Son Of Destiny

Xianglan City.

In a certain path,

A young man limped across the dirt, struggling to rise from his sorry position, each step sending jolts of pain through his shattered body.

His face was swollen and bloodied, his robes soaked in grime and crimson.

Although in pain, the young man looked confused as he gazed at his surroundings, a torrent of memories resurfacing in his mind.

The crowd surrounded him like vultures, their eyes gleaming with contempt and their sneers sharper than knives.

Mocking voices rose, venomous and unrelenting.

It was at this moment he finally remembered  something...

"Is this really Ye Chen, the so-called genius of the Ye family?"

"Look at him now—a cripple with no spiritual roots! Not even worth the dirt under my shoe."

Another man stepped forward, a mocking grin twisting his face.

"How did it feel when Young Master Long trampled on your face, Ye Chen? Did you cry like a dog? Pathetic!"

Ye Chen's breath hitched, but he kept walking, his eyes unfocused, his mind drifting far from the jeering voices.

Blood dripped down his chin, but he ignored it.

The world around him felt distant, like a blurry nightmare from which he couldn't wake.

"He was so arrogant back when he was in the Foundation Establishment Realm, wasn't he?" a young woman scoffed.

"Acting like he was better than all of us. Now look at him—no spiritual roots. You should've learned your place earlier, Ye Chen."

The crowd erupted into laughter, their voices like shards of ice cutting through the air.

Ye Chen's ears burned, but he refused to look at them. He couldn't.

"Wait, Brother Ye Chen!"

A new voice rang out, colder and more vicious than the rest.

"I heard something interesting—the Maiden of the Frozen Palace is coming to terminate her marriage contract with you, trash. She doesn't want to be tied to a cripple! Can you imagine the humiliation? After that, do you think you can still live in Xianglan City?"

The one speaking was Ye Qing, another genius of the Ye family. In the past, his brilliance had always paled in the shadow of Ye Chen's monstrous talent, leaving him with a deep sense of inferiority.

But now, with the star that once outshone everyone reduced to nothing, had fallen, how could he resist taking pleasure in Ye Chen's downfall?

"Hahaha! A worthless dog like him, dreaming of marrying the Frozen Maiden? What a bastard."

"This Ye Chen truly has a vile heart. It's a good thing Young Master Long taught him a lesson."

The words hit harder than any fist or kick, and the crowd exploded into gleeful laughter.

The thought of Ye Chen not only losing his cultivation but also his fiancée—the proud Maiden of the Frozen Palace—was the ultimate disgrace.

The onlookers, eager for gossip, wouldn't miss a chance to mock him.

"Ye Chen! Do you hear us, or are you already dead inside?"

"Hahahaha..."

"You're nothing but trash now. A worthless, broken  crawling in the mud. If I were you, I'd have ended it long ago."

"He'll be dead soon enough."

"Without cultivation, he won't last. Especially once the Frozen Palace humiliates him in front of everyone. No one will even remember this waste's name."

The laughter grew louder, more mocking, turning into a vicious chorus of insults.

But Ye Chen heard none of it.

His thoughts drifted as he arrived home.

Even the elders of the Ye family whispered amongst themselves, their eyes following him with curiosity and pity.

Unbothered, Ye Chen made his way to the open backyard and tilted his head back, staring at the sky where two suns hovered.

"Have I truly left the Blue Planet?"

The young man wasn't from this world.

He had once been a proud Chinese spy, but fate had taken a turn when a red-haired fairy had pierced his heart during a critical in depths political discussion in a motel.

In those final moments, a sense of bitter failure washed over him.

But knowing he had delivered the first strike against the fairy, and taken her first blood, he also found a strange satisfaction in his demise.

After all, she was a princess of Europe, and the Chinese satellite had been the first to reach her orbit.

It was, in a certain way, a mark of achievement for the communists.

"Forget it. I've long moved past those days and can't even recall my name. But—"

The young man's eyes fixed on the blazing, strange ring on his finger while he felt the weight of a peculiar green pendant around his neck, engraved with the character

"Yu."

At that moment, he was overwhelmed by a mix of emotions.

In his previous life, aside from spying on woman's panties… ahem...political figures—he had been a diligent reader of villain novels.

He really enjoyed the thrill of watching destiny's villains trample on the so-called sons of luck.

Hehe, especially when they stole their enemies' women and cuckolded them.

Given his enjoyment of such stories, it wasn't hard for him to grasp his current situation.

Surname Ye?

Orphaned since birth? 

Parents gone? 

Once a genius? 

Now meridians crippled? 

Spiritual roots shattered? 

There is a strange ring on finger?

Fiancée coming to divorce him? 

Family planning to kick him out?

The young man could barely accept that he had become the very character he had always despised in those villain novels.

"Damn it, I'm the Son of Destiny."

He sighed deeply.

Now that he understood he was the protagonist, he wasn't too afraid.

It wouldn't be long before he would awaken his Golden Finger.

He also had a hunch that his parents had a mysterious background.

After all, spiritual objects weren't something a mere mortal could touch, and now that he had become one, he could still access his spatial ring and the strange pendant.

As he considered this, he felt a mix of relief and unease.

"Am I the real Son of Destiny, or just a clown in a villain novel? I hope I'm not stuck in a villain-centric story..."

He didn't dare to finish his thought. Looking at his disheveled appearance, he realized he was not only smelling bad but also in pain.

"Let's take a bath first, then tend to the wounds."