Once there, the first thing that greeted him was the Skycleave Mountain Range, visible even from afar, and as he continued to approach it, the Qi quantity and quality began to increase at a rapid pace.

It didn’t take long before he began to see the Outer Court again—or more precisely, the sprawling life unfolding across the lower ridges of the range.

From where he was in the sky, the countless disciples below looked like a colony of moving ants, flowing through the mountainous peaks in every direction, moving from pavilions to arenas, from training fields to cultivation abodes, each of them chasing their own path, their own goals, their own breakthroughs.

Sword light occasionally flashed, people shouted, roars from spirit beasts echoed through the mountainside, all of it mixing together to form an ambiance so saturated with movement and intensity that calling it ‘lively’ didn’t even come close to the truth.

He hadn’t been gone that long, yet somehow, seeing it all again from above still felt strange—like watching a world he’d once stepped away from slowly unfold once more beneath his feet.

He stopped mid-air, gaze steady on the scene below, a faint warmth blooming in his chest as a deep sense of familiarity stirred within him, and in that moment, he knew… he was back home.

A small, familiar smile appeared on his visage as he gave the scene below a final glance before continuing forward with his flight. A subtle ripple of light shimmered as he passed a certain invisible limit—a sign that he had just entered the Sect Protective Formation—and considering he wasn’t struck down from the sky for questioning, it was clear that his status as a Core Disciple had been recognized.

On that note, and with warmth in his chest, Mikael continued along his path, flying higher and higher through the Skycleave Mountain Range, reaching the mid layers, where the Qi’s quantity and quality surged—just as the number of disciples dropped sharply, from millions to ‘only’ tens of thousands.

Normally, as a Core Disciple, Mikael should have continued upward, but he had something to do in the Inner Court, so he executed a sharp turn and headed straight toward it.

Swish.

Mikael flew ‘beside’ some other airborne Inner Disciples, but the difference in speed was so extreme that to them, he was nothing more than a blur.

“What was that!?” exclaimed one of them, clearly shocked by the sudden streak that passed beside him mid-flight.

Another, more composed, leisurely shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t know. Probably an Elder, with the speed he was going at.”

Mikael had no idea about the ‘scare’ he’d just given a few disciples, as his attention remained locked on his destination. And with his current speed, it didn’t take long before he reached it—a pagoda-shaped building bustling with traffic.

A steady stream of Inner Disciples flowed in and out of the structure, while all around it, others were scattered across benches, stone ledges, tables, or even sprawled out on the grass—talking in groups or pairs. And most of their conversations revolved around a single topic: missions.

Because of these two factors, it was evident which building this was—it was the most popular building in the entire Inner Court, the Mission Hall.

Thud.

Mikael landed just before the entrance of the Mission Hall, his Core Disciple robes immediately drawing attention as whispered conversations began to ripple through the surroundings, centered on his presence in the Inner Court—more specifically, at the Mission Hall—but unlike the previous time, no one attempted to ‘confront’ him, and he entered the building without facing any problems.

It was clear that the disciples now knew who he was. His earlier display when he took these missions had made it obvious he wasn’t an imposter, so logically, nobody tried to confront him—after all, who would take on the thankless task of getting into a conflict with a Core Disciple senior without reason?

Nobody was that dumb.

In this way, Mikael entered the building and quickly headed to an empty counter, “How could I help you, Senior Brother?” respectfully greeted the Inner Disciple standing behind the counter.

Mikael posed his Identification Plaque on the counter, “I have finished five sect missions, two of them were already confirmed to be done by me but I didn’t receive the contributions as of now. At the same time I have three other missions that I need to confirm the completion of.”

“Certainly, let me verify this, Senior Brother.” On that note, the Inner Disciple moved Mikael’s Identification Plaque onto a small array embedded in the counter and, using his Divine Sense, activated it—the formation flashing once in response.

“I see three missions related to the Savagefang Mountain Range…” he looked at Mikael, “Senior Brother, you can place your hand on the array and transfer the acquired resources.”

Mikael did as the ‘clerk’ said, and moments later, some Early-stage Spiritual Foundation Realm spiritual herbs and several demonic beast cores disappeared from his storage ring, having been transferred into the array.

The array flashed again.

The Inner Disciple smiled, “It’s all good. The three missions are confirmed as completed. At the same time, the two other missions—the Bandit Extermination Mission and the Demonic Cultivators Extermination—were both verified to have been successfully completed.”

The clerk seemed about to continue, but then one of his eyebrows rose, “Oh…” he gave Mikael a look before continuing, “It is said here that the Demonic Cultivator Extermination Mission rank rose from the 4th layer of the Spiritual Foundation Realm to the 7th layer of the Spiritual Foundation Realm in difficulty…

"The initial difficulty was miscalculated by the sect. As compensation, the Sect offers you the contribution points that a 9th layer Spiritual Foundation Realm mission would grant. Is it acceptable for your trouble and the unexpected danger faced?” he politely asked, never breaking composure—but only he knew how shocked he was inwardly.

After all, for a 1st layer Spiritual Foundation Realm cultivator—Core Disciple or not—to complete a 4th layer difficulty mission was already jaw-dropping… but to finish one that had actually reached the 7th layer in difficulty…

It was so shocking that for a moment, the Inner Disciple wondered if he was dreaming? But even in his state of disbelief, he remained professional and issued the marked compensation due to the miscalculated difficulty—a policy unique to the Wandering Sword Sect.

For other Sects, if a mission’s difficulty became harder than it was supposed to, it was thought luck for you. Not only you weren’t compensated, with the mission difficulty and consequently the reward staying the same, but at the same time you faced extreme danger—after all, a 4th layer cultivator facing a 6th or 7th layer one generally meant death!

Which is something the Wandering Sword Sect understood perfectly well, which is why in this sect, if something like that happened, you were generously compensated.

The mission difficulty—and consequently, the reward—was upgraded to what it should have been, but that wasn’t all, as the reward increased beyond the difficulty to account for the extreme danger faced.

This was one of the measures put in place by the ancestors of the Wandering Sword Sect—a single measure among many others that all favored cohesion and loyalty to the Sect and that, as time proved… were extremely effective.

How so?

Simple. The Wandering Sword Sect had the highest level of cohesion, loyalty, and unity among the Three Overlord Sects—and not by a little. In truth, the difference was actually quite enormous.

After all, between a sect that treats you as expendable, where fighting to the death against fellow disciples is possible and even relatively common, and a sect where you're valued, where conflicts are minimal and most people share a harmonious relationship—it was evident which one would feel more like ‘home’.

These thoughts flashed through Mikael’s mind in an instant before he refocused on reality, giving the ‘clerk’ a small nod, “Yes, this level of compensation is fully adequate. At the same time, I would like for all the contributions to be transferred to myself.”

The Inner Disciple nodded in an almost deferential way, “At once, Senior Brother,” and with a quick maneuver, Mikael’s missions were all marked as completed and the corresponding contribution points were transferred to his ‘account’.

He took back his Identification Plaque, satisfied, ‘With this done, I can focus on what is truly important… repairing Sangrelia!’ he thought to himself before turning to leave with a small “Thank you.”

“Pssst, Brother Zhao, who was he?” asked a nearby pretty female Inner Disciple with a voluptuous figure who was also acting as a ‘clerk’ and who had been frequently stealing glances at Mikael—clearly captivated by his handsomeness.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t found the courage to approach this handsome Senior Brother and interrupt his conversation, but now that he was gone, her timidity faded and her curiosity took the upper hand.

To the female clerk’s surprise, the one called Brother Zhao didn’t answer immediately. His gaze was stuck on empty air, unfocused, as if in shock… or perhaps reflecting on his life choices?

“Hey, Brother Zhao?” she repeated, louder this time—and it seemed to do the trick, as the call snapped him back to reality.

“Eh? What?” he asked while looking around in slight confusion, until his gaze finally settled on the female clerk, “Sister Chen? What is it?” he added, subtly straightening his posture and smoothing out his expression.

Sister Chen had an excited expression as she asked, “What did this handsome Senior Brother want?”

Normally, Brother Zhao would have felt crestfallen that Sister Chen was so focused on another man, but today… he didn’t care. His expression grew hazy as he murmured, “He was confirming the completion of some missions, with one of them…”

He stopped mid-sentence, seemingly unsure if what he had just seen had truly happened—but Sister Chen leaned forward, urging him, “What? One of them what?”

“What was originally ranked at the 4th layer…” he began, and Sister Chen—along with several nearby disciples who had been eavesdropping, as seeing a Core Disciple appear in the Inner Court was a rare event—froze, eyes bulging in shock. 

After all, a 1st layer Spiritual Foundation Realm cultivator completing a 4th layer mission was already outrageous enough… but the worst was still to come. 

“...got upgraded because of how dangerous it was to a 7th layer one and he… successfully completed it!”

“What!”

“Impossible!”

Instantly, the surroundings erupted in chatter. All the nearby disciples were shocked by this; one of the ‘silent listeners’ even stepped forward. “Brother Zhao, are you sure of what you're saying and that you didn’t misspeak? It’s not that I don’t want to believe you, but this is too shocking!”

Brother Zhao gave a wry smile as he replied, “Brother, I understand you— even I’m having a hard time believing it, but this is absolutely the truth.”

The other disciples had no choice but to believe him. After all, inwardly, they already knew he was probably telling the truth, no matter how shocking it was. As the ‘clerk’ who had handled this Core Disciple’s mission completion, he obviously knew the result and thus knew exactly what he was talking about.

As for him lying?

Some Inner Disciples did consider the possibility that Brother Zhao had been paid by this Senior Brother to boost his fame, but ultimately, none of them truly believed it—such a move would have been far too stupid.

This was the kind of lie that could easily be discovered, and the infamy gained afterward would far surpass any potential fame gained, so ultimately the majority of disciples believed the ‘clerk’—after all, they nearly never lied. The only reason they even had some doubt was simply because the matter was far too astonishing.

But now that Brother Zhao confirmed his words and the truth of the matter… discussion exploded, with a lot of people wondering who this Senior was, until an Inner Disciple who had been present in the earlier confrontation months ago told everyone his name—Mikael Angelini.

In this way, unknown to Mikael, his popularity in the following days would surge a lot, with a good amount of disciples learning about his name and who he was, and at the same time, his status as a genius began to truly spread in the Sect.

💬Got Thoughts? I read every comment, and your words genuinely shape Mikael’s path.

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A/N:

Back to the Sect! Finally after 50 something chapters of exploration and more or less four months of ‘action’ for Mikael he can finally relax or can he?

This is to be seen in the future chapters!

As for the little worldbuilding on the Wandering Sword Sect, this is me extending on the reason behind it behin an united sect beyond ‘they are the good guy and all that’s’ (Of course it isn’t a story of good guy/bad guy, it’s simply that I didn’t want to do like in all cultivation novel where in a sect there a full competition but I wanted to create something harmonious, at least for the sect and I think it give a pretty nice result…)

Anyways, it may not have shown much with Mikael always going up against demonic beasts far above him in ‘realm’ but in truth he is really overpowered, in the Akashic Records Universe cross fighting/killing one above own cultivation realm is extremely hard as I tried to explain–don’t know if I made a good job?

But the point is that crossing ‘levels’ to battle higher realms opponent is extremely hard you won’t see a cultivator in ping chong realm being an heavenly genius and effortlessly cross three major realm to kill a powerhouse in the chong ching realm, thing like that won’t happen or it would need a damn good reason, that’s for sure!

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📚 Chapters ahead await on Patreon: www./SDASLUMMY

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Glad you’re walking this path with me.

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