Chapter 2: Lucian Lawes

It took Lucian Yare everything he had to drag Julian Lawes over and prop him against a tree trunk. "This old bastard was playing dead!" After watching him for a while, Lucian Yare realized Julian Lawes was perfectly fine. The frustration in his chest swelled until he almost wanted to throw a few punches at his own father. Julian Lawes glared at him. "Don't think I woke up because I'm feeling great. I woke up to tell you a few things. Listen carefully. Miss even one, and I'll come back as a ghost and wipe out your bloodline." Lucian Yare rolled his eyes. He had barely heard this guy speak before, but he hadn't expected his mouth to be as vicious as his own. So it really was hereditary. "Fine. I get it, Dad. You're not dying. You seem a little more normal today, so spit it out already." Julian Lawes chuckled. "I've seen you a few times before. You little brat. You really do have my style from when I was young. So I'll keep it short. After I die, the first thing you do is take out the Dragon-shaped Jade Pendant from my core." Mentioning that Dragon Jade again made Lucian Yare freeze. "Dad, do you think I'm an idiot? You stuffed a jade pendant into your core, and you're still alive and kicking?" "Bullshit!" Julian Lawes snapped. "You call this 'alive and kicking'? Eighteen years ago, I came to Palepop Town alone. Back in your mother's generation, not a single man here could take me. Otherwise, how would I have tricked a beauty like your mother into my bed? But after I got stuck with this Dragon Jade, my True Energy at the Eighth Level Dragon Pulse Realm was drained clean within half a year. After that, I became a crippled nobody!" So there was a story like that. Lucian Yare genuinely hadn't known. The old man sounded too worked up to be lying, but what kind of Dragon Jade could strip someone of all their True Energy? More importantly… this Old Devil had once been a terrifying expert at the Eighth Level Dragon Pulse Realm? Achieving that while he was young. What did that even mean? It was said the Human Race carried the Ancient Divine Dragon Bloodline. That was why the nine great blood vessels that ran through the human body were called Dragon Pulse. When the body was tempered to its limit, when one sensed heaven and earth and devoured Primordial Energy, True Energy could be born. True Energy would take the form of a dragon, break through the nine Dragon Pulse, and only then could one become a supreme expert. That was why the Dragon Pulse Realm had nine levels in total. As far as Lucian Yare knew, one of the strongest people in Palepop Town, his so-called grandfather, was hailed as peerless. Even so, he was only at the Ninth Level Dragon Pulse Realm. Ignoring Lucian Yare's skeptical expression, Julian Lawes continued, voice steady. "That's the first thing. The second is… change your surname. From today on, your name is Lucian Lawes. The Lawes family is this world's Supreme Overlord. A descendant of the Lawes family can't carry another family's name!" "Supreme Overlord? Save that for scaring kids. Don't try to fool me… whatever. Lawes it is." Lucian Yare blinked. He hadn't expected the Old Devil to joke at a time like this, but it suited him. He had long since stopped wanting the Yare name anyway. His father might be a mess, but the Lawes surname was… usable. Lucian Lawes. That was his new name. He repeated it silently a few times. It didn't sound bad. When he saw the knowing smile tug at the old man's mouth, Lucian Lawes suddenly realized he was actually… happy. He sat down beside Julian Lawes, their shoulders touching. "You're my son," Julian Lawes said softly. "Calling you Lucian isn't too much. I ruled the winds and thunder, roamed across the Dragon Sacrifice Continent, and yet in the end I died in a shithole like Palepop Town. Life really does know how to make a man sigh." "Did you hit your head today?" Lucian Lawes snorted. "I know every embarrassing thing you've ever done. Stop bragging in front of me. Oh, and we're not going back to the Yare family. With what I can do, we can move somewhere else and I can still feed you, you Drunkard. How about it?" As he spoke, Lucian Lawes stared at the distant flowers and trees, waiting for an answer. Nothing came. He paused, then turned sharply. Julian Lawes was staring at him, eyes brimming with tears, perfectly still. "Old Devil, what are you-" Being looked at like that by a grown man didn't make Lucian Lawes uncomfortable. His mouth had always been sharp, but the man in front of him was, undeniably, his father. "Lucian…" Julian Lawes's voice trembled. "…Yeah." Julian Lawes lifted his head. "I wasn't a good father. I never took on even a fraction of a father's responsibility. I let you walk the wrong road. There are many things you'll face in the future, but I don't want to tell you everything. If you ever reach that realm, you'll understand it yourself." He swallowed, then his gaze hardened. "And the last thing I'll tell you in this life… wash your ears and listen. In this cruel world, your strength is everything. A man without strength is no better than a dog." After a pause, his voice lowered, almost hoarse. "After I die, I want you to make one thing your lifelong pursuit: becoming stronger. That was my pursuit too… until fate played a joke on me." The sudden weight of those words left Lucian Lawes dazed. Julian Lawes slapped him hard on the head, then rested a hand on his shoulder, smiling again. "That's all I had to say. One last instruction. The Yare family will hold a family assembly soon. The younger generation will compete, and the champion will receive the Yare family's highest secret manual, Dragon Seal. Dragon Seal is the key to you becoming a Dragon Warrior, so no matter what, you have to get it. Remember. Remember…" Lucian Lawes had heard a little about that family assembly, but he had never cared. "With my strength, I can beat up a few street thugs. If I go to a family assembly, I'll just embarrass you. And, old man, what the hell is a Dragon Warrior anyway?" "Dragon Warrior…" Julian Lawes murmured. "A legend that disappeared long ago from the Dragon Sacrifice Continent…" When he finished, a smile lingered on his face, and his eyes were full of yearning. But the hand resting on Lucian Lawes's shoulder went limp and fell away without a sound. Lucian Lawes was about to ask what the Dragon Sacrifice Continent even was when he saw that slack arm. Panic surged through him. He grabbed Julian Lawes and held him up. His eyes were still open. His face still wore that faint smile. Yet the warmth had vanished. This time… he was truly dead. Lucian Lawes's mind turned into a mess. A day ago, Julian Lawes had died, and he could accept it. But when Lucian Lawes had started to imagine taking this Old Devil far away, living free and easy together, he had been left alone again. He bowed his head, pain squeezing his throat. "Listen carefully. Miss even one, and I'll come back as a ghost and wipe out your bloodline." "I wasn't a good father." "In this cruel world, your strength is everything. A man without strength is no better than a dog!" "After I die, I want you to make becoming stronger your lifelong pursuit." The words echoed in his ears, over and over. Lucian Lawes had never expected he could feel a separation like this, so raw it tore him open. He had always thought his heart was already dead. Then where did this stabbing ache come from? It wasn't until deep into the night, after he confirmed the man would never wake again, that Lucian Lawes finally prepared to bury him. Staring at the gaunt face in the grave, Lucian Lawes clenched his fist until his knuckles turned white. "Dad, I remember everything you said. I'll do it. Even if I ruin my whole life, I'll finish what you ordered. I already changed my surname. Dragon Seal… I'll have to take it step by step. Getting stronger won't happen overnight. And…" He thought of what Julian Lawes had said, about digging the Dragon Jade out of his core. "He's already dead. If I damage his body, that's a monstrous crime…" He almost gave up, but another thought struck him. "No. That dead bastard said the Dragon Jade tortured him, and he warned me again and again. There has to be something more to it." Lucian Lawes wasn't the type to hesitate forever. He took out a dagger, looked at Julian Lawes one last time, drew a deep breath, and cut into his core. Sure enough, there was a black jade pendant inside. Lucian Lawes placed it on the ground. Then he arranged Julian Lawes's body, covered him with soil, and set up a grave marker. Only after three kowtows and nine bows did he sit to the side, staring at the strange pendant in his hand. This was the Mysterious Dragon Jade Julian Lawes had spoken of. "So it was you. You drained him dry, destroyed his whole life?" The Mysterious Dragon Jade was a dragon-shaped jade pendant carved with bizarre patterns. It was pitch-black, its material plain, even old-looking. Lucian Lawes couldn't understand how something so ordinary had tormented Julian Lawes for an entire lifetime. Night had already fallen. Moonlight spilled through the trees, and mist slowly thickened in the forest. In Lucian Lawes's hand, the Mysterious Dragon Jade began to glow with a faint, hazy light. He blinked, and the Dragon Jade was gone. "What the hell?" Before he could react, a boom exploded inside his head. His consciousness plunged into a gray, misty expanse. The fog rolled endlessly. Wind howled through it in heavy surges. Lucian Lawes couldn't tell up from down, left from right. He could only stare around him in shock. "This looks exactly like the mindscape described in books. The mindscape is where the Soul hides. Only a Martial Artist who has opened the Mind's Eye can see it. What's happening to me?" His heart hammered. Lucian Lawes ran through the mindscape like a madman, but no matter how he sprinted, he couldn't escape the endless fog. Then he saw it. A pitch-black, ancient-looking dragon-shaped jade pendant floated before him, giving off that same dim glow. Lucian Lawes opened his eyes, suspicion flooding them. "The Mysterious Dragon Jade entered my mindscape. Is it trying to suck out my True Energy?" He jolted, then his face twisted. "No. I don't have any True Energy at all. What's it going to do, suck out my farts?" At that moment, a vast, surging force burst from the Mysterious Dragon Jade. It crossed the boundary between flesh and Soul and appeared directly in Lucian Lawes's core. The scorching, powerful warmth spread through his body, leaving him light and comfortable from head to toe. "True Energy?"