Chapter 37: The Benefits of Fame

Although Jiang Zhaoxia returned injured, it did not frighten the Qingxiao Sect Disciples. This was because Li Sifeng recounted his battle achievements so vividly that everyone soon knew about them.

Battled the Fifth Alliance Leader of the Seven Peaks Alliance, won in five Moves!

Battled Immortal Master Xuandang, won in seven Moves!

Battled the Divine Monk of Chanding Temple, won in twenty-three Moves!

Battled the Law Enforcement Elder of Iron Peak, won in twenty-five Moves!

Battled the number one in the Martial Forest, Yu Zhiyi, and suffered a narrow defeat after two hundred Moves!

Each of those battle records made the Qingxiao Sect Disciples’ blood boil with excitement. Jiang Zhaoxia’s prestige within the Qingxiao Sect reached its peak; except for Xu Ning, all the Disciples worshipped him.

Li Sifeng even went as far as to shamelessly proclaim Jiang Zhaoxia as the Second Best in the World.

“The Jianghu is treacherous; that has never been an empty phrase. Even if you study to take the imperial examinations for officialdom, you will still encounter treacherous hearts.”

Inside the New Courtyard, Zhang Yu held a bamboo fan and spoke leisurely.

Full thirty Disciples sat in the courtyard listening to his lecture. This was done at Li Qingqiu’s behest; otherwise, Zhang Yu alone could never have gathered so many people—even Li Sifeng had been forced to stay here by Li Qingqiu.

Qingxiao Sect was far from the secular world and had a relaxed sect culture with no power struggles for the time being, so the Disciples were quite innocent. Li Qingqiu felt it was necessary to give them some ideological education classes.

“The deceased Nanny Xi was shrouded in suspicion. Elder Jiang was too young and overlooked much. Today, we shall conduct a review.”

“First, as an ordinary innkeeper, how could she be certain she wouldn’t poison the wrong person? Facing two martial arts experts, she would surely be nervous during her first attempt at poisoning, yet she left no flaws.”

“Second, Elder Jiang has profound Internal Skill and extraordinary hearing; even through a wall, he can hear others whispering, yet this woman didn’t leak a single sound beforehand.”

“Third, as soon as she arrived at the mountain, she wanted to take her own life. What was her intention? If she truly wanted to die, why didn’t she go down the mountain to do it herself? Why did she insist on dying in front of us? Is it possible she was certain we would step in to save her?”

Zhang Yu threw out one question after another. Li Sifeng, who had been somewhat impatient, fell into deep thought after hearing them.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt Nanny Xi was suspicious.

Subsequently, Zhang Yu began to recount the Jianghu stories he had heard.

So many martial arts experts died from hidden plots and at the hands of petty people; those who died in direct confrontations between the strong were actually the minority.

Having martial arts that are too strong can sometimes be a weakness instead.

The Disciples listened very intently because even someone as strong as Jiang Zhaoxia, the second in the Martial Forest, had nearly died, which touched them deeply.

Li Qingqiu also came to listen for a while. After confirming that Zhang Yu wasn’t inserting personal agendas and was indeed lecturing well, he then departed.

The benefits of Jiang Zhaoxia making a name for himself at the Martial Arts Assembly exceeded Li Qingqiu’s expectations. A month after Jiang Zhaoxia and the other returned, Zhang Yuchun went down the mountain to recruit and brought back sixteen people in one go. These Disciples all came because of Jiang Zhaoxia’s fame.

Among them was one person with relatively good cultivation Aptitude, whom Li Qingqiu secretly noted for focused observation.

Teaching the Taiqing Hunyuan Scripture depended first on Aptitude and second on contribution. Li Qingqiu would also give those Disciples with poor Aptitude a chance; he always believed that Acquired effort could also change one’s destiny.

After entering autumn, other Jianghu Schools came to visit, purely wishing to establish ties without threats or exchange of interests. After Li Qingqiu received them, they got along very pleasantly.

This School was named the White Crane Sect, a second-rate sect in the Guzhou Prefecture region. Its Sect Master had also participated in the Martial Arts Assembly and befriended Jiang Zhaoxia and the other. He brought five Disciples for a visit and stayed at the Qingxiao Sect for two days before taking his leave. Li Qingqiu, Jiang Zhaoxia, and Zhang Yuchun personally saw them off.

“Sect Master Li, you must come to my White Crane Sect as a guest in the future; I will certainly not neglect you.” The White Crane Sect’s Sect Master was nearly fifty and smiled kindly, holding Li Qingqiu’s hand and talking for quite a while before letting go.

Facing the other’s warm invitation, Li Qingqiu naturally agreed repeatedly. As for whether he would actually go, that was another matter.

Watching the departing backs of the six people from the White Crane Sect, Li Qingqiu sighed with emotion, “Third Junior Brother, you’ve truly become famous overnight.”

In this world where information transmission was not convenient, Li Qingqiu had always felt that the spread of fame was very ethereal and required many years of accumulation. He hadn’t expected Jiang Zhaoxia’s fame to spread so quickly after just one trip to the Martial Arts Assembly.

Jiang Zhaoxia said expressionlessly, “Don’t mention it. Returning with heavy injuries once again—in my view, this trip to the Martial Arts Assembly was a failure.”

Mentioning this, his hands inside his sleeves clenched into fists. He truly felt that being plotted against by the Heavenly Saber Sect was a massive humiliation.

Li Qingqiu patted his shoulder and smiled, “Don’t think too much. The Jianghu is treacherous; even if you think ahead as much as possible, Jianghu experience must be accumulated through personal experience.”

Even the veteran of the Jianghu, the Dragon-Subduing Hero Yang Jueding, had once been poisoned.

Poisoning is difficult for Jianghu people to guard against; one will always encounter it.

Zhang Yuchun smiled and said, “Indeed. To be able to escape from the encirclement and plots of the Heavenly Saber Sect—looking at the Guzhou Jianghu, how many people could achieve that?”

Comforted by the two of them, Jiang Zhaoxia’s mood improved, but he secretly thought to himself that this matter was far from over.

Once he reached the Nourishing Origin Realm Fourth Layer, he would seek revenge!

With a third-layer cultivation, he could defeat the Heavenly Saber Sect’s Sect Leader Lu Fuhu. Once he reached the fourth layer, he felt he could forcibly storm the Heavenly Saber Sect and make Lu Fuhu follow in the footsteps of the Seven Peaks Alliance’s Lü Taidou!

The three fellow Disciples chatted for a bit before going their separate ways. Jiang Zhaoxia went to Cultivate, while Li Qingqiu and Zhang Yuchun discussed the future path for the Qingxiao Sect to earn money.

First, they had to erect a stone tablet at the foot of the mountain to guide people to find the Qingxiao Sect.

If possible, they also needed to build a simple mountain road.

It wasn’t easy for ordinary commoners to go up the mountain and find the Qingxiao Sect; even the farmers and hunters from the villages at the foot of the mountain could easily get lost.

Winter Moon wanted to contribute to the Qingxiao Sect, so she asked Zhang Yuchun to help spread the word that she could treat difficult and complicated diseases among the common people.

There was also a group of Disciples preparing to hunt, intending to sell wild game in the future.

Regarding the Disciples’ contributions, Li Qingqiu felt they must be recorded in a ledger. In the future, he would use Spirit Stones and spirit plants to reward them… Autumn was in full swing, and time had reached the end of October.

Xu Ning took the lead and achieved a Breakthrough to the Nourishing Origin Realm Fourth Layer, becoming the second person in the Qingxiao Sect at the Nourishing Origin Realm Fourth Layer.

Inside the Underground Spirit Lake, Li Qingqiu personally witnessed her Breakthrough. Having the Heavenly Thunder Spiritual Root himself, he knew exactly how powerful this Spiritual Root was.

Not only that, but Xu Ning’s cultivation Aptitude was of the preeminent grade, the highest among the current Qingxiao Sect Disciples. Coupled with the fact that she rarely went down the mountain and spent all her time on cultivation, she had managed to surpass Jiang Zhaoxia.

Even though Li Qingqiu could understand why she cultivated so quickly, he was still amazed.

She was only eleven years old!

An eleven-year-old at the Nourishing Origin Realm Fourth Layer!

Li Sijin, Winter Moon, and Yang Jueding were still at the Nourishing Origin Realm, Second Layer, showing how vast the gap in cultivation Aptitude was.

After Xu Ning stabilized her cultivation, she stood up and quickly came to Li Qingqiu’s side. She bowed to him and said softly, “Master, I have broken through to the fourth layer.”

Although she was very calm, Li Qingqiu could sense she was trying hard to restrain herself.

Li Qingqiu took her wrist and pulled her in front of him, sighing with emotion, “Ninger, you are truly amazing. If this continues, you will surpass your Master sooner or later.”

He only said that; he was already close to touching the threshold of the Nourishing Origin Realm, Fifth Layer.

Xu Ning hurriedly replied, “Master is the most amazing one. How could I possibly surpass Master?”

Li Qingqiu asked with a smile, “Master asks you to hide your cultivation and not spar with others, causing you to miss out on a lot of limelight. Do you have any resentment?”

Xu Ning shook her head and said, “How could I be resentful? You are protecting me. Junior Martial Uncle Jiang has become the strongest on the surface for the Qingxiao Sect, yet he has been injured repeatedly. Moreover, the Qingxiao Sect needs a trump card. I am willing to provide a foundation for the Qingxiao Sect alongside Master.”

Many Disciples knew Xu Ning was a Genius, but exactly how high her cultivation was, only Li Qingqiu knew.

Even people like Li Sifeng and Yang Jueding only felt that Xu Ning was unfathomable and could not judge her cultivation.

From now on, there would be one more person who felt Xu Ning was unfathomable, and that was Jiang Zhaoxia.

However, Li Qingqiu felt that Jiang Zhaoxia would also soon reach the fourth layer. This Junior Brother was suppressing a fire of revenge in his heart that was becoming hard to contain.

The more Li Qingqiu looked at Xu Ning, the more he liked her. Although this little girl was young, she was sensible and well-behaved, not arrogant because of her own cultivation. Her competitiveness was directed at herself and not shown outwardly.

Furthermore, he had asked Xu Ning, and she did not have a prominent background. Her father, who died early, was just a hunter, so she had no deep-seated hatred waiting for her to avenge.

Looking across the Qingxiao Sect, he felt that only Xu Ning was most like a Cultivator and could accompany him the longest.

Subsequently, Li Qingqiu taught her the cultivation method for the Nourishing Origin Realm, Fifth Layer of the Taiqing Hunyuan Scripture.

The Taiqing Hunyuan Scripture was broad and profound, with different Qi-absorption methods for each minor layer of the Realm. He would only pass down this Cultivation Technique layer by layer; even Jiang Zhaoxia had to seek him out for the next layer of the Mind-Cultivation Technique every time he broke through.

They continued to Cultivate until near dusk before the Master and Disciple walked out of the Underground Spirit Lake. The two of them agreed to have a race to see who could reach the Qingxiao Sect first, provided they weren’t discovered by the Disciples along the way.

Hearing that they could compete, even if it was just in light-body skills, Xu Ning was very energetic. The two of them quickly disappeared into the mountain forests… On the mountainside, Qin Ye held a wooden staff and was practicing the Ten Thousand Army Demon Subduing Staff. His Moves were sharp, and his body continuously stretched, possessing a unique sense of beauty as if man and staff were one.

With every hundred practices, he gained new insights, and he had even developed internal Qi within his body.

The power of the Ten Thousand Army Demon Subduing Staff gave him great confidence, making him feel that as long as he cultivated hard, he could help Wu Baoyu seek revenge.

He told no one, but a seed had already been planted in his heart: to slay the dog emperor.

Suddenly.

Qin Ye stopped his movements. He frowned and looked over; he had just faintly heard a rustling sound, as if something had run past nearby very quickly.

With his current martial arts, he did not think he was hearing things.

Could it be a wild beast?

A while ago, he heard Yuan Qi say he saw a black panther in the mountains, but he didn’t know if his eyes were playing tricks on him.

While Qin Ye was confused, a man in plain clothes wearing a bamboo hat walked over from not far away, with a long flute tucked into his waist.

This person looked up, revealing a weathered face under the bamboo hat—it was none other than Jiang Kuotian of White Emperor Manor.

Jiang Kuotian looked at Qin Ye and asked with a smile, “Little brother, this staff technique of yours has quite an Aura. I could hear the whistling wind from far away. Are you a Qingxiao Sect Disciple?”

Qin Ye looked at him warily and replied, “This is the mountain of the Qingxiao Sect, so naturally I am a Qingxiao Sect Disciple. May I ask which School Your Excellency comes from and why you have come up the mountain?”

Hearing this, Jiang Kuotian’s eyes lit up. He began to shake his wrists while approaching Qin Ye, smiling as he said, “In two years, not only has that kid Jiang Zhaoxia made a great name for himself, but the Qingxiao Sect has also produced a Genius like you. Interesting. Could it be that Immortal Master Qingxiao has returned? Little brother, let’s have a spar. I’ll use only one hand to test your ability.”