The morning air tasted like freedom.
Jue Xuanyi stood at the clan's outer gates, his family gathered to see him off. His father's expression was carefully neutral. His mother's eyes held a knowing warmth. His grandfather watched from the shadows of the colonnade, silent as always.
"The clan's flying chariot is prepared," his father said. "You'll arrive at the conference in comfort."
"I'll travel on my own, Father." Jue Xuanyi's tone was respectful but firm. "The conference is three days away. I'd like to see the world I've been kept from before that."
Silence.
His father's jaw tightened. It wasn't a request for permission, he was making a statement.
His mother stepped forward before the tension could sharpen. "Let him go, Tianxie. He's been caged long enough."
Their eyes met. Some wordless communication passed between lovers. His father's shoulders relaxed a fraction.
"Very well. But take Old Maid Chen…"
"No." Respectful and firm. "I'll travel alone."
His grandfather's voice drifted from the shadows. "Let the boy have his freedom. We'll see what he does with it."
The words carried weight. Permission and test wrapped together. His father nodded slowly. "Three days, Xuanyi. Don't be late."
"I won't disappoint you."
His mother embraced him briefly. Whispered against his shoulder, "Be careful."
"Always, Mother."
He turned and walked through the gates. Didn't look back. The moment his feet crossed the threshold, something in his chest loosened.
Twenty years.
He launched himself skyward.
Saint Realm flight was freedom made manifest. Wind tore at his robes as he accelerated, the ground blurring below. The clan's massive fortress shrank to a toy, then a speck, then nothing.
"FASTER!" The War Devil roared in his mind. "Faster! This is it! FASTER!"
He dove. The air screamed around him as he broke the sound barrier. Not because he needed to. Because he could.
"Our speed is thirty percent faster than any standard early Saint cultivator," the Schemer Supreme observed calmly. "We will reach Azure Wing City in four hours."
The Seduction Emperor sighed with pleasure. "Ah, freedom. The most potent of all aphrodisiacs."
Jue Xuanyi leveled out, soaring over the Western Devil Lands. Below, demon beast territories sprawled like scars across the landscape. Mortal cities dotted the valleys, tiny and fragile. Spiritual qi density shifted in visible waves, thick over ancient sites and thin over wastelands.
The world was vast.
He'd spent twenty years in a cage reading about it. Now he could taste it.
Four hours later, Azure Wing City rose on the horizon.
It was nothing like his clan's fortress. Where the Devil Imperial stronghold was all sharp edges and oppressive grandeur, Azure Wing City sprawled warm and chaotic. Red tile roofs, market smoke, the distant sound of bells. Life, messy and loud.
He descended outside the walls, suppressing his aura until he appeared as nothing more than a Core Formation wanderer. The guards at the gate barely glanced at him as he passed.
The streets were packed. Vendors hawked spirit herbs and mortal medicines. Street performers drew crowds. Children darted between adults, laughing. Normal people living normal lives, blissfully unaware that a Saint walked among them.
He found a tea house near the central market and took a seat by the window. Ordered jasmine tea and watched the city move.
"They're talking about you," the Merchant King noted.
True enough. At the next table, two merchants were deep in conversation.
"Did you hear? The Devil Clan's prince emerged from seclusion!"
"Saint Realm at twenty! Can you imagine?"
"My cousin's servant's sister's nephew saw him at the unveiling. Said he looked like an immortal descended, not a devil prince. His beauty if otherworldly"
Jue Xuanyi sipped his tea. Let the words wash over him.
The commotion started small. Raised voices from the street. Then shouting. Then screaming. He didn't move.
"The Black Vipers are shaking down the Luminous Medicine Hall again!"
"Someone should stop them!"
"Who would dare? They're backed by Azure Sky Sect cultivators!"
He set down his cup. Paid the server and walked toward the noise.
The Luminous Medicine Hall was a large establishment, its entrance flanked by jade lions. A dozen men in black and green robes surrounded it. The Black Vipers, apparently. Their leader, a scarred man with early core formation cultivation, had a young clerk by the throat.
"Last chance," the leader growled. "Protection fees. Now. Or we burn this place down."
The crowd had formed a wide circle. Just Watching.
No one intervening.
Jue Xuanyi stepped forward. "That's enough."
The leader turned. Looked him up and down. Saw a handsome young man in travel robes with no visible sect markings and dismissed him.
"Mind your business, boy."
"I'm making it my business."
The leader laughed. His gang joined in. Twelve Foundation Establishment and one vote formation thug against one wandering cultivator. The math seemed clear.
Jue Xuanyi didn't move from where he stood raising one hand.
White-gold light gathered in his palm. A technique from his mother's lineage, the White Lotus Saint's Gentle Wind Palm. It looked graceful. Harmless, even.
He released it.
The gang leader flew backward, his bones cracking like dry wood as he hit the wall. His men rushed forward. Jue Xuanyi's hand moved in a simple arc. Wind laced with spiritual pressure swept through them like a blade through grass. They dropped.
The leader tried to rise, pulling a poisoned dagger. Jue Xuanyi sighed. Let a thread of Saint aura leak out.
The man collapsed like his strings had been cut. Jue Xuanyi walked forward and placed two fingers on the leader's dantian. Pressed gently. The man's cultivation shattered.
"I gave you a chance to repent." His voice carried genuine sadness. As if it pained him.
The crowd erupted.
"Who is he?!"
"Did you see that technique?!"
"Lotus Saint arts! Is he from an orthodox sect?!"
"So young and so powerful!"
"He must be a senior disciple from the Heavenly Sword Sect!"
A young woman near the front stared at him, her face flushed. "He's so handsome…" Her friend nodded rapidly. "Like a painting come to life."
Several other women in the crowd were whispering, stealing glances, giggling.
Jue Xuanyi ignored them. Turned to leave.
"Wait!"
A young man burst from the Medicine Hall's entrance. Richly dressed, perhaps nineteen or twenty, with an air of self-importance that filled the street. He rushed forward and clapped Jue Xuanyi on the shoulder like they were old friends.
"I am Lin Fang, son of the Luminous Medicine Hall's owner! You have my eternal gratitude, friend!" His eyes shone with genuine appreciation. "I've never seen such graceful techniques! Truly, you must be a prodigy!"
Jue Xuanyi activated his Fate Reader.
The world shifted. Threads of destiny became visible, most people's thin and gray. But Lin Fang's thread blazed gold, coiling around him like a living dragon. Bright enough to be blinding. Thick enough to strangle with.
This wasn't just some merchant's spoiled son.
This was a protagonist.
"Oh!" The Fate Weaver's voice carried delighted surprise. "What a lovely surprise. Such a strong thread. How unexpected."
"This was not in Ying Wuhen's report," the Schemer Supreme added. "A hidden dragon in Azure Wing City."
"His fortune tastes like ancient jade," the Soul Devourer whispered hungrily. "I want it."
Lin Fang kept talking, oblivious to the predator examining him. He smiled gently, the way a butcher might smile at a lamb that didn't know it was chosen.
"A talent like you shouldn't be wandering aimlessly! The Immortal Dao Conference is soon! With your skill, you might actually pass the outer disciple exam for a major sect!" He leaned in conspiratorially. "I could even introduce you to an elder I know. My family has connections."
What connections could a filthy wannabe cultivator of a merchant have. Jue Xuanyi maintained his gentle smile. "You're too kind, Young Master Lin. I'm merely a wandering cultivator seeking fortune."
"Nonsense! Someone with your abilities deserves better!" Lin Fang grabbed his arm. "You must let me repay you! At least join me for dinner tonight. My father would be honored to meet you."
"I wouldn't want to impose…"
"I insist! Besides, you saved our family business. It's the least we can do."
Jue Xuanyi let himself be persuaded. "Then I gratefully accept."
Lin Fang beamed. Started rattling off plans for the evening. Where they'd eat, what delicacies would be served.
Jue Xuanyi nodded along, smiling. Playing the humble wanderer perfectly. Inside his mind, calculations spun.
Lin Fang. Heaven's chosen wearing the face of a merchant's son. Your thread burns so bright you might as well be screaming your importance. The Fate Weaver was right. This one wasn't in the reports.
A protagonist, hidden in a provincial city, waiting for his story to begin. Probably had some inheritance or golden finger tucked away. Some destined encounter that would launch him to greatness.
Would have launched him, anyway.
He accepted Lin Fang's invitation to dinner, let the young man chatter about his plans and dreams and the bright future he saw ahead.
And when Lin Fang finally excused himself to make preparations, Jue Xuanyi stood alone in the street, surrounded by grateful citizens and swooning admirers who had no idea what he really was.
He was only here to browse, who knew he'd find such merchandise. He smiled that gentle smile.
The heavens hid you well, little dragon… but I found you.