Inside Bubble No. 3.

The supporters of the Huang and Bai families still hadn’t had a chance to spill their overheated blood when a bucket of icy water was suddenly dumped over their heads. The arrow was already on the bowstring—and it turned out to be a dud?

Long Ling’s expression darkened. She had no idea what was going on, yet no one could give her an answer.

At times like this, a sense of humiliation surged up inside her. If she were an atavist, she could stride straight into the main command tent like members of the other families and demand a clear explanation, instead of waiting around like these nameless atavists and ordinary staff—forever one level beneath those people.

After a while, several off-road vehicles started up again.

“So many cars, and all headed toward the White Tower—are they leaving?”

“What the hell? The Bai family is pulling out? What’s going on—are they really not fighting?”

Long Ling noticed that those heaven‑favored elites were also getting into vehicles and leaving. Since that was the case, there was no reason for her to stay either.

…

The Bai Family.

Bai Xinran stared at the pitiful infant lying in the small crib, her expression dazed—grief and hatred twisting together in her eyes.

Who could have imagined it? The daughter she had searched for over three months, the child she thought of day and night, the one whose loss had carved her heart to pieces—had been hidden in the very home she shared with her husband.

It was a three‑story standalone villa Mu Wenxing had bought outright with his own money after they were married. Compared to the Bai family estate, it was insignificant, yet they had lived there for two months with great ceremony. Over the following two years, they would often stay there for a few days at a time. It was their little love nest.

In that small house, they had been inseparable, indulgent in play and intimacy. Sometimes, even remembering it later made her dizzy, as though caught in a beautiful dream. And now she had been slapped brutally back to reality, crashing down from the heavens—only to realize that there was no such perfect thing in this world.

A childhood sweetheart who grew up alongside her, who happened to love her too; a perfect husband obtained effortlessly, without having to give up anything.

“Miss, Master and the others have returned,” her personal steward said hurriedly as he came in.

The Bai household was in chaos that night. Every staff member could feel the tension in the air, as though a storm or tsunami were about to break.

Mu Wenxing was shoved forcefully inside, stumbling and falling to the floor—right at Bai Xinran’s feet.

“Brother!” The woman who had been brought back together with the infant was being guarded in the living room. She immediately rushed over.

Mu Wenxing’s glasses had shattered long ago when his father‑in‑law slapped him. Through the cracked lenses, he saw his wife’s feet and went rigid all over.

“Ranran… are you okay?”

“And Miaomiao? Is she all right?”

Supported by her family, Bai Xinran pressed her lips together and didn’t look at the man on the floor. “I’m fine. Miaomiao… has a fever.”

Only then did they turn their attention to Mu Wenxing and the unfamiliar woman beside him.

“Who is she?” her father asked, fixing her with a hard stare.

Bai Xinran finally looked at Mu Wenxing. She bit her lip. “Will you tell them yourself, or should I?”

Before Mu Wenxing could speak, the woman beside him glared at them with hatred and shouted, “At a time like this you’re still playing the victims—have you no shame? You hypocritical trash! You think you’re qualified to rage against the Huang family over your ancestors? You and the Huangs are cut from the same cloth! Yes, we schemed against you—so what? You deserved it!”

“You fucking—” Her brother lost all pretense of civility, yanking her up by the collar. He only let go when Bai Xinran stopped him.

Mu Wenxing also stopped Mu Wenyue, who was about to keep shouting.

“There was a woman named Zhang Ruilan,” Mu Wenxing said coldly, looking at his father‑in‑law and brother‑in‑law. “Do you remember her?”

Both men frowned at once. Who was that? Someone from another family?

“Not surprising,” Mu Wenxing sneered. “Just like how the Huang family’s ancestor casually ate members of the Bai family and then forgot all about it. How could you remember a ‘lowly life’ you never cared about? Unfortunately for you, we’re just like the Bai family—you didn’t forget, and neither will we. We will remember forever, waiting for our chance to take revenge.”

But as soon as those harsh words left his mouth, he laughed bitterly, teeth clenched. “The hateful thing is—this era no longer has a ‘white fox.’”

The Bai family head froze.

After the Huang family’s weasel‑demon ancestor devoured members of the Bai family, the Bai ancestors—mere commoners at the time—harbored hatred yet were powerless to act. Only later did they painstakingly seek out a fox demon, finally exacting their revenge.

Yet even after killing that weasel demon and several members of the Huang family, the Bai family’s hatred never truly faded. What their ancestors had lost back then were parents and sisters—anguish so deep it cut to the bone, unforgettable even in death, passed down to the next generation.

Now Mu Wenxing was casting the Bai family as the Huang family of the past, and himself as the Bai family.

Could it be that…

“Zhang Ruilan was your… mother?” the family head asked slowly.

“That’s right.”

For generations, the Huang and Bai families had fought endlessly, scheming and sabotaging each other. When immortals fight, mortals suffer—and Zhang Ruilan, raising her son and daughter alone, had been one such innocent casualty.

One morning, she was pushing a cart with her two children, rushing to sell breakfast. Young members of the Huang and Bai families were staging a reckless chase on the road. A Bai family car took a sharp turn and sent the woman flying.

She died on the spot.

The two children witnessed it with their own eyes.

It became the nightmare of their entire lives.

As a result, the perpetrator bore no responsibility at all. They were merely sent abroad, while Mu Wenxing and Mu Wenyue were thrown into an orphanage—without so much as a cent in compensation. It was as if they were ants or some other insignificant creatures, crushed underfoot and forgotten.

They plotted for years, constantly intensifying the conflict between the Huang and Bai families. Mu Wenxing even went so far as to use his own biological child as the final fuse, all to pit the two tigers against each other and ensure mutual destruction, so he could finally avenge their past.

In the original novel, the siblings’ plan succeeded. The Huang and Bai families both suffered devastating losses. The Huang family lost and was carved up, the Bai family’s atavists were wiped out, and the family assets fell into Mu Wenxing’s hands. In the end, the Bai bloodline was reduced to only Bai Xinran and the infant.

But not long after giving birth, Bai Xinran lost her daughter, then lost her family as well. The blow was too much—she went mad. Mu Wenxing cared for her day after day for twenty years straight, never taking another woman, becoming a famously devoted husband admired by all. Only one thing remained hidden: their daughter had always been kept in the basement, cared for by Mu Wenyue. He did not want to see her, yet could not bring himself to kill her either.

From the Huang family to the Bai family, and then to the Mu siblings—this was, ultimately, a tragedy of hatred breeding hatred, endlessly repeating.

So what kind of ending would they meet this time?

The heartless creator, Jing Pei, gave it a moment’s thought, then swiftly lost interest. Her gaze dropped back to the computer screen.

In the chat window, the person on the other side sent an incredulous message:
【Really? You’re really giving me that much money?】

Jing Pei didn’t bother with extra words. She transferred half the amount first.

…

That night, the atavist circle was destined to be lively. The Huang and Bai families reached a complete ceasefire. Both sides distributed delay compensation to their supporters overnight, then arranged vehicles to send them out of the Bubble and into hotels to rest.

Many atavists who had hoped to strike it rich were disappointed, but the two families handled everything with impeccable courtesy, and the compensation was generous enough that no trouble broke out.

Everyone was discussing and speculating about the reason. The feud between the Huang and Bai families had lasted for centuries—this outbreak had not been surprising. What shocked people was the sudden halt that looked almost like reconciliation.

And not just outsiders—even the Huang family themselves were baffled. Still, they weren’t stupid. They soon guessed the reason.

“They must’ve finally realized they were blind fools who accused the wrong people,” members of the Huang family said with certainty. Since they knew for a fact they had never touched the Bai family’s infant, there could be no other explanation for the sudden ceasefire.

“Get some sleep. Tomorrow I’ll recover my strength and then go settle accounts with them,” the Huang family head said angrily. Being falsely accused and smeared like this was a debt that still needed to be paid.

The location of Bubble No. 3 was in Changhai Prefecture, a two‑hour starship journey from the capital, Yunjin Prefecture. With the night already deep, guests from other families also rested in hotels, planning to take starships home at dawn.

Although Long Ling was a normal person, she was still a child of the Long family, so she was assigned to the same hotel floor as the other distinguished guests.

Even so, she was isolated there. She could hear classmates from her academy visiting each other in the corridor, laughing and fooling around.

Someone even got drunk, slammed into her door, and tried to swipe their keycard.

“Wrong room. This isn’t it.”

“Huh? It’s not? Isn’t this my room?”

“This is the Long family’s dud’s room—let’s go, don’t get tangled up with her…”

Long Ling clenched her fists, wishing she could rip out Long Jin’s dragon pearl and swallow it whole. She hated this feeling of being looked down on.

She hadn’t contacted her family yet. Her mood was bad enough already—this trip had yielded nothing at all. She didn’t want to face her arrogant father and nagging mother.

Suppressing her emotions, she took a book from her bag and began reviewing her coursework.

She didn’t know how much time passed before the corridor finally fell completely silent. Then her door was hit again. Someone tried to swipe their card, the lock emitting a series of warning beeps before falling quiet.

Long Ling stood up and peered through the peephole. It was that same drunk upperclassman again, probably throwing a drunken tantrum. He was wearing a bathrobe now, sprawled on the carpet outside her door, looking miserable.

Long Ling narrowed her eyes slightly. A smile curved her lips as she opened the door.

…

That night, while events within Bubble No. 3 took a winding and dramatic turn, members of the Long family—Long Ankang, Long Yiming, and others—were also discussing a major cooperation project with other atavist families.

The room was filled with big names, spanning a wide range of ages.

“You know this project is only open to atavist families,” the Feng family’s young master said lazily, leaning back in his chair and idly playing with a Rubik’s Cube. “But your Long family hasn’t shown any signs of dragon blood awakening in two hundred years.”

Seated beside him was the youngest pair present—a teenage boy and girl. The girl was leaning against the boy’s shoulder, fast asleep, sleeping soundly. The boy wore a blank expression as he braided a hair tie.

The Feng family’s young master was far younger than Long Yiming and Long Ankang, belonging to the next generation. Yet no one felt he was being disrespectful. Instead, they all looked at the Long family with the same skeptical gaze.

Back in the day, the Long family’s rise as dragon atavists had been nothing short of meteoric. They had built a vast empire almost overnight. In this country, dragons had always held immense symbolic significance, and the people felt a special attachment to them. At their peak, the Long family had even been regarded as the foremost of the Four Great Families.

However, over the past two centuries, not a single atavist had appeared—not even a low‑purity awakening such as a few dragon scales or a pair of horns. Because of this, countless rumors had spread, including claims that the dragon bloodline had already vanished from the Long family.

Even other atavist families gradually stopped including them, and members of the Long family began encountering subtle coldness as well. The Long Empire entered a steady decline. No matter how desperately they tried to turn things around, they always seemed powerless. Everything seemed to be proving one thing—that the true dragon had already left them.

Even the Long family themselves had begun to fear this.

That was why they were so exhilarated when they discovered that someone in the family had finally awakened as an atavist.

Long Yiming once again wore his signature crocodilian smile. “Our family has produced an atavist child—and with very high purity. Tomorrow, we’ll be holding a press conference to announce it to the world.”

The moment those words were spoken, the others were taken aback.
“Who is it?”

Their gazes swept instinctively over the Long family members present. Whether it was the adults in the room or the younger generation who weren’t present, surely the Long family already knew who it was.

Before Long Yiming could answer, Long Ankang spoke first. “It’s my daughter.”

The Feng family’s young master raised an eyebrow. “Long Ling?”

“Not Long Ling. Long Jin—my daughter from outside.”

“You mean… your illegitimate daughter?”

Long Yiming’s brow creased slightly as he looked at Long Ankang, but he didn’t speak. Instead, he slowly rotated the jade thumb ring on his finger, his expression unreadable.

Long Ankang sighed softly, his face taking on a look of remorse. “Yes. It’s shameful to say, and I owe my wife and daughter an apology.”

A female family head present clapped twice, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “Long Ankang, back when you were still a poor nobody, your wife married down to be with you. Your love story has been told for years in the streets. And then you turn around and produce an illegitimate daughter. You’re really something.”

Although many of the wealthy people present had lovers or boy toys on the side—and likely no shortage of illegitimate children themselves—they couldn’t help but frown at this moment.

Very few outsiders knew that Long Ankang had once been married to another woman in the countryside. At the time, the Long family was already declining, and Long Ankang himself was just a normal person. No one paid him any attention, so everyone assumed An Yao was his first wife.

After the wealthy woman An Yao returned to the Long family with Long Ankang, she accompanied him through his studies, supported him in every way possible, and devoted herself wholeheartedly to helping him rise. She appeared gentle, virtuous, and passionately in love—so much so that although some thought she was foolishly love‑brained, very few people truly disliked her. Overall, she left an excellent impression on outsiders.

That was why people now spoke up on An Yao’s behalf.

“Sigh, that was an accident. Men, you know—sometimes when temptation appears, it really is…” Long Ankang said. “But that was the only time. If she hadn’t awakened as an atavist and come back, I wouldn’t even have known she existed.”

The phrasing was subtle. Awakened and came back—it sounded less like the Long family had gone to bring her home, and more like she herself had eagerly rushed back. In an instant, it painted an image in everyone’s minds: an illegitimate daughter desperate to claw her way into a powerful family.

The daughter of a shameless woman who seduced a man. By sheer luck, she awakened as an atavist, learned that the Long family made atavists their heirs—and immediately hurried back.

Even in a circle where atavists were supreme, the thought still left people feeling vaguely uncomfortable.

Only the Feng family’s young master—and the boy and girl seated beside him—were different. The Feng heir glanced at Long Ankang, then at Long Yiming, let out a soft scoff, and went back to playing with his Rubik’s Cube. The girl beside him continued sleeping soundly against the boy’s shoulder, while the boy threaded beads onto a hair tie.

During the intermission, An Yao called him to ask how things were going. After checking that no one was eavesdropping, he said quietly, “Don’t worry. They all seem to dislike Long Jin. Get ready—once this is over, release the news.”

“That’s good,” An Yao said with a sigh. “There was never any third woman or fourth woman between us. It was all fate playing tricks. But now that Long Jin is back, and she’s close in age to Lingling, there has to be a clear distinction between their identities. We can’t not think about Lingling, right? Long Jin is already an atavist anyway—let Lingling keep the status of legitimate daughter. Otherwise, how is she supposed to hold her ground at school in the future?” She sounded as though she were forced into this decision.

“Lingling is the legitimate daughter. You’re my wife,” Long Ankang snapped irritably. “That unfilial girl—if I’d known she’d turn out like this, I should’ve had her aborted when she was still in her mother’s womb. It would’ve saved me from this headache.”

The thought of Long Jin’s attitude toward him—disrespectful, even seemingly superior—made his blood boil. His patriarchal authority felt challenged, and all he wanted was to teach her a brutal lesson, to remind her who her father was.

That very night, news spread across the internet that the Long family—after two hundred years—had finally proven that their dragon bloodline still existed. At the same time, another piece of news spread just as quickly: this dragon atavist was an illegitimate daughter.

And it was solid evidence.

A short audio clip was released alongside the news—recordings of Long Ankang’s own carefully worded remarks during the meeting.

Long Ling already had a fair amount of fame domestically, with one foot in the entertainment industry and millions of followers. With her influence fanning the flames, the revelation exploded across the internet.

What? The Long family has a dragon—but that dragon is an illegitimate daughter? And because she awakened as an atavist, she gets to step on the legitimate daughter’s head and become the heir?

【? I was about to go to sleep—now I’m too disgusted to close my eyes】
【Why would dragon blood awaken in an illegitimate daughter? Suddenly dragons don’t seem that impressive anymore】
【You really do see everything if you live long enough. Shouldn’t the Long family change their rules? An illegitimate daughter as family head—aren’t they ashamed?】
【Long Ling is so outstanding—she should be the heir! Is dragon blood blind, awakening in an illegitimate daughter?】
【Just listening to that scumbag father talk, you can imagine what kind of person the illegitimate daughter is. Absolutely disgusting】