CH 7

The night passed, and morning came.

Last night, Chu Qi was lying down for a long time before he fell asleep. When he woke up, he found that the spot next to him was empty.

Yan Jiuge had already gotten up, and was currently meditating on the cusion.

The sun shone through the window, falling on Yan Jiuge’s tall and straight back, casting a layer of light on him and making his temperament seem softer.

As if sensing Chu Qi’s movement, the boy who had his eyes closed in meditation, opened them and looked in his direction.

Those dark eyes reflected the morning sunlight, and for a moment, they looked almost gentle. 

Chu Qi was a little taken aback, subconsciously saying to him, “Good morning.”

“Morning.” Yan Jiuge replied. He finished his meditation and got up from the cushion, “Breakfast is on the table. Should still be warm. Liu-shixiong just came by and dropped off some manuscripts.”

“I got up late.” Chu Qi was a little annoyed.

It wasn’t that Chu Qi got up late, but that Liu Weiming, as a late-stage Core Formation cultivator, didn’t need to sleep. Yan Jiuge, as a fake Qi Refining cultivator, also didn’t need it either.

Compared with those who cultivated all night, Chu Qi was naturally inferior.

After Chu Qi finished his breakfast, he noticed a stack of books on the table. They were probably the manuscripts brought over by Liu-shixiong.

Taking a closer look, the cover of the top one read, ‘The Path of Yunhua Realm’s Number One Sword Cultivator’.

Chu Qi: “…”

This was indeed the book that he loved to read when he was a child. Who could have known that he’d switch from being a sword cultivator to a medical cultivator.

Setting aside ‘The Path of Yunhua Realm’s Number One Sword Cultivator’ for the time being, he saw that the second book was something titled, ‘Medical Cultivators Won’t Save You, Fellow Daoists Do It For Themselves’.

???

What sort of disease couldn’t be cured by medical cultivators? 

Chu Qi turned to the first page curiously, and began to read with relish.

At the side, Yan Jiuge discovered his interest, and used his divine sense to scan through the book without Chu Qi noticing. For him, there wasn’t anything particularly interesting about the book, but some of it was good.

For example—

‘Healers are like parents, but there are also unfilial children and grandchildren in the world. Don’t be too angry.’

‘Respect the fate of others. Studying medicine cannot save those seeking their own death.’

‘If you meet someone who is seriously injured and still wants to go out treasure hunting, stay far away from them. Lest you have to collect their body for them if you are close.’

Chu Qi originally wanted to take the path of medicinal cultivation, so it would be good for him to read these.

Yan Jiuge thought so.

So, for two days in a row, Chu Qi read books while Yan Jiuge meditated beside him.

During this time, Yun Jiangmiao’s spiritual pet ran to the door on several occasions to try and sneak in, but Yan Jiuge always found it in time and threw it back to Yun Jiangmiao.

Yun Jiangmiao was very distressed about this.

But Le Changyin, his shijie in Yushou Sect, said that it was because Chu Qi possessed extremely pure innate wood spiritual roots and had an extraordinary affinity for spiritual beasts. Spiritual pets would naturally approach him, not to mention the instinct-driven White Cloud Beast which was particularly sensitive to good and evil.

Yan Jiuge lowered his eyes, thinking to himself.

It seems that aside from the mind-calming spiritual jade, he should also find something that could mask his aura.

Such an ordinary life with these small events lasted for three days. Liu Weiming received a message from the Tianxuan Sect Elder saying that it was time to leave.

During this Immortal Sect selection, Tianxuan Sect only recruited six disciples, which was less than half of what they recruited in Chu Qi’s last life.

Elder Ming sighed faintly, “We could only recruit so many this year. The rest were all snatched away by the other four Great Immortal Sects. Let’s go back.”

Since Tianxuan Sect grabbed two of Heaven’s favored sons at the beginning, the other sects were more enthusiastic towards the disciples that made it to the end of the bluestone stairs. After Chu Qi, no one else had the same “longing” for sword cultivation. They didn’t want to go to Tianxuan Sect to suffer.

Looking at the time, Elder Ming of the Tianxuan Sect saw that he couldn’t compete with the others and decided to leave early.

Anyway, they were able to recruit two highly promising new disciples this time. No matter what, it wouldn’t be a loss for Tianxuan Sect.

Elder Ming pinched his fingers, and the small iron vessel in his palm turned into a huge spiritual ship. The bottom half had a boat’s hull, but the top deck consisted of several fine jade pavilions. The whole ship was surrounded by defensive enchantments, looking majestic.

After all the disciples of Tianxuan Sect were on board, the spiritual ship unfurled twelve pairs of dark iron wings, stirring up the flowing clouds as they moved in the direction of Tianxuan Sect.

—

Tianxuan Sect was located in the north of Yunhua Realm, nestled deep in the mountains.

As far as the eye could see, there was dense, brocade green vegetation. The mountains faded into the distance, with undulating peaks of different heights, the stone a deep, cerulean blue color. It was beautiful.

The spiritual ship landed in front of the Tianxuan Sect Mountain Gate.

Chu Qi followed Yan Jiuge as he stepped off of the ship with everyone.

Elder Ming and Liu Weiming walked at the front, while the rest of the disciples who accompanied them to the selection walked at the sides, in a protective formation around the newcomers. Although they were only returning to the sect, it was the style of Tianxuan Sect when they went out, and had long become an ingrained habit for the older disciples.

After getting off the ship, Elder Ming stored away the spiritual ship.

Noticing the return of the spiritual ship from a distance, the disciples guarding the mountain gate were awaiting their arrival. They were all dressed in the robes of Tianxuan Sect disciples, and they all bowed and saluted when they say Elder Ming.

“This disciple has met Elder Ming.”

“There’s no need to be polite.” Elder Ming’s face had a touch of gentleness to it. “I’ve brought back six new disciples this time. They haven’t yet been entered into the sect’s roster, so they have no identity tokens. They’ll need six jade passes.”

Tianxuan Sect had a large formation to protect the mountain, and some main peaks had additional barriers. Outsiders weren’t permitted to enter, and only those that had identity tokens or a jade pass could avoid being attacked by the barrier formations. The jade pass was a one-time use, but it was convenient for guests who came to visit Tianxuan Sect.

This time, when Elder Ming left for the Immortal Sect selection, the disciples guarding the gate had prepared thirty jade passes for their new shidi and shimei, but they only needed six in the end?!

What to do? The number of people coming to Tianxuan Sect to learn swordsmanship was declining. In a few more decades, won’t their Tianxuan Sect fall to the point where no one cared about them?

When handing over the six jade passes to Elder Ming, the gatekeeper disciple was feeling anxious. Unexpectedly, when he lifted his eyes, he saw the Elder smiling.

Gatekeeper disciple: “…”

What was going on? Every time the number of new disciples recruited was less than twenty, the Elder had always been depressed.

Elder Ming had lost his usual sternness, saying to the new disciples in a warm tone, “These are your jade passes. After tomorrow’s entrance ceremony, your names will be registered in the sect’s roster, and you will be given an official identity token.”

“Right now, all the sword cultivators can follow Weiming to Zaohua Peak. Xiao1 Chu Qi will come with me to Zhongling Peak.”

??????

What did he just say?

—Zhongling Peak?!

—The Zhongling Peak where their Tianxuan Sect’s medical cultivators lived???

The disciples guarding the mountain gate were sword cultivators, and they showed a look of shock when they heard the words ‘Zhongling Peak’.

There was even a medical cultivator among the new recruits this time?!

This was too rare! It was simply a spectacle seen once in a hundred years!

They looked and saw a child of about ten years, standing there obediently. His eyes were clear and clean, and he did not look away when they made eye contact. His appearance was exquisite and refined. At this moment, he was speaking with the black-clothed boy beside him in a low voice.

Everyone present was a cultivator who had already formed their core, so they could easily hear their voices regardless of how quiet they were trying to be.

“Then, I’ll go to Zhongling Peak with Elder Ming first. I’ll look for you after the entrance ceremony tomorrow.”

He spoke quietly, with a gentle voice. Such a person was almost unheard of in their sect. Th-th-this… was this really the shidi who joined their Tianxuan Sect to study medicine?!

“I understand. You should be careful.” The boy in black replied coldly.

Seeing the contrast between the two of them, everyone came back to their senses— it turned out that they really had such a shidi! And he had a good personality!

However, before all the sword cultivators could get a good look, medicinal cultivator-shidi was taken up to Zhongling Peak by Elder Ming.

A leaf boat flew away and disappeared at the top of a high mountain.

Immediately after, Liu Weiming took the remaining five sword cultivators to Zaohua Peak. 

The Tianxuan Sect disciples who stayed at the mountain gate were left in the dust. After the commotion calmed down, they picked up their identity tokens hanging around their waists and sent messages to their friends in the sect to express their feelings.

For such a big event, you couldn’t just enjoy it by yourself!

—

Chu Qi sat in a leaf boat and followed Elder Ming to Zhongling Peak. 

There were five main peaks in Tianxuan Sect, namely: Zizai Peak, Zaohua Peak, Wenjian Peak, Yuxiu Peak, and Zhongling Peak.

Zhongling Peak was located behind the other four, deep within the spiritual veins of Tianxuan Sect.

In his last life, Chu Qi had only ever visited the first four peaks. He never had any serious injuries or illnesses, so he never needed to see a healer.

In addition, there was an extra layer of restrictions on Zhongling Peak. Even if they were disciples of Tianxuan Sect, idlers and guests weren’t allowed to enter.

“Before we arrived, I sent a message to Elder Qingyue. When we get to Zhongling Peak, his eldest disciple will be there to arrange your food and daily necessities. Zhongling Peak is a little different from the other peaks since it’s planted with precious spiritual herbs. There are no disciples assigned to sweep the grounds. If there’s anything you need to do, you should either look for Elder Qingyue or his eldest disciple, or send a message to me. Here, you can use this messenger talisman.”

Tianxuan Sect disciples all used their identity tokens to send messages, but Chu Qi didn’t have one yet, so he could only rely on this messenger talisman.

“Thank you, Elder Ming. This disciple will remember.” Chu Qi accepted the messenger talisman.

“You’re welcome.”

As they spoke, they arrived at Zhongling Peak.

A figure was standing at the foot of the mountain waiting for them. Different from the black and white robes of Tianxuan Sect’s sword cultivators, this person was wearing a dark green short-sleeved robe, embroidered with spiritual herbs and flowers along the edges. The inner shirt was white with the cuffs tied back neatly with hand wraps around their wrists. The belt was made of dark brown woven fiber with the Tianxuan Sect emblem emblazoned in the center. The outermost layer was a smock made from white gauze which almost looked gilded in the sun.

Of course, this wasn’t what surprised Chu Qi—

Elder Qingyue’s eldest disciple was actually a shijie!!

“This disciple has met Elder Ming.” A crisp female voice sounded. A woman with a ponytail and curved brows smiled at Chu Qi, “This must be our Zhongling Peak’s xiao-shidi, right? I am your shijie, and my name is Bai Xuan.”

“I have met Bai Xuan-shijie.” Chu Qi responded, introducing himself simply, “My name is Chu Qi.”

“Then I’ll leave xiao Chu Qi in your care. I still have to go back to Zizai Peak to report to the Sect Head and make preparations for tomorrow’s entrance ceremony.” Elder Ming was very busy.

“This disciple will certainly live up to the Elder’s high expectations.” Bai Xuan agreed.

Then, Elder Ming took out his spiritual sword from his waist. His aura suddenly changed, and he rode away on the wind with his sword.

It took but a moment for him to fade out of sight. He didn’t look as unhurried as when he sent Chu Qi over just now.

“Ai, xiao-shidi, you also wanted to be a sword cultivator, didn’t you?” Seeing Chu Qi looking in the direction of Elder Ming out in the distance, Bai Xuan couldn’t help but sigh, “Only sword cultivators are able to fly on swords. If we want to go up the mountain, we have to use a flying spiritual tool or ride the Luan2.”

As her words fell, the long cry of a Luan bird sounded from the sky above.

A white Luan, with its long, slender tail feathers, circled down. Its pure white wings were spotless, and it gracefully landed at Bai Xuan’s feet.

“Come on. Shijie will take you to the top of Zhongling Peak.”

“I was surprised when I heard the news. You should know that Zhongling Peak hasn’t had any new disciples for a hundred years. Oh, and that time a hundred years ago? That was when I came to Zhongling Peak.”

“Really? Bai Xuan-shijie, how many disciples does Zhongling Peak have?” Chu Qi was curious.

“Two. You are one, and I am the other.” Bai Xuan’s voice was quiet, “Counting our shifu3, Elder Qingyue, there are a total of three medical cultivators on the mountain!”

A calm breeze blows. 

Chu Qi’s eyes were full of confusion— three medical cultivators was ‘a lot’?

[1] Xiao- is often stuck in front of someone’s name by an elder. Means ‘little’.

[2] A Luan is a mythological bird described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

[3] Term of address for a Master.