“Put your clothes on. I’m done.”

In the hazy, dim space, a jade lotus platform floated quietly.

Serena Winter stood with her back to Dustin Glancey. A veil of soft silk slid down her shoulders, drifting lightly to cover the pale curve of her body.

Dustin was still dazed.

He had just crossed into this world, only to tumble off a cliff the next breath.

And when he woke up… he was no longer untouched.

The most stunning, most breathtaking woman he had ever seen—across both lifetimes—had taken him.

A blessing straight from nature itself.

Dustin wasn’t a saint. From shock to acceptance, he needed half a heartbeat. After that, he simply went with the flow.

But soon he realized… they weren’t even playing the same game.

He tried begging for mercy, yet the woman was like she’d swallowed raging fire—relentless, unstoppable.

Now the storm had passed.

Serena let out a faint sigh.

“To think that I, who once shook the Tianheng Realm, would fall so low… forced to rut with a mere mortal.”

Her voice chilled. “Three Emperors… Four Saints… how dare you scheme against me. When I return, Tianheng will drown in blood.”

Her killing intent vanished in a blink, and she turned toward him.

Her face was like carved jade, features flawless to the extreme, skin glowing faintly as if a divine spirit had taken form before him.

“I am the Evernight Demon Sovereign, Serena Winter. You saved my life. What reward do you want?”

“Uh… helping others is its own reward, Your Excellency. No need to trouble yourself.”

The moment her gaze locked on him, Dustin Glancey felt a chill rip straight through his bones, as if his blood had turned to ice.

This woman… her strength was downright monstrous. She wasn’t killing him to silence him—just that alone was a blessing. How would he dare ask for any reward?

…

“My cultivation method is… special. Now that our bloodlines are bound, and my injuries are not yet healed, I will return to you later.”

Return to him?

Dustin’s knees almost gave out. His legs trembled like reeds in a storm.

“Don’t worry. Next time will be three years from now. By then, you must have reached the Master level or above. Otherwise… you will die.”

“Master…?”

By now, Dustin had fully absorbed this world’s memories.

Tianxing Continent—where martial might ruled all.

Here was Yan State, one of the Nine Provinces, under the Grand Li Dynasty.

His name was still Dustin Glancey.

His grandfather—Imperial Right Minister, a veteran of three reigns, a terrifying cultivator.

His father—the Northern Marshal, commanding the empire’s elite legions, known as the War God of the empire.

His two elder sisters—both top-tier martial prodigies.

Only him… the capital’s famous useless dandy. Sixteen years old and still not even a Warrior.

In this land, cultivation ranks flowed from low to high: Body Tempering, Meridian Linking, Source Qi, Source Sea, Source Core, Source Spirit, and Source Manifestation.

Reaching the Source Manifestation Realm meant one thing: “Grandmaster.” A single Grandmaster could slaughter an army of ten thousand.

The entire Grand Li Dynasty had only four such figures. His own grandfather was one of them.

“Three years to reach Grandmaster…?” Dustin stared at Serena Winter like she’d gone mad.

“Is it difficult for you?”

Serena Winter paused, as if a thought had just surfaced in her mind. Her gaze sharpened.

“Right… your physique is unusual. Its true nature only reveals itself as your cultivation grows. In that case, I’ll grant you the space of the Phantom‑Armament Divine Ruins. Use it to rise faster.”

“Mm…”

A faint groan slipped from her throat. A spark of fire danced in her eyes, wild and untamed.

“Damn… there’s still a trace of karmic fire left. I didn’t suppress it completely. Looks like we’ll have to do this again.”

“Don’t come any closer!”

Before Dustin Glancey could step back, she had already tackled him. His startled cry was smothered in an instant…

…

His ears buzzed, and over it came Serena Winter’s hurried voice.

“The Phantom‑Armament Divine Ruins are the supreme treasure of the Tianheng Realm, profound beyond measure. But to make such a treasure recognize a master, one must disperse their cultivation first. I paid a heavy price for it… and now it falls right into your hands.”

A heartbeat later, Dustin felt sharp pain—she had bitten down on his shoulder. Warm blood slipped from the wound, seeping into the lotus platform beneath him.

“This platform is the foundation of the Divine Ruins—the Enlightenment Dais. Train here, and you’ll awaken the cultivation method that fits you best.”

As his blood sank into the lotus, Dustin’s mind exploded with a thunderous roar.

Information surged in, vast as a floodstorm, roaring like ten thousand rivers pouring into a single sea.

In the end, everything condensed into a single, obscure, ancient scripture.

“From chaos comes yin and yang… and with a flick of a finger, the heavens and earth tremble…”

“Kaitian Zaohua Jue…”

A low hum rose from Dustin Glancey’s body, gold light rippling off him like waves. Even Serena Winter, always calm as night, had a flicker of surprise cross her eyes.

“He actually grasped the core art of the Phantom Martial God Ruins…”

Dustin knew nothing of the shift outside. All he sensed was the obscure scripture burning in his mind—profound, tangled, impossible to hold onto.

But then the Enlightenment Platform beneath them lit with a faint, steady glow.

In that glow, the once-complex art unraveled into something clean and sharp, every line sliding into place as if someone had brushed dust off a mirror.

He froze for a heartbeat.

It wasn’t the art that changed.

It was him.

“My comprehension… it’s rising?”

“The Enlightenment Platform heightens a being’s insight. You… hurry and cultivate.” Serena’s voice wavered, tight and strange, drifting to him again.

“Cultivate now?”

“Do it!”

Dustin didn’t think—he simply followed the guidance of the art, picturing a stream of energy coursing through his body.

A rushing sound burst in his ears.

Moments later, he watched as countless white motes gathered from the surrounding space, converging toward him like a tide.

“This is… source qi…”

Threads of white light sank into his meridians, into every hidden node of his body.

A jolt shot through him—tingling, numbing, a rush that felt both wild and freeing.

His blood roared. His body burned hot. Every cell seemed to leap awake as his physique began to strengthen at breakneck speed.

In an instant—

A roar split the air, like an unseen shackle snapping in half.

Something deep inside Dustin Glancey’s body shattered, then surged upward, wild and unstoppable.

Body‑Refining Realm?

I… became a warrior?

For an ordinary man, guiding qi into the flesh took a year, maybe more. Even the so‑called prodigies needed a few weeks.

But he’d done it in mere breaths—while his mind had been split in two.

And his body was still climbing, strength piling on like a rising tide.

Body‑Refining, one star… two… three…

The power kept ramming through him until he blasted straight into Body‑Refining Nine‑Star.

A sudden, sharp cry brushed his ear—high, trembling, impossible to ignore.

Then a slender jade foot slammed against his chest.

Dustin felt the world flip upside down. His vision spun. The next moment, he was tossed into cold darkness.

He landed among the shadowed trees, right at the cliff base where he had fallen earlier.

The sky was dim, the moon pale as bone. In the forest, only insects and night birds whispered.

Everything just now felt unreal, like a dream stitched from fire and mist.

But Dustin Glancey knew with absolute clarity—it had been no dream at all.

At that moment, aside from the dull ache in his mind, every wound on Dustin Glancey’s body had already mended, and power surged quietly within him—Tempering Nine‑Star.

Human voices rolled out of the forest.

“One human approaching!”

“No—two. A man and a woman.”

Dustin froze. He hadn’t heard footsteps, not at first.

Those whispers came from the chirping insects and restless birds around him—clear as if spoken into his ear.

I can understand beast‑speech… Must be the effect of training the Heaven‑Opening Creation Art.

A breath later, faint footsteps finally reached him.

His nerves tightened, mind spinning fast.

The body’s original owner… a hopeless follower of Princess Melody, the Empire’s Third Princess.

Days ago, the princess lost her source‑beast pet.

Trying to please her, he joined a hunting squad, rode into the Taihuang Ridge to search for a new beast.

But during the hunt, his mount had been struck by a flying stone—clean, deliberate—and bolted straight off the cliff.

Someone had wanted him dead. That much was obvious.

So now… the people coming might be here to “rescue” him.

Or they might be here to make sure the job was finished.

Moments later, a man and a woman stepped out from the dense woods, both clad in armor.

Their gazes locked onto Dustin—collapsed on the ground, blood crusting across his body.

“Third Young Master, you’re still alive… That’s great news!

We are Imperial Tiger‑Guard elites, sent to rescue you!”

The Imperial Capital’s Forbidden Guard was split into twelve divisions, each made up solely of hardened martial warriors.

Seeing Dustin Glancey sway on his feet, the two rushed forward to support him.

“Hold it.”

Dustin fixed his gaze on the man.

“I think my bones are cracked. Go look around for my pouch. I dropped it nearby—full of spirit herbs and silver notes.”

The man froze. A flicker of greed flashed in his eyes.

“Alright!”

He hurried off at once.

Dustin then turned to the woman—pretty face, exaggerated curves, eyes pretending to be gentle.

“You… help me.”

She nodded meekly, stepping in to take his arm. Her other hand slid behind her waist, silently reaching for something.

A crisp smack burst in the air.

Her body stiffened. The spot she’d been reaching toward was struck—hard.

Shame and fury flared in her eyes, killing intent rising like a blade’s edge.

“Miss, you’re quite… big.”

“Pf—!”

“You’re quite careless.”

Blood sprayed. Her eyes widened in disbelief. A dagger jutted sideways from her pale neck.

She tried to scream.

A hand clamped over her mouth like iron.

“Easy now. Breathe. It’ll be over soon.”

Crossing into a new world and killing someone on the very first day… Dustin Glancey’s nerves were stretched thin.

But he understood well enough—those two hadn’t come to save him. They were here to silence him. If he didn’t strike first, he’d be the one lying cold in the dirt.

Lucky for him, the woman’s cultivation wasn’t strong. With his newly gained Body‑Forging Nine‑Star strength, his ambush landed clean.

In a breath’s time, the woman collapsed, life drained away.

Dustin stared at her fallen form, the graceful curve of her figure still evident even in death. He muttered under his breath, voice low and rough.

“With a body like that, that armor barely held together… least she could’ve worn something that fit.”

He didn’t relax. He turned an ear toward the forest. The insects chirped, the birds rustled—and hidden in the noise came another clue.

The man was on his way back.

Moments later, the armored man pushed through the brush and stepped into the clearing.

He froze at the sight of Dustin: blood trickling from Dustin’s nose and mouth, whole body slumped as if life had already fled.

“So he’s dead, huh… Damn shame we couldn’t find that pouch he mentioned. And where’d that woman go? Couldn’t even clean up after herself.”

Grumbling, he stepped closer, lowering himself as instinct guided his hand toward Dustin’s face to check for breath.

The moment his fingers neared—

A sharp hiss cut through the still air.

Dustin’s eyes stayed shut, but a flash of cold steel burst out from his sleeve…