The Teleportation Portal at the center of the Heavenly Sword Sect's plaza hummed with energy.
Outside, thousands of disciples and low-ranking elders waited in breathless silence. They had seen the broadcast cut out hours ago. They had felt the earth-shattering tremors that shook the entire region. They knew a war between Ancestors and Demon Commanders had taken place inside.
"Who won?" a disciple whispered. "Did our Ancestor survive?" "Is the Demon Sect dead?"
WHOOSH.
The portal flared. A group of figures materialized on the platform.
The crowd cheered—then stopped abruptly. They expected to see their Ancestors standing tall, holding the head of a Demon Commander, radiating victory.
Instead, they saw Sword Ancestor Wuji limping, his robes torn, his face pale as a sheet. They saw Grandma Venom looking like she had aged another century, clutching a broken staff. They saw Sect Leader Jian staring at the ground, shame burning his ears.
And in the center of them all, sitting on a floating golden sedan chair (which was being carried by three very tired, very humiliated Sect Leaders), was Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen looked fresh. He was eating a bunch of purple grapes. Behind him stood Ye Kai (bandaged but standing tall), Su Ling (calculating profits on a holographic scroll), and Wei Wu (calmly polishing his sword).
The Announcement and the Debt
"Grandfather!" Jian Wushuang ran up to Sword Ancestor Wuji, tears in his eyes. "You survived! Did you get the Legacy? Did you defeat the Demons?"
Wuji looked at his grandson. He looked at the expectant crowd. He looked at the terrifying young man sitting in the sedan chair, peeling a grape. He cleared his throat.
"The Demon Sect has been... expelled," Wuji announced, his voice cracking. "The crisis is averted."
"LONG LIVE THE ALLIANCE!" The crowd erupted. "LONG LIVE ANCESTOR WUJI!"
"Stop cheering, you idiots," Wuji hissed under his breath. "I didn't do it. And we are broke."
He stepped aside and bowed deeply to Jiang Chen. "We owe our lives to... Fellow Daoist Jiang."
The crowd froze. The cheering died instantly. "Who? The Trash Elder?" "Why is the Sword Ancestor bowing to a Junior Elder?"
Jiang Chen stood up from his chair. He straightened his silk robes, which didn't have a speck of dust on them. "Citizens of the Cultivation World," Jiang Chen projected his voice using a spirit-amplifier. "The Heavenly Sword Sect and the Violet Mist Pavilion have incurred a slight... service fee... during the rescue operation."
He snapped his fingers. Su Ling unfurled a massive holographic scroll that floated in the sky for everyone to see. It was an itemized invoice.
Bridge Toll (Premium Access): 5 Million.
Soul Insurance (Sovereign Level): 10 Million.
Emotional Damage (My feelings were hurt): 50 Million.
Sovereign Eviction Fee (Labor Costs): 20 Million.
Interest (Variable Rate): 15%.
"Total debt," Jiang Chen smiled beneficently. "150 Million Spirit Stones."
The silence was deafening. 150 Million? That was enough to buy a small empire. That was the entire operating budget of the Heavenly Sword Sect for ten years.
"This is a joke, right?" A High Elder laughed nervously. "Sect Leader?"
Sect Leader Jian didn't laugh. He looked like he wanted to cry. He pulled out his official seal and stamped the debt scroll. "It is... legitimate. We will pay in installments."
The worldview of the disciples shattered. Their invincible Sect Leader just signed a mortgage to the "Trash Elder."
The New Butler
Suddenly, a cold wind swept across the sunlit plaza. The temperature dropped twenty degrees. From Jiang Chen's shadow, a figure emerged. It was an old man wearing a simple grey servant's robe. He looked withered, like a dried corpse, but his eyes burned with terrifying blue fire. He held a silver teapot.
"Master," the old man rasped. His voice sounded like a coffin lid sliding shut. "Your tea is getting cold."
The moment the old man appeared, every sword in the plaza began to rattle. The ambient Qi in the air froze. Sword Ancestor Wuji fell to his knees instantly, his face draining of blood. "S-S-Sovereign?!"
The crowd was confused. "Who is that old servant? Why is the Ancestor kneeling?"
"Oh, him?" Jiang Chen took the tea cup. "This is Old Sky. He's my new butler. He used to run the Tomb inside."
"Used to run..." Wuji trembled. "You made the Sky Sovereign... your butler?!"
"He needed a job," Jiang Chen shrugged. "The economy is tough. Even for Half-Step Dao Sovereigns. Right, Old Sky?"
The Sky Sovereign (Old Sky) glared at Wuji. Blue soul-fire flared. "What are you looking at, Junior? Do you want me to erase your bloodline?"
"No! Please! Forgive me, Senior!" Wuji kowtowed, slamming his head on the stone.
Jiang Chen smacked Old Sky on the back of the head with a fan. "Hey. Be nice. Customers are friends. If you kill them, who pays the debt?"
"Apologies, Master," The Sovereign bowed, humiliation burning in his ancient eyes. But the Slave Contract bound his soul. He had to obey.
The Relocation
Jiang Chen looked around the plaza. He looked at the surrounding mountains of the Twin Peaks Valley. "This place," Jiang Chen wrinkled his nose. "The Qi is thin. The neighbors are noisy. And the property value is stagnating."
"Ye Kai. Su Ling. Wei Wu." "Yes, Master!"
"Pack your things," Jiang Chen ordered. "We are moving."
"Moving where, Master?" Ye Kai asked. "Back to Trash Peak?"
"No," Jiang Chen laughed. "Why would we live on a trash heap when we own a Mansion?"
Jiang Chen raised his hand. The Heart of the World (now integrated into his body) pulsed. He slashed his hand through the air. RIIIP.
Space tore open. But it wasn't a small portal. It was a massive gateway, 100 feet tall. Through the gate, everyone could see the Sky Sovereign's Domain. They saw the Floating Island. They saw the Celestial Jade Palace. They saw the rivers of liquid Spirit Qi and the gardens of Immortality Peaches.
"That..." Elder Feng gasped. "That is the Tomb! You... you are taking the sect inside?!"
"It's not a Tomb anymore," Jiang Chen corrected. "It's the Divine Dragon Realm."
He turned to his disciples. "Why fight for scraps in the mortal world when we have an entire dimension to ourselves? Inside, there are fields of spirit herbs, armories of ancient weapons, and enough space to build an empire."
"Board the ship," Jiang Chen commanded. [The Indomitable Spender] rose into the air, carrying the core members of Jiang Chen's faction. They flew into the portal.
As the ship crossed the threshold, Jiang Chen looked back at the stunned Righteous Alliance. "Send the payments to the coordinates I left you. Don't be late. Old Sky gets grumpy when his pension is late."
ZOOM. The portal closed. Jiang Chen and his disciples vanished from the face of the earth, leaving behind only a legend... and a massive debt.
Inside the Divine Dragon Realm
The ship docked at the Celestial Palace. The air here was thick with Qi—fifty times denser than the outside world. Breathing once was equivalent to a day of cultivation outside.
"This is our home now," Jiang Chen announced. "Old Sky, go clean the guest rooms. Use your Void Laws to sweep the dust." "Yes, Master..." The Sovereign grumbled and floated away.
Jiang Chen turned to his three disciples. His expression turned serious. "Listen to me."
Ye Kai, Su Ling, and Wei Wu knelt.
"We have the resources. We have the money. We have the ultimate base," Jiang Chen said. "But you three... you are still weak."
He looked at Ye Kai. "You barely survived a brawl with a Demon Commander." He looked at Su Ling. "Your drones ran out of battery too fast." He looked at Wei Wu. "Your sword is sharp, but your heart is hesitant."
"I am sealing the Realm for Three Months," Jiang Chen declared. "In here, time flows differently. Three months outside is Three Years inside."
"Use the Sovereign's library. Eat the Sovereign's peaches. Train until your bones break and regrow."
Jiang Chen's eyes flashed cold. "And when the doors open..." "You will descend."
"Ye Kai, you have a family that broke your legs, correct?" Ye Kai's fists clenched. "Yes, Master. The Ye Clan."
"Wei Wu, someone took your eyes and your birthright." Wei Wu touched his blindfold. "My brother."
"Su Ling, the Academy rejected you for being 'cursed'." Su Ling's glasses glinted. "They called me a failure."
"Good," Jiang Chen smiled. "Keep that hate. Polish it." "When you exit this realm, you will not just be disciples. You will be Avatars of the Divine Dragon."
"You will go out there. You will build your names. You will destroy your enemies." "And you will remind the world why they should fear the name Jiang Chen."
"Now... go train."
The Shadow in the North
Far away, in the frozen North. In the true headquarters of the Blood Soul Sect.
A jade tablet shattered in the Hall of Souls. It was the Life Tablet of Xie Molin.
A man sitting on a throne of blood opened his eyes. The Blood Demon Emperor. "Xie Molin died? In a lower-realm trial?"
"And Commanders Gui and Sha?" The Emperor asked the darkness.
"Dead," a shadow whispered. "Their souls were erased. Reports say... it was a man named Jiang Chen."
The Emperor stood up. The entire mountain range trembled. "Three Commanders. Lost. And he stole the Sovereign's Realm?"
"Issue a Blood Warrant," The Emperor commanded. "1 Billion Spirit Stones for his head. And 100 Million for each of his disciples."
"The moment they step out of that turtle shell... hunt them down."