Chapter 2: Unlucky Identity
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The moment Zhao Hai fainted, memories that did not belong to him suddenly appeared in his mind. It was like a large amount of information was being suddenly instilled in his mind. It almost made his brain crash. Although it did not crash, it still froze as it digested the information bit by bit.
After an unknown period of time, Zhao Hai woke up. He felt a memory that did not belong to him suddenly appear in his mind.
In this memory, his name was Adam Buda. He was born in a warrior family in the Aksu Empire on the Ark Continent. His family had served the Aksu Empire for three generations and had obtained the marquis position. However, the family declined in Adam’s generation. Adam was a hedonistic son. In addition, his mother had died early and his father was often outside, leading the army all year round. He became even more lawless. He bullied anyone he did not like and committed all kinds of atrocities. However, his father was a very protective person. He also was in charge of the army, so no one could go against Adam.
But his father made one mistake. In the competition for the throne succession of the Aksu Empire, he had chosen the wrong side.
The old emperor of the Aksu Empire was the 47th emperor. He had a total of 15 princes. Among them, five could inherit the throne. They were the first prince, the third prince, the fourth prince, the seventh prince, and the thirteenth prince.
According to the laws of the Aksu Empire, only the children of the empress and imperial concubines had the right to inherit the throne. Of course, not all the children of the empress and imperial concubines could inherit the throne. Only the children who had the grand duke title could compete for the throne.
The imperial family’s children would have the title of an earl the moment they were born. If they did not make any contributions to the empire, they would only be an earl for the rest of their lives; moreover, they would be an earl without a fief. Only if they made contributions would their noble title increase and they would be promoted to the title of imperial prince.
Of course, it was impossible for the children of the empress and imperial concubines to only have the title of an earl. They would usually be conferred the title of duke. Then, as long as they made a small contribution or used a random excuse, they could be promoted to a grand duke and finally to an imperial prince. This way, they could fight for the throne.
The five children who could inherit the throne were all imperial princes. Among them, the first prince and the fourth prince were born to the empress. The third prince and the seventh prince were born to Imperial Concubine Carlin. The thirteenth prince was born to Imperial Concubine Avril and was the weakest. He had never been thought highly of. People had always believed that the first prince who was born to the empress was the legitimate heir. The third prince had always been on the same side as the first prince, so many nobles in the empire had supported the first prince in the succession competition. The fourth prince was in cahoots with the seventh prince. The seventh prince had the support of the fourth prince and the support of the Carlin family. He was also very popular in the palace. Only the thirteenth prince was the youngest and the weakest. He was very low-key, so no one thought highly of him.
It was normal for Adam’s father to be in the first prince’s faction because the first prince was the most popular at that time. The Buda family was not an old noble family. They had only relied on their military achievements to rise to the position of a marquis in Buda’s great-grandfather’s generation. They wanted to quickly enter the ranks of those old noble families, so they chose to support the first prince who was most likely to succeed the throne. That way, as long as the first prince became the emperor, the Buda family might be able to enter the core circle of the empire and become a true noble family.
On the continent, the nobles were divided into two types. One was the old nobles, and the other was the new nobles. The difference between the new and old nobles was obvious. The new nobles were usually considered nouveau riche and would not be recognized by the old nobles, which meant that they could not enter the core of the country’s power.
After so many years of development, the nobles had a huge role in the country. Sometimes, they could even influence the rise and fall of a country, especially those old noble families who had developed for a thousand years and dozens of generations. They were a force that even the imperial power was afraid of. It could be said that those old noble families were the core of the entire empire’s power. Any new noble family would want to obtain their approval.
If they wanted to obtain the approval of those old nobles, they naturally had to have the corresponding strength. The Buda family was rising too quickly and one of the reasons for this was that this was the method that the previous emperors of the Aksu Empire had thought of to suppress those old nobles. However, ever since the 46th emperor died, the Buda family’s life had not been easy. The new emperor wanted to promote them, but those old nobles wanted to suppress them, so the Buda family could only constantly support the new emperor to allow the family to develop.
However, Adam’s father chose the wrong side. He supported the first prince, who was the most popular. In the end, the first prince did not succeed the throne. Instead, the low-profile, the weak-looking thirteenth prince became the emperor. The first prince was sentenced to death. The first prince’s faction did not have a good ending. Adam’s father was sent to prison with some excuse and died in prison for no apparent reason. The atrocities that Adam had committed in the past were also dug out by others. However, Adam was spared because of the existence of Grimm and the others; the empire did not want to provoke the level eight experts for no concrete reason. In addition, the new emperor had to show himself to be magnanimous. Therefore, he dealt with Adam lightly. He lowered the marquis title that Adam should have inherited to a viscount and changed their family’s originally fertile territory to the Black Soil Wilderness. Moreover, Adam was fed the Void Water and became a complete cripple.
When ordinary nobles had a fief, they would hand it over to the butler or trusted people to manage. Although the fief was their foundation, they would stay in the imperial capital to pay attention to any changes in the empire that were beneficial or harmful to the family.
But Adam and the others were not allowed to do this. After their fief was changed by the emperor, they were ordered to leave the imperial capital within three days. Moreover, they were not allowed to leave their fief for the next three years. This was something that had never happened before.
The current emperor of the Aksu Empire, the thirteenth prince, Abajo Aksu, had to treat the Buda family like this because the Buda family had supported the first prince and also because of the pressure from those old noble families. Now that he had just ascended the throne, he naturally had to suppress the first prince and the seventh prince’s factions with all his might, but he did not dare to touch those old noble families. Moreover, those old noble families did not like the Buda family, so they naturally placed pressure on Abajo. That was why Abajo made such a decision.
The reason why Adam was given the Void Water was because of the Buda family’s ancestral battle aura cultivation method, the Berserk Dragon Battle Aura. This battle aura cultivation method was very famous on the continent. It was obtained by Adam’s great-grandfather by accident. Its cultivation speed was three times faster than ordinary battle aura cultivation methods, and its attack power was extremely strong. It had always been a top-notch battle aura cultivation method that the various large families in the empire coveted. If Adam really learned the Berserk Dragon Battle Aura and remembered this grudge, it would be a threat to those large noble families and the imperial family. Therefore, Abaio ordered Adam to drink the Void Water.
There was another reason why the Abajo did not kill Adam. It was because Grimm had offered the cultivation method of this battle aura to Abajo. Moreover, he had sworn a poisonous oath that the people of the Buda family would not cultivate the Berserk Dragon Battle Aura in the future, so the Abajo spared Adam.
Of course, Grimm did not give this cultivation technique to Abajo openly. He entered the palace at night and found Abajo before handing over the cultivation technique. Firstly, he wanted to plead for mercy for Adam, and secondly, he wanted Abajo to know his strength and dispel his thoughts of killing Adam.
As expected, Abajo was afraid of an expert like Grimm who could easily get to him so silently, so he agreed to Grimm’s request. He only lowered Adam’s title and changed the territory. He did not take Adam’s life.
Grimm agreed to these conditions. He knew very well that although he was not weak, the imperial family was also very strong. The reason why he could enter the palace without being noticed was firstly because he was very familiar with the palace, and secondly, because the new emperor had just ascended the throne. The palace forces had undergone a huge reshuffle and had not stabilized yet. Moreover, his cultivation technique was very special, so he was not discovered.
The reason why Grimm did not save Adam’s father before was because he thought that Abajo would not kill Adam’s father. No matter what, Adam’s father was a bargaining chip used by the imperial family to deal with those old noble families. The imperial family should not give him up easily.
However, he did not expect that the reason why Abaio could become the emperor was because of the support of those old noble families. Therefore, after Abajo ascended the throne, he naturally had to please those old nobles, so he killed Adam’s father. By the time Grimm heard the news, Adam’s father was already dead. Grimm had to think of a way to protect the last bloodline of the Buda family.
Another reason why he handed over the cultivation method of the Berserk Dragon Battle Aura was because of the Void Water. The reason why the Void Water was considered a supreme treasure on the continent was not only because it could prevent people from cultivating magic and battle aura, but also because this special state would be inherited by their descendants.
In other words, as long as you drink the Void Water, your descendants will not be able to learn magic and battle aura. This situation will only end ten generations later.
But that was ten generations. If ten generations could not learn magic and battle aura, what would happen? At that time, whether this family could still exist and whether it could continue to the tenth generation was unknown. This was the terrifying thing about the Void Water and the reason why Grimm handed over the Berserk Dragon Battle Aura.
The ten generations of the Buda family after Adam could not learn the Berserk Dragon Battle Aura, so what was the use of keeping it? It was better to hand it over to exchange for Adam’s life. That was why Grimm did not hesitate to hand over the Berserk Dragon Battle Aura.
And it turned out that he had made the correct decision. If he had not handed over the Berserk Dragon Battle Aura, Adam would probably not leave the capital alive.
However, it was unknown if someone had tampered with the Void Water or if Adam’s body conflicted with the Void Water. In any case, after drinking the Void Water, Adam fainted and did not wake up until he reached his territory. When he woke up, he had already changed from that playboy Adam to Earth’s otaku, Zhao Hai.