Chapter 308: The Sect Leader’s Grand-Disciple

“Ghost ship?”

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Li Qingqiu’s interest was piqued upon hearing this; since so many people had seen it, it had to be real.

He had always been wary of the Tianming Sea, which was why he had dispatched many True Disciples to Yuantie Port Town. Now, the number of Disciples stationed there exceeded a thousand, making its strength second only to Zhongtian Immortal City and even greater than the Tianshan Spirit Pool.

Xiao Wuqing nodded and lowered his voice to share other intelligence regarding the ghost ship.

After finishing, seeing that Li Qingqiu had no further instructions, he bowed and took his leave.

Zhang Yuchun, who was off to the side, listened to all the intelligence. He felt they couldn’t be careless, but there was no rush to make arrangements today.

A moment later.

Yang Jueding sat down with a wine flask and asked curiously, “Where is that kid Jiang Zhaoxia? Why don’t I see him?”

The others shook their heads, indicating they didn’t know.

Li Sifeng laughed and said, “He went to challenge Yuan Li and lost. Now he’s hiding in his Immortal Cave, sulking in seclusion.”

As soon as he said this, everyone’s eyes fell on him.

They all knew Yuan Li was not the same as before, but no one knew exactly how strong he had become.

Defeating Jiang Zhaoxia was no simple feat.

Could it be that Yuan Li had already become the second strongest in the School?

Li Sifeng didn’t give Jiang Zhaoxia any Face either, recounting the situation at the time: “Yuan Li’s fist was too fast. He threw a punch in front of my Third Senior Brother, and my Third Senior Brother didn’t even have time to react. The match was decided in one punch. Although Third Senior Brother wasn’t injured, it was clearly a heavy blow to his morale. Standing behind him, even though I didn’t feel the punch directly, I was equally terrified. This kid Yuan Li is truly different now. No wonder he could end the Demonic Beast calamity. He might be even stronger than Elder Shen and Xu Ning now. In the whole sect, only Eldest Senior Brother can probably suppress him.”

Recalling that punch, he couldn’t help but shudder.

Yuan Li wasn’t just powerful; the Aura he displayed also gave him a massive shock.

He had never seen such an Aura—an ‘if not me, then who’ attitude, an invincible presence. Even Li Qingqiu and Shen Yue had never displayed such an Aura.

Sitting in the corner of the long table, Shen Yue heard this and calmly drank a bowl of tea.

Zhang Yu tilted his head toward Shen Yue and asked curiously, “Elder Shen, when will you go challenge Yuan Li and see?”

The others all looked at Shen Yue, none of them afraid of making things bigger. It was mainly because Shen Yue acted too cool on a daily basis, and they all wanted to see him suffer a setback.

Shen Yue’s expression remained calm as he said, “How could I possibly challenge a Junior?”

Although he wasn’t sure how strong Yuan Li was, the Aura Yuan Li had during his Awakening was still fresh in his memory.

After that day, Shen Yue had also been deeply affected by that Aura and began closed-door cultivation to study the Dao of the sword.

He hoped his own sword Dao could also possess such an extremely fierce and bold Aura.

His insights had not yet borne fruit, so naturally, he would not go to challenge Yuan Li.

“Then what was it about you challenging Ninger?” Li Sijin asked with a raised eyebrow.

Shen Yue and Xu Ning sparred most frequently, but as they continued to fight, the results of their matches were no longer made public.

“That’s one thing, this is another. Who would dare to treat Xu Ning as a Junior?” Shen Yue glanced at Li Sijin and said righteously.

These siblings were truly wicked. It was fine to praise Yuan Li, but why drag him down?

It wasn’t like he was the one who lost to Yuan Li!

Shen Yue’s words were irrefutable. Xu Ning was Li Qingqiu’s eldest Disciple and held a special status. Even the Hall Masters had to respect or even fear her; she truly couldn’t be treated as a Junior.

This was not only because of Xu Ning’s strength but also because of her personality and presence.

Li Qingqiu smiled as he watched them bicker, finding it interesting. If everyone were too polite, it would feel like empty pleasantries instead.

The topic shifted to exactly how strong Yuan Li was. Cheng Canghai even suggested instigating the School’s geniuses to challenge Yuan Li. This would allow the Disciples to recognize Yuan Li’s strength and increase his prestige, while also stimulating the geniuses to Cultivate harder.

This proposal received unanimous approval.

Just then.

Yuan Li walked into the Lingxiao Courtyard. As soon as he arrived, everyone fell silent.

Seeing his white hair, even though his frame was stronger than before, the high-level officials felt a pang of sadness.

They all knew Yuan Qi and were well aware of how deep the bond between these brothers was.

Even Yuan Qi had died; would any of them meet with misfortune in the future?

No matter how strong the Qingxiao Sect became, there would always be accidents and encounters with entities that could not be overcome.

Thinking of this, the moods of the high-level officials dampened.

Yuan Li seemed not to notice the abnormality. He came behind Li Qingqiu, first bowing respectfully, then spoke: “Master, I wish to take on a Disciple. Is that alright?”

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone’s spirits lifted.

Although Li Qingqiu’s Disciples would guide other Disciples in the sect, none had yet taken on their own Disciples.

If Yuan Li took the lead in taking a Disciple, then the Sect Leader’s lineage would be considered passed down. Most importantly, they could stuff people into the Sect Leader’s lineage!

Li Qingqiu turned to look at Yuan Li. Yuan Li acted openly and looked at his Master seriously.

“Do you already have a candidate?”

“No, I just want to make more contributions to the School.”

“Very well. However, you must distinguish between the relationship of a personal Disciple and a regular Disciple. Your personal Disciple must be brought to see me and must also meet your Senior Sister and Junior Brother. Do you understand?”

Li Qingqiu spoke solemnly. Hearing this, Yuan Li naturally gave his guarantee immediately.

Hearing that Yuan Li was only preparing to take a Disciple, the high-level officials became even more interested.

Li Qingqiu had Yuan Li sit down to chat with them. This was equivalent to letting Yuan Li join the high-level circle. Everyone present knew that he would entrust Yuan Li with heavy responsibilities in the future.

The group continued their casual chat.

It wasn’t until evening approached that they dispersed. Li Qingqiu told Yuan Li to head to Yuantie Port Town tomorrow to investigate the matter of the ghost ship, but he was not to go deep into the ocean.

Early the next morning, just as Yuan Li went down the mountain, the news that he was going to take a Disciple spread like wildfire through the sect, exciting many Disciples. The Aristocratic Families even began discussing strategies on how to send their children to study under Yuan Li.

What they valued was not Yuan Li’s strength, but his status as the Sect Leader’s grand-Disciple.

As long as one joined the Sect Leader’s lineage, there would be a chance to compete for the position of Sect Leader in the future!

On the other side, Li Qingqiu arrived at the Dark Hall.

The number of Dark Hall Disciples had already exceeded two hundred, with more than half still in training. Dark Hall Disciples executed long-term secret missions, so the difficulty of training was relatively high.

The Hall Master, Mo Jiuhong, personally welcomed Li Qingqiu, and the two went into the Hall Master’s cave chamber to talk.

“The Nine Immortals Cult has close ties with the Demon Land. We must investigate this thoroughly. What is the situation?”

Li Qingqiu asked while sitting in Mo Jiuhong’s chair.

The Nine Immortals Cult had been deluding people’s hearts all over the Nine Provinces. After the world’s Demonic Beasts retreated, they had also vanished without a trace, but Li Qingqiu would not let them go.

Mo Jiuhong replied, “We have currently tracked several suspicious individuals and are observing them closely. One of them is named Stone Difference Immortal, the Master of Wenxian Temple. He is currently heading north. There are Dark Hall Disciples near him, and intelligence is constantly being sent back.”

Li Qingqiu nodded and said, “Don’t push the Dark Hall Disciples too hard, lest they be exposed.”

“I will handle the boundaries properly.”

“There is one more thing. I need someone to go to the Tianming Sea and infiltrate those Cultivation Schools to serve as the eyes of the Qingxiao Sect.”

“Rest assured, I have already begun preparations for this. I have selected three promising young talents. They are trustworthy, but since they have to go out to sea, I hope their cultivation can be a bit higher. I have already poured the Dark Hall’s resources into them.”

Mo Jiuhong said seriously. Although the Dark Hall could not see the light of day, he, who possessed the ‘Ability to bend and stretch’ and ‘Way of Infiltration’ destinies, very much enjoyed his current life.

Li Qingqiu nodded and said, “The School is getting larger and larger. We can’t just randomly allocate resources to your Dark Hall like before. However, your achievements will be recorded, and resources will be distributed according to merit. You will definitely not be mistreated.”

This point was something he felt more and more deeply. Now, he himself could not simply claim resources for himself because the School’s construction required them.

If he were to wantonly seize interests for himself, it would inevitably affect the operations of the various halls.

Zhang Yuchun and Li Dongyue even hoped he would set a formal Sect Leader’s treatment for himself to put things on the right track, so they could better plan the School’s resources.

Li Qingqiu finally understood the thoughts of a faint-hearted ruler.

The world belonged to the Emperor, but the world’s money wasn’t necessarily the Emperor’s.

Mo Jiuhong could also understand Li Qingqiu’s difficulties. In fact, Li Qingqiu already treated them generously enough. The treatment of every Dark Hall Disciple was higher than that of other departments, and they could even secure cultivation opportunities for their relatives, which was their greatest motivation.

The current Qingxiao Sect had an extremely high threshold for recruiting Disciples. For an ordinary person to directly become a registered Disciple was as difficult as reaching the heavens; they all had to start as Utility Disciples.

Li Qingqiu stayed in the Dark Hall for an hour, and after chatting with every Dark Hall Disciple, he finally left.

The effect of doing this was significant; those Dark Hall Disciples were as excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood.

Li Qingqiu could call out every single one of their names, which showed they were truly remembered in the Sect Leader’s heart. How could they not be excited?

…After spring began, the influence of the Demonic Beast chaos began to diminish. The Qingxiao Sect marched toward the future, and the common people also had to toil for their livelihoods.

During this period, the Qingxiao Sect produced two more Spiritual Consciousness Realm Disciples: Li Yang and Lu Qing.

Lu Qing was the most representative Genius of the Law Enforcement Hall, a top-ten finisher in two Dharma Battle Assemblies, and a Genius Li Qingqiu had been cultivating in secret. Achieving the Spiritual Consciousness Realm could be considered a natural progression.

Li Qingqiu directly dispatched Li Yang to the Northern Border to guard the new city.

To this, Li Yang had no objections.

This new city was named the Demon-Resisting Immortal City by Li Qingqiu. The Son of Heaven of the Northern Court also dispatched a large number of soldiers to help the Qingxiao Sect build the city. This was a great thing for the Northern Court; with the Qingxiao Sect helping them defend the north, they would Face far fewer threats.

This matter had already spread throughout the Northern Border, and more and more Northern Border citizens began to believe in the Qingxiao Sect.

The legends of the five primal essences of the Qingxiao Sect and Li Qingqiu’s name were widely circulated in the Northern Border.

After the matter of the Demon-Resisting Immortal City was settled, Li Qingqiu focused his attention on his own cultivation.

A month after leaving, Yuan Li finally returned.

Li Qingqiu met him alone in the Lingxiao Courtyard.

“Master, that ghost ship is elusive, and I was unable to track it down. I suspect it is some kind of illusion. The only thing certain is that the ghost ship will not harm Yuantie Port Town, but whether it will bring a greater threat, I am not sure.” Yuan Li’s brow was furrowed as he spoke of this.

The confidence brought by the Awakening of the Indestructible Hegemon Body had faded quite a bit, as he was not omnipotent.

Li Qingqiu nodded and said, “It’s fine. Being able to confirm that point is enough. Later, I will arrange for Wei Tian male to make a trip.”

Yuan Li nodded. This matter made him realize he was more suited for combat than for investigation.

Subsequently, Li Qingqiu took out a register from his sleeve, placed it on the table, and pushed it toward Yuan Li, saying, “These are all new Disciples who have entered the sect for less than half a year. Their natural talents are all quite good. You can go and examine them. Whether or not to take a Disciple is up to you.”

If you see an unfamiliar destiny term, you can search in the top right corner to find the introduction~