Chapter One: The Flood Dragon Emerges

The rain in River City had fallen for a week without pause.

In a neglected corner of this city, Chen Yuyi, his body covered in dried blood, suddenly opened his tightly shut eyes.

At that very moment, the rain ceased abruptly, and a sliver of dawn broke through the clouds.

Chen Yuyi slowly climbed up from the muddy ground. Upon closer inspection, a faint white mist enveloped his entire frame.

“What’s going on? Weren’t those mysterious people the ones who finished me off?” he wondered, his gaze dazed as he looked around. He realized he was still in the same world, not in some underworld or afterlife.

Even more astonishing, though his body still bore traces of blood, every wound on him had completely healed.

“Who exactly was it that killed me?” He tried desperately to recall the events before his death, but his mind remained a fog.

He had been born into poverty, struggling to survive at the lowest rungs of society, rarely ever quarreling with others. He could not fathom why anyone would target him with such lethal intent.

If there were anything that distinguished his life now from before, it was that a month ago, he had “married himself off.”

A month prior, his father had fallen gravely ill, needing two hundred thousand yuan for surgery. Though he worked diligently to cover his own school expenses as a university student, he could never have saved such a sum.

Unable to bear watching his family worry, he took a desperate measure. Through a series of twists and turns, he “married” himself to Shen Zhuyun, the female CEO of a cosmetics company, receiving two hundred thousand yuan as a dowry in this transactional marriage, thus settling his father’s medical expenses.

Though by law he and Shen Zhuyun were husband and wife, their relationship had never been consummated. Shen Zhuyun had only wanted to use him as a shield to escape her family’s arrangements, and she had drafted a series of contracts for him to sign. The terms were stringent, but the final clause stated that, within three years—regardless of whether Shen Zhuyun found her ideal partner—the marriage would automatically dissolve.

During these three years, Chen Yuyi was forbidden not only from touching her but also from being with any other woman, or he would have to pay ten times the original sum as compensation.

Chen Yuyi quietly signed his name on every page. He had already endured twenty years of hardship; what were three more? Besides, in exchange for his father’s life, three years were more than worth it.

Though he now lived in Shen Zhuyun’s villa, over the past month, he had seen her no more than five times. Just the night before last, she had thrown ten thousand yuan at him, instructing him to prepare a birthday gift for her grandmother’s upcoming eightieth birthday.

When he picked up the money, he could almost feel the chill radiating from the bills.

But he quickly let it go—after all, this was a transaction. Why should he care about his nominal wife's attitude?

Though he had yet to meet anyone from the Shen family, he could tell from Shen Zhuyun’s demeanor that they were a family steeped in culture. Therefore, when preparing the birthday gift, he considered selecting an antique painting or calligraphy scroll.

Of course, anything truly valuable would cost far more than the ten thousand he had been given, so as he browsed, he avoided anything too conspicuous or costly.

After two days of wandering through art shops, he was suddenly drawn to a painting of a submerged dragon.

The painting was tucked away in a corner, thick with dust. Its backdrop was shadowy and mysterious—a flood dragon lay coiled in churning waves, in a pose halfway between wakefulness and slumber, its expression so vivid that it seemed, at any moment, the dragon might leap from the water and soar into the sky.

The moment Chen Yuyi saw the painting, he was captivated.

A dragon breaking free from the sea—what a magnificent image!

For an instant, he felt as though he were that dragon, a burning desire to break through the waves filling his chest, making him forget his original purpose for the gift.

After bargaining with the shopkeeper again and again, he finally bought the painting for ten thousand yuan.

He hadn’t truly bought it as a birthday gift—he simply liked it too much. Since childhood, poverty had taught him to restrain every desire until it faded away, but this time, for reasons he couldn’t explain, the painting seemed to have a magical pull he couldn’t resist.

He didn’t regret the purchase. There was still time before the celebration; he would simply take on more work and buy another gift later. Shen Zhuyun didn’t care much about the matter anyway.

Not long after he bought the painting, he was suddenly ambushed by a group of mysterious men. They were ruthless, and he was beaten to death.

Now, as he opened his eyes again, he was not only puzzled by the attack but also deeply curious as to how he had returned from the dead.

“Where’s the dragon painting?”

He searched everywhere, but the painting he had spent ten thousand yuan on was nowhere to be found.

“Could those men have stolen it? Did they kill me for that painting?” He shook his head at the thought. The painting wasn’t famous or valuable; stealing it from a scrawny youth like him would have been easy without resorting to murder.

On reflection, it seemed a case of premeditated murder, though the outcome was unexpected. But who could hate him so much as to want him dead?

“If I survived even this, then no matter what, I must uncover who tried to kill me. I’ve already died once—now, even if the emperor himself is behind this, I’ll settle the score!”

A sharp, cold glint appeared in Chen Yuyi’s eyes, a complete transformation from his earlier self-effacing demeanor.

“Excellent. This is exactly the kind of person the Dragon King values!” a sudden voice rang out.

“Who’s there?” Chen Yuyi jumped in fright, for he saw no one nearby.

“Haha! Stop looking around. You don’t need to speak aloud; just say what you want in your heart. I am the Dragon King—the supreme demon ancestor who has remade you.”

“Remade me?”

“That’s right. Did you really think your mortal flesh could withstand what those men did to you? You are no longer an ordinary man—I have reforged your very soul and body, opened your spiritual consciousness. Of course, that’s just the beginning; the true, earth-shaking abilities, you’ll have to master yourself.”

“Who are you, and why are you inside my body?”

“Because your blood fell on me, binding me to your body. Now, our fates are entwined. How could I, the Dragon King, let my vessel be so pitiful? So I took the liberty of transforming you.”

“You’re the dragon painting!”

“Yes and no. I’ll explain in detail later. For now, though your body surpasses any ordinary human, it’s still not enough. Since fate has chosen you, you must now embark on the path of cultivation.”

“The path of cultivation?”

“To wield thunder, ride the rainbow clouds, to kill from a thousand miles away—do you not wish for such godlike powers?”

Chen Yuyi felt as though he were dreaming. “Who hasn’t wished to become immortal?”

“Haha! Exactly. Countless people have yearned for immortality. Now that you have me, you can pursue this dream step by step!”

Suddenly, a faint cry for help cut through the air.

“Help me!” With that voice, a beautiful girl with exquisite features and long legs stumbled toward him in panic. Behind her, five or six burly men chased her, laughing wickedly.

The girl, upon seeing Chen Yuyi, shrank behind him, her voice melodious, “Sir, please help me! These men are thieves. Not only did they steal my bag, they also…”

Her delicate eyes brimmed with tears, her chest heaving with anxiety.

Chen Yuyi stepped in front of her, facing the thugs.

“Kid, you think you can play hero? Be smart—kneel and kowtow to us, then get lost, or I’ll crush your balls first!” The leader stretched out a hand as broad as a fan, miming a crushing motion as his knuckles cracked menacingly.

The girl, terrified, hid behind Chen Yuyi, not daring to look.

“Dragon King, these guys look tough. Can I really take them?” Chen Yuyi asked silently in his heart, uncertain—he’d never been in a fight before.

“Afraid of a few untrained thugs? If you’re scared of them, you’ll lose your soul when you meet my real enemies. Even if you haven’t learned any skills yet, your reforged body can deliver punches nearly a thousand pounds strong. Hit them a few times and they’ll be bedridden for days. Ordinary attacks can’t hurt you now—go teach them a lesson and show off for that pretty girl!”

“Kid, are you deaf? Get lost!” the thieves shouted impatiently.

The girl, trembling, clutched the hem of Chen Yuyi’s shirt.

Chen Yuyi glanced at the thieves and said coolly, “If you leave now, it’s not too late. Otherwise, you’ll be picking up your teeth off the ground.”

The thieves burst out laughing.

Ignoring their mockery, Chen Yuyi lashed out with a swift kick at the leader’s groin.

His movement was powerful, like a dragon surging from the depths of the sea.

A scream of agony cut the laughter short. The leader collapsed, clutching his crotch, his face twisted in pain, a trickle of fluid seeping through his fingers as he fainted dead away.

Stunned silence.

The others froze like statues.

Without giving them time to react, Chen Yuyi struck again, felling two more with rapid kicks. Then, his fists shot out—two sharp cracks sounded as his blows left fist-shaped imprints on their chests, sending them flying four or five meters to land unconscious.

The last thief, desperate, swung at Chen Yuyi. But when his fist landed, it felt as though he’d struck a steel plate—his hand broke with a snap.

Before he could scream in pain, another sharp agony shot through his groin—Chen Yuyi’s returning kick doomed him to the same fate as his companions.

All this took perhaps ten seconds, but the thieves were already sprawled unconscious on the ground.

The beautiful girl’s mouth fell open in disbelief.

“Wow, he’s amazing! So handsome!” Her eyes sparkled with admiration.

When she saw Chen Yuyi about to leave, she rushed forward and grabbed his arm.

“Wait! You can’t just walk away!”

Just as Chen Yuyi was about to shake her off, he sensed a sudden, dangerous presence…