Fate selection was a copy, so it wouldn't affect Jiang Zhaoxia at all. Li Qingqiu had no burden on his conscience.
The moment he made his choice, his consciousness was abruptly dragged into a dream.
He had a long, hazy dream. In it, he kept practicing swordsmanship nonstop, and the sword in his hand kept changing. He trained without any goal, never feeling tired, practicing until his mind went numb.
When he finally woke up, the dream felt strangely short. He opened his eyes to see that it was already dark outside. Moonlight spilled through the window, lending the room a faint glow.
"Senior Brother, it's time to eat."
Zhang Yuchun's voice came from outside the door, hesitant—he'd already called three times and wasn't sure whether he should barge in.
Li Qingqiu quickly replied, "I'll be right there."
"Okay."
Zhang Yuchun let out a relieved breath, and his footsteps faded away.
Li Qingqiu tried to recall the dream from earlier, only to realize he couldn't remember any of it clearly. No extra memories had appeared in his mind, either.
He stood up and checked his body. Nothing had changed.
His gaze fell on a treasured sword resting on the small table nearby. It was the sword Lin Xunfeng had given him—the Tianhong Sword. Even in its scabbard, it weighed a full six jin (about three kilos). Usually, he couldn't be bothered to carry it.
He walked over to the table. His right hand gripped the scabbard and lifted it, while his left hand wrapped around the hilt.
Li Qingqiu raised an eyebrow, surprise flashing in his eyes.
Holding the Tianhong Sword, he could actually sense some kind of power within it—something that felt intimate, almost familiar.
The sensation was unbelievably strange. He'd never experienced anything like it. If he had to describe it, it was… spirituality. He could feel the sword's spiritual essence.
"So this is what 'Born Sword Maniac' means?"
Li Qingqiu forcibly suppressed the urge to draw the blade. He set the Tianhong Sword down, turned, and headed for the door.
He could study the Dao Lineage panel slowly later. He couldn't let his junior brothers and sisters worry.
Their master had just left, and if the senior brother immediately locked himself in his room and refused to come out, the younger ones would definitely start imagining the worst.
Li Qingqiu pushed the door open and stepped outside, looking into the courtyard. His juniors were already seated around the dinner table. Beside them stood an old tree with an oil lamp hanging from it, illuminating the tabletop.
Normally, they ate in the courtyard. In the past, everyone would fight over food like starving ghosts reborn. Tonight, though, the little ones were unusually well-behaved, all waiting for Li Qingqiu.
"Senior Brother!"
"Brother!"
"Big Bro, hurry and eat!"
They all stood up and waved him over. Even the prideful Jiang Zhaoxia quietly let out a breath of relief.
Seeing them, warmth spread through Li Qingqiu's chest. He felt even more confident about making Qingxiao Sect flourish.
As for the dream of roaming the jianghu freely—he'd already tossed it to the back of his mind. With the Dao Lineage panel, he could definitely carve out a brand-new life through Qingxiao Sect.
He walked briskly to his little junior sister Li Sijin, raised a hand, and ruffled her hair, then sat down.
"Sit, all of you. Let's eat and talk." Li Qingqiu smiled. Seeing that his smile was just like usual, everyone finally relaxed and began serving rice and picking at the dishes.
Second junior brother Zhang Yuchun served rice for everyone, acting more mature than his age.
The long table was big enough for all seven of them, but there were only three dishes and one soup—and only the soup had a bit of minced meat floating in it. That was life on the mountain. With Lin Xunfeng gone most of the year, they mostly survived on vegetables they grew themselves, only occasionally frying an egg.
Li Qingqiu picked up his chopsticks and said casually, "Master has left and passed the sect leader position to me. I've thought about it for a long time, and I've decided I'm going to make Qingxiao Sect bigger and stronger—because this is our home."
The moment he said that, sixth junior brother Li Sifeng sprang to his feet and howled, "Bigger and stronger! Bigger and stronger!"
Once he started, fifth junior brother Wu Man'er chimed in and shouted along.
Li Qingqiu looked at twelve-year-old Li Sifeng and thought of his Fate.
Wolfish Ambition. By Any Means Necessary.
This kid looked so sunny and lively—how could his nature be like that?
"'Bigger and stronger'—sounds nice. With just us?" Jiang Zhaoxia couldn't resist mocking.
But Li Qingqiu's impression of him was excellent now. After all, Jiang Zhaoxia had the highest loyalty to Li Qingqiu of everyone present, and the strongest talent—he was the sect's future number-one enforcer.
Faced with Jiang Zhaoxia's sarcasm, Li Qingqiu only smiled. "We're still young. That means we have limitless possibilities. So from now on, we'll train hard together and strengthen ourselves first. When we're all grown, we'll go down the mountain and recruit disciples."
That speech immediately fired the others up. They began chattering excitedly, talking over one another.
Seeing Li Qingqiu respond like that, Jiang Zhaoxia's temper deflated. He curled his lip and muttered, "What's the point of training? With Master's half-baked skills? He didn't even leave us any real manuals."
He said it so softly only he could hear.
After Zhang Yuchun finished serving everyone, he asked, "Senior Brother, Master only left three manuals—fist techniques, sword techniques, and movement techniques. Which one do we train?"
Li Qingqiu held his bowl, shoveled in a mouthful of rice, and spoke as he chewed, "I'll study them carefully and assign them to you later. Just set aside time to train every day. Right now, the most important thing is making sure we have enough food. Once we start practicing martial arts, our demand for food will spike—especially meat. So we need to start raising chickens, raising pigs, and planting more vegetables…"
He laid out a rough plan. The moment Zhang Yuchun heard it, his eyes lit up and he nodded repeatedly.
Aside from him and fourth junior sister Li Dongyue, the others weren't very interested. None of them wanted extra work. Still, it wasn't a good time to argue—Master was gone now, and they had to rely on themselves.
Li Qingqiu told Zhang Yuchun the general needs and left the arrangements to him. He could allocate disciples as he saw fit.
Looking at Zhang Yuchun, Li Qingqiu said, "Second Junior Brother, you're steady and you like reading. Qingxiao Sect's path forward will depend on you. Go do what you need to do. If anyone won't listen, tell me. I won't say I'll break their legs—but I can at least make them hurt for three to five days."
As soon as he said that, the other disciples all shivered. Even Jiang Zhaoxia looked awkward.
As senior brother, Li Qingqiu really would hit them. That authority had been built since childhood—every single one of them had been beaten by him before.
"Senior Brother, don't worry! I won't let you down!" Zhang Yuchun said excitedly.
He'd wanted to take charge for a long time, but he was soft-hearted. Except for fourth junior sister, everyone else dared to bully him.
Li Qingqiu smiled and nodded, then began chatting with his juniors about jianghu stories to stir up their anticipation.
Qingxiao Sect was small, but their master had some reputation. Every year, wandering heroes came up the mountain to visit, and they'd told plenty of tales about the martial world.
The land beneath their feet was controlled by the Great Li Dynasty. It had nine provinces and fourteen regions. Qingxiao Sect lay within Guzhou's territory, in the Tai Kun Mountain Range. For a hundred li in every direction, it was all mountains, dotted with villages and towns. The nearest city was two hundred li away.
In this feudal dynasty that resembled ancient China, cold weapons ruled, and martial practice was widespread. In Guzhou alone, there were countless sects and gangs in the jianghu, and there were seven sects renowned across the realm.
When Li Qingqiu was little, he once saw a wandering swordsman exhale a burst of force, then leap two zhang in a flash, leaving marks on a tree trunk. Li Qingqiu was stunned into awe, and from that day on, he'd wanted to learn martial arts.
This was the wuxia world he'd dreamed of in his previous life—how could he not practice?
But when Li Qingqiu remembered he still had one Dao Lineage inheritance opportunity, his blood started to boil.
What if it rolled a world-shaking supreme technique?
If Qingxiao Sect wanted to grow big and strong, it needed a signature art to anchor the sect. Without formidable martial skills, how could they make a name for themselves in the jianghu?
Lin Xunfeng's half-baked tricks wouldn't cut it.
That dinner was filled with visions of the future. There was none of the sadness of being abandoned by their master—so long as Li Qingqiu was still here, they weren't afraid.
An entire hour passed before they finally dispersed, leaving Zhang Yuchun and Li Dongyue to clear the table.
Li Qingqiu returned to his room. Sitting cross-legged on the bed, he forced down his excitement, summoned the Dao Lineage panel, and chose to activate the Dao Lineage inheritance.
[Claim inheritance reward]
[Activating Dao Lineage inheritance]
[You obtained a Qi-gathering cultivation method—Taiqing Hunyuan Scripture]
[Accept inheritance?]
Taiqing Hunyuan Scripture?
It sounded like something from immortal cultivation—no idea whether it was powerful.
Li Qingqiu immediately accepted the inheritance. In the next instant, an enormous flood of memories poured into his mind.
That night, Zhang Yuchun, Jiang Zhaoxia, Wu Man'er, and Li Sifeng lay awake for a long time. Li Sifeng was the most excited—he kept fantasizing about the future, dragging his senior brothers into nonstop chatter.
Li Dongyue and Li Sijin also whispered to each other in their room, pumping each other up and promising to help senior brother share the burden.
The moon set. The sun rose.
The first rays of morning light split the horizon, shining over the rolling mountain ridges.
Jiang Zhaoxia was up early. In the courtyard, he began practicing boxing forms, his gaze drifting again and again toward Li Qingqiu's room, worry in his eyes.
He remembered that when they were younger, Li Qingqiu had talked about roaming the world with a sword, living freely and settling grudges with joy. Now, with so many juniors dragging him down, would Li Qingqiu feel stifled?
Before long, a rooster crowed. Zhang Yuchun and Li Dongyue also came out of their rooms. They greeted each other and immediately started working.
Jiang Zhaoxia did whatever he pleased and hated chores, but Zhang Yuchun and Li Dongyue were tireless and dutiful. It was precisely because of the two of them that everyone else could live so easily.
Meanwhile…
Inside Li Qingqiu's room, after meditating the entire night, he opened his eyes. Clarity returned to them at once.
He instinctively stretched—sitting all night had left his body sore.
He reviewed the cultivation details of the Taiqing Hunyuan Scripture, and his expression changed drastically.
Wait.
This is really… an immortal cultivation method?!
Li Qingqiu was stunned. The Taiqing Hunyuan Scripture emphasized absorbing the spiritual qi of heaven and earth, refining the essence of sun and moon, and condensing spiritual yuan qi within the body.
Nourishing Yuan. Spiritual Awareness. Sun-Illumination…
Every level extended lifespan—and it even specified how many years you could live.
Reach the Spiritual Awareness Realm: three hundred years.
Reach the Sun-Illumination Realm: six hundred years.
Li Qingqiu was genuinely shaken. He'd always assumed this was a wuxia world at most—internal energy, inner qi, that sort of thing.
So his master wasn't crazy after all, insisting on seeking immortals.
Immortal cultivation… actually existed?
So the Dao Lineage Panel wasn't a martial sect panel—it was a cultivation Daoist Panel!
Li Qingqiu snapped back to himself, even more excited than before.
If you can cultivate immortality… who the hell still practices wuxia?!