From martial arts sects to immortality sects

Chapter 147 Just how strong is the Qingxiao Sect?
As Xue Jin finished speaking, the woods fell into a brief silence.

"one."

boom!
Hundreds of refugees screamed in terror at the fate of the hunchbacked old man and fled in all directions, none daring to resist Xue Jin.

This was the first time Li Sijin and his disciples had witnessed Xue Jin's abilities. Since being transferred to the Training Hall, Xue Jin had not used his killing skills for a long time. Even in the martial arts tournament, he displayed the demeanor of a grandmaster.

Seeing the refugees begin to flee, Li Sijin and the three disciples of the cultivation hall breathed a sigh of relief.

Just when they thought Xue Jin was only threatening them, after counting to ten, Xue Jin actually went on a killing spree. And it wasn't a slow killing; he used his Gale Technique to quickly catch up, and regardless of men, women, or children, he would strike them with his sword.

The sound of sword blades slicing through flesh rang out continuously, and screams filled the air. Even though Xue Jin had disappeared from Li Sijin and the others' sight, they could still hear the screams from afar.

The disciples of the Training Hall hesitated for a moment, then rushed forward.

Seeing this, the three disciples of the cultivation hall looked at Li Sijin with pleading eyes.

Li Sijin came to her senses and said, "The fighting and killing is their business. The Cultivation Hall is responsible for creating and collecting cultivation resources. Go and call people over, and then find a place to bury these corpses."

Upon hearing this, the three disciples of the cultivation hall breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly went to find the person.

……

at dusk.

Li Sijin passed through Lingxiao Courtyard and knocked on the door of Li Qingqiu's cave.

Li Qingqiu sat cross-legged on the bed. He gently tapped the wall, and the stone door opened. Li Sijin quickly walked in, and the stone door closed behind her.

The cave dwelling was no longer a secret; the hall master and elders had all come to see it. They all envied Li Qingqiu for having such a cave dwelling, so they all went to curry favor with Mingguang, making Mingguang an instant hot commodity.

However, after learning that the cave dwelling resources were scarce, the higher-ups dared not insist any further.

Li Sijin quickly approached Li Qingqiu and gave a brief account of the refugee situation.

"Xue Jin said he would kill until the sword bent, but he wrapped the sword with his energy and killed all the refugees without bending the sword even slightly."

Li Sijin's tone was quite helpless as she spoke.

Kill them if you want to, but Xue Jin chooses to give them hope instead. This kind of behavior makes her hard to judge.

Li Qingqiu was not surprised, which was why he had sent Xue Jin to do this. He asked, "Are you sure you killed them all?"

"Yes, Xue Jin said it himself."

"Then let's just wait and see."

Li Qingqiu chuckled softly, his laughter full of meaning.

"Everyone's dead, what's the point of observing anything?" Li Sijin asked in surprise.

Li Qingqiu did not answer, but instead began to inquire about her cultivation progress.

To this day, Li Sijin's cultivation level is still stuck at the fourth level of the Nourishing Yuan Realm, which displeases Li Qingqiu. He must give her a good talking-to. It's good that she's busy cultivating spiritual plants, but her cultivation level cannot fall behind.

Li Sijin was distracted, still thinking about the refugees.

She really didn't understand. Her senior brother was acting for the sake of the world, so why were those people calling him a source of trouble?
……

As July came to a close, the top ten finalists of the first Qingxiao Sect Combat Tournament were determined.

They are Zhao Zhen, Li Yang, Xue Jin, Han Lang, Lu Qing, Gu Changping, Zhu Xunyang, Ji Ya, Yang Dong, and Yang Chengyu.

The names of these ten people were widely circulated throughout the sect, and their fame even spread to the martial arts world.

They will compete with Xu Ning for the top three spots, establishing the current ranking of Qingxiao Sect's strength.

In early August, when the sect was preparing for the final showdown of the martial arts tournament, Zhang Yuchun and Zhu Yan approached Li Qingqiu. Li Qingqiu did not ask them to report immediately, but instead asked Yuan Qi to summon Li Sijin.

While waiting, Li Qingqiu praised the two schools for their training of their disciples.

Among the top ten, Yang Dong comes from Yuling Hall, while Zhu Xunyang comes from Tiangong Hall and is a member of the Zhu family.

"Yang Dong was recommended to me by you. I just did what I was supposed to do," Zhang Yuchun said, shaking his head, though a smile still appeared on his face.

Having a disciple break into the top ten is a source of great pride for everyone in the Yuling Hall.

Zhu Yan continued, "I didn't see Xunyang's talent back then either. It was you who recognized his potential. Otherwise, given my relationship with him, I wouldn't have focused on cultivating him."

Even without Li Qingqiu's intervention, these two could have made a name for themselves simply by cultivating the Hunyuan Scripture. However, in the early stages of a sect, not everyone could practice the Hunyuan Scripture. Li Qingqiu's recommendation saved them a year or two of waiting time.

In the future, a group of geniuses unrelated to the sect leader will emerge from Qingxiao Sect. Unless they encounter a special destiny, Li Qingqiu will no longer deliberately seek out every genius.

Mentioning Zhu Xunyang, Zhu Yan felt a surge of emotions. Zhu Xunyang was just a member of a branch family, but now he had become incredibly popular, and even the main clan was trying to curry favor with him.

Because of Zhu Xunyang, she also gained greater influence within the family. At her suggestion, the Zhu family began to forge a deep alliance with the Qingxiao Sect. The Zhu family provided the Qingxiao Sect with many conveniences and actively gathered intelligence. Li Qingqiu also treated the Zhu family well, allocating a batch of new members to the Zhu family every year.

The three of them started by talking about the geniuses in their sect, beginning with Yang Dong and Zhu Xunyang, and then looked forward to the second martial arts tournament.

"The magical combat tournament is not suitable to be held every year, as it will affect the atmosphere. It should be held once every ten years, making the magical combat tournament a grand event like the imperial examination, giving capable disciples the opportunity to soar to great heights."

Li Qingqiu's decisive move left Zhang Yuchun feeling regretful. This martial arts tournament had brought both fame and fortune to the Qingxiao Sect, and he was already looking forward to the next one.

Half an hour later, Yuan Qi brought Li Sijin into the hospital, then bowed and took his leave.

"What's the matter? Why are you in such a hurry?" Li Sijin's tone was somewhat resentful, because she had come all the way from Ziyang Peak.

Li Qingqiu gestured for her to sit down, and then asked Zhang Yuchun and Zhu Yan to explain why they had come.

Zhang Yuchun glanced at Li Sijin and said, "The news of Xue Jin's massacre of refugees has spread, and there are many voices of dissatisfaction with us in the martial arts world."

"Spread the word? Everyone's dead, who spread it?" Li Sijin asked, her eyes wide with astonishment.

Is there a mole?
No, none of her three disciples have come down the mountain during this time, so Xue Jin will definitely keep a close eye on his subordinates.

And even if there was a mole, how could the news spread so quickly?
Zhu Yan added, "It's not just the martial arts world; many aristocratic families are also discussing this matter. Something's not right; we're afraid someone is plotting against us behind our backs."

Zhang Yuchun smiled helplessly and said, "Everyone outside says we killed a lot of refugees, but little do they know, we actually killed them all."

He couldn't judge whether Xue Jin's actions were good or evil, but he was certain that this was something the Qingxiao Sect needed to do.

This incident completely changed his opinion of Xue Jin. In his eyes, Xue Jin was no longer a junior, but a colleague with whom he could discuss important matters.

Li Sijin finally understood what her senior brother meant that day. It seemed that no matter whether they killed the group of refugees or not, someone would still slander them.

Li Qingqiu asked calmly, "What forces do you think were behind this?"

Zhang Yuchun replied, "If we consider it from the perspective of the martial arts world, it must be the work of the Lingtian Sect. They want to dominate the martial arts world, and they can't bypass us. If we consider it from the perspective of the legitimate world, it can only be the work of the lords of the neighboring states, and they are the major lords who have already unified the states. The minor lords are too busy to worry about themselves and have no time to scheme against us."

Zhu Yan added, "I think it's possible that a powerful warlord and the Lingtian Sect conspired against us, otherwise it wouldn't have spread throughout the officialdom and the martial arts world in such a short time."

Li Sijin felt pressured as she listened to their speculations.

At this moment, Li Qingqiu laughed and said, "I originally thought that we could enjoy peaceful days for a few more years, but I didn't expect that someone would be so impatient so soon. That's good. Finally, there is an opportunity for the disciples to earn Dao opportunities."

His smile was devoid of any murderous intent, as if he were genuinely happy.

After hearing this, Li Sijin felt much less stressed.

"You continue to investigate intelligence and inform Xue Jin to have the disciples of the Training Hall warn the disciples who accepted the mission that there will be people targeting our Qingxiao Sect down the mountain. Tell them to be careful when they go down the mountain. We will hold back for now and focus on holding the martial arts competition."

Li Qingqiu suppressed his smile and spoke seriously.

After saying this, he paused and said, "Killing one emperor is not enough, then kill more people. It's time to let the world know just how strong the Qingxiao Sect really is."

Zhang Yuchun and Zhu Yan nodded solemnly.

Li Qingqiu gestured with his eyes that they could leave.

The two rose, bowed, and then left Lingxiao Courtyard together.

Li Qingqiu looked at Li Sijin and comforted her, "I asked you to come here so that you could have a deeper understanding of the world. You don't need to feel pressured. Even if the sky falls, your senior brother will hold it up."

He was already looking forward to the scene of Qingxiao Sect disciples descending the mountain and sweeping across the world.

He had to let the world know that the Qingxiao Sect had more than just Li Qingqiu and his sword.

At the same time, he also wanted to make the disciples of Qingxiao Sect realize how Qingxiao Sect's inheritance differed from that of the martial arts world, so as to change the disciples' mindset from pursuing worldly interests to pursuing the path of immortality.

Li Sijin nodded and said, "Senior Brother, don't worry, I will work hard to cultivate from now on. Although you are supporting me, I also have to share some of the pressure. After all, I am also a hall master."

Li Qingqiu smiled with relief and began to chat with her about interesting things from her childhood to ease the tense atmosphere.

……

The top ten competition began in the middle of the month and took three days to determine the top three.

The first place goes to Xu Ning, who is at the seventh level of the Nourishing Yuan Realm. She is undeniably powerful, and none of the top ten disciples could withstand a single move from her. This made all the disciples of the sect deeply realize just how powerful the sect leader's eldest disciple really is.

The second place went to Xue Jin. With his cultivation at the fifth level of the Nourishing Yuan Realm, plus the killing moves he had honed over many years, after three hundred moves, his sword tip was pressed against Zhao Zhen's throat, ending the duel.

The third place went to Zhao Zhen. At the age of ten, he had already reached the fifth level of the Nourishing Yuan Realm. With the Great Sun Sun True Yuan Technique and the Divine Dragon Transformation, he almost made Xue Jin fall off the fighting platform several times. Although he lost, everyone thought that he would surpass Xue Jin sooner or later. He even had a chance to catch up with Xu Ning.

Of the three strongest disciples in the entire sect, two were disciples of the sect leader, and the other was someone the sect leader had once valued. So, when the disciples discussed Xu Ning and the other two, they inevitably talked about Li Qingqiu.

Li Qingqiu was pleased to see that the loyalty of the vast majority of his disciples had significantly increased through the Daoist chart panel.

　First update at midnight~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)