Chapter 55: Chapter 55
It was my seventh birthday, a grand and momentous day. Out of all my birthdays, this was the only one I truly cared about.
Why? Because today marked the introduction of something revolutionary—the concept of a credit card into the cultivation world.
With the Song Clan's treasures now under my control, I was already the wealthiest person in the empire. My coffers were overflowing, and my influence grew daily. But it wasn't enough.
I wanted more.
The sight of my wealth multiplying had become an addiction. The sheer fact that I possessed more money than I could possibly spend gave me a sense of power unlike any other. To wield wealth on such a scale was to hold influence beyond what most cultivators could comprehend.
Power was one thing, but the ability to reshape the economic landscape of the cultivation world was a whole new level of control.
"Big brother, I wanted to give you a birthday gift," one of my elder brothers said with a bright smile, holding out a neatly wrapped box.
I raised an eyebrow, taking the gift. It was amusing, really. For some reason, many of my elder siblings had started calling me their elder brother in recent months.
"Thanks," I said with a faint nod, accepting the box with minimal reaction. After all, who doesn't love free stuff?
But honestly, I was getting too much stuff.
Without even opening it, I handed the gift to Lan Mei, who dutifully accepted it. She slipped it into a new storage ring—her third one since the day begun. The sheer volume of gifts I was receiving was overwhelming, even for someone like me.
Ever since my sixth birthday, I'd shown the world too much of my capabilities. From my wealth to my power, I'd put myself on full display, and the bootlickers had been coming at me in waves ever since.
No wonder those cultivator MCs in stories always tried to keep a low profile.
Being too outstanding came with its own risks. If this level of flattery and groveling kept up, I might actually lose my mind. Forget schemes or assassins—death by endless bootlicking seemed like a genuine possibility.
Just to reach the Banquet Hall, where my birthday celebration was taking place, I had to navigate a sea of siblings and relatives.
The emperor had too many children—hundreds wasn't an exaggeration. The path to the hall was practically lined with them, each eager to catch my attention and present their gifts.
"Big brother, happy birthday!"
"Elder brother, I brought you something special!"
Their voices overlapped, a chaotic symphony of well-meaning gestures.
It wasn't just my siblings, either. A parade of elders, distant relatives, and royal family members seemed to have come out of the woodwork, each determined to personally deliver their congratulations and gifts before I even set foot in the hall.
I forced a polite smile, nodding and accepting their gifts one by one. I couldn't be rude—their intentions were good, after all.
But good intentions or not, it was exhausting.
By the time I finally reached the Banquet Hall, I was exhausted—not from the journey itself, but from the sheer avalanche of gifts.
Lan Mei had to disappear several times, teleporting to purchase additional high-grade storage rings because the ones we had simply weren't enough. Each high-grade storage ring held a space equivalent to a city block, yet even that wasn't sufficient to store the endless stream of gifts pouring in.
I'll admit, the storage rings could have been better. The space within them, while impressive to most, still felt underwhelming to me. But I had to remind myself that those with a true affinity for the Dao of Space were incredibly rare. Given the skillset available in this small world, this was the best anyone could do.
Still, it was a mild disappointment.
Putting that thought aside, I stepped into the Banquet Hall, immediately greeted by a sea of people who had gathered for my birthday celebration.
The room quieted for a moment as all eyes turned toward me. The white suit I wore seemed to hold an almost magnetic power, drawing every gaze and locking it in place. The suit's pristine design and elegance weren't just noticed—they were admired.
"Son, your suit looks... amazing," the emperor said as he approached me, his tone carrying a rare note of admiration.
I simply nodded in acknowledgment, offering him a faint smile. I was in a good mood, and there was no need to overplay the moment.
The emperor then gestured for me to follow, personally escorting me to the seat beside his throne.
As I settled into the chair, I couldn't help but note the significance of the gesture. This wasn't just a birthday tradition—this was a statement.
The seat beside the throne was a place of honor, one that had never been offered to any of my other siblings, regardless of rank or achievements. To everyone present, it was a clear message:
I wasn't just another royal child. I was favored.
The murmur of the crowd grew louder as the implications of this sank in. I could feel their gazes on me, a mix of curiosity, awe, and envy.
After the emperor gave a lively and inspiring speech to start the celebration, the room soon shifted focus. One by one, representatives of the many powers from across the empire—and even some from beyond—began stepping forward to present their gifts to me.
What was surprising to most wasn't just the variety or value of the gifts, but the caliber of people bringing them. Many of the heads of clans and leaders of powerful organizations had come in person, a gesture that carried immense weight.
"Greetings, prince." A well-dressed man stepped forward with a broad, charming smile. "I am the clan head of the Hong Clan. I hope you'll find my gift satisfactory."
The Hong Clan was one of the Four Noble Families of the Zhou Empire. Seeing their leader here personally was notable, and his deference spoke volumes.
"Thanks," I said, accepting the box with a faint smile.
But as soon as I held it, my nose twitched. My heightened senses immediately picked up the aroma of food.
After a moment of hesitation, I couldn't resist the urge to open it. A part of me feared the Hong Clan head didn't know how to properly store food, and the thought of a potentially ruined dish gnawed at me.
As I reached for the lid, the emperor stiffened slightly, his expression warning me. This was considered rude, to open a gift publicly, but I ignored him.
The Hong Clan head, however, didn't seem to mind. In fact, he appeared eager, as if he had planned for this moment.
That confidence faltered slightly when he noticed my expression darken the moment I opened the box.
"...This is a tiger's dick?" I asked, my voice low and steady, though my hand trembled as I held the box.
The room went silent, and I could feel the collective tension of everyone present. My face twitched with barely-contained rage as the weight of the insult sank in.
I've been disrespected before, but this? This was on another level.
This man had gifted me a dick.
A tiger's dick, of all things. The implications were glaring. He was calling me a dick sucker, and not just any kind of dick sucker—a sick one who went above and beyond to indulge in some twisted act of animal depravity.
The audacity of it all left me frozen, my mind momentarily blank as I tried to process the slap to the face I had just been dealt.
"Y-yes," the Hong Clan head stammered, his voice faltering slightly under the weight of the room's growing tension. "Not just any tiger's penis, but the mighty Blue Lightning Tiger's penis."
As he spoke, his gaze darted around the hall, gauging the reactions of the other attendees. To his relief, many of the males present seemed to regard the gift with envy, their eyes betraying admiration for the rarity of such an offering.
But as his confidence began to rebuild, his attention snapped back to me, and his relief quickly evaporated. My darkened expression had not eased in the slightest.
He tilted his head, confusion flickering across his face. He couldn't seem to grasp why I wasn't pleased—or at least pretending to be.
It was beyond his understanding that his "rare and thoughtful" gift could be perceived as anything other than valuable.
I placed a hand over my chest, trying to steady my breathing, to calm the storm of rage swirling within me.
He said I needed a "shock" while sucking dick.
So naturally, he brought me the electrifying Blue Lightning Tiger's penis?
My mind raced with disbelief, and the sheer audacity of the insult made my blood boil. I could feel my Ki surging dangerously, threatening to spiral out of control.
My vision blurred slightly from the anger building up, and for a brief moment, I thought I might actually cough up blood. I clenched my fists so tightly that the box creaked under the strain.
The urge to transform, to go Super Saiyan right here and now, was almost overwhelming.
"You're calling me a dick sucker... at my own birthday?" I asked in a low, dangerous voice.
The words were calm, but the air grew heavy, suffocating even. My Conqueror's Haki began to seep outward, rippling through the room like an invisible storm.
A wave of chills swept over the hall. Even the most seasoned cultivators found themselves stiffening, their breaths shallow as the oppressive aura washed over them.
The Hong Clan head, standing at the center of this pressure, visibly paled. His soul looked as though it was on the verge of leaping out of his body. His knees wobbled, and his confident posture crumbled as he struggled to even meet my gaze.
"N-no!" the Hong Clan head stammered, his voice cracking under the weight of my Conqueror's Haki. "Eating tiger penis soup is good for you! It's... it's even better if consumed at a young age!"
He was practically screaming now, his fear bubbling over. "It can improve one's sexual performance and vitslity, leaving one to grow up healthy and strong!"
"...What?"
I was so stunned that my Conqueror's Haki vanished completely.
The words I had just heard were so shocking, they momentarily short-circuited my brain. I sat there, frozen, replaying them in my head. I never knew... sucking a dick could improve one's sexual performance and virility.
Wait.
This bastard wasn't trying to insult me; he actually believed this nonsense.
Out of reflex, I tapped into my instincts, and sure enough, I uncovered the truth. This was a common belief among many cultivators. Keyword: common belief.
There were absolutely no benefits to putting a dick in your mouth. None. Zero. Zilch. Unless, of course, you were engaging in... well, oral sex.
"I mean no disrespect..." I began, my tone light but laced with clear disbelief. "But this just seems... gay."
The entire room collectively froze, the tension suddenly replaced with a heavy, awkward silence.
"This is the cultivation world," I continued, waving the box slightly for emphasis. "Is creating a pill to improve one's sexual performance really so impossibly difficult? Or does everyone just prefer to put a dick in their mouth."
"No... scratch that. You don't even want it in your mouth," I said with a faint smirk. "You'd rather put it in your stomach."
"...Pills like that are hard to come by..." the Hong Clan head mumbled awkwardly, his gaze darting around the room as if searching for a way to escape the situation.
The tension in the hall had shifted. Where before it was heavy with unease, now it was laced with awkwardness.
"No, there's no way," I said flatly, shaking my head. "Viagra isn't that rare... God, if enough heads came together, I'm sure a pill with no side effects could easily be created... cultivators don't even like eating... but a animal's dick get's the green light?"
I leaned forward slightly, narrowing my eyes at the Hong Clan head. "Are you seriously trying to tell me it's easier to create pills that can regrow limbs than it is to whip up something that makes a few... adjustments to the body? Seems like people are either lazy or just looking for an excuse to eat dick."
The room was silent, the crowd too stunned to even react.
I continued, unfazed. "Now I'm wondering... are all guys naturally better at this than girls? I mean, a guy doesn't just have the dick reach his throat—it goes all the way to the stomach, takes a scenic trip through the body, and exits out the butt. That's some next-level mouth work right there."
Just as I was about to let out a laugh or smirk at my own cleverness, I felt Lan Mei's glare locking onto me, a silent warning that I was this close to crossing a line.
"Cough, thank you for the gift," I said smoothly, forcing a gentle smile to my lips as I tried to reset the mood. "Although I do find it... strange, I can understand the effort your Hong Clan went through to present this to me. For that, I am grateful."
The Hong Clan head nodded stiffly, clearly relieved that he was walking away without further humiliation—or worse. He stepped aside, his face pale and tense, and returned to his place in the crowd.
As he did, he noticed the glares of many of the men present. A solid 99% of them looked like they wanted to storm forward and beat a prince senseless, their egos bruised beyond repair.