Chapter 3 – When the World Forgot My Name
Ten years passed.
In the beginning, I marked the days on the wall of my hut.
Then I stopped. The seasons repeated so many times that time itself felt like a distant illusion.
My cultivation had quietly grown not through battle, not through pills, but through stillness.
> [Cultivation: Late Foundation Establishment (hidden)]
[Longevity: +980 years]
[Spiritual Root Evolution: Root of Serenity → Root of Eternity (in progress)]
[Dao Insight: Patience Lv. 3]
Even the system seemed to have grown quiet, as if it too were meditating.
Outside, the Azure Cloud Sect had long since forgotten me.
New disciples came and went. Elders rose and fell.
Only the mountains remained unchanged.
Until the day I felt it a tremor in the flow of qi.
Something dark was moving through the forest below.
I stood at the entrance of my hut and saw it: a demonic beast, twice the size of a house, its body covered in black mist. It was the same kind that destroyed this body in the novel's timeline.
> [Fate Divergence Detected.]
[Possible outcome: Death in three breaths.]
[Would you like to conceal your presence from Heaven's sight? (Yes/No)]
I didn't even hesitate.
"Yes."
The air froze.
For a moment, I felt myself vanish as if Heaven itself could no longer perceive me.
The beast sniffed the air, growled, and turned away, unable to sense my existence.
When it left, the system chimed again.
> [Congratulations, Host.]
[You have comprehended a fragment of the Dao of Concealment.]
[Skill unlocked: "Veil of Non-Existence."]
[Warning: Using this Dao too long may cause Heaven to forget you completely.]
Heaven… forget me?
I looked down at my hands, translucent under the moonlight for a heartbeat before they solidified again.
If Heaven forgot I existed… would I still count as alive?
I smiled faintly. "That sounds perfect."
From that night onward, I deepened my seclusion.
I learned to hide not only from people, but from destiny itself.
While geniuses fought for supremacy, I erased my name from Heaven's book of fate.
Centuries passed.
The sect that once ignored me was destroyed.
New empires rose where mountains once stood.
And still, within my bamboo hut that no longer aged, I sat breathing, still and eternal.
> [Time elapsed: 300 years.]
[Hidden Achievement: "He Who the World Forgot."]
[Reward: Immortal-grade technique – "Eternal Dao Scripture."]
When I opened my eyes, they shone with a faint golden light.
The system whispered softly.
> "Now begins the true path to immortality."