Xuantian Continent, Eastern Domain, Qingyun City.
The Lin family's rear courtyard held a neglected compound. An old plum tree leaned over its crumbling wall, its branches bare after the flowering season. A few withered leaves clung to the twigs, rattling in the autumn wind.
Lin Chen sat cross-legged on a stone bench, eyes closed, breathing evenly. The setting sun filtered through the plum branches and crossed his sharp, handsome face, still pale from lingering illness.
At sixteen, he was tall and lean, with the frailty of someone who had been ill for years. For three years, he had spent every day in this quiet courtyard.
To the city, he was the Lin family's disgraced young master. Three years earlier, an accident had shattered his meridians, turning Qingyun City's prodigy into a cripple overnight. His admirers vanished; mockers took their place. The Lin family's influence collapsed, old allies kept their distance, and enemies began to circle. Even the Zhao family, once eager to seal an alliance through marriage, was ready to tear up the betrothal contract.
Lin Chen opened his eyes and gazed at a single yellowed plum leaf resting in his palm.
In his previous life, he had been Earth's most feared special-forces operative, known by the codename "Dragon Emperor." He had lived by ruthless decisions and trusted few. On his final mission, a comrade he trusted betrayed him. Lin Chen fell from a cliff into darkness.
When he woke, he was living in the body of a boy who shared his name.
He soon discovered that a thread of golden energy remained beneath his shattered meridians, like a dormant dragon soul. For three years, he had used techniques from his military training to nourish his meridians in secret. He had already recovered seventy percent of his strength.
He had no reason to reveal himself yet.
Qingyun City's waters ran deep. Revealing his strength too soon would invite danger. He also wanted to learn who in this world was sincere and who was not.
Especially her—Su Qingyao.
The name alone warmed something inside his chest.
They had grown up together. Su Qingyao was the Lin family's eldest miss, born with the rare Ice Spirit Sacred Body. Lin Chen had once been just as talented. As children, they played beneath this plum tree. She would reach for the highest blossoms and fail; he would lift her up or climb the tree to pick them for her. Her smile had been bright as snow giving way to spring.
After he became a "cripple," she grew distant in public. For three years, though, she quietly brought him spirit herbs and fruit. At night, he would feign sleep and hear her soft steps outside his window, followed by the careful placement of soup or medicine on the sill.
He knew she feared her family would force her to marry someone else. She feared dragging him down, and feared most of all that he might give up on himself.
Lin Chen closed his fist around the plum leaf and let out a quiet breath.
"Qingyao, you've guarded me for three years. Now it's my turn."
The sun dipped below the horizon; twilight settled over the courtyard.
With a faint creak, the gate opened.
A girl in white stepped inside with a food basket, her head bowed. Moonlight silvered her dark hair and pale, composed features.
Su Qingyao.
Seeing him on the stone bench, she paused. "You're lost in thought again."
Lin Chen turned to her, the corner of his mouth lifting faintly. "Waiting for you."
A touch of pink rose to her cheeks. She set the basket on the stone table. "Fresh ginseng soup from the kitchens. I added Ice Spirit Grass. It should help your meridians."
She lifted the lid; warm steam rose, carrying the faint, comforting scent of herbs.
Lin Chen watched her. "Qingyao, you didn't have to keep doing this."
She stirred the soup. "I wanted to. It's only an extra bowl from the kitchen, nothing more."
She was never good at lying to him.
Lin Chen stood and walked toward her. They were close now; he could smell the cool, clean fragrance of Ice Spirit that clung to her hair.
"Qingyao, look at me."
She hesitated, then raised her eyes. Beneath the long lashes, faint shadows of sleepless nights lingered.
Lin Chen brushed a fallen leaf from her shoulder. "You've grown thinner."
She shook her head and tried to step back, only to meet the trunk of the plum tree.
"Lin Chen, don't..." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "The Zhao family has already started spreading word. Tomorrow they may come formally to break the engagement."
Lin Chen's gaze darkened. "Break the engagement?"
Su Qingyao bit her lip. "Zhao Ling'er has broken through to the Innate realm. The Zhao family is strong now. Father... may not be able to stop them."
She paused, then added quietly, "Actually, breaking it might be for the best. You... wouldn't have to carry this burden anymore."
Lin Chen studied her. "Qingyao, do you want me to let it go?"
She was silent for a long time before answering, almost inaudible: "I don't want you to be humiliated."
She did not say she would wait forever. She only said she did not want him to be humiliated. Lin Chen understood.
For three years, she had protected him through small acts, never asking him for promises.
Lin Chen smiled, a real one this time, and gently took her wrist. Her hand was cool, fingers slender as jade.
"Qingyao, leave tomorrow to me."
She looked up, startled. "What are you going to do?"
He didn't answer directly, only drew her a fraction closer and said softly, "Trust me, all right?"
She met his eyes. The familiar tenderness was still there, but now she saw a steady sharpness she had never noticed before.
Her heartbeat quickened, out of rhythm. She nodded. "All right."
The moon climbed higher; shadows of plum branches lay heavy across the ground.
They stood like that beneath the old tree, saying nothing more.
Lights flickered across the Lin estate. Tomorrow, the Zhao family would arrive to break the engagement and humiliate the Lin family.
Tomorrow would also mark the first release of the dragon's breath he had kept dormant for three years.
Deep within him, the dragon soul stirred.
Everything was beginning.