Huaxia, Qingshan Town.

Thunder cracked through the sky, tearing apart the black clouds. A lightning bolt struck down hard—right in the backyard of the Myers household.

"Sophia Mitchell, Marcus Gray... Even in death, I’ll make sure you pay." On the bed, Alexander Myers bolted upright, fists clenched tight, face twisted in fury.

Sophia and Marcus—one was the woman he loved, the other his sworn brother. But for the Dragon Soul Mark, they turned their swords on him.

A thousand years ago, Alexander accidentally crossed over to the Hongmeng Realm. There, he met Marcus, then a crown prince of the Great Qin, and Sophia, heir to the Mitchell Trade Guild. The three of them faced death together, bonds forged in blood.

When Marcus took the throne, Alexander became the War God of Great Qin. He led the War God Corps across the realm, leaving legends in his wake. Qin rose to become the strongest empire, and Sophia's Mitchell Guild ruled the markets.

But a year ago, Alexander stumbled upon the rare and deadly treasure—the Dragon Soul Mark. That moment cursed him. The entire realm came after him like wolves on a trail of blood. Alliances formed just to bring him down.

He wasn’t fazed—not until he saw the ones leading the charge. Sophia and Marcus. His wife. His brother. The full strength of Qin and the Guild came crashing down on him.

At the summit of Zhu Peak, he stood alone, burying over thirty emperor-level cultivators. But when the rest closed in, he finally fell. Still, before death claimed him, he crushed the Dragon Soul Mark.

Then—out of nowhere—a final bolt of celestial lightning struck his corpse...

And now, here he was.

Alexander squeezed his eyes shut, his breath shallow. A thousand years gone... felt like one long, bitter dream.

His eyes slowly opened. The room was plain, familiar. The table, chairs, the faded tapestry on the wall...

It all felt... like home.

"The Myers estate?" he muttered. “Impossible.”

He gave a bitter chuckle.

He’d spent a millennia in Hongmeng. Not a day went by he didn’t dream of coming back—back to Huaxia, to see his family, just once. As Qin’s War God, he even hunted forbidden ways to return. None worked.

A thousand years... assuming time passed the same, his family would be long gone.

Even if he found a way back, what was the point? All that remained would be grief and ghosts.

Just then, the door creaked open.

A woman walked in—genteel yet fierce. She froze when her eyes landed on him.

"Alex... you're awake?" she whispered, voice shaking with joy.

Before he could say a word, she rushed forward and embraced him. His body stiffened, eyes wide. For a moment, he forgot how to breathe.

That face—he’d carved it into his memory every night.

Emma Wallace. His mother.

She hadn't changed. Not really. Just a few silver strands hiding in the black.

"Mother... is this a dream?"

"No, sweetheart. You're back. You're really back!" she cried, tears streaming.

He didn’t fight her hug. Just sat there, letting her warmth ground him.

They spoke for a long time, voices low.

Then finally, he pulled back a little. "...What happened? Why am I here?"

Emma gently brushed his cheek, her fingers soft and trembling. "You never left. You’ve been here this whole time. Just... unconscious. For three years now. We thought we’d lost you."

Three years?

Alexander nodded, quiet on the outside—but storming inside.The memories of the Hongmeng Realm were all intact—none of it was a dream. That thousand-year journey was real. And so is this world now. He had truly crossed back from the Hongmeng Realm to the Mortal World. Yet in the Hongmeng Realm, a millennium passed, while here in the Huaxia Empire, only three years had gone by.

What’s even stranger, during those three years, while he was battling across the Hongmeng Realm, his original body had just been lying in his room in the Myers household, fast asleep the whole time.

Was it only his soul that traveled to the Hongmeng Realm? Were time flows between these two worlds completely different?

Too many puzzles. But Alexander Myers didn’t dwell on it. He’d seen enough strange things—for instance, how he had once crossed from Earth to the Huaxia Empire, and then from there again into the Hongmeng Realm. There were things he couldn’t explain now, maybe only after breaking through to a higher realm could he hope to uncover such hidden truths.

Right now, what mattered was that he had truly come back to life. Though this body held no cultivation, the memories of a seasoned war god were burned into his mind. With all he knew, climbing to the peak again wouldn’t be so hard.

In his past life, he was the revered War God of Great Qin, second only to the emperor himself. But it was that very position that led him to ruin—because being second still meant being beneath someone.

Truth was, whether Hongmeng or Mortal World, no lone man could face down an entire empire and survive.

This time, he’d kneel to no one. If he was going to rise, he’d rise as the supreme being. Only unmatched power and overwhelming authority could keep his fate in his own hands—only that could protect those he cared about.

And if one day he returned to the Hongmeng Realm, if he stood once again before the Great Qin Dynasty and the Mitchell Clan…

His fists clenched tight, a cold gleam flashing in his eyes.

“If I, Alexander Myers, ever set foot in the Hongmeng Realm again… I’ll crush both your clans into dust.”

As he spat out the last four words, true qi surged from his body, rumbling through the room, shaking even the bed beneath him.

“Cloud, are you alright? Does something hurt?” Emma Wallace rushed over, concern heavy in her voice.

Snapping out of it, Alexander quickly replied, “I’m fine, Mother. Just... Where’s Father? I’ve been awake a while, but he hasn’t come, and you haven’t called for him either.”

At that, Emma’s expression changed sharply. She looked flustered, forced a smile, and said, “Cloud, your father’s been... busy. Rest up for now. When you’re better, I’ll have him come.”

Alexander stared at her, eyes narrowing slightly, silent.

His mother wasn’t good at lying. That moment of hesitation gave everything away. Something had happened to his father—he could sense it. But he didn’t ask.

Just then, a maid’s voice came from outside, “Madam... someone from the Drake Clan is here. They demand an explanation from the sixth young miss.”

Emma froze for a moment. Her face sank even further.

“I’ll go to the council hall. You stay and rest,” she said softly, touching Alexander’s forehead before quickly walking out.

Alexander sat up slowly, eyes narrowing like a tiger sizing up prey.

He’d been unconscious for three years... what had changed in the Myers household?

His mother’s reaction when he asked about Father—off. And now, trouble with the Drake Clan, over his sixth sister?

The Drakes were from Qingshan Town too, but nowhere close to the status and power of the Myers Family. His father had always doted on the sixth sister; no matter what she did, he’d cover for her. There was no way a small clan like the Drakes could make their mother this worried—unless something big had changed.

Just what had happened in these three years?

With a deep breath, Alexander pushed open the door and strode toward the council hall.