Author's Note: The story is going to start off a bit slow but as you read it gets better and eventually you get to meet the rest awesome characters in the story.

I am an amateur writer so expect grammatical errors, plot holes and what ever could go wrong in a story, but I hope you point out my mistakes if you notice them.

This story is an original work and shouldn't be redistributed in any away without my express permission.

Thanks so much for reading.

Hey guys! silentscarlettt here! I'm currently the editor for this novel and I'm super excited to get started! I'm going to shamelessly promote the AFC, or the Asian Fantasy Community, where we offer plenty of editors, graphics, etc. for Asian-loving fanatics like us! Your novel doesn't have to fall in the category of fantasy, just Asian in so way. Once again, I reached out to @iLyna_chAn to edit her books and here we are! She's a really sweet person from the PMs we've been exchanging and her book is fantastic from the chapters I've edited so far... I hope you guys enjoy the edited version!

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In the Tang Qin Shang Dynasty, strength was everything and magic ruled the world. It was said that from birth, a child could already sense mana in the world and have an idea of which and what element they had an affinity to—be it Water, Air, Fire, Earth, Light, Darkness, Space, Time, Wood, etc. Those with two elements were considered extremely rare, as well as three elements, but four element-born people were considered legendary.

But one day, a child was born useless; a total trash to such a world where power was everything. To make matters worse, his face was disfigured which unfortunately led for his father, General Lei, to despise him. For General Lei, his newborn was cursed; a stain to his unblemished name.

General Lei strongly believed that his child was sent by the heavens as a punishment because he betrayed his one true love by having an affair with a low-born, despicable, conniving servant who once tended to his beloved's needs.

The pitiful newborn without a name knew well that his father had not been fair to his naïve and innocent mother because she could have never been able to seduce the General, for she wasn't that type of person. But General Lei tried to paint himself white by plastering dirt and blame all over the child's mother; fortunately, the truth could never be hidden forever. There were people who knew that the General was the one that forced himself on his wife's servant girl and the fruit of this ugly mistake was the child without a name.

The child had figured out the truth and understood his mother's grievances, but just like her, he couldn't voice out his resentment and his pain.

When the incident was found out by the legitimate wife of the Lei Manor, she ordered that both mother and unborn child to be thrown out of the Lei Manor. From then onwards, the mother and son pair that only had each other were forced to live in a deserted, thatched house by a hill in the forest.

"Mother, why do I not have a name like other people? Please give your son a name!" The child pleaded, but his mother showed a solemn expression, one that he had gotten accustomed to and hated seeing the most.

"Don't be sad mother..." he mumbled gently, "I don't mind not having a name." The child tugged on his mother's sleeves and tried to smile to lighten the mood, so she ruffled his hair and smiled back while saying, "I am sorry for been so useless son... I am so sorry."

A tear slipped down from her eye, but she quickly raised her sleeve to wipe it off because she wanted to be strong for her precious son.

The powerless child soon found out that the reason he could never bear a name was because his mother had been banned by his father's beloved wife to never give him a name. Of course, his father strongly stood behind his dear wife's demands despite his mother pleading and begging.

When the child four years old, his mother passed away. Since he was only a toddler, he didn't understand, and he assumed that his mother refused to wake up. Nobody ever cared to visit the duo, so he decided to go over to the Lei Manor and tell them that his mother's body was cold and she wouldn't wake up no matter how much he called out to her or shook her body.

After giving birth to the child, his mother had lost a lot of blood and was very sick. If she had been given proper medication and treatment, then she wouldn't have left the child so early and would've kept on living. Unfortunately, she eventually passed away due to lack of care from the Lei Manor.

But before yielding to death, his mother weakly said, She brought out a tiny, rusted ring and placed it on his last finger, "I am so sorry for being such a terrible mother. My only wish is that you find happiness." She tenderly squeezed the child's little hands that were held by hers, and her eyes held unshed tears. Despite her not crying, the toddler wasn't as strong and allowed a few silent tears to stream down his cheeks.

"You are a little strong man. My dear, men don't cry." She affectionately wiped his tears with her shaking hands, and he nodded fervidly in agreement to her words. At that moment, he had thought, if I don't cry and remain strong, maybe mother will stop been so sick.

The child tightly held onto his mother's hands as he watched her gasp shallow and pointless breaths. The mother had decided to rest on the bed made from an animal's skin, but the child, seeing his mother so frail, couldn't help feeling fear and pain in his heart.

"Never remove that ring son... Never lose it, either." She hoarsely said after much struggle.

"Why? It looks useless." The child was just four years old, so he was naïvely curious. After seeing the dull-looking ring, he wondered why his mother put so much value on it to the extent that she didn't even want him to lose it. His curiosity temporarily distracted him from his fears.

She said while smiling sweetly at her child.

"It really didn't look like this?" the child asked as he looked quizzically at the old, oxidized ring on his finger.

"Do you think mother would deceive you?" She sternly reminded.

He rapidly shook his head, "Mother could never deceive me, her one and only son." His answer was quick without any extra thought or hesitation about the question. He joined her on the bed and she wrapped her frail arms around him. He knew fully well that his mother loved him the most, and as a result, would never lie or deceive him. He was her everything as she was his everything.

In that moment, the child's mother coughed lightly before placing a kiss on his forehead, "That's my boy." She looked at her handsome angel that everyone despised because he couldn't cultivate and because he was unimaginably ugly. She didn't look at his physical appearance, but she looked at what was within, and she was proud to be the mother of such a pure soul.

"That ring was shining brightly when I found it, and it was golden in color. It also gave off a unique aura... Son I might not know its use, but I think it's very important." she assured.

"I promise to keep it safe until I take my last breath, mother." He vowed which caused her to beam. To him, she was truly beautiful, if not the most beautiful in all of Tang Qin Shang Dynasty; the very best mother. He grinned innocently in her direction.

She raised her hands and held his face, "I am sorry for not being able to be with you to the end of your time, but one day, you will find someone to accompany you for all of your eternity. Until then, you must remain strong." Her hands then slumped to her side, her smile disappeared and her eyes closed.

The young child decided to sleep as well since he assumed that his mother must have been very tired. When he woke up, he noticed that she was still sleeping. He waited by his mother's bedside, but she hadn't woken up even though a day had gone by.

He was feeling hungry, but he couldn't bear to leave mother alone and go look for food in the woods like she taught him. What if she woke up and needed me desperately, he thought with a frown.

When he was at the Lei Manor, he didn't understand the way they treated him. He didn't understand why his father didn't bother to send a physician to check on his mother when she didn't wake up.

When he arrived at the Lei Manor, one of the guard's noticed his poor appearance and harshly barked, "The General's manor isn't somewhere someone like you can just walk near."

He proceeded to push the toddler to the floor despite the child's tearful gaze, His whimpering pleas were ignored, but he didn't give up because he remembered that his mother hadn't woken up for three days.

He knew something was seriously wrong as well as her body gave off a strange stench, so he ran to the Lei's Manor despite his mother warning him to never to go there. He had to defy his mother's words because he didn't know where else to go and seek help.

A palm landed on one of his cheeks which caused him to immediately feel dizzy. His childish mind couldn't comprehend what happened until he heard a small, feminine voice screech, "Who is your father?"

He glanced in the direction of the voice and he saw a small girl that looked to be the same age as him. Her scornful face held a pair of eyes that shone with hatred and disgust. He didn't know or understand why she looked or treated him like so. He felt helpless and desolate; all he wanted was for his mother to be treated.

"If I hear you call him father again, I will have your tongue." she growled viciously, spitting on his face. "Get this dirty beggar out of here!" She yelled at the guards. The little girl humphed and went back in, ignoring the boy like he was trash that she couldn't bother with.

He had an inkling that she saw him at the manor's gate and heard his words. He also felt like she recognized who he was hence why she treated him so badly and coldly. But he had never offended her before so the little boy was truly puzzled at her behavior.

That day, he could only go back to his mother with empty eyes. Since Lei Manor wouldn't help him, the little boy searched for help elsewhere and managed to receive help from a passerby who was kind enough to follow him to see his mother after hearing what he had to say.

It was then that he found out she had passed away. The passerby helped him to bury his mother before hurrying along. She did what she could, and he was grateful that he was even given the time of day despite his hideous looks.

He stood in front of his mother's grave for five days. At that point, he hadn't eaten for a while, so he had become horrendously skinny to the extent that his skeletal muscles could be seen, and he was already skinny enough to begin with so starving himself made matters worse.

His four years old mind was finding it hard to accept the fact that he was truly alone in the world. He couldn't even cry because he couldn't understand why his mother was gone.

Years later, the little boy would find out that the girl who treated him horribly at the General's manor's gate was the First Eldest Miss of the General's manor—his half sister.

He would also find out that the day she met him at the gate wasn't their first encounter. He would realize that she wasn't alone that day... His father, her mother and the General's beloved Eldest Young Master, his half brother, were there as well. He would shocked to find out that they watched as the guard harassed him and as he pleaded for help... Watch as they allowed their First Eldest daughter shoo him out like an animal.

They wanted to act like he didn't exist and his father didn't bother killing him—not because he held a bit of kinship towards him—because he felt it was beneath his status and perhaps, someday, the ugly boy would have some use for him to exploit.

The child began to believe that he was indeed cursed like people had always said, and he believed so even more ever since his mother died. He had never known happiness and he had forgotten what it feels like to be joyful, to smile and to laugh.

Just like that, twelve years went by, and over the years, he had forgotten what warmth felt like. He silently sat inside the carriage dressed as his sister and began to wonder if he will be okay. His sixteen-year-old self, although never accepted by the family, still hoped to be acknowledged by taking such a burden upon himself. His simple wish was to be a part of the Lei family at least once before he left the Earth.

But now, as he stared at the assassins approaching him, he realized how stupid and naïve he was. With the amount of blood lust that he felt from the foreign group of people, he knew that they wanted to create havoc and wasn't stupid to not realize their purpose for coming near him.

He should have known earlier that since he was cursed, there was no way such a wish could come true... He could never know what happiness feels like.

He rubs the ring on his finger that was left by his mother twelve years ago and solemnly whispers,

He paused to think for a slight second. The former child, now grown into a teenager, was calm despite the impending danger that was quickly approaching.

"Jiang, sounds nice." A bitter smile graced his crooked lips. His smile wasn't beautiful or dazzling, but it was the first time he had smiled since he lost his only family. Jiang proclaimed happily, "I have a name at last!" In that moment, Jiang felt really ecstatic, but his happiness was short lived because this very day was to be Jiang's last... The assassins were inching closer and closer for no one else but him, and they didn't come to give him cakes or to be friends, they came for one thing and one thing only—his death. And they were going to get it no matter the cost.