Child of Destiny

...

The initial stage of the ceremony lasted for quite a while, especially when one of the elders had to lead everyone in a unique prayer of the Springfield Family meant for these kinds of occasions.

This lasted for at least two hours before they went for the main ritual, where they had to cremate Bernard's body.

"Ancestors, the Original Emperor Flame, please," said the elder as he stepped to the side to make way for Mondragon and Shenyoung and bowed.

The two ancestor-level experts slightly nodded their heads as they stepped forward while carrying a huge golden box that had scale-like patterns engraved on its surface. There was also a golden dragon figure sitting on its top, which greatly resembled the dragon statue right at the fountain of the Springfield Household.

There was a solemn expression on everyone's face as they watched the two ancestors climb the platform.

Bang!

The moment this pair of top experts placed the golden box down, an intense shaking of the ground could be felt despite how gently the two had done it. It was as if whatever that box contained, it was so heavy that it could cause a brief earth earthquake with such simple actions.

"Pay your respects!" said Mondragon as he turned to everyone.

As most of the people present were part of the Springfield Family, they quickly complied and started kneeling on the ground and lowering their heads and bodies.

Uno frowned deeply as he did not like it, but he was forced by David to comply as it would be a great disrespect to the ancestors of the Springfield Family.

After seeing everyone paying their respects, Mondragon turned back to the golden box and took off its cover alongside Shenyoung.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The four adjacent segments of the box simultaneously fell and landed on the ground, revealing the ball of flame that was contained inside.

Boom!

Once the multicolored flame was revealed, it suddenly floated in the air before releasing a powerful aura that quickly filled the entire place.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

There was also a strong gust of wind that swept through everyone along with the hot current that it was releasing.

Those who carried the bloodline of the Springfield Family felt comfortable despite how hot these air currents were. They also felt that their bloodline was growing stronger as if they were being baptized by the flame.

On the other hand, those who did not carry the blood of a Springfield were somewhat suffering from the presence of this flame. They felt that the surroundings were getting stronger in every passing second – as if the sun itself was approaching the earth.

Their skins were getting drier as their sweats were instantly evaporated due to the temperature. They felt like a bug approaching the sun and getting burned by it.

Fortunately, there were also these powerful experts who protected them from the powers of the Original Emperor Flame.

The members of the Levina Family were being protected by Nathan, who released his aura to soak everything for them while Evangeline used a special technique to protect Uno and David.

As all of these were happening, Uno could not help but look at the wisp of flame floating above the platform. Even if it was releasing a blinding light that could harm anyone who would dare to look at it, Uno still persevered and stared at it intently.

But he was only able to look at it for an entire minute before he took his eyes away from it as his eyes could get burned and blinded by the light that it was releasing.

He also slightly frowned as he could not see the secrets that it was hiding.

At the same time, there was another person who dared to look directly at that wisp of flame, completely unbothered by its blinding light.

Arthur, who was kneeling at the forefront row, felt something calling out for him. When he raised his head, he saw that the flame turned into a huge dragon from his perspective.

He and that Dragon stared intently at each other before Arthur snapped out of his daze and woke up from that dream-like experience.

…

Not long after, the ceremony continued, and the flame burned Benard's body.

The time seemed to flow slowly, particularly to the direct family of Bernard, who was watching his body turn into ashes bit by bit.

When Benard's body completely became ashes, Mondragon and Shenyoung collected the Original Emperor Flame and sealed it to the golden box once again.

Then Mondragon proceeded to collect the ashes of his grandson and put them on a special urn before handing them to Shiella, who was waiting at the bottom of the platform.

With that, the burial was finally completed, and everyone dispersed, leaving only the direct family Bernard behind.

…

As Uno was toward the place where Evangeline was currently staying, David suddenly appeared beside him and dragged him somewhere.

"Tsk! Where are you bringing me? I still have something important to do. I need to check on our guy," complained Uno.

"This will not take that long," said David as he led Uno to a certain location.

There, Uno saw Shiella waiting for them with a deep frown on her face.

Uno instantly knew what David wanted him to do just by looking at her. But he also felt that it was a little too much given that they had just attended a burial of Bernard.

"Tsk! This stupid senior brother of ours," Uno clicked his tongue while shaking his head.

Shiella stared intently at Uno when she saw the two, seemingly trying to see through at him. She had already heard what had happened, so she somewhat expected that she would not be meeting Shin but Uno instead.

At the very least, this was much better compared to the worst-case scenario that they were expecting where Shin would be completely overtaken by the Demon of the Seed within him.

With a sigh, Uno approached Shiella before giving her a slight nod as a greeting.

Shiella was still frowning her brows and observing him when Uno suddenly extended his fingers and sent a beam of light that shot toward the center of her forehead.

Shiella was taken aback by his actions and unable to respond, making her stare blankly in the air.

There was a moment of delay when a flood of information flashed through her mind.

This lasted for a few minutes before she was able to recover herself. When the focus returned to her eyes, she found that Uno was already not around and only left David to look after her.

"This-… Did he just-…?" Shiella was trying to ask what just happened when David quickly answered. "That is the perfected version of the 'Yin-Yang Arts' that he had created. You can use it to fix your control over the opposing energies within your body."

"But you still have to rely on yourself to fix your constitution to match them."

"He said that it should be called 'Yin-Yang Cultivation Arts' now since it is derived from ancient cultivation techniques," he added, further explaining everything to her.

Sheilla fell back in her thoughts and reviewed everything inside her head, finding that everything that Uno had passed down to her was not just the improved version of the 'Yin-Yang Arts' that she had learned from Professor Plum, but also a few techniques on how to utilize them properly.

She could also find a special method for how she could perfectly harmonize the two opposing energies within her body without suffering any backlash.

After organizing everything inside her head, Shiella turned to David and said. "Thanks. And-… say thank you to him as well for me. I will be going back for now to accompany my family."

David smiled and watched her leave before a serious expression washed over his face.

"Tsk! You have fallen quite deep. I wonder what that Senior Sister will think of this," said Uno as he emerged from the shades of the trees.

David ignored his words before turning around. "You better get ready. A war is coming. Since the Black Serpent Mafia had initiated it, the Springfield Family will not take this lying down."

"Tsk! What does it have to do with me? There are a lot of powerful people out there that can handle everything for us," said Uno with a frown before adding. "But if it is mean to mess up with those idiots, then I am up for it."

As they were walking toward the isolated dimension, Uno seemed to recall something and asked. "Oh! About that game! Do you know some of its secrets? I find that the game itself is hiding too much."

David paused for a moment before glancing at Uno. "You will know about it more if you continue to play the game."

"Though, you will realize its importance sooner or later as the 'war' with the Black Serpent Mafia will surely start in that place," he added before stepping into the isolated dimension, leaving Uno hanging.

Uno, on the other hand, slightly frowned his brows as he thought of something. But he quickly set it aside for the time being as he now needed to check on Shin, who was still in deep slumber.

...