Long Chen made it back to his cave abode, pushed the door open, and leaned against the wall.
Everything was crashing down on him.
Threats. Everywhere he looked, there were threats.
Azazel’s ancient enemies—divine hunters who’d cross dinsional boundaries to kill them both. That threat was distant, maybe months away, but looming like a storm on the horizon.
Nie Hao and whoever was backing him.
And now that Tian or whatever his na is. Another love-sick idiot with power and backing who’d kill soone over a woman who clearly wasn’t interested in him.
Long Chen’s hands clenched into fists.
These people would kill him, not because he’d done anything wrong or he’d threatened or challenged them. But because they could. Because they had the power and the backing to do whatever they wanted, and he was just an obstacle in their way.
*Let it go,* Azazel said, his tone surprisingly serious. *All this trouble over a girl? It’s not worth it. Break off the engagent, distance yourself from her and remove the target from your back.*
Long Chen’s jaw tightened.
"No."
*No?* Azazel sounded genuinely surprised. *You’re refusing? Do you understand the danger you’re in? That Tian guy is at least mid king realm. While you could put up a fight, he could still kill you and if he can’t, he can call on his backing.*
"I know."
*Then why—*
"Because doing that ans the situation isn’t going to get solved, give unreasonable people an inch and next they’ll ask for your head," Long Chen said, his voice firm. "You’re telling that just because they have a little power, I should bow my head and back down? That I should be cruel to soone who’s been nothing but kind to , just to save my own skin?"
He pushed off the wall and stood in the center of his cave, staring at nothing.
"I won’t do that. I, Long Chen, will never betray anyone who hasn’t betrayed first. If Qinglan had mocked , looked down on , treated like trash—then fine. I’d walk away without a second thought. But she didn’t. She was kind, she cared. And I’m not going to throw that away just because so arrogant bastards think they own her."
"If I concede this ti, what if next ti they ask for sothing that causes harm to ? Am I to give it to them just because they are more powerful than ? All I need is strength to make no one think I’m easy to bully, strength so powerful that no backing would dare face my sword."
The words ca out with more force than he’d intended. Each syllable felt like it was being carved into stone.
Azazel went silent.
Imdiately he said those words, his Sword Aura burst out.
It exploded from his body in a wave of invisible force, sharp and cutting, rolling in waves and filling the entire cave. The air itself seed to vibrate. Dust lifted from the floor, the spirit lamp on the wall flickered.
And then the aura condensed.
It pulled inward, compressing around him, becoming denser, sharper, more refined. The pressure doubled, tripled, and then stabilized at a level far beyond what it had been monts before.
Long Chen gasped, his knees nearly buckling from the sudden shift
*Well that’s interesting,* Azazel breathed. *Your Sword Aura just broke through to the third level.*
"What?" Long Chen managed, still trying to catch his breath.
*Third level Sword Aura. You just jumped from second to third in a single mont.* Azazel’s voice was funny enough, it sounded like sothing normal. *Do you understand what just happened?*
"Not really," Long Chen admitted.
*Sword cultivators don’t just cultivate qi. They cultivate the heart.* Azazel’s tone shifted. *Your sword’s strength is tied directly to your convictions. The firmness of your beliefs, the clarity of your purpose, the strength of your resolve, the will to rather break than bend—all of it feeds into your Sword Aura.*
Long Chen straightened slowly, feeling the new weight of his aura settling into his body.
*What you just did—declaring your conviction so firmly that it beca an unshakable truth in your mind—that’s what makes a sword cultivator. You did it in one mont because you ant it. During my ti, sword cultivators believed that with their sword in their hand they were invisible, while you haven’t gotten to that stage, you’re well on your way to developing your own intent.*
Long Chen looked down at his hands. The aura was still there, humming just beneath his skin, sharper than it had been before.
"So my Sword Aura got stronger because I decided not to be a coward?"
*Technically, yes.* Azazel paused. *Though I’d phrase it differently. Your Sword Aura advanced because your heart is clear. You know who you are, you know what you stand for. And you won’t compromise on it, even when facing death. That’s the foundation of true sword cultivation.*
Long Chen took a breath and sat down on his cultivation platform. The breakthrough had left him shaken but also... steadier. Like sothing fundantal inside him had clicked into place.
"Azazel," Long Chen said after a mont. "You said you have ways to make stronger."
*Oh, now you’re asking?* Azazel’s amusent returned. *Finally, I was wondering when you’d get around to it.*
"So? Do you?"
*I do. But here’s the problem—my thods are demonic thods. Dark cultivation techniques that the righteous sects consider heretical, evil, and worthy of execution on sight. If anyone finds out you’re practicing them, every sect in this world will hunt you down.*
Long Chen almost laughed. "By the ti your ancient enemies arrive, I’ll probably already be pursued by every sect anyway. So why not get stronger in the process?"
*Fair point,* Azazel admitted. *Though I should ntion—the Heavenly Demon Cultivation Technique you’re using right now is already a high-rank technique. One of the best, actually. But...*
He trailed off.
"But?" Long Chen pressed.
*Its affinity doesn’t fit you. Not anymore, not after awakening that thing.*
Long Chen’s breath caught.
He knew imdiately what Azazel was talking about.
His heart. The origin of his dragon bloodline and whatever is awakening in it.
"What’s inside my heart?" Long Chen asked carefully.
Azazel’s voice dropped, becoming quieter and more serious than Long Chen had ever heard it.
*It is not what is inside, it’s what the heart itself represents. There are so things that shouldn’t be spoken carelessly. Things that attract attention just by being ntioned. Calling them by na incurs terrifying karma—consequences you can’t shoulder with your weak cultivation. Not yet.*
"You just called my cultivation weak."
*Because it is. You’re at peak Qi Acquisition Realm. That’s nothing. A sneeze in the grand sche of things.*
"Charming." Long Chen rubbed his face. "So what do I do? If the Heavenly Demon Cultivation Technique doesn’t fit anymore, what should I use?"
Azazel was quiet for a mont.
Then Long Chen felt it—information flooding into his mind.
Not words or images, but pure knowledge, transmitted directly from Azazel’s consciousness into his own.
A cultivation technique.
Long Chen gasped as the information settled into place, his mind struggling to process what he was receiving.
The technique was... vast. Complex and layered with anings he didn’t fully understand yet. But even from the fragnts he could grasp, he knew it was powerful.
Extrely powerful.
The na appeared in his mind, written in characters that seed to burn with dark fire.
*Blood Tyrant Dragon Devouring Art.*
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