Five days. That's how long I'd been in the Divine Realm, and I'd already learned two things. First, the milk here tasted like liquid starlight. Second, my father, Emperor Lu Tian, was a very loud man.
I lay swaddled in silk within the Jade Phoenix Palace, the residence of my mother, Noble Consort Hu Wan. Through the translucent curtains, I watched a gathering that would make any other empire tremble.
There stood my father, a True Immortal Realm expert whose sheer presence made the air hum. Beside him were his three other wives. In the novels I'd read back in 2026, this was the part where the Empress tries to poison the new concubine's baby.
I braced my tiny infant soul for the drama.
Instead, Empress Fu Meyar—a woman who looked like a goddess of mercy—was currently fussing over my mother's pillows. "Wan'er, you must drink this Spirit-Hen soup. You're still too pale. If Lu Tian bothers you, tell me, and I'll banish him to the study for a month."
"Sister is right," chimed in Noble Consort Su Ka'er, the legendary General. She was tall, leaning against a pillar with a massive sword strapped to her back. She looked like she could level a mountain, but she was currently using a finger to play with my tiny toes. "If he gets too noisy with his 'Imperial Sovereignty' talk, I'll spar with him. That usually shuts him up."
Noble Consort Wang Li'er, the witty one, giggled as she fanned my mother. "Oh, let him have his moment. He's just excited he has a seventh 'victim' to dump the paperwork on in twenty years."
My mother, Hu Wan, smiled softly, her voice like a silver bell. "Sisters, you're spoiling me. And please, don't scare the baby. He's been so quiet."
I'm quiet because I'm terrified! I thought, staring at them. Where is the infighting? Where are the hidden needles? This is just... a healthy family?
Suddenly, the room went cold. Not a physical cold, but a chilling pressure. My father, the Emperor, stepped forward. His eyes were glowing with a faint golden light.
"It is time," Lu Tian announced, his voice deep. "The Bone-Reading and Root-Testing. We must see what the heavens have bestowed upon the Seventh Prince."
I felt a pang of anxiety. In this world, there were 18 realms of cultivation, from Body Tempering all the way to Primordial Immortal. And it all started with your Root. There were 19 natural types, ranging from common elements to the legendary Fate Root.
Please let me be mediocre, I prayed to whatever God sent me here. Give me a Triple Element Root. Something average. Something that says: 'This kid is a nice guy, but definitely not Emperor material.'
My father placed a warm, calloused hand on my chest. I felt a surge of energy—Qi—probe into my meridians. It felt like a warm itch spreading through my body.
The room fell silent. The four wives leaned in.
My father's brow furrowed. Then, his eyes widened. Then, his hand started to shake.
"Impossible," he whispered.
"What is it?" Empress Fu Meyar asked, her voice sharpening. "Is his foundation damaged? I will find the alchemist responsible for the prenatal pills and—"
"No," Lu Tian interrupted, his voice cracking. "It's not damaged. It's... it's a Heaven Grade Root."
The wives gasped.
"But that's not all," my father continued, his voice rising in pitch. "The Qi is reacting too fast. The purity... it's shifting. It's not just Heaven Grade. There are traces of Dao Root alignment."
I felt a cold sweat on my tiny brow. Stop. Stop talking. Dad, shut up!
"Wait," Su Ka'er said, leaning closer, her General's instincts flaring. "Look at the light around his heart. It's... silver? No, it's transparent?"
My father let out a choked sound. "A Space Root? Or... no. It can't be. It's too stable. This is a potential Primordial Root in the making."
He looked down at me, and for the first time, I saw a flicker of genuine terror in the Emperor's eyes. Not terror of an enemy, but the terror of a man who realized his retirement plan just got a lot more complicated.
"He's a monster," my father whispered, almost in tears. "With this talent, he'll reach the Core Formation Realm before he hits puberty. He might even hit the Nascent Soul Realm by twenty!"
My mother, Hu Wan, clutched me tighter. "Is that bad, Husband?"
"Bad?" Lu Tian wailed, throwing his hands up. "It's a disaster! I was going to pass the throne to Tianhao, but Tianhao just 'accidentally' broke the Imperial Seal yesterday so he wouldn't have to sign edicts! Jianfeng has run away to a mountain to 'become one with the sword'! And now, I have a son who is a once-in-a-million-year genius!"
He pointed a finger at me. "Lu Xian! You are the hope of the Lu Empire! You will be the greatest Emperor in history!"
Like hell I will! I screamed internally. I've seen how you look at those stacks of tax reports, Dad! You haven't slept in three days!
"Look at him," Noble Consort Wang Li'er laughed, poking my cheek. "He's frowning. Even as a baby, he knows he's been scammed."
"He shall have the best tutors!" Lu Tian declared, regaining his bravado. "He shall learn the Dao of Governance, the Art of War, and—"
Suddenly, I did the only thing a baby could do to save himself. I reached up, grabbed a lock of my father's expensive golden hair, and pulled with all my infant might. Then, I let out a loud, wet burp and puked a little bit of starlight-milk onto his Imperial dragon robes.
The room went silent.
Then, the four wives burst into uncontrollable laughter.
"It seems your 'Great Emperor' needs a diaper change, Your Majesty," Su Ka'er teased.
My father looked at his ruined robes, then at my innocent, wide-eyed stare. He sighed, his shoulders sagging. "Fine. But the tutors start when he's three."
Three? I thought, closing my eyes and pretending to fall asleep. I have three years to figure out how to fake a 'Crippled Root' or find a way to make my brother, the 'Sword Genius,' take this job.
I'd been a CEO. I knew a bad promotion when I saw one. In the Lu Empire, the throne wasn't a prize—it was a trap. And I was going to be the one that got away.