The moment he said it, everything clicked.

  She’d first stumbled across him after leaving the Sky-Covering Valley, when he’d looked like nothing more than a weird gecko. So, naturally, she assumed some random lizard monster had hitched a ride into her body on the way to Hogwarts. Not once had she connected him to the dragon sealed in the valley.

  But now that she thought about it… that dragon had been nothing but a skeleton.

  Lauren’s eyes widened. “Wait—I’ve seen your body. Or what’s left of it. A skeleton, locked in some kind of powerful formation.”

  “I know.”

  Her heart skipped. “Then what’s your plan?”

  “Wait.”

  “...Wait?”

  “Until someone ascends. When the path to the heavens opens, I’ll absorb enough immortal energy to shatter the seal.”

  Lauren nearly laughed, though it came out bitter. “So you’re just going to freeload in my body until someone ascends? Hate to break it to you, but nobody’s made it in tens of thousands of years. At this point, ascension might as well be a bedtime story.”

  “Ascension is no legend. The reason no one has ascended is because something blocks the sky of this world. Every genius who could’ve succeeded has either perished mysteriously or been cut down before they had the chance.”

  Lauren’s chest tightened. Her mind jumped to the same shadow she’d been suspecting all along.

  The Prophet.

  The eye in the sky. That thing.

  “What the hell is it?” she whispered.

  “You have Immortal Roots,” the dragon said, his voice steadying as if more of his memory was surfacing. “You’re chosen by the Heavens themselves. Destined to ascend.”

  Lauren’s breath caught. She actually staggered.

  “Me? Recognized by the Heavens?”

  “Yes.”

  Her throat closed.

  She’d always believed she was cursed—condemned, the sort of person Heaven hated. Unlucky to her bones. If she wasn’t killed by some villain, she’d probably manage to trip, hit her head, and die in the dumbest way possible.

  And yet—here was someone telling her she was chosen.

  Tears blurred her vision. Not when she’d been struck by lightning. Not when the Sect Leader accused her of evil. But now, with this one sentence, her eyes burned and her chest ached.

  “So… I’m not Heaven’s punishment. That lightning—it wasn’t Heaven at all.”

  “No,” he said. “That was the monster blocking the skies. It manipulates everything, weaving schemes to slaughter anyone who might ascend.”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Lauren’s whole body went cold. “All to keep you sealed.”

  “That must be it.”

  Her hands curled into fists. “And what if you die? Then what?”

  “Don’t bother. You can’t kill me. Realm suppression means no creature in this world can.”

  Lauren snapped back, “Then get out. Stop hiding in my body.”

  Silence stretched, long and suffocating.

  Finally, his voice came low and unyielding: “I will live and die with your Immortal Roots.”

  Lauren’s face twitched.

  And as if to prove it, she saw his little four legs latch tighter around her Immortal Roots, clinging like a stubborn leech.

  Fantastic.

  “You have only one road forward,” he said. “Break every obstacle between you and ascension. When the seal breaks, I’ll leave on my own.”

  Lauren groaned. “Great. So… in a million years.”

  “I’ve waited tens of thousands already. What’s a few more days?”

  Her heart sank. Little Four Legs really was glued to her for life.

  “I’ve burned through all the strength I’ve gathered just to speak with you. I need to rest now. Don’t call unless it’s necessary.”

  His eyes slid shut, ignoring her calls.

  Lauren clenched her fists. Fine. Forget him for now.

  She had bigger priorities—like finding Drake and finally demanding the truth about her Immortal Roots.

  At the entrance of Starfell Hall, Lauren rapped gently on the door.

  “Master, are you there?”

  The heavy doors creaked open on their own.

  Inside, Drake sat cross-legged in the center of the hall. His eyes slid open, calm but sharp.

  “What is it?”

  Lauren stepped in, bowed, and kept her tone respectful. “Master, could you tell me more about Immortal Roots? What exactly do they do? What benefits do they bring?”

  Drake’s expression flickered—something complicated, hesitant.

  “They allow a cultivator to advance faster than ordinary people. No bottlenecks. No barriers. Legend has it they’re the mark of those recognized by the Heavenly Dao itself. In other words, those who possess Immortal Roots are destined to become immortals.”

  He paused, and the hesitation showed.

  “But that’s just the legend. No one has ascended in tens of thousands of years.”

  For once, Drake looked uncertain, as though even he didn’t know whether to believe the old stories.

  “Don’t dwell on it too much,” he finally said. “Just treat it as a kind of artifact in your body—something that aids your cultivation.”

  Lauren nodded. “Thank you, Master. That clears up a lot.”

  But curiosity still burned in her chest. After a moment, she asked, “Master… are there really dragons in this world?”

  Drake raised a brow. “Of course. If a jiao—a lesser water beast—manages to ascend to the upper realms, it transforms into a dragon.”

  “So there aren’t any true dragons in the Cultivation Realm?”

  He nodded once. “This world has its own laws. Just as immortals don’t appear here, neither do dragons.”

  Lauren bit her lip, her thoughts spinning. So it wasn’t that immortals or dragons couldn’t exist here—it was that the world’s rules wouldn’t allow it. But if someone found a way to break those rules… who knew what was possible?

  Take Timothy, for example. Why did he have dragon spiritual roots? The official explanation was that some ancient dragon had once left its bloodline behind in the mortal world. Maybe one of his ancestors had gotten a little too cozy with a dragon.

  “Master…” Lauren hesitated, then asked, “Why don’t you ascend?”

  Drake’s expression froze.

  The next instant, his sleeve flicked—and an invisible force slammed into her chest.

  “Master—ugh!”

  Lauren shot out of the hall like a ragdoll, crashed into the snow, and left a neat, human-shaped crater. She spat out a mouthful of snow, coughing and sputtering.

  “Ugh—pft—dammit…”

  A hand grabbed her by the arm and yanked her upright.

  Tarot stood beside her, staring like she’d lost her mind. “Junior Sister, what the hell did you do to piss off Master?”

  Lauren blinked innocently. “Nothing! I just asked why he didn’t ascend.”

  Tarot: “…”

  He dragged a hand down his face. “You just asked Master that? No wonder he threw you out.”

  Lauren rubbed the back of her head, wincing. “Huh? What’s wrong with asking?”

  Tarot glanced back at Starfell Hall, then leaned in to whisper, “Master has… a problem. Every time he tried to ascend, he was crushed by his inner demons. After failing over and over, he gave up.”

  Lauren’s eyes went wide. “Wait, seriously? What kind of problem?”

  “No one knows but him. And you’d better not ask again unless you want another beating.”

  Lauren nodded quickly. “Got it, got it.”