Chén Yè sat alone in his cell, staring into the darkness.
He hadn't seen the sun in days. No sense of time here. No glow of day, no drift of night. Just endless darkness pressing in from every side.
Too much had happened. Too much was missing.
Why was he here?
He searched his memory again. Nothing. The information was gone, like pieces deliberately removed.
He remembered returning to the Divine Realm to help with the Harmonization Method.
After that… blank.
How had he ended up here? Why was he a prisoner?
Had he violated some policy? He'd always followed the rules.
Then again… in situations like this, rules often didn't exist.
The cell door creaked open.
Light cut through the darkness. Two figures stepped inside.
A child's voice spoke first, carrying strange authority.
"Arven, seems our guest doesn't feel very comfortable."
An older voice responded calmly. "Indeed. He does not appear to trust us."
Chén squinted. When his vision cleared, he saw them: a small boy, perhaps a few years younger than himself, and beside him a tall dark-skinned man with an unreadable expression.
Mortal world? Nobles?
The boy stepped closer and crouched.
"Do you not know what etiquette is?"
Chén sighed. This was exactly why he hated nobles.
"No. And even if I did, I wouldn't care." He leaned back. "I'm not going to bootlick you. Skip the performance. Why did you capture me?"
The tall man, "Arven" stepped forward. Chén tried to sense their presence.
Nothing.
Just mortals. Wealthy ones. Nobles.
The boy raised a hand, stopping Arven. Then he lowered himself and sat cross-legged on the floor.
Chén laughed. "I know what people like you do. Your servant beats me, you pretend to stop him, we repeat the circus. I'm not going to bend. So let's skip the theatrics. Why did you capture me?"
The boy didn't answer immediately.
Then he smiled.
Chén's teeth ached.
"There are a few things you've gotten wrong," the boy said. "And a few things you've gotten right."
Chén stayed silent.
If they were divine beings, he might consider cooperation. But mortals? Nobles? He'd rather die.
"You're right about one thing," the boy continued. "Nobles are the worst. They hoard power. Block every path. Mock those beneath them. Hypocrisy, don't you think? Or perhaps just evil."
He lowered his gaze.
"We all hate nobles."
He stood and walked toward the back wall and a door Chén hadn't noticed swung open.
Beyond it: gold furniture. Diamond chandeliers. Strange metals decorating every surface.
The boy spoke casually as he walked forward.
"But eventually… when one becomes a divine existence…"
Chén's chest tightened.
Divine existence?
The boy reached a massive window and opened it.
Floating buildings. Cities suspended in air. Structures that defied every natural law. Buildings stacked on nothing, bridges arcing between clouds, a realm that had forgotten the ground existed.
A Divine Realm. But different. A realm fit only for gods.
The boy turned back with a smile.
"I was a slave once. About seven hundred years ago."
"My master's family? They now serve another noble household as slaves."
He shrugged lightly.
"I watched their family collapse across generations. I never intervened. I never sought revenge. If I had, their entire lineage would have vanished. But instead… I watched. I watched the same system that once empowered them slowly destroy them."
His gaze met Chén's.
"And that was enough."
He spoke Chén's name for the first time.
"Because, Chén… I found my purpose."