The group returned to the sect; Gabalawi and Kafka had had the same idea and returned too, and both groups met somewhere down the mountain.

  Everyone was safe and accounted for; after sharing the story of their individual fights, they found out that only Seph took a life.

  Seph felt awkward because only he went to these extremes, it wasn’t the first time he killed, and when he thought about it, he realized it wouldn’t be the last time he will kill either, if someone is coming after his life, or the life of a loved one they were forfeiting theirs.

  After they said goodbye to everyone, Seph and Lilith stood in front of their cultivation tombs, and she said, “Don’t worry, Seph, we will find Sun again.”

  Seph said, “I am not giving up on him, I’ll find him no matter what, whatever happened while I was in the Zen state, I’ll find Sun and I’ll explain myself, if he forgives me and wants to be my friend again then there is nothing I’d want more. If he doesn’t want to be with me, then he is free to go, but I have to find him first and do my best to make him understand.”

  Lilith put her palm on his cheek as she said, “You never know, maybe he will be the one who comes back on his own too.”

  Seph liked the feeling of her soft hand on his cheek, and said, “Even if he doesn’t, I’ll work on becoming stronger to climb this mountain and search for him myself. Right now, the only thing I can do is learn this new skill, and maybe after that I’ll consume the pills we took from the elder and advance to the next stage.”

  Lilith dropped her hand from his cheek and said, “Just don’t forget the magical diary; write to me when you want to hang out or train together or run a mission together, or anything really.”

  Seph said, “Don’t worry, I will, thanks so much for sticking with me, Lilith.”

  Lilith puffed her cheeks in feigned anger and said, “Don’t be stupid; you don’t thank your friends.”

  Seph said with a smirk, “I was thanking my future wife.”

  Lilith’s eyes went wide as she said, “F...F. FF.. Future wife!” and then she jumped into her cultivation tomb, not even waiting for the door to go down entirely into the ground.

  Hehe, got her. She is always teasing me; I am glad I got her back for all the teasing. Still though, this wasn’t a simple thing to say at all.

  He then sighed audibly, and thought, I hope you are okay, Sun, or I am going to kick your ass when I find you. The deal is I stay alive for you and Lilith, and you and Lilith stay alive for me.

  Seph then entered his cultivation tomb, and the first thing he did was sit on the bed, and open the magical diary, and write: Hi

  After a couple of minutes of staring at the diary, he found ink appear on the page that said:

  Lilith: Hi! Is everything all right?

  Then, after a few seconds, a follow-up question was written.

  Lilith: Is everything all right?

  Seph wrote: Oh, nothing, I just wanted to find out if this thing worked or not.

  Lilith: It does! Were you really doubting my power of effective shopping?

  Seph: Who, me? Noooo, never!

  Lilith: *squinting my eyes as I look at you doubtfully. I don’t believe you, but whatever, in the end I win anyway, my diary works!

  Seph: Haha, you were scary when you squinted at me like that earlier today.

  Lilith: Gasp! I am scary?

  Seph: A little.

  Seph waited to get an answer, but when he got nothing after a couple of minutes, he wrote.

  Seph: Lilith? Are you still there?

  He still didn’t get an answer, so he chuckled, before he felt all the worry over Sun come rushing into his entire being again.

  He got up off the bed, and stood in the middle of the room, and continued his training from earlier today, the mantra training had to be ten days in a row, he had to reach the 10 thousand strikes each day without exception, and he was sure he hadn’t reached that many today.

  This was his first combo attack training, but he felt it wouldn’t be just a combo attack; he felt that some fantastical effect was going to come out of this training.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  As he trained, he remembered the weird dreams he had been having lately, and felt trepidation about the prospect of sleeping, so he just trained for the rest of the night until the sun eventually came out.

  In the morning, he wrote to Lilith: I am going to go tackle one of these bounties, maybe even two or three of them. Would you like to accompany me?

  This time her reply came back immediately: Yes! I’ll freshen up and meet you outside; don’t leave without me!

  Seph wrote: Never thought about it.

  Seph went and looked at his small mirror and said, “Well, I still look like a corpse groom, but there is nothing I can do about it, I guess.”

  He got out of his cultivation tomb and stood in front of Lilith’s cultivation tomb, and waited.

  Fifteen minutes later she came out as Baby was yawning on top of her head, and she said, “Good morning.”

  Seph replied, “Good morning to you; you look great.”

  Lilith said as she blushed a little, “Thanks, I can’t say the same about you though.”

  Seph replied in a wounded voice, “Ouch, why do you keep twisting that knife inside my heart?”

  Lilith replied, “I don’t know; it’s so fun to tease you, so which contract did you want to do?”

  Seph said, “I am thinking of the mining contract; since there are monsters down in the mines, I might get to kill some of them too and train my skills more.”

  Lilith nodded and said, “Good choice; you need to train more.”

  Seph asked, “Are you going to take on the same contract with me?”

  Lilith answered, “Nope, I am good; I don’t need the money or the experience, I need much tougher monsters than that to grow.”

  Seph raised an eyebrow and asked, “What about sect contribution?”

  Lilith said, “I don’t want that either; I have all the manuals for all the skills I could need, and I have many skill stones as well. My father made sure I had the best start possible. I am still accompanying you, though to keep you company and to watch your back. I will only intervene if these monsters become too much for you.”

  Seph said, “Thank you; I am not going specifically for the monsters, so it should be fine, but still let’s check the bounty board for any new bounties.”

  The duo went to the courtyard, and Seph checked the bounty board again; nothing had changed, except one bounty that now said:

  Rat infestation in the mines

  There have been reports of a big pack of rats in the mines under our sect.

  We require one or more brave inner-sect disciples to take care of them.

  First come, first served.

  Pay & Merit: We pay handsomely with both spirit stones and merit.

  Come, report to me after you get this done.

  *Update: Since there were no takers for this bounty for quite some time, I now offer rewards for any single rat kills in the mines; if you kill some of them, report to Windsor the gatekeeper disciple, and he will reward you accordingly.

  Signed: The elder.

  Seph said, “Well, looks like I am in luck; I can now get paid for individual rat kills, so killing any that attack me won’t be a total waste.”

  Lilith replied, “Good. You are poor, and you need the spirit stones. Let us get some work done.”

  Seph said, “Poor? Come on! I have a little over 4000 spirit stones.”

  Lilith nodded sagely. “Yes, still poor, let’s get you a little richer; I can’t have my future boyfriend to be lazy and broke.”

  She had already left him and headed for the mines, and Seph ran after her saying, “Come on, I am not lazy and broke!”

  Lilith shouted back, “Prove me wrong.”

  Eventually they reached the furthest place to the back of the sect, and they found an opening heading deeper into the ground, there were fire torches lighting the mine shaft, and Seph looked inside and steeled his resolve, and said, “Well, let’s go get that money.”

  Lilith said, “Let’s do it.”

  Seph got out his new pickaxe and headed inside, and Lilith followed close behind.

  After walking down into the mountain for fifteen minutes, Seph finally came to a big room, with a big torch in the middle, and veins upon veins of many minerals all around him.

  He used the Eye of the Appraiser to determine which vein was gold, since he wanted the most value, and he found the one, and started mining it.

  Lilith sat down on the ground with her back to the wall, as Seph was working.

  Seph said in a sad tone, “You know, I try to laugh and joke, but it honestly feels very weird without Sun; I miss him so much already. He could have been the one watching my back, or we could have mined together and have you watch our backs. He could have ganged up on me with you when you tease me, or at the very least he could have laughed at my misfortune. I miss that, you know? I never had that before him; he was my first friend, you are the second, and I love you, but it’s not the same without him.”

  Lilith nodded in understanding as she held Baby in her lap and scratched her bony head. “I understand you; I can’t imagine my life without Baby either; she is the most important friend I ever had.”

  Baby nudged Lilith in her bare belly, since she was wearing her scales as a crop top again, and Lilith understood what Baby needed and got out the dragon-touched metal for Baby to chew on. Oddly enough, she really loved to chew on that metal.

  Seph said sadly, “I hope you never lose her like I lost Sun; I wouldn’t wish what happened to me to happen to anyone else.”

  Lilith said, “Don’t be silly; I know Sun will be back with you. I don’t know when, but I believe you two will meet again.”

  Seph had been hitting the vein that showed a hint of gold all this time, and suddenly he saw a small quartz gem sticking out of the stone.

  He carefully aimed his axe not to hit the gem and got it out safely and stored it in his spatial sack.

  Seph said, “Wow, this mountain is loaded with treasures; I wonder how that came to be.”

  Lilith answered, “It’s because of the Qi energy; wherever it is rich, excellent resources follow, and this mountain is unique; it’s rich in both Qi energy and Yin energy. That’s why those three sects settled here. It’s fascinating that they came to an agreement to all occupy the same mountain.”

  Seph said, “Yeah, unfortunately for us though, because they are literally on top of our heads.”

  Lilith said, “That situation will eventually explode though; they are in prime position to catch all of you, and they are much stronger. It will be ugly; I wonder how the elder kept this sect a secret for this long.”

  At that moment, two rats came sniffing from the opening that goes deeper into the cave, no doubt attracted by the ruckus that Seph was causing with his mining.

  Lilith calmly said, “Two big rats behind you.”

  The rats were both the size of a one-year-old human baby; they had brown fur, and big upper incisors.

  " Death should’ve been the end for Seph. Instead, he awakened as an Undead Cultivator. Seph was never meant to stand out. He only wanted a quiet life, the chance to become a scholar, and a way to support his struggling family. When his mother falls ill, he climbs a dangerous mountain in search of a rare herb that might save her. He expects harsh weather, steep cliffs, and wild beasts. He does not expect cultivators. Caught in the middle of a conflict between cultivators of the Immortal and Undead sects, Seph is mistaken for one of the undead. A cultivator crushes him with a hurled boulder, and his life ends in an instant. Then he wakes up again, marked by the Undead Path. Where others rely on spiritual sense, Seph can see his growth clearly through a rare System. His strength, his skills, his cultivation, all laid bare before him on glowing screens. But the world does not forgive the undead, and Seph is trapped between both sides. The only way to survive long enough to save his mother is to ascend. Grab your copy today and follow Seph as he masters the path of the Undead Cultivator and ascends beyond every limit in a world determined to erase his existence. Perfect for fans of Unintended Cultivator, Cradle, and I Shall Seal the Heavens. "