Li Shen returned to work as if nothing had changed. He lowered his head, avoided attention, and carefully suppressed the strange Qi inside him. Yet no matter how hard he tried, the world felt different now—clearer, sharper, more fragile.
At night, the dreams began.
He stood in a sky filled with burning clouds. Chains of lightning wrapped around massive dragons, dragging them down as golden figures watched without emotion. Flames swallowed mountains. The earth screamed.
Li Shen woke each time with tears on his face and a name echoing in his mind.
"Broken Dragon."
Meanwhile, elders gathered in secret. The strange aura appeared only briefly, but it left behind a sense of unease. Some argued it was a rogue artifact. Others feared a forbidden inheritance.
"Watch the servants," one elder said coldly. "Especially the spiritless one."
Li Shen sensed eyes on him.
For the first time, he understood fear—not of being weak, but of being discovered.