BOOM!

  The collision sent shockwaves through the mountain pass. Long Jiu's body crumpled against the invisible barrier, golden scales shattering like porcelain. Ribs snapped in rapid succession—*crack-crack-crack*—as vertebrae popped out of alignment. He slid down the shimmering wall, each fractured scale carving a glowing trail into the barrier's surface.

  Before him, the black dragon exhaled a plume of black demonized qi that withered the surrounding pines. Its once-gleaming obsidian scales now hung like broken armor, clattering with each labored breath. Yet in its sunken eyes burned the last embers of draconic pride—a chilling reminder of the Ancestor it once was.

  Long Jiu spat a glob of bloody phlegm onto the scorched earth. His beard—meticulously trimmed—was now matted with dirt and gore.

  **"Ancestor!"** The words tore from his raw throat. He clenched his fist, feeling the divine blood surge through his veins. "My condolences..." Golden light gathered around his knuckles. "...but it's time you returned to being a corpse!"

  His first punch landed with a hollow *thud* against the dragon's jaw. No effect—just as expected from testing strikes against an Ancestor's remains.

  The second strike *detonated*.

  Golden light erupted as his Divine Projection manifested—a spectral dragon's head coalescing around his fist. The explosion of force sent the beast skidding backward, its claws gouging trenches in the earth. The shockwave flattened nearby trees in a perfect circle. The dragon got thrown backwards, giving the man some time to attempt healing himself.

  *Finally—a breath.*

  Long Jiu collapsed to one knee, watching his scales regenerate across his mangled arm. The flesh knitted itself back together, but the pain remained—a white-hot brand searing his nerves.

  "The reward isn't worth a limb," he muttered to the wind. "The elders will call me a grave-robber before believing I slew an Ancestor." His laugh came out as a wet cough. "Half-blood steals relics from sacred remains'—that's the verdict awaiting me."

  Blood dripped from his lips. **"It truly is a shock to see even the Ancestors' corpses getting demonized. The situation in the Mortal realm must be even mor—"

  The dust hadn't settled when the earth trembled.

  The black dragon rose like a nightmare given form. Its ribs protruded through rotting flesh, each breath spraying droplets of corrosive black blood. The ground sizzled where they landed.

  The black dragon came back with terrifying momentum—slamming its head into the young man, the headbutt lifted him clean off his feet. A tail whip cracked his ribs mid-air. Then came the deluge—claws raking his chest, fangs snapping at his throat, each attack building momentum like a hurricane feeding on its own fury, each attack faster than the last.

  Blood filled Long Jiu's mouth. His vision tunneled.

  Then—*something snapped*.

  Not his bones. Not his spirit.

  *His restraint.*

  Now enraged, the man gritted his teeth,

  With a guttural roar, he *moved*. Golden qi erupted from his back, forming a colossal phantom hand that seized the dragon by its throat. The beast's screech pierced the air—*Screeeeeech!*—a sound that carried none of its former nobility, only the mindless rage of howling beast-corpse.

  He dragged it across the barrier, its claws scrabbling uselessly against the invisible wall. Kilometers vanished beneath them in a blur of pain and fury. The dragon's body disintegrated as they traveled—scales flaking away, muscles unraveling like rotten thread.

  Then—an anomaly.

  A distortion in the barrier pulsed like a diseased heart. Had Long Jiu been lucid, he might've recognized the telltale polygonal patterns of a formation core. But fury had him now.

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  "This is your END,"** he growled, tightening the phantom grip. "Serve the Clan one last time—give me your inheritance before annihilation."

  [Doing service for the Clan my ass! You are simply just another beast now. Killing you will lead me to even more persecution rather than rewards! Do something for ME atleast.]

  As expected, the dragon responded with mindless screeches and frothing, wordless howls.

  "This is where it en"—

  *SHATTER!*

  The sound split the world. The barrier shattered like a mirror struck by a god's hammer, countless fragments dissolving into golden mist. Then—

  *Weightlessness.*

  They plunged into the abyss.

  Wind screamed past Long Jiu's ears as his scales flaked away, joining the swirling vortex of dissolving dragon flesh. The beast's final roar echoed through the void, its body unraveling into strands of black qi that whipped around him like vengeful spirits.

  Memories flashed—

  *The Clan Hall.* Whispered insults. "Half-breed." "Mongrel."

  *The battlefields.* Backhanded praise. "You are lucky to be a quarter-blooded royal."

  Teeth bared in a rictus grin, Long Jiu spread his arms. Golden light erupted from his disintegrating fists.

  **"I, LONG JIU!"** His voice tore through the silence of the void, "....have always been belittled! Treated as a weak half human in my failures and as a lucky ?Royal dragon in my success!" The dragon's body began dissolving beneath him, corruption meeting dissolution.

  The last of the Ancestor's corpse vanished beneath him.

  "I had it had enough, and I wouldn't mind it all ending now! Yet, I promise, with both the Nine Heavens and Earth as witness—"Golden light erupted from his fists. "I won't die here!"

  ...

  ...

  ...

  ...

  Zhuo Fan finished- "And that's how Sir ended up here............."

  Disciples and Venerables alike erupted in a chaotic discourse- "Wait! Is Sir really from the Heavens??!!?"

  The High Venerable's staff clattered to the floor. "But how? The Qilin Lord sealed the Mortal Realm from both Heavens and Hells leaving only a one way exit!"

  The now supposedly-immortal cultivator Long Jiu rubbed his nose. "Yes, I can't believe it myself to be honest."

  A smirk twisted Long Jiu's lips. "He hid the core in the Immortal Realm itself—right in Divine Dragon territory. Which seems to be why the spies and remnants stuck in the Mortal realm could not do a thing while the higher ups of the Immortal realm thought it was because of their incababilities—while in fact it was their ownselves' oversight! I too stumbled happened upon it by a fortunate or unfortunate accident!"

  Zhuo Fan steepled his fingers. "Seemingly most discoveries are accidents—undesired outcomes greatly outnumber desired ones. But proper methodology changes those odds." Head Zhu smirks while the 2nd and High Venerable eagerly listen. "In this one sided russian roulette, it is obvious that the former will get chosen as the output many times than the latter. However it must not be forgotten that this is the case only for half-assed near-randomised practices, and procedures done properly will always yield the right results efficiently.

  Long Jiu's eyes gleamed as he listened, "As expected of a professional! Cultivators who cultivate just to see the end of dao are few, most just want to get more and more powerful. Focussing on techniques instead of Qi itself. A professional is one who understands not only his work but also has the understanding of understanding itself."

  Zhuo Fan retorts- "It is quite rare for someone in this Waning Martial arts era to know quite a bit about the importance of fundamentals and not just petty outcomes...."

  "Are you a professional by any chance?" Zhuo Fan asked sharply.

  Long Jiu's face droops down, "Unworthy of that title! I just conversed with a few alchemists in my time and constituted myself in a few arrays. It's my first time to meet a physician."The High Venerable frowned. He had a puzzled expression, "Why do you refer to the Heavens as the Immortal realm? Additionally, what cultivation realm were you in before dropping to the Nascent soul? The highest realm anyone reached in the Mortal realm is Pseudo-Heaven Immortal realm, that too only by the Great Emperors."

  The High Venerable had a puzzled expression, he frowned and butted inbetween- "Why do you refer to the Heavens as the Immortal realm? Additionally, what cultivation realm were you in before dropping to the Nascent soul? The highest realm anyone reached in the Mortal realm is Pseudo-Heaven Immortal realm, that too only by the Great Emperors."

  Long Jiu sighed "It seems to be that crucial information about the world is either lost or hidden or ignored in the Mortal realm. There are no Heavens or Hells—or atleast ones that are accessible. The demons parading through your world and the fairy immortals saving you do not come from either Heavens or Hells. For me, a person of the supposed Heaven itself, it does not deserve the mighty title bestowed upon by your ignorance. The cultivators are still at the mercy of the world and it's laws; Only when one explores these laws on his own, only when he understands them to perfection does he ascend and reach the true Heavens and Hells, the Divine realm!

  Zhuo Fan just stares unimpressed.

  [This is basically just what the Qilin Lord told me in my 6 years of being in the Secret realm.]

  For your second question, cultivation is but a process. It has many steps, yet aside from a few mandatory realms, everything is under one's choice. Even though you all mostly follow the current most efficient cultivation system, other ways of getting power exist—what the monsters and divine spirits follow. Though I am a half-human, I follow the ways of a divine spirit due to my ?divine dragon origins. I was on a level equivalent to Human Immortal."

  The High Venerable mumbled- "Why did the Qilin Lord seal the Heave—Immortal realm too? Aren't they here to help us repel the demons?"

  Ha-ha-ha..........!

  Both Zhuo Fan and Long Jiu laughed out aloud. "Saving us? What do you think you are saying? Ask the Central continent if they are doing any better with the Immortals helping them from the demon invasion.......... The Monster Island in the South is still occupied by demonic beasts even after an entire era.............. They just have animosity with the demons—that's all! They are no kind folks to save us just because we are innocent............"

  Zhuo Fan swiftly deflected before High Venerable could interrupt- "Enough about you, now about your future plans, and how I am going to benefit from them.

  You currently have a Nascent soul realm cultivation, even after accidentally breaking through the World Barrier. We need atleast a Tribulation Transcendent realm expert to be top powerhouses and rule a continent. So......... Needless to say, we still need to cultivate. Come with me and I'll take your cultivation beyond your past limits.

  As soon as you woke up, you understood your situation, so I think you somewhat understand what we did with your limbs. Hence we may have to start again from Qi Refining realm for your new demonic cultivation foundation. It will take time, but it will make your foundation stronger than ever. You'll be able to use the power of a Mid Nascent soul! But instead risking your foundation again."

  Long Jiu grinned. "Demonic cultivation? Bold."

  Zhuo Fan corrected- "Bold but necessary. How else do you intend on mastery demon qi if not by demonic cultivation?"