Lei Wen Patton!

In Jade Orchid City, within Jade Tomb Manor.

The night was as dark as ink, with sparse stars scattered across the heavens.

The dining hall of Bart's Manor.

Warm yellow firelight dispelled some of the early winter chill.

Exquisite silver tableware filled the long table.

"Lei Wen, have some more blackbread."

"This is the meat of a fourth-rank horned wolf hunted today. It is quite beneficial for cultivating Spirit Qi."

Seated at the head of the table, Barte Lei carved off a large piece of meat and placed it on the plate of the boy at his right.

Barte Lei had a lean build and a stern face. A neat short beard lined his chin, while his deep eyes gleamed with spirit.

Even during a family meal, he sat as straight as a spear, unable to conceal the martial air around him.

A Ninth Rank Warrior was still a prominent figure in Jade Orchid City, where the strong were as numerous as clouds.

"Thank you, Father."

Lei Wen obediently nodded, picked up his knife and fork, and skillfully cut the meat on his plate.

He was only six years old this year, yet he stood a head taller than children his age. His limbs were slender, and his exposed skin bore a healthy wheat-colored tan.

His short black hair hung loosely around his forehead. His dark gemlike eyes were deep and calm, carrying a maturity that did not belong to a child.

"Big Brother, I want some too!"

The little girl seated across from Lei Wen shouted in a childish voice.

She clutched a wooden spoon in her hand and waved it about in the air.

She was Lei Wen's younger sister, Lian Qiu, who had just turned three this year.

Her pink, jade-carved little face was plump and tender like a ripe apple. Her big eyes blinked eagerly, looking utterly adorable.

"All right."

"I'll give Lian Qiu a piece too."

The young woman seated to Barte Lei's left smiled and carefully cut a small piece of meat into bits before feeding them into the little girl's mouth.

Although Xue had been born a commoner, she was a sixth-rank mage. Her Spirit Qi was as gentle as water, and every gesture radiated an intellectual beauty.

The family had a warm dinner.

After the meal.

The family sat on the carpet before the fireplace and chatted.

Lian Qiu sprawled across Lei Wen's back, giggling as she treated her brother like a big horse.

Lei Wen did not mind. He merely cooperated by making galloping motions, delighting the little girl.

"Lei Wen, don't play too late."

"Tomorrow is an important day. The Magic City's mage guild will be testing talents."

"You need to rest early and keep your spirits up."

Watching the brother and sister playing happily together.

Xue's eyes were filled with tenderness. Then, as though she recalled something, she spoke softly.

"I know, Mother."

Lei Wen reached back to support his sister's little bottom to keep her from falling, his expression calm.

"Actually, whether he passes or not doesn't matter."

"Our Barte Lei Family rose through military merit."

"Although we have produced mages as well, warriors are the foundation of our family."

"Look at Lei Wen. Though he has never cultivated Spirit Qi, his strength is already no worse than that of an ordinary first-rank warrior!"

"That child is simply a born warrior seedling!"

Barte Lei held a glass of rich fruit wine and reclined boldly against the sofa.

Looking at his son's body, which was far sturdier than that of children his age, pride flickered in his eyes.

As he spoke.

Barte Lei reached out and squeezed Lei Wen's little arm, feeling the explosive strength hidden beneath the muscles, and nodded with satisfaction.

"Hmph."

"All you know is fighting and killing all day."

"What is so bad about being a mage?"

"They have noble status, lofty standing, and besides..."

"If Lei Wen's magical talent is not bad."

"He can attend the Ernst Institute. That is the finest magic academy on the entire continent."

Xue gave her husband an annoyed glare.

Beneath her brows, anticipation flickered in Xue's eyes.

Barte Lei laughed awkwardly and did not refute her. He merely cast a meaningful look at Lei Wen.

In truth, he also hoped his son would possess magical talent.

In this world.

The status of mages was indeed much higher than that of warriors of the same rank.

This was especially true of high-rank mages, who were practically strategic weapons of the human race.

But.

Those with magical talent were simply too rare.

"All right."

"Father, Mother, I'm tired too. I'll go back to sleep first."

Lian Qiu, tired from playing and a little sleepy, said goodbye to Mother.

Lei Wen rose and bowed, his movements so standard that not a single flaw could be found.

"Go on."

Barte Lei waved his hand.

After returning to his room, Lei Wen gently closed the door.

The obedient smile on his face instantly vanished, replaced by a maturity and depth far beyond his years.

He walked to the window and pushed it open.

The cold night wind rushed in, tousling his black hair and clearing his somewhat drowsy mind.

Six years.

It had already been six full years since he came to this world.

Lei Wen raised his right hand, bathed in moonlight from beyond the window, and lowered his gaze to the back of it.

There was a dark purple birthmark there.

Its shape was irregular, vaguely resembling a burning flame, yet also like a grinning maw.

Normally, no one would notice anything unusual unless they looked closely.

Only Lei Wen knew that this birthmark was not simple.

Whenever his emotions ran high or his feelings fluctuated intensely.

The birthmark would faintly heat up, sometimes even sending out a strange desire.

That sensation was subtle, so subtle that if he had not possessed an adult soul, he would never have noticed it.

"What exactly is this thing..."

Lei Wen rubbed the birthmark on the back of his hand, his brow slightly furrowed.

In his previous life, he had been an ordinary person living on a blue planet, with nothing particularly remarkable about him.

A sudden traffic accident had sent him across worlds to this place known as the Yulan Continent.

When he had just been born.

When he learned his father was named Barte Lei and his mother was named Xue.

Lei Wen had not thought much of it.

Not until he gradually grew older.

Not until he heard familiar terms such as the "Radiant Church," the "Dark Church," the "Four Great Empires," and the "Magical Beast Mountain Range."

Especially after learning that it was currently the year 9950 of the Yulan Era.

Lei Wen finally understood.

This was the world of Coiling Dragon.

A high-risk world where powerful experts were everywhere, Divine Beasts roamed the land, and Saint Domain experts were as common as dogs!

"Year 9950..."

Lei Wen silently calculated the timeline in his heart.

If he remembered correctly.

The protagonist, Lin Lei Baruch, would be born around the year 9980.

In other words, there were still a full thirty years before the plot officially began.

Thirty years was half a lifetime for an ordinary person.

But for someone who cultivated, it would pass in the blink of an eye.

These thirty years were Lei Wen's greatest opportunity.

Foreknowledge!

He knew what would happen in the future.

He knew where treasures lay hidden, knew who the major figures were, and knew where opportunities awaited.

For example, the Azure Dragon ancestral land trapped within the planar battlefield.

Or the first-generation patriarch of the Dark Forest, the Divine Beast Beast King.

As long as he made good use of this information, it would be enough for him to gain a foothold in this world, perhaps even rise like a dragon.

However.

His most urgent task now was to increase his strength.

Without strength, everything was empty talk.

Even if you knew where divine artifacts were, you could not take them.

Even if you knew someone was a powerful backer, they might not let you cling to them.

That was reality.

"This body's Spirit Qi..."

Lei Wen clenched his fist and felt the surging power within it.

Although he had not begun cultivating Spirit Qi.

He could clearly sense that his physical aptitude was increasing at an astonishing rate.

Barte Lei had not been wrong.

His current physical strength had indeed reached, perhaps even surpassed, the level of an ordinary first-rank warrior.

This was highly abnormal.

Even those descendants of clans possessing Divine Beast bloodlines.

Before awakening their bloodlines, they could not possibly possess such astonishing physical aptitude.

Unless...

Lei Wen's gaze fell once more upon the strange birthmark on the back of his hand.

Perhaps this was the reason.