The imperial capital of Heaven's Reach shimmered like a dream of gold and arrogance. Endless banners of major sects fluttered across the skies, each embroidered with celestial beasts and Daoic runes that screamed, We are important!
Pavilions floated midair, immortal musicians played zithers that could cut through mountains, and entire mountains hovered to host the top-tier sects.
Meanwhile…
The Falling Sword Sect was placed beside the latrine canal.
Master Shen Liang! Zhao Fei, his disciple, looked half in tears, half in disbelief. They really...really put us next to the waste channel! It smells like a demon beast's armpit after thunder tribulation!
Shen Liang looked at the narrow ditch flowing with questionable water. He squinted, then smiled proudly.
Excellent. The flow here is strong. Very good Qi circulation. You see, Heaven's waste is still Heaven's creation. If it flows, it cultivates!
Master, Zhao Fei whispered. That's… that's sewage.
Shen Liang nodded sagely. Exactly! Impure Qi flushed from ten thousand arrogant cultivators. It's practically recycled enlightenment!
Behind them, the other disciples groaned as noble sects strutted by, laughing loudly.
Hah! The Falling Sword Sect? Don't they use broom handles as swords?
I heard their elder sweeps for enlightenment. Perhaps the broom bristles contain his Dao!
Shen Liang waved at them cheerfully. You're half correct! The broom is my Dao. Careful where you step, my enlightenment sweeps faster than your ego.
The crowd burst into laughter, though some faltered at the sheer confidence in his tone.
That night, the sect's corner of the capital was quiet. Other sects meditated, cultivated, or bathed in spirit pools.
Shen Liang sat by his small wooden broom, tapping it rhythmically against the ground, humming a simple tune one his late master used to sing during cleaning duty.
The night wind shifted. The moon hung high, silver as a blade.
Suddenly... the world went still.
The hum of Qi around him slowed. The air shimmered with faint light, and his broom began to tremble.
Then came the voice — crisp, metallic, divine:
[System Notification]
Mythic Class Fully Awakened: Sword Laborer of Heaven.
Divine Authority Granted: The Heavenly Manual of Labor.
All labor is cultivation. All work is Dao. Every motion is a prayer to Heaven.
The broom burst into radiant light.
Golden veins of energy spiraled around it, connecting to the sky itself. Clouds twisted above, forming the faint image of a colossal hand — the Hand of Heaven — reaching down to the little courtyard beside the sewage canal.
Eh? Shen Liang blinked, shielding his eyes. Finally, Heaven acknowledges janitorial excellence.
Zhao Fei ran out of the tent, wide-eyed. M–Master! The sky! It's glowing! What did you do!?
Just sweeping, Shen Liang said with complete seriousness. Apparently Heaven's quite dirty tonight.
The broom hovered before him, shedding bristles of light that danced like tiny meteors. Its once-crude handle turned into white-gold wood, engraved with moving runes — yet it was still unmistakably a broom.
[System Upgrade]
New Ability: Heavenly Perception – The Eye of Efficiency
Host can now perceive flaws, waste, and imperfections in any cultivation technique or creation under Heaven.
A new hum filled his mind, "the Heavenly Rhythm".
It wasn't a song, but a pulse... steady, pure, and profound. It resonated with the flow of rivers, the beating of hearts, even the motion of stars above. Every breath of air, every grain of dust seemed to follow that rhythm.
For a moment, Shen Liang felt the rhythm of all existence.
He exhaled slowly, smiling. Ah. So that's what Heaven's heartbeat sounds like.
He looked toward the grand pavilions of the Ten Great Sects, their disciples meditating in complex lotus formations. With one glance, he could now see them: inefficiencies in their meridians, flawed circulations, wasted Qi.
So many years cultivating… and yet they still breathe like constipated dragons, he muttered. Tsk, tsk. No wonder Heaven demoted them.
He leaned back and grinned. Guess I'm the only one working overtime.
Just then, a faint voice broke the silence.
You're still awake, Shen Liang.
It was Luo Yan, the Imperial Sword Envoy. Moonlight framed her silhouette calm, poised, and beautiful, her sword aura like frozen lightning.
She frowned at him. Tomorrow begins the Sect Tournament. Other leaders meditate. You… sweep?
Shen Liang gestured to the glowing broom. Meditation? I'm already cultivating. The dust listens, the moon watches, and even Heaven's canal flows obediently. Why sit still when you can sweep toward enlightenment?
…That's not cultivation, she said, utterly baffled.
He smiled, eyes half-lidded. Then Heaven must be sweeping along with me.
As he spoke, the broom glided through the air, one slow, elegant sweep.
With that motion, the courtyard floor glowed.
Each stroke of the broom released ripples of light that danced in the moonlight circles of divine energy expanding outward.
Luo Yan felt it. Her sword hummed, resonating faintly with the same divine rhythm.
What—what Dao is this…? she whispered.
The Dao of Labor, Shen Liang said softly. Heaven's oldest rhythm. Every star that shines, every world that spins, they're just Heaven doing its daily chores.
The rhythm swelled, spreading across the night sky. Even distant cultivators paused in their meditation, sensing something strange like a divine janitor quietly rearranging the cosmos.
[Hidden Quest Unlocked]
Rhythm of Heaven: Understand the Labor of Creation.
Luo Yan looked at him, caught between awe and confusion. You're ridiculous… and yet…
She hesitated, then smiled faintly. Perhaps ridiculousness is your cultivation path.
Exactly, Shen Liang said cheerfully. I clean Heaven's dust so others can walk proudly on its floor.
He leaned on his broom, grinning under the moon.
Tomorrow, I'll sweep the whole tournament.