Ming Dynasty: Gain one supernatural power every day

Zhu Gaoxi sat on the cloud chair, looking at the three auspicious cloud beasts standing side by side in the courtyard.

He looked down at the small gold ornament coiled on his wrist and suddenly chuckled.

The Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise are all here; all that's missing is the Azure Dragon. His three older brothers have all revealed their divine beasts, so he, as the fourth brother, can't let them down.

"Xiao Jin, get to work." He flicked his wrist slightly.

Little Jin was pretending to be dead and dozing on the wrist when the shake woke it up, its vertical pupils still showing the confusion of just waking up. But it was, after all, a dragon with professional ethics, and upon seeing the three cloud beasts in the yard, it immediately understood its master's meaning.

The dragon raised its head, and its body slid out from the wrist. It grew as soon as it saw the wind, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a four-clawed golden dragon, hovering steadily above the courtyard. The dragon's roar was neither too loud nor too soft, just enough to make everyone in the courtyard look up.

Zhu Gaoxi flipped over and mounted the dragon's back, patted Xiao Jin's dragon horns, raised his chin at his three older brothers below, and invited everyone to go for a walk in the sky: "Let's go, let's go see the sky."

Zhu Gaoxu couldn't wait any longer. Upon hearing this, he immediately stood on the white tiger's head, put his hands on his hips, and roared at the sky: "Go, take off!" With a thought, the white tiger's four paws soared into the clouds, and it was the first to rush up after Xiao Jin.

Zhu Gaochi stood on the back of the Vermilion Bird, glanced back to make sure Zhang Yan and the children were seated securely, and then urged the Vermilion Bird to flap its wings and follow. Zhu Gaosui also controlled the Black Tortoise to slowly ascend into the air, standing steadily at the back.

"Wow, the big bird is flying..."

"Mom, we're flying so high..."

"Brother Zhanji, your bird is so big..."

"Of course, my father is the crown prince, so he's definitely superior..."

The children were overjoyed to see it fly, but those words caught them off guard.

Four figures shot into the sky from the backyard of the Han Prince's Mansion.

At the forefront was a golden dragon, upon which sat the auspicious king. To the left, right, and behind the dragon, three snow-white cloud beasts followed closely in a triangular formation: the Vermilion Bird with its wings spread like clouds, the White Tiger leaping through the air, and the Black Tortoise moving steadily forward.

The golden dragon soared into the sky, and before its roar had even faded, the courtyard of the Han King's mansion was already in an uproar.

"What is that...? How come the Crown Prince and the princes have all flown away?" Several maids who were carrying tea trays passing by under the corridor saw the scene in the sky and dropped their tea trays on the ground with a clatter.

"Did Prince Rui ascend to heaven with several people outside the palace?... " Another maid leaned against a pillar, her legs too weak to stand.

The head maid was coming from the backyard, about to scold the two maids for being so clumsy, when she looked up and saw the golden dragon in the sky. All the words of scolding stuck in her throat, and she was stunned.

The servants' reactions were even more exaggerated. The gatekeeper who had run back and forth five or six times, shaking his head each time to say that the prince had not returned, was now standing at the door, the door bolt in his hand falling to the ground and hitting the back of his foot, but he didn't even care about the pain.

He looked up at the sky and exclaimed, "My goodness... what is that?!"

Another servant, who was somewhat literate and had read a few storybooks, pointed at the four cloud beasts in the sky and excitedly babbled incoherently: "Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise! ​​These are the Four Divine Beasts! They're written in the storybooks! Exactly the same!"

The gatekeeper rubbed his eyes again and looked more closely: "Yes! That dragon appeared before! It's His Highness Prince Rui's mount! But the others, why are they so white..."

Another servant also took a closer look: "Maybe the Four Divine Beasts are actually white..."

"What's all the noise outside?... " The steward of the Prince of Han's mansion was doing accounts in the accounting room when he heard the commotion outside getting louder and louder.

"That's His Highness Prince Rui... Is His Highness Prince Han riding a tiger?" The steward impatiently pushed open the door, about to reprimand him, but when he looked up and saw the situation in the sky, he swallowed back all his words of reprimand.

His Highness Prince Rui is riding a dragon, and the three princes are riding cloud-borne divine beasts. Are they about to ascend to heaven? However, it's not unusual for Prince Rui to ascend to heaven, given his supernatural abilities, after all, he is a disciple of the Dao Ancestor.

The commotion at the Prince of Han's residence was so great that it naturally reached the Prince of Rui's residence next door.

The guards of Prince Rui's mansion were on duty when they suddenly heard a series of exclamations from next door. Immediately afterward, they saw a golden dragon rise from the courtyard of Prince Han's mansion, its golden light shimmering and its roar shaking the heavens.

A young guard nearly dropped his spear, but an old soldier grabbed him, shouting, "What's the panic! That's our prince's dragon! Our prince is probably riding on it!"

The young guard steadied himself, looked up, and sure enough, there seemed to be someone on the dragon's back.

His voice trembled with excitement: "That must be the prince? And who are those people next to him?"

The veteran squinted for a while, then said uncertainly, "I saw Prince Rui come back on a cloud this morning and then leave again. The others look like they were transformed from clouds."

The young guard swallowed hard, looking up at the sky with adoration: "Our prince is riding a dragon, and the Prince of Han and the others are riding cloud beasts. This is the gathering of the four divine beasts... Our Prince Rui's mansion has truly become a celestial abode, and we can be considered heavenly soldiers and generals..."

"You've seen Prince Rui's incredible abilities before. We just need to do our job and not overthink it..."

Although the veteran said, "You've seen His Highness Prince Rui's amazing abilities before," he couldn't hide the pride in his eyes.

The people of Prince Rui's mansion were long used to their prince's occasional antics, but each time they witnessed them, they couldn't help but feel their blood boil. They all thought: "If one becomes an immortal, even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven." They believed that if they worked hard, they might one day become true celestial soldiers and generals.

The commotion in the sky was so great that the people of Yingtian Prefecture all saw it.

"What are those?! They're dragons and... gods... divine beasts!"

"How come there's such a big tiger? And such a big bird and a big turtle..." Several rich young men were eating in a restaurant when they suddenly saw something floating in the sky. One of them stared blankly at the sky.

"I told you to read more books. Those are the White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise, the Four Divine Beasts..." said one of the young men, who had a rather bookish air about him.

"Isn't what you're reading a storybook?" the man said defiantly.

"Isn't a storybook a book?" the bookish young gentleman retorted, opening his folding fan.

On the street, pedestrians stopped to watch.

A woman carrying a child looked up for a long time. The child pointed to the sky and shouted "Dragon!" The woman patted the child and muttered to herself, "That must be His Highness Prince Rui riding a dragon?"

On the second floor of the teahouse, a young man who looked like a scholar peered out the window, his face flushed with excitement: "Auspicious omen! This is an auspicious omen! The books say that when the Four Symbols appear in the world, there will be peace. His Highness Prince Rui is a true immortal!"

The people kneeling in the street didn't care about any of that. When they saw the dragon and the mythical beast, they knew it was His Highness Prince Rui's divine power.

"May the gods bless my grandson so that he can pass the imperial examination and become a scholar this year."

"Calling for Prince Rui's blessing, the one riding the dragon is Prince Rui. Are you from Yingtian Prefecture?"

"Oh, may the King of Rui bless me, may the King of Rui bless me, may I be able to have a son this year..." an old man dressed in rich clothes but with a face full of wrinkles knelt down and said.

"May you have a son?... " someone nearby looked at the old man with surprise upon hearing him say he wanted a son.

"Yeah, what's wrong...?"

A group of elderly men and women knelt in unison on the street, devoutly chanting...

A burly man next to him kowtowed, saying, "May His Highness Prince Rui bless this year with a good harvest."