Because the village wall had never been built properly, a portion of Tomas Trell's men managed to slip away. Even so, Jasper and the others wiped out nearly eighty percent of the gang.
Jasper looked at Garrick Forge with guilt in his eyes. The moment Garrick learned about Elder Rowan's death, he completely lost control.
"Rowan—YOU BASTARD!" Garrick roared until his voice cracked. "You promised we'd fix this village together! How can you leave first?! What am I supposed to do alone…?"
Twenty years ago, Elder Rowan and Garrick had been nothing but hot-blooded teenagers—seventeen, eighteen at most. Back then, zombies attacked the village constantly. The villagers lived on edge every single day. Elder Rowan—whose real name had been Rowan Ze—made up his mind: he would turn the village into a proper town, so no ordinary zombies could threaten them again.
Garrick had agreed immediately. From that day on, he trained like a man possessed. But the village was too poor—too backward—so the two of them left to apprentice in larger towns.
In the end, one became a mage—Rowan Ze—and the other became a smith—Garrick.
When they returned, they began improving everything: defenses, supplies, training. Later, the villagers elected Rowan Ze as village chief. The people were simple back then—honest.
Then Tomas Trell arrived.
It was said that long ago, an adventurer had lived in the village with a treasured blade, and later retired there. Tomas came for that sword. But the adventurer had already died, leaving only descendants—farmers who'd never cultivated battle qi.
When Tomas learned the heir knew the sword's whereabouts, he demanded it. The heir refused, even under torture.
So Tomas tortured him to death.
When Elder Rowan learned what had happened, he and Garrick used an enchanted book to drive Tomas off. But Tomas didn't give up. A year later, he returned with a large band of men. Elder Rowan wanted to expel them outright—until Tomas took villagers hostage.
"If you force us out," Tomas had threatened, "we slaughter the villagers the moment they step outside to farm."
The villagers couldn't live locked behind walls forever.
So Elder Rowan compromised.
After that, Tomas grew bolder by the year. He even sent assassins after the remaining honest villagers. Eventually, most of the original villagers were killed. The "villagers" you saw now were largely Tomas's men in disguise.
That was why, in the beginning, so many "villagers" had opposed Jasper entering the village.
That night, Jasper sat on his bed, staring at the Cloudpiercer Sword—the weapon Tomas had used.
So this really was the adventurer's blade…
The Cloudpiercer Sword held a rune called "Qi Slash." It was… a little underwhelming. If you wanted sword qi, you could just pour more battle qi into your strike. The only real advantage of the rune was efficiency—less wasted qi.
Jasper's battle qi reserves were already abnormal—more than triple a normal cultivator's. That was likely because of his class and the Crimson Energy.
Sable's battle qi was also around triple. Skyhawk's was more than double. The classes were basically cheat codes.
Jasper was still spacing out when the system chimed.
"Ding. Fusion System unlocked. Merge Cloudpiercer Sword with Left Wrist Blade?"
Jasper nearly laughed out loud.
His wrist blades had been falling behind his growth. If he could fuse them, his left wrist blade would finally keep up.
He tapped "Merge."
The left wrist blade detached by itself, melting into a liquid sheen. The Cloudpiercer Sword slipped from his hand as well, turning into a silver-gray fluid.
The two liquids swirled together—braiding, compressing—until they solidified into a brand-new wrist blade.
The blade was slightly longer than before. The entire weapon had become silver-white, and floating text hovered over it:
"Piercer."
Jasper strapped Piercer onto his left arm.
Fusing the Cloudpiercer Sword had turned his nameless left wrist blade into Piercer, a quasi–Arcane Tier, Rank 1 weapon—below true Arcane Tier, Rank 1, but far superior to any Bronze Tier, Rank 7 weapon.
Then Jasper pulled out his Lazuli Blade.
He fused his right wrist blade with the Lazuli Blade as well.
The result was a dark red wrist blade, the name floating above it like a verdict:
"Assassin."
Assassin was Bronze Tier, Rank 7—lower than Piercer, as expected. His right wrist blade had started weaker, and Lazuli Blade simply wasn't on the same level as the Cloudpiercer Sword.
Jasper didn't mind.
His left hand had always been his burst hand. His right hand was better for sustained fighting—probably because he'd used a sword in his right hand for so long.
From the next room came a loud BOOM, followed by Skyhawk's triumphant howl.
"Hahaha! I finally broke through to Bronze Tier, Rank 5! Sable, work harder—don't let me accidentally pass you, hahaha!"
Sable's voice came back, full of disdain. "Hmph. When I arrived here, I was already one step from Bronze Tier, Rank 6. You want to surpass me? Go sleep, 'Knight Sir.'"
Jasper listened to their bickering, and for a moment, the grief in his chest loosened.
But he wouldn't forget.
Elder Rowan had saved him twice.
And Jasper would keep his oath—he would protect Garrick.
That said… Skyhawk and Sable's growth lit a fire in him too. Tomas's base fight had shaken his bottleneck hard. Even his willpower felt like it was finally moving again.
The next morning, Jasper stepped out of his room drenched in sweat.
He'd cultivated from the middle of the night until now—
and finally shattered the wall.
Bronze Tier, Rank 6.
With the breakthrough came a new skill:
StealthConsumes a small amount of battle qi. The user blends into surrounding scenery. If an enemy's willpower exceeds the user's, they can detect the user. Stealth breaks upon attacking. Upgradable.
Jasper headed into the washroom… and immediately froze.
It was filthy beyond belief.
There was even a disgusting puddle of foot-wash water on the floor.
Jasper stepped in it by accident.
A second later, a furious roar exploded from Garrick's house:
"SKYHAWK—GET OVER HERE!"
After washing up, Jasper found Garrick wasn't at the forge.
Instead, Garrick sat alone with the ruined enchanted book—the one that had lost its glow after being torn apart. He stared at it like it was the only thing anchoring him to the world.
So absorbed was he that he didn't even notice Jasper behind him.
Jasper didn't interrupt.
He simply stood there in silence.
Finally, Garrick rose—then saw Jasper.
His smile was bitter. "Jasper… you're leaving, aren't you?"
Jasper lowered his gaze. "Yeah. Windcloud City fell. I need to regroup with House Lin… I promised to serve as a guard for a year."
Garrick walked into his room and dug into a neglected corner, pulling out a sword wrapped in filth—cracked-looking, mud-caked, miserable.
He handed it to Jasper. "The adventurer's treasured sword… it's this one. That farmer knew he couldn't protect it, so he asked me to hide it. And then… sigh."
Jasper took it, stunned. "Uncle Garrick… why is this thing so wrecked? Don't tell me it's fake—"
Garrick coughed awkwardly. "That's mud. Wash it."
He brought out a bucket of water, dunked the blade, and shook it a few times. The mud slid off in sheets.
A line of floating text surfaced above the blade:
"Altair Longsword."
Jasper lifted the Altair Longsword and tested a few swings.
Fast.
Ridiculously fast.
Even faster than Lazuli Blade had been—by more than a full tier.
This sword had once been Arcane Tier, Rank 4, but after years of neglect, it had degraded to Arcane Tier, Rank 2.
Jasper gripped it and said softly, "Uncle Garrick… I'll go get Sable and Skyhawk."
Garrick managed a thin smile. "Alright. I'll handle the village."
With Elder Rowan gone, Garrick was the village chief now.
But Jasper could see it clearly—Garrick hadn't climbed out of that grief. Not even close.
Jasper watched his weathered back disappear and thought, I'll come back. With honor.