Rise of the Forsaken Dragon: The System's Retribution

Chapter 6: The System's Sarcastic Advice

The "bigger broom" Zhenkai had mentioned was currently leaning against the peeling wallpaper of a studio apartment in the city’s industrial district. It was a far cry from the Lanyue estate’s marble halls, but it was one of the few places not tied to his name, his face, or his past.

Zhenkai hissed as he peeled the shredded silk of his tuxedo away from his shoulder. A piece of crystal from the chandelier had sliced deep into his deltoid, and the golden essence was sluggishly trying to knit the skin back together.

[Ding!]

[System Note: Host’s current vitals are... disappointing. Would you like a list of local funeral directors, or shall we actually try to survive the night?]

"Shut up," Zhenkai grunted, reaching for a bottle of cheap antiseptic. "I just took out a squad of Void Executioners and dropped a three-ton light fixture on my head. Give me a break."

[System Warning: Pain tolerance detected at ‘Toddler Level.’ You have the blood of a Dragon and the backbone of a jellyfish. It was a surface-level laceration, Host. Stop whining.]

"I'm not whining! It stings! Do you have any idea how much essence I burned through tonight? I feel like I ran a marathon through a furnace."

[Exactly. Your ‘Dragon Veins’ are currently as efficient as a clogged pipe. To remedy this, the System is unlocking the ‘Heavenly Cauldron’ Alchemy Module. You’re welcome.]

Zhenkai paused, the antiseptic bottle halfway to his wound. "Alchemy? You want me to start cooking soup in the middle of a war?"

[Not soup. Refined essence. If you keep fighting like a brawler, you’ll be dead before the week is out. You need to stabilize your foundation. Here is your first recipe: The ‘Azure Bone-Knitting Salve.’ Ingredients are currently in your kitchen.]

"In my kitchen? I have instant noodles and a half-eaten bag of crackers."

[Look in the crisper drawer, Host. The ‘moldy’ ginger and the ‘dried-up’ ginseng you ignored are actually Grade-D spirit herbs that have been absorbing the latent essence from your presence for three years.]

Zhenkai walked over to the fridge, skeptical. He pulled out a shriveled root that looked like a mummified finger. "This? This is going to heal me?"

[Add two drops of your blood and five Essence Points. Visualize the Heavenly Cauldron. And for heaven’s sake, try not to burn the apartment down.]

Zhenkai closed his eyes. He felt the golden heat in his chest surge toward his palms. As he focused, a translucent, sapphire-colored tripod pot flickered into existence on his countertop. He tossed the herbs in, pricked his finger, and let the blood fall.

Voom.

A sweet, herbal fragrance instantly filled the cramped room, masking the smell of dust and old grease. A few seconds later, the cauldron vanished, leaving behind three small, pearl-white pills and a dollop of glowing green paste.

"That... actually worked," Zhenkai whispered. He smeared the paste on his shoulder. The stinging vanished instantly, replaced by a cool, numbing sensation. The wound didn't just stop bleeding; the skin zipped shut, leaving behind a faint, silvery scar that faded into nothing within seconds.

[System Note: Success. You are now officially a Grade-1 Alchemist. Don't let it go to your head; a monkey could have done it with the same instructions.]

"You really enjoy being a jerk, don't you?"

[It’s in my programming. Now, look at the leftover residue. That is a ‘Beauty Restoration’ byproduct. It’s useless for combat, but quite valuable for the vain mortals you used to live with.]

Zhenkai picked up one of the white pills. "Beauty restoration? Like, it fixes wrinkles?"

[It restores cellular integrity at an accelerated rate. To a normal human, it’s a miracle. To you, it’s trash. I suggest you find a way to monetize it. You’ll need more than just a black card to fund the war against the Void Sect.]

Zhenkai looked at the pill, a devious thought crossing his mind. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number he’d kept in his "Emergency Only" contacts.

"Hello? Dr. Lin?"

"Who is this? It’s three in the morning," a sharp, feminine voice answered.

"It’s Zhenkai. From the clinic back in the suburbs."

There was a long pause. Lin Ruyue, the city’s most renowned medical prodigy and a woman who had once told Zhenkai he had 'the most boring anatomy she’d ever studied,' let out a tired sigh.

"The house-husband? Why are you calling me? Did you finally realize your wife’s family is toxic and you need a prescription for stress?"

"Actually, I have something for you to look at. A new... supplement. I think it might be of interest to your research on skin grafting."

"Zhenkai, I’m a surgeon, not a pharmacist for multi-level marketing schemes. Goodbye."

"It can heal a second-degree burn in under five minutes," Zhenkai said quickly. "No scarring. No infection."

The line went silent for several heartbeats. "If you’re lying to me, I will personally use you as a cadaver for my next class. Where are you?"

"I’ll send you the address. Come alone."

*

Thirty minutes later, a sleek silver sports car screeched to a halt outside the apartment building. Lin Ruyue stepped out, her white lab coat thrown over a silk blouse, her eyes sharp behind gold-rimmed glasses. She looked like she hadn't slept in forty-eight hours, yet she still radiated an aura of terrifying competence.

She marched up the stairs and hammered on Zhenkai’s door. When he opened it, she didn't say hello. She pushed past him, sniffing the air.

"What is that smell? It smells like... ancient forests and ozone."

"It’s the supplement," Zhenkai said, holding out the white pill.

Lin Ruyue took it, pulling a portable scanner from her pocket. She ran a series of tests, her brow furrowing deeper with every passing second. "The molecular structure... it’s impossible. It’s not synthetic. It’s almost as if the cells are... alive? Where did you get this?"

"I made it."

Lin Ruyue looked at him, then laughed. "You? Zhenkai, you spent the last three years arguing with grocery store clerks about the price of eggs. You didn't make this. This is Nobel Prize-level biochemistry."

"Test it," Zhenkai challenged, gesturing to a small burn on her own forearm—likely a laboratory mishap. "One drop of water, dissolve the pill, and apply it."

Skeptical, she followed his instructions. As the solution touched her skin, the red, blistered area turned white, then pink, then perfectly smooth. She gasped, rubbing the spot with her thumb.

"What... what is this?"

"I call it the 'Midnight Bloom' pill," Zhenkai lied smoothly. "And I have enough ingredients to make a hundred more tonight. I need a distributor, Ruyue. Someone who knows the elite. Someone the Lanyue family can't bully."

"Zhenkai, if this hits the market, you won't just be rich. You’ll be the most hunted man in the world. Every cosmetic company and hospital will want your head—or your formula."

"Let them try," Zhenkai said, his voice dropping into that low, resonant tone that made the air in the room vibrate.

Lin Ruyue stepped back, her eyes wide. She looked at him—really looked at him—for the first time. "You’ve changed. Your eyes... they’re different. You’re not the man Xueira used to treat like a dog."

"The dog got tired of the leash," Zhenkai replied.

[Ding!]

[System Alert: Warning! Host’s ‘Dragon Heart’ is reacting to a familiar resonance. Proximity detection: 500 meters.]

Zhenkai stiffened. A sudden, sharp pain flared in his chest, radiating from the spot where his marriage mark used to be. It felt like a tether was being pulled tight, dragging his soul toward the city center.

"What’s wrong?" Lin Ruyue asked, reaching for his pulse. "You’re burning up!"

"It’s her," Zhenkai whispered, his teeth grit in pain.

[System Note: Correct. The ‘Twin Flame’ bond is activating. When the Dragon awakens, his destined mate’s bloodline reacts in kind. Xueira Lanyue is currently undergoing a ‘Forced Awakening.’]

"What does that mean?" Zhenkai growled, clutching his chest.

[It means her father isn't just a businessman. He’s a zealot. He knows she carries the Yin-vessel required to stabilize a Dragon’s essence. He’s not protecting her, Host. He’s prepping her.]

Zhenkai’s phone buzzed on the table. It was an encrypted message from Han Zhaowei, the high-ranking contact he’d established during his billion-dollar auction stunt.

‘Zhenkai, we have a problem. The Lanyue estate was hit twenty minutes ago. Not by the Void Sect—by a private security force led by Lanyue Shoushan himself. They took Xueira. My scouts tracked them to the Old Temple at the North Peak. They’re setting up a ritual site. Zhenkai... they’re planning to sacrifice her to seal a Void Gate.’

Zhenkai’s hand tightened around the phone until the screen shattered.

"Ruyue, take the pills," Zhenkai said, his voice cold enough to freeze the air. "Start the distribution. Use the money to buy every piece of Lanyue stock you can find. I want their company in the dirt by morning."

"Where are you going?" she asked, clutching the vial of pills. "You’re in no condition to fight a private army!"

Zhenkai walked to the window, looking toward the dark silhouette of the North Peak mountains. The golden glow in his eyes was no longer a flicker; it was a conflagration.

"Her father thinks he can use her as a battery?" Zhenkai said, the floorboards beneath him beginning to smoke. "He’s about to find out what happens when you try to steal from a Dragon."

[System Note: Mission Updated: The Blood Moon Ritual.]

[Objective: Save the Twin Flame.]

[Reward: Full Restoration of the Dragon Veins & The ‘Void-Slayer’ Blade.]

"Keep the sword," Zhenkai whispered, his aura erupting in a pillar of golden light that shattered every window in the apartment. "I’m going to use my bare hands."

Without another word, he leaped from the fourth-story window, disappearing into the night like a streak of falling gold.