From martial arts sects to immortality sects

Chapter 9 The Mysterious Sect Master
As the night passed, the first rays of sunlight pierced the sky and swept across Qingxiao Gate. Water dripped from the eaves, symbolizing the melting of winter snow.

Li Qingqiu got up early to prepare for breathing exercises, as did the other disciples, seemingly unaffected by the events of the previous night.

They sat cross-legged in front of the mountain gate, facing the mountains. The magnificent landscape was partially obscured by the fog, and such a beautiful view made it easy for them to enter a meditative state.

After last night's shock, the other disciples were clearly frightened and cultivated more diligently. As for Yang Jueding, his old injuries had not yet healed and he had suffered new ones, so he was recuperating in his room.

An hour later, Li Qingqiu got up and dismissed his disciples. Jiang Zhaoxia pulled Wu Man'er into the back mountain, while Zhang Yuchun and Li Dongyue had to chop wood and feed the chickens. As for the youngest, Li Sifeng and Li Sijin, they only needed to pay attention to safety.

Li Qingqiu arrived outside Yang Jueding's house and knocked on the door.

"Please come in."

Yang Jueding's voice came through, his tone revealing his exhaustion.

He wasn't a cultivator; he needed to sleep. But he had been busy expelling the poison all night, leaving him physically and mentally exhausted.

Li Qingqiu pushed open the door and entered, then closed it. He walked to the table, sat down, looked at Yang Jueding on the bed, and asked, "Where did you get that manual?"

Yang Jueding opened his eyes, looked at him, and replied, "Half a year ago, a rumor spread in Fuyang Lake that a path leading to the bottom of the lake appeared when the tide receded. Legend has it that there is a secret chamber left by a martial arts legend from a hundred years ago at the bottom of the lake. I also joined in the fun. It was indeed as the rumor said. I went down into the lake with a group of martial arts people. I was lucky enough to find a box containing the secret manual. When I came out, I was seen by the experts of the Qing Cult. I defeated them. I thought that this matter would end there. I didn't expect them to attack me after I and the Canghai Sword Saint were both injured."

Speaking of this, he still felt frustrated. He was injured by a fake manual, which was a huge loss.

"Since you think it's fake, why not give it to the Qing Cult?" Li Qingqiu asked, puzzled.

Yang Jueding glared and said angrily, "Even if it's fake, we can't give it to those guys. Who knows what kind of trouble they'll cause by using the fame of this manual? They love to swindle and deceive people. How many high-ranking officials have been bewitched by them and exploited the common people? For the Qing Cult, the authenticity of the manual isn't that important. What they want is the title of a martial arts legend."

"If word gets out that they snatched the legendary martial arts manual from the Dragon-Slaying Hero, their prestige will skyrocket, and they might even be able to get involved with the imperial court. Over the years, they have been trying to curry favor with the powerful and wealthy. And as you have seen, even if I say it's fake, they won't believe me. Even if I give them the manual, they will definitely kill me. They won't stop until they can't find a second one."

Li Qingqiu asked curiously, "Which is more powerful, the Green Sect or the White Emperor's Palace?"

Yang Jueding pondered and said, "More or less. However, the White Emperor's Mansion has connections with the imperial court, so the Green Sect doesn't dare to provoke it easily. The two sides rarely clash. Nowadays, the White Emperor's Mansion doesn't get involved in the affairs of the martial world much anymore. The Green Sect, on the other hand, is ambitious and wants to become the overlord of the martial world."

Taking this opportunity, Li Qingqiu chatted with Yang Jueding for a while, gaining some understanding of the current martial arts world in Guzhou.

He discovered that the Dali Dynasty was much larger than the Huaxia of his previous life. Guzhou alone was half the size of Huaxia, with more than a dozen prefectures and numerous martial arts sects.

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

He plans to first practice the Gale Technique. Watching the battle last night made him realize that his movement skills are still inferior to those of martial arts masters.

As for the Supreme Sword Control Technique, he doesn't want to practice it for the time being. This technique requires nine swords to truly unleash its effects.

When he has more spells in the future, he will organize them. A person's energy is limited, and he can't possibly learn every spell he gets.

Of course, he definitely needs to practice the Supreme Sword Control Technique; we can't waste his talent.

The days passed by.

Several days later, most of the snow in the mountains and forests had melted, and Yang Jueding was able to leave the house. He dared not bother Wu Man'er anymore, and dared not mention the bet with Jiang Zhaoxia.

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

Although these two children are young, they are good prospects for learning martial arts.

This made him mutter to himself, "Qingxiao Sect is really strange; they have a lot of geniuses."

Half a month later, Zhang Yuchun finally couldn't resist taking Wu Man'er and Li Dongyue down the mountain to recruit disciples. As for Yang Jueding, he was restricted by Li Qingqiu and could only stay in Qingxiao Sect to avoid running into the Qingjiao disciples who were looking for him.

Yang Jueding had no objection to this; he thought so too.

That evening, Zhang Yuchun and his two companions took seven children up the mountain—six boys and one girl, the oldest no more than thirteen and the youngest only six.

After a simple initiation ceremony, Li Qingqiu checked their attribute panels and found that each of them had extremely low aptitude and comprehension, making them mediocre.

This made Li Qingqiu secretly sigh, realizing that his master had truly left him a good team.

Judging from Lin Xunfeng's discerning eye for talent, he had grand ambitions, but unfortunately, he was blinded by his pursuit of immortality.

Li Qingqiu arranged for the new disciples to live separately by gender, sharing the rooms with their teachers. Li Dongyue, Li Sifeng, and others didn't mind at all; in fact, they were quite excited, as the teachers would be their elders in the future.

For the first seven days after they entered the sect, Li Qingqiu let them familiarize themselves with the sect. After seven days, he had Zhang Yuchun and Li Dongyue teach them the Hunyuan Scripture.

Li Dongyue can become the Transmission Elder in the future. As for Li Sifeng and Li Sijin, we'll have to wait and see.

It is worth mentioning that after a month of martial arts training, under Yang Jueding's guidance, Li Sifeng's skills improved by leaps and bounds, and he began to leap across rooftops and walls, often surprising the new disciples.

Winter is completely over, and the Spring Festival is just around the corner.

The Great Li Dynasty also has a Spring Festival, and every Spring Festival, Li Qingqiu would think of his past life.

That afternoon, Li Qingqiu sat in the courtyard to rest. He had just finished practicing the Gale Technique and was a little tired. He watched his disciples busy with their own tasks and was in a good mood.

Some people are sweeping the floor, some are carrying water, and some are repairing the eaves; everything is moving towards a better future.

Jiang Zhaoxia and Zhang Yuchun entered the courtyard one after the other, and sat down on either side of Li Qingqiu.

"Senior brother, I have something to tell you. We'd like to go down the mountain to town to buy some weapons. What do you think?" Jiang Zhaoxia asked.

The entire Qingxiao Sect only has two swords, one of which was taken away by Lin Xunfeng. Jiang Zhaoxia had long been unable to contain himself. He wanted a sword, a real sword!

Not only him, but the other disciples also needed weapons to learn martial arts; they couldn't just learn fist and foot techniques all the time.

Li Qingqiu glanced at him and asked in return, "Where would we get the money to buy it?"

Zhang Yuchun continued, "We're planning to go to the city to perform our swordplay and ask for rewards. Senior brother, if the sect wants to truly thrive, it needs money. I also plan to take this opportunity to promote the Qingxiao Sect and earn money by helping people solve their problems. We really need money; with eight more mouths to feed, our food supply is already tight."

Helping people solve their problems is the process by which many martial arts sects started out; to put it bluntly, it's about being someone else's henchman.

Moreover, the greater the fame, the more people will want to worship him.

Li Qingqiu originally wanted to settle down for a few years before making a decision, but then he felt that Zhang Yuchun's words made sense, and besides, they were not going to fight against the major factions in the martial arts world.

Jiang Zhaoxia and Zhang Yuchun are strong enough to protect themselves.

"Alright, remember, you must be careful when you're out there. Don't rely on your own abilities or underestimate others, and don't easily get into conflicts with people," Li Qingqiu instructed.

He felt quite at ease knowing that Zhang Yuchun was acting together with Jiang Zhaoxia.

Jiang Zhaoxia said irritably, "Do you think we're still children?"

Zhang Yuchun nodded and said, "Senior brother, I will definitely stop junior brother."

"..."

Jiang Zhaoxia looked at Zhang Yuchun with resentment, but Zhang Yuchun did not look away, as if he did not see her gaze.

After chatting for a while, Jiang Zhaoxia was in a hurry to go down the mountain. The nearest town would be a two-day journey away, and spending the night in the mountains would be unavoidable.

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

Standing in front of the mountain gate, watching the backs of his two junior brothers, he couldn't help but think of the scene when Lin Xunfeng left. He shouted, "You must come back before the New Year!"

"Don't worry, brother!"

Zhang Yuchun turned around and waved to Li Qingqiu with a bright smile, while Jiang Zhaoxia did not turn around.

Even after the two figures disappeared into the forest, Li Qingqiu still did not look away.

"Don't worry, Jiang is very capable, and Zhang Yuchun is not bad either. If these two go down the mountain, I'll be more worried that those martial arts people will be blind and ask for trouble."

Yang Jueding came to Li Qingqiu's side and offered words of comfort.

He genuinely felt that Jiang Zhaoxia was ruthless. During this period, Jiang Zhaoxia frequently sought him out for sparring, wanting to learn practical combat experience. Without using any internal energy, he was basically the one dominating Jiang Zhaoxia.

But Jiang Zhaoxia's progress was too fast, and later on, every move she made was deadly, which terrified him.

This child is destined for greatness!

Li Qingqiu agreed to let them go down the mountain because he had witnessed the sparring between Jiang Zhaoxia and Yang Jueding.

Yang Jueding imparted a lot of martial arts experience to Jiang Zhaoxia.

Li Qingqiu withdrew his gaze and smiled, "There's nothing I can do. It's their first time coming down the mountain, so I'm bound to be a little worried."

After saying that, he turned and walked into the sect.

Yang Jueding turned to look at him and asked, "Sect Master, when will I be able to experience your swordsmanship? I heard from Xia that your swordsmanship talent is even better than his."

Li Qingqiu replied without turning his head, "Forget it, I don't like fighting."

As Yang Jueding watched his retreating figure, he felt increasingly mysterious.

……

In the following days, Li Qingqiu was always restless, fearing that something had happened to Zhang Yuchun and the other person, but he did not express his worries to anyone else.

Finally, on the evening before the Spring Festival, Zhang Yuchun and his companion returned.

"Senior brother! We're back! Someone come and help us!"

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

Li Qingqiu was the fastest to act. When he arrived at the mountain gate, he took a closer look and immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhang Yuchun and Jiang Zhaoxia each carried a carrying pole, and some weapons emerged from their bundles, reflecting the cold light unique to metal. Neither of them appeared to be missing any limbs.

So that's what they were doing to help. Li Qingqiu had thought they were injured.

Li Qingqiu turned around and instructed the disciples who had rushed over to lend a hand, while he stood still in place.

How could the sect leader do such tiring work?
His gaze fell on Zhang Yuchun's back, where a little beggar was following them. He was filthy, emaciated, and had messy hair, making it impossible to tell if he was male or female.

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(End of this chapter)