“Hey, son! That girl Linda Johnson introduced is leaving in a couple of days. Don’t forget the date.”

“Got it, Mom. I’m cleaning the yard.”

“Good, good. Once the matchmaking works out, we’ll pull together a down payment and get a place in the county. No more getting looked down on.”

“Mm, sure. Gotta go.”

Ethan Carter hung up, sighing. He shoved the phone into his pants pocket.

Only the pocket wasn’t open.

The phone slipped straight down.

Panicked, Ethan reached out to catch it.

This was a brand-new phone he'd bought just for the matchmaking—cost a full month’s wages.

But in his panic, his hand only brushed it further away.

With perfect misfortune, it dropped straight into the well in their courtyard.

Crap…

Ethan froze.

A wave of curses thundered through his head.

If it were just a regular old dry well, no big deal. He’d climb down and fish the phone out.

Problem was, this wasn’t some common well…

It was the Lockdragon Well—the one passed down through generations in his family!

Also called the Dragonbinding Well, legend said it held down evil dragons that stirred up storms.

Truth was, the whole Carter Village formed around guarding this well.

He remembered how Grandpa used to burn paper offerings and mumble prayers by the well every holiday.

Of course, Ethan didn’t buy into that superstitious crap.

Still, after hearing the stories his whole life, part of him couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

He was torn.

That phone had cost over four grand. Barely had it for a week.

More importantly, every contact—from friends and family to that blind date—was in there.

But then… that well.

…

“Screw it, I’m going.”

After a mental tug-of-war, Ethan gritted his teeth and decided to go down.

Dry for centuries. What could possibly happen?

He grabbed a power bank with a flashlight function from his bag and gripped the rusty chains at the well mouth.

There were four chains total. Supposedly meant to bind a dragon.

Looking at how corroded they were, Ethan couldn’t help but scoff.

These flimsy things couldn’t even hold a goat, let alone a dragon.

Still, the deeper he went—about six or seven meters down—a chill crept over him.

The dim light, the stale air, and the endless darkness from which the chains dangled… it was creepy as hell.

But now that he was in, there was no turning back.

Ethan clicked on the flashlight and forced himself to keep descending.

Time dragged—each second felt like an hour.

Eventually, his feet touched solid ground.

He lit up like fireworks inside.

Finally, the bottom!

But then he looked around, and his breath caught.

His eyes went wide, scalp tingling.

The base of the well opened up into a massive underground cave, stretching in all directions.

And right in the middle—

A dragon-shaped skeleton, at least seventy or eighty feet long.

Wrapped in those same old rusty chains.

In that instant, Ethan felt like his whole world flipped over.

“A… a dragon. That’s… a real dragon.”

His hands trembled.

He pinched his cheek, hard.

Not a dream. Real as it gets.Ethan Carter was standing right on top of the dragon’s skull—it was massive, bigger than a water vat. And his brand-new graphite-colored phone had landed right there, lying in plain sight against the dull bone.

Gulp.

He stretched his neck, swallowed hard.

Too damn shocking.

So the “Dragon-Sealing Well” actually had a dragon trapped in it!

Took him a while to steady himself. But the stinging pain from his hand snapped him back, and when he looked down, he saw rusty chains had torn his palm open. Blood was slowly dripping, but he couldn’t care less. Still in shock, he clambered down to grab the phone.

Just as he reached for it, he spotted something next to it.

A milky-white bead, about the size of an egg.

Flashes of fantasy novels he’d read sprang into his head.

A thought hit him like lightning: “Holy crap… could this be a dragon’s inner core?”

Hell!

His body jolted. Without thinking, he grabbed it.

His blood smeared on the surface.

The moment blood touched bead, it shot out of his hand and plunged into his body like a bolt.

Ethan froze—but then, something weird happened.

He could see inside his own body.

The bead had sunk into his dantian and was spinning slowly.

Each turn sent streams of misty energy through every inch of his flesh and bones, strengthening him like steel being reforged.

In just moments, he felt it. His strength surged till it felt like he could tear apart tigers and leopards with his bare hands.

He picked up the phone—but just barely squeezed—and CRACK! The screen shattered, spraying shards of glass in every direction.

“Shit!”

Even he was stunned by his own strength.

Good thing the SIM card wasn’t busted—or he’d really be screwed.

“Ethan… Ethan!”

Suddenly, George Carter’s voice rang out from the courtyard. Probably calling him for dinner.

Called a few times, but with no reply, George’s voice turned into muttering, “That brat, always disappearing when it’s time to eat.”

In a moment, he wandered off.

Ethan didn’t bother checking the well further. He gripped the chain and climbed up as fast as he could—plenty of time to poke around later.

But the moment he got out, a foul, sour stench hit his nose. He gagged.

Looked down and realized his skin was seeping some gross, sludge-like gunk. Viscous, dark, stank to high heaven.

“Could this be... that so-called cleansing of the marrow?”

He muttered under his breath, frowning.

He pinched his nose, grabbed a clean set of clothes, and headed for the river to wash up.

Carter Village lay nestled between green hills and clear waters—a proper fengshui haven, mountains at the back, rivers at the front.

Most folks used to make a living fishing. Life was comfortable.

But after years of overfishing, the government had laid down a strict no-fishing order. The villagers had to pack up and find work outside the village.

Now it was blazing hot, almost mealtime. No one was about, so the walk was easy.

A few minutes later, a wide shimmering river opened up before him.

By the bank was a ramshackle dock with a few worn-out fishing boats, some birds perched lazily on them.

Seeing this familiar place, Ethan gave a quiet smile, picked up his pace.

But halfway there, something stirred inside him.

The dragon bead in his dantian suddenly spun wildly. Like a sponge, it started sucking up the moisture in the air.

Even the calm river wasn’t spared—thick mist rose up from the surface, all of it rushing straight toward him.