Martial Peak
chapter-3353

Chapter 3353, Cruel Fate

The banquet on this day was to celebrate the birth of a new member of the Dragon Clan, and after everyone was seated, Zhu Yan gave a brief speech before proposing a toast.

The wine being served was Dragon Spirit Wine, which was a local specialty on Dragon Island that the Great Elder had brewed personally. It had been ageing for three thousand years now, so it was aromatic and mellow. Normally, Zhu Yan would only drink a small sip of it from time to time, but on this day, he actually brought out several dozen bottles of this wine. It seemed that he was determined to get everyone drunk, which went to show how jubilant he was.

All the food and Spirit Fruits on the tables were not ordinary either; of course, almost everything on Dragon Island was considered a treasure in the eyes of ordinary Masters. The food was even beneficial to Emperor Realm Masters. If outsiders saw this sight, they would undoubtedly feel heartbroken. All the things on the tables were extremely precious treasures, but they were being gulped down by these Dragons without a single care in the world. Anyone who saw it would chide them for being wasteful.

The atmosphere was lively as they drank and celebrated with one another. The smile on Fu Zhun’s face had never faded. After she drank some wine, her fair face had even reddened slightly. Yang Kai was amazed by the sight, for he had never expected that he would see this side of Fu Zhun one day.

The females of the clan came together and started dancing, which made everyone else cheer for them as their roars reverberated around Azure Tree Island.

On the other hand, Yang Xiao appeared bored, as a normal child would be at such an event clearly tailored towards adults. Although the place was bustling with noise, he was unable to join the fun, which was why he was somewhat distracted. Then, he secretly took his father’s bottle and poured a cup of wine for himself to have a taste. Nevertheless, Fu Zhun snatched it from him and chided him in his ear, which caused him to be further dejected.

Fu Zhun was heartbroken upon seeing that, so she hugged him and whispered in his ear until he cheered up again.

After a few rounds of drinking and eating, the best part of the party began.

Just like what Zhu Qing had said, since this was a celebration party for Yang Xiao’s birth, the Seniors had to present him with some gifts.

Apparently, Yang Xiao was excited about this as well, so after getting Zhu Yan’s permission, he jumped out of his seat and cupped his fists to Yang Kai first, “Adoptive Father, what have you prepared for me?”

Upon hearing this, all the Dragons couldn’t help chuckling.

Zhu Yan lectured him with a smile, “Little brat, you’re quite the brazen one. No one would ask for presents from other people like you do.”

However, Yang Xiao refuted matter-of-factly, “It’s completely justifiable that a son asks for things from his father, and I believe that Adoptive Father would give me the best stuff he has.”

Yang Kai poked the boy’s forehead and replied with a smile, “Adoptive Father doesn’t have expensive gifts for you, but he does have a few bottles of pills. Do you want them?”

Yang Xiao darted his gaze around before he said, “It depends on what pills they are. If I’m not happy with the pills you’re giving me, I’ll not take them.”

“Have a look for yourself, then,” Upon finishing his words, Yang Kai tossed a Space Ring to the boy.

Although Yang Kai had many valuable things on him, the most useful items he had for Yang Xiao at this moment were undoubtedly Dragon Blood Pills. It had only been a few days since Yang Xiao was born, so he needed to quickly improve his Dragon Vein; therefore, Yang Kai and Zhu Qing had prepared some bottles of Dragon Blood Pills for the boy, enough to last him a long time.

After catching the Space Ring, Yang Xiao fished out a jade bottle from it and directly opened it in front of Yang Kai. At that instant, he caught a whiff of a pleasant scent. When he took a peek inside, he became elated and shouted, “Many thanks, Adoptive Father.”

He wanted to wear the ring right away, but his stubby little finger was too small for that. Left with no choice, he stuffed it into his clothes and turned to salute Zhu Qing, “Greetings, Adoptive Mother.”

The expressions of the other members of the Dragon Clan turned slightly awkward when they heard that. It didn’t matter that Yang Xiao called Yang Kai ‘Adoptive Father’ as he wasn’t exactly part of their clan; however, Zhu Qing was one of them, and in terms of seniority, she was at least a generation removed from the Great Elder and Second Elder. In other words, she was in the same generation as Yang Xiao.

Yang Xiao calling her ‘Adoptive Mother’ had basically upgraded her seniority, which put her to be on the same level as the Great Elder and the Second Elder.

As a result, their relationships had become something of a mess. Nevertheless, no one actually cared about such insignificant details so they quickly adapted.

Zhu Qing fished out some Dragon Blood Pills as well, after which Yang Xiao took them with a joyful expression.

Following that, the boy had to salute all his Seniors, Brothers, and Sisters in the Dragon Clan one by one. All of them had prepared gifts for him, so soon, Yang Xiao’s hands were stuffed with gifts as he grinned from ear to ear.

He was the child of the Great Elder and Second Elder, so all members of the Dragon Clan had given him the best gifts they could offer. It would’ve been inappropriate if they gave him things that were not good enough.

Certainly, Yang Xiao would never forget about Qiong Qi. While Qiong Qi was drinking Dragon Spirit Wine, Yang Xiao suddenly appeared before his eyes. Left with no choice, the old man reluctantly fished out a bead and gave it to the boy.

It turned out to be an Emperor Authority Bead, and judging from the aura that was exuding from it, Qiong Qi must have personally refined it. In other words, Qiong Qi’s full-powered strike was sealed inside the bead.

For Yang Xiao, who was still young and weak, this bead could serve as a safety charm for him. Yang Kai wasn’t sure how powerful Qiong Qi was, but he estimated that the latter was just as formidable as a Ninth-Order Dragon.

Hence, this gift could be considered extremely precious, and Qiong Qi must have given it to the boy after considering Yang Kai’s face.

After Yang Xiao was done collecting his gifts, his arms were stuffed with things that could make most people in the world feel green with jealousy. It had to be said that he was born extremely fortunate.

When they were done with gift-giving, it was time for the highlight of the party.

This wasn’t just a party to celebrate the birth of a new Dragon Clan member, it was also an event to announce the attribute of this new clansman.

Each Dragon had an associated attribute. Nevertheless, whatever their attribute, all members of the Dragon Clan would become extremely formidable when they reached the peak of their power. Most Dragons fell within the Five Elements. For example, Zhu Qing was a Red Dragon who made use of fire. However, there were some who fell outside the Five Elements. For example, there were Thunder Dragons and Nature Dragons as well.

A space was soon emptied, after which Zhu Yan fished out something and placed it on the ground. Yang Kai took a look and realised that it was a mini altar. Many dragon-shaped patterns had been etched into this altar. All of them were colourful, but they all looked somewhat strange.

After asking Zhu Qing about it, he learned that it was a sacred item to ascertain a newly born clansman’s attribute. It was a precious treasure that had been passed down over the generations and was so ancient that even the Great Elder wasn’t sure about its history and origins. However, every newly born clansman had to go through this test, for they could only work hard in the right direction after their attribute was confirmed.

All the members of the Dragon Clan gathered together to prepare for the ceremony while outsiders like Yang Kai and Qiong Qi were excluded from the preparation.

Mo Xiao Qi didn’t come to the party on this day, perhaps too embarrassed to face Yang Kai.

Right in front of everyone’s eyes, Yang Xiao received some guidance from Zhu Yan before he stepped onto the mini altar. Then, he sat down with his legs crossed, closed his eyes, and wore a solemn expression.

As the abstruse Dragon language was chanted as all members of the Dragon Clan straightened their faces and activated their Dragon Sources to use their Secret Techniques.

Streams of Dragon Aura then exuded from their bodies and penetrated the altar.

Soon, the altar began shining. At the same time, the Dragon patterns around the altar seemed to have come to life as they gleamed with different colours.

The voices that were chanting the Dragon language alternated between high-pitched and hushed. As they undulated, the whole world seemed to shake as the waves around Azure Tree Island surged.

The altar became increasingly luminous as the different colours intertwined with one other. All of a sudden, the lights separated and turned into orbs of different colours that circled around Yang Xiao.

All members of the Dragon Clan widened their eyes and stared fixedly at the young child.

The attentive Yang Kai could feel that the ceremony had reached its critical moment.

With a whoosh, the red orb disintegrated. Yang Kai arched his brow and realised that this was because there was no Fire Dragon’s Source in Yang Xiao’s body.

This was to be expected as he was the child of the Great Elder and Second Elder. Although it was possible that he could be born with a Source that was of a different attribute, the most likely outcome was him inheriting his parents’ traits. Moreover, his true form was that of a White Dragon, which suggested that he was probably an Ice Dragon.

*Xiu…* The blue orb vanished.

*Xiu xiu xiu…*

The orbs popped one by one, and soon, only two light orbs remained around Yang Xiao. One of them was green, and the other one was white. They respectively exuded a Wood Attribute aura and Ice Attribute aura.

[Maybe he inherited my attribute?] Zhu Yan wondered

*Xiu…*

The green orb popped.

Zhu Yan gritted his teeth upon seeing that, as he found it to be a shame that Yang Xiao did not inherit his Source attribute. On the other hand, Fu Zhun was elated as a broad smile filled her face.

However, her smile soon turned to shock because the white orb also vanished following the green orb.

The altar turned dim, and there were no more light orbs around Yang Xiao.

Everyone fell silent as they stared at the sight in shock.

While Zhu Yan staggered, the colour had drained from Fu Zhun’s face as she couldn’t believe her eyes.

“What’s going on?” Yang Kai widened his eyes as he appeared puzzled. Although he didn’t understand what was happening, he realised that something was off through the crowd’s expressions.

To his side, Qiong Qi stroked his chin and said under his breath, “It can’t be…”

“What happened?” Yang Kai turned to look at him.

Qiong Qi explained, “Since all the light orbs have vanished, it means that the Dragon Source in his body doesn’t match any of the attributes in the altar. Which most likely means he has no Dragon Source at all.”

Yang Kai widened his eyes, “He has no Dragon Source? How is that possible?”

This shouldn’t be possible. If Yang Xiao didn’t have a Dragon Source, he wouldn’t be able to exude such a pure Dragon Aura, and he wouldn’t have had a White Dragon form after he was born. Furthermore, only by possessing a Dragon Source could he assume Human form.

Qiong Qi shrugged, “That’s why I said it can’t be.”

He had personally seen the little White Dragon before, which was why he couldn’t find any explanation for what just happened.

Realising that it was eerily silent around him, Yang Xiao opened his eyes and gazed at Fu Zhun before asking with a hopeful gaze, “Mother, what attribute am I?”

Fu Zhun parted her lips, but before she could say a word, her tears had started streaming down her face.

Fate had been cruel to her child. He had nearly died when he was still just a Dragon Egg, and now that he had finally been born, he didn’t manage to pass the Dragon Clan’s initiation ceremony.