C22 (1/2)
The Fire Phoenix Empire had been established for more than one thousand and two hundred years. Amongst this vast empire, there was one place that was the most special about it. It was the smallest Phoenix Province of the sixteen provinces.
The name of the Fire Phoenix Empire Province was mostly used in the words ”Fire”, ”Phoenix” and ”Phoenix”. Only the smallest province, the Phoenix Province, was an exception.
In the legends, the peacock stage in the Peacock Valley was said to be a place of rebirth of the phoenix. The Divine Bird Phoenix had completed her most important rebirth on this peacock stage, becoming the head of the divine beasts — the Thousand Crossing Phoenix. It was a circular stone table with a diameter of over a hundred meters, and just by relying on a fifteen meters stone beam, it was connected to the peak of the mountain with the highest Peacock Ridge. Standing on the peacock stage, he could see the flowing river beneath his feet. Behind him, there were many mountains and mountains. He looked around and was able to see everything within a hundred miles. Other than the Divine Bird Phoenix, who could be worthy of being in the Sheng Domain like that?
The phoenix was reborn once every ninety-nine years, and every ninety-nine times it underwent rebirth was called a cross. Only the Thousand Traverses Phoenix could be called a divine bird or a sacred beast. However, from ancient times until now, there had only been one true Thousand Tribulations Phoenix. And it was only under the leadership of this only Thousand Meteor Phoenix that the Fire Phoenix Tribe at the southwest border came out of nowhere. They fought without exception and established the Fire Phoenix Empire to unify the continent.
But later on, because of ”orthodoxy” and ”taboo”, both Phoenix Valley and Phoenix Stage were requested to change their names to Peacock Valley and Peacock Platform. According to the government, this place was not the place where the phoenix had reborn. It was only the resting place of a peacock. After that peacock received the enlightenment from the heavens, it flapped its wings and flew high into the sky, heading towards the southwest border. In the end, it became a Divine Bird Phoenix there. It was precisely this Fire Phoenix Tribe that had helped it evolve from a peacock to a phoenix.
There was no answer to the legend and the authorities' question as to who was the real one. However, in the hearts of the people in the Fire Phoenix Empire, the Phoenix Province was the true dwelling place of the Divine Bird Phoenix. Of course, this was directly related to the fact that the Phoenix Province itself was easier to reach than the southwest.
But being a member of the Phoenix Province, Kong Sheng, who was born with Peacock Ridge since young, believed that he and Divine Bird Phoenix were definitely from the same village. This kind of thought continued to accompany him. He had the motivation to study and practice martial arts, and he swore to remain loyal to the Divine Bird Phoenix and the Fire Phoenix Empire for the rest of his life.
His talent and perseverance was a unanimous evaluation of him by all the teachers who had taught Kong Sheng before. At such a young age, he had already become a celebrity in the provinces. In the year 1276 of the imperial calendar, a sixteen-year-old Kong Sheng had passed the Imperial Military Academy examination with the two high marks of first in the entire province's civil and military affairs.
After Kong Sheng bid farewell to his parents and childhood sweetheart, he set off on his own on the road to the imperial city. Since the founding of the empire, the nobles of the Fire Phoenix Tribe had been putting on their fiery red armor as a form of glory. As for the imperial family of Fire Phoenix Empire, they also required all the sons and daughters of nobility to participate in the study of Imperial Military Academy before they could assume important positions in the palace. It was precisely because of this that the Imperial Military Academy s that gathered the young geniuses and children of nobility in the world were still the focus of all the youths' hearts. Standing shoulder to shoulder with the Aristocratic Family was the dream of every single commoner youth. It was also the only way to reach the tallest building in the Empire.
Kong Sheng didn't think that much in his heart. He was a very ”lazy” person, and was not really interested in fawning on those aristocratic children, or how to use his Imperial Military Academy to climb up the mountain. He only wanted to study formations, ride matching, train his body, and study martial skills. He would occasionally write to Ye Qing when he had some free time, telling her about his recent life and ranking in the exams.
Normally, Kong Sheng would not be willing to spend too much money, but after entering the academy for a year, he spent a huge amount of money to invite a court painter to draw the appearance of him wearing the Fire Phoenix Battle Armor for the first time. He then ran to the relay station and gave the relay master enough red packets to ask him to send someone to deliver this portrait to Ye Qing, who was in Peacock Ridge, as soon as possible. He wanted to share this joy and happiness with his lover as soon as possible.
In his fourth year of entry, a twenty year old Kong Sheng had joined the palace guards as a Apprentice Knight, taking on the role of an inner palace guard. That seemingly light sentence had caused quite a sensation.
The system of Imperial Military Academy was six years, the first four years were partial to theory, and the second two was to practical. It had always been a tradition for Imperial Military Academy to send outstanding fourth year students to the palace guards. However, there was an unwritten rule in this tradition: commoners were not allowed to enter the inner palace.
The reason was simple. The inner court was the inner court of the imperial family, and many women, including the royal daughter, lived there. Most of the students in Imperial Military Academy were young and talented, so it was hard to avoid the possibility of lightning striking down on them. The fact that commoners didn't enter the inner court at least guaranteed the purity of the royal bloodline. And more importantly, there was another meaning to entering the Inner Court, which was to nurture a confidant and nurture a humerus for the current Monarch as well as the future Monarch. When the crown prince ascended to the throne, these people would become his right-hand men. At the same time, the rise of this new force had somewhat balanced the balance of power between the various families.
Most of the students in the Imperial Military Academy were able to obtain a baron's title and the status of Apprentice Knight when they graduated, which meant that they had more or less stepped into the circle of aristocrats. Although they had only stepped foot in to the true Aristocratic Family, it was still better than standing in the Inner Academy with a straight body like Kong Sheng by who knows how many times. Therefore, most of the students did not expect to be able to enter the inner court and become the guards of the palace. Therefore, most of the students did not expect to be able to enter the inner court at all, to be honest and become the guards of the palace. As for going to the northern province to fight the Demonic Beast or the one with even more bitter conditions to pass the Three Phoenix Trials, those were truly places that the young masters of influential families and madmen would only choose to go to.
And the reason why Shi Keren, the current Principal of Imperial Military Academy, dared to take such a risk, was mainly because of Kong Sheng's excellence. Just like how he wrote in his evaluation of Kong Sheng, ”This child has a pure and good character, is loyal and unwavering, and possesses excellent civil and martial skills. He will definitely become a pillar of the nation in the future.”
The old headmaster's comment, combined with the recommendation to recommend Kong Sheng to enter the Inner Palace as a white board elder, not only did it not attract any criticism from the higher officials and nobles, it instead made Kong Sheng even more excited. No one took him to be a Apprentice Knight who had just turned twenty years old, nor did anyone care about his status.
But in Kong Sheng's opinion, this was more like another type of test that the old headmaster had given him. He clearly knew that to a true Knight, the purification of the flames of war, the purity of martial arts, and the proficiency of tactics were just external training. The bigger test came from the heart: whether one could resist the temptation, or defeat the will, was the sign that one could truly become strong.
Thus, two years later, Master Kong Sheng who had officially graduated from Imperial Military Academy — That's right, he who had already been awarded the title of Baron by someone above his level could now be called Master — unexpectedly submitted an application to transfer to northern province. He rejected the invitations from the Aristocratic Family s and the flirtatious glances of the courtesans. He resolutely left for the northern province s and began his journey of experience.