Dragon prince Yuan [1]

Chapter 6: The Ancestral Grounds Shrine

As the sun began its ascent, warm morning sunlight shined down on the City of Great Zhou, brightening the place.

Great Zhou Royal Palace.

Zhou Yuan had been unable to sleep for the entire night. By the time he rushed to the palace gates, the imperial guards were already respectfully standing there. The thousand strong imperial guards wore heavy armour and wielded spears which flickered with cold light. It was a powerful military force.

Zhou Qing sat on a fine fiery-red horse. He smiled as he watched Zhou Yuan hurry over and asked, "Are you ready?"

Today was Great Zhou's ancestor offering ceremony.

Zhou Yuan forcefully nodded his head while hope surged in his eyes. He knew that whether or not the eight meridian channels in his body would surface again, allowing him to begin channel opening cultivation, would hinge upon this very day.

A guard led another fiery-red steed over. Flames burned at the tip of the horse's tail, but its head was that of a ferocious-looking lion.

This creature was known as the Fire Lion-Horse, and was a grade 1 Genesis Beast. It was able to gallop a thousand miles without rest.

The originally irritable Fire Lion-Horse had long since been tamed. Thus, when Zhou Yuan mounted it, it merely swung its flaming tail for a moment before calming down again.

Zhou Yuan pulled the horse reins. The youth's pitch-black pupils seemed to burn as he opened his mouth and said, "Let's go father."

Zhou Qing chuckled and nodded his head, before waving his hand.

Woooo!

A horn sounded and the thousand-men force swiftly turned into a torrent that engulfed Zhou Qing and Zhou Wei, protecting them within it. Next, they surged out of the royal palace with rumbling sounds of movement, travelling along the city streets as they hurried towards the city exit.

...

The Great Zhou royal clan ancestral land was also where the Great Zhou royal tomb was located. Although the royal tomb was about a hundred miles from Great Zhou city, given their pace, they would reach their destination in four hours.

Under a lofty green mountain, Zhou Qing and Zhou Yuan got off their horses while the imperial guards spread out and positioned themselves at the various entry points. Even a bird would be killed if it neared.

"This is where the tomb of our Great Zhou royal clan is located."

Zhou Qing pointed at the majestic green mountain before their eyes. After being silent for some time, he slowly said, "Back then, this was where our Zhou clan began and after much hard work, we eventually created the Great Zhou Empire. I just never imagined that our forefathers' efforts would be beaten back to its original shape at my hands."

Zhou Yuan looked at Zhou Qing's somewhat dejected face and softly said, "Father should not blame himself, the Wu clan were scheming and heartless and no one could have predicted that they would plot for a hundred years. The fault does not lie with father."

Zhou Qing bitterly laughed. He did not speak any further on the topic and merely walked towards the stone steps. "Follow me."

Zhou Yuan nodded and quickly caught up.

The stone steps led to the peak. There were nine thousand and ninety nine steps which reached straight into the clouds.

The two wore solemn expressions as they slowly ascended. An incense stick of time later, they finally reached the peak where a black shrine stood. The shrine was ancient and seemed to have bathed in the rays of countless moons.