William Carter felt as if he had experienced a long, long dream. In the dream, he became a dark spirit cultivator, and his name was Henry Clark.

He was deeply in love with that woman, the woman named Crystal.

He was willing to do anything for her, to give everything, even his own life.

For her, he dueled five top-tier light spirit cultivators in the Xianyin Valley.

That battle could be considered the ultimate showdown between light and dark spirit martial arts.

In the end, neither side claimed victory, and both suffered heavy losses.

He did not seek her gratitude, nor did he expect anything in return. Ironically, however, Crystal betrayed him—betrayed the vows they once made to each other. After he had done everything for her, she actually brought Samuel Carter and ruthlessly killed him while he was gravely wounded.

He would never forget Samuel Carter's wild laughter before him, nor the intimate posture between him and Crystal.

In the dream, William Carter could clearly feel the pain Henry Clark experienced before death. It was not physical pain, but a torment from within, a suffering branded onto the soul. The bitterness of betrayal was like sulfuric acid, burning and corroding his body layer by layer...

"Crystal..."

William Carter suddenly opened his eyes, murmuring this name that was both familiar and strange to him.

Henry Clark was dead, but before dying, he used the Death Sacrifice from the dark spirit martial arts. Death Sacrifice was considered the only sacrificial skill in dark spirit martial arts: rebirth through blood, merging with the nearest living being, allowing the other to inherit his memories and abilities.

Five hundred years later, the brutal battle in Xianyin Valley caused over three thousand soldiers of the Wind Kingdom to die tragically at the bottom of the valley. The soldiers' blood awakened Henry Clark, and William Carter, the only survivor who was closest to him, naturally became his inheritor. Unfortunately, his spiritual energy was completely depleted, so William Carter did not inherit much of it.

When William Carter regained consciousness, Henry Clark's skeleton had already vanished, having transformed into spiritual energy that was absorbed by William Carter while he was unconscious.

Although the spiritual energy gained was not much, Henry Clark's memories benefited William Carter greatly. At the very least, he now understood the world he was in.

The country he was in was called Haotian, founded by Yin Zhun, with its capital in Shangjing. Within the Haotian Empire were nine major vassal states: Zhen, Yu, Mo, Feng, Ning, An, Chuan, Huan, and Shench. Two hundred years after Yin Zhun founded the nation, central imperial power gradually weakened, while the power of the local lords increased greatly. Step by step, the local forces had grown strong enough to rival the central royal family. During Henry Clark's time, although there were often conflicts and frictions among the vassal states, they refrained from open conflict out of concern for the royal family's power in Shangjing. However, the war William Carter had just experienced could not be explained even with Henry Clark's memories. All he knew was that the soldiers in black armor came from the Wind Kingdom, which was also Henry Clark's homeland.

But the Xianyin Mountain area was not Wind Kingdom territory, so it was unclear why their soldiers would appear here.

With Henry Clark's memories, it was as if William Carter and Henry Clark, two completely unrelated people, had merged into one. Yet this did not make William Carter feel at ease; instead, his heart grew heavier.

First, he understood why he had experienced all these inexplicable things: for some unknown reason, he had suddenly come from his own world to this strange and magical one, and, fatally, he could not find a way back. Second, he had inherited the heart-wrenching pain Henry Clark felt before death. He hated Crystal's betrayal, yet could not help but love her deeply, even though she had given him a shame that could never be washed away.

He had to find Crystal!

William Carter suddenly sat up from the ground, his mind filled with images of Crystal. As he thought, he shook his head forcefully, trying to drive Crystal's image from his thoughts. After all, Crystal was Henry Clark's problem, not his own. But no matter how hard he tried, Crystal's every smile and frown would always unconsciously surface in his mind.

In the end, he could only give up, and came to understand one thing: Henry Clark's soul had completely merged with his own. The people and things Henry Clark cared about had become those he cared about as well. In other words, he was now both William Carter and Henry Clark.

It seemed he could only go find Crystal first and resolve this matter... William Carter silently recited in his heart.

As for how to resolve things after finding Crystal, William Carter had no idea. At the very least, Henry Clark's feelings for Crystal were a mix of deep love and bitter hatred—hatred so deep it was etched into his bones, love so strong he could not bear to harm a single hair on her head. To have such violently conflicting feelings for one person was something William Carter had never experienced, and it made him feel very strange.

With a long sigh, he snapped out of his thoughts. Only then did he realize that the fire in the valley had gone out, and the thick smoke in the cave had long since disappeared. He slowly stood up, feeling especially light and agile. Not only did he not feel injured, but he was even stronger than before. Even the wounds on his body had healed, as good as new.

This must be the result of absorbing spiritual energy. William Carter stood still, held his breath, and quietly felt the spiritual energy flowing within him. Although it was less than a tenth of what Henry Clark originally had, at least the foundation was laid. After all, the hardest part of dark spirit martial arts was getting started, which was also why there were far fewer dark spirit cultivators than light ones.