In the Redster city of Atrexia kingdom, a grand banquet was currently underway. The Redster city was the capital of Rageberg territory, a densely populated city in the central plains of the kingdom. The banquet was organized by the Rageberg family for the blessing ceremony of their youngest heir. Several envoys and nobles were in the banquet hall ready to witness the event. Madam Sitara Rageberg had gone into labour a few minutes ago and currently, many maids and professional physicians were in the chamber of the madam to ensure the safe birth of the child. While the several lower nobles had arrived in person, the ones with status matching the Duke had sent their family members - heirs and caretakers to the event. On the side, Harris Bimbleton was having a conversation with the son of the Duke of Windsor territory, Kamal Windsor.
> Harris : The Ragebergs have definitely thrown a party to celebrate their new scion. But, if the new boy can get an Advanced Blessing remains yet to be known.
>
> Kamal : The Ragebergs have a very powerful bloodline. Both the Duke and Madam are saints right now. The chances of the baby receiving an Advanced Blessing are pretty high. After all, both Leonor and Tresline received Advanced Blessings while the couple was only in the emperor realm.
As it turned out, Blessings came with different inherent levels. These were arranged as Basic, Intermediate, Advanced and Supreme. The blessings usually corresponded with the talent of the child. But, there was definitely an effect of the bloodline as well. If a saint couple conceived a child, the blessing obtained would have a high chance to better than the blessing a child conceived by an emperor couple would obtain. While this was not a rule and had many exceptions where even mortal couples could give birth to a supremely blessed child, such instances were rarely seen. In fact, the last time someone received a supreme blessing in Atrexia kingdom was 20 years ago - the youngest prince of the country. As both, the emperor and empress were in perfect realm, this was not very unexpected. After all, it was much harder for people with higher cultivation to be blessed by the plane with a new soul.
As the conversation was progressing, someone approached these two gentlemen.
> Leonor : Hey, Kamal and Harris. What are you guys doing standing in a corner? You should come and hang out with the group.
>
> Kamal : Hey, Leonor. Hello, Tresline.
Kamal immediately turned his tone very polite as he saw Tresline. He, Harris and Leonor were approximately the same age. As all their fathers were Dukes in the kingdom, it was obvious that they shared much rivalry between themselves. It was also not helped by the fact that the Windsor territory, Bimbleton territory and the Rageberg territory shared their borders which often led to skirmishes in between their army. But, while they often played politics with each other, these three guys respected each other as well, as geniuses of the same generation. In the entire kingdom, there was almost no one in the younger generation that could compare to these three. The youngest prince - prince Ronald Atrexia was definitely the greatest genius in the kingdom right now. But, he was around 10 years younger than these three and due to this gap was naturally weaker than them. But, while the three geniuses along with the prince would be considered forefront of the Kingdom's younger generation for the males, there was no doubt that Tresline Rageberg was the uncrowned queen of the youngsters of the Kingdom. Almost all noble scions wanted to woo her. Her genius was known for all as she was one of the few people in the kingdom who studied soul cultivation. Due to her blessing that allowed her to feel energy better, she was accepted as the disciple of the kingdom's high priest. Thus, her status was definitely at the top. After all, even the emperor did not dare to slight the high priest. In fact, it was only due to this reason that the high priest was the one to perform the blessing ceremony today.
Tresline replied in a sweet voice,
> Trisline : Hello Kamal. Hello Harris. How are the both of you? You do not generally visit the territory anymore. My brother was quite bored in the past few days.
>
> Harris : What are you saying? It was only last year that I duelled your brother here. Besides, there have been some movements in the forbidden forest. So, I had to increase the patrols.
Upon hearing Harris' words, both Tresline and Leonor showed frowns on their faces. The forbidden forest was actually a huge forest that touched the Atrexia kingdom, the Elven kingdom of Laurant and the Dwarves' kingdom of Forge. The reason it was called the forbidden forest was that there was a terrifying secret in the heart of the forest. It was just that anyone who ever went to the heart had never returned. Even the most powerful people, with cultivation in immortal physique realm, had been lost. Gradually the forest came to be known as the forbidden forest. While the forest was dangerous, the boundaries were very safe and only when one entered too deep would one be devoured by the forest. But still, the forest was a concern for all the kingdoms.
While the four were continuing their conversation, the cries of a child echoed through the mansion. All the people at the banquet naturally understood that the main character of the event had arrived.
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Being born again was definitely not a pleasurable experience for Michael. While he had born the most inhuman torture in the history of the entire plane, he was still uncomfortable that he was a baby. But he did not dwell on it too much. The first thing he did after seeing the light was to cry his lungs out. It was common sense that any baby just born would cry. If he did not do the same, his parents would get worried that something was wrong with him. To spare them the trouble, he decided to act like a baby for a while. After he was cleaned, he was held by an old man. Michael naturally knew the old man - High Priest Mubal Khafka - a sublime soul expert, and the greatest soul cultivator of Atrexia kingdom. Michael felt the soul force of the high priest pass through his soul and his expression turned into shock.
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> Mubal : How is this possible? Such a strong soul at birth! Almost as powerful as emperors who do not cultivate their soul.
It was natural that as the body grew stronger, the soul too would grow a bit stronger but the effect as such was minimal. Hearing the High Priest, the Duke said with laughter,
> Collins : Maybe he is your next disciple.
>
> Mubal : Collins, I would not lie to you. If your son receives a soul related blessing, I would immediately accept him as a disciple. But if that is not the case, I can only say that I am sorry. After all, soul cultivation is not possible for everyone.
>
> Collins : Don't worry about it. I was just joking. It will all be up to fate and the plane. Let us begin the ceremony.
The altar had already been prepared with the ceremonial circle drawn. The High Priest did not delay and began the ceremony. Soon the planar laws descended on Michael who was placed on the altar. Almost all the people in the banquet, the servants and caretakers were in attendance. In the ceremony, whatever blessing was given by the plane, it became engraved upon the altar and thus, the others knew of what blessing had been given. As the laws danced around Michael, a blessing mark appeared on the altar. Michael, the one receiving the blessing immediately understood his blessing. While it was a combat-related blessing, he was unsatisfied. The thirst and hunger for power erupted from his persona and entered the laws as if to devour them. He was dead set on getting another blessing, even if it meant going against the flow of laws of the plane. Even immortal experts would not dare to do this!
As Michael's terrifying willpower erupted from his persona, it tried to lock down the laws. It must be known that while the laws of the plane are not sentient, they do show a small amount of intelligence and emotions. The laws and the planar will could feel the tug caused by the newborn baby boy. While the boy did not have the power to actually stop the laws from retreating, something even gods would find hard to do, they could feel the endless unbreakable will behind those actions. As if being surprised by the boy, the laws jerked a bit before bestowing another blessing on the child. This blessing did not appear on the altar but this blessing was a legendary one that no one had been granted before! This was a blessing that would later become a huge benefit for Michael who would understand its true power much later. The blessing was a totally new type of blessing that perhaps even in the cosmos would hardly be found.
> Perfect Persona Blessing
Michael knew the name of the blessing as soon as he got it. He, at that time, also thought he understood its power. This was a truly unique blessing. It did not increase his cultivation, intelligence or strength. In fact, apart from Michael nobody else would be able to guess its effects even if told the name. Michael knew that nothing about him had changed but at the same time, something about him had changed. It was as if a new clarity that had never been a part of his world had appeared. He could feel a sense of control. It was the control over his own body and soul. Earlier, he had the power of 7th level of Mortal Chapter in his soul cultivation and with all his soul arts, he could barely match his sister. But now, he could bring out the true power of cultivation hidden in his soul and match her in raw soul force. It was as if you have a bat. How hard you can hit something would definitely depend on how sturdy the bat is but at the same time would also depend on how hard you swing it. He got the feeling that he could swing the bat much harder now after the blessing. With this blessing, his combat power directly surpassed his sister's. Also, this was a permanent effect. Even in the future, he would be unrivalled on the same level and be capable of fighting experts at higher cultivation level. Michael felt as if he had gained some reliable support for the future. But just a while after, he felt his consciousness feeling heavy. Negotiating another blessing from the plane had totally spent him. Thus, he drifted back to sleep.
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The entire ceremony hall became quiet after the ceremony ended. The High Priest looked at the symbol and deciphered the blessing given to Michael. The High Priest said with a sigh:
> Mubal : The blessing is Divine Strength blessing. It is a supreme blessing that amplifies the physical strength of the body.
As soon as these words were said, the entire hall descended into hubbub. Numerous strings of congratulations were sent to the Duke and Madam who were both very happy. The entire group of nobles and royals were making mental calculations on the change this ceremony would bring. Now that the Ragebergs had another qualified heir - one who could go toe to toe with the youngest prince in the future, the weight of the family had increased in politics as well. But while there were numerous schemes being plotted, no one desired to harm the newborn child. The reason for that was simple - the humans were not the sole rulers of Aterna plane. They shared the plane with the elves, dwarves and many other races. In these situations, if the humans started killing their own geniuses, they might as well commit mass suicide. Each genius was seen as a future pillar in the Atrexia kingdom. After all, they lived in troubled times. Perhaps the only one unhappy with the result was the High Priest. He thought:
> What a pity! If that child had obtained a soul cultivation based blessing, I would not have to think about finding my successor.
While the nobles socialized and talked with each other, Kamal and Harris were talking in a corner.
> Kamal : Divine Strength! Truly a supreme blessing! That baby right now would have the physical strength of a knight. The body cultivation has six realms mainly, Knight, King, Emperor, Saint, Perfect and Immortal. Now that the kid has divine strength, if he were to excel at martial arts as well, taking someone a whole realm higher might not be a problem.
>
> Harris : It is not that simple. While the blessing does increase the strength by almost one realm, but skipping over a realm to fight might still not be possible. Afterall, the perception, agility, endurance all increase with the realms. But this would definitely make him invincible in the same realm. Even if he is not very good at martial arts, the strength itself would make him a powerhouse in the same level.
>
> Kamal : If he had been born 10 to 15 years sooner, he could have caught up with Prince Ronald.
>
> Harris : Don't underestimate prince Ronald. His blessing - martial genius - allows him to learn martial arts very easily. He is also almost invincible in the same realm.
>
> Kamal : There is no point in comparing those two. After all the age gap is too much. If both of them were to enter the perfect physique realm in the future and live for a few thousand years, the difference would not matter. But before that, it would be difficult for Michael to catch up.
While several people made various speculations, no one knew that a new monster had been born today in the world. Someone who only after being born could match an ordinary expert in battle. It was only later that people would realize how much of a monstrous existence, the baby peacefully sleeping in his mother's arms was.