As night began to fall, outside a massage parlor marked by pink neon lights, a figure stumbled inside. The man looked somewhat aged, with obvious bruises on his face, and his steps were unsteady. Walking into the shop, he perplexedly asked the heavily made-up, still-charming proprietress, "Excuse me, does your massage... live up to its name?" The proprietress immediately stepped forward, hooked her arm through his, brushed her thigh against his body, and with a sweet smile replied, "What are you saying? Our shop is a completely authentic massage parlor."
Hearing this in the cold night air, he turned as if to leave, saying indifferently, "Never mind, I'll find a proper massage." Seeing this, the proprietress hurriedly pulled him back, cast a wary glance around, and teased, "Young man, you really are a blockhead. Whether our place is proper or not is entirely up to you." Lěng Yè caught the double entendre in her words, his heart skipping a beat inexplicably. He hesitated slightly before speaking: "Then... then find me someone special. Money is no object."
A flash of cunning crossed the proprietress's eyes as she chuckled softly and said to him, "Alright, go upstairs to room 305 and wait a moment. I promise to bring you the special technician you want—someone as uninhibited as you could possibly wish for." With that, she gave Lěng Yè a light pat on the backside, making him look embarrassed. Though he found the proprietress's enthusiasm a bit overwhelming, Lěng Yè obediently headed upstairs.
Entering room 305, Lěng Yè placed a weathered wooden box gently on the table. His fingers involuntarily touched the unheaded bruises on his face, and his mood turned exceptionally heavy. Not long ago, he had witnessed his girlfriend, Zhang Yali, being intimate with another man on a sofa. At that moment, his heart felt as though it had been torn apart.
When confronted, Zhang Yali showed no remorse whatsoever. Instead, she resolutely dumped Lěng Yè, the reason being that the man was Chang Jun, the son of Chang Dashan, the general manager of Yunhai Hotel. Yunhai Hotel was a five-star landmark in Yun City, and the general manager earned an annual salary in the millions, whereas Chang Jun had easily captured Zhang Yali's heart with just a designer bag worth over a hundred thousand.
Over the past few years, Lěng Yè had worked tirelessly as a food delivery driver, pouring every penny he earned into Zhang Yali. Yet their relationship had never progressed beyond holding hands—they hadn't even shared a simple kiss. Chang Jun's appearance, however, had reduced all of that to nothingness.
Consumed by anger, Lěng Yè had thrown punches at Chang Jun, but he hadn't expected Chang Jun to be skilled in fighting; instead, Lěng Yè ended up beaten black and blue. To make matters worse, because of the altercation, he missed several delivery orders and was ultimately fired by the company.
Lěng Yè felt utterly depressed and lost, believing that all his sacrifices had been in vain and that years of hard work had vanished into thin air. Now, with both his job gone and his girlfriend stolen, he decided to indulge himself just this once, at least to break the twenty-six-year streak of remaining single. Thus, he had come to this massage parlor in search of a shred of comfort.
Lěng Yè tapped his fingers lightly against the box on the table, complex emotions flashing in his eyes as he muttered to himself, "Grandfather, you always said I possessed the True Dragon Fate, that once I completed my Coming-of-age Ceremony, I would soar like a dragon into the sky and achieve extraordinary things. Yet why is my life so utterly mundane, without the slightest ripple?"
At that very moment, the door was gently pushed open, and a faint fragrance drifted in on the breeze. A woman with flowing long hair and skin as white and flawless as jade walked in. She wore a black one-piece minidress, her curves exquisite, her appearance breathtakingly beautiful—as though she were a fairy who had stepped straight out of a painting.
Lěng Yè's gaze was instantly captured, and he couldn't help marveling inwardly, "This... this is no improper massage technician; she's practically a heavenly fairy descending to earth! Even a beauty like Zhang Yali pales in comparison beside her."
The woman looked slightly startled upon seeing someone in the room, clearly not expecting such an encounter. Her face was somewhat pale, making her look exceptionally weak, and her steps were a bit unsteady. She spoke softly, "I'm sorry, I..."
Watching her frail and helpless demeanor, ripples stirred in Lěng Yè's heart. He thought to himself, "The proprietress really is thoughtful. Knowing my taste in women, she specially arranged a technician like this." He hurriedly stepped forward to support the woman, saying gently, "Don't stand on ceremony. I just got here myself. You're already very fast."
He casually locked the door, helped the woman over, and seated her on the bed. A trace of confusion flashed in the woman's eyes as she murmured, "Um, I..."
Lěng Yè took a deep breath, steadied himself, and said, "Miss, you are truly beautiful. I'm definitely giving you a five-star review. This is my first time, so if there's anything I don't do well, please feel free to guide me."
With that, he gently helped the woman lie down. Gazing at that exquisite face, Lěng Yè's heart raced and his breathing grew shallow. Remembering how he had been dumped tonight, an indescribable emotion surged within him. Hesitating no longer, he leaned down and kissed her.
"Zhang Yali, in your wildest dreams you'd never imagine this! Even I, Lěng Yè, can have a woman like this. It turns out sincerity can't buy a thing; only money can purchase true happiness. I'll never believe in so-called love again!"
The woman's eyes were filled with anxiety, but her body was utterly weak, leaving her completely powerless to resist. Seeing that the situation was beyond saving, she had no choice but to let Lěng Yè have his way.
Yet what Lěng Yè failed to notice was that as he became a true man, wisps of golden light gradually appeared in the air. Accompanied by faint roars of a dragon, these lights converged toward his body like swimming dragons.
Outside the room, the proprietress arrived with a heavily made-up woman wearing a tank top. Reaching out to push the door open, she found it locked. She knocked, but received no response.
"This bastard! Didn't he say he wanted massage services? Why'd he go and lock the door? What a coward!" the proprietress cursed in dissatisfaction. Knocking once more to an empty silence, she had no choice but to leave with the technician.
Deep within a dream, Lěng Yè seemed to travel through layers of mist, stepping into a utopian realm resembling paradise.
Here stood an elderly man with white hair and a slightly hunched back, yet he exuded an otherworldly aura. His face beamed with a warm smile, gentle as a spring breeze, making him instantly approachable.
When Lěng Yè's gaze landed on the old man, he cried out in shock, "Grandfather!"
The old man smiled and nodded, then lightly tapped Lěng Yè on the forehead. With a tone that blended reproach and deep affection, he said, "You child, you really give this old bone of mine plenty to worry about. Look at you—you're twenty-six before finally completing your Coming-of-age Ceremony. Back in the day, your father inherited our Old Lěng family's legacy at eighteen. The gap between you two is simply worlds apart."
Lěng Yè was left completely dazed by the scolding. He had always thought the Coming-of-age Ceremony was as simple as turning eighteen, never imagining it held such profound meaning.
The old man gently patted Lěng Yè's shoulder and comforted him, "Still, as long as you've become a true man, everything can be remedied. Shortly, you will receive the entire legacy of our Old Lěng family."
"You possess the True Dragon Fate, making you the one with the strongest potential in our Old Lěng family for thousands of years. But that also means your Longyang Power is exceptionally formidable, and it must be released regularly, otherwise you risk suffering a deviation in your cultivation." The old man's words immediately made Lěng Yè nervous.
Immediately following that, however, the old man laughed and said, "You don't need to worry, though. I've already arranged everything. Inside the box I gave you, there are nine Marriage Contracts. After all these years, those young lasses should have grown into stunning beauties. If you take them all as your wives, you won't have to worry about the issue of Longyang Power anymore."
"Alright, that's enough for now. I hope you transform into a true dragon and soar into the sky as soon as possible! Once your strength is formidable enough, the two of us grandfather and grandson will have a chance to meet again. I look forward to that day." The old man's words filled Lěng Yè with excitement and anticipation.
Yet just as he wanted to say more, the scenery before his eyes began to blur, vanishing into thin air in the blink of an eye.
Immediately afterward, Lěng Yè felt a massive surge of memories flood into his mind. Immortal cultivation secrets, Daoist mystic arts, medical compendiums—all kinds of knowledge rushed in like a tidal wave, overwhelming him. At the same time, his body began to undergo earth-shattering changes...
The next morning, when Lěng Yè awoke in a daze from his sleep, he was astonished to find that those legacy memories were entirely real. He instantly realized that his experiences from the previous night had been no dream.
"With these legacies, I'll never have to worry about being bullied again!" Lěng Yè rejoiced inwardly. However, when he saw that the ethereal technician from last night was sitting up against the headboard, clutching a quilt to cover herself, his mood instantly turned complicated.
The technician's eyes were bloodshot, and she bit her lip as she glared at him with resentment. Lěng Yè hurriedly sat up, fished a stack of hundred-yuan bills from his pocket, and handed them over: "Thank you for giving me such a wonderful experience last night. Here are three thousand yuan—it's all the money I have. It's all yours."
Looking at the technician's pitiful expression, he couldn't help marveling to himself: modern technicians really are dedicated professionals! Even after finishing up, she could still pull off such a heartbreaking expression. If he hadn't known her identity and profession, he might actually have fallen for it.
Looking at the money offered by the unfamiliar and boorish man before her, Gāo Yán felt a grievance and anger so intense it threatened to spill over from her eyes; she could barely hold back her tears. Last night, her body had been weakened to the extreme by a cold affliction, and compounded by being relentlessly pursued, she had fled in a panic into this massage parlor, hoping to find a hiding place to evade her pursuers. Yet fate seemed to play a cruel joke on her: no sooner had she stepped into the room than she was forcefully pinned to the bed by a clueless man, subjected to unspeakable humiliation.
Powerless to resist, her body felt as though every ounce of strength had been drained from it, while the man hadn't even offered a single word of explanation. At that moment, Gāo Yán's heart was filled with resentment and fury. When she saw the money handed over by Lěng Yè, all those emotions erupted instantly. Grasping the cash in anger, she hurled it fiercely at the man she had come to know as "Lěng Yè," and cursed through clenched teeth, "You bastard!"
Completely baffled by her reaction, Lěng Yè asked cluelessly, "A... aren't these enough?" Assuming Gāo Yán was angry because the money fell short, he hurriedly patted his pockets, eager to fish out some more.
Gāo Yán, however, managed to calm herself down. She took a deep breath, dressed, climbed out of bed, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and said with an icy tone, "I can let go of what happened last night—consider it an unintended misunderstanding. But if you dare to spread word of this matter, I guarantee you will face unimaginable consequences." With that, she turned and left, leaving Lěng Yè standing alone in the room in a daze.
A short while later, Lěng Yè's phone chimed with a local news notification. Opening it, he was stunned stiff. The headline read: SHOCKING! Gāo Yán, One of Longcheng's Four Great Beauties, Engaged to Long Kun, Son of Longcheng Underground Overlord Long Aotian! Next to it was a photo of Gāo Yán and Long Kun together. In the picture, Gāo Yán's face looked dark and gloomy as she maintained a clear distance from Long Kun, looking anything but happy.
Staring at the photo, Lěng Yè's shock was beyond measure. A sudden flash of realization hit him as he muttered to himself, "So... so she is Gāo Yán!" Everything fell into place in an instant—he had actually "misunderstood" Long Aotian's daughter-in-law last night. A wave of lingering fear washed over him; if Long Aotian were to find out about this, his life might genuinely be in mortal danger.
Filled with guilt, Lěng Yè returned to the room and gazed at the faint trace of crimson on the bedsheets. He knew he had committed an irreversible mistake. He began to worry about his future—if Long Aotian found out, what kind of retaliation would he face? His heart was filled with apprehension and dread.
Yet soon enough, he regained his composure.
"I have inherited my grandfather's legacy and will soon step onto the path of cultivation. When that time comes, what could Long Aotian possibly do to me?" Lěng Yè vowed silently. He understood that only by cultivating to a sufficiently powerful realm could he shake off the destiny of being looked down upon by others.
Setting aside the turmoil in his heart, Lěng Yè began to sort through his grandfather's belongings. He gently opened the box, revealing nine Marriage Contracts. He couldn't help offering a bitter smile. "Grandfather truly went to great lengths. In this modern society, how could I possibly marry nine wives at once? But since he made the arrangements, I must face them."
When his eyes landed on the name written on the first Marriage Contract—Gāo Yán—he froze. "She... is actually one of my fiancées?" Lěng Yè's heart was filled with questions and curiosity.