Tianhai Medical University, by the side of Yulin Lake.
Ethan Turner pulled out an old jade pendant and handed it to Lucy Moore.
“Lucy, I love you. This jade has been in my family for generations. Now, it’s yours.”
Ethan stared at her, eyes full of hope. But Lucy scoffed and shook her head.
“Don’t try to fob me off with junk like this,” she said coldly. “Ethan, we’re done. I’m not wasting my youth on a broke nobody like you anymore.”
Boom—
Ethan felt his world collapse. His chest tightened, and his mind went blank.
“Why?” he asked, his voice hollow.
“Why?” Lucy snapped. “I’ve been with you for four years. What did I get in return? We ate cheap takeout every day, drank those awful sodas, and even on Valentine’s Day, you booked the worst, cheapest room. And now you ask me why?”
“I know it’s been hard… but I’m working on it,” Ethan said, pained.
“Working on it?” Lucy sneered.
“If hard work solved everything, why are there still people buried in debt, struggling for a roof over their heads? You think they didn’t try hard enough?”
“Wake up, Ethan. Do you even know what kind of life I want?”
“I want wealth—real, never-ending wealth. I want jewelry, designer bags, and a Lamborghini. You think you can afford that?”
She flicked her wrist, showing off her watch.
“See this? Cartier Ballon Bleu. Ryan James bought it for me. Two million.”
“Just this watch is worth a whole apartment in Tianhai. Do you really think you’ll ever be able to afford something like that?
You won't. Not now, not ever. You’re poor, Ethan. Always have been, always will be.”
Her words hit like blades, her voice ice-cold. Ethan barely recognized the woman in front of him.
“Lucy, you’ve changed. Four years we've been together. Did you forget our promise? To get into Tianhai Medical together? To intern at the First People’s Hospital? Have you really thrown all that away?”
“Just give me three years,” Ethan’s voice trembled with sincerity. “Let me prove I can give you the life you want.”
But Lucy just laughed mockingly.
“By the time you do that, I’ll be in the grave!”
Ethan stood there, destroyed. The roses in his hands fell, petals scattering like all his hopes.
Lucy walked away.
She stepped into a black Mercedes parked by the road.
“Ryan James… so it really is him,” Ethan muttered, eyes narrowing.
She dumped him for money. Just like that.
“Damn it!” Ethan’s eyes burned red. “You’ll regret this, Lucy. One day, you’ll crawl back, begging for forgiveness!”
He staggered down the street, hollow, lost, like a dead man walking.
After dropping Lucy at her dorm, Ryan James sat in the driver’s seat, eyes locked on Ethan.
“That’s the ex?”
He smirked and slammed the steering wheel with a thud, lips curling into a cold grin.As the second son of the James family, Ryan had never lacked women around him. But Lucy Moore—she was different. He couldn’t stand the idea of another man, especially Ethan Turner, having shared anything with her.
“If you're to blame, it's for knowing Lucy before me,” Ryan sneered.
With that, he slammed the gas pedal down. The car shot forward like lightning, his grin twisted and cruel.
“Bang!”
Ethan flew like a broken kite, body flipping through the air before smashing hard into the ground. Blood spread quickly, soaking the dirt beneath him like a blooming red flower.
Groaning, Ethan clutched his side, trying to get up. Through blurred vision, he saw Ryan gripping the wheel, laughing like a maniac. But Ethan’s head felt heavier by the second.
Suddenly, the jade pendant in his hand pulsed with green light. A beam shot into his forehead.
Pain tore through him like a blazing dagger, and Ethan roared low through clenched teeth, hands holding his head tight as his body trembled.
Ryan, in the car, froze. For a man on the verge of death, Ethan looked like he was making a comeback. Eyes narrowing, Ryan revved the engine, ready to finish the job—but a few pedestrians passed by. He cursed under his breath.
“Lucky bastard.”
He spat the words and drove off, though the anger didn’t leave him.
Minutes later, his car eased into a shadowed alley. Ryan hesitated briefly, then dialed a number.
“Hello? This is Robert Wilson speaking.”
“Director Wilson,” Ryan said slowly, “it’s Ryan James.”
“Ah! Young Master James. What can I help you with?”
“You’re getting a batch of interns from Tianhai Medical University next week, right?”
“Yes, twenty of them. All excellent students. There's one, Ethan Turner—top of his class across the board. I planned to take him under my wing personally—”
“No need,” Ryan interrupted, voice cold. “He crossed me. You know what to do.”
After a pause, Robert sighed. “Understood, young master. Leave it to me.”
“My dad will make a generous donation. Under your name.”
…
After the bystanders had gone, Ethan finally couldn’t take the pain anymore. Darkness swallowed his vision and he passed out cold.
In that haze, Ethan found himself standing in a desolate, barren world.
A woman in red hovered in the air not far from him—beauty beyond words. Her lips moved softly.
“Very well. Today, I pass this rare secret art on to you. May you grow strong, punish evil, and heal the world.”
With a gentle wave of her sleeve, a golden page spun through the air, merging into Ethan’s mind. Then, her figure slowly faded away.
Ethan stood there, stunned. The golden script swirled in his mind before he jolted awake, heart pounding.
“This… is the Burning Heaven Codex?”
His thoughts surged like a raging tide. And his wounds—gone. Not even a scar. It was already four in the morning.
He sat up, leaned against a tree, trying to make sense of the new knowledge flooding his brain.
The Codex held techniques for locating spiritual veins, hidden arts, ghost-banishing talismans… Ethan only glanced once, yet every word burned itself into memory.
Without delay, he began to cultivate.