The skies above Ember Pearl City trembled.
Not from thunder. Not from war. But from the sheer pressure of one man's arrival.
Jalen Hewitt did not mask his presence. He let it bleed across the city like a tidal wave—his Mid-Immortal Realm cultivation unfurling in every direction, pressing down on buildings, formations, and hearts alike. The air thickened. The clouds darkened. Qi lines bent. Even the spirit beasts in the outer ridges fled in silence.
The city froze.
Merchants collapsed to their knees. Cultivators gasped as their meridians locked. Children cried without knowing why. And above the palace, three figures hovered—faces pale, eyes wide, hearts sinking.
Emperor Phillip, once the unshakable ruler of Ember Pearl, now stood at Spirit Fusion Realm, flanked by Paul and Jak, his most trusted generals. Their robes fluttered in the windless sky, their qi trembling beneath the weight of Jalen's presence.
Phillip tried to speak, voice cracking under pressure.
"Senior… what offence have we committed to warrant this wrath?"
But before the words could finish echoing, Jalen moved.
One blink. One breath.
He was no longer distant. He stood between them, with a young boy on his shoulder, floating above the palace, his robes untouched, his eyes calm—too calm.
The royal guards surged out of the palace, forming defensive rings, activating glyphs, summoning weapons. But when they saw the young man—his face, his aura, his silence—they faltered. Some dropped their blades. Others forgot how to breathe.
Phillip, Paul, and Jak knew.
This was their end.
They had hoped—prayed—that the powerful sects who visited days ago would locate and destroy Jalen. They had offered bribes, secrets, even blood. But not only had those sects failed, Jalen had ascended to a realm they couldn't even fathom.
And now he was here.
They charged.
All three surged to their maximum output—spirit fusion qi roaring, flaming techniques flaring, formation rings spinning. The guards joined in, casting layered attacks, hoping that sheer numbers might slow him.
But before a single blow could land—
Darkness.
A 250-feet radius collapsed into shadow. No light. No sound. No escape.
And in that final breath, as the air warped and Jalen's presence eclipsed the sky, a memory surfaced in Phillip's head.
Simon Flare's voice, quiet but unforgettable, echoed in his mind:
All I can tell you, Your Majesty, is this: he's no threat to you or the empire. Unless you try to make him one.
Phillip had tried.
He had ignored the warning.
And now, he understood.
But it was too late.
Five minutes passed.
When the veil lifted, the battlefield was silent.
Phillip, Paul, and Jak were gone. No corpses. No blood. No remnants. They had been swallowed—devoured by the shadow itself.
The Crown Prince Kia, along with his elite guard, had also vanished. Vaporized. Erased.
The remaining royal princes and princesses—those who had stayed behind—stood trembling, unable to speak.
Ember Pearl City erupted.
The royal family was shattered. The palace, once a symbol of dominance, now stood hollow. And the factions that had long been oppressed—the remnants of the former top three sects of Ember Pearl city, the Stormveil Clan Ironshore Clan, and the Verdant Fang Clan—rose from the ashes.
Their surviving elders and the two leaders who served the clash with the Flare family, Matron Sabella Verdant Fang and Patriarch Artinian Stormviel, long forced into servitude beneath the royal banner, now saw opportunity. They moved swiftly, striking at the remaining royal bloodlines, claiming territory, and declaring new rule.
Only Jin Ember Pearl, who had left months ago to pursue strength, survived untouched. His absence had saved him. But even he, wherever he was, would feel the tremor of this moment.
Jalen didn't care about any of this. He didn't stay to watch the power shift. He didn't claim the throne. He didn't speak to the survivors.
He had come for one reason: to destroy his enemies—those who threatened his loved ones, assuming they were still alive. No, he didn't want to think about that.
He had to focus. One task at a time.
Task one: Find His Family and the Flare family.
Task Two: Return to the Reigned continent and wiped out the Waveweave Temple and the Dragon Meridian Sect. They had touched his reverse scale.
Of course they will have to pay the price for this.
___
Jalen stood atop a broken building on the ruined Flare estate's highest ridge, robes fluttering in the wind, eyes locked on the horizon as Jael float behind him pulling his hair.
He hoped that word of what he had done in Ember Pearl City would spread across the continent. That if any member of the Flare family or his father had survived, they would come seeking him. He left messages at key sect outposts, merchant hubs, and formation relay towers:
That was all.
No name. No title. Just presence.
And that presence was enough.
By the end of the first day, Emberfall City was flooded. Cultivators from every corner of the continent arrived—some flying, some teleporting, some crawling through broken formations—just to catch a glimpse of the boy who had shattered a royal dynasty.
They didn't know his name.
So they gave him one.
Myths bloomed like wildfire. Some said he was the lost son of a forgotten emperor. Others claimed he was a spirit beast in human form. A few whispered that he was the final disciple of the Celestial Furnace Sect—long thought extinct. There were even some myth about Jael too.
Jalen ignored them all.
He waited.
Day Two
As the sun dipped behind the flame towers, Jalen sensed it.
A familiar aura—flickering, strained, but unmistakable—was heading his way.
Simon.
Jalen stepped down from the ridge, walking toward the incoming figure. When Simon landed, his posture was heavy, and his qi rhythm was uneven. He wasn't at full strength. Not even close. But Jalen didn't hesitate.
He hugged him.
Simon blinked, stunned. "I'm alright, brat," he chuckled, patting Jalen's back. "You can let me go."
Jalen stepped back, "I'm just glad you're still alive."
"I'm not so easily killed," Simon chuckled.
"Dad… who is this man?" Jael asked, eyes wide with innocent curiosity.
Simon, on the other hand, was stunned. This boy—already a father? Well, in the cultivation world, such things weren't unheard of. But still… this brat had cheated on his daughter.
And then he sensed it. The child's qi wasn't ordinary. It pulsed with ancient resonance—coiled, regal, and unmistakably draconic.
A spirit beast lineage. Not just any kind. A dragon.
A rare type that hadn't been seen on this continent in centuries.
"This is uncle Simon," Jalen replied. then he turned to Simon eyes sharp. "Where are my father, mother, Jared and the twin's?"
Simon's expression darkened. He looked away.
That was enough.
A pulse of qi rippled from Jalen's body—subtle, but deep. The ground trembled. The sky dimmed. Even Simon flinched.
"Tell me," Jalen said, voice low, trying to stay calm.
Simon nodded slowly. "We were attacked over a week ago by the Waveweave Temple and the Dragon Meridian Sect from the Reign continent."
Jalen's eyes narrowed.
Simon continued. "They came without warning. Their forces were overwhelming. Not just in realm—but in technique. Ruthless precision. They didn't come to fight. They came to erase."
Jalen's fists clenched. Jael got tense.
"Simar, Jana, and I held off their top three cultivators. Peak Spirit fusion realms. We did what we could. But while we fought, their forces tore through the estate. Glyph halls collapsed. Vaults shattered. Elders fell."
Simon's voice cracked slightly.
"Your stepmother was injured. She's in a coma. Your little brothers… They are alive, but barely. One of Jared core is fractured. His meridians are unstable. He's in critical condition. The other two, Jamir and Jam are on life support formation. Unlike Jared they weren't born with extraordinary physiques."
Jalen's jaw clenched. They were just babies. Born into chaos. And now, barely clinging to life.
"And your father…" Simon hesitated. "He fought like a demon. Took blow after blow. Protected everyone he could. But in the end… they dragged him away. We don't know if he's alive."
Silence.
Then—
A wave of aura exploded from Jalen's body.
Emberfall City trembled.
Buildings cracked. Formation arrays flickered. Spirit beasts fled. Cultivators dropped to their knees, gasping for breath. Even Simon staggered back, eyes wide.
It wasn't just power.
It was grief. Rage. Vengeance.
The kind that warps reality and makes the heavens tremble.
Jalen's eyes glowed faintly—light and shadow coiling together. His qi threads pulsed like thunder veins. The sky above him dimmed, then brightened, then dimmed again.
Simon, still reeling from the outburst, stepped forward cautiously. "Jalen. Calm down or you'll destroy the city."
"Yeah dad, calm down," Jael who barely managed to hang on to his father said.
Jalen exhaled.
The pressure faded.
"Sorry, kiddo—your dad got a little excited." He patted Jael's head and tickled him, earning a giggle.
Vengeance burned in his veins—but family came first.
"I need to see my mother. And my brothers." Jalen said, voice steady. "Take me to them."
Simon, quietly amazed by Jalen's bond with the boy, nodded and took off into the sky. Jalen followed.