Chapter One: Heartless as a Wolf, Faithless as a Dog

Empire of the Horizon, Qingfeng Town.

“My head hurts!”

Qin Lang felt a sharp pain in his mind as countless fragments of information surged into his consciousness.

Ten years ago, the patriarch of the Qin family, Qin Zhanhai, fell at Tianfeng Mountain. That same year, his son, Qin Lang, only five years old, awakened his martial spirit—a six-star Fire Dragon spirit, unseen in a century. He was hailed as the greatest genius Qingfeng Town had witnessed in hundreds of years.

The Ye family added to this promise, betrothing their daughter, Ye Keqing, to Qin Lang.

But to everyone’s astonishment, despite his extraordinary talent, Qin Lang’s cultivation stalled for ten years. His power remained at the first stage of Martial Disciple, and he was stripped of his position as the heir.

Meanwhile, Ye Keqing, Qin Lang’s fiancée, blossomed into the town’s acknowledged beauty and, in the same decade, advanced to the ninth stage of Martial Disciple—one of the foremost talents in Qingfeng Town, standing in stark contrast to Qin Lang.

The townsfolk sighed, lamenting that such a beautiful flower had been planted in a pile of manure.

Yet, what puzzled everyone was that the Ye family showed no intent to break off the engagement with Qin Lang.

Countless memories surfaced and connected in his mind. When all the information was received, Qin Lang was utterly stunned.

“I never expected to cross over into another world!”

Lying in bed, gazing at the spacious, antique chamber, Qin Lang was incredulous. He had been on Earth, experiencing a cutting-edge holographic simulation pod when it exploded; consciousness faded, and upon awakening, he found himself no longer on Earth, but in a place called the “Spiritual Martial Continent.”

The youth he now inhabited was also called Qin Lang, son of the previous Qin family patriarch of Qingfeng Town.

Although he awakened a six-star martial spirit at age five, he was now fifteen—still at the lowest level of Martial Disciple, inferior even to the most ordinary members of the Qin family, and universally known as the town’s disgrace.

He was the shame of the Qin family, the laughingstock of Qingfeng Town.

Yet after integrating all the memories of his predecessor, Qin Lang realized that this body was not truly a failure.

For ten years, every bit of martial soul power Qin Lang cultivated was selflessly transferred to his fiancée, Ye Keqing, whose rare Xuan Yin physique demanded nurturing from a powerful fire-attribute martial spirit to neutralize internal Yin energy. Without it, she would freeze, her body torn apart by the cold, and die.

For Ye Keqing, Qin Lang willingly bore the scorn of being called worthless.

For Ye Keqing, Qin Lang persisted from age five to fifteen, never missing a single day in ten years.

For Ye Keqing, Qin Lang destroyed his own future, sacrificing the most precious decade of a martial artist’s training.

Today, while channeling soul power into Ye Keqing, something went awry, and Qin Lang’s crossing into this body occurred by chance.

“This young man, so deeply devoted, is truly a romantic fool!”

Qin Lang silently admired this self-sacrificing devotion—such people, willing to give everything for a loved one, are rare both on Earth and on the Spiritual Martial Continent, worthy of respect.

“Cultivating through martial spirits to increase one’s strength—this is a world where martial prowess reigns supreme!”

Since he was here, Qin Lang resolved to adapt. Curious about the nature of martial spirits, he focused his mind and discovered a palm-sized, crimson, four-clawed Fire Dragon martial spirit suspended deep within his consciousness.

“Six-star Fire Dragon martial spirit!”

His eyes lit up; the red dragon in his mind was undoubtedly his own martial spirit, though at present, it appeared faint and its soul power weak.

“Hm?”

Suddenly, Qin Lang noticed beside the Fire Dragon spirit a blurry, black eye-shaped emblem slowly emerging—it was another martial spirit awakening!

“Twin martial spirits!”

His eyes shone with excitement. From the merged memories, he knew that possessing twin martial spirits—a martial artist with two spirits—was so rare that perhaps one would appear among millions, each regarded as demonic talents.

Qin Lang was thrilled to find that as the second, black eye-shaped martial spirit awakened, his six senses instantly sharpened tenfold. His thoughts became clearer, his vision improved, his hearing grew keener—he could even hear the hushed conversation between a middle-aged man and a young woman a hundred meters outside his room, spoken in barely audible whispers.

“Qing’er, how did it go?”

“Father, it didn’t work. Qin Lang fainted.”

“You’re hurt—why is your face so pale?”

“Father, I’m fine. There was a mishap while merging Qin Lang’s martial spirit as my second soul, but a few days' rest will see me recovered.”

Their dialogue reached Qin Lang’s ears word for word. He recognized the voices—they belonged to his future father-in-law, Ye Xuan, and his fiancée, Ye Keqing.

They were a hundred meters away, speaking in the lowest tones, certain that Qin Lang could not possibly hear them. But they had no idea that he had awakened a second martial spirit, his senses enhanced tenfold, hearing every word with perfect clarity.

Qin Lang trembled: so, it was during Ye Keqing’s attempt to seize his martial spirit that the previous Qin Lang died!

With the merged memories came inherited feelings. A raging fury surged within him.

On the Spiritual Martial Continent, martial strength was paramount. Without a martial spirit, Qin Lang would become a true cripple, bullied and unable ever to rise again.

For ten years, Qin Lang had selflessly sacrificed so Ye Keqing could avoid a fatal Yin backlash. Yet this father and daughter repaid him by scheming to steal his martial spirit!

Heartless villains!

Lower than beasts!

Qin Lang's fists clenched tightly, his heart bleeding.

“Was it that your ice martial spirit conflicted with Qin Lang’s Fire Dragon spirit and couldn’t merge?”

“That’s not it. My body has absorbed ten years of Fire Dragon soul power from Qin Lang, so there’s no conflict with my ice martial spirit. The problem was that Qin Lang’s soul power was too weak to balance mine, and that’s what caused the accident.”

“Hmph! That useless Qin Lang, his soul power is so feeble that he ended up hurting my daughter!”

Ye Xuan and Ye Keqing’s whispered words again reached Qin Lang.

They wanted to kill him, and still complained that their victim’s blade was not sharpened enough!

These two were utterly shameless!

Qin Lang’s face flushed red with rage.

Soul power weak? If not for saving Ye Keqing’s life, transferring his cultivated soul power to her every day, how could his own soul power be so feeble?

He felt regret and indignation for his previous self.

For Ye Keqing, Qin Lang not only destroyed his future but endured a decade of being called worthless, gave all he had, only to have raised a tiger and welcomed a wolf into his home.

“The Fire Dragon soul power in my body is enough to keep my Xuan Yin physique stable for six months. I’ll make Qin Lang increase his martial spirit power during that time, and then merging his spirit should be easy. I won’t need to rely on him, a useless person, anymore!”

“Haha, excellent! I’ll follow my daughter’s plan. When you become a twin martial spirit user, your future will be boundless. Our Ye family won’t be confined to a mere Qingfeng Town—we might even control the entire Empire of the Horizon!”

Their conversation ended, and quiet returned outside. But within Qin Lang, anger churned like a storm.

“What a shameless pair! So insidious—truly despicable!”

Moments later—

A slender, fair hand pushed open the door, and a figure in purple stepped gracefully into Qin Lang’s chamber.

Her voluptuous figure, flawless snow-white face, and exquisitely beautiful features were enough to dazzle the world, to captivate all living beings.

This girl in purple was Qin Lang’s fiancée, Ye Keqing.

“Brother Qin Lang, you’re awake?”

Ye Keqing gazed tenderly at Qin Lang on the bed, her manner gentle and enchanting, evoking pity and affection.

But Qin Lang knew in his heart: this woman was as venomous as a serpent.