Six Realms Immortal Emperor

Mustering his courage, Dongfang Sifeng was about to check Xu Jingtian's breath with his hand when the young man behind him suddenly asked in a tearful voice, "Is he really dead?!" This startled him, but he quickly regained his composure, stood up, and said loudly, "What are you afraid of? I'm here! Even if he really is dead, it's no big deal. He's just a lowly stable boy!"

"Then... what should we do?" the disciple asked, pointing to Xu Jingtian lying on the ground. Although this was outside Guangting Fort, it was the only way in and out of the fort, and someone was bound to find out eventually.

Dongfang Sifeng pondered for a moment, then walked over and led a horse over, and ordered, "Lift him onto the horse and follow me!" After saying that, he mounted the horse and headed straight for the outside of Guangting Fort.

The group of friends finally calmed down and hurriedly lifted Xu Jingtian onto the back of a horse. They all mounted their horses as well and followed closely behind Dongfang Sifeng.

Before long, they followed Dongfang Sifeng to a mountain peak about ten miles away. A cool breeze swept over them from the mountaintop, while the area below was full of jagged, angular rocks.

"stop!"

Dongfang Sifeng turned and dismounted, pointing to the distant ravine, and said to them with a sneer, "Do you know, my father said that this little beggar was found by an old beggar right here!"

The group of friends then looked on with understanding and admired Dongfang Sifeng.

Dongfang Sifeng was quite pleased with their gazes, and pointing at Xu Jingtian on horseback, he said, "Let's make sure this disobedient little beggar gets out of the Dongfang Manor from now on! Lift him up and throw him into a ravine to feed the wolves!"

The group of friends then understood why they had come here and began to take action. At first, they were a little timid, but with young master Dongfang Sifeng backing them up, they put their fears aside.

"One, two, three, throw!"

"Stop!" Just then, an angry shout came from behind them.

But it was too late; his friends had already let go and thrown Xu Jingtian down.

Upon hearing this, Dongfang Sifeng, who was feeling quite pleased with himself, turned around and was so startled that he trembled violently. He hurriedly cried out, "Grandpa! What brings you here?"

An old man, covered in dust and grime, rode a fine steed and glared angrily at Dongfang Sifeng and his companions.

"Master!"

Upon seeing the newcomer, the children scattered hastily, each one like a mouse before a cat, heads bowed and legs trembling.

It turned out that this person was Dongfang Tai, the head of the Dongfang family, who was over eighty years old.

"Didn't he go on a long trip? How come he's back so soon?" Dongfang Sifeng asked, puzzled.

"You little brats, how have I been disciplining you?" Dongfang Tai glared at them, his beard bristling. "What is martial arts for? Is it for bullying people? Look at all these people bullying a weak young man. If word gets out, how will the Dongfang family save face?"

Dongfang Sifeng knelt down with a thud, crying out, "Grandpa, I know I was wrong! Please don't tell my dad and second uncle!" He then winked at his friends, who quickly knelt down as well, begging for mercy.

The Dongfang family's clan rules have always been the strictest; Dongfang Siyu used this to scare them last time.

"Get up, you useless things! You should be punished for your mistakes. How could the Dongfang family produce such good-for-nothings like you!" Dongfang Tai was so angry that his chest heaved up and down.

Dongfang Sifeng and his friends were stuck there, unsure whether to kneel or stand up.

"What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and go down to save them!" Dongfang Tai dismounted and rushed down the hillside.

Dongfang Sifeng and his friends hurriedly followed behind him.

Finally, they found Xu Jingtian lying there, and Dongfang Tai grew angrier the more he looked. The man was covered in blood and unconscious.

Amidst Dongfang Sifeng's confusion, Dongfang Tai reached out to check Xu Jingtian's breath, then hurriedly said to them, "You bastards, come here! Lift him up and get him on the horse!"

When Xu Jingtian woke up, he was lying on a soft bed, with something soft and comfortable beneath him.

"She's awake! She's awake!"

A man who looked like a doctor approached him, looked at him with a smile, and turned to say, "Go quickly and tell the master that the child has woken up."

"Hey!" Someone immediately jogged away.

"Quickly, bring me some porridge!" the doctor ordered, and someone immediately responded, bringing over a small bowl of porridge.

The doctor asked, "Child, you've been unconscious for three days. Are you hungry?"

"Who are you? Where's my father?" Although Xu Jingtian was awake, he felt sore all over. His first thought was of Old Man Xu; he didn't want Old Man Xu to worry about him. He had been unconscious for three days? How worried his father must have been!

"Your father... he, he..." The doctor hesitated, then turned his head to the side and sighed.

"Where is my dad? What happened to him? Why isn't he here? Is he sick?" Xu Jingtian saw that something was wrong, so he got up from the bed and shouted anxiously.

This wasn't their house, so they didn't see Old Xu. Xu Jingtian hurriedly got out of bed, not even bothering to put on his shoes, and ran out like a madman. The doctor and several servants couldn't stop him.

"Hurry up and chase after them! Don't let anything else happen to the child!" someone shouted, and several people chased after them.

"father!"

"father!"

Xu Jingtian ran and shouted all the way, falling down several times along the way, but he didn't mind the pain and got up to keep running.

Finally, they saw the house where they lived. Xu Jingtian shouted loudly, but there was no response.

Xu Jingtian immediately had a bad feeling.

"Father!" He pushed the door open hard, but the bed inside was empty.

"Father, where is my father?" Xu Jingtian ran towards the stable like a madman; he must be there.

However, only the horses, heads bowed, grazing, responded to him. Xu Jingtian collapsed helplessly to the ground, turning to the men behind him and asking, "Where's my father? Do you know?"

The people behind him, who had been chasing him closely, suddenly became evasive and no one answered him.

"Doctor, you're a doctor!" Xu Jingtian knelt down before the doctor with a thud, shaking his leg and looking up to ask, "Where's my father? Is he sick?"

"Child, your father... when he saw you were seriously injured and unconscious, he couldn't catch his breath and..." the doctor said with great reluctance.

"So what..." Xu Jingtian realized that he wanted to know but didn't want to hear the news.

"My child, your father coughed up a mouthful of blood before he passed away. I examined him, and it turned out to be a recurrence of an old injury from many years ago. It's already remarkable that he managed to hold on until now..."

Xu Jingtian didn't hear the next few words clearly. He seemed to be in a daze, lying on the ground, motionless.

His father passed away; his only living relative is gone. What will he do now?

This year marks the tenth year since Xu Jingtian came into this world. In this year, many things have happened, and he has lost his dearest loved ones!

Several major events also occurred in the Dongfang family. The old patriarch fell ill and passed the position of patriarch to Dongfang Shanzhan. Dongfang Sifeng and his friends were also severely punished according to the family rules.

For the Dongfang family, the biggest event was that before passing on the throne, the old patriarch sent Dongfang Siyu to the Brahma Sect, one of the seven major immortal cultivation sects in the Zihan Kingdom.

Dongfang Siyu was neither the eldest son in the family, nor the most skilled martial artist among the Dongfang disciples, and most importantly, she was a woman. Therefore, the family elders all expressed their opposition, especially Dongfang Yingyong, the eldest son.

If Dongfang Siyu goes to the Brahma Sect, Dongfang Yingyong's son, Dongfang Sifeng, will have no hope left.

However, Dongfang Tai insisted on using Dongfang Siyu despite everyone's objections, and no one could persuade him otherwise. Why Dongfang Siyu was chosen remained a mystery to outsiders, who were unaware of what had happened to the old patriarch during his long journey.

Although Xu Jingtian's father had passed away, he had inherited almost all of Old Xu's horse-raising experience. In addition, the new head of the family took pity on him and made him the youngest horse breeder in the Dongfang family.

Like the other youths in Dongfang Prefecture, Xu Jingtian ate three meals a day and slept. Unlike the other disciples, who practiced martial arts after meals and would slack off during practice, some wandered around and talked all day about which places were fun and which foods were delicious.

At such a young age, Xu Jingtian not only had to take good care of the horses, but also had to work hard to make a living, taking care of everything from firewood and rice to oil and salt. Sometimes, he would pick up the food that others threw away or left over, and save it for the next meal.

Strangely enough, even though he kept eating like that, he still grew taller and stronger, just like everyone else. And after that time when Dongfang Sifeng and the others threw him into the ravine, there wasn't a single scar on his body.

Since Dongfang Siyu left, Xu Jingtian has had no playmates. The disciples of the Dongfang family are all pampered young masters, who would want to play with a poor boy in tattered clothes and smelling sour?

When he had nothing to do, Xu Jingtian would take out that ordinary string of prayer beads and play with it. Ever since Old Xu passed away, he had dug it out again.

When he misses Old Xu, he takes out his prayer beads and plays with them over and over again until they shine. Now that he's more mature, he thinks about his parents, whom he's never met, and wonders where they are. He promises to go find them when he grows up.

So Xu Jingtian lived in the Dongfang residence, spending his days feeding and herding the horses, and mostly lying in the stable basking in the sun. One day, by chance, he discovered that he could see the Dongfang disciples practicing martial arts from the stable!

Perhaps Xu Jingtian was a martial arts prodigy; no matter how complex the moves were, he could memorize them after seeing them only once. Therefore, he couldn't understand why those Eastern disciples, despite practicing again and again, would still forget certain moves.

Even if the instructor taught him a new martial art today, he would memorize it after just one look. He didn't know that this ability could be called a martial arts genius.

Winter passed and spring came. Xu Jingtian spent another five years in the Eastern Prefecture, gradually growing into a handsome young man. Not only did his complexion become fairer, but his features also became quite delicate. However, due to years of lack of oily food, he was somewhat sallow and thin, and coupled with his shabby clothes, he looked disheveled and did not attract any attention from others.