Bloodline of the Forgotten Emperor

"Well, the name I gave them wasn't bad at all, if you ask me." I said, though a note of hesitation crept into my voice regardless.

"I named them Sunny, Sparky, and Shadow." I said it a bit confused, honestly unsure what could possibly be wrong with names that good.

Mei took a deep, long breath before answering. "Everything is wrong with those names, Young Master," she said, a mix of tiredness and helplessness threaded through her voice.

"What exactly is wrong with it?" Still surprised, still thoroughly confused by her reaction.

"Would you do me the honor of letting me name them instead?" she asked, a bit of quiet expectation in her tone.

"Okay. I don't mind, I suppose." Still baffled by the whole situation unfolding in front of me.

"The one you named Sunny should be called Kealthas instead. Sounds far more dragonic and impressive, doesn't it?" Excitement, a touch of visible pride.

"That actually sounds good." I gave her an approving nod, genuinely impressed.

"The one you named Sparky — I'd suggest Voltaris for that one."

"And the last one should be called Nyxar." She pointed at each of them in turn as she assigned the names.

"That's actually a really good set of names. Who knew you had such a talent for naming things — what else are you secretly good at?" A bit curious, a bit surprised, since the eggs had all gone completely quiet and calm the moment she'd spoken.

"Young Master, I think you should get some rest — training with Elder Mo Xuan starts again in just a few hours," she said, gathering up the books she'd dropped earlier and heading off toward my study room.

I approached the three eggs and shot them an annoyed look. "So you all preferred the names Mei gave you, over the prestigious ones I personally bestowed on you."

They stayed silent for a long moment. I scoffed at them, then settled into a meditation pose right at their center.

I began circulating qi through the Dragon Scripture Manual, releasing a small portion of it outward for those three ungrateful beasts of mine to absorb as they pleased.

Time passed quickly after that, until it was finally time to head out toward Suchen Peak.

---

At Suchen Peak

I sat in meditation across from Elder Mo Xuan, who stood facing me, both hands clasped neatly behind his back.

"Your performance yesterday was terrible, quite frankly. You killed only a thousand and ninety-four demonic beasts, out of tens of thousands that were released on you," he said, his voice plain and cold as ever.

I stayed quiet, working hard to keep my reaction locked down entirely.

*Don't curse him, host. Remember the task ahead — only a few days left to go,* the System said, offering absolutely no comfort in the delivery whatsoever.

*System. Please, just stay quiet before I actually explode,* I thought back, flat.

"I want to teach you a fighting technique today. At the very least, it should spare you some embarrassment next time around," he said, still flat.

He produced a series of weapons from somewhere — various types of swords, spears, a scattering of arrows and many other ones.

"So. What weapon do you prefer using? You're also free to choose none of them at all — fight using your own physique instead. We are dragons, after all, and that counts for something."

I looked at him, then down at the array of weapons laid out before me. "Hmm. I think I'll go with the sword and the spear both." A sudden seriousness settled over me as I said it.

*Who wouldn't want a sword in one hand and a spear in the other — one cutting straight through the heavens, the other piercing clean through it.* A little smug, a little full of expectation.

Elder Mo Xuan raised an eyebrow at that. "You understand that any one person's strength is inherently limited. Are you certain you want to split your focus across two entire paths?"

"Elder Mo Xuan. Then why don't we make it three paths instead? I'd like to include body refinement as well. I don't want to end up with strong offense paired against weak, embarrassing defense."

A flash of genuine approval crossed his eyes at that. "That's actually quite thoughtful of you, I'll admit."

"Our ancestors mastered the sword and spear paths through claw and tail alike — the claws standing in as the sword, the tail serving as the spear," he began, lecturing now, his tone and posture both turning notably more serious.

"Since you can't yet transform into your dragon form, I'll still pass this knowledge along to you regardless," he said, his gaze steady and unwavering.

I stood at his cue, following along.

"The sword's essence lies in swinging, countering, and piercing. So does the spear's, in its own way — though each path still carves out its own distinct road forward."

He picked up a sword from the pile and tossed it in my direction. "Do exactly as I do," he said, then walked off to a fair distance.

He launched into a fierce, sweeping sword dance using nothing but a plain wooden blade — genuinely terrifying to witness, and strangely mesmerizing at the same time.

The performance created the vivid illusion of a single man fighting off an entire army alone, handling every one of them as effortlessly as a stroll through the park.

Once he'd finished the entire display, he turned back to face me. "This is the Heaven Freedom Sword Art. As the name itself suggests, it exists to grant one true freedom — freedom from death, from any form of defeat, from anything negative that might otherwise hold you down."

*Can true freedom be gotten from this sword art. Huh* I said with a bit expectations.

"Now go — show me what you've just learned." He caught the dazed look plastered across my face, his own posture shifting just slightly in response, though barely noticeable to anyone not looking closely.

"Young Master. Go and show me what I just demonstrated for you." His voice rose slightly this time around, sharp enough to finally knock me clean out of my daze.

"Uhm. Elder Mo Xuan. I don't think I actually remember a single one of the moves you just performed," I said, thoroughly embarrassed, scratching the back of my head.

He gave me a long, searching look, the kind that felt like it was trying to bore holes straight through my body.

"Elder Mo Xuan. I genuinely cannot perform it right now. I'm being completely honest with you," I said, a little frightened by this point.

He let out a long, heavy breath, one that seemed to stir the very air around him and carried with it something close to pure desolation. "I'll perform it one final time. You'd better try harder to remember it, because you won't enjoy what happens if you fail me again." His voice had gone noticeably darker.

I remained completely still where I stood.

He returned to the exact spot where he'd performed the sword art before, and ran through the entire sequence again, identical to the first time. Before I could even fully register what was happening, he was already standing directly in front of me, gesturing for me to step forward and perform it myself.

I stepped up to the spot. What followed was a handful of thoroughly ridiculous motions that I supposed, generously, counted as my own attempt at swordsmanship.

*Elder Mo Xuan must genuinely be losing his mind right now. Please, whatever you do, don't let him do anything truly ridiculous,* I prayed silently with fear .