The night had fallen deep, with a bright round moon hanging silently in the sky.

In a remote, chilly courtyard behind the Stewart Mansion, one of the Four Great Families in Shuozhou City by Shenwu's border, Ella Murphy was lying on the ground. Blood stained her clothes, and open wounds covered her.

She used all her strength to push herself up just a little, lifting her face to look at Juliet Stewart, who stood in front of her, whip in hand and eyes full of malice. The barbed whip still had pieces of her flesh stuck to it.

"Why, Cousin?" Ella's lips trembled, blood spilling from the corner of her mouth. Her eyes were filled with disbelief and fear.

Why did Juliet, who had always acted kindly towards her, suddenly turn into such a cruel stranger today?

"Why?"

Juliet laughed, throwing her head back, a cold and mocking sound. "Ella, did you really think we raised you all these years because we saw you as family?"

What?

Ella’s eyes were full of confusion. Her aunt had told her once – she was taken in because her dying mother begged for it, leaving her in her aunt’s care. Over the years, her aunt had always seemed to treat her like her own child.

"You really believed that?"

Juliet let out a sharp laugh, covering her mouth ever so fake and dramatic as she stared at Ella's stunning face with a look twisted by hate and jealousy. "Your parents got on the wrong side of someone powerful and ended up hunted like dogs. Your mother dragged herself to my mother, offering up spirit stones and treasures just to beg for a place for you. My mother took you in because she’s ‘kind’? Please. It was the bribe—and her own little plan."

She sneered, eyes dripping with contempt. Of course it wasn’t true kindness. If Ella’s mother hadn’t brought enough priceless goods, and if her mother didn’t have her own plan, they would never have bothered.

What?

Ella’s eyes widened. She stared at Juliet, desperate to find some grain of doubt or mercy left in her face. She reached out, trying to grasp her cousin’s hand, maybe to shake an answer out of her.

Juliet dodged easily and coldly kicked her back down.

Ella barely noticed the pain. Her voice trembled as she hurriedly asked, "What about my father? What happened to him?"

"What happened?" Juliet dragged out the words, lips curling with enjoyment as she watched Ella’s panic. Then, as if tossing out something irrelevant, she shrugged. "He’s dead. What do you expect?"

Boom—

Like a thunderclap inside her mind, Ella went stiff. Tears spilled silently down her cheeks.

She’d always known her mother was gone, but she still believed her father was out there. She thought if she just stayed put and behaved, one day he’d come back for her. And if he didn’t, once she awakened her spiritual body at fifteen, she’d go find him herself.

But now… now that fragile hope was crushed under a brutal truth.

Juliet leaned in, her voice low and full of venom.

"Well, after freeloading all these years, it’s about time you paid your debt, don’t you think? Today’s your awakening, right? Time to give us that spiritual body, my little cultivation tool."

Spiritual body tool?

They wanted her spirit? This whole time... her aunt hadn’t taken her in out of love. She’d been raising her like livestock, waiting for this day.

None of it had been real—every bit of kindness, a lie. Every moment, nothing more than setting her up for today.Ella froze, blood draining from her face the moment she heard about her parents. She stared at Juliet, eyes wide in disbelief, as if trying to understand how someone who’d always been decent to her could now glare at her like she was poison.

In Shenwu, everyone could bond with spirit beasts, and when you turned fifteen, your spiritual essence awakened. The stronger your essence, ranging from low to divine, the more beasts you could command.

That essence? It was everything.

And there was a forbidden method—a twisted technique thought long destroyed—that could steal someone else’s essence to strengthen your own.

Juliet had actually used it?

“No... No! You can’t do this!”

Ella shook her head wildly, trying to back away. This had to be some sick lie. Juliet was bluffing! She had to find her father!

“Ha…”

Juliet let out a cruel laugh, her grip tight on the whip as she slowly stepped closer.

"Juliet, stop wasting time. Are you ready?" A woman stepped from the shadows, dressed in silks, her voice crisp.

Ella looked up in shock—Mrs. Stewart. Her usual warm demeanor had vanished, her eyes holding nothing but cold disdain, like she was barely even seeing a person.

“I’m ready, Mother.”

Juliet’s face lit up with vicious excitement.

Her mother had told her—from what that woman left behind, this girl’s bloodline was rare. Her essence had to be top-tier. Once she devoured it, her own power would shoot up.

“Good.”

The pair turned together to face Ella, who kept dragging herself backward along the ground, like a desperate animal in a trap. Their eyes gleamed with twisted anticipation.

“You won’t touch it! I’d rather die than let you take my essence!”

Ella screamed, body trembling from exhaustion—but in that moment, a burst of strength flared to life. She launched herself at the courtyard wall. She’d rather end it than be torn apart by them.

A dry chuckle echoed.

In mid-air, her light figure slammed into invisible pressure—suddenly paralyzed.

Behind her, Mrs. Stewart raised a hand, fingers splayed. With a twist of her wrist, Ella was yanked back violently and collapsed hard at their feet.

“Just like your mother,” Mrs. Stewart said softly, like it was a private joke. “Push back all you like—it won’t change anything.”

The mocking chill in her voice was worse than the midnight wind.

Ella lifted her head, trembling, eyes wide. “My mother… You did something to her…”

Mrs. Stewart nodded like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“She begged me to take you in. But spirit stones alone? Not much of a bargain. After she barely survived childbirth, she was too weak to fight—so I took her essence, too. It’s mine now. Isn’t that a comfort?”

She laughed, eyes glinting with smug pride. The secret she’d kept buried so long tasted sweeter than she imagined.

“You monster! I’ll kill you!”

Ella’s voice cracked with rage. Her red-rimmed eyes locked on Mrs. Stewart as she lunged, swinging her arms forward, mouth snapping shut on her leg.

She had no power left—but if she could tear off even a shred of flesh, it would be worth it.

“Fine. You asked for it.”Mrs. Stewart let out a sharp sneer. With her strength as a mid-level Grand Spiritual Master, a bite like that didn’t even register as pain. Still, getting bitten by this wretch was humiliating.

A sudden surge of spiritual energy rippled through her, and in an instant, Ella Murphy’s teeth shattered, her arms clinging to Mrs. Stewart’s leg snapping bone by bone.

"Aaahh—!"

A gut-wrenching scream tore from her lips before she passed out from the agony. Her body burned with a feverish heat.

"Chirp—!"

A clear, piercing cry echoed across the sky. A blazing red light burst upward as a giant spirit image of a fiery phoenix emerged behind Ella.

Its proud, commanding presence felt unshakable.

From the base of the spirit, a streak of red light tethered it to Ella’s spine.

Then, a glowing red beast egg floated before the phoenix’s chest.

"A Fire Phoenix! A god-tier Fire Phoenix spirit! That’s a Phoenix Egg!"

Mrs. Stewart shrieked, her voice high with joy.

It had been a thousand years since a god-tier spirit last appeared in Shenwu—when the founder of the Beast Tamer Sect awakened a qilin spirit.

God-tier! How could this girl have such terrifying talent?

And that egg!

Spirit beast eggs were incredibly rare. Only a handful of geniuses with insane aptitude might—if insanely lucky—form a soul-bound egg during their spirit awakening.

Unlike tamed beasts added later, soul-bound beasts were born to fight alongside you—stronger and fiercely loyal. Everyone in Shenwu dreamed of such a bond.

Mrs. Stewart was over the moon—this gift would go to her daughter instead!

"Juliet, quick! Extract the Fire Phoenix spirit! And take the egg!"

To extract a spirit, one had to figure out which bone it was linked to. Steal the bone, take the spirit.

This girl’s spirit connected to the spine. All they had to do was rip that out.

They had to move fast. A god-tier spiritual awakening was too loud—someone from Shuo City or even Shenwu’s greater forces might sense it and come looking.

Even though they'd placed formation seals to block prying spiritual senses, there was always the risk some powerful figure might not bother asking and go storming in.

"Yes, Mother!"

Juliet Stewart’s whole body trembled with excitement. Her eyes burned with greed and envy.

She had only awakened a mid-grade spirit at noon. So why did this nobody get a god-tier?

No—she was the one with real luck now! That spirit and egg were hers!

Fueled by the thought, Juliet hastened her movements.

"Ahhh—ahhh—!"

Another blood-curdling scream tore through the room. Ella, who had already blacked out once, was dragged back to consciousness by a pain that ripped through her soul.

Tears blurred her vision as she felt every inch of her spine being pulled out.

She watched, horrified, as Juliet’s hands, dripping with her blood, cradled the spirit and Phoenix Egg with glee.

Her eyesight faded to darkness.

She wasn’t ready to give up—this couldn’t be how it ended.