The Author's Draft-Chapter 33: The Aftermath II

The Young Clan Master looked... rough. His robes were torn in several places, singed at the edges. Blood stained his sleeves. His hair had come loose from its tie, hanging messily around his face.

But he was alive. Walking. His eyes sharp and clear.

He stopped at the edge of the clearing, took in the destruction, then his gaze fell on the scattered remains of Elder Feng.

His eyes widened slightly. Just enough to show genuine shock.

"What..." Jian’s voice was quiet. "What happened here?"

Long Chen opened his mouth, then closed it. What was he supposed to say? ’Oh, I got possessed by a demon who’s one of the Seven Deadly Sins and he shredded the elder into confetti?’

"Something I shouldn’t have," Long Chen said instead. It wasn’t a lie.

Jian stared at the blood-soaked clearing for another long moment. Then he nodded slowly. "The Clan Master escaped."

Long Chen’s head snapped up. "What?"

"I had the trash on the defensive. I was about to finish it." Jian’s expression darkened. "Then he used some kind of escape technique. Burned his own life force to create distance. By the time I caught up, he’d activated a long-range teleportation talisman."

He paused, then his expression shifted into something satisfied. "But he didn’t escape unharmed."

Jian reached into his robes and pulled something out.

A severed hand.

It was pale, bloodless, the fingers frozen in a half-clenched position. And on the ring finger sat a spatial ring—the kind used to store treasures and equipment.

Jian held it up with a smile that was equal parts pride and dark satisfaction. "Took his hand clean off before he vanished. I’d say that’s a fair trade for letting him live."

Long Chen stared at the severed hand, then at Jian’s satisfied smile. Then back at the hand.

"You’re insane," Long Chen said.

"Says the person who turned an elder into ground meat." Jian’s smile widened. "We’re an insane bunch. That’s why this partnership works."

He tucked the hand back into his robes and gestured toward the scattered remains. "Elder Feng should have a spatial ring too. Find it and loot what you can. We’re not leaving resources for scavengers."

The idea of digging through chunks of flesh to find a ring made Long Chen’s stomach turn. But Jian was right. Spatial rings were valuable. And whatever Elder Feng had been carrying might be useful.

It took ten minutes of searching through the carnage before Long Chen found it—a simple silver band on what remained of a finger. He pried it loose, trying not to think too hard about what he was touching, and slipped it into his pocket.

"Got it," he called out.

"Good." Jian looked around the clearing one final time. "Let’s go. We’re a week behind schedule, and I’d rather not explain this mess to anyone who comes looking."

They set off northeast, heading toward the Immortal Sword Sect’s location. The journey was supposed to take a week through the mountain range. They’d lost time fighting the Clan Master and Elder Feng, which meant they’d need to push hard to make the deadline.

---

Seven days later, exhausted and battered, Long Chen and Dugu Jian emerged from the mountain range.

The Immortal Sword Sect’s gates rose before them—massive structures carved from white jade that seemed to glow in the afternoon sun. Formations etched into the stone pulsed with spiritual energy. The gates themselves stood thirty meters tall, flanked by guard towers where disciples in blue robes stood watch.

Long Chen had never seen anything like it. Even the Dugu Clan’s compound looked modest compared to this.

They approached the entrance, after verifying their identity they were led to a pavillon where a middle-aged man in instructor’s robes waited. Long Chen recognized him immediately—one of the representatives who’d overseen the examination.

The man’s eyes swept over them, taking in their battered appearance, the blood-stained clothes, the obvious signs of combat.

"You made it," the instructor said. No surprise in his tone, just acknowledgement. "Show me your tokens."

Long Chen and Jian both produced the jade slips they’d been given. The instructor examined them briefly, then nodded.

"Inner sect disciples, as promised. Follow me. I’ll show you to your accommodations."

He led them through the gates and into the sect proper. Long Chen barely had time to take it all in—pavilions that seemed to float on clouds of spiritual energy, training grounds where disciples practiced techniques that tore the air itself, gardens where spirit herbs grew in formations that concentrated qi to impossible densities.

Everything was larger, grander, more refined than anything he’d seen before.

The instructor brought them to a mountainside dotted with cave entrances. "Inner sect disciples are assigned cave abodes for cultivation. You’ll each receive one. Basic furnishings are provided, sect resources can be accessed through the contribution point system, which will be explained during orientation tomorrow."

He gestured to two entrances near each other. "These are yours. Settle in. Orientation begins at dawn."

With that, he left.

Long Chen and Jian stood in front of their assigned caves. After a week of traveling together, barely speaking except for practical matters, the silence felt heavy.

Jian was the first to break it. "That power you used against Elder Feng."

Long Chen tensed.

"I felt it from where I was fighting the Clan Master. That aura..." Jian’s eyes were serious. "It was foreboding, wrong. Like something that shouldn’t exist in this world."

Long Chen said nothing.

"I don’t know what you did to gain that strength," Jian continued. "And I won’t ask. Everyone has their secrets." He paused. "But be careful with it. Power like that always has a price."

"I know," Long Chen said quietly.

Jian studied him for a moment longer. Then nodded. "Good. I’ll see you at orientation."

He turned and entered his cave abode without another word.

Long Chen stood there for a moment, processing the warning. Then he walked into his own cave.

The interior was simple but functional. A stone platform for cultivation, a small side chamber with a bed. Basic formation arrays carved into the walls that would concentrate spiritual energy and provide privacy.

It was more than he’d had in months.

Long Chen sat down on the cultivation platform, finally alone for the first time since the contract.

"System," he said quietly. "Show me the messages."

The notifications he’d minimized earlier flooded his vision all at once.