only by the members of the royal family. If I want to cultivate the Spirit Dao, I need to find out how to do it.”
Cheng Guang muttered to himself.
He was still the Princely Heir, and due to not daring to be too presumptuous earlier, he had always kept a low profile, not utilizing the resources of the mansion.
But now that Cheng Zhihai was about to return, his identity would ultimately be impossible to hide.
In such a case, he did not want to miss any opportunity to enhance his strength, no matter how small.
“I’ll visit the Book Collection Pavilion tomorrow.”
Inside Duke Zhen’s Mansion, there was a Book Collection Pavilion filled with scriptures and secret texts brought back by Cheng Zhihai from the various sects he had quelled in the Martial World.
Possibly, the method of cultivating the Spirit Dao could be found there.
If not, Cheng Guang would have to figure out how to acquire the cultivation methods from the members of the royal family.
Cheng Guang pondered as he rose and stepped out the door, heading to the lake in the courtyard to take a bath.
Because he was a body double, Qing Luan had purposely reassigned the servants of the courtyard to reduce the chance of him being exposed.
So, he couldn’t expect anyone to prepare a hot bath for him.
After a quick rinse in the lake, he returned to his room, sat at his desk, picked up a brush and paper, and slowly began to write, considering his next steps.
He couldn’t escape anymore.
The only thing he could do now was to solidify his position as the Princely Heir, so when the real heir returned, he would find that his place had been usurped.
The thought might prove to be rather amusing.
The idea of making himself, the body double, into the true Princely Heir seemed far-fetched, but after careful analysis, he found it wasn’t entirely out of the question.
Firstly, not many people knew he was a body double.
Emperor Zhou was one, but Cheng Guang felt that the emperor probably wouldn’t expose him; if he wanted to do so, Cheng Guang would likely already be dead.
In a way, his role as a body double had inadvertently helped Emperor Zhou quite a bit. Since it served the Emperor’s interests, he was unlikely to reveal Cheng Guang’s true identity himself.
Moreover, even without the interests at stake, Emperor Zhou wouldn’t be too harsh on him.
Being just a mere body double, Cheng Guang was not something the Emperor would concern himself with.
If he were the real Princely Heir, perhaps Emperor Zhou might take a closer look, but Cheng Guang, as he now was, didn’t quite fit the bill.
Besides Emperor Zhou, the only other person who knew he was a body double was Qing Luan, and she was even less likely to tell; in a way, she was on the same side as him.
The only other person left was the real Princely Heir.
So there were only these three people.
None of them were likely to reveal his identity.
At least, before the real heir returned, his identity would remain secret as long as he didn’t disclose it himself, undetectable to ordinary people.
The only major problem now was how to deceive Cheng Zhihai.
His essence was unharmed; once Cheng Zhihai tried to treat him, he would inevitably discover the abnormalities.
By then, no matter how much he tried, he would not be able to keep it a secret.
Cheng Guang frowned, his fingers lightly pinched the space between his eyebrows as he thought about what to do.
While he was deep in thought, a cold voice suddenly echoed in his ear.
“`
[In the thirty-fourth year of the Era of Zhensheng, on the second day after you ascended to the Heavenly Human Realm, you defeated the Empress of Great Zhou and were so excited that you couldn’t sleep all night.]
[Returning home, your mind was flooded with thoughts. You recalled how years ago, your father, Cheng Zhihai, treated your body and mended your origins. But you knew that your origins had not truly been damaged; it was merely the consequence of cultivating the Spirit Dao.]
[Even though you had the bloodline of the Great Zhou Imperial Family within you, you were not of the royal household. At birth, your royal bloodline was stripped away and cast into the Blood Pool.]
[Since childhood, your body was frail, unable not only to cultivate the Spirit Dao, but also greatly limited in your Martial Cultivation talent.]
[In order for you to walk the path of Spirit Dao, your grandfather, Duke Zhen Guo, Cheng Shiyuan, kidnapped a scion of a certain dynasty when you were young, stripped the royal bloodline from his body, and forcibly merged it into yours. The damage to your origins was merely a side effect of forcefully merging the royal bloodline, which did not harmonize with your body. It was bearable at normal times, but practice brought about excruciating pain.]
[Cheng Zhihai tried various methods to enable you to cultivate the Spirit Dao. You suffered immensely. After more than a decade, finally, with the efforts of your father, Cheng Zhihai, he suppressed the rejection of the royal bloodline in your body at the cost of his own life, allowing you to begin cultivating.]
[Stepping onto the path of Spirit Dao, in less than a century’s time, you reached the Heavenly Human Realm and even incredulously defeated the Empress of Great Zhou, as if in a dream.]
[Feeling a mix of emotions, you decided to burn more afterlife offerings at your father’s grave.]
[Newcomer Task 2: Burn some spending money at Cheng Zhihai’s grave.]
[Task Reward: Restraint Pearl (Heavenly Grade).]
After hearing the message from the system, his eyes went wide for a moment, instantly flashing with wild joy.
It turned out the Princely Heir’s body had not been damaged at all. Although there was an assassination attempt, all of it was just to cover up the fact that he had merged with the royal bloodline.
There is a well-known law about the royal bloodline; others cannot implant a royal’s bloodline into their own bodies unless they are born with it, due to extreme rejection.
Otherwise, the royal families of the various dynasties would not be the most noble people between heaven and earth. Instead, they would become treasures coveted by all, walking embodiments of heaven and earth’s essence.
Under the extreme rejection, not many would risk being hunted by a dynasty to plunder a royal descendant’s bloodline and implant it into their own bodies.
At that time, because Cheng Guang was not of the royal family, the Great Zhou royal bloodline within him was stripped away and placed into the Blood Pool to nurture other royal descendants.
With a weak constitution, his prospects for the Spirit Dao, let alone his Martial Cultivation talent, were all restricted.
The Duke of the State took a great risk against the world, secretly kidnapping another royal scion to strip his royal bloodline and forcibly merge it into the Princely Heir’s body, all to prevent this Princely Heir from becoming truly useless.]
[Now that he had merged with the ancient royal blood of Great Xia, perhaps in some sense, it was an ironic twist of fate that led him to the right answer unwittingly.]
[The differences in the World Royal Family bloodlines are vast if deemed so, and minuscule if considered otherwise. Apart from the owner of the bloodline, no one else can distinguish which royal house their bloodline comes from.]
[In other words, he had easily crossed the barrier of the bloodline issue.]
[Playing the part of the Princely Heir was no longer a concern about revealing his identity due to bloodline issues.]
[Even the original injury issues of the Princely Heir were resolved by obtaining the royal bloodline of the ancient Great Xia, correcting them at the same time.]
[His body bore no such rejection; there was no injury to speak of.]
Thinking of this, Cheng Guang’s mood instantly brightened.
If it weren’t for the fact that explaining how he dealt with the rejection from the royal bloodline would be somewhat difficult, Cheng Guang, now facing Cheng Zhihai, would no longer feel any psychological pressure.]
[Even so, Cheng Guang felt much lighter at heart at this moment.]
[Even if he was a body double, so what?]
[What you have, I have; what you don’t have, I still possess.]
[Then I cannot be any truer.]
[As long as he ultimately deals with the real Princely Heir, even if he is fake, he must be accepted as genuine.]
[Cheng Guang twirled his writing brush, having already formulated plans for the future. As his mood relaxed, his gaze shifted to the system’s task.]
[Restraint Pearl.]
[Heavenly Grade.]
[This seemed to be a Different Treasure, and its grade was not low.]
[Cheng Guang knew little about Different Treasures; there were countless among heaven and earth, each one unable to be artificially crafted and also not naturally spawned, with undisclosed origins.]
[It seemed they appeared out of thin air.]
[Every Different Treasure had a specific function, and according to that function, they were divided into different grades.]
[This Heavenly Grade seemed not to be low.]
[Cheng Guang planned to go to the Book Collection Pavilion tomorrow and look up information on Different Treasures.]
[This Restraint Pearl task was somewhat challenging. Although it simply said to burn some paper money, Cheng Zhihai wasn’t dead yet, so where was his grave?]
[Was he supposed to build one himself?]
[If it really came to that, the display would truly be a show of filial piety.]