【Volume One: Ancestral Dragon Inheritance】

Chapter 1: Dragon-Shaped Jade Pendant

"Little lady, give your grandpa a smile, or else grandpa will give you one instead!"

"Not cooperating? Watch as grandpa fans you with silver notes!"

In Poplar Town, in an elegant room on the second floor of the Jadeite Pavilion, Charles Bennett had a charming woman sitting on each of his legs. At this moment, Charles Bennett flicked out a few silver notes, slapping them onto the table, and laughed smugly.

The two women’s eyes lit up at the sight of the silver notes, and they hurried to press their chests against Charles Bennett's arms, giggling, "Master Yang, you really are generous..."

Just then, the door was suddenly kicked open. A young servant squeezed in beside the youth, ignoring his sweat-soaked brow, and leaned in to whisper in the nobleman's ear, "Young Master Chen, the third old master has passed away!"

The servant's name was Little Harris, the person Charles Bennett trusted most, who had accompanied Charles Bennett for many years.

Charles Bennett's expression suddenly went blank. After a long while, he finally came to his senses, brushed his sleeve, stood up, and left. The servant looked sorrowful, but couldn't keep up with Charles Bennett's pace.

Out on the street, Charles Bennett muttered to himself, "That old drunk of a father, though he lived in a daze, was ten times better than me. He wasn't even forty yet and looked like he could live another ten years. How did he kick the bucket today?"

Quickening his pace, he soon returned to the Yang family estate.

Poplar Town had two major powers: the Bai family and the Yang family. The Yang family controlled nearly half the resources of Poplar Town, making them the undisputed local overlords.

Being born into such a family would generally be considered a great fortune. But for Charles Bennett, it was not so.

The Yang family patriarch was a prodigy in his youth, his cultivation unfathomable. He established a mighty foundation in Poplar Town, sired countless children, and built the Yang family into a great clan.

Charles Bennett's mother was the patriarch's third daughter, exceptionally talented and well-known throughout Poplar Town. However, Charles Bennett's father was a son-in-law who married into the family. How flamboyant he was in his youth, Charles Bennett did not know. From the time he could remember, his father drank all day, muddled and alone, abandoned in a shabby hut, idling his life away.

A useless father meant a son who shared his misfortune. In this big family, Charles Bennett was dispensable, treated with cold indifference. Even his mother acted as if she’d never given birth to him. Thus, he grew up free and uninhibited, relying on the Yang family name to eat, drink, bully men and women, and generally lived quite well.

Ignoring the cold stares of the gate guards, Charles Bennett entered the Yang estate through a side door.

The Yang family compound was filled with pavilions and towers, lush with flowers and plants, displaying the elegance and heritage of a great clan.

After only a few steps, two people approached from the opposite direction. Leading was a tall, cold-faced young man in white brocade, the eldest son of Charles Bennett's second uncle—his cousin, Zachary Bennett.

Following behind Zachary Bennett was a distant cousin named Luke Brooks, with a sharp face and hunched back, fawning over Zachary Bennett.

When they reached Charles Bennett, Zachary Bennett suddenly blocked his path.

"Heard your useless old man finally kicked the bucket?"

Zachary Bennett looked at Charles Bennett mockingly, his face full of ridicule.

Zachary Bennett was well-known in Poplar Town. At just seventeen, he had already broken through four dragon veins, reaching the fourth level of the Dragon Vein Realm—a dazzling talent.

Charles Bennett was never the same as these outstanding younger members of the Yang family.

They had endless resources from childhood, with their pick of the clan’s cultivation manuals, while Charles Bennett had none.

His mother ignored him, and no one else would give him anything. When he was young, he participated in body tempering with other clan members and progressed rapidly, outshining everyone for a while. But without cultivation methods, and with his heart growing cold, he stopped training and never broke through even a single dragon vein to enter the first level of the Dragon Vein Realm.

Charles Bennett had tried in secret, but without manuals or guidance, progress in cultivation was nearly impossible.

"Why so silent? I said your father was a useless bum—what, you disagree?"

Standing before Charles Bennett, Zachary Bennett looked down at him, taunting.

Such humiliation was nothing new to Charles Bennett. He was glorious outside, but back at the Yang estate, he was like a dog. He knew his own worth, so he usually endured and let things pass. But today, perhaps because that old drunk of a father was gone, though he appeared calm, he felt especially irritable inside.

"Get out of my way!"

Taking a deep breath, Charles Bennett looked up at him and said coldly.