Chapitre 16: Chapter 16
Naturally there is another type of natal item for people that don't follow any creation path, that is, a natal weapon, Spell Masters have special weapons that can store or support their spells, weapon cultivators have the weapons they specialise in, body cultivators have a supporting weapon, and so on.
Although both are equal, natal weapons are often lesser, since good ones are created by using a lot of rare resources, while even a simple natal plant will always be better than an average-good natal weapon. Heaven is biased towards the talented, after all. If you don't have talent, then you at least need the wealth to compensate that.
As Ludwig was contemplating whether he could flee the clan if he stole this item, the custodian that closed the door just a minute prior opened it again. Ludwig perceived different soul signatures around him, when he looked deeper he recognized them to be the same as the one he saw last time he visited here, these ones were a bit further away from the main entrance, so he turned to the custodians with a shining core in their body.
One of them seemed to have sensed it and said with awe in their voice "This is the palace of the third young master, since he is young, he is residing in the Central Hall of the Clan."
Ludwig nodded and went forward; he felt a similar and close soul signature in front coming towards him, so he didn't waste time. In the carriage, he had already put on the spatial ring, so he didn't need to put it away.
As expected, when Ludwig was right where the guards were, which he guessed to be the entrance, a familiar voice came from the front "Why are you so formal, Ludwig? Since we are so close, you can treat my home as your home!"
"Then I shall do so, little Ye! The same is for me, if you are ever around the Steward Palace, don't shy from visiting me, I will definitely treat you like royalty!" As the words resounded in the words of the guards as well as the custodians and the few people behind Ye, silence descended and they expected something to happen, but the answer of the young clan leader was simple.
"You better do, you have to serve me with your best tea and play a song for me!"
"On little Ye's birthday, I will naturally fulfil any wish, so I can only accept!" The act of the two was naturally not planned, still, it was to show that they were close. As for Ludwig calling the third young master 'little', well, technically Ludwig was indeed three years older, so technically it isn't wrong.
One person behind Ye looked at him then at Ye, she didn't say anything about the talk just now and nudged at Ye "Why don't you introduce us?"
Ye smiled and nodded "Indeed, Indeed, Ludwig, this is my fiancée, Lin Wei of the Rogue Cultivator Alliance!"
Ludwig was greatly surprised. He didn't care about the fiancée part, he expected the young clan leader to have a destined one anyways, no, what surprised him was that the little girl was from the Rogue Cultivator Alliance, one of the rare five supreme forces of the Myriad Earth Mountain World, "Lin like the Lin of the Alliance Advisor?" He asked smilingly.
The girl seemed to feel something strange, but she answered anyways "It is indeed so, I am the fifth young alliance leader!"
This was another shock, Ludwig thought she might be from a side-line, how come she is from the main line and a direct descendant of the alliance leader?
Although it is called an Alliance, in the end, is still reined by a few different families that started off as rogue cultivators and allied themselves together. If the Stardust Clan was created earlier, it would have been surely included, but this is also why the Alliance and the Clan work together so well.
Naturally initially there was some unhappiness among the true rogue cultivators, but once it was announced that one could become a young alliance leader regardless of their background and that talented people could marry into any of the founding families, these quarrels were quickly destroyed.
In contrast, the Rogue Marine Cultivator Union is sect based, but their sects are closer to the sects of the demonic way since pirates and demons aren't far away.
Ludwig cupped his hands "Since little Wei is part of the family, I hope I can call her like this too! Naturally you can also call me elder brother Ludwig if you wish to!" Anyways, Ludwig didn't care too much about formalities and kept on being shameless.
Lin Wei looked at her fiancé, when she saw him nod, she understood and cupped her hands too "Then I will call you big brother Ludwig from now on!" Although the way she pronounced is weird, since she heard how Ludwig was pronounced properly, she nearly said it perfectly. No matter how weird it may sound to them, in this cultivation world, who doesn't have weird titles or unique names? They would just assume it is the naming style of a minor clan and ignore it.
Ye was about to introduce the rest, but Ludwig said something before he could do so "Why don't we enter and talk inside, we can't have the birthday child standing outside all day!" Then he winked towards Wei, who seemed to be happy with that and pulled at the hem of Ye's robe.
One commanded, the other followed and the last complied, with this the trio and all the extras entered the majestic building.
The inside was somewhat shocking compared to the outside, because it had much less glammer. Naturally it was still extremely large and looked expensive, but the feeling it gave off was more like a single-family house with comfortable setting. It was as if you visited a retired official of the mortal world, for Ludwig, he only had one word 'Old Money, huh. Well, that is indeed more fitting for a clan, than to make it ugly majestic, after all, they don't have to prove their wealth to anyone.'
As they walked, the went down the hallway and entered a large room that was decorated comfortably with many couches standing across each other. The guests seemed used to it and they all sat on their couch, the patterns and colours were still ancient Chinese, but the feeling it gave off was much more similar to the residence of a modern noble.
"You have a very beautifully designed home, little Ye."
Ye felt proud and laughed aloud "Indeed, indeed, this might be unusual compared to the clan's usual style, because this is from my mother. She was born in the mortal world and this style was something she always admired, so after my birth, she designed my palace, since then, it wasn't changed by anyone besides her."
Ludwig smiled. He liked hearing stories about parenting that went well, it reminded him of his own experience, and it made him happy when a child talked well about their parents.
A tirade of compliments came from the people standing in front of their seat as Ludwig was lead to sit on the right of Ye while Wei sat on the left, they were seated in an oval-style.
Everyone could sea the other, but Ludwig didn't deign to talk with the less important people. He knew, after all, that Ye would for sure open a branch, and these people speculated it too, what they wanted to do was to be invited into the branch. They would open a branch of their own family line in Ye's branch and normally you would be able to say that this is indeed a good outcome, but Ludwig had different ideas.
The banquet started as everyone took their seat and servants came to the middle of the oval-shaped eating enclosure. Even though it was arranged like this, everyone still had their individual table, this looked a bit awkward to Ludwig, but he didn't mention it.
Dancers danced and musicians sung while everyone was chatting with Ye and his fiancée, Ludwig in comparison just smiled to the ones trying to talk to him, at most he thanked them if they complimented him, but he didn't care.
When he thought the time was ripe, he stood up and took out the violin case he put into the storage ring. Then he carefully fiddled with the violin before leaving his seat and walk towards the centre. The servants that were about to come forward stopped while the chatting quietened down somewhat, now only whispering in a mocking tone.
He closed his eyes as he adjusted the violin on his neck, then he focused the spell in his mind before playing the slow elegant tune.
A melancholic tone left the movements of the violin, delicate yet strong. The beauty of the play shined from the rythmic and lyrical swaying, yet bitter at the same time. A bittersweet walz, showing the love of the past.
Ludwig played Tchaikovsky's Valse Sentimentale, many emotions connected to this. He first learned of his plays when he was just a child, unreceptive and ignorant of the deeper meaning, only enjoying the tune when he was doing his own work.
This was the only music his parents allowed him to play, so he began to enjoy it, at one point he resented it too, especially after that... but in his adulthood, he came to enjoy it once again. From then on, this tune brought the nostalgic feeling of better times.
Tchaikovsky is one of Ludwig's true favourites, each of his plays are great and none can beat the other. Especially his favourite one who he heard since childhood, unfortunately this wasn't the occasion, nor did he want to play a bunch of arrogant youngsters who wouldn't appreciate it.
Once the play was over, Ludwig smiled and put the violin away as everyone was still hung in the melodies flying around the room. It was norm to bow his head towards his audience, but he didn't care, he never learned the righteous way of violin play anyways, he was self-taught.
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone