SEEN THROUGH

He tilted his head, studying her with unnerving intensity. "I'm curious," he mused, his fingers drumming against the stone armrest. "Why does a cultivator with the golden core and white dragon bloodline live here amongst those beneath your status?"

Li Hua's grip tightened on her daggers as shock rippled through her. Only her family and Grandmaster Yu knew about her golden core—this stranger shouldn't have been able to detect it. "And you seem far too interested in things that don't concern you," she shot back, but her voice wavered slightly. She watched as he tilted his head back and sniffed the air like a predatory beast catching the scent of its prey, his eyes glowing for a brief moment.

"You're quite mysterious," he said, his voice carrying an undercurrent of fascination. "Your soul doesn't seem to belong in this world, does it?"