Volume One Chapter 1 Last Night, You Made the First Move.

(This novel is set in a fictional world. Any resemblance to real persons or events is purely coincidental.)

Qing City, Tianyun Villa District.

"You little brat! Are you serious about this?"

The woman was sobbing, her tears flowing like rain. Her voluptuous chest, barely concealed by the duvet, heaved with anger, trembling violently, enough to make one’s gaze linger.

Ning Rou’s fierce tone was laced with tears, and the faint traces of blood on the spacious Simmons bed only deepened her resentment.

The chastity she had guarded for twenty-three years had been taken by a man she had only just met, and, to make matters worse, she had been the one to initiate it.

As the CEO of the Lin Group, Ning Rou’s standards for a partner were anything but low. Yet to hand over something so precious to a stranger in such a hasty manner was something she found hard to accept.

Jiang Chen, half crying and half laughing, said, "Sister, how can you blame me? Yesterday, you insisted we go get a marriage certificate, and then dragged me home for dinner. How was I supposed to know you would..."

Who would have guessed he was the meal?

He had his own grievances. Having just descended the mountain, he was swept up in a whirlwind marriage and lost his virginity—who could he complain to?

Recalling last night’s wild passion, Jiang Chen couldn’t help but wonder if the woman before him was the same as the frenzied one from the night before. His seven masters had warned him that women down the mountain were like ferocious beasts, and indeed, he found them both fierce and quick to turn on him. He wondered if his other senior sisters, betrothed to him by various agreements, were just the same.

Seeing Jiang Chen argue, Ning Rou snatched up a pillow and hurled it at him. Without a second thought, Jiang Chen waved his hand, sending an invisible current of energy that deflected the pillow mid-air.

"Calm down," Jiang Chen said, "It wouldn’t do to hurt yourself."

Ning Rou felt as if her whole body were about to fall apart. She hadn’t expected this seemingly frail man to exhaust her so thoroughly through the night.

"And you have the nerve to speak!" she snapped through gritted teeth, her eyes practically devouring him. "Couldn’t you have shown some restraint?"

Jiang Chen scratched his head. "You can’t blame me. I did try to hold back last night, but you were so forceful."

He had, in fact, tried to resist, but a sudden surge of wicked desire had overtaken him, and the only way to suppress it was to yield to her demands.

As memories of the previous night flashed through Ning Rou’s mind, a flush crept up her delicate cheeks, making her look all the more enchanting.

"Get out! As far as I’m concerned, last night never happened. Get out now, while I still don’t want to kill you!" Her eyes, red with unshed tears, were even more poisonous than those of the Japanese exorcist Jiang Chen had once slain.

Jiang Chen prided himself on being a good man. Tentatively, he asked, "Aren’t you... going to hold me responsible? I don’t have a girlfriend. We could at least give this a try..."

"Out!"

"Alright!"

As Jiang Chen vanished, Ning Rou, drained and powerless from the previous night’s ordeal, collapsed back onto the bed. Her white camisole slipped off one shoulder, revealing a tantalizing curve.

If her family hadn’t been pressing her to return home for an arranged marriage, she would never have drowned her frustrations in several bottles of whiskey, nor impulsively married a random, halfway decent-looking stranger she found on the street.

Sitting up, oblivious to her bare shoulder and exposed skin, Ning Rou dialed a number.

"Xiao Li, find out everything about a man named Jiang Chen. Be discreet—don’t let the Ye family know, and above all, don’t let Ye Qingfeng find out."

She was well aware that if Ye Qingfeng discovered she had lost her virginity, her family and her career would become his tools for venting his rage, and Jiang Chen would be doomed. For all her current anger, she didn’t think he deserved to die.

...

Having jumped out the window, Jiang Chen couldn’t help but feel frustrated.

"Damn it, what kind of mess is this?"

He pulled on his pants in full view of passersby, cursing the world’s injustice—and cursing that woman for not leaving him a scrap.

His wallet, like himself, had been completely drained. The twelve yuan he’d had was spent when that woman dragged him off to register their marriage.

Rummaging through his pockets, he found a smooth, silky black stocking. The memory of last night’s fierce battle made him shudder—there was a world of difference between girls and women.

Now, apart from the red marriage certificate that woman had forced on him, he didn’t have a penny to his name.

He had just come down from Dragon Tiger Mountain, where he’d visited the last of his seven masters and inherited the title of Celestial Master. On his master’s orders, he’d descended the mountain, eating and drinking his way to Qing City.

His master had given him little travel money. After a visit to a bar, sampling the world’s pleasures, it was all gone. His pockets were cleaner than his face.

Originally, his destination had been the capital, but it seemed he’d have to stay in Qing City for a while.

"Lin family, enjoy your days while you can. Wash your necks and wait for me to come to the capital and finish you off!"

A violent aura surged around Jiang Chen.

He thought back to ten years ago, when he was only ten—the young master of the Jiang family in the capital.

His was one of the four great families. His father, renowned as the General Who Guards the Nation, suddenly disappeared overnight. Three uncles died mysteriously. His grandfather died of heartbreak. The once-mighty Jiang family collapsed in a single night.

On that day, the three other families—the Han, Ye, and Lin—dropped all pretense of harmony and sent countless martial artists to besiege the Jiang estate.

The Lin family sent many people to seize their assets. Hiding in the cellar, Jiang Chen had seen their despicable faces with his own eyes.

In one night, the Jiang family, once first among the four great families, vanished from the world. The Lin family, having devoured them, rose to the top.

Jiang Chen had once thought they would spare him and his little sister—she was only five, and he eight.

But the Lin family was merciless. Even as his aunts and uncles begged for mercy, it was useless. Over a hundred members of the Jiang clan were slaughtered; the direct line was hunted to extinction.

His sister disappeared during the pursuit. Jiang Chen himself was saved by his wandering master.

Ten years passed. In that time, he never forgot what happened.

His master took him to visit his six sworn brothers:

The Ghost Physician.
The Lord of Kunlun Mountain.
The War God.
The Celestial Master of Dragon Tiger.
The Diviner of Heaven’s Fate.
The Supreme Demon.

Each was a legend in their own right.

Jiang Chen, with extraordinary talent, was often sent on life-and-death missions abroad. By sixteen, his name struck fear internationally. He founded the Underworld Palace, a force that reined in foreign dark powers.

Thus, he became known as the Hades King.

Walking out of the villa district, Jiang Chen suppressed his turbulent emotions. Even if he wanted revenge, he’d need to build his own power first. He had to restore the Jiang family’s century-old legacy.

On the bustling street, in his tattered clothes, Jiang Chen found a place to sit and rest. According to his seventh master, Celestial Master Zhang, he could seek out his seventh senior sister after coming down the mountain—she was said to be here in Qing City.

He yawned, but his attention was soon caught by a commotion nearby.

"Master, you must save my father! He’s been good and kind all his life, but now he’s been framed. Please, you must help him!"

Jiang Chen looked over to see a young man and woman bowing low, fawning over an elderly man dressed in Daoist robes, exuding an air of immortality.

Usually, such a scene wouldn’t interest Jiang Chen, but what caught his eye was that the girl bore a striking resemblance to his cool, aloof seventh senior sister—almost as if they were related.