The Third Ascension

Ch 1 : Prologue

Among the Gods of the Heavens, there was a famous laughingstock known throughout the three realms. Legend has it that eight hundred years ago, there was an ancient country within the Central Plains called Xianle nation. The ancient nation of Xianle had vast territory, abundant resources and content citizens. The country had four treasures: delicate beauties aplenty, thriving arts and literature, treasures of gold and jewels, and last but not the least, their renowned Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

This person, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, people said he was a strange man. The emperor and empress considered him to be the apple of their eyes. They doted on him immensely and would often proudly proclaim, "In the future, my son will surely become a wise monarch, leaving a reputable impression for generations to come."

Yet, in regards to what came with royalty, of riches, power and honour, the Crown Prince had no interest in any of them. What he was interested in, quoting the very words he often said to himself, was ---"I want to save the common folks!"

The young prince cultivated in earnest. During this time, two short stories became widely circulated.

The first story occurred when he was seventeen years old. That year, the nation of Xianle held a magnificent offering to the Gods parade. Although this tradition had already been abandoned for numerous centuries, one could imagine the grandeur of the event through the surviving ancient texts and verbal stories. During the offering day of the Gods, both sides of the Martial God main street were overflowing with a sea of people. The aristocrats were seated on top of high buildings as they exchanged friendly chatter, while the imperial guards cleared the way with their impressive armour clinking. Young girls danced gracefully as their snow-white hands scattered flower petals like rain, filling the sky as far as the eye could see. It made people question whether the dancing maidens were more beautiful or the flowers itself. Melodious notes sounded from within golden carriages and floated throughout the whole Imperial City. Behind honourable guards, sixteen white horses with golden bridles walked side-by-side as they pulled forward a magnificent platform. Located on top of the tall, magnificent platform was the focus of everyone's attention. There stood the martial artist who would perform a show to please the Gods. During the festive Heavenly parade, the martial artist would adorn a golden mask, don splendid garments and wield a sword in one hand. He would perform the role of the first military deity in a millennium to have subdued demonic beasts --- Martial God, Heavenly Emperor, Jun Wu.

Being selected as the martial artist who would perform such a show could be considered as receiving the utmost honour, and thus the selection criteria was extremely strict. This year, the one who was chosen was none other than His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. The entire nation was convinced that he would become the most marvellous martial artist who performed such a performance since the beginning of time. However, on that day, something unexpected occurred. The guard of honour made his third lap around the city walls, passing through one side with a dozen or more tall city walls. During that time, the Crown Prince dressed as the martial God on the magnificent stage was just about to land a killing blow on a demon. This was the most exciting scene, and thus the people on both sides of the main street were fired up with passion. The people on the city walls were also becoming more rowdy as they started outdoing each other in sticking their heads out to see, both struggling and shoving. At this exact moment, a young child fell from the top of the city gate tower. Earsplitting screams pierced the Heavens. Just when everyone thought that the young child was about to splash blood onto the main street, the Crown Prince lifted his head slightly before he leapt up and caught him. The people only had enough time to glimpse a bird-like, white figure flit through the empty sky before the Crown Prince landed safely with the young child. His golden mask had fallen off, revealing the young and handsome face previously hidden behind it. In the next moment, a crowd of ten thousand began to cheer. The common people were delighted, but the ministers from the imperial household had some headaches. They would never have thought in a million years that such a gigantic mistake would have occurred. It was ominous, too ominous!