"From today on, you are the sect leader of Qingxiao Sect. Take good care of your junior brothers and sisters from now on."
After leaving those words behind, the former sect leader of Qingxiao Sect, Lin Xunfeng, departed without hesitation. With his back to his disciples, the face that looked barely past thirty was filled with grim resolve.
He walked down the mountain path, his azure robe fluttering in the wind, carrying the air of a free-spirited jianghu wanderer.
It was already dusk. Crimson clouds painted the sky, and the distant ridgelines looked as if they were traced with strips of fire. The setting sun was bleakly beautiful.
At the sect gate, Li Qingqiu's face was full of indignation. He had argued himself hoarse, but his master refused to be persuaded—insisting on going down the mountain to seek immortals.
As Qingxiao Sect's senior disciple, Li Qingqiu was only sixteen. His six junior brothers and sisters were even younger, the youngest barely over ten.
To make him raise them and keep the sect running—wasn't that just ruining his life?
He, too, wanted to roam the world with a sword, to live boldly and freely. He'd had enough of the quiet days on this mountain. He even missed his previous life—grinding shooting games at home, and when he got tired, collapsing on the couch and scrolling short videos.
"Master! If I end up ruining Qingxiao Sect, don't blame me!"
Li Qingqiu shouted. His slightly childish voice echoed through the mountains. Lin Xunfeng, already at the edge of the forest, merely lifted a hand in response and didn't turn around.
A small hand reached out from behind and tugged gently at Li Qingqiu's sleeve. He turned his head and saw his ten-year-old junior sister, Li Sijin, looking at him timidly as she asked, "Senior Brother… you won't abandon us too, will you?"
The anger in Li Qingqiu's chest vanished in an instant. He swept his gaze across them—aside from that annoying third junior brother, Jiang Zhaoxia, the other five juniors were all staring at him with tension and worry.
He felt the weight of responsibility settle onto his shoulders.
But this isn't the transmigrated life I wanted!
Just then, lines of text suddenly appeared before his eyes:
[You have become the head of a sect for the first time. The Dao Lineage has been activated. Beginning inspection of Qingxiao Sect.]
[Inspection successful. Beginning evaluation of Qingxiao Sect.]
[Evaluation successful. Rank: Unrated.]
[As this is your first time becoming a sect leader, you gain: 1 Fate Selection Opportunity; 1 Dao Lineage Inheritance Opportunity.]
Staring at the prompts, Li Qingqiu froze. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, but even after rubbing them, the text still hovered there.
He looked at the other disciples—none of his junior brothers or sisters seemed to notice anything.
Is my cheat finally activating?
His heartbeat quickened. He wondered how to hide the prompts for the moment—and the instant the thought formed, the text vanished. When he wanted to see it again, the prompts reappeared before his eyes.
That only convinced him further that he wasn't hallucinating.
Having lived two lives, Li Qingqiu's mentality wasn't comparable to an ordinary sixteen-year-old. He spoke at once: "That was just angry talk to Master. Since he insists on leaving, let him go. From now on, we'll rely on each other."
The moment he said it, the juniors all broke into smiles. They depended on Li Qingqiu more than Lin Xunfeng—Lin Xunfeng was away for years at a time, and most of the time Qingxiao Sect had been run by Li Qingqiu. Aside from the third disciple Jiang Zhaoxia, the others all liked to cling to Li Qingqiu.
After soothing them for a long while, Li Qingqiu could barely wait to get back to his room and study that "Dao Lineage" prompt.
"Yuchun, you go cook. Dongyue, keep an eye on Man'er, Sifeng, and Sijin."
After quickly assigning tasks, Li Qingqiu turned and hurried back into the courtyard.
Qingxiao Sect sounded impressive, but in truth there were only eight people. From today onward, only seven remained. The sect had just three courtyards: one for Lin Xunfeng's training, one where the disciples lived, and one used to pile up miscellaneous junk.
As the senior disciple, Li Qingqiu had a room of his own—something his juniors envied greatly.
Li Qingqiu sat on the bed, curious about how to view the Dao Lineage. At that moment, a translucent panel appeared before his eyes, displaying lines of text:
[Sect: Qingxiao Sect (renamable)]
[Sect Leader: Li Qingqiu]
[Number of Disciples (tap to view details): 7]
[Evaluation Rank: Unrated (tap to view development details)]
[Guardian Formation: None]
[Guardian Divine Beast: None]
[Fate Draws Available: 1]
[Inheritance Rewards Claimable: 1]
...
Looking at the panel, Li Qingqiu felt as if he were playing a game. In his previous life, he'd loved cultivation mobile games—so his interest in this "Dao Lineage" rose sharply.
He first thought to tap "Number of Disciples." Immediately, the panel shifted, showing seven avatars. Each avatar had a name beside it, including his own.
They were arranged by seniority: Li Qingqiu, Zhang Yuchun, Jiang Zhaoxia, Li Dongyue, Wu Man'er, Li Sifeng, Li Sijin.
All seven of them were orphans Lin Xunfeng had brought up from the mountain. Their backgrounds differed. Lin Xunfeng never spoke with them about their origins, but Li Qingqiu had lived two lives—and in this life, he'd been conscious from birth. He knew exactly who he was.
Even if Lin Xunfeng left, he had no intention of seeking out his birth parents. In his heart, that bond had long since been severed.
Li Qingqiu focused on Zhang Yuchun's avatar. Instantly, Zhang Yuchun's information popped up:
[Name: Zhang Yuchun]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 15]
[Loyalty (to Sect Leader / to Sect): 89 / 23 (Max 100)]
[Cultivation Aptitude: Mediocre]
[Comprehension: Good]
[Fate: Administrative Comet, Forbearance]
...
Li Qingqiu raised an eyebrow. His second junior brother's loyalty to him was 89, but his loyalty to Qingxiao Sect was only 23?
Did that mean Zhang Yuchun might very well leave the sect once he grew up?
Li Qingqiu's attention moved to Zhang Yuchun's "Fate," and explanations for "Administrative Comet" and "Forbearance" popped up as well.
The Fate descriptions were easy to understand: "Administrative Comet" meant talent for internal affairs, while "Forbearance" meant he could endure and hold back when faced with trouble.
Li Qingqiu suddenly felt the Dao Lineage was incredible. Through these attribute panels, he could see every disciple's talent, aptitude, and loyalty. With the Dao Lineage, controlling hearts and cultivating disciples would become much easier.
Then he looked at his third junior brother, Jiang Zhaoxia.
When Jiang Zhaoxia was little, he'd clung to him plenty—but these past two years he'd become rebellious, constantly going against him, which had irritated Li Qingqiu to no end.
And yet Jiang Zhaoxia's loyalty values surprised him.
Jiang Zhaoxia's loyalty to him was actually 96—higher than Zhang Yuchun's—while his loyalty to Qingxiao Sect was only 1, as if he could betray the sect at any moment.
What is wrong with this kid?
He likes me that much, yet he's always picking fights with me?
Looking further down, Li Qingqiu felt a burst of delight:
[Cultivation Aptitude: Excellent]
[Comprehension: Outstanding]
[Fate: Born Sword Maniac, Hidden Dragon in the Mortal World]
[Born Sword Maniac: Innately a sword cultivator; extremely high insight into the Sword Dao; exceptionally strong control over the sword]
[Hidden Dragon in the Mortal World: A turbulent background; if the destined calamities are overcome, can transform into a soaring dragon—fortune unstoppable]
Damn!
He's that strong?
Li Qingqiu suddenly understood. No wonder Jiang Zhaoxia had been displeased with him these past two years—two years ago, Lin Xunfeng had rewarded Li Qingqiu with a treasured sword. The entire Qingxiao Sect only had two swords. Back then, Jiang Zhaoxia had asked for that sword, and Li Qingqiu had refused.
He'd refused because he thought Jiang Zhaoxia couldn't handle it—Jiang Zhaoxia was only twelve at the time, and putting a sharp weapon in a child's hand made it too easy to hurt someone.
A born sword maniac meets a sword but can't obtain it—no wonder Jiang Zhaoxia disliked him. If the two of them weren't close, Jiang Zhaoxia might have tried every possible means to get that sword from him.
Li Qingqiu's dissatisfaction evaporated, replaced by sympathy.
Third Junior Brother… I misunderstood you. It's fine. In the future, I'll definitely give you a good sword, and you'll make Qingxiao Sect shine.
With the Dao Lineage's existence, Li Qingqiu had already slipped into the role of a sect leader, thinking in long-term terms.
He continued checking. Li Dongyue, Wu Man'er, Li Sifeng, and Li Sijin all had fairly high loyalty to him, but Jiang Zhaoxia was still the highest. Their aptitude and comprehension were stronger than Zhang Yuchun's, but not as good as Jiang Zhaoxia's.
As for Fate, none of theirs were as dazzling as Jiang Zhaoxia's—mostly just highlighting personality traits.
One of Wu Man'er's Fates was decent, though: "Tiger Body, Elephant Strength." The kid had been strong since childhood—unfortunately, his mind wasn't mature.
The only one who truly worried Li Qingqiu was his sixth junior brother, Li Sifeng.
Li Sifeng and seventh junior sister Li Sijin had been brought back together by Lin Xunfeng—they were biological siblings. Li Sifeng was two years older. They hadn't originally had the surname Li; Lin Xunfeng had them take Li Qingqiu's surname.
Li Sifeng was only twelve now, lively and mischievous. Li Qingqiu liked him a lot and took him along for everything.
But Li Sifeng's Fate tags were: "Wolfish Ambition," and "By Any Means Necessary."
Those two Fates meant exactly what they sounded like—prone to breeding ambition, never satisfied, and willing to pay any price to reach his goals.
If this kid sets his sights on my position as sect leader later, won't he end up turning against me?
But when Li Qingqiu looked at Li Sifeng's loyalty, he felt he might be overthinking it.
Li Sifeng's loyalty to him was 92, and his loyalty to Qingxiao Sect was 40. He just needed to keep a closer eye on him in the future.
After checking everyone's attribute panels, Li Qingqiu felt Qingxiao Sect had real potential. The only pity was that he couldn't view his own cultivation aptitude and comprehension.
Jiang Zhaoxia could be trained into the number-one enforcer. Zhang Yuchun could handle administration. He already had both the "martial" and the "civil" pillars.
Honestly, Lin Xunfeng had a good eye for disciples. He'd roamed the jianghu and surely met countless orphans, yet he only brought back these seven—meaning he truly chose carefully.
Normally, Lin Xunfeng taught them some basic fist-and-kick techniques, but in Li Qingqiu's eyes, they were just amateur tricks.
Li Qingqiu then checked the "sect development details." There wasn't much to see—Qingxiao Sect obviously had no real foundation.
So he kept scrolling, looking at the Fate selection opportunity and the Dao Lineage inheritance opportunity he'd obtained.
[Fate Selection: You may choose one Fate from among the sect's disciples and copy it as your own Fate.]
[Inheritance Reward: You may randomly obtain an inheritance such as cultivation methods, spells, divine powers, supreme techniques, formations, miscellaneous arts, and more.]
Li Qingqiu's eyes lit up. He might have talent, but he had nothing to teach—how could Qingxiao Sect develop? Luckily, the Dao Lineage provided inheritances.
He had one Fate selection and one inheritance reward—enough to get started.
Without hesitation, he tapped Jiang Zhaoxia's avatar again, focusing on Jiang Zhaoxia's Fate.
Junior Brother—your talent is incredible… and now it's mine too!