With his imdiate problems handled—registered as a legal hunter, no longer actively hunted by the association—Aiden finally had breathing room.
He sat on his bed, pulled out his phone, and was about to check his book sales when he stopped, lowering his phone.
The last thing he needed was Azazel seeing his author accounts and asking questions about why he was writing stories about the world they’d just been in.
"System," he said quietly. "Can you check my book sales without looking at them directly?"
[Affirmative. Accessing sales data now...]
[Analysis complete. Looks like your book ’Return of the Heavenly Sword God’ is experiencing increased reader engagent.]
"How much?"
[After Nabu’s interference, the book has entered the Top 1000 ranking on the Fresh Blood Rankings of Webnovelist.]
[Current position: #847]
[Total sales this week: 2,847 copies]
[Revenue generated: £8,541]
Aiden blinked. Eight thousand pounds wasn’t life-changing money, but it was more than he’d made in the entire thirteen years of writing combined.
[The book is gaining traction. Reader reviews are quite good, seems like reading about your actions in your book is interesting.’]
[Nabu’s blessing is subtle but effective. It enhances reader experience without being obvious.]
"That’s... actually working." Aiden leaned back against the wall. Eight thousand pounds plus what he’d earned from the Hidden Quest rewards ant his financial situation was finally stable.
[Divine influence triggers system rewards.]
[Calculating...]
A notification appeared:
[Achievent Unlocked: Top 1000 Author]
[Reward: 500 Story Points]
[Total Story Points: 1347]
Not as dramatic as he’d hoped, but it was steady progress. That was fine. Better to grow slowly than crash and burn from too much attention.
"System," Aiden said. "I need to go back. Ti to continue in the cultivation world."
[Alright then]
[Cost: £500 (Return Ticket)]
[Current Balance: £8,541]
[Confirm purchase?]
"Confird."
[Purchase complete.]
[Initiating return to: Return of the Heavenly Sword God II]
[Prepare for narrative re-entry.]
[Transportation in 10 seconds...]
Aiden stood up, made sure his spatial ring was secure on his finger, and took a breath.
"Here we go again."
[10... 9... 8...]
*This should be interesting,* Azazel said. *I’m curious to see this world again through your eyes rather than from inside a sword.*
[7... 6... 5...]
"Just don’t cause problems."
*? Cause problems? Never.*
[4... 3... 2... 1...]
Light swallowed the room.
-----
Long Chen’s eyes opened.
He was back in his cave abode, sitting on the stone cultivation platform exactly where he’d been when he left. The spiritual energy in the air felt thick after the mana-starved atmosphere of Earth.
His body adjusted imdiately—cultivation pathways opening, qi circulating naturally.
"How long was I gone?" Long Chen asked.
[Ti differential calculation...]
[Ti passed in reality: 2 days]
[Ti passed in cultivation world: 7 days]
Seven days, not so bad.
"System, what’s my next mission? I completed the sect recruitnt, so—"
[Mission status: INACTIVE]
Long Chen frowned. "What do you an inactive?"
[You have not yet t the requirents to activate the next major story mission.]
"What requirents?"
[I don’t know, it’s not like I pull missions out of thin air, the missions are based on your current situation and you just getting to the sect ans you’re in no perilous situation.]
Long Chen was lost and confused and decided to leave the matter be. He stood and stretched, his joints popping after sitting in ditation. The cave abode felt strangely quiet.
Walking to the cave entrance and pushing open the door, cool night air greeted him, carrying the scent of spirit herbs and mountain wind.
A piece of paper was pinned to his door.
He pulled it free and read:
*Long Chen,*
*By the ti you read this, I’ll have already left the sect. Don’t worry, I inford the elders I’m taking personal leave for closed-door cultivation.*
*There are things I need to handle. So things in the past need to stay buried.*
*We’ll et again very soon.*
*Stay alive until then.*
*— Jian*
Long Chen stared at the note.
He rembered Dugu Jian’s true identity from the original story. The reincarnated Sword God, the strongest sword God who had been betrayed by those he trusted the most.
Jian wasn’t just talented—he was playing a long ga of revenge against the people who’d killed him.
"Good luck with that," Long Chen muttered, tucking the note away.
With Jian gone, he was on his own in the sect. Which was fine. He preferred working alone anyway.
’Might as well explore, get familiar with the facilities.’
Long Chen spent the next day touring the Immortal Sword Sect.
The place was massive—easily the size of a small city. Pavilions for technique study, training grounds for combat practice, spirit herb gardens, alchemy workshops, weapon forges and libraries containing thousands of texts.
And everywhere he went, disciples gave him strange looks, surprising him a little.
While he’d made an impression during the entrance examination, displaying Sword Aura, directly entering as an inner disciple, he didn’t think he should be this known.
People knew his na now, whispered about him.
So looked respectful, others envious. There were a lot of hostile and jealous looks, especially from the n.
Long Chen ignored them all and continued exploring.
By evening, he’d mapped out the essential locations: the Mission Hall where disciples accepted tasks, the Contribution Point Exchange where resources could be traded, and the Sword Pavilion where techniques were stored.
When night fell, he returned to his cave abode, lit a spirit lamp, and sat down on the cultivation platform.
*Interesting place,* Azazel comnted. *I can feel multiple powerful presences, several at King Realm. A few at Emperor. And...*
The demon’s voice shifted, becoming surprised.
*Oho, there’s another dragon bloodline here.*
Long Chen’s eyes snapped open. "What?"
*Soone in this sect carries dragon bloodline. Not as pure as yours, but still unmistakable. The scent is...*
Azazel paused.
*Hmm...definitely a dragon, but it is unawakened though.*
"Can you tell who it is?"
*No, the bloodline is unawakened. Whoever carries it probably doesn’t even know about it . But I know it’s here. Sowhere in the sect.*
Long Chen’s mind raced. Another dragon bloodline? In the sa sect? That couldn’t be coincidence.
"Keep tracking it. Let know if you sense anything else."
*Already on it. But that’s not the only thing you should worry about.*
"What else?"
Azazel’s voice grew serious—genuinely serious, without the usual amusent.
*Well I didn’t want to scare you at first but now that I’m free, so old things are going to start awakening soon.*
"What kind of entities?"
*Oh just so random dandies. So demons, so self righteous fools, oh and so baldies too.*
Long Chen felt ice form in his stomach. "Are they coming?"
*Not imdiately. But eventually? Yes. They’ll want to finish what they started. Destroy completely this ti.*
"And since we’re bound by Equal Life Contract..."
*When they co for , they’ll kill you too. Unfortunate side effect of our partnership.*
"How long do we have?"
*Months, maybe a year. Depends on how fast they can track the signature and cross dinsional boundaries.* Azazel’s tone shifted back to its usual lightness. *So I’d suggest getting much, much stronger before they awaken completely. You’ll need to be at least Saint Realm to hide from them.*
"Saint Realm, just to hide." Long Chen repeated flatly. "I’m at peak Qi Acquisition. That’s four full realms away."
*Then you’d better start cultivating faster.*
Long Chen sat there in the darkness of his cave, processing everything.
Another dragon bloodline in the sect.
Ancient enemies hunting Azazel—and by extension, him.
A requirent to reach Foundation Establishnt before the next story arc.
And Dugu Jian off on his own revenge quest.
"This is getting complicated," Long Chen muttered.
*Life is complicated. Death is simple. I prefer complicated.*
"Of course you do."
Long Chen closed his eyes and began circulating the Heavenly Demon Cultivation Technique. He had work to do, a breakthrough to prepare for and apparently, divine hunters to worry about in the future.
But for now, tonight, he just focused on cultivation.
One step at a ti.
That’s how you climbed mountains.
Even mountains made of impossible odds.
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