Pain lingered long after the qi dispersed.
Lin Xiao lay awake in the dim morning light, staring at the cracked ceiling beams above him. Every breath sent a faint tremor through his meridians, as if invisible thorns were lodged within his veins.
But beneath the pain—
There was movement.
Slow.
Heavy.
Watching.
The golden thread within his soul pulsed once, then fell quiet again.
He exhaled carefully.
Yesterday, he had forced open a single crack in one meridian. A reckless move. In his previous life, he would have simply crushed through obstruction by brute force.
This body, however, was not his former body.
It was fragile.
Underdeveloped.
Broken.
And yet…
The obstruction did not feel natural.
He focused inward once more.
Meridians should feel hollow, like narrow rivers ready to channel qi.
His did not.
They felt… layered.
Like stone gates deliberately sealed shut.
And behind those gates—
Pressure.
Not weakness.
Suppression.
He opened his eyes slowly.
"So," he muttered faintly, voice still thin from strain, "you weren't born defective."
His fingers curled slightly.
"You were locked."
Outside, the village of Qinghe rested beneath a pale blue sky. Smoke rose from cooking fires. Chickens scratched along packed dirt paths. Children ran barefoot, laughing.
Ordinary.
Small.
Unimportant.
No one here cultivated beyond basic Body Tempering.
No one here could sense the faint golden fluctuation that had rippled through the air the previous night.
Except one.
At the edge of the village stood a tall figure in gray robes.
Zhao Kang.
A mid-stage Body Refinement cultivator and unofficial enforcer for the regional Liu Clan.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he stared toward Lin Xiao's house.
He had felt it.
A pulse.
Brief.
Unstable.
Strange.
Not normal qi.
He adjusted his sleeve calmly and began walking.
Inside the house, Lin Xiao slowly shifted upright.
The movement alone exhausted him.
His mother entered carrying a bowl of herbal broth.
"You shouldn't sit up," she said softly. "You nearly died yesterday."
Lin Xiao accepted the bowl without argument.
The warmth steadied him slightly.
This woman was not from his past life.
She was not powerful.
She was not useful.
And yet—
When she had cried the night before, something unfamiliar had stirred in him.
Not weakness.
Not pity.
Responsibility.
He lowered his gaze to the bowl.
In his previous life, he had devoured entire sect inheritances without hesitation.
He had never protected anyone.
Perhaps this life would not mirror the last.
A knock echoed from the door.
His mother stiffened.
Zhao Kang stepped inside without waiting for permission.
His gaze swept the room once before landing on Lin Xiao.
"So," Zhao Kang said mildly, "I heard something strange happened here last night."
His tone was casual.
His eyes were not.
Lin Xiao did not lower his gaze.
He studied Zhao Kang calmly.
Body Refinement.
Mid-stage.
Nothing impressive.
But dangerous enough for this village.
"My son is ill," his mother replied quickly. "He has always been ill."
Zhao Kang's gaze sharpened slightly.
"I felt qi."
Silence settled.
Lin Xiao placed the bowl down carefully.
"I tried breathing exercises," he said weakly. "The village elder said it might help."
Zhao Kang stepped closer.
"Breathing exercises do not split wooden tables."
Ah.
So they had noticed that.
Lin Xiao's eyes flickered briefly.
The golden thread pulsed once in response to Zhao Kang's proximity.
The air grew faintly warmer.
Zhao Kang's pupils narrowed.
"There it is again."
His hand moved.
A thin blade appeared between his fingers.
"Blocked meridians do not produce qi fluctuations," Zhao Kang said softly. "Unless…"
His gaze hardened.
"…someone is hiding something."
Lin Xiao's pulse slowed.
He could not defeat Zhao Kang in this state.
His body would tear itself apart before delivering a decisive strike.
But—
He did not need to defeat him.
Only destabilize him.
Lin Xiao inhaled slowly.
He forced his awareness inward.
The crack in his lowest meridian still existed.
Behind the sealed gates, pressure built.
The golden thread reacted.
Pain surged instantly.
His vision darkened.
But he pushed further.
A thin stream of qi forced itself through the crack.
Wild.
Unstable.
Zhao Kang sensed it immediately.
"Found you."
He lunged forward.
Too fast.
Lin Xiao released the qi.
Not outward.
Downward.
Into the floor.
The ground beneath Zhao Kang's foot fractured.
Just slightly.
Enough.
His balance faltered.
For half a heartbeat—
That was all Lin Xiao needed.
The golden thread flared.
Heat exploded from his chest.
For an instant—
Golden light flickered in his pupils.
Zhao Kang froze.
Not from fear.
From pressure.
Ancient.
Overbearing.
Uncrowned.
It lasted less than a breath.
Then—
Lin Xiao's body gave out.
He collapsed forward, coughing blood.
The pressure vanished.
Zhao Kang staggered back two steps, heart hammering violently.
What—
That was not ordinary qi.
That was not Body Refinement.
That was—
He swallowed hard.
Dragon pressure.
But wrong.
Wild.
Unrefined.
Older.
His gaze returned to the collapsed boy.
Impossible.
This child had blocked meridians.
Yet that pressure—
Zhao Kang's hand tightened around his blade.
Killing him now would be easy.
No one in this village could stop him.
But—
If that pressure truly belonged to a hidden bloodline…
The Liu Clan would want him alive.
Alive meant reward.
Dead meant suspicion.
Zhao Kang exhaled slowly.
He sheathed the blade.
"Interesting," he muttered.
He looked down at Lin Xiao.
"You will come with me tomorrow."
His mother's face drained of color.
"Come… where?"
"The Liu Clan wishes to test promising youths."
Promising.
The word carried weight.
Zhao Kang turned and stepped outside without further explanation.
Silence filled the house.
Lin Xiao lay motionless, breathing shallow.
Pain radiated through every vein.
He had forced too much.
The golden thread pulsed erratically before settling once more.
His mother knelt beside him, tears in her eyes.
"They will take you," she whispered. "And if they discover your condition…"
Lin Xiao slowly opened his eyes.
"They will not," he said quietly.
Because by tomorrow—
He would understand the seal better.
That night, he did not sleep.
He focused inward again.
He studied the obstruction carefully.
The "illness" was layered.
Outer layer: fragile, imbalanced Yin-Yang.
Inner layer: hardened seal.
At the center—
The golden thread.
No.
Not a thread.
A fragment.
A shard of something vast.
The broken Dragon Core.
In his past life, he had stolen countless inheritances.
He recognized structure.
This was not a curse.
It was protection.
If his meridians had been open from birth—
The Dragon Core would have erupted.
He would have burned alive.
The imbalance.
The blockage.
They had preserved him.
Or imprisoned him.
He pressed further inward.
The golden pupils appeared again in the void.
Watching.
Not controlling.
Waiting.
"You are not me," Lin Xiao whispered internally.
The pressure responded.
Not hostile.
Not submissive.
Ancient.
Proud.
Uncrowned.
He exhaled slowly.
"Then we will see who leads."
For the first time—
The pressure receded slightly.
As if acknowledging the challenge.
Far away, within the inner halls of Longhuang City—
Long Xiu stood alone before a black stone mirror.
His fingers traced faint runes carved along its surface.
"Locate the fluctuation," he ordered softly.
The mirror shimmered.
A faint golden ripple appeared briefly across its surface.
Then vanished.
Long Xiu's eyes darkened.
Golden.
Not crimson.
Not imperial.
He leaned back slowly.
"So," he murmured, "you truly survived."
His lips curved faintly.
"The princes prepare for war."
"And now…"
"…a ghost returns."
Dawn approached.
Lin Xiao sat upright for the first time without collapsing.
Weak.
Still blocked.
But steadier.
He had learned something crucial.
The seal would not break through force.
It required balance.
Control.
Precision.
If he rushed—
He would die.
If he hesitated—
He would remain weak.
Tomorrow, he would leave the village.
The Liu Clan would test him.
They would sense something.
Perhaps not fully.
But enough.
He looked at his trembling hands.
Once, he had devoured others to rise.
This time—
He would refine himself.
And if the empire sought dragon blood—
They would not find a crowned heir.
They would find something far more dangerous.
An Uncrowned Dragon.