The red carpet stretched out, the wind stilled, and the clouds froze in place.
She leaned on a cane, back bent, hair white as snow—a forgotten old servant in the corner of the sect. Everyone averted their eyes and stepped aside, even the boy who once knelt before her, calling her "Master"—Leo Storm.
But the moment he stepped onto the platform for the succession ceremony, she lifted her head.
Golden light exploded in her eyes.
"Do you remember who taught you your first sword mantra?" Her voice was soft, like dry leaves rustling in the wind. "It was your father who dragged me out of the Dragon's Tomb, broke my bones, stripped my scales—just to refine a pill for longevity. Then he threw you into my arms and said, 'Teach him well.'"
Silence blanketed the hall.
Leo staggered back. "Impossible... You're just a janitor..."
"A janitor?" She laughed. The cane struck the ground, and the earth split open with a thunderous roar. A golden dragon surged from her spine, spiraling into the heavens, its cry echoing across three thousand miles of land.
"A thousand years ago," she declared with each step forward, ancient runes blazing beneath her feet, "I was Yingyuan, the Dragon Sovereign who guarded the Northern Abyss. Your father asked me to turn your family's trash into treasure—did you really think I would accept being a mere servant?"
Elders drew their swords, only to be crushed by an invisible force, collapsing one by one to their knees.
"That 'sacred statue' you worship," she sneered, "is not divine—it's my severed horn."
The patriarch of the Storm family burst from the crowd, roaring, "Kill her! She should have died long ago!"
Before his words faded, she flicked her finger. A crimson talisman materialized in the air, searing itself into every forehead.
"The Oath of Ownership," she said calmly. "You used it to bind my soul back then. Today, I'll let you taste what it means—to live worse than death."
The sky twisted, clouds churned, and a colossal dragon descended from the horizon, merging with her form.
And at that moment, her gaze fell upon Leo—just for an instant, it softened.
"Do you think I chose the wrong person?" she whispered. "No. I've waited a thousand years... for someone just like me—cast aside by their own blood."
Wind ceased. Thunder hushed. All fell silent.
Then—dragon's roar split the heavens.
The story has only just begun.
