“Father, please, I’m begging you… don’t do this to me—”
In the heart of the Holy Spirit Empire, inside the ancestral hall of the Hilton family in Cangyu City, Aurora Hilton’s desperate cries echoed.
Two strong men had pinned her to the floor. One drew a dagger without hesitation and slashed her back, carving open a deep wound. Blood gushed out like a broken dam, quickly pooling beneath her.
The pain was excruciating. Aurora’s body trembled as her vision dimmed. She forced her head up, only to see her parents, sister, and former fiancé watching coldly—completely indifferent.
One of the men reached into the wound, roughly digging around until he found what he was looking for—a glowing red spirit bone. Aurora lost consciousness from the agony, her body limp.
When the Emperor Spirit Bone was pulled out, the greed in everyone’s eyes could no longer be hidden.
Charles Hilton, the family head, took the bone with shaking hands. Turning toward Lilith Hilton, who was nestled in Marcus Wells' arms, he spoke gently, “Lilith, with your sister’s spirit bone, you can start cultivating again. And your potential will be even more incredible this time. You must make the most of it.”
Lilith gave a sweet smile. “Don’t worry, Father. I’ll be twice as diligent. I won’t waste this chance.”
Charles beamed with pride. “Good girl. You’ve always been my little treasure.”
Marcus Wells looked down at the barely breathing Aurora lying in a puddle of her own blood. His face twisted in disgust. “So, what do you plan to do with this poisonous woman?”
Charles, noticing Marcus’s disdain for his former fiancée, nodded approvingly. With a firm voice, he declared, “For harming her own sister, someone so vicious has no place in the Hilton family! As of today, she is no longer one of us! Strip her of our name and cast her out! From now on, Aurora Hilton is dead to us!”
Lilith lowered her head slightly, a gleam of triumph veiled beneath her innocent expression.
A few servants yanked Aurora away like she was nothing more than trash, tossed her onto a rickety cart, and dumped her outside the city gates without a second thought.
News spread quickly. People from Cangyu City flocked around her, throwing rotten vegetables and eggs while cursing loudly:
“Look at this witch! She destroyed Lilith’s spirit bone and even went after her own sister!”
“Get lost! You don’t deserve to breathe the same air! Hope you spend the rest of your days rotting in regret!”
“Disgusting! You’ll get what’s coming to you—heaven doesn’t forgive monsters like you!”
“Out of Cangyu, traitor! You don’t belong in this city anymore!”
*****
Late that night, Aurora came to, buried under cold, filthy snow. She tried to push herself up, limbs trembling, but what she saw froze her in place.
Standing before her in fine clothing, with a face like porcelain, was the very sister she once trusted—Lilith Hilton.
The sight of her ignited a blaze of fury within Aurora, but she was too weak to even lift her head properly.
Lilith looked down with a wicked grin, gone was any trace of the tearful act she’d put on earlier.
“Oh, you’re awake, dear sister? Didn’t you once say, ‘when you get rid of weeds, pull them out by the root’? I couldn’t agree more. So tell me, wouldn’t it be best if you simply died? You’ve always been so good to me. How could you deny me this one little wish?”Aurora Hilton’s eyes were bloodshot, locked onto her with pure hatred. She used the last bit of strength left in her to scream, “You monster! Even if I die and turn into a ghost, I’ll make sure you suffer!”
Lilith Hilton gave a mocking smile, a hint of disdain in her voice. “Oh please, I’d like to see you try.”
She waved a hand, clearly impatient. “Cut off her arms and legs. Make her useless. Then toss her to the wild dogs.”
“Yes, Miss!”
The servants dragged Aurora into the woods. Without hesitation, blades fell, severing her limbs. The air filled with the stench of blood, drawing in the wild dogs nearby. Hungry and vicious, they lunged at her broken body.
Aurora’s face twisted in agony, features contorted beyond recognition. The light in her eyes dimmed.
As her life slipped away, a single tear slid from the corner of her eye—filled with pain and fury.
Back in the clearing, after hearing she’d died, Lilith curled her lip in disgust. “What bad luck,” she muttered before leading her group down a different path back to town.
Silence returned to the forest, the torn-up body lying motionless in the dirt.
Then suddenly, a blaze of golden light burst through the dark sky, pouring down over Aurora’s mangled form.
In that glowing light, her body began to mend itself. Muscle regrew. Limbs reattached. Even the missing pieces of bone were replaced with something new and strange. It was like her entire being was remade.
The wild dogs that had been feeding on her corpse froze, tried to run—but were obliterated in an instant by the golden glow.
Aurora’s eyes opened. Pain gripped her entire body, her brows knitting together as she groaned.
She tried to shift, needing to know what was going on—when a young, teasing voice rang out from nowhere.
“Don’t move. You were chopped up and left for dogs to finish off. I’m trying to put you back together. If you mess it up, don’t blame me if your leg ends up where your arm should be.”
Straining, Aurora let out a hoarse breath, her throat dry as sand. “Put me back wrong, and I swear I’ll rip your head off.”
“…”
A figure in white flickered into view in the night air. It was a little boy, dressed in elegant white robes, his dark curls framing a face far too perfect, like a doll carved from porcelain.
But his eyes—those were something else. The whites were pitch black, and the irises an eerie red. Just looking at them made your spine go cold.
Floating midair, he struck a casual pose, one leg balanced over the other, arms folded, staring down at her with a bored expression.
Aurora didn’t bother reacting to his attitude. Instead, she let her eyelids fall shut, her mind swirling with memories she didn’t want but couldn’t forget.
She was Aurora Hilton, second daughter of the Hilton family. Sickly since childhood, she’d been raised far from home in the mountains. Two years ago, she'd been brought back—but only because she was a pawn in their plans.
They told her she was betrothed since childhood. Reality? She was just the sacrificial bride, meant to marry a dying man in order to change his fate.
She believed them. Worse, she used her medical skills to keep that man alive. He thanked her endlessly, even promised to marry her once she came of age.
But everything changed after the spirit bone test.
She was found to have the emperor-class spirit bone, second only to the divine—far outshining her younger sister, the so-called "top genius of Cangyu City."
Lilith pretended to care. Behind her back, she poisoned her food. Aurora’s spirit power shattered. Her cultivation stalled. Her once-glorious name turned into a laughingstock.
The man who’d owed her his life? He fell for Lilith too.
Then, Lilith took her bone—blamed her for it—and stood there smiling while their family turned against Aurora.
Just as the main Hilton branch in the capital was preparing to accept her as one of their own, her father had it ripped from her body. Her emperor-class bone was cut out—given to Lilith.
