[ Registration Confirmed: Victor Revenant Josiah – Warrior Class – B Rank ]
The system logged him in.
When he stepped away, some of the remaining warriors gave him questioning looks.
"You sure about this?" one guy asked. "She's S rank. Like... freakishly S rank."
Victor shrugged. "Doesn't matter. That sword chose me once already."
After registering, he returned to Aide Vesska.
She gave him a nod of approval. "Bold move. I respect it."
"I'll need a temporary blade," Victor said.
Vesska guided him into a secondary room filled with a more standard selection of high-grade weapons. After some testing and qi-sync calibrations, he selected a black blade with moderate elemental responsiveness and high stability.
He was also granted access to support equipment.
"All ranked students are entitled to two auxiliary gadgets for field use," Vesska explained. "You may choose from defense drones, cloak enhancers, mana stabilizers, or signal flares."
Victor selected a Reactive Qi Barrier Unit, which could absorb a portion of incoming damage once per day, and a Mana Pulse Scanner, useful for detecting hidden enemies or magical traps.
He didn't have any mana after all.
He signed off on his equipment, nodded to Vesska, and left.
One month to the competition.
He was going to be ready.
Night had fallen over the dorms of Awakened Academy. The lights in the sky dome dimmed to a calming starlit illusion, casting a gentle glow over the Academy's artificial horizon.
Most students were in their rooms, either asleep or burning midnight mana in their respective training sectors.
Victor lay under his blanket with his helmet secured and his game device beside him. With one breath, he activated his connection and slipped back into the virtual cultivation world of Ascendant Realms.
The moment he materialized, he found himself back in his private abode in the Violet Spring Sect.
His mind wasn't on comfort or cultivation tonight.
It was time to deal with the bounty.
The notification had appeared weeks ago—
[ A Bounty Has Been Placed On You ]
It hadn't come with names or affiliations, only a flashing alert and a warning.
Victor stepped out into the brisk night air, wearing the violet-trimmed robes that marked him as a core disciple.
As he moved down the main walkway through the sect, a few disciples nodded respectfully, while others quickly looked away, intimidated by the presence of the one who had passed all three trials despite being an outsider.
He nodded back but didn't slow his pace.
Reaching the sect gates, he stepped out into the lively sprawl of Blueflame City—one of the most prosperous cultivation cities on the continent. It was bustling with cultivators, traders, spiritual beast merchants, and wandering alchemists.
Victor's eyes scanned every corner.
From what he had gathered earlier, bounties of his nature weren't allowed to be officially placed in the city's records unless he was a registered criminal. But there was nothing to stop rogue groups or shadowy cultivators from spreading such things in secret.
He had no intention of sitting back and waiting.
He wanted to know who had put a price on his head.
He roamed from one end of the city to the other—open roads, crowded market lanes, and even quieter alleys. He made sure he was visible, though not overtly. He stopped at various stores, looked over qi artifacts, and even exchanged pleasantries with passing cultivators.
A pair of players waved to him as he crossed one street.
"Fang Chen!" one called. "Nice work at the trials, man!"
Victor nodded and waved back. Word had traveled.
He continued to move, observe and feel.
After over an hour, he finally felt it.
Not one pair but three.
Their intent was subtle but distinct. It clung to his back like a wet shadow.
He didn't stop. Instead, he let them think he hadn't noticed.
He made his way toward the Murktree Forest, a dense area of twisted trees and fogged terrain just within Blueflame city.
The trees had gnarled limbs and roots that coiled like sleeping serpents. He walked deeper into the foliage.
Then vanished from the followers point of view.
The three cultivators reached the forest's edge minutes later.
"He was just here," one who had his hair tied into rough spikes, growled. "I saw him turn at this path."
"Then where is he now?" said the tallest of the three who was a broad man with a hooked nose.
They fanned out and stepped carefully among the shadows and roots.
Branches rustled above them.
Then something dropped.
Victor landed in their midst like a hawk.
Before the closest could react, Victor's palm struck his wrist, disarming the blade, and then followed with a sweeping kick that sent him crashing into a tree trunk.
The second spun while drawing a curved talon blade, but Victor swerved past it, used Shadow Blink to reappear behind him, and slammed the hilt of his sword down on the man's head. The cultivator crumpled like paper.
The third growled and tried to dash away, but Victor extended his hand.
[ Bloodline Technique: Void Pull ]
A ripple of spatial energy yanked the fleeing man back like a ragdoll and slammed him into the ground.
Victor proceeded to raise his hand again, causing the man's body to rise and then swept him into a tree.
Victor stood over them with a calm look while unleashing his Nascent Soul pressure.
He knelt beside the third one who was still conscious and groaning.
"Hey hey, tell me, who sent you after me?" Victor questioned.
"I don't know... we just stumbled upon your poster coincidentally..." the third one mumbled amidst heavy breaths.
A quick search through the man's robe revealed a rolled-up parchment.
Victor unsealed it and voila... it was a bounty poster with his face rendered in eerie charcoal strokes and a string of numbers beneath it.
The same shocking amount that the notification had showed him back then.
Victor's brows drew together.
"So I was right," he murmured. "Someone really wants me gone."
He proceeded to headbutt the thug, knocking him out cold.
Afterwards, he reached for some binding cloth from his ring and securely wrapped the third man from head to toe, gagging him and immobilizing his limbs. He hoisted him over his shoulder with ease.
"I'm going to find out who."