This Sword Cultivator is Somewhat Dependable Chapter 1: The Descent

"Self-destruct damage from the Blood Demon Lord has hit you—you are dead."

"Blood Demon Lord slain by you, mission accomplished, final reward claimed—now drawing Legendary Talent..."

As Lu Qingshan stirred awake, echoes of the system alert from that fierce showdown still rang in his ears.

Without thinking, a cocky grin tugged at Lu Qingshan's lips—

Regardless of the top guilds' soaring fame among players or their dominating strength, I, a solitary adventurer, slyly pulled it off and grabbed the ultimate mission prize.

That epic clash, dubbed the Godslayer Battle, served as an official festivity from "Nine Heavens" marking the game's tenth anniversary.

That day, a server announcement rang out: one of the Demon Race's Great Demon Lords, the Blood Demon Lord, stood confined in the Black Abyss due to a unique quest, unable to escape anytime soon.

Players were urged to rush to the Black Abyss at once, surround the Blood Demon Lord, and battle on behalf of the Human Race's cultivators. Whoever landed the killing strike on the Blood Demon Lord would claim the top mission prize: "Legendary Talent."

The announcement instantly sparked a frenzy server-wide, driving every player into a craze.

Demon Lords rank among the game's most powerful NPCs in terms of battle prowess.

With "Nine Heavens" operational for a decade, even as the core plot advanced to mid-game, Demon Lords stayed as unbeatable, deadly foes in players' eyes.

Sure, players saw any foe with HP bars as fair game to swarm mindlessly.

Yet, even leveraging their vast numbers to overpower a Demon Lord proved feasible, but slaying one outright remained flat-out impossible right now.

Simple truth: Demon Lords weren't idiots; at their cultivation level, once they detected peril and chose to bolt, no player could truly halt them.

Hence, despite targeting a Demon Lord, this fight earned the title Godslayer Battle—for current players, taking down a Demon Lord felt god-slaying tough.

Officials had now pinned the Demon Lord in the Black Abyss, letting players grind down the Blood Demon Lord through endless waves. Officials handed players this god-killing chance on a platter—who wouldn't boil over with hype?

Plus, the mission's top prize was none other than "Legendary Talent"!

In "Nine Heavens", talent's crucial role needs no debate.

From launch day, NPCs viewed players as mere meat shields—decent in cultivation yet pitiful in actual fighting strength.

Same realm or not, famed NPCs butchered same-level players like dogs, while some freakish NPCs even crushed higher-realm players.

Why so?

All because these "protagonist template" NPCs wielded overpowered talents, right?

Take that prodigy Sword Cultivator NPC with the Legendary Talent "One Sword Frost Cold": boosts Sword Technique damage by 100%.

Yep, Legendary Talents hit that raw and savage!

Double damage per swing—battling them feels like slicing veggies!

How do you even compete?

No way, just no.

Damn, gamers always fancy themselves the hero upon login, only to realize they're background nobodies propping up the real stars; against NPCs, Infinite Resurrection's their sole edge.

Talk about soul-crushing, huh?

Officials dangled the path to protagonist status before every player now—who stays calm?

At last, that cursed game designer showed some mercy!

Reward rules pumped players' adrenaline sky-high—the one delivering the Blood Demon Lord's deathblow snagged the ultimate prize.

Typically, server events divvy final rewards by contribution points, handing the big one to the top contributor.

Fair on paper, sure, but it locks the prize for elite bigshots, dooming average Joes from even dreaming of it.

Chasing that event jackpot usually means clashing with titans; regular players just swell the numbers and snag bare-minimum event scraps.

Yet this entirely novel reward distribution system for the tenth anniversary event intrigued countless average players: Hmm... isn't this the officials urging us to steal the show?

Hogging the spotlight has its own tactics.

Indeed, elite players possess great strength.

However, during this massive server-spanning event filled with chaos, where endless skills bombard the Blood Demon Lord every second, who could possibly monitor all the damage?

Even top-tier players can't guarantee landing the last hit on the colossal boss. It boils down to sheer luck for that fatal strike.

Hehe.

With "Nine Heavens"' immense popularity, an account boasting "Legendary Talent" fetches a massive sum, outstripping lottery wins and securing lifelong luxury.

Even those usually detached, zen-like players now joined the frenzy, heading straight for the Black Abyss.

Who doesn't fantasize about striking it rich?

Amid this horde of players fantasizing about snatching victory, Lu Qingshan stood out slightly; he held fame as a top ten Sword Cultivator unbound by any guild.

Being a top ten player Great Sword Cultivator, Lu Qingshan wielded unique trump cards beyond ordinary players.

"Heaven and Earth Sword": Sacrificing a full major realm in cultivation, the next damage skill gains special traits: true damage, instant kill, bypasses death immunity.

Any single one of these traits qualifies as Legendary Talent.

Let alone their combined might, best summed up in a single term.

Terrifying!

Of course, such overwhelming power demands a steep price; the major realm drop kept Lu Qingshan from ever deploying this skill despite owning it for ages.

Particularly as his Cultivation Realm climbed higher, that penalty grew ever more daunting.

He figured it would stay unused forever.

Yet now, a prime chance for a massive bet dangled before him.

Though "Heaven and Earth Sword" boosted his odds dramatically for the final blow, certainty remained elusive—but he'd roll the dice.

Failure meant just grinding hard on cultivation recovery for a bit. Success? Legendary Talent, the very first for any player in "Nine Heavens", worth dropping to Foundation Establishment.

Thus, as the gigantic Blood Demon Lord's Health Points crashed amid the players' onslaught, right before its self-explosion, Lu Qingshan activated Heaven and Earth Sword and fired his mightiest Sword Technique.

A brilliant crimson flash ensued, paired with two system alerts.

The initial system announcement made Lu Qingshan assume defeat.

Luckily, the follow-up chime rang soon after.

Victory was his.

...

Lu Qingshan sensed his body rigid and chilled, immersed in some kind of fluid.

He couldn't help furrowing his brow; resurrection shouldn't feel like this.

Side effects from "Heaven and Earth Sword" perhaps?

Lu Qingshan's immediate reaction was mental cursing: Damn game designers, what nonsense is this? Dropping a major realm wasn't penalty enough; now you tamper with respawning too.

Instinctively, he checked his body's Spiritual Power.

Vacant, as anticipated...

Hold on, completely vacant?!

As a veteran "Nine Heavens" gamer at the version's peak—Body Integration Realm—even after "Heaven and Earth Sword"'s realm drop, his Dantian shouldn't be utterly devoid of Spiritual Power.

A glitch maybe?

Though myriad ideas raced through his head, mere instants had elapsed since waking.

Baffled, Lu Qingshan gradually parted his eyelids.

Darkness cloaked a moist cavern; Luminous Pearls studded its walls, casting soft white light that revealed his predicament clearly.

The sensation was real—he truly lay submerged in liquid.

A compact pool brimmed with inky fluid, his body within like a hot spring bather, head alone protruding.

Scanning about, past his own pool, dozens of adorable tiny heads bobbed above the surface, lined in tidy rows.

???????