The morning sun filtered through the tall windows of the Su Residence, painting soft gold across the room.
Su Chen sat quietly on the edge of the bed.
Not cultivating. Not speaking.
Just thinking.
After a single night of probing this body, he had confirmed one thing—
This world was far more complicated than it looked.
The so-called modern society was only the surface. Beneath it, hidden families and underground cultivation forces existed like roots beneath a city.
And above everything… was the cultivation system itself.
His mind replayed it again, line by line, as if engraving it into memory.
Body Tempering. Qi Condensation. Foundation Establishment… Saint Realm.
A mortal ceiling.
A false "end."
Su Chen's lips curved slightly.
"In my previous world… Saint Realm would barely qualify as the beginning of true power."
He raised his hand slowly.
A faint strand of energy gathered at his fingertips again—still weak, still unstable, but undeniably present.
The Ancient Primordial Body inside him pulsed faintly, as if responding to his awareness.
Not cultivation.
Awakening.
Footsteps broke his thoughts.
Knock. Knock.
"Young Master Su Chen," a familiar voice called from outside. "The family elders have requested your presence in the main hall."
He stood up.
This time, his body didn't tremble as much.
"Understood," he replied calmly.
Su Family Main Hall
The Su Residence main hall was built like something from another era. Ancient wood pillars supported a structure that looked ordinary from the outside—but every carving along the beams was secretly part of a defensive formation.
Su Chen stepped inside.
Immediately, he felt it.
Dozens of gazes.
Some curious. Some disappointed. Some indifferent.
All of them belonged to the Su family elders and core members.
At the head seat sat a middle-aged man with a calm but heavy aura—Su Chen's father in this world.
Su Mu.
His eyes softened slightly when he saw Su Chen enter.
"You're awake," Su Mu said.
"Yes," Su Chen replied.
Simple. Controlled.
The room quieted slightly.
Something about him felt… different today.
Before anyone could speak further, the doors to the main hall opened again.
A sharp wind followed.
Not physical wind.
Presence.
A woman stepped in.
She wore a fitted black suit, long hair tied neatly behind her, her eyes bright and sharp like burning embers that refused to dim.
Confident steps.
Straight posture.
Unshaken aura.
She didn't bow.
She didn't hesitate.
She simply looked around the hall—and then her gaze landed on Su Chen.
For a brief moment, silence deepened.
Then someone whispered:
"She's here…"
"Lin Yanyan…"
"The Lin family CEO…"
Su Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.
Memory fragments surfaced from this body.
A name.
A contract.
An engagement.
Lin Yanyan.
Fiancée.
Lin Yanyan
She walked forward without waiting for permission.
Every step carried authority—not from cultivation, but from pure will.
When she stopped in front of Su Chen, she looked him up and down.
Then she spoke.
"So you're the man I was promised to."
Direct.
Unfiltered.
The elders in the hall stiffened.
Su Mu frowned slightly.
But Su Chen… simply observed her.
Strange.
This woman was not a cultivator.
At least not in the traditional sense.
No spiritual fluctuations.
No Qi flow.
Yet her presence was sharp—like a blade wrapped in human skin.
A mortal.
But not ordinary.
Lin Yanyan crossed her arms.
"I came to fulfill the engagement," she said. "Business merger. Family agreement. Whatever you want to call it."
Her tone was cold—but not submissive.
Then she tilted her head slightly.
"But I didn't expect my fiancé to be… like this."
Her eyes lingered on Su Chen.
Weak.
Ordinary.
Useless, according to rumors.
The Su family elders stiffened at her words.
But Su Chen only smiled faintly.
So this was the fiancé his predecessor was supposed to marry.
And yet—
Something didn't match the memory.
Because the original Su Chen remembered her differently.
Cold.
Distant.
Like ice carved into human form.
But the woman standing before him now…
Burned.
Not with cultivation flame.
But something more volatile.
Ambition.
Willpower.
And something close to rage held tightly under control.
Like a Phoenix
Su Chen spoke calmly.
"You seem different from the memory I inherited."
Lin Yanyan's eyes sharpened instantly.
"Inherited?"
The hall went silent again.
Su Chen paused slightly.
Ah.
He almost forgot.
This world didn't casually accept reincarnation talk.
He corrected himself.
"I meant… rumors."
Lin Yanyan studied him for a moment longer.
Then she leaned slightly closer.
Her voice lowered.
"Rumors say you're useless."
The hall tensed.
Su Mu's aura subtly shifted.
But Su Chen remained calm.
"And do you believe them?" he asked.
A faint silence stretched between them.
Then—
Lin Yanyan smiled.
Not warmly.
Not kindly.
But sharply.
"I don't believe anything I haven't verified myself."
She straightened.
"Which is why I came here today."
She turned slightly toward the elders.
"This engagement still stands?"
The Su elders exchanged glances.
One of them spoke carefully.
"Yes… it was arranged between your grandfather and our patriarch decades ago."
Lin Yanyan nodded once.
"Good."
Then she looked back at Su Chen.
"I don't care if you're weak or strong."
Her words dropped like iron.
"I care if you can keep up."
Su Chen raised an eyebrow slightly.
Interesting.
She continued.
"I've built my company from nothing in a world where everyone wanted to crush me."
"I don't need a husband who hides behind family names."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"I need someone who doesn't slow me down."
Silence.
Then she added:
"If you can't meet my expectations, I'll cancel the engagement myself."
A direct challenge.
The Su elders looked furious.
But Su Chen… only looked at her quietly.
He finally understood.
This woman wasn't here for romance.
She wasn't here for politics.
She was here because she had already decided her life path—and she refused to be bound by weakness.
In another world, she would be considered a cultivator of will alone.
Su Chen exhaled slowly.
Then spoke.
"Interesting."
Just one word.
Lin Yanyan frowned slightly.
Su Chen continued.
"You believe strength is measured by what you can see."
His eyes deepened slightly.
"But you've never seen the world beyond your limits."
A faint pressure spread—not cultivation, not aura—
But something deeper.
Something instinctive.
Lin Yanyan felt it.
Her breath paused for half a second.
But she didn't step back.
Instead, she smiled again.
"Then show me."
The hall went completely silent.
Even Su Mu's eyes sharpened slightly.
Su Chen looked at her for a moment longer.
Then nodded once.
"Very well."
Outside the hall, the wind shifted.
Somewhere deep within Su Chen's body…
The Ancient Primordial Body pulsed once.
As if awakening to something it had been waiting for.