POV: Nael
Slowly opening my eyes, I felt an intense discomfort throughout my body, as if I had been run over by a carriage. Pain coursed through every fiber of me. I found myself lying in what seemed to be a pool of purple liquid, in a dark and gloomy environment. I clumsily tried to get up, which almost caused me to fall again. With some difficulty, I managed to stand, though slightly disoriented. However, when I tried to look around to understand where I was, an excruciating headache struck me, forcing me to collapse back into the purple liquid. For a moment, I thought I would faint, but then I felt a strange energy flowing from the purple liquid into my body and then into my head, calming me slightly. I lost focus on that sensation, though, as I became consumed by the flood of memories that filled my mind. 'Whose memories are these? Who is this Yang Fei?' These questions echoed endlessly in my head.
"Yang Fei…" Just thinking about it filled me with a dark, empty sensation. Memories of a child, from infancy to the age of fifteen, began to surface in my mind. Slowly, I realized that those memories belonged to me. At first, I thought I had transmigrated into this body, into this poor soul, but I quickly dismissed the idea. For reasons I couldn't explain, I knew this was my life. I was not someone else. This realization frustrated me deeply.
"What a pitiful life…" I muttered after processing all those memories. Yes, it was me, not someone else—a child who had lived a hellish existence as a bastard. My name is Nael Supremium, the illegitimate son of the Ducal House Yang of the Xia Empire. A bastard child whom the patriarch of the clan brought back after one of his adventures. As if that wasn't bad enough, I was born with certain deficiencies—delayed intellectual development being the most notable.
This condition led to a series of prejudices that tarnished the family's prestige even further, causing many to resent me. Despite all this, the Duke never stopped caring for me. Even though I couldn't speak for a long time, even when I grew older but still had the intelligence of a small child, he always defended me against those who mistreated me. I never understood why, and I still don't.
Why would he show affection to me, the defective and illegitimate son? Even at that time, with my limited understanding, I couldn't make sense of his actions.
The Duchess, however, didn't share his compassion. She despised me from the very beginning. Even with my limited intelligence, I could feel the hatred radiating from her. Perhaps not as clearly as I should have, but even a child can perceive such intense disdain.
As I grew older, the servants, gardeners, warriors, cooks, and even the elders began treating me poorly. Those who didn't want to mistreat me chose to ignore me entirely, all to curry favor with the Duchess. When I was younger, I lived in the main house, and although I was ignored, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. The Duke ensured that no one treated me harshly, and he did his best to provide a life of solitude but relative safety for me. He always kept an eye on whether I ate or not, ensuring that I survived.
Looking back now, I realize he tried to be a good father. But I still don't understand why. After all, I was a crippled and illegitimate child. In a world where strength is everything, being crippled is a curse—especially when it's a mental handicap.
When I was five years old, my father arranged a marriage for me with the princess of the Xia Kingdom. She was a girl slightly older than me who occasionally visited the estate. The marriage arrangement was strange, and I didn't understand why my father agreed to it. It only caused more controversy within the Ducal House, especially since the Duchess wanted the princess to marry her eldest son, a boy who was both exemplary and talented. He had started cultivating at a very young age and was known as a dragon among men—one of the Ten Sleeping Dragons of the Xia Empire.
Speaking of the Duke, he had one main wife, the Duchess, and two concubines. Between them, he had nine children: two sons and two daughters with the Duchess, two daughters with the first concubine, and two sons with the second concubine. Including me, there were five boys and four girls in total. It was a large family, full of beauty and promise. The house had nine main elders and one Supreme Elder.
When I was five, I remember the Duke introducing a girl to me as my fiancée and future wife. I was fascinated by her. She was adorable, with almond-shaped eyes and black hair, and she looked even cuter when she blushed angrily. She was intelligent, too—smart enough to realize she was being forced into a marriage with a cripple who had no future. That must have irritated her a lot, and it made her despise me even more.
Despite her hatred, I began following her everywhere, bothering her with my childish naivety. Looking back now, I feel strange about my behavior. At that time, my consciousness hadn't fully awakened, leaving me with a faint thread of awareness that refused to fade.
As the years passed, her name became etched into my memories—Xia Xiang. It was a beautiful name, though I never learned its meaning. The other children of the third generation were accepted into the Dao Sect, located within the Duchy, but I stayed behind because of my lack of intelligence. I remained in the Ducal House until I was ten, a period that wasn't the best of my life.
Due to increasing problems with demonic beasts over the years, the Duke spent less and less time at home. This left me more vulnerable to the Duchess's cruelty. At first, she simply ignored me, but over time, the servants began mocking me, and even the guards and cooks treated me as if I were nothing more than an annoyance in the main house.
When I turned ten, the Duchess persuaded the Duke to send me to the Dao Sect, where my fiancée was already training. I cried and begged the Duke not to send me away, but in the end, he relented to the Duchess's demands. However, the drama was just beginning.
At the Dao Sect, I was accepted as a disciple by an external elder who owed the Duke a favor. My lack of talent in cultivation and my limited intelligence made me the target of ridicule. The only exception was the Holy Son of the sect, who, for some reason, befriended me. He treated me kindly, sharing food, treasures, and even advice, though my abilities were too limited to fully appreciate his generosity.
My fiancée, Xia Xiang, began treating me well, but it was clear she was only doing so to provoke Yang Min, a monstrously talented boy who had caught her attention. Yang Min, however, saw me as beneath him and refused to fight over a woman, instead sending his lackeys to beat me up. Each time, someone saved me—usually the Holy Son of the sect.
Eventually, Xia Xiang's provocations led to my downfall. Her friends lured me to a cliff, claiming she was waiting for me there. Naive as I was, I believed them. That's how I ended up here, in this pool of purple liquid.
What should have been the end of my story is only the beginning. I still don't understand much about my mother, but one thing is certain: she was no ordinary woman. Every time the Duke spoke of her, the Duchess would call her a prostitute, but the Duke's face would pale with either fear or sadness. With all my memories intact now, I'm convinced she's at least an Immortal—or perhaps a Goddess—likely residing in the higher realms.
For now, my only goal is to become stronger, to survive, and to reunite with my elder sister. After all, I didn't transmigrate into this world alone.