The High-Speed Railway Station of River City sweltered under the scorching midsummer sun.

Amidst the bustling crowd, a slender, gaunt figure emerged, drawing everyone's attention.

The figure belonged to a young man. He wore an army-green T-shirt that was washed nearly faded white, a peaked cap, and an old-fashioned canvas bag slung across his body.

In his hand, he pinched an identity card. The card showed that his name was Edward Ye.

Edward's outfit was completely out of place with the people around him.

Although River City was not a first-tier city, it sat comfortably at the top of the second-tier ranks. As such, even migrant workers coming here would pay some attention to their appearance, yet Edward's attire was extraordinarily shabby.

Just then, a tall, striking beauty passed by his side. Glancing at Edward's outfit, she could not help but knit her brows.

Yet that single frown allowed Edward to discern that her Palace of Virtue and Fortune was turning pitch-black—a textbook sign of an impending bloody catastrophe.

In other words, today she was bound to suffer a violent misfortune!

"Excuse me, miss, I see a dark blood cloud hovering over you today. Why not shed a bit of blood now to ward off the disaster and prevent future trouble?" Edward kindly advised her.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing these words, the tall beauty's cheeks turned bright red. Feeling nervous, she hurriedly unzipped her handbag, only letting out a long sigh of relief when she found her sanitary towels safely inside.

Afterwards, she glared fiercely at Edward, spat on the ground in disgust, and cursed, "Pervert!"

Pervert?

Edward was somewhat dumbfounded.

He had offered advice out of pure goodwill; how on earth had he ended up being branded a pervert?

What kind of world was this? Had women turned out like this in the five years he was away?

Shaking his head helplessly, Edward walked towards the exit of the railway station. However, the moment the tallest skyscraper in all of River City loomed before his eyes, his footsteps suddenly came to a halt.

He lifted his head, his eyes as sharp as an eagle's, and murmured softly under his breath:

"River City! I, Edward Ye, have finally returned! Five years ago, that banquet at the Cloud Lake Villa led to the extermination of my entire Ye family, leaving only me to barely survive in this world. If my mother hadn't used her last ounce of strength to push me into East Money Lake, perhaps the Ye family would no longer exist in River City!"

At this point, Edward's fists suddenly clenched tight. A powerful, terrifying aura swept out in all directions, making the surrounding tourists feel as though an invisible hand were clutching tightly around their throats!

In an instant, it was like living hell!

"Gavin Zhao! Victor Wan! Frank Zhou! And all of you who stood by with cold eyes watching my parents get slaughtered! You certainly never imagined that I, Edward Ye, am still alive!"

"Perhaps I should even thank you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been saved by my master, nor would I have returned with supernatural arts that can shake heaven and earth!"

"This time, I swear that anyone involved in that affair will pay me back a thousandfold!"

……

A few seconds later, Edward finally unclenched his hands, hailed a taxi, and headed towards the city centre.

If he had delayed for just a few seconds longer, the bystanders behind him might not have survived.

Along the way, past memories kept floating back into his mind, causing Edward so much pain he could barely breathe.

He was originally born into a prominent family, with no worries about food or clothes. Although he was always called a useless waste by the people in his social circle, the family of three lived happily together.

But it was that very gathering at the Cloud Lake Villa five years ago that completely derailed the trajectory of his life!

His father had offended a man from the Capital just to save a little girl!

The man flew into a rage! He slapped his father across the face! And in front of countless onlookers, he murdered his father with his own hands!

Throughout the entire process, not a single person stepped forward to stop it!

Not the families that used to fawn upon the Ye family!

Not his father's former close friends!

Not even the uncle he had always trusted implicitly!

He went wild; he struggled; back then, he even grabbed a butter knife and charged towards that man!

Yet in the end, he was stopped with just one hand by that man!

He vividly remembered the man's indifferent eyes and his ice-cold words:

"The Ye family of River City? What on earth do you count for? Even if you were a family from the Capital, I could destroy you with a single hand! And you, you foolish little creature who overestimates yourself—I heard you're a famous useless waste around here? Haha, you want to kill me? Even if I gave you a hundred years, it wouldn't change the fact that you're nothing but trash!"

To everyone's surprise, a woman suddenly rushed over at that moment. Using every ounce of strength in her body, she shoved the young boy into East Money Lake!

The moment he fell into the lake, the boy watched with his own eyes as his mother charged towards that man!

With the firm resolve to face death.

Edward thought his life had come to an end right there, but to his surprise, he was saved downstream of East Money Lake by an old man.

The old man took him to a place secluded from the world, teaching him the supreme methods of alchemy and instructing him in the Nine Heavens Mysterious Sun Scripture.

Over these five years, in that misty domain, no one knew what Edward had gone through.

They only knew that a demon had emerged out of nowhere in that realm, known by the code name: Bloodthirsty Mad Dragon!

……

River City, Huamei Group.

Edward looked at the slip of paper in his hand, then at the logo on the main gate. Once he confirmed he was at the right place, he stepped inside.

This time, he had originally intended to go straight to the Capital to hunt down the man from the Cloud Lake Villa. After all, over the past five years, the person he wanted to kill most was that man. As for clues about him, he only knew that people around referred to him as Lord Dragon, that he came from the Capital, and everything else was a blank.

However, before he left, the old man insisted that he must first make a trip to River City to find a girl named Charlotte Xia.

The old man had once travelled to River City and had a web of love and hatred entangled with Charlotte Xia's grandmother; Edward even suspected whether Charlotte Xia might actually be the old man's granddaughter.

Three days ago, the old man performed a divination technique to pierce through the secrets of fate, discovering that Charlotte Xia would face a great calamity within a hundred days—one that would very likely cost her life. Furthermore, Edward's fate happened to be the Purple Aura Hidden Dragon Pattern, which not even the Heavenly Dao could detect. Thus, to resolve this crisis, there was no other way except through Edward.

As for how to resolve it, the old man never mentioned it, merely telling Edward to take it step by step as he went along.

……

"Halt!"

Suddenly, an ice-cold voice barked out. Blocking Edward's path were two burly men standing a full six foot two. Both were dressed in security uniforms, with dark complexions, sharp gazes, and bulged muscle on their arms that carried an immense visual impact.

Edward raised an eyebrow. Naturally, he wasn't going to pick a fight with security guards like these, so he explained, "Hello, I am looking for Charlotte Xia."

Hearing Charlotte Xia's name, one of the security guards let out a sneer. "You're looking for President Xia? Just by the looks of you? Ha, do you have an appointment?"

"No," Edward replied honestly.

"Then may I ask if you have an employee badge for Huamei Group?"

"No to that as well."

Upon hearing this, the arrogant look on the guard's face grew even thicker. Looking down at Edward from his height, he extended a hand, pointed at the main entrance, and said disdainfully, "Since you have neither, that's the door over there. Please get out!"

As one of the top five hundred companies in China and a leading enterprise in River City, the security guards of Huamei Group naturally felt superior to others.

They didn't need to care about anyone's feelings; they only needed to drive out these random, irrelevant people!

Just then, several men in tailored suits stepped out of a Mercedes E200. They first walked over to the reception desk to make an enquiry, seemingly also looking for Charlotte Xia. Upon receiving the exact same answer as Edward, the men shook their heads, pondered for a few seconds, and ultimately chose to sit on the side sofa to wait.

Edward did not intend to waste time entangling with the two security guards either. Pointing at the sofa in the lobby, he said, "In that case, I'll just wait over there for a while."

With that, he walked straight towards the sofa.

Yet before he could take more than a few steps, he was blocked once again by the two security guards.

"Kid, are you bloody deaf? Don't force me to say it a third time—that's the door, clear off!" a guard shouted aggressively, pointing at the main entrance.

Edward frowned tightly. He had only just arrived in River City and hadn't done anything to offend these two chaps. Was there really a need to keep making things difficult for him?

He then pointed at the men in suits and asked, "Why can they sit and wait, while I cannot?"

One of the security guards scanned Edward from head to toe and mocked, "A country bumpkin like you actually wants to see President Xia? Why don't you take a piss and look at your own reflection first? Clear off! If you don't beat it right now, believe it or not, I'll bloody throw you out."

Edward shook his head helplessly. He understood now: these two guards were simply abusing their position to act like bullies. Clearly, his attire didn't make him look worthy of sitting down to wait!

To think that after five years, River City was still the same old River City!

"What if I don't want to leave?" Edward's expression darkened.

"Not leaving? I think you're asking for death!"

As the words fell, one of the guards slammed a hand onto Edward's shoulder, the veins bulging on his arm!

A cruel smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, because as long as he applied a little force, this frail-looking kid in front of him would surely be launched three metres away!

Just a few days ago, another ignorant bumpkin had challenged his authority, only to be thrown out with one hand and left lying in the hospital to this day!

The security guard suddenly applied force in his arm, yet Edward did not budge an inch!

Gradually, the guard's smile froze! The look on his face turned into sheer terror!

Because he realized that the young man before him was like a mountain! He couldn't budge him at all!

At the same time, a sense of impending death crept up from his arm and spread straight down his back!

He was drenched in cold sweat!

The other guard noticed that his colleague seemed a bit off and laughed, "Stone, you're useless, mate! Sweating this much in broad daylight—did your wife drain you dry last night? Let me do it."

With that, he also reached a hand towards Edward.

"Piss off! I don't want to kill anyone."

Suddenly, Edward's ice-cold voice rang out like rolling thunder!

At the same time, he took a slight step with his left foot, and an air current suddenly erupted around his body, slamming straight into the two security guards!

The two of them only felt a powerful force smash into their chests. Unable to hold it back, they spat out a mouthful of blood and flew straight backwards!

Finally, their bodies crashed heavily into the toughened glass of the lobby!

BOOM!

The entire sheet of glass collapsed with a deafening crash!