The teleportation should have been smooth.
It was, after all, a Heavenly Sword Sect formation—refined over thousands of years, stabilized by seven patriarchs, and designed specifically to send one extremely valuable disciple somewhere safe and quiet.
Unfortunately, the heavens disagreed.
Midway through the transfer, Li Chen felt it.
A sudden wrenching sensation, as if space itself had grabbed him by the collar.
"Nope," Li Chen said calmly. "I don't like that."
The light around him twisted. The runes of the formation blurred, cracked, and—
RIP.
Space tore open like rotten cloth.
Li Chen screamed as he was flung out of the void, tumbling helplessly through darkness before crashing into something solid.
Hard.
Very hard.
He landed face-first in mud.
Silence followed.
Li Chen did not move.
After a long moment, he cautiously lifted his head, spat out dirt, and looked around.
No mountains floating in the sky.
No towering sect gates.
No teleportation platform.
Instead, there were rolling hills, a dirt road, and a wooden sign crookedly planted in the ground.
→ Qing River City (30 li)
← Azure Leaf Sect Recruitment (15 li)
Li Chen's eye twitched.
"…That's not the branch sect."
He checked his jade token.
No response.
His communication talisman was dead.
Li Chen slowly sat up.
"Okay," he muttered. "Rule number one of survival in strange places: don't panic."
A voice suddenly spoke behind him.
"Uh… are you alive?"
Li Chen nearly drew a sword that wasn't there.
He spun around to see a boy about his age standing a few steps away. The boy wore simple clothes, carried a bundle on his back, and looked at him with wide, cautious eyes.
"Yes," Li Chen said quickly. "I am extremely alive."
The boy relaxed slightly.
"That's good," he said. "You fell out of the sky."
Li Chen nodded. "That happens sometimes."
The boy blinked. "It does?"
"Rarely," Li Chen corrected.
They stared at each other for a moment.
"My name's Xu Ming," the boy said at last. "I'm heading to the Azure Leaf Sect for recruitment. Are you… a cultivator?"
Li Chen considered lying.
Then he remembered how lying tended to make things worse.
"I'm… between jobs," he said.
Xu Ming frowned, then shrugged. "You don't look like a bad person. You should come with me. The sect is recruiting today, and cultivators there can heal injuries."
Li Chen checked himself.
No visible injuries. No broken bones. No missing limbs.
Still alive. Excellent.
He glanced toward the sign pointing to the sect.
A sect meant protection.
Protection meant rules.
Rules meant fewer random deaths.
"I was going there anyway," Li Chen said quickly.
Xu Ming smiled.
They set off down the dirt road together.
As they walked, Li Chen learned that Xu Ming was from a small village, had no backing, and only a faint sense of spiritual energy—but he was stubborn and hopeful.
Li Chen admired that.
Hope is dangerous, he thought. But admirable.
Along the way, Li Chen subtly suppressed his aura, carefully coiling his sword qi inward like a sleeping serpent. Xu Ming seemed unaware of anything unusual, chatting excitedly about becoming a cultivator.
As the Azure Leaf Sect's mountain came into view, Li Chen felt a familiar pressure in the air.
Sect formations.
Not dangerous.
Not powerful.
But enough to filter out mortals.
Xu Ming straightened his back.
"This is it," he said nervously.
Li Chen nodded.
Temporary shelter, he thought. Blend in. Cultivate slowly. Survive.
He didn't notice the elder at the sect gate stiffen as they approached.
Nor the faint trembling of the swords hanging on the wall.
Nor the quiet murmur spreading among the watching disciples.
"A sword… hiding itself?"
Li Chen stepped forward, unaware that even in hiding—
The path of the sword had already begun to follow him once more.