Chapter 9 The Mysterious Sect Master

A night passed, and the first ray of morning sunlight broke through the sky, sweeping over Qingxiao Sect. Water dripped from the eaves, symbolizing the melting of winter snow.

Li Qingqiu woke up early to absorb Qi and Cultivate, and the other Disciples did the same, as if unaffected by the events of last night.

They sat in front of the mountain gate, facing the mountains, with the magnificent rivers and mountains appearing faintly through the thick fog. Such beautiful scenery made it easy for them to enter a state of Cultivation.

After the stimulation of last night, the other Disciples were clearly scared and Cultivated more diligently. As for Yang Jueding, his old injuries had not healed, and new ones were added, so he was recuperating indoors.

An hour later, Li Qingqiu got up and dismissed the Disciples. Jiang Zhaoxia pulled Wu Maner into the back mountain, while Zhang Yuchun and Li Dongyue still had to chop firewood and feed chickens. As for the youngest, Li Sifeng and Li Sijin, they only needed to ensure their safety.

Li Qingqiu came to Yang Jueding’s room and knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

Yang Jueding’s voice came out, his tone betraying his exhaustion.

He was not an immortal Cultivator; he needed to sleep, but he had been busy expelling poison all night, leaving him physically and mentally drained.

Li Qingqiu pushed the door open, then closed it. He walked to the table and sat down, looking at Yang Jueding on the bed, and asked, “Where did you get that Secret Manual?”

Yang Jueding opened his eyes, looked at him, and replied, “Half a year ago, rumors spread from Fuyang Lake that a path to the bottom of the lake appeared during low tide. Legend had it that there was a secret chamber left by a Martial Forest legend from a hundred years ago at the bottom of the lake. I also joined the excitement, and it was indeed as the rumors said. I went down to the lake with a group of Jianghu people, and I was lucky enough to find a box containing that Secret Manual. When I came out, I was spotted by experts from the Qing Cult, whom I repelled. I originally thought the matter would end there, but I didn’t expect them to attack me after I was mutually wounded with the Canghai Sword Saint.”

Speaking of this, he still felt depressed. He got injured all over because of a fake Secret Manual; it was truly a huge loss.

“Since you thought it was fake, why didn’t you give it to the Qing Cult?” Li Qingqiu asked, puzzled.

Yang Jueding glared, angrily saying, “Even if it’s fake, I can’t give it to those guys. Who knows how much trouble they would cause by using the prestige of this Secret Manual? They usually like to swindle and deceive; how many officials and nobles have been misled by them, extorting the common people? For the Qing Cult, the authenticity of the Secret Manual is not that important; what they want is the reputation of a Martial Forest legend.”

“If they snatch the divine skill and unique art of a Martial Forest legend from the Dragon-Subduing Hero, their prestige will surely skyrocket once this spreads. They might even get involved with the imperial court. Over the years, they have always wanted to cling to power. And as you’ve seen, even if I said it was fake, they wouldn’t believe it. Even if I gave them the Secret Manual, they would definitely kill me and only stop after failing to find a second copy.”

Li Qingqiu asked curiously, “Who is more powerful, the Qing Cult or White Emperor Manor?”

Yang Jueding pondered, “They are about the same, but White Emperor Manor has connections with the imperial court, so the Qing Cult doesn’t dare to provoke them easily. The two sides rarely conflict. Nowadays, White Emperor Manor doesn’t get involved in Jianghu matters much, but the Qing Cult is different; they are ambitious and want to be the overlord of the Martial Forest.”

Using this topic, Li Qingqiu chatted with Yang Jueding for a while, gaining some understanding of the current Guzhou Prefecture Martial Forest.

He found that the Da Li (Great Li Dynasty) was much larger than Huaxia in his previous life; Guzhou Prefecture alone was half the size of Huaxia, with dozens of prefectural cities and numerous Jianghu Schools.

They chatted until Yang Jueding coughed, at which point Li Qingqiu stopped and got up to leave.

He planned to Cultivate the Gale Technique first. Watching the battle last night made him realize that his movement technique still had a gap compared to Jianghu experts.

As for the Supreme Sword Control Art, he didn’t want to practice it for now. This Spell required nine swords to truly exert its effect.

Later, when he had more Spells, he would organize them. A person’s energy is limited, and he couldn’t just practice every one he got.

Of course, the Supreme Sword Control Art would definitely be practiced; he couldn’t waste his talent.

Days passed one by one.

A few days later, most of the snow in the mountains had melted, and Yang Jueding was able to leave his room. He dared not entangle Wu Maner anymore, nor did he dare to mention his bet with Jiang Zhaoxia.

Soon, his attention fell on Li Sifeng and Li Sijin.

Although these two children were young, they were also good seedlings for martial arts.

This made him can’t help but mutter, Qingxiao Sect is really strange; there are a bit too many Geniuses.

Half a month later, Zhang Yuchun finally couldn’t resist and pulled Wu Maner and Li Dongyue down the mountain to recruit Disciples. As for Yang Jueding, Li Qingqiu restricted him to Qingxiao Sect to avoid encountering Qing Cult Disciples looking for him.

Yang Jueding had no objection to this; he thought the same way.

That evening, Zhang Yuchun and the two others brought seven children up the mountain: six boys and one girl, the oldest not more than thirteen years old, the youngest only six.

After a simple initiation ceremony, Li Qingqiu checked their attribute panels and found that their Aptitude and Comprehension Ability were all extremely poor and unremarkable.

This made Li Qingqiu secretly sigh, Master really left him a good foundation.

From Lin Xunfeng’s eye for choosing people, his ambitions were not small, but it was a pity he was carried away by immortal Cultivation.

Li Qingqiu arranged for the new Disciples to live separately by gender, squeezing in with the Senior Brothers and Sisters. Li Dongyue, Li Sifeng, and others didn’t mind; instead, they were a bit excited, as they would also be Elders in the future.

For the first seven days of their initiation, Li Qingqiu first let them familiarize themselves with the School. After seven days, he had Zhang Yuchun and Li Dongyue teach them the Hunyuan Scripture.

In the future, Li Dongyue could serve as a teaching Elder. As for Li Sifeng and Li Sijin, more observation was needed.

It is worth mentioning that after a month of martial arts practice, under Yang Jueding’s guidance, Li Sifeng’s skills improved by leaps and bounds, already starting to scale walls and roofs, often astonishing the new Disciples.

Winter completely passed, and the New Year was approaching.

The Da Li (Great Li Dynasty) also had the Spring Festival. Every Spring Festival, Li Qingqiu would think of his previous life.

This afternoon, Li Qingqiu was resting in the courtyard. He had just finished Cultivating the Gale Technique and was a bit tired. He watched the Disciples busy with their tasks, feeling quite good.

Some were sweeping, some were carrying water, some were repairing eaves; everything was moving towards a better future.

Jiang Zhaoxia and Zhang Yuchun walked into the courtyard one after another. They sat down on either side of Li Qingqiu.

“Senior Brother, let me tell you something. We want to go down the mountain to the town to buy some weapons. What do you think?” Jiang Zhaoxia asked.

The entire Qingxiao Sect only had two swords, and one of them was taken away by Lin Xunfeng. Jiang Zhaoxia had been itching for a long time.

He wanted a sword, a real sword!

Not only him, but other Disciples also needed weapons for martial arts practice; they couldn’t always just learn fist and foot techniques.

Li Qingqiu glanced at him and retorted, “Where do we have the money to buy them?”

Zhang Yuchun followed up, “We plan to perform swordplay in the city to earn rewards, Senior Brother. For the School to truly rise, it needs money. I also plan to use this opportunity to promote Qingxiao Sect. Afterwards, we can earn money by helping people resolve difficulties. We really need money. With eight more mouths to feed, our grain supply is already getting tight.”

Helping people resolve difficulties was how many Jianghu Schools started; to put it bluntly, it was being a hired thug.

Moreover, only with greater fame would more people want to join.

Li Qingqiu originally wanted to settle down for a few years before doing anything, but then he felt that Zhang Yuchun made sense. Besides, they weren’t going against major Jianghu factions.

Jiang Zhaoxia and Zhang Yuchun’s strength was already sufficient for self-preservation.

“Alright, but you must remember to be careful when acting outside. Don’t underestimate others based on your own abilities, and don’t easily get into conflicts with people,” Li Qingqiu instructed.

Zhang Yuchun and Jiang Zhaoxia acting together made him feel quite at ease.

Jiang Zhaoxia said huffily, “Do you think we’re still children?”

Zhang Yuchun, however, nodded and said, “Senior Brother, I will definitely hold back Third Junior Brother.”

“…”

Jiang Zhaoxia looked at Zhang Yuchun resentfully, but Zhang Yuchun kept his gaze steady, as if he hadn’t seen his look.

The three chatted for a while, then Jiang Zhaoxia was eager to go down the mountain. The nearest town required two days of travel, and spending the night in the mountains was unavoidable.

Li Qingqiu could only prepare dry rations and water bottles for them, then watched them go down the mountain.

He stood at the mountain gate, looking at the backs of his two Junior Brothers, and couldn’t help but think of Lin Xunfeng’s departure. He couldn’t help but shout, “Be sure to come back before the New Year!”

“Don’t worry, Senior Brother!”

Zhang Yuchun turned back and waved at Li Qingqiu, smiling brightly, while Jiang Zhaoxia did not turn back.

After the two figures disappeared into the mountains, Li Qingqiu still did not withdraw his gaze.

“Don’t worry, that kid Jiang is very powerful, and Zhang Yuchun’s skills are not bad either. With these two going down the mountain, I’m more worried about those Jianghu people being blind and asking for trouble.”

Yang Jueding came to Li Qingqiu’s side and comforted him.

He truly felt that Jiang Zhaoxia was ruthless. During this time, Jiang Zhaoxia often sought him out for sparring, wanting to learn combat experience. Without using Origin Qi, he would usually suppress Jiang Zhaoxia.

But Jiang Zhaoxia’s progress was simply too fast, eventually making every move deadly, which made him tremble with fear.

This child will surely achieve great things in the future!

The reason Li Qingqiu agreed to let them go down the mountain was also because he had witnessed Jiang Zhaoxia and Yang Jueding’s sparring.

Yang Jueding had taught Jiang Zhaoxia a lot of Jianghu experience.

Li Qingqiu withdrew his gaze and smiled, “No choice, it’s their first time going down the mountain, so I’m bound to be a bit worried.”

With that, he turned and walked towards the School.

Yang Jueding turned to look at him and asked, “Sect Leader, when will you let me experience your swordplay? I heard from kid Xia that your swordplay talent is even better than his.”

Li Qingqiu replied without looking back, “Forget it, I don’t like fighting.”

Yang Jueding looked at his back, feeling him more and more mysterious… For the next few days, Li Qingqiu was always uneasy, afraid that Zhang Yuchun and the other would get into trouble, but he did not express his worries to anyone else.

Finally, on the eve of the Spring Festival, Zhang Yuchun and the other returned.

“Senior Brother! We’re back, quick, someone help us!”

Zhang Yuchun’s voice came from the direction of the mountain gate. Li Qingqiu and the others immediately rushed over upon hearing it.

Li Qingqiu was the fastest. When he arrived at the mountain gate, he looked closely and immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhang Yuchun and Jiang Zhaoxia were each carrying a pole. Some weapons protruded from their bundles, reflecting the cold gleam unique to metal, and the two of them looked to be in one piece.

So, this was the help they needed. Li Qingqiu had thought they were injured.

Li Qingqiu turned and instructed the arriving Disciples to lend a hand, while he remained standing still.

How could the Sect Leader do such strenuous work?

His gaze fell behind Zhang Yuchun, where a small beggar was following them, covered in dirt, emaciated, with messy hair, making it impossible to distinguish their gender.