Their talk was not exactly what Alex expected, but he was happy he got a chance to speak with his mother in the way he just did, though honestly being held by her was somewhat uncomfortable but not entirely annoying. He made his way outside his manor, it was a brand new day, a special one( though he couldn"t exactly tell how) however the thing was there was still this feeling that something was brewing, something sinister."Feng"er!"
Alex turned to his grandfather, uncle, the sect head, his step father and the man he now recognized as the emperor coming up the stairs. He walked towards them and gave a bow of greeting to his grandfather and uncle and then gave a simple salute to everyone else, though the emperor did get a small tilt of the body. If it wasn"t traditional to holds one"s parents and family in night esteem both in the empire of heaven and back on the dark continent, Alex would probably be on his way to an execution block due to the show of disrespect. It could be said that he was young and didn"t know much, but none the less he had suffered in leaving an impression on the Emperor.
"Young man I admire you tenacity and heroic heart, your grandfather and I watched all three rounds of your fight with those monsters, and I have to say you have pa.s.sed my test, indeed you are worthy of being a part of my royal son-in-law." The emperor spoke out with a happy time. Alex had spent a bunch of time learning etiquette from scholar Fan, he knew exactly how to respond to the emperor.
"This lowly one is not worthy of your praise and grace your Majesty, my friends and I just did what we could to survive." Alex replied Ashe gave a perfunctory how.
"you don"t have to sell yourself short, I believe you and your friends are incredibly talented and amazing additions to my empire of heaven. Talent like you is hard to find, and I"m sure you will be a good husband to my ninth princess, she"s just entered her sixth decade and she"s not getting any younger, you two will be a match made in heaven." Alex felt as if he had a goose egg stuck in his throat, it was then that he remembered that the princess was actually over 60 years old, of course as cultivators such a thing shouldn"t matter, but it still caught him off guard.
"I will try my best to fulfill whatever role is expected of me your Majesty." Alex replied with another bow.
"No need to be so formal Zhang Xiao Feng, you"re going to be my son in law, though it has not been officially announced, my words is law! Nothing can change it. You can call me Imperial father in law, we should get closer don"t you think so?" The emperor spoke as he moved forward to place his hand on Alex"s shoulder.
"Yes your majes...Imperial father." Alex never once raised his eyes up to look at the Emperor, and not because he was scared, but because the man was releasing a pressure that was forcing Alex"s head down. For some reason he suddenly found himself incapable of looking at him, and it made him come off as gentle and weak, of course he was already known as someone with a gentle and soft spoken personality, so the Emperor and everyone else wasn"t too surprised by his gentle voice. However Alex was not strong enough to stand in such close proximity with someone who had a bloodline of royalty, even with all his abilities combined, Alex was still suppressed.
"Good! This mountain peak is really good, my daughter will have a great time here. The Feng shui is really good, the air is crisp, the Qi is clear and everything else is so beautiful and serene. What do you call this peak?" Alex looked around as he furrowed his eyebrows before remembering that his peak was nameless, and he hadn"t gotten around to naming it yet.
"This is a nameless peak Imperial father in law, I"ve not had a chance to properly name the peak since I"ve moved here." Alex replied with a calm voice.
"Very well then, going by the results of your talent test, and the powers you"ve shown, not to mention the energy that this peak seems to hold.....you should call it Spirit Wind Peak! What do you think?"
"It"s a splendid name Imperial father in-law." Alex replied.
"Son"s of the Lu and Zhang family! Listen to this emperor"s decree!"
The moment he finished saying that, Lightning crackled in the sky as thunder booked and the winds grew furious and the earth shook in rage. Such display of power was something Alex had never seen before, and the idea that his grandfather could actually match and even surpa.s.s it was shocking. Alex watched as his uncle, the sect head, and his so called step father prostrated on the ground while his grandfather gave a simple salute and listened to what the Emperor had to say.
"From this day henceforth this peak will be known as Spirit Wind Peak, and it"s master Zhang Xiao Feng of the Zhang clan and Wudang Sect has been recognized by my Imperial power as one worthy of the t.i.tle and responsibilities of a Childe of the empire. So effective Immediately I confer the t.i.tle of Childe Spirit Wind Of the Wudang Sect upon Zhang Xiao Feng, the Seventh Childe of the empire of Heaven. He is granted control over 1000 Imperial foot soldiers at the peak of the Mortal Gate, 100 commanders within the earth gate, and 10 generals within at the peak of the earth gate! All gifts would be conferred to him on our royal birthday two months hence. I have spoken, let my words be LAW!"
This was freaky, spooky, unexpected and completely weird. Alex suddenly found himself asking, isn"t the Emperor supposed to be our enemy, but yet Alex couldn"t argue with the generosity of the gifts. The t.i.tle cemented his position as one who would carry the future of the empire of heaven on his shoulder, a talent of the younger generation unmatched by his peers. And the private army more than proved he was a part of the royal family, but then again there was a grave look on his grandfather"s face, which also gave Alex he feeling that he was falling deeper and deeper into a trap that he would be unable to extricate himself from, in the end he knew he had to go on with this, family comes first.
"How do you feel about becoming the young Master of Spirit Wind Peak or even more grand the Childe Spirit Wind of the empire of heaven?" The emperor asked with a wide grin on his face.
"It"s an honor and a lot of responsibility your majesty, I will try not to disappoint." Alex said to him as he filled his hands and gave the emperor a deeper how. The emperor placed his hands on Alex"s shoulders and raised him up from his bow.
"We"re family now boy, I will be entrusting the happiness and safety of my most precious daughter into your hands. And two months from now the whole world will see it. I hope that you surprise me some more in the day of our banquet, this Emperor expects much from you Childe Spirit Wind. I shall now take my leave, Zhang Sanfeng thank you for hosting me, please be sure to drop by the palace for more tea and a round of chess. Sect master! Attend to me, goodbye."
And then he turned around and soft with the Sect master and Red dragon following behind. Alex watched from the top his peak...spirit Wind Peak with his uncle and grandfather right besides him. They watched until they could no longer see the emperor and all that was left was the view of the sect as night fell. They share footsteps behind them as Alex"s mother came out of the Major to join them, all four members of the main family of the Zhang sect stood there in silence, and then Alex"s uncle decided to ask.
"on a scale on one to ten, how f.u.c.ked are we?" his grandfather happily answered.
"30!"
"s.h.i.t! This means they"re going to have more control over not just us, but full control over Alex. If he"s the Emperor"s son in law he"s going to be subjected to his commands and orders, he could frame him, send him off to war in some dammed particle world or Dimension, or have his daughter mess with his mind with that bewitching magic of hers. We"re almost out of moves father, and we just got to the peak of the game." His uncle said with obvious frustrations in his voice.
"We"re not exactly counted out big brother, first let"s get a second wife or concubine for Alex. I have my people forging an old marriage contract as we speak and getting the father of Anyaja in line to testify to the world that he and Ben had betrothed both kids since they were young. I have people looking for Ben in case a testimony is needed. Alex can marry the princess, but with Anyaja around he would have an extra later of protection, plus it would limit the control a woman will have over him.
We have to up the intensity of the training for him and His secret guard, we should let all five of them spend time with him from now on to foster a good relationship and I think it"s time we met him use the secret family technique. He would be fully thrust into this world and it"s politics in 2 months, we have to make sure his foundations are stable and his strength adequate, we might not be able to shelter him anymore. And as for the army he has been given….... we"ll have to wait and see, also we have to get Scholar Fan to increase the intensity of his studies, he knows etiquette, but it"s time he learnt how to play dirty, he"s going to need it.
But still Alex! Congratulations on your t.i.tle as Childe, it"s a huge honor and if utilized properly is something that would help you achieve much more than you imagined. Just know that no matter what, this family will always stand with you, always!"