Outside Qingyun City, Fisher Manor.

A damp dungeon, lit only by flickering candlelight.

“We finally did it!”

Darwin Wyatt looked at his wife, his gaze complicated. “I hope you’ll keep your word.”

“Yes,” came the reply from the woman sitting cross-legged before him.

She was striking—clad in a red robe that hugged her flawless, porcelain skin and graceful curves. Sienna Fisher, the jewel of the Fisher family, hailed as Qingyun City’s most beautiful.

Compared to her, Darwin looked like death warmed over—skin pale, cheeks sunken, bones protruding sharply beneath his skin. His dull eyes held only exhaustion and bitterness.

Sienna rose to her feet, stepping toward him. Her eyes, once bright with warmth, now carried only pity. “I’ll let you go, just like I promised. And the Wyatt clan will stay safe.”

Hearing that, a gleam of hope sparked in Darwin’s tired gaze.

At five, he awakened the Nine Yang Body—not a blessing, but a curse.

The power brought calamity to his insignificant family. Rival clans descended, one after another, crushing them with no mercy.

His father had died in front of him—slain to keep Darwin alive. The Wyatts were almost wiped out.

Then came the Fishers, offering protection—on the condition he marry into their family.

He thought they wanted to cultivate his gifted body.

He was wrong.

He was just a tool—a dual cultivation furnace for Sienna Fisher, born with the Nine Yin Body.

Darwin had felt nothing but despair. But to save his kin, he endured. Shepherded into a marriage, shackled to a promise—when she succeeded, she would release him and preserve his family.

Thirteen years.

Thirteen years in this dungeon, waiting for freedom. And he finally saw it.

“However...”

Sienna's voice trailed off. Her fingers wrapped around the hilt on her waist. In an instant, her sword flashed, striking like lightning.

Darwin couldn’t fight back.

“Why?!”

He stared at his slashed wrist where the tendon had been severed, stunned and furious. “I gave you everything! For thirteen years I’ve obeyed, and now you've become one with the Nine Yin and Nine Yang… Why would you still do this?!”

“Why?” Sienna looked down, face cold as stone. “You really thought the major clans attacked your family just for your Nine Yang Body?”Sienna Fisher gave a cold smile, her tone laced with mockery. “To them, your Nine Yang Body was just an excuse. What they really wanted was your family's Great Yi Sword Art. They say... it borders on immortal-level. If you'd mastered it, none of the clans in Qingyun City could’ve touched you.”

“If my family really had that kind of martial art, do you think those bastards would’ve dared to come to our doorstep and slaughter my father?” Darwin Wyatt's face twisted in pain and rage. “Why in hell would I willingly marry into your Fisher family, become your damn cultivation furnace?!”

“Now that it’s come to this, hiding the truth is pointless.” Sienna laughed, sharp and cruel. “You really thought no one knew you were secretly cultivating in our house?”

“You...” Darwin’s heart dropped. Impossible.

“How did I know?” Her eyes were full of pity, but her voice was cutting. “Your grandfather was a clever one. Kept the sword art hidden even after your father died. He probably figured even if he handed it over, the Wyatt family would still be wiped out. So he struck a deal—gave you to us as a son-in-law. If our family wasn’t strong enough, we’d have ended up like yours.”

“But once you mastered the sword art, you’d have turned your blade on everyone—our family, the city. That’s what he gambled on.”

As her words fell, Sienna moved. Her sword flicked without warning. Blood gushed as Darwin’s left hand tendon snapped like a bowstring.

“Too bad your old man got one thing wrong. We never wanted the sword art. What we needed was your Nine Yang Body.” She tilted her head. “But there’s one thing I still don’t get—why could you train in it when the rest of your clan failed?”

“You venomous witch!” Darwin roared. Pain distorted his face, raw fury tearing out of him like a beast breaking its chains.

When he joined the Fishers, his grandfather had entrusted him with the sword art—his last hope. For thirteen years he lived like a dog, endured their humiliation, quietly played the part of obedient furnace—all to survive, to succeed.

To make sure what happened thirteen years ago would never happen again.

“Still won’t talk?” Sienna sneered, then slashed again. Two quick strikes. His leg tendons snapped. Now he had nothing left.

“Doesn’t matter. I was just curious,” she said, voice frozen.

“Your sword art?” She let out a mocking laugh. “So what if it’s near-immortal? I’ve already broken through to the Celestial Realm—I am immortal now.”

“Bitch...” Darwin’s body trembled, his curses hoarse and choked with hatred. “May you die a thousand deaths!”

“Oh?” Sienna smiled faintly. “You think we're done?”

“You... what the hell more do you want?” Fear broke through Darwin’s pain. With his limbs ruined, he couldn’t even move—let alone fight her.

She had stepped into a realm he could only dream of: the Celestial Realm."Cutting your tendons was just to keep you from holding a sword or walking. But that's not enough."

In a flash, she was in front of him. One punch to the gut—brutal and swift—sent Darwin Wyatt flying.

The pain nearly knocked him out.

"Only by crippling your dantian can I erase you from the path completely."

Sienna Fisher walked up, struck several of his pressure points with precision, then forced a pill into his mouth. Her voice was cold, almost tender. "I promised not to kill you. But as for the path to immortality... let me walk it for you. You? Stay here and be a mortal."

"You vicious bitch!!!"

Darwin's hair was a mess, face twisted with rage like a ghost. He roared from the floor.

If it were only tendons, with that trace of sword intent in his chest, he might still have had a shot—if he reached the Innate Realm. But now? Dantian shattered, foundation gone. A cripple. His sword intent, useless.

The hopes of his grandfather, his thirteen years of humiliation—all crushed in a flash.

He wanted to tear her apart. But there was nothing he could do.

"I told the servants not to stop you if you leave. Still, you'd be better off staying here."

Sienna didn’t look back. She sheathed her sword and walked away without a second glance.

"So this is what you call keeping a promise!!!"

Darwin spat blood, his voice hoarse, pain twisting every word.

After thirteen years of dual cultivation, despite everything, part of him had felt something for her. Yet she turned out to be this cruel.

Yes, she'd kept her word. But ruined every last shred of his future. And not just his—it was his family's hope too.

“I won’t accept this!!!”

His eyes flared red. Rage and hatred exploded in his chest, setting off the sword intent he'd nurtured for thirteen long years.

Boom.

His thoughts cracked open like thunder. That sword intent sparked like wildfire, igniting through every nerve and bone.

“Great Ease Secret Art… from ruin comes rebirth… flaws of the innate can be mended…”

A vast voice roared through his mind. His blood-red eyes flickered—then turned silver.

That silver spread, flooding his eyes, then his body, fusing with his sword intent.

If Sienna had still been here, she’d have been shaken to her core.

Because Darwin Wyatt… was hovering. His whole body glowing silver, like a flawless jade.