Chapter Five: A New Hope

“Life in the Han family isn’t easy, is it?” On the road, Han Bingruo asked Han Bingyan.

“Uh… well, you see, it’s like this.” Han Bingyan scratched his head and gave a sheepish grin.

“I knew it! I figured you’d be in the same situation as me.” The little rascal Han Bingruo looked quite pleased with herself, then sighed, “If only we had been born as normal people, how wonderful that would be. Or if we hadn’t been born into the Han family at all, then we wouldn’t have all these troubles.”

Han Bingyan replied, “You and I are both normal. We have all our hands and feet—it’s just… well, it’s just that we can’t practice martial arts, that’s all.”

Han Bingruo seemed surprised by Han Bingyan’s words, her expression one of genuine astonishment.

“Ah, sometimes my brother just likes to get all sentimental, saying things that no one can understand. He’s like a fly, always buzzing around, never stopping.” As soon as Han Bingran finished, she could feel Han Bingyan’s eyes burning with indignation.

“Little Ran, you really are adorable,” Han Bingruo remarked.

“Heh heh…”

“But even if our meridians are blocked, I think we still have a chance,” Han Bingruo suddenly declared.

“A chance? You mean we might be able to practice martial arts?” Han Bingyan asked, his voice full of hope.

She shook her head. “No, I mean the once-in-ten-years family ritual! The Feathered Plume Ceremony!” Han Bingruo said seriously. It was almost comical, this eight-year-old child putting on such a solemn face.

Han Bingran rolled her eyes and had to hold back a laugh.

“The Feathered Plume Ceremony? What’s that?” Han Bingyan was full of curiosity, for he had never heard of it before.

“Well… actually, I don’t know all the details either. But I do know it’s an opportunity for us!” Han Bingruo was brimming with anticipation.

“I know! I know!” Suddenly, Han Bingran raised her small hand, looking very proud. “I know a little about the Feathered Plume Ceremony.”

“How do you know about it, Little Ran?”

Han Bingran stuck out her tongue. “I overheard Mom talking to Auntie Xiao Yun.”

“Then hurry up and tell us!” Han Bingruo was eager, almost desperate to know.

“Oh… alright.” Han Bingran thought for a moment before saying, “I heard… the Feathered Plume Ceremony has something to do with our Han family’s title as the ‘Guardian Clan.’ Our family’s origins go way back—so far back that I can’t make sense of it, but it’s really ancient! Apparently, our Han family was founded alongside four other mysterious clans. Legend has it this was the last place the gods appeared before vanishing from the world.”

“It seems our family has been guarding something ever since.”

“What are we guarding?” the boys chorused.

“How would I know?” Han Bingran huffed with mild annoyance. “But it’s precisely because we guard this thing that the heavens have favored us, and every member of the Han family is born with exceptional martial talent.”

“Also, it’s said that every three hundred years, our family produces a prophet with the so-called ‘Feathered Plume’ bloodline. With the prophet’s ability to foresee the future, the Han family can predict the next three centuries of its fate and prepare for any calamity in advance. And when the prophet comes of age, they receive a power so great that defeating several Heavenly Realm masters at once is said to be effortless.”

“That powerful?”

Han Bingyan and Han Bingruo’s eyes went wide, their young faces filled with longing and wonder.

In the martial world, there are four main realms of cultivation: the Human Realm, the Earthly Realm, the Heavenly Realm, and the Innate Realm. Before reaching the Human Realm, one is an ordinary martial artist. Within the Human Realm, from lowest to highest, are third-rate, second-rate, and first-rate experts. The Earthly Realm consists of Earth Level One, Two, and Three; the Heavenly Realm has Heaven Level One, Two, and Three; and above all is the Innate Master.

Han Bingran herself, able to effortlessly unleash sword energy, was considered an entry-level Earthly Realm expert—a rarity among martial artists. So far, only a handful had reached the Heavenly Realm, and no one had ever attained the Innate Realm.

So it was no exaggeration to say the heavens favored the Han family.

The Feathered Plume Ceremony was a rite devised to identify the prophet with the Feathered Plume bloodline. Though the bloodline appears only once every three hundred years, the tradition of holding the ceremony every ten years had persisted.

Han Bingran spoke solemnly, “By my calculations, the new generation’s Feathered Plume bloodline should emerge this cycle—it could be you, or Bingruo, or me, or someone else our age.”

“Really?”

This news filled Han Bingyan and Han Bingruo with beautiful hopes for the future. “When does the testing begin?” they both asked eagerly.

“Well… probably three or four years from now,” Han Bingran answered, though she didn’t sound entirely sure.

“But, I heard Mom and Auntie Xiao Yun say that in every previous ceremony, there’s been a pattern.”

“What kind of pattern?”

“In every generation, the prophet with the Feathered Plume bloodline has always been… always been a girl!”

“What!” It was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over Han Bingyan and Han Bingruo, their excitement instantly extinguished.

“Every prophet is a girl?”

Han Bingran nodded. “There’s no concrete proof, but after dozens of ceremonies, every prophet has been a girl, so…”

“It doesn’t matter!” Han Bingruo cut her off. “Even if it’s always been girls, maybe that’s just a coincidence. Yes! A coincidence!”

“Looks like I’d better start training hard. Even if I don’t have any internal strength, I can at least learn some techniques. If I do become the prophet one day, it’d be embarrassing to have great power but not know how to use it.”

Han Bingruo laughed heartily, clearly an optimistic soul.

“But…” Han Bingran seemed to want to say more, yet she hesitated and finally fell silent.