Chapter 2

### Chapter 2: The Unfortunate Identity

Zhao Hai was on the verge of fainting when a memory that did not belong to him suddenly appeared in his mind. It was as if a program that did not belong to his computer had been suddenly installed, almost causing his brain to crash. Although it did not completely crash, it still left his brain in a state of confusion, slowly digesting the information in his head.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhao Hai woke up, feeling that his mind had suddenly gained a memory that did not belong to him.

In this memory, his name was Adam Buda, born into a military family in the Aksum Empire on the Ark Continent. The Buda family had served the Aksum Empire for three generations, holding the rank of Marquis. However, by the time of Adam, the family had fallen into decline. Adam was a spoiled brat, and with his mother dying early and his father often away on military campaigns, he became utterly lawless, bullying men and women and committing all sorts of evil deeds. However, his father was very protective and held significant military power, so no one dared to touch him.

However, his father made a critical mistake during the transition of power in the Aksum Empire, supporting the wrong faction.

The old king of the Aksum Empire was the 47th, and he had fifteen princes, five of whom were eligible to inherit the throne: the first prince, third prince, fourth prince, seventh prince, and thirteenth prince.

According to the laws of the Aksum Empire, only the children of the queen and the concubines had the right to inherit the throne. However, not all children of the queen and concubines could inherit the throne; only those who were granted the rank of Grand Duke or higher could do so.

Royal children were born with the rank of Count. If they did not make significant contributions to the empire, they would remain Counts for life, even without a fief. Only by making contributions could their ranks be elevated, with the highest being that of Prince.

Of course, the children of the queen and concubines would not remain mere Counts. They were usually granted the rank of Duke and, with a little achievement or a fabricated reason, could be promoted to Grand Duke and eventually to Prince, thus becoming eligible to inherit the throne.

The 47th king of Aksum had five children eligible to inherit the throne, all of whom were Princes. The first and fourth princes were born to the queen, the third and seventh princes to Concubine Kaling, and the thirteenth prince to Concubine Aiwel, who was the weakest and least favored. People generally believed that the first prince, being the son of the queen, was the rightful heir, and the third prince, who was always aligned with the first prince, was also favored. Many nobles supported the first prince's succession. The fourth and seventh princes were allies, with the seventh prince supported by the fourth prince and the Kaling family, making him a strong contender. The thirteenth prince, the youngest and weakest, was the least favored.

Adam's father supported the first prince, which was a natural choice since the first prince was the most favored at the time. The Buda family was not an old noble family; they had only risen to the rank of Marquis through military achievements in the great-grandfather's generation. They wanted to quickly integrate into the ranks of the old nobility, so they supported the first prince, who was the most likely to become king. If the first prince became king, the Buda family could enter the core of the Aksum Empire's power and become a truly recognized noble family.

In the empire, nobles were divided into two types: old nobles and new nobles. The gap between the two was significant. New nobles were often seen as upstarts and were not recognized by the old nobles, thus unable to enter the core of national power.

Over the years, the role of nobles in the empire had been immense, sometimes even determining the rise and fall of the nation. The old noble families, which had existed for thousands of years and several generations, were a force that even the royal power feared. These old noble families were the true power core of the empire, and any new noble family wanted their recognition.

To gain the recognition of the old noble families, one needed corresponding strength. The Buda family's rapid rise was a strategy by the old kings of Aksum to balance the power of the old noble families. However, after the 46th king's death, the Buda family's situation worsened. The new king wanted to promote them, but the old nobles wanted to suppress them. Therefore, they had to continuously support the new king to ensure the family's survival.

However, Adam's father made the wrong choice, supporting the most favored first prince, who did not become king. Instead, the thirteenth prince, the least favored, ascended to the throne. The first prince was executed, and his supporters met bad ends. Adam's father was imprisoned on a fabricated charge and died mysteriously in prison. Adam's past misdeeds were also exposed, but due to the presence of Green and others, the empire feared the trouble from several eighth-level powerhouses. Additionally, the new king wanted to show magnanimity, so they dealt with Adam leniently, reducing his rank from Marquis to Viscount and replacing his fertile fief with the Black Earth Wasteland. Adam was also forced to drink the Void Water, making him a complete waste.

Typically, even if a noble had a fief, they would entrust it to a steward or a trusted person, staying in the capital to monitor any changes in the empire that could benefit or harm their family.

However, Adam and his family were different. After their fief was changed, they were ordered to leave the capital within three days and were not allowed to leave their fief for three years, an unprecedented punishment for any noble family.

The current king of the Aksum Empire, the former thirteenth prince, Aboyo Aksum, treated the Buda family this way for two reasons: first, because they supported the first prince, and second, due to pressure from the old noble families. As a new king, he needed to suppress the first and seventh prince factions, but he dared not touch the powerful old noble families. The old noble families, who disliked the Buda family, pressured Aboyo, leading to his decision.

The reason Aboyo made Adam drink the Void Water was because of the Buda family's ancestral martial art, the Fierce Dragon Aura. This martial art was famous on the continent, obtained by Adam's great-grandfather by chance. Its cultivation speed was three times faster than ordinary martial arts, and its attack power was extremely strong, making it a top-tier martial art coveted by the major noble families of the empire. If Adam were to learn the Fierce Dragon Aura and remember his grudge, it would pose a threat to the major noble families and the royal family. Therefore, Aboyo made Adam drink the Void Water.

The reason Aboyo did not kill Adam was, in addition to the reasons mentioned earlier, that Green had submitted the cultivation method of the Fierce Dragon Aura to Aboyo and sworn a blood oath that the Buda family would no longer practice it. Thus, Aboyo spared Adam.

Of course, Green did not submit the cultivation method openly. He infiltrated the palace at night, found Aboyo, and submitted the method. This was both to plead for Adam's life and to show Aboyo his strength, dissuading him from killing Adam.

Aboyo, fearing trouble from Green and other experts, agreed to Green's request, only reducing Adam's rank and changing his fief, without taking his life.

Green also agreed, knowing that although his strength was considerable, the royal family's power was also strong. He could enter the palace undetected because he was familiar with the palace's layout and because the palace was still weak after the new king's ascension. Additionally, his cultivation method was unique, allowing him to avoid detection.

Previously, Green did not save Adam's father because he believed Aboyo would not kill him. After all, Adam's father was a bargaining chip for the royal family against the old noble families, and they would not easily give him up.

However, they did not expect that Aboyo's ascension to the throne was due to the support of the old noble families. Therefore, to please them, he killed Adam's father. By the time Green learned of this, Adam's father was already dead. Green had to find a way to protect Adam, the last hope of the Buda family.

The reason Green submitted the Fierce Dragon Aura was also due to the Void Water. The Void Water was a supreme treasure on the continent not only because it prevented the cultivation of magic and martial arts but also because its effects would be passed down to future generations.

This meant that if you drank the Void Water, your descendants would also be unable to learn magic or martial arts, and this effect would last for ten generations.

However, that was ten generations, and what would happen after ten generations? Whether the family would still exist and continue to the tenth generation was uncertain. This was the terrifying aspect of the Void Water and the reason Green submitted the Fierce Dragon Aura.

Since Adam and the next ten generations of the Buda family could not learn the Fierce Dragon Aura, what use was it to keep it? It was better to exchange it for Adam's life. Therefore, Green did not hesitate to submit the Fierce Dragon Aura.

In fact, his decision was correct. If he had not submitted the Fierce Dragon Aura, Adam would not have survived to leave the capital.

However, it was unclear whether someone had tampered with the Void Water or if Adam was naturally incompatible with it. After drinking the Void Water, Adam fainted and did not wake up until they reached their new fief. When he finally awoke, he had transformed from the spoiled brat Adam into the Earth otaku Zhao Hai.

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**End of Chapter 2**