"Look, Draven, I'm saying this for your own good. Either hand over your little sister, or even I won't be able to guarantee your life. After all, we are hunters who frequently go outside the safety circle of the stronghold. Offending a family like the Stonewills won't end well for you..." A fierce-looking man with a scar on his left eye spoke to the young man in front of him.
The young man, Draven, had striking purple eyes and looked to be around eighteen years old. He had a steady frame with a defined jawline and bulging muscles. The white shirt he wore hugged his physique tightly, and coupled with his height of six-foot-one, he looked like someone not easily bullied even though he was only 18.
"Brother John, you know what my answer is. Stay out of it, or I will forget the fact that we once worked together," Draven said expressionlessly. He clutched the cleaver in his hands tightly, eyeing the group of men in front of him like a butcher inspecting a group of pigs soon to be slaughtered.
The scar-faced man looked at the cleaver in Draven's hand and sighed helplessly. "Kid, you also know your sister is being targeted by the Stonewill family. Resisting them will only delay the inevitable. You won't be able to protect her for long with your crippled elemental cores."
Draven shook his head. "You know my personality very well. When I awakened my bloodline, they extracted it and cut off my cultivation path forever. Now, my sister has awakened her bloodline and the Stonewills once again target my family. Do you think I will stay silent this time?"
John rubbed his forehead in frustration. "Kid, the only reason I took this job when the Stonewills approached me was to help you resolve this crisis without much harm to you. I talked to them. They won't give up on your sister no matter what, but they can guarantee that she won't die during the process. Just like you."
"Just like me?" Draven looked at John mockingly. "Ten years ago, inside the safety circle, my mother was bitten by a Jade Blue Bee, which is found only in the depths of the Devil Swamp Forest. The next day, the lackeys of the Stonewill family appeared before me with an agreement stating they would give me the antidote if I voluntarily let them extract my bloodline. Without any other choice, I agreed..."
"Now, you want to use my life as a bargaining chip to make my sister do the same? Do you guys really think Draven is a vegetarian with the heart of a compassionate sage?"
John locked eyes with Draven for a moment, but seeing the murderous intent in them, he let out a sigh and turned to leave with his lackeys. "The laws here only apply to the weak. The Stonewills are only asking you legally this time because they still don't have enough hold in the government. But once the young patriarch breaks through to the Ascendant Realm, the situation won't be the same," he offered as a final piece of advice before leaving.
Draven relaxed his grip on the cleaver and let out a sigh of relief once they were gone. Turning around, he opened the door to his home and entered the living room.
His house was a modest building made of reinforced concrete, with three rooms, a kitchen, and a living room.
"Brother..." The voice of his twelve-year-old sister, Jessy, reached his ears as soon as he stepped inside.
Unlike Draven's purple pupils, she had golden ones and compared to Draven's bulky frame, she appeared much more delicate. If not for their similar facial features, no one would think they were brother and sister.
Jessy was still wearing her school uniform, a skin-tight blue armor with golden lining, bearing the symbol of a golden phoenix on her left chest, and her hair tied in a single ponytail.
Seeing her standing in the living room with tears in her eyes, Draven smiled helplessly. "It's alright, everything is fine now. Just focus on your cultivation. Leave the rest to me."
"Brother, I'll sign the agreement. Even if I have to live as an ordinary person for the rest of my life, I will be happy as long as you are safe," Jessy said anxiously, knowing the situation had already spiraled out of their control.
Draven's face darkened. He placed the two cleavers back into the scabbards on his belt and looked at his sister expressionlessly. "Do you really think you will be able to live more than a week after your bloodline is extracted?"
"Within a week, your inner world will crumble without the support of your powerful bloodline. I only managed to survive back then because of luck, and even then, I became a cripple for life. What's even more ridiculous is that the antidote they gave me didn't work, and we lost our mother. Those bastards cheated me even then."
"If not for you, I would have already gone after them with my knife, even if it meant death. So don't even think of sacrificing your life to become a heroine who saved her crippled brother. It would only give me one less reason to live."
"I..." Jessy stammered. After all, she was just a young girl. Ever since her mother died, her brother was her only parent. Now, facing a situation where her brother's life was at stake, the only thing she could think of was keeping him safe, even if it meant destroying her own future.
Draven could clearly guess what was going on in the little girl's head. He patted her shoulder with a slight smile. "Now, don't be a crybaby. As long as you become an Ascendant Realm cultivator, no one will bully us. Just go back to your school and stay in the hostel for the time being. I've already talked with your homeroom teacher; he will handle the rest."
Jessy hugged Draven, sobbing. "I won't leave you! Even if we are going to face the Stonewill family, I will be by your side till the end!"
Draven's mouth twitched. "Don't think too highly of your brother. If I really went to face them head-on, I'd die without a proper burial. After sending you to your school, I plan to sell this house and escape to another stronghold where the Stonewills have no influence. This way, both of us will be able to live peacefully."
"Once you break through to the Ascendant Realm, Teacher William will give you my contact. Come find me then. Until then, just forget everything and concentrate on your cultivation."
Jessy didn't speak. She just hugged Draven and sobbed as if he were going to die the next moment.
Draven was helpless against his crybaby sister. He could only coax her gently, like a father.
After she fell asleep in her room, Draven returned to his own room and looked at the tattoo on his right index finger, a ring made of intricate, tapestry-like characters. This was actually a divine artifact called the Dream God Ring, which he received when he transmigrated into this body from Earth ten years ago.
On Earth, he had been an orphan with no one close to him. When he was young, he had somehow stepped into the illegal firearms business and made a small fortune. But just as he was planning to retire from the shadows of the underworld in his forties, a gang war broke out and he died in the shootout.
As he slowly closed his eyes, awaiting death, an ethereal voice rang in his head out of nowhere.
"After years of bitter cultivation, I became an Origin God with no body or emotions, only a consciousness merged with the heavenly rules... Before my consciousness completely vanishes, I leave behind my legacy for a fated one... I don't know why I am doing this. Perhaps it is to see someone live the life I once yearned for... I don't know..."
The next thing Draven knew, he was in the body of a seven-year-old boy who had died from his inner world collapsing after his bloodline was forcefully extracted. There was also a divine ring on his right index finger called the Dream God Ring.
It took him a while to grasp his new life and the actual use of the divine ring. When he first occupied this body, Jessy was only two years old, and his mother had died not long after. As for his father in this world, he had been a hunter who died in the forest even before Jessy was born.
If not for his wisdom as a middle-aged man from Earth, he and Jessy would have starved to death a long time ago.