Long fell from the heights of the celestial realms—his body broken, his mind clouded. As he tried to rise and make sense of what had happened, the only welcome he received... was pain.
Kicks. Slaps. Shouts from every direction.
"Get up, you lazy servant!"
"Where were you, you worthless scum?"
Reality began to settle in his fractured mind.
In this new life... he was nothing but a servant.
Silence.
Then, in a low voice dripping with fury, he whispered:
"A king... reduced to a servant? Damn you, heavens... I'll tear fate apart with my own fangs if I must!"
He stormed out of the servant quarters, his body trembling, his soul boiling. He had to escape.
Escape the shame. Escape this pitiful fall.
But as he crossed the courtyard, a figure blocked his path.
A smug disciple—just a boy—laughed mockingly.
"Where do you think you're going, servant?"
Long didn't answer. He didn't need to.
From deep within, the killing intent of his former self burst forth—thick, suffocating, deadly.
The boy collapsed to his knees, weeping uncontrollably, begging without understanding why.
Long chuckled coldly.
"A mere child... and yet you tremble? Pathetic. You're all so weak."
He walked on, until he found himself in another courtyard—one of narrow trees and towering walls.
He was close. So close to freedom.
But then—a voice pierced the air.
"Get back here, servant... Long!"
He turned. A girl—dressed in elegance, eyes blazing with anger.
She shouted his name... as if she knew him?
Before he could process it, pain exploded through his ribs.
A crushing blow—delivered by the family's High Guardian.
Long's body slammed into the ground, his chest heaving with agony.
"I was... running away? From her?
How foolish... I was heading straight toward her without realizing..."
"Will I die again...? Be reborn... again?"
A scream burst from his lungs—a roar that echoed through the estate.
The cry of a demon king who refuses to bow.
Then... darkness.
...
He awoke slowly.
A soft face hovered above his. Radiant, tear-streaked, beautiful.
She held his hand, kissed his forehead, whispering his name with trembling lips.
Was this... the young lady?
The daughter of the Sect Master?
And in that moment, the great doors of the hall opened—
And the Sect Master stepped inside...