In the humble dwelling of a cottage within Yang Family Village, just outside the city of Wanxiang in the Great Xia Kingdom...

"Brother, I've learned how to weave clothes now."

"Brother, I dreamed of Mother today—she was so beautiful!"

"Brother... when will you wake up?"

"Brother..."

A clear, youthful voice chattered incessantly inside the room. A delicate little girl, no more than eight or nine years old, sat by a wooden plank bed at the center of the house, murmuring to herself. Her features were exquisite, her skin fair, and her sweet, charming face bore an innocent expression.

On the bed lay a pale-faced boy of about fifteen or sixteen, his eyes tightly shut, motionless as if carved from stone. The girl's tender, rambling words echoed softly through the room.

Then, suddenly—

**BANG!**

The door was violently kicked open from outside.

A young man dressed in servant's garb swaggered in, carrying a food box. His eyes gleamed with lecherous intent as he smirked toward the bed.

"Little Lan-Lan, here I am again. So, has your useless brother kicked the bucket yet?"

He strode forward, his grin widening.

The little girl's face instantly turned deathly pale. Trembling, she pulled out a pair of scissors from her bosom and pointed them shakily at the servant, stammering, "P-put down the medicine... and g-get out of here..."

"Oh, Xiao Lanlan, you're breaking my heart," the servant said with exaggerated sorrow as he passed a wooden table, setting down the lunchbox he was carrying. Then he continued advancing toward the girl.

"D-don't come any closer!" she shrieked, flipping the scissors around to press against her own throat while darting frantic glances toward the window.

"Don't bother looking, Xiao Lanlan," the servant sneered. "I made sure to come during payday. There's not a soul out there—not even a ghost." His grin turned lecherous. "So why don't you be a good girl and drop those scissors? Let's have some fun!"

With that, he suddenly lunged forward, closing the distance in an instant. A swift strike sent the scissors clattering to the floor. The girl screamed as the brutal impact knocked her off balance, sending her sprawling sideways onto the ground.

"Hahaha..." The servant laughed ravenously, pouncing on her like a starved wolf. Ignoring her screams and struggles, he began tearing at her clothes—completely oblivious to the young man lying motionless on the wooden bed behind him, whose tightly shut eyes had now snapped open, burning with fury.

[You bastard! You animal! Let her go!] Yang Xiao roared silently in his mind.

Two weeks earlier...

Yang Xiao had been practicing martial arts atop Dragon's Head Peak behind the Yang Family Manor when a sudden bolt of lightning struck him out of nowhere, knocking him unconscious on the spot.

To his astonishment, an immensely powerful divine technique had taken root in his mind—a supreme martial art capable of transforming a human into a dragon!

The *Dragonblood Godslayer Scripture*!

It took Yang Xiao a full half-month of relentless study just to barely grasp its fundamentals.

Yet the moment he opened his eyes, he was met with a sight that ignited his blood with fury: the household servant, Ainiu, was assaulting his little sister!

Yang Lan was barely ten years old!

That beast Ainiu, with the audacity of a rabid wolf, dared lay hands on her. Rage surged through Yang Xiao like wildfire.

[*Bastard! Bastard! Dragonblood Godslayer Scripture, damn you—WORK!*]

His silent scream echoed in his skull, hatred and fury consuming his every thought.

The Yang Clan was one of the four great families of Wanxiang City, a century-old lineage teeming with descendants.

As the young master of the Yang Clan, Yang Xiao’s status had once been beyond reproach.

But three years ago, his father—Yang Yunfeng, the clan patriarch—vanished without a trace after venturing into the Blackblood Stone Forest, one of the Great Xia Kingdom’s three forbidden zones, in search of Yang Xiao’s mother, who had disappeared a decade prior.

Overnight, Yang Xiao’s standing crumbled.

Then, six months ago, his prodigiously talented elder sister, Yang Shengnan, left with a merchant caravan and never returned. His grandfather, Yang Dingtian, secluded himself in life-or-death meditation to break through the limits of innate cultivation.

And now, Yang Lingfeng—his father’s lifelong rival—had been appointed acting patriarch.

The world had turned against him.

Yang Xiao's status as the young master was completely stripped away, and the siblings' treatment grew increasingly worse. Within days, they became the family's punching bags, bullied by anyone and everyone.

But!

Yang Xiao never imagined things would sink this low—that even a lowly servant would dare attempt to assault his ten-year-old sister!

Rage.

Blinding, all-consuming fury burned through his chest.

"Ah!"

The inferno of anger seared his mind, forcing a roar from his throat.

The sluggish *Dragon Blood God-Slaying Art*, fueled by this overwhelming hatred, finally stirred to life.

Whoosh!

An oppressive, majestic, and overwhelming aura erupted violently, swirling around Yang Xiao's body.

An invisible force surged through him, propelling him upright from the bed. In one swift motion, he seized the stunned Ainiu—who had frozen mid-assault—and hurled him into the air.

Then, with a clenched fist, Yang Xiao drove a vicious blow straight into Ainiu's chest.

**Boom!**

"Gah—!"

The dwarf spat out a mouthful of blood as his body was sent flying straight out the door. With a heavy *thud*, he crashed onto the ground.

His face turned deathly pale, his hands clutching his chest as his body convulsed violently. After struggling for what felt like an eternity, he somehow clung to life—his injuries not quite fatal. Staggering to his feet, he shot Yang Xiao a venomous glare before stumbling away in disgrace.

"St—stop right there!"

Yang Xiao tried to give chase, but the surge of adrenaline fueled by his rage quickly drained away. His legs wobbled, and before he knew it, he collapsed back onto the bed with a dull *thump*.

The half-activated *Dragon Blood God-Slaying Art* came to an abrupt halt.

Gasping for air, he tried to steady his breathing.

Closing his eyes, Yang Xiao attempted to assess his internal condition—

Suddenly, a small, trembling figure threw herself into his arms.

"Lanlan? Shh, it's okay. Don't be scared. Big brother's here. No one can hurt you while I'm around!"

He held his sister tightly, her clothes half-torn, his fists clenching so hard his knuckles turned white.

*That damned dwarf... Just you wait.*

Rage burned in Yang Xiao's heart.

Yang Lan—his own flesh and blood, his younger sister. Brilliant by nature, with an astonishing gift for comprehension. Any technique, any secret manual—she mastered them all in the blink of an eye.

However, she was born with an unassimilable anomaly in her bones that caused excruciating pain whenever she exerted herself.

This was why Yang Lan, now nearly ten years old, had no cultivation base whatsoever—let alone combat prowess—despite having memorized countless martial manuals and mastered hundreds of techniques.

Yet from the moment she became self-aware, Yang Lan had never shed a tear.

Obedient, sensible, and endearing—everyone in the Yang family had adored her before Yang Yunfeng vanished without a trace.

That bastard Short Ox had the gall to lay hands on her! The mere thought of it made Yang Xiao's fury boil over uncontrollably.

Even though he had stopped the assault, Short Ox's brutality had already cast a shadow over his little sister's fragile heart.

To erase that shadow, there was only one solution—kill Short Ox!

The thought made Yang Xiao all the more desperate to figure out what was happening to his own body.

Holding his sister close and murmuring reassurances, he diverted part of his focus inward to examine himself.

What he "saw" made his blood run cold.

Beyond his clogged meridians, over a hundred sinister black tendrils, like venomous snakes, now slithered through his body, corroding his muscles, bones, and internal organs.

"Someone's poisoning me!"