Ming Dynasty: Gain one supernatural power every day

With a thought, he spread his spiritual power, and a white light flashed across the sky outside the window. The speed was so fast that the imperial guards on the palace wall only saw a blur before their eyes. The somersault cloud called "Lightning" had already passed through the window and hovered in the center of the warm pavilion.

The clouds were white and soft, like a clump of cotton just plucked from the sky.

Zhu Di and Empress Xu were both dumbfounded. They thought that the "riding the clouds and mist" that the fourth prince mentioned was a kind of magic that allowed one to fly in the sky on clouds, with one's feet on a cloud of mist and one's clothes fluttering.

But the cloud in front of me was a real thing, floating there like cotton, within reach of my hand, and it flew over from the horizon with a wave of my hand.

This is completely different from the divine scene they imagined, where immortals ride on auspicious clouds and fly through the air.

Zhu Di reached out and gently pressed the cloud surface, his fingertips sinking half an inch in. The texture was dense and thick, softer than any mattress in the palace.

He withdrew his hand, looked at Yun with burning eyes, then at Zhu Gaoxi: "Fourth brother, your cloud-riding is not quite what I imagined."

Empress Xu also reached out and touched it. It was soft and warm to the touch, and she couldn't help but press it a few more times. It felt bouncy and smooth. She turned to look at Zhu Gaoxi and said, "I also thought that what you meant by riding the clouds was some kind of legendary supernatural power or magic. I didn't expect you to be talking about a solid cloud. This feels more like... more like..."

"Like a sofa," Zhu Gaoxi suggested.

"Sofa?" Empress Xu pinched the cloud face again. Although she didn't know what the word meant, it was indeed fitting.

"Yes, it's a sofa. It must be comfortable to sit on." Zhu Gaoxi then invited her to sit down and try it out.

Empress Xu, supported by Liu Shen's hand, carefully sat down on the cloud. She immediately sank into it, and the cloud surface automatically adjusted to conform to her body shape. There was support behind her waist, and the handrail automatically took shape. This was because Zhu Gaoxi controlled the somersault cloud to deform.

She leaned back in the cloud-shaped sofa, smiling and exclaiming, "So comfortable, even more comfortable than the beds in the palace!"

Zhu Di, watching from the side, was itching to get close. He walked around Yun for half a circle, but didn't want to appear too eager. He just glanced at Zhu Gaoxi out of the corner of his eye from time to time.

Zhu Gaoxi suppressed a laugh: "Father, why don't you give it a try?"

Zhu Di then slowly walked over, wearing an expression that said, "I'm just trying it out casually," and carefully sat down.

As soon as he sat down, he sank into the soft cloud, his posture somewhat comical, half his body nestled within it. He tried to adjust his position, but found the cloud so soft it offered no support whatsoever; he simply sank in wherever he tried to support himself. Wait a minute, he'd just seen Empress Xu sitting there so comfortably!

Empress Xu covered her mouth with her sleeve as she looked at him, laughing so hard her shoulders shook.

Zhu Gaoxi asked Empress Xu, "Does Your Majesty like these clouds? If so, I'll give you one."

Empress Xu patted the cloud's surface and looked at him: "I'm already very happy that Xi'er has such filial piety. However, this cloud is a supernatural power that you cultivated, so it must have been hard-won. Keep it for yourself."

Zhu Gaoxi laughed and said, "Don't worry, Mother, there's more than one somersault cloud; we can make several."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Di's gaze swept over. Although he didn't say anything, the meaning in his eyes was clear: You can get several? What about me? I won't ride the dragon anymore, just get me a cloud.

Zhu Gaoxi turned his head to look at Zhu Di and deliberately asked, "Does Father want it too?"

Zhu Di's tone was indifferent, as if he were considering his feelings: "Well, if it's too much trouble, then forget it."

Zhu Gaoxi nodded: "Alright, then I'll just give one to Mother."

Zhu Di was stunned. He looked up at Zhu Gaoxi, his lips moving slightly. "I was just being polite, you really won't give it to me?"

Empress Xu watched this scene unfold, laughing even harder, covering her face with her sleeve, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably. She thought to herself, "This fourth prince is just playing tricks on this other fourth prince."

Seeing his father's expression of wanting to lash out but being too embarrassed to do so, Zhu Gaoxi finally stopped teasing him: "Father, don't take it seriously. You're just teasing me, and you'll get what's coming to you."

Zhu Di's expression instantly changed from gloomy to cheerful, a speed comparable to a Sichuan opera face-changing act, and he beamed with joy: "Since the fourth prince is so filial, I will gladly accept it."

Having just experienced that incident, Zhu Di dared not refuse the fourth prince's request again.

Zhu Gaoxi then thought that the Tiangong spacecraft was still docked up there, so he could take his father and mother up to see it. However, he didn't plan to reveal it beforehand, wanting to give them a surprise once they were in space.

So he stood up and said, "Why don't we go out and try it out? It would be more convenient to test the cloud in the courtyard." While ordinary people were still test driving, Zhu Di and Empress Xu had already test driven the cloud.

Zhu Di and Empress Xu became interested and got up to go outside. Liu Shen followed behind Zhu Gaoxi, and the group passed through the palace gate into the courtyard.

Huang Yan and several palace maids, who were waiting outside the door, were about to go forward to serve Zhu Di and Empress Xu when they saw them come out. However, their eyes were drawn to the white cloud floating in mid-air behind them.

The clouds were so white they seemed to glow, like a large clump of cotton just plucked from the sky, slowly drifting out with the masters. Huang Yan nearly dropped his whisk; was this another of Prince Rui's magical abilities?

Before he could process the thought, his gaze fell on Liu Shen. The moment the woman in the green dress walked out of the hall, Huang Yan felt a blur before his eyes, and before his mind could react, he quickly lowered his head, his old heart pounding.

He had served in the palace for most of his life and had seen countless beauties, but this girl was not of earthly beauty; she was clearly a fairy descended from heaven.

He dared not look any longer, and bent his waist even deeper.

Zhu Gaoxi came to the center of the courtyard, looked up at the sky, and casually waved his hand.

His spiritual power spread out, and two more thin clouds on the horizon were drawn down by him, each shrinking into a somersault cloud about one cubic meter in size in the light.

They descended slowly and hovered in front of Zhu Di and Empress Xu. These two clouds were much smaller than "Lightning," but large enough for a person to sit on. Their surfaces were white and soft, just like the one in the warm pavilion earlier.

"Father, Mother, I'm giving you these two somersault clouds. It's not that I'm being stingy, but that mortals can only control clouds this big," Zhu Gaoxi said, pointing to the two small, hovering clouds.

"It's alright. Being able to ride the clouds is something many people dream of. Why would we be picky?" Empress Xu quickly replied upon hearing Zhu Gaoxi's words.

"Just drop a drop of your essence blood on it, and it will recognize you as its master. From then on, it will only listen to you and can go wherever it wants."

"How do we extract the essence blood?" Zhu Di asked, puzzled.

"Father and Mother, relax, I will help you retrieve it."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di rolled up his sleeves, striking a pose as if ready to die for his cause: "Come on!"

Zhu Di was overjoyed to see the two clouds. He was about to have his own cloud. Just imagining himself riding the cloud to court, seeing the civil and military officials, and Yao Guangxiao, filled him with excitement.

Zhu Gaoxi looked at his expression, which seemed to be on his way to the execution ground, and his lips twitched. He didn't say anything more and gently gestured with his hand.

He controlled two extremely thin strands of golden light with his mental power, which entered Zhu Di and Empress Xu's bodies respectively, instantly drawing out a drop of blood essence from each. He flicked his fingertips, and the two drops of blood fell into two somersault clouds.

The moment the drop of blood disappeared into the cloud, the two white clouds trembled slightly at the same time, and then returned to their snow-white state.