Chapter 1: Soul Broken at the Mountain Peak

The 21st century, Fenglai Mountain.

Su Wanluo knelt half-way at the edge of a bottomless cliff, looking at the group of men in black holding guns who had chased her there with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. A trace of mockery hung on her beautiful little face.

The man in the lead was in his twenties, tall and slender, wild, handsome, and dashing. He looked at Su Wanluo with a complex expression, his attractive eyes filled with terrifying ambition. "Luoluo, give me the Phoenix Seal, and we will get married immediately. Won't you be the mistress of Yanhuang?"

Although he asked with gentle coaxing, his tone was overbearing and tyrannical, allowing no room for resistance. Su Wanluo sneered, looking at the handsome, unruly man not far away with derision. "Ji Chen, now is not the time for dreaming. I’m telling you clearly now: even if you kill me, it is impossible for me to give the Phoenix Seal to you."

Damn it, she must have been blind; otherwise, how could she have thought this man truly loved her? If he had any heart, how could he treat her like this today?

The Phoenix Seal was the highest token of Yanhuang and the only heirloom her parents had left behind. She had sworn that as long as the seal existed, she would live, and if the seal were lost, she would die. By forcing her to hand over the Phoenix Seal today, wasn't he forcing her to hand over her life?

He had grown up with her, after all; could he really disregard even the slightest bit of affection? Marriage? Marry your sister! You betrayed me and still expect me to marry you?

Her eyes reddened slightly, and Su Wanluo forcibly suppressed the suffocating pain. Suddenly, a metallic, fishy taste rose in her throat, and she spat out a mouthful of black blood.

Her gaze gradually turned icy. She had trusted him so much, yet he had poisoned her. It made sense; if she hadn't been poisoned, how would he have had the ability to force her to this point? Su Wanluo laughed at herself. Damn it, this is the consequence of trusting a man. They say that lust is a blade hanging over one's head; why couldn't she take that to heart?

Ji Chen’s eyes narrowed slightly, his thin lips pressed together. He watched Su Wanluo for a long time before sighing helplessly. "Luoluo, are you really willing to throw away your life for a mere token?"

Su Wanluo scoffed, feeling even more disdain for this man. "Aren't you also willing to kill me for this token? Ji Chen, I have always known you were an ambitious person, but I didn't expect you to raise your blade against me to fulfill your ambition. Was I really overestimating my position in your heart?"

Yanhuang was the world's largest dark empire, and its influence was unimaginably vast. As the holder of the Phoenix Seal, Su Wanluo was the sole heir to Yanhuang. Ji Chen wanting to seize the Phoenix Seal was nothing more than seizing Yanhuang itself.

Ji Chen watched Su Wanluo silently for a few seconds. After a long while, he slowly raised the cold, pitch-black pistol in his hand, the hollow muzzle aimed at the woman's heart. Then, Su Wanluo heard him speak, his voice chilling to the bone.

"Must you force my hand? Luoluo, you know that once I strike, I will not show mercy."

Su Wanluo looked up and laughed, mocking him derisively. "Ji Chen, you aren't even worthy of laying a hand on me. You will regret this, you definitely will..."

She cast one last look of deep-seated hatred at Ji Chen, stood up, and leaped off the bottomless cliff. In a daze, she seemed to see a flash of nine-colored light.

"Luoluo..."

The shrill, piercing scream was heart-wrenching. Almost the moment Su Wanluo jumped off the cliff, Ji Chen lunged toward the edge in sheer terror, reaching out to grab that light, fluttering silhouette, but only cold wind flowed through his fingers.

***

Her vision blurred. The nine-colored light and such seemed to have been a hallucination. After Su Wanluo jumped off the cliff, she immediately began to regret it.

Damn it, if Ji Chen wanted the Phoenix Seal, she should have just given it to him. As long as there is life, there is hope; she could always find a chance to steal it back later. At the very worst, she could have made a fake one for him. He had never seen the Phoenix Seal anyway; it might not have been impossible to fool him with a fake.

Now, look at this—what was the point of jumping so impulsively? If she died, it would probably just be exactly what Ji Chen wanted. And that wasn't all; when her two sworn sisters couldn't find her anywhere in the world, they would surely be incredibly worried.