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The Bamboo & Willow on the Mountain

Summary:

After the mess at Qiu Manor, Shen Yuan had been enjoying cultivation as a wandering cultivator in a way he never could in his previous transmigration. But vacation’s over, and it’s time to head to Cang Qiong and do some pre-(LBH)-game-planning. What kind of “essential plotpoints” will he have to navigate this time?

Notes:

This is the sequel to “Bamboo guards the Fragrant Blossom”.
While you can probably get by just knowing that the Qiu Arc ended very differently, there will be references to it in this story that may feel like they lack a little context on their own. Maybe.

Chapter 1: The Immortal Alliance Conference

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“Do you think he’ll come?”

“Hm… I don’t know. It’s not common for wandering cultivators to participate in the Conference.”

“But that’s because they’re usually not very strong. That guy… well, he’s as good as our shixiongs and shijies, right?”

“That’s true… but he doesn’t really like attention-grabbing things like this.”

“Pft! Even though he’s already got an epithet like the Wayward Sword, he’s still trying to ‘avoid attention’?”

“Well, we all know everyone only calls him that because they’re too polite to call him what they really want to call him. Wayward Sword? More like Chaos Sword!”

“Bleh! Don’t remind me… just watching him in swordflight makes me feel like I want to vomit...”

“Chaos Sword would still be better than what the other wandering cultivators call him. When I went on a mission the other day, I got to talk to this other wandering cultivator who was there for the same reason. We started chatting, and of COURSE he knew about that guy … apparently, among wandering cultivators, they secretly call him ‘the mad lad’.”

“ “ “ Pfffft” “ “

A young disciple dressed in Bai Zhan robes, quite a few years younger than the average age of the other Immortal Alliance Conference participants, paused for a moment as he passed a group of Zhao Hua Temple disciples who had burst into laughter.

“Liu-shidi, don’t fall behind,” his shixiong called, and the Bai Zhan disciple picked up the pace to catch up with the other disciples of Cang Qiong.

Looking around, he was probably the youngest disciple participating. The average age was 16 or 17. The oldest was in their mid-20s. He was 13.

He was attracting a lot of attention, and not all the gazes were mere curiosity or contempt.

… Hostility would be easier to deal with. It seems he’d have to watch his back when he entered the field.

Even if those who couldn’t see past appearances would be easy enough to deal with, he wasn’t someone who would be happy with wasting energy dealing with mediocre opponents.

After registering with the rest of his participating shixiongs and shijies, he left the Conference grounds as fast as possible.

He’d have to regroup with the other disciples at the inn at night, but right now, the less eyes on him the better.

He had spotted an isolated ledge on the cliff nearby, overlooking the Immortal Alliance Conference venue, and decided to hide out there as he pulled out his spirit sword and flew up towards … …

A figure flew past him, startling him badly, and he quickly turned, leaping onto the ledge and brandishing his sword, prepared for an attack.

The figure soared upwards, a cultivator on a sword, flying… practically vertically up against the cliff?! The speed the cultivator was going was so fast, he wasn’t surprised the man hadn’t noticed him.

When the cultivator crested the peak, he went into a spin, before flipping himself backwards, sword over head in a controlled aerial display of flips and turns.

The Bai Zhan disciple watched, amazed at the cultivator’s dexterity and qi control as he made maneuvers that honestly seemed like they’d be impossible without just falling from the sword.

Moreover, the man had a carefree grin on his face, as if this much was nothing, something he could do easily without even thinking about it.

Then, suddenly, it appeared that the cultivator caught sight of him.

The man’s eyes went wide and suddenly… he lost his immaculate qi control, sending himself and his sword into a disorderly spin.

---

Shen Yuan almost wiped out when he caught sight of the figure standing on the ledge midway up the cliff.

Luckily, he had more than enough practice controlling his sword and managed to recover from the near spin out, riding the air current until he stabilized before breaking away, speeding back.

The boy flinched as Shen Yuan came to a very abrupt stop by making a 180 degree turn right in front of him.

Two pairs of eyes stared at each other in silence for a second before Shen Yuan sat on his heels while still on his sword to get a better look.

OMFG. A tiny grumpy Liu-shidi is fucking adorable.

… Okay, maybe he’s not tiny, exactly, he’s a pre-teen looks like, but Shen Yuan had only ever seen the Bai Zhan Peak Lord at his prime, so he’s tinier than he remembered.

But is it really Liu-shidi? That thought didn’t even cross his mind.

Because, look. There is NO way that this kid ISN’T Liu Qingge. Pretty enough to be a little noble daughter, the beauty mark at his left eye, with an expression like he’s thinking about punting you through a wall … textbook Liu-shidi.

“What’s a Bai Zhan disciple doing up here?” he asked, doing his best to restrain himself from going ‘Liu-shidi~!’ and pinching those cheeks. Because let’s face it, the kid could probably still snap his wrists easily even at this age. Also, logically speaking, he technically shouldn’t know who this kid is.

“… What about you?” the boy asked right back, quietly, not sheathing his sword.

Uwaaah- Cheng Luan? Already? Shen Qingqiu’s Qing Jing brats were just getting out of foundational training at his age!

“There’s too many people over there, and this cliff had some great updrafts, so I thought I’d kill time until the Great Sects had all registered. … Well, I haven’t actually decided if I want to participate in the Conference, though,” Shen Yuan said casually.

If it weren’t for the System, he … well, maybe he’d want to check out the Immortal Alliance Conference regardless. It only came by every four years, and he’d be 20 for the next one, a little on the old side for participating.

Anyway, he doesn’t really care about winning, so it doesn’t matter if he feels like he’s not ready to compete against the disciples of the four Great Sects. He’s just here to see how it is~ after all, his last experience of the Immortal Alliance Conference was in the past-future, and it wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience.

The worst. It was the worst experience, ever.

Gods… and Liu-shidi’s … he’s got to be at the age Shen Qingiqu, well Shen Yuan as Shen Qingqiu, had first met Binghe. He might be even younger.

“… You going to be okay during the Conference tomorrow?” Shen Yuan asked.

“Of course.” Blunt as ever.

“… You’re pretty young, though. There are bound to be people who underestimate you because of that, so won’t it be a pain?”

At that, the boy blinked slowly in (mild) surprise, lowering his sword. After a moment, he gave a terse nod.

“Hm...” Shen Yuan sat back, then, slowly, his sword rolled over and he hung, upside down, as he surveyed the field the competition would be held in.

“It looks like that place by the river and over there, by those formations, would be good places to hold a choke point,” he said, pointing as he spoke, “but maybe higher ground would be good for dealing with a bunch of weaklings trying to ambush you. Ah, that place over there looks like it would be a good habitat for monsters, and over there… judging from how much commotion there’s going to be, I bet there and there will be places stealth-based monsters will lie in wait...”

“… How are you doing that?”

“Hm?” Shen Yuan craned his neck, looking over his shoulder, his low-tied ponytail hanging straight down, making him look somewhat comical as he was upside down. “Doing what?”

The boy looked at him like he was an idiot. “That,” he said, gesturing towards Shen Yuan. “Staying … on? Your sword.”

“Oooh,” Shen Yuan laughed as his bottom suddenly dropped from the sword, reaching out his hand and grabbing hold of the hilt to flip himself back up to sit, cross-legged, on top of it. The sword didn’t budge a single bit during his entire stunt, as if it was frozen in space.

“It’s a little trick. You use qi to stick your feet to the sword while flying, right? It’s something a little similar to that,” Shen Yuan explained, but honestly, it was easy to say, but difficult to do. Controlling his sword like it was part of his own body, literally, wasn’t easy … he fell so many times until he somehow reached enlightenment and learned sword intent.

… By the way, when he told Abbot Wu Wang from Zhao Hua that he fumbled his way into learning sword intent just because he wanted to pull stupid stunts while flying on his sword, the good Abbot nearly pulled his hair out, even while Sect Master Wu Chen slapped his thigh and laughed heartily.

“… Could I learn it?” Liu-shidi fingered the hilt of Cheng Luan, his gaze softening a bit from wariness into curiosity.

“If you can’t learn it, I wonder who could,” Shen Yuan muttered before clearing his throat and saying, “Yeah. I bet a guy like you could figure it out without much trouble.”

‘Did Liu Qingge know sword intent?’ was about as useful of a question as, ‘Is ice cold?’

It would only be a matter of time until this little Liu-shidi learned it, too.

… Ah, but he couldn’t just keep calling him ‘Liu-shidi’. Actually, he isn’t even calling him Liu-shidi, right now, he’s still stuck at the ‘Hey you’ stage.

“So, what’s you’re name?” Shen Yuan asked, resting his cheek on his hand as he watched his tiny shidi, well technically not his shidi, watching him right back with caution.

“… Shouldn’t you give your name first?” the boy asked.

“Oh, that’s true. I’m Shen Yuan, a wandering cultivator,” Shen Yuan said.

The boy in Bai Zhan robes scowled before he finally said, “Liu Yingjie. Cang Qiong.”

Notes:

A short chapter, since it’s a bit of a prologue, but I hope it gives enough of a taste for where we’re going.

I know the popular fanon for LQG’s given name is that it contains the ‘ming’ from LMY’s name, but ming (drizzly, misty) feels a bit too soft for LQG to me.
Anyway, I headcanon that LQG fully embraces his courtesy name with pride after becoming a Peak Lord, so it’s fine, it’s only for this part of the series...

Chapter 2: Uninvited and Unwanted

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Shen Yuan hummed happily. Man, he was lucky to have booked a room considering how many people are in this city for the Immortal Alliance Conference.

Okay, it was probably the shittiest inn in the city, but who cares about that? He’s slept in way worse places. He can sleep anywhere these days, being a wandering cultivator.

“I didn’t think about it, but of course Cang Qiong would be here,” he said, chuckling to himself as he prepared for the next day, pulling out his fan and sword to check their condition, the long white tassel swaying as he moved them. “I wonder if I’ll get to see the other tiny Peak Lords.”

[This System would like to point out that User002’s ability to recognize relative sizes appears to be faulty. Children above the age of 10 are often considered past the quantifier of ‘tiny’.]

Aw, c’mon, they’re a hell of a lot younger than I remember. I’m allowed to call them ‘tiny’ if I want.”

[This System would like to remind User002 that he himself is also much younger than before, and is only older than the party named Liu Yingjie by 3 years. User002 is also still younger than many of the party, Shen Qingqiu’s, martial siblings, as might be expected when one considers how age works relative to time travel.]

“...”

Ever since he ‘set fire’ to the Qiu Manor, the System’s been a lot snippier than before. Or maybe it’s because the only quest that popped up after he killed Qiu Jianluo was to ‘attend the next Immortal Alliance Conference’, which gave him two good long years to go do his thing, and it just got bored and decided to start heckling him. Hard to tell with the System.

As if it could read his mind (it can), the System helpfully intoned,

[This System would like to inform User002 that while the quest requires User002 to attend the Conference, there was no need for User002 to register as a participant.]

… Shen Yuan didn’t know how to feel about the smug tone the System seemed to be giving off.

Yeah, it was still annoyed about that fire. Seriously, the manor burned down in the end, so is there a point to remaining so salty?

It’s fine, I wanted to try going to the Conference as a participant once in my life,” Shen Yuan thought, rolling his eyes.

Waiting until after he finished registering for the Immortal Alliance Conference to tell him that – if Shen Yuan actually didn’t want to participate, he’d be PISSED.

… Well, honestly, compared to his previous time as Shen Qingqiu, the System was actually starting to look a little cute.

Anyway, no point worrying about it now.

Shen Yuan hummed as he finished his preparations.

Tomorrow was going to be the first time since he died last that he’d see his martial siblings, so he was a little excited. Surprising how he’d started thinking of them as familiar presences, even if he hadn’t thought they’d actually gotten that close at the time.

Zhao Hua Temple Sect was going to be there too, and those old fogies among the wandering cultivators who never wasted a chance to go betting would likely be around … it’s surprising how many people he had connections with these days.

Perhaps he’s become a lot more attached to this world than before.

Shen Yuan happily went to sleep, curious about what the next day would bring.

But not before using a cleaning talisman on the bed.

… This really must be THE shittiest inn in the city.

---

The Immortal Alliance Conference lasts 5 days, the first 3 being the monster hunt competition between disciples. The last 2 consisted of exhibition matches and events that were more social in nature than combative.

The competition consisted of 100 participating disciples, 15 from each of the four Great Sects to take up 60 of those spots with 40 spots open to the minor sects and others. Generally speaking, the participants’ ages should be under 20 years, but it wasn’t a hard rule so there were several participants in their early 20s.

Depending on the strengths of the monsters the participants killed and how many of monsters they slayed, the participants would receive points, and the higher the points the better. Simple… not really, the judging could get frenzied when multiple disciples worked together to take down a monster, but that was for the large panel of judges carefully watching the participants from the cliffs surrounding the Savage Valley below to deal with.

The competition field was heavily arrayed. To keep the monsters within the valley was one obvious feature. The other was to ensure no one else would be able to enter the field once once the competition began. It ensured both safety of the participants and served as one manner to mitigate cheating, at least from outside help.

In case of emergencies, there were also disciples who were non-participants within the field. Healers of course, and they would certainly be kept busy as they always are, every Conference, but also those whose abilities were much greater than the scope of the competition in case a rescue or two were necessary.

Perhaps it would have been wiser to conduct this sort of competition in manifest illusions, where the competitors would not be risking actual death and be teleported outside the field once a certain amount of damage was ‘taken,’ but then it wouldn’t serve the purpose of thinning out the monsters within the Savage Valley.

At any rate, there were many arrays and safeguards erected about the competition field. It should be as safe as it could be, as it always was, every single time it was held. And yet…

Lan Yanzhou, the Peak Lord of Qiong Ding, Sect Leader of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, watched as her second in command, Qing Jing Peak Lord Qin Yanfen, tapped her fingers against the arm of her chair with a strange, nervous energy.

“What is it?” Sect Leader Lan asked. Only a fool would ignore Peak Lord Qin’s instances of unease.

“I’m not sure,” Peak Lord Qin said with a distressed frown. Her left eye, under the silken cloth she used as an eyepatch, ached dully.

Ignoring the people who kept sneakily, or not so sneakily, watching the two Cang Qiong High-Peak Flowers, as they were often called, Sect Leader Lan pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes as she carefully surveyed the Savage Valley below.

It was the third day, the final day of the competition, and everything had been going smoothly.

Certainly, there were casualties. There are always accidents, and there are always disciples who overestimate their abilities and participate despite being wholly underpowered for the Savage Valley.

And seriously, would it kill Huan Hua Palace even TRY to limit their participants to those who actually have the ability instead of focusing on the statuses of the Young Masters and Misses within their ranks?

Diluting their judgment and ranks with sensibilities based on mortal standards is always such a dangerous thing. 7 of their 15 disciples have already been retired.

Compared to them, Cang Qiong’s participants were doing well, as expected.

Sect Leader Lan glanced at the rankings written in the sky, being updated regularly from the judges.

Out of the three Head Disciple candidates who were participating, Qi-shizi had slaughtered her way through to third place, fighting for second place with the current second place pretty evenly.

The young Liu-shizhi was unsurprisingly, to Cang Qiong anyway,the indomitable top. Even after he had all that trouble the first day with disciples from other sects trying to force him to retire by ganging up on him, he had maintained a good 100 to 150 point lead almost right from the beginning.

As for the third who was participating… how is Shentu Guang, a Head Disciple candidate for Jian Ya, the beast peak, located in the middle of the rankings?

… No, Sect Leader Lan understood. The youth hadn’t been exactly subtle with his excitement over being able to see the monsters of the Savage Valley up close, however the competition requires actually slaying monsters, not taming them.

For goodness’ sake, there’s even an unaffiliated cultivator, some guy named Shen Yuan who didn’t have any sect at all to his name, above him in the rankings! Only just right above him, though, but it’s still somewhat embarrassing to have a Cang Qiong Head Disciple candidate below a wandering cultivator.

Goodness, there can’t be another fool in this world who would enter a slaying contest just to observe monsters.

At least most of the other disciples from Cang Qiong are doing better than that. Most of them were in the top half, at least, although one did end up retiring with an injury, so her rank would likely drop from now on.

All things considered, everything should be fine, so why was Qin-shimei feeling so uneasy?

Sect Leader Lan suddenly narrowed her eyes, beckoning one of her shizhi over.

“Ask the judges to send a list of who has entered and left the 4,7 sector, and what points were earned there,” she said.

The response was not encouraging.

Seventeen participants entered. None left. No points. In fact, no recognition of anything going on within that sector at all.

Sect Leader Lan swore under her breath as she drew her sword and flew over to the judges seats as a panicked flurry of activity exploded within the venue.

---

[Condition: Encounter Wu Yanzi, complete. Quest added.
Current Quest: Become the disciple of Wu Yanzi; Success +50 points, Failure -
50 points.]

Not. The. Fucking. Time!

Shen Yuan swore colorfully as he dodged the evil-looking daggers launched towards him, pivoting and blocking them from hitting the unconscious disciples behind him.

Become the disciple of Wu Yanzi? Fucking hell, that’s not possible!

[… This System notes the current unfavorable conditions to completing the quest is not the fault of User002. Failure amended to -25 points.]

Great. Thanks. THAT HELPS SO MUCH.

Shen Yuan gritted his teeth.

Was he just, like, a bad omen for Immortal Alliance Conferences or something? Surely something terrible didn’t happen for every Conference or else they’d stop doing this, right?

So why is it that the first (in the future) Conference he attends is attacked with Airplane’s sabotage and the whole Endless Abyss thing, lots dead many injured, and his second (first) time attending has a freaking evil cultivator who has somehow broken into the field to kill, maim, and harvest disciples?!

Become an evil cultivator’s disciple? Fuck that! He’s had enough of evil cultivators.

Might as well take the points from me now,” Shen Yuan sneered at the System. “There’s no FUCKING way I’ll join hands with an evil cultivator in any way, shape, or form!”

Also, this Wu Yanzi guy didn’t seem particularly keen on taking in disciples. More like, he’s interested in taking apart disciples right now.

Man, how the hell did such a lovely time get ruined by this?

Shen Yuan had enjoyed himself the past two days, you know?

The monsters of the Savage Valley had quite a few differences to their counterparts outside of it, and if he was getting a chance to update his bestiary, well, hell yeah he’s going to take it! Well, after taking potshots at those idiot disciples that decided to target Liu-shidi.

A nice rain of leaves deterred them, but Shen Yuan knew they weren’t going to be the only ones … still, Liu-shidi could handle himself (and would probably be pissed off if he found out he was getting babysat around the field), so after venting a little bit at these underhanded idiots, especially at the Huan Hua disciples because, really, fuck Huan Hua, Shen Yuan went off on his own and had a blast taking notes and only killing the monsters that were really set on killing him.

He’d even made a friend!

After crawling on his belly through the tall grass around the panther deathclaw viper in order to see if there were any eggs in its burrow, Shen Yuan had come face to face with a guy who was doing the exact same thing.

They hit it off right away, and it took Shen Yuan a little while to realize that this was Shentu Qingji, the Jian Ya Peak Lord. Future Jian Ya Peak Lord.

If he knew they had such similar interests, he would have hung out with this martial brother a lot more, dammit!

But then they entered a more secluded sector, one that appeared to have less powerful monsters, but not necessarily less interesting monsters, and everything … went to shit.

Wu Yanzi.

It’s not like Shen Yuan didn’t know who he was. All wandering cultivators knew who that bastard was.

An evil cultivator who absorbed the blood, vitality, and qi of others to improve his cultivation.

There was no way Wu Yanzi would be a match for a Peak Lord, but he was very, very strong, and Shen Yuan wasn’t a Peak Lord right now. He’d only drawn two rings around his core (Second Stage core formation), and from the recent exchange of blows, it was clear to him that Wu Yanzi’s evil cultivation was strong enough to rival a cultivator with a four-ring core (Fourth Stage core formation).

The difference in strength between having one ring and two rings around your core is already practically impossible to overcome. The difference between two rings and three rings was even larger. Each subsequent ring would get harder to draw, and the strength increase also became greater.

Two rings versus four rings? Impossible.

Dammit dammit dammit! Shen Yuan really shouldn’t have gotten lazy and left off forming his other rings for when he reached Cang Qiong! Who cares if it would be suspicious if he had so many rings at such a young age as a wandering cultivator? Who cares if it would be a hell of a lot harder to do so without the proper resources or environment?

At least he’d be able to deal with the currently most wanted evil cultivator in the realm trying to kill him and the other disciples around him!

Next to him, Shentu Guang gritted his teeth as he glanced at the dried up husks of ten disciples lying on the ground.

“Monster,” he snarled, “You’ll pay for what you’ve done.”

Wu Yanzi laughed, an evil, grating sound. “Oh? And you think you will be able to stop me?”

Shentu Guang bristled at the mocking. “Even if we can’t stop you, at least -”

Swish.

Shen Yuan stuck his fan out in front of Shentu Guang, cutting him off. “Forget it,” he said, “If you talk too much, you risk turning yourself into cannon fodder.”

“… Huh?” Shentu Guang said, but he was startled as Shen Yuan waved his fan in a controlled manner, forming quick sword signs with his other hand and causing his sword to fly about.

“What are you up to...” Wu Yanzi said casually, as if he was enjoying watching the futile struggles of his prey, but suddenly his eyes narrowed and grew grim as he lurched forward with a growl.

“Xiao Yuan-!” Shentu Guang yelled, barely able to keep track of Wu Yanzi’s sudden burst of speed, but it seemed like Shen Yuan expected it, leaping back and turning, whirling, and spinning as he dodged Wu Yanzi’s sharp attacks, not stopping his hands once even as Shentu Guang leapt to his defense, fending off several sharp sword strikes.

With a smile, Shen Yuan landed a short distance away, folding his fan with a crisp sound and performing complicated hand signs in quick succession, his sword floating vertically in front of him.

“Lift!” he shouted, and it was almost like someone had reached down, yanking the shadows out of their surroundings, even though there was no actual visual difference.

“Tsk!” Wu Yanzi unleashed a blast of dark qi, forcing Shentu Guang backwards, and glared at Shen Yuan.

“With your Dark Cloud Concealing Array gone, wouldn’t it be wise for you to think about leaving?” Shen Yuan said calmly. “I don’t think the leaders of the Great Sects will be particularly fond of having you as an unregistered participant.”

Wu Yanzi scowled silently for moment before he suddenly sneered. “I see now. A young wandering cultivator who uses techniques far beyond his cultivation. You’re the bounty hunter who’s been going around, recently.”

“Bounty hunter?” Shentu Guang repeated, eyebrows furrowed in question, although he didn’t avert his eyes from the evil cultivator in front of him.

“I don’t think I can be accused of bounty hunting if you evil cultivators are the ones who keep throwing yourselves at me,” Shen Yuan said evenly.

A dark laughter erupted from Wu Yanzi. “Even so, don’t you think I should avenge my colleagues?” he asked.

Shen Yuan sneered. “As if any of you could stop killing other humans enough to care about each other. You’re just upset you can’t devour them yourself now that they’re dead.” Even as he taunted Wu Yanzi, Shen Yuan’s mind spun wildly.

Now that the concealing array has been removed, Wu Yanzi should be thinking about making his get away as fast as possible. It shouldn’t take him much trouble to shake off a team made up of a Second and Third Stage core formation duo.

So why was the evil cultivator stalling...?

“Maybe you’re right, but your golden core and cultivation just look too delicious,” Wu Yanzi sneered right back, “Don’t you think I should at least take them as souvenirs?!” He lunged, impossibly fast, at Shen Yuan, and Shen Yuan gritted his teeth, concentrating everything he had on movement techniques. Fuck! He should have gotten on his sword right away – he has confidence in his mobility in swordflight.

Although it’s likely that Wu Yanzi wouldn’t have given him the opportunity anyway.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Shen Yuan saw movement.

“Shentu-ge!” he yelled, before barely catching a blow with his sword, punched backwards into a tree from the force for his distraction, blood welling up in his throat.

He saw the future Peak Lord realize the danger too late as a boy, about Shen Yuan’s age, leapt out from the shadows, poisoned daggers at the ready.

Fuck fuck fuck! He should have realized – Shen Jiu being at this Conference, Shen Jiu possibly being Wu Yanzi’s disciple, Wu Yanzi being within the competition field at this moment – of course, Wu Yanzi would have a partner!

Have a youth sign up as a participant to infiltrate the Savage Valley, then use some sort of technique that took advantage of that to enter the array somehow – fuck! Shen Yuan should have known, he should have thought to watch out for another person – even as he dodged Wu Yanzi’s sharp attacks, only avoiding death and absorption into Wu Yanzi’s cultivation sheerly by his techniques and experience with dealing with evil cultivators, Shen Yuan could only taste the bitter, bitter bile of intense regret as Shentu Guang was too late to block, too late to dodge -

Crack! Smash!

The boy, Wu Yanzi’s partner (disciple?) was thrown backwards through a tree with a sickening crunch from the blow of one sword before another sword stabbed downwards mercilessly.

Shen Yuan wanted to cry with relief, even as he was hardpressed to defend himself from Wu Yanzi’s onslaught.

Qi-shimei, Liu-shidi!

Good timing-!

Notes:

[System is doing its best. System can’t just rescind automated quests, though. It is not the System’s fault] – this System protests.

Chapter 3: Arrival

Notes:

Changing the n-ring core denotation from n-Stage Core Formation to just n-Grade Core, where n is the number of rings around the core.
Was going too fast and didn’t have time to reconsider various terms.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Swish- clang!

Again, the strange wandering cultivator caught the evil cultivator’s blade in Liu Yingjie’s blind spot.

It was odd how in tune the wandering cultivator was to their Cang Qiong fighting techniques, to the point Liu Yingjie’d be suspicious if he had the time to really think about it. But right now, it didn’t matter. They had to depend on this stranger or else they’d be wiped out.

Liu Yingjie had fought an evil cultivator before, and he imagined Qi-shijie had as well, but a qi and blood devourer at the level of Wu Yanzi? Never.

How could there be that many qi and blood devourers that had absorbed the lives of thousands of mortals and hundreds of cultivators? Of course there aren’t.

How could Cang Qiong send their disciples out against evil cultivators that were clearly above their level? Of course they wouldn’t.

None of them had any experience in fighting an opponent like Wu Yanzi, who should, by all rights, have already taken them apart and absorbed them into his cultivation.

Liu Yingjie glanced to the side.

Qi-shijie was coughing blood and Shentu-shixiong had taken a deep wound in his side. The wandering cultivator had also taken a few hits. Only Liu Yingjie was unhurt.

… Strange. Although it was already odd that the wandering cultivator could fight so well with them, it was downright bizarre how well he could cooperate with Liu Yingjie.

Liu Yingjie would almost think the wandering cultivator had a lot of experience fighting with his shixiongs from Bai Zhan if he didn’t know better.

With him covering his back, Liu Yingjie could focus solely on attacking the evil cultivator. It was the only reason all of them were still alive and moving, even if they were injured.

“Do you think I’d let you go after you killed my disciple?!” the evil cultivator sneered, cutting Qi-shijie off again as she tried to make space for Shentu-shixiong to escape.

“Dammit-!” Qi Ruolan swore, manage to fend off the sword filled with dark qi, but forced to switch direction again.

“Disciple? Don’t you mean experimental body?” the wandering cultivator sneered. “All you qi and blood devourers are the same! If you’re going to go down an unorthodox path, test your shit methods on yourself!”

“Hahaha, you really did take out Old Pin, if you know this much. Then, can you guess what I’ll do next?!” the evil cultivator crowed, even as he took Liu Yingjie’s blow full on, pushed back a small distance back.

The wandering cultivator’s brows furrowed for a moment, before his eyes suddenly went wide.

“CATCH THEM, DON’T TOUCH THE GROUND!” he bellowed, swirling his qi and slamming it into the ground with both hands, and suddenly, the ground exploded, sending all of them, the unconscious victims included, soaring into the sky.

With a grunt, Qi Ruolan caught three of the unconscious disciples while Shentu Guang caught two, grunting in pain from the exertion and as Liu Yingjie caught him by the back of his robes, landing in the trees nearby.

The ground suddenly shone with an eerie light, and the wandering cultivator groaned, forced to his knees under the weight of the array that had been hidden in the grass.

Blood and Qi Devouring Array.

In the flash of an eye, the qi-nurtured plants shriveled up and died, and the three head disciple candidates watched in horror as the corrupting aura covered the area.

Unfortunately, using that technique to fling the others off the ground hadn’t give the wandering cultivator any time to dodge himself.

“Good try, good try,” the evil cultivator said, clapping lightly, right outside of the array, drawing in the qi sucked out of the plants. “But it’s not that easy to disturb my arrays. Now, let’s see how delicious the cultivation of the Wayward Sword can be.”

With a wicked grin, the man lifted his hand, and the wandering cultivator made a small noise of distress as the force pulling him down increased.

“Xiao Yuan-!” Shentu Guang choked out, but he was cut off as the evil cultivator suddenly scowled.

“… You really are a pain to deal with, to be capable of resisting the array,” he snarled. “I see why my colleagues say it’s bad luck to run into you. Nothing’s been going to plan.”

“You’re not the first blood and qi devourer I’ve had to deal with, after all,” the other said, a tense smile on his face. “Do you really think I wouldn’t know how to counter the Blood and Qi Devouring Array?” Then his face grew serious. “All of you, leave!” he barked.

“Ah-? What about you?” Qi Ruolan protested.

“We can’t keep up the same formation as before, but he can’t leave while maintaining the array!” the wandering cultivator snapped, and they understood.

They were barely keeping up with the evil cultivator four on one, and with one of them out of commission, even if the evil cultivator was slightly distracted while maintaining the array, it was obvious they’d be at a great disadvantage.

Qi Ruolan clicked her tongue in irritation.

“We’ll get help!” she snapped, her face twisted in bitterness as she hefted the three disciples over one shoulder, grabbing Shentu Guang and running off.

“Wait, wait! What about Xiao Yuan-!?” Shentu Guang protested.

“Then you want to let that Wu Yanzi devour your cultivation and make things worse?” she snapped back. If it could be helped, Qi Ruolan didn’t want to abandon a single person. But she was the eldest of them and understood the best – right now that guy was withstanding the array purely with his ability in qi manipulation. If even one of them got absorbed by Wu Yanzi, empowering the evil cultivator further, the balance would be broken and the wandering cultivator would be sucked dry into a husk.

Watching them go, Wu Yanzi sneered. “You really think you can keep this up? It’s only a matter of time before I overpower you.”

“Who knows. My qi pool is quite a bit larger than my cultivation rank. Maybe you’ll give up first?” Shen Yuan smiled.

“Hahahaha!” Wu Yanzi broke out into a laugh. “You’re just buying time, aren’t you? But it’s no use-! Righteous sects can never make a decision right away! Even if they do decide to take down the arrays and send capable people after me, I’ll still have time to drain you dry before getting away-!”

Shen Yuan tsk-ed. He knew it was true – if they were serious about catching Wu Yanzi, a powerful elder should have already come by.

To think that there’d be such idiots who’d want the competition to finish up before capturing one of the most wanted criminals in the Human Realm, but human bureaucracy is in every world, it seems.

With a feeling of dread, Shen Yuan watched as Wu Yanzi grinned – and increased the power of the array.

Ugh-! Shen Yuan could feel his meridians being tugged raw, but he stubbornly continued to resist, throwing all his qi into the defensive circulation, countering the array as precisely as he could.

Suddenly, the pressure lessened.

? Looking up quickly, Shen Yuan saw… stupid Liu-shidi-! This isn’t someone you can fight! Not that it’s ever stopped him in the past-future… argh! Why can’t you change?!

Liu Yingjie threw himself fully behind his sword, aware that he was outclassed beyond reason, but he couldn’t fight the bitter feeling from allowing someone else to sacrifice himself to save his own life.

At the very least, he could keep some pressure on Wu Yanzi so that he couldn’t concentrate on the array alone – that’s what he was thinking, but as expected, it was much more difficult with the other three providing additional support.

As Wu Yanzi laughed wildly, sending Liu Yingjie flying into a tree, bouncing off with a sickening thud and a cough of blood, he suddenly turned, narrowing his eyes.

“… To think they would have already stationed someone with a Fifth Grade Core within the array.” For the first time since they’d begun to fight him, Wu Yanzi’s face became tense and his eyes narrowed, a little bit of anxiety beginning to manifest.

From out of the shadows of the trees, an unsteady foot appeared, the owner staring wide-eyed at the scene in front of him.

His swallowed hard and the words slipped from his lips.

“… Xiao Jiu?”

---

Ah... such a horrible fire. The entire family dead, except for the daughter. Not one of them survived the fire.”

---

When he heard that, standing shocked in front of the burnt down remains of the Qiu Manor, his mind had gone white and his already turbid qi flared up again. The man in front of him had said something else, he couldn’t hear it, all he could do was stumble out of the city, vision both darkening and whitening until he could barely tell which way was up.

He remembered vomiting in the forest, the scent of blood and ash still in his nostrils … whose blood? His. The ash? Xiao Jiu’s?

No, it can’t be, Xiao Jiu has to be alive, it can’t be, he can’t be too late, he can’t have, just because -

Yue Qi had lost control of his qi at that moment, feeling the turbulence tearing at his already torn meridians as he screamed, when suddenly a cool hand came from nowhere, knocking him out.

Before he completely lost consciousness, he heard his Shizun, an edge of fury in her voice.

Breaking out after such a serious injury to your soul – if you want to die so much, do it without bringing so much trouble to others!”

He had been confined in sealed seclusion again. Even though he’d already been sealed in for a year.

He couldn’t stay here anymore, he had to get out, he had to look for Xiao Jiu, he had to … he had to…

“Yue Qi. You have to get a hold of yourself,” his Shizun had told him. “You are on the verge of being devoured by your heart demons. I do not know what is troubling you, but you must regain control of your emotions.”

Did that mean he had to forget about Xiao Jiu? Was this his punishment? Because he failed Xiao Jiu? Because he was too impatient? Because he couldn’t keep his promise?

Six months later, his Shizun finally deemed he was stable, and he emerged from the inner chamber of the Lingxi Caves. He no longer tried to break out, did his duties properly, and improved his cultivation in leaps and bounds. He didn’t know how, but he became well-established at Cang Qiong, became strong, became the one who would be the next Sect Leader.

But what was the point?

He wasn’t the strong, always calm, and reliable shixiong the rest of the sect thought he was.

He was weak, a complete mess, treacherous, unable to keep a single promise.

To avoid allowing his heart demons to flare up, he repressed everything, throwing himself fully into what was required of him, not letting himself show a sign of weakness, not letting himself think. He wasn’t really sure why he was still bothering.

Only Yue Qi himself knew that he still woke up, late at night, drenched in sweat and mouth open in silent screams from dreams where he saw Xiao Jiu, burning alive in front of him.

What if Xiao Jiu had been capable of running away? What if he had trapped him there with that promise? What if … what if…

For some reason, the dreams had been especially vivid the night before the Conference, and Yue Qi felt disoriented, felt his heart demons begin to stir, and once again, he forcibly repressed his emotions.

As a cultivator with a Fifth Grade Core, he was already far past the scope of the competition, so his current participation was as a member of the disciples standing by in case of an emergency. It could be disastrous if he allowed himself to be distracted.

Understandably, a powerful evil cultivator was very much an emergency.

He didn’t understand why any sects would want the competition to continue when a wanted evil cultivator was literally devouring their disciples within the field, but he knew it would be too late by the time they came to an official decision.

He couldn’t save Xiao Jiu, but surely he could save his shidis and shimei?

But when he reached the site, Yue Qi froze.

He couldn’t help the name that fell out of his mouth, his tongue completely uncontrollable.

“… Xiao Jiu?”

The person knelt on the ground, struggling to fight off the array looked up in shock.

He watched as that person’s face contorted a bit, his eyebrows furrowing for a few moments before those green eyes cleared and looked up at him.

“… … Qi-ge?”

At that moment the image of Xiao Jiu, beaten up and locked behind bars, overlapped with the young wandering cultivator trapped in the Blood and Qi Devouring Array.

Yue Qi’s vision went red.

---

Shen Yuan gasped as the array dissipated, his mind a complete mess.

Qi-ge? That’s Qi-ge?! Yue Qingyuan?!? He’s- wait, really?!

Okay, yes, Yue-shixiong kept calling him ‘Xiao Jiu’ on occasion in the future, but it’s not like Shen Jiu had had any reason, or opportunity, to officially change his name like Shen Yuan had, so it’s not impossible to assume Yue-shixiong picked it up in their disciple days, right?

Okay, so maybe it was a little odd, the familiarity and how often Yue Qingyuan had called him ‘Xiao Jiu,’ but it was awkward, and the man never bothered explaining a damn thing, so Shen Yuan decided to just … ah… ignore it … for the rest of his life.

But right now, ‘Shen Jiu’ is no longer Shen Jiu. He’s Shen Yuan. Logically speaking, no one in Cang Qiong should know that he went by the name ‘Jiu.’

Only the people from that city, where the Qiu Manor was, would occasionally call him Xiao Jiu in this lifetime. Only they knew that he was ever called Shen Jiu.

… No, no, wait. Qi-ge looked younger than what Yue-shixiong should have, so … no, Shen Yuan had also looked a lot younger than he was at the time due to malnutrition, so maybe it wasn’t impossible… but …

In Shen Yuan’s defense, the boy had dirt all over his face, and Shen Yuan had just been shoved into a new body and was sporting the soul-version of a concussion, so how the FUCK was he supposed to realize ANYTHING at the time? Hah?!

… And fucking hell, Zhangmen-shixiong, if you knew him since waaaay, way before, like, since young childhood, why the FUCK didn’t you say anything when you found out your precious ‘Shen Jiu’ completely lost his memories, hah?! Could have used the cliff-notes, bro-!

Shen Yuan was irrationally upset at past-future Yue Qingyuan, fuming at him in his head while also conveniently ignoring that he’d, ah, completely forgotten about Qi-ge this entire time…

Wait, this isn’t the time for that.

“Is… is your shixiong… qi-deviating?” Shen Yuan asked as Liu Yingjie limped over, clutching his chest as he forcefully overcame the pain from when Wu Yanzi slammed him into the tree.

Actually, Shen Yuan didn’t have to ask. This was definitely a rampage caused by qi-deviation. There wasn’t a shred of elegance in Yue-shixiong’s movements as he hurled himself at Wu Yanzi, operating purely through brute force.

Liu Yingjie’s eyebrows furrowed.

He knew Yue-shixiong had some problems with qi-deviations a few years ago, but he’d been stable for all these years now, so why-? If Yue-shixiong was still in his right mind, he could probably defeat this evil cultivator, who was equivalent to an immortal with a Fourth or Fifth Grade Core. But right now…

“We need to help him,” Liu Yingjie said, but he knew even as he said it that it would be easier said than done. They would be lucky to avoid being killed by Yue-shixiong in this situation.

“Just guard me,” the wandering cultivator said, patting his shoulder. “That evil bastard so kindly opened up a channel connecting the two of us, so why shouldn’t I take advantage of it?”

Shen Yuan quickly sat down in lotus position and concentrated on the array below him.

He didn’t need it all, just this part and this part… instead of corrupting qi, clear, beautiful qi flooded about half the array, and Wu Yanzi suddenly stumbled, unable to defend himself from the rampaging Fifth Grade Core in front of him as he was struck harshly across the chest, thrown back into a tree.

“You-!” He roared, face becoming scarlet with rage, turning towards Shen Yuan.

“Me,” Shen Yuan smiled and waved, Liu Yingjie standing protectively in front of him. “You wanted my qi so badly, so I thought I’d give you some.”

But a blood and qi devourer can’t just take in qi the way righteous cultivators could pass qi between each other. No, to make it their own, they had to corrupt it, adulterate it until it became something they could bind to themselves.

For Shen Yuan to pass him his pure qi, reversed through the altered array that was no longer being controlled by Wu Yanzi’s – it was like poison spreading through Wu Yanzi’s meridians.

“Damn you, damn you-! Shen Yuan-!” Wu Yanzi roared, completely unable to deal with a berserk Fifth Grade Core cultivator with the pure qi wrecking havoc through him.

Heh. “Get fucked,” Shen Yuan said with a sneer, sticking up his middle finger.

Wu Yanzi might not recognize the gesture, but the sneer and vulgarity of the movement made it clear he was being mocked.

With a roar, he leapt at the smug bastard, but even while qi-deviating, or maybe because he was qi-deviating, Yue Qi’s movements were faster than he could follow.

A sickening crunch echoed through the forest, and Wu Yanzi looked down in shock, looking at the arm that had pierced him through his dark qi furnace, shattering his core. He gave a cough, blood pouring from his mouth, looking up blankly as Yue Qi grabbed his head.

It took just a squeeze.

[Current Quest: Become the disciple of Wu Yanzi; Failed. -25 points.
Chain Quest activated. Quest added.
Current Quest: Kill Wu Yanzi; Success +50 points, Failure -50 points.
User has preemptively completed the current quest.
Retroactively calculating completion.
Current Quest: Kill Wu Yanzi; Success. +50 points.]

Shen Yuan averted his eyes from the grisly sight as Yue Qi tossed aside Wu Yanzi’s remains and turned towards him and Liu Yingjie.

It’s great that Wu Yanzi was taken care of, but what the FUCK are they supposed to do with a rampaging Yue-shixiong now?

THIS SITUATION HAS NOT IMPROVED.

Notes:

The squirrels in my head:
Squirrel 1: Look, it’s for building off the tension from the prequel. There will be more impact if yqy isn’t mentioned until that very moment. It’s called literary artistry.
Squirrel 2: That tension is too much, it’s driving everyone bonkers. It’s called being a fucking tease.
Squirrel 1: Let’s compromise. Write faster?
Squirrel 2: Yeah, that sounds good.
Squirrel 3: … So what if we make the next chapter entirely fight scenes and end it with “Xiao Jiu?” leaving the speaker unspecified?
Squirrels 1 and 2 shove Squirrel 3 into a box and sit on it.

There’s a reason Squirrel 3 isn’t let out that much.

Chapter 4: More Questions than Answers

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“… I’ll distract him,” Liu Yingjie said quietly, standing motionless to try to avoid stimulating the berserk Yue Qi. It wouldn’t work for long.

“Distract him?” Shen Yuan said with a sigh. “You’re injured, I’m injured. I don’t think we can outrun him. Anyway, I just need you to stop him for three seconds.”

Liu Yingjie frowned.

“… What are you going to do?” he asked, a suspicious tone to his voice.

Ah, yeah, of course Liu-shidi would hold more loyalty to his Yue-shixiong than this stranger he’s met just yesterday.

“For this sort of berserk causing qi-deviation, releasing the turbulent qi will alleviate the berserk state. I’ve developed a talisman that does just that,” Shen Yuan explained.

“… Why would you have done something like that?” the Bai Zhan disciple standing in front of him asked without turning his head, and Shen Yuan just stared at him, attempting to bore through the back of the boy’s head with his flat stare.

Gee, I wonder why I thought that was necessary, Liu-shidi.

Shen Yuan swallowed his words.

“He’s coming-!” he said instead, and sure enough, Yue Qi lunged at them.

Liu Qingge’s snarls and growls during his qi-deviation in the past-future were frightening enough, but Shen Yuan found the completely silent Yue Qi to be a little more frightening.

His attacks were sharper, for all that they were simple, and Shen Yuan could barely manage to dodge them.

“Yue-shixiong-,” Liu Yingjie said, loudly, as he tried to stop the man’s movements, but Yue Qi’s eyes remained red, bearing no recognition within them, either of his shidi or … Xiao Jiu.

Klang!

Shen Yuan’s brain raced, his heart in his throat as he saw, in slow motion, Yue Qi flick Liu Yingjie’s sword aside, not caring how it bit slightly into his arm, leaving Liu Yingjie open for a direct attack –

“Qi-ge-!”

At Shen Yuan’s yell, Yue-shixiong flinched for a split second, but it was enough for Liu Yingjie to dodge inwards past those vicious hands seeking to tear him apart as he bowled his shixiong over.

“Quick-!” he roared, and Shen Yuan rushed in, slapping a talisman on Yue Qi’s forehead, directly over the upper dantian, and turbulent qi blasted upwards, through the talisman, knocking Shen Yuan back.

“Urgh-!” Shen Yuan groaned as he landed on his back wincing and writhing from the pain. Ah, damn, leave it to Zhangmen-shixiong to dislocate his shoulder just from the release of turbulent qi-!

Liu Yingjie was by his side in an instant, panting from exertion and wincing from the injuries he’d sustained from both Wu Yanzi and Yue Qi.

“Will he be alright?” he asked tensely, eyes filled with worry as he watched Yue Qi thrash on the ground, mouth open in a silent scream as qi gushed from his forehead.

With an awful popping sound, Shen Yuan re-set his shoulder, blinking the tears of pain from his eyes as he carefully surveyed Yue-shixiong.

No matter how awkward Yue Qingyuan made him feel, he was still their reliable Zhangmen-shixiong, and Shen Yuan wasn’t an exception to feeling distressed about the current situation, where the great and lofty future Sect Leader was lying on the ground and struggling, harming himself in the midst of a terrible qi-deviation.

“… This should help get rid of the berserk state,” Shen Yuan said hesitantly, “But...”

Liu Yingjie clenched and unclenched the hilt of his sword anxiously.

The cloudy qi spiralling out of control, with the tiniest bit of a bloody hue, was expected for this sort of qi deviation, cloudy from the blockages, a bit bloody from the torn meridians, but Shen Yuan’s eyes were concentrated on the much more unusual dark blotches within Yue Qi’s qi.

Shen Yuan’s eyebrows furrowed.

It wasn’t the dark of the corrupted qi of evil cultivators, which were dull and often had colors reminiscent of rotten blood or sludge, or ashen gray if they cultivated through ghosts.

It wasn’t the dark of the demonic energy of demons, which were dark, vivid hues of light, compared to the bright hues of qi of righteous cultivators.

Among the torpid qi was something dark, reminiscent to a drop of black ink dripped into the vortex of a whirlpool, drifting wisps knocked about in the streams of qi.

If it weren’t for the expulsion of almost all the violent qi in Yue Qi’s body, if he weren’t so close, if he wasn’t familiar with the nuances of qi, Shen Yuan suspected he wouldn’t even be able to notice it.

… Since when did Yue Qingyuan have a manifested heart demon?!

Heart demons aren’t anything strange in cultivation. Rather, regrets, hatred, and obsessions that effect one’s mind and causes difficulty in progressing in cultivation are somewhat common.

Shen Jiu’s bitterness at… whatever he’d been bitter about had limited his cultivation as much as his damaged meridians had been, so it’s not like Shen Yuan wasn’t aware of that sort of thing.

But a manifested heart demon was something far, far more serious.

It suggested a fractured soul, an actual fissure in the soul that allowed an obsession to take hold and corrupt, something that was surely impossible for the man who was the strongest cultivator in their time… right?

It was faint for now, but twenty or thirty years into the future … an unsettling feeling roiled in Shen Yuan’s stomach as he caught the barest hint of something that required a lot more time to think about than what he had at the moment.

---

Mu Wencheng sped along, rushing towards sector 4,7.

The Savage Valley was heavily wooded area, so he couldn’t move by swordflight.

Even though time was of the essence.

Yue-shixiong had already disappeared from his sight, going on ahead. Mu Wencheng hoped his shixiong would make it in time.

Suddenly, two figures Mu Wencheng recognized shot out from the undergrowth.

“Qi-shijie, Shentu-shixiong!” he called, halting Qi Ruolan and Shentu Guang from dashing off towards the entrance pavilion.

The were carrying five unconscious disciples, and Shentu-shixiong clearly had a grievous wound, while Qi-shijie’s blood around her mouth and nose indicated internal injuries. Mu Wencheng furrowed his brows.

“ “Mu- shidi!” “ both of them yelled, and Qi Ruolan leapt over, dumping the three bodies she carried unceremoniously on the ground.

The two Shentu Guang was carrying followed soon behind.

“Take them, we need to go back, Liu-shidi and that guy are still there-!” Qi Ruolan said, practically roaring in her impatience.

“That guy? - No, I’m coming with you, that evil cultivator is estimated to be as strong as a cultivator with a Fourth or Fifth Grade Core,” Mu Wencheng said, running after them. “In the first place, Shentu-shixiong is wounded badly, so you’ll get in the way! Go back and guard the unconscious disciples!”

Shentu Guang gritted his teeth. “Xiao Yuan is trapped in the array because he threw us out of the way! How can I abandon him now?”

“Go back! Yue-shixiong already went ahead!” Mu Wencheng yelled, giving Shentu Guang a kick, causing the reckless idiot to tumble. … If such a light kick sent him rolling over, he really won’t be any use in the fight ahead.

As Qi Ruolan and Mu Wencheng ran off, Shentu Guang groaned, lying on the ground for a moment before pulling himself to his feet and returning to the unconscious disciples. There were still monsters on the field, after all.

It’s true that the wound in his side was a little too deep and aggravated by dark qi, so he wasn’t going to be much help.

Besides, if Yue-shixiong’s there, then he probably didn’t need to worry about it…

Regardless of Shentu Guang’s confidence, Qi Ruolan and Mu Wencheng arrived at the site of the conflict to see Yue Qi thrashing on the ground, turbulent qi spewing from his forehead.

Looking past their shixiong, they saw the remnants of the evil cultivator, Wu Yanzi.

So Yue-shixiong had killed him, but then what happened?

As they watched in abject confusion, the turbulent qi began to smooth out and Yue-shixiong’s struggles also began to calm, and the wandering cultivator leaned over, quick as a hawk, and snatched the talisman off of Yue-shixiong’s forehead.

“Quick,” he said, calling Liu-shidi over. “I’ve expended too much of my qi, so lend me some so I can try to straighten his meridians.”

As Liu-shidi approached hesitantly, Mu Wencheng snapped into action.

From the surroundings and the circumstances he’d been able to gather what had occurred, and if it’s stabilizing the fragile state of someone who’d gone through qi-deviation, that would be his job.

“Let me, I’m with the healing team,” he said as he stepped forward, and was it just his imagination or did the wandering cultivator’s eyes light up with relief when he saw him?

“What happened? What caused Yue-shixiong to have a qi-deviation?” Mu Wencheng asked, straightening out and soothing Yue-shixiong’s meridians. The worst appeared to be at the upper dantian, but surprisingly, the damage was minimal, considering the state they had found him in. Was it that talisman? Was it a precaution used to drawing all the turbulent qi out, minimizing the damage? Unfortunately, it had crumbled as soon as the wandering cultivator removed it, so Mu Wencheng wouldn’t be able to get a closer look.

There was no response to his question, and Mu Wencheng turned to look at Liu-shidi.

“Was it the evil cultivator?” he probed when it became clear Liu-shidi wasn’t going to offer any explanation. “Did he do something to Yue-shixiong?”

Liu-shidi was giving him a blank look. “… I don’t know,” he said finally.

Mu Wencheng furrowed his brows, but before he could say anything, the wandering cultivator spoke up.

“I… I think it was me,” he admitted.

… Huh? All three of the Cang Qiong disciples turned to look at him, very confused.

“I think… I think your shixiong is someone I knew. From a very long time ago,” the young man said slowly. “But, I don’t know why seeing me would have caused him such a reaction. I’m… not completely sure he’s even Qi-ge.” He mumbled the last bit under his breath, but it sure sounded like he knew that Yue Qi was his Qi-ge.

The wandering cultivator had a complicated look in his eyes as he watched Yue-shixiong’s face for a little while longer before he sighed and stood up. Almost absentmindedly, he walked over to Wu Yanzi’s headless corpse, taking all the man’s belongings off of him and setting them aside before taking out a talisman and … lighting it on fire?!

It wasn’t a normal fire either, it was a Quickfire Inferno, which ensured that whatever was being burnt would be burnt to nothing.

As they watched him rummage through the bags, taking out things that looked like cultivation manuals and notes and tossing them onto the blaze, Qi Ruolan finally broke their stunned silence.

“… What are you doing?” she asked.

At that the wandering cultivator seemed to blink back to consciousness.

“… Shoot!” he said, suddenly flushing in embarrassment and scratching the back of his head. “Sorry, it’s habit! It’s better to burn the bodies of evil cultivators so other evil cultivators can’t get their hands on the corpse, but since Cang Qiong was the one who dealt the killing blow, I shouldn’t have just gone ahead and made that judgment myself. I even burnt his cultivation notes already… ”

Qi Ruolan sighed with relief. She wasn’t sure what he was doing at first, but as long as he wasn’t just trying to profiteer from them, it was fine.

“No, Cang Qiong doesn’t have a habit of collecting corpses or evil cultivators’ techniques, so there’s no problem,” she said. “But, you really have a lot of experience with evil cultivators.”

“When you’re a young wandering cultivator with a Second Grade Core, you tend to look reeeeally tempting to evil cultivators of all types, I guess,” Shen Yuan said with a shrug, casually, as if he wasn’t talking about people want to kill him and take him apart for ingredients.

Qi Ruolan clenched her fists slightly.

She was too weak. Far too weak. Without this kid, who had a lower grade core than her, they would have all been killed. With just his presence alone, he was able to help them hold on purely with his expertise and skill.

She had always thought that strength was about cultivation levels, but she saw today how wrong she was.

“How do you know Yue-shixiong?” she asked, trying to change the subject and ignore her chaotic feelings.

“… I don’t know if he’d want me to say,” Shen Yuan said with a slight frown, but seeing the three Cang Qiong disciples tense at that, he quickly explained. “Even though cultivators shouldn’t care about mortal statuses, you know, there are some sects that do. A lot. And … well, he’s … probably got a reputation to keep?”

“Oh, that,” Qi Ruolan said and rolled her eyes. “We’re not Huan Hua or something. Cang Qiong won’t care.”

Shen Yuan gave a wry smile. “But maybe your shixiong would,” he said. “Anyway, although we were on good terms, our past isn’t particularly … pleasant, so … please ask your shixiong about it instead.”

Qi Ruolan thought about pushing for more information, but when she thought about it, an excellent youth like this Shen Yuan was only able to be a wandering cultivator – what kind of past would have led to this sort of circumstance? She decided to leave it be for now.

Perhaps there really was a painful past hidden in Yue-shixiong’s childhood.

If that’s the case, she shouldn’t pry.

After Mu Wencheng finished stabilizing Yue-shixiong, Shen Yuan ended up offering to help bring the injured out of the array, ending his participation in the competition here.

Qi Ruolan sighed as the Quickfire Inferno burnt out, not leaving even ash in its wake.

“Come on,” she said, tapping Liu Yingjie on the head. “However you feel about your strengths and weaknesses right now, we’re still in a competition.”

Her shidi nodded, a little sullenly, and she gave a wave before leaving the forest devastated by the fight with Wu Yanzi, and then Yue Qi’s qi-deviation.

She missed the moment when Liu Yingjie caught sight of something white and jade, tucking it securely in his robes before he followed suit.

Notes:

Sorry for flipping perspectives a lot, it’s been difficult to get these sequences done because I want to show everyone’s perspectives, lol.
Qi-ge stuff is coming. Next chapter…

Chapter 5: Fulfilling Old Regrets

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

System, is it possible to get Shen Jiu’s memories from before the promise?”

[Package: Shen Jiu’s Memories (Childhood) is available within the Store. However, due to low-power saving mode, this System is unable to connect with the Mainframe, rendering the Store and various other functions inaccessible.]

“… So that’s why those quests came out so weird. Retroactive completion or whatever.”

[This System is unable to alter critical quests and their acquirement without feedback from the Mainframe.]

So THAT’S the real reason Shen Yuan’s only been getting the bare minimum quests this round through, instead of quests that are trying to micromanage. Not that he’s complaining.

Still…

Then, do YOU know what happened between Shen Jiu and Qi-ge? It sounds like you’d know. You seem to know the plot and all.” Shen Yuan was feeling a bit desperate.

Yue Qingyuan, er, Yue Qi had a freaking manifested heart demon, and it had something to do with Shen Jiu. Unlike last time, Shen Yuan was feeling a hell of a lot of pressure to, you know, actually KNOW wtf is going on. Since Yue Qi’s freaking SOUL was on the line.

The man might have made him feel awkward in his previous transmigration, but Zhangmen-shixiong had been the reliable, older brother of the Peak Lords. Shen Yuan can’t say he doesn’t care about Yue Qi’s wellbeing even as a joke.

[This System does possess this knowledge, but User002 is not permitted to obtain this knowledge without using points. However, once again, due to power-saving mode, the User is unable to make Store transactions.]

Damn. Well, this sucks.

Can’t you, like, I don’t know, give me a fake quest and take points for failure or something?”

There was a long silence for a moment before the System responded.

[This System as determined that the User’s suggestion does not conflict with any protocols, and is permissible under Article 153, Section 2015, Line 521.]

Wait. Really?! Shen Yuan almost wanted to cry from joy. The System is actually being helpful-! Fuck, was the problem actually the Mainframe or whatever all along?

[This System would like to remind User002 that the User’s larger degree of freedom is due to the User’s previous efforts. The Mainframe has confirmed and permitted this System to make greater allowances due to these efforts before this System went on power-saving mode.]

… Sorry, Shen Yuan was overthinking.

[Current Quest: 2
Quest: Join Cang Qiong Mountain Sect; success: +200 points, failure: -200 points; In Progress
Quest:
Naturally uncover Shen Jiu’s childhood of being found as a baby and raised by Yue Qi, a boy who was enslaved by low-level slave traders and street thugs as part of a child beggar’s gang; Failed -10 points.]

… Oh fuck.

Years of awkward interactions with Yue Qingyuan were suddenly given very stark, vivid new context, and Shen Yuan wanted to bury his face in his hands and scream.

It wasn’t just the awkward interactions.

See, there was one thing Shen Yuan never really understood about Shen Qingqiu. That thing was why the man bothered to stay around as the Qing Jing Peak Lord.

Now he may not know much about the man named Shen Jiu, but Shen Yuan though it was clear that he had been miserable. The man didn’t have any companionship on the mountain, choosing to go elsewhere to find companionship, even if it was with prostitutes. He didn’t seem to care for the position of Peak Lord, accomplishing the bare minimum his duties and preferring to stay out of public if it was possible.

Even Shen Yuan’s previous assumption, that Shen Jiu enjoyed using his position to abuse those under him, began to pale a lot after Shen Yuan’s time in the Qiu Manor. Because Shen Yuan had gotten to know all sorts of types among the Qiu Manor’s people who enjoyed abusing those under their authority, and Shen Jiu’s behavior just didn’t seem to match a single one of them.

At least, not among those who truly delighted in hurting others. If anything, Shen Jiu’s abuse felt more like spite, anger that those under him couldn’t perform to his expectations. Frustration. Even resentment.

If it were Shen Yuan, if he’d had all these cons and not enough pros, he’d say screw all of this shit and leave Cang Qiong Sect in a heartbeat to do whatever the fuck he wanted, screw all of you.

So he never fully understood why Shen Jiu had stubbornly stayed as Shen Qingqiu.

Ah, it must be because he just wanted the status and prestige, was what Shen Yuan had finally thought, and then put it out of mind.

But now … Shen Yuan couldn’t help but wonder if it was even simpler than that.

Could it be that Shen Jiu stayed because Yue Qingyuan, because his Qi-ge, was there?

Then what about the strange relationship between Yue Qingyuan and Shen Qingqiu? Zhangmen-shixiong always acting like he owed Shen Qingqiu something, always trying to stick around, always trying to call him Xiao Jiu despite his refusals and distaste for Yue Qingyuan’s soft, weak-willed persistence.

“How are you feeling?”

Shen Yuan looked up from where he’d been ‘meditating’ (spacing out), seeing young Mu-shidi’s worried face peering at him. Mu-shidi’s somewhat familiar, cool qi was flowing through him, soothing Shen Yuan’s inflamed meridians.

After leaving Qi-shimei and Liu-shidi behind, Shen Yuan and Mu-shidi rejoined Shentu-shidi, carrying Yue Qi and the other five unconscious disciples from the various sects outside of the Savage Valley, officially ending Shen Yuan and Shentu Guang’s participation in the competition.

The arrays allowed one to leave, but not to re-enter, after all.

“Ah, um, yeah, I’m fine,” Shen Yuan said. Well, he was mostly fine. It’s fine. Please ignore all the bruises, scrapes, and wounds.

Honestly, the main reason Shen Yuan would say he wasn’t fine was something he really, really couldn’t say.

… The previous (current) Cang Qiong Sect Leader’s stare is really unnerving him… ah, Mu-shidi, he knows you have other patients to tend to, but don’t leave him alone with this scary lady!

Shen Yuan sat, making himself as small as he could as he sat near Yue Qi’s bed, sitting very still as the oh-so-intimidating lady with the big bosoms (of course, thanks Airplane) and sharp eyes sat there across the small tent, arms and legs crossed as she watched him.

She was aglamorous woman with full lips and phoenix eyes, with an aura that made Shen Yuan feel like a tiny bunny under the gaze of a fierce hawk.

She totally knows-! Shen Yuan had no doubt in his mind that she knew that he was the root of Yue Qi’s heart demon.

Luckily, before this tiny bunny got eaten by the scary hawk, Yue Qi moved.

“Xiao … Jiu...” he mumbled brokenly, almost a sob, before he suddenly opened his eyes wide and sat up with a shriek, startling the already flinchy Shen Yuan badly.

“Um… hi?” he said, as Yue Qi stared at him with bloodshot eyes.

Yue Qi reached out, his hands trembling, as if he couldn’t believe his eyes, touching Shen Yuan’s face, gripping onto Shen Yuan’s shoulders and arms tightly. “Xiao Jiu, Xiao Jiu… is that you?” he whispered, hoarsely.

“Uh… yeah? It’s me. It’s been a while, Qi-ge,” Shen Yuan said, trying to make this as not awkward as possible.

A strangled sob escaped Yue Qi’s throat, and his grip on Shen Yuan tightened even more as tears streamed down his cheeks, and Yue Qi bowed his head, sobbing so heavily his shoulders shook.

Oh gods, this is more awkward than all of the awkward interactions he had with Yue Qingyuan in the past-future put together!

“H-hey, Qi-ge? Qi-ge, hey? Um… we’re finally seeing each other since … well, since then, so… um...” Shen Yuan did his best to roughly pat Yue Qi on the arm, despite the fact that he’s pretty sure Qi-ge’s grip was cutting off his circulation.

“You’re alive, you’re actually alive… ” Yue Qi practically howled.

“Y-yes? I am? Come on, Qi-ge… we’re both alive, isn’t that good? Um… what’s wrong, Qi-ge?” Please tell him, because he’s got no fucking clue.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Yue Qi gasped out between sobs. “I never … I’m sorry, I didn’t come back … I didn’t, sorry, I’m sorry...”

Huh?

Was this… about Qi-ge promising to come back for him?

Okay, but, like, for a slave boy to promise to become a cultivator and come back to rescue another, that’s like… Shen Yuan doesn’t want to be a downer, but it was super unlikely that he could even, like, escape successfully. Honestly, it would be more likely for him to have died.

“Qi-ge? It’s...” Shen Yuan hesitated. It was fine, he knew it wouldn’t be likely for Qi-ge to rescue him, in fact, he didn’t really factor that into his plans for escape. But Shen Yuan couldn’t really bring himself to say ‘it was fine’. Because even though he was the one Qi-ge made the promise to, he wasn’t really the Xiao Jiu Qi-ge had wanted to come back for.

For Shen Jiu, Qi-ge had been his everything, his brother, his only family. The one he trusted most of all.

If it was Shen Jiu, discovering his Qi-ge had become a cultivator and never came back… well, he’d probably want to know why, now, wouldn’t he?

Shen Yuan sighed. Goddammit, it’s not like he really minded, but … somehow, he still felt obligated to… try? to smooth out the resentment of the man whose life he took.

“Qi-ge, calm down. Please? I don’t really know what you’re apologizing for,” he said, trying to get Yue Qi to let go of his arms. “You… I know you’re not someone who’d just abandon someone, so… come on, let’s talk about it?”

“No, no,” Yue Qi sobbed. “It’s all my fault, I’m sorry, I’m sorry...”

Shen Yuan wanted to click his tongue in annoyance. Is this how Shen Jiu felt? Annoyance at the litany of ‘sorrys’ with no explanation coming any time soon? But, like, with a lot more angst.

“Qi-ge, I don’t know what you’re sorry for…” Shen Yuan tried again, but all Yue Qi would say was that he was at fault, that he was sorry… nothing that helped him understand what the hell was going on, and this time, Shen Yuan didn’t think he could blame ‘losing’ all of Shen Jiu’s memories.

He’s almost dead certain Shen Jiu would be just as lost, but more frustrated than Shen Yuan since he’d probably REALLY want to know the answer.

Suddenly, something in the back of Shen Yuan’s mind clicked.

Images of Yue Qingyuan with apologetic looks, bending over backwards to accommodate Shen Qingqiu, never offering reasons to either Shen Qingqiu or their martial siblings for his actions. Everyone assumed that Shen Jiu was a heartless man who refused to give forgiveness where it was due.

But if Shen Yuan was right, if Shen Jiu stayed at Cang Qiong for Qi-ge, then didn’t that mean he … wanted to make up? He wanted to forgive Yue Qi? But why couldn’t he?

Shen Yuan gritted his teeth.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Don’t tell him… don’t tell him that Yue Qingyuan’s manifested heart demon had already corrupted him by that point.

He’d read about the dangers of manifested heart demons. About how they’d overwhelm their host, demanding to be ‘fed’ in ways that persisted the negative feelings and obsessions. Like an addict, someone with a manifested heart demon would make irrational decisions and perform illogical actions despite knowing they were being self-destructive.

It wasn’t uncommon to see someone continuously punishing themselves for transgressions that the victims had long since forgotten about.

Yue Qingyuan hadn’t been apologizing to Shen Jiu to apologize. He was apologizing to remind himself that he couldn’t be forgiven. To see the rejection and the hurt he had caused, to remember that he could never be happy because he made someone else so wretched. That no matter whatever he did to make up for it, he could never be exonerated.

His heart demon had twisted him, making him unable to stop hurting himself, even when he knew that he was hurting someone he cared for so much. Like a drug addict, he couldn’t control the impulse to show himself how terrible he was, no matter what he was losing in the process.

It would continue on and on and on until this obsession consumed him, the heart demon controlling every waking thought and twisting every action Yue Qingyuan would take to feed his guilt and drive him insane.

The thought made Shen Yuan so angry his stomach hurt.

So, if Shen Jiu had wanted to forgive Qi-ge, if he only wanted an explanation or a reassurance that Qi-ge never abandoned him, but Yue Qingyuan was only giving blank apologies and bending over backwards with attempts at reparations and never what Shen Jiu needed to be able to move on…

Yeah, it made Shen Yuan angry.

But he couldn’t be angry at Shen Jiu for not forgiving Qi-ge when he wasn’t given enough information to be able to forgive him. He couldn’t exactly be angry at Yue Qingyuan, who was unable to fight the compulsion of self-destruction from his heart demon and probably needed helpto break out of his cycles of self-destruction. He couldn’t even be angry at their martial siblings for missing all these signs of something really abnormal going on.

It wasn’t anyone’s fault. But it was everyone’s fault.

As Yue Qi continued to apologize, frantically, haphazardly, in pure panic, Shen Yuan just… he just couldn’t take it anymore.

Seizing Yue Qi by the head, Shen Yuan smashed his forehead against Qi-ge’s.

---

Sect Leader Lan Yanzhou would normally be very annoyed if someone headbutted her Head Disciple while he was recovering, but seeing that the culprit appeared to have taken more damage himself, she only watched them quietly with some amusement.

Besides, she also felt like hitting her fool of a disciple.

Keeping his heart demon’s murmurs a secret, forcing himself to repress his emotions and fooling her and the Qian Cao Peak Lord into believing he had it under control – does the boy not care about his life or even his soul?

She had warned him again and again, that ever since the mishap with Xuan Su, the schism in his soul would make it easier for his heart demons to manifest.

… No, perhaps she was at fault for not understanding how deeply rooted the boy’s obsession was.

It was clearly already beginning to border into irrationality, given that the subject of his obsession… looked so confused that she could tell he had no idea why Yue Qi was apologizing.

If this situation didn’t happen, would she have realized how dangerous Yue Qi’s state was? What would have happened if she had ascended and Yue Qi’s heart demon wasn’t detected?

As the wandering cultivator boy, Shen Yuan, groaned, swooning backwards a little with a red mark on his forehead, Yue Qi’s grip loosened a bit and he stared, wide-eyed, at the boy.

“Qi-ge! Seriously, I have no fucking idea what’s going on-! I’m happy to see you, but why the FUCK are you such a mess? Aren’t you happy to see me?” Shen Yuan griped, pressing a palm to his forehead with teary eyes.

“I-I am, but … I thought you were dead… it was my fault…” Yue Qi said hesitantly.

“… I don’t even know where to begin. Okay, first, why did you think I was dead?” Shen Yuan sighed.

“That’s… the manor… it was burnt down… they said the only survivor was the daughter,” Yue Qi said, practically whispered.

Shen Yuan’s face was a mass of confusion. “… No? Over half of the servants survived? All of the Qius died in the fire, though, except for Tang-mei, er, Haitang. Maybe… that’s what you heard?”

… Sect Leader Lan didn’t know what to think of that misunderstanding at all.

Yue Qi’s mouth opened and closed noiselessly, as if he didn’t know what to say.

“In the first place, why would that be your fault?” Shen Yuan asked. “How would you have anything to do with it?”

“B-because… because I promised you I’d come back… so … you… if you had stayed… if you had died in the fire...”

The boy, Shen Yuan, sighed heavily. “No… I… Qi-ge, that would never have been your fault. How can you be blamed for something that’s entirely the Qiu’s fault for being idiots? And anyway, you couldn’t have imagined that would have happened.”

“But I knew nothing good could happen at – with those people. I should have… I should have come sooner,” Yue Qi said. “Before that even, before it happened… I’m sorry, I never came back...”

Shen Yuan’s brows furrowed. “… That’s not true,” he said. “The fact that you knew about the Qiu Manor, that means you came back, right?”

“But-! But I was too late, I just … I left you ...”

“But you tried, right?” Shen Yuan scratched the back of his head. “If anything, isn’t it me, who took off and didn’t wait properly, who technically broke the promise?”

“I… I didn’t even look… for you,” Yue Qi practically whimpered. “I… I just… I just assumed...”

“Aaargh!”

To Sect Leader Lan’s great amusement, Shen Yuan placed his hands on either side of Yue Qi’s face and began to squish and tug at his cheeks.

“Why. Are. You. Like. This!? Do you really think your Xiao Jiu only cares about the things you do for him?! Hah?! That he’d hate you if you ever make a mistake?! The only thing he’d care about , the only thing he’s ever cared about is whether or not you abandoned him on purpose, whether or not you wanted to cut off your relationship as brothers-!”

“I’d never-!” Yue Qi shouted.

“Then your Xiao Jiu won’t hate you-!” Shen Yuan yelled, then took a deep breath. “Your Xiao Jiu wants to forgive you,” he said, struggling to sound calmer, “Won’t you let him?”

Fresh tears welled up in Yue Qi’s eyes, spilling over again.

“En,” he finally said, quietly, with a tiny nod.

Sect Leader Lan let out a quiet sigh. The slight madness in Yue Qi’s eyes had broken.

It would still take some work to get his heart demon under control, and it would be something Yue Qi would have to battle for the rest of his life until he could reach an enlightenment that could defeat it once and for all, but … for some reason, she felt that they had passed an invisible wall that could have doomed her Head Disciple to an unpleasant end.

Notes:

After going through the first transmigration and then the Qiu Manor arc, I’d imagine SY feels a bit more empathetic towards SJ, to a point where he’d feel personally invested in the YQY/SJ misunderstandings.

Chapter 6: The New Member of Cang Qiong

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“… So I’ve been traveling as a wandering cultivator, returning to the Min Manor once in a while,” Shen Yuan finished telling Qi-ge about how he spent the four years since that ‘fateful’ promise. If he glossed over quite a few details about what happened at the Qiu Manor, well, he didn’t think anyone could blame him for that.

He scratched his head sheepishly. “… I know I should probably have been looking for you more diligently,” or at all, “But I honestly… had no idea where to start.”

Sect Leader Lan believed it. For a slave boy to successfully escape from his slaver and make it all the way from that city to Cang Qiong without being recaptured or captured again by new slavers, it would be difficult to think his Qi-ge would survive. Since Yue Qi didn’t make it back in two years, it wasn’t hard to believe this Shen Yuan, or Shen Jiu rather, had thought he was dead.

In Lan Yanzhou’s opinion, it was already fortunate that Shen Yuan held no resentment towards Yue Qi. She couldn’t fault him for not keeping his life on hold for however many years longer to wait for a man who might not ever return.

It was probably also fortunate that Yue Qi’s heart demon didn’t seem to be bothered by Xiao Jiu’s admittance that he hadn’t been actively looking for his Qi-ge.

Heart demons based on guilt obsession are much easier to mitigate than infatuation obsessions. If it was the latter, then Yue Qi would be putting an abnormal amount of expectations on the poor boy, and even though she prioritized healing her disciple’s heart demon, Sect Leader Lan thought it would be unfair to place any more restraints on the boy after all he’d already been through.

Furthermore…

“… A mortals’ scheme with evil cultivators, and a half-blooded brother sounds like a very familiar story,” Sect Leader Lan said, watching in amusement as Shen Yuan flinched, clearly intimidated by her.

“F-familiar…?” Shen Yuan stuttered.

“Evil cultivators were attempting to organize. Naturally, Zhao Hua Temple would have reported the matter. Furthermore…” Sect Leader Lan casually reached into her qiankun sleeves and pulled out a book. “… This is quite popular, you know? Although I never expected to meet one of its pivotal characters so casually.”

The book had the words Plum Blossom in the Brood of Vipers painted on it, as well as a painting of a plum tree in full bloom in an inhospitable, bleak environment.

Yue Qi stared blankly at the book, not sure what his Shizun was getting at, but Shen Yuan turned a vivid shade of red.

“Th-that’s-! That story isn’t true at all-!” he yelped.

“Oh?” Sect Leader Lan said, looking at it then back at Shen Yuan curiously. “So it’s not true that you were their half brother, abandoned at birth and then rebought as a slave?”

“N-no, that’s true...”

“That you often took the blame for other servants?”

“N-not nearly that often!”

“And what about finding all the evidence, saving your sister, and escaping to warn the righteous sects about the evil cultivators?”

“It didn’t happen the way they wrote it!”

Shen Yuan’s not-quite-objections were very amusing, so Sect Leader Lan continued.

“What about being given divine inspiration from the Heavens and learning cultivation?” she teased, and at that, Shen Yuan made a face like he wanted to refute that one but couldn’t.

Hmm… interesting.

“It seems the story is quite an accurate portrayal, then?” Sect Leader Lan said, shelving that thought for later.

“… Even if the core plot points may intersect with life, I object to the rest of the portrayal,” Shen Yuan said, face cloudy. “I can only hope my sister never sees that book. The dead in it are close to her, and the fates in it are also tied to hers. I don’t think she’d enjoy seeing them made light of in this way.”

… Ah, indeed, this child is very interesting. Most his age would be thrilled to be made out as a hero, side-character though he might be, in a novel, and yet this one finds it displeasing that the tragedy and deaths of others has been made into a sensational story discussed over tea.

“… I would also like to point out that at no point have I ever been interested in marrying my sister,” Shen Yuan said with a scowl.

… Well, Plum Blossom in the Brood of Vipers was a bit of a trashy romance novel, after all. It was inevitable that the author had taken large liberties regarding the relations between the characters. Either way, the character Shaoran, the slave boy who supported the main character’s heart, all the while investigating her family’s secrets and protecting her and her maids from the hands of her older brother and his men, who promised her to marry her in the future, but could only silently step aside and protect her from the shadows once he realized they were blood related, was one of the most popular characters of the novel despite only being the second male lead.

But, of course, it shouldn’t be surprising that real-life was quite different. It was reassuring he’d never had intentions on his sister, Sect Leader Lan supposed, but Peak Lord Ruan Yanfei was going to be very disappointed that the romances in the story were almost 100% false.

“Shizun, can I borrow that book from you?” Yue Qi asked, but Shen Yuan panicked badly.

“Don’t-! Please, for the love that all is holy, don’t read that book,” Shen Yuan moaned. “Even the things that are true in it are portrayed in such a false way that they’re hard to recognize for the people who lived through it all.”

Yue Qi gave a very, very tiny pout, the first childish expression Sect Leader Lan had ever seen on his face ever since she’d met him.

Then, he suddenly turned towards her, a determined look on his face.

“Shizun,” he said. “Please, instate Xiao – Shen Jiu as a disciple of Cang Qiong.” Yue Qi made to get out of bed and prostrate, but thankfully his Xiao Jiu was much more sensible than Sect Leader Lan’s blockhead of a disciple and forcefully kept him lying down.

Sect Leader Lan sighed. “Yue Qi, did you even ask him if that’s what he wants? In the first place, he’s a cultivator with a Second Grade Core and a well-established cultivation method. It may not be possible for his cultivation method to adapt to any of Cang Qiong’s cultivation methods.

Shen Yuan made a complicated expression, but neither of the Qiong Ding residents noticed.

As Yue Qi turned to look pleadingly at Shen Yuan, Sect Leader Lan thought seriously about her disciple’s request.

It was true that this Shen Yuan, or Shen Jiu, was a good influence on Yue Qi, especially with the heart demon still a danger, so she wasn’t actually against the idea.

To tell the truth, such an intelligent boy with such varied experiences, not to mention an expert in fighting against evil cultivators, wouldn’t be a bad acquisition, even if his cultivation wouldn’t mesh well with Cang Qiong’s cultivation methods.

She just wasn’t sure it would be fair to Shen Yuan, if he had to study under a sect that help support his established foundation.

But, well, he was getting along a little too well with that Shentu boy, so he might be interested in beast taming, so Jian Ya might be willing to take him… as Sect Leader Yan seriously considered it, there was a commotion at the entrance of the private medical tent.

The Qian Cao Peak Lord Kang Yanjie looked in with a desperate expression on his face.

“Zhangmen-shijie, are you done talking privately? It’s getting increasingly more difficult to keep Qin-shijie from barging in -” even as he spoke, Peak Lord Kang was unceremoniously shoved aside as the slender woman dressed in white and pale greens entered the tent.

“Qin-shimei?” Sect Leader Lan furrowed her brows in confusion.

The normally sedate, tranquil woman (a spacey airhead by all the Peak Lords’ accounts) seemed to be in an uncharacteristic hurry.

To Sect Leader Lan’s surprise, the Qing Jing Peak Lord, Qin Yanfen stood there silently for a moment before crossing the tent in an instant with a use of Cloud Drifting Steps, seizing Shen Yuan and embracing him from behind with her head resting on top of his.

“Zhangmen-shijie. This is going to be my Head Disciple. Please give your acknowledgment,” Peak Lord Qin said, her eyes in their usual sleepy state, but somehow a tiny bit sharper than usual as she blinked at Sect Leader Lan.

---

Shen Yuan was frozen solid as two slender arms were crossed in front of his chest, clasping his head into some plush breasts.

WTF?!

He had just been thinking about how to convince Sect Leader Lan to let him join Cang Qiong when this woman suddenly waltzed in and … and … i-is this sexual harassment? For which side?!

“… Qin-shimei, you … you… … what?” Sect Leader Lan finally managed to say.

“This. Is going to be my Head Disciple. Please give your acknowledgment.” Peak Lord Qin said and hugged Shen Yuan even tighter, causing him to make a tiny, strangled sound as his head was wedged even further between her breasts.

Q-Qi-ge! Qi-geeee-! Help your Xiao Jiu, please-!

… Fuck. Yue Qi certainly saw his plea for help, but he’s looking hopefully at Peak Lord Qin and doesn’t seem to intend to help him!

“… Qin-shimei. You can’t just pick a random person to be your Head Disciple. Although I’ll admit he’s quite talented, it’s just impossible to get around the fact that he is a wandering cultivator with a foundation that isn’t established in Qing Jing cultivation methods. Especially during this time, when we’re preparing our Head Disciples to take our positions, you simply can’t -”

“I ‘saw’ it. He’s better than all my disciples on Qing Jing.”

“… What?” Sect Leader Lan said, her brow furrowed.

“His foundation. It’s better than all my disciples on Qing Jing.” Peak Lord Qin blinked at her sect leader.

“… … but if his foundation in Qing Jing’s cultivation methods isn’t good...”

“It is. He’s better than all my disciples on Qing Jing,” Peak Lord Qin repeated once again.

“… You ‘saw’ something?” Sect Leader Lan asked, and Peak Lord Qin just tightened her arms possessively, making Shen Yuan’s face turn so red he thought he was going to combust.

Sect Leader Lan sighed heavily. “Shouldn’t you be asking the boy himself if he’s interested? And for goodness’ sake, let go of the poor thing. Steam is going to start coming out of his ears.”

Peak Lord Qin finally let go of him, and Shen Yuan was able to turn around and get a look at the Qing Jing Peak Lord.

If Sect Leader Lan was a red peony, Peak Lord Qin was a white lily. Both were beautiful women with full chests, although Peak Lord Qin was definitely on the slighter side. No wonder they were the High-Peak Flowers of Cang Qiong.

“Come to Qing Jing,” Peak Lord Qin said seriously.

Is she asking or demanding? But, well, it suited Shen Yuan’s purpose pretty well, although he felt like there were some things he was missing about the situation.

“If you would have me,” he managed to say, despite still feeling thrown off from the sudden hug, “But I don’t know if I would be suitable...”

“Your cultivation is identical to Qing Jing’s. Your techniques are also similar. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were trained at Qing Jing your entire life,” Peak Lord Qin said, and Shen Yuan could only wince.

Ugh… even if he says it’s the inspiration of the Heavens, he knew it was pretty unbelievable. But he really didn’t have another excuse… …

Shen Yuan groped for his fan in order to hide the complicated look on his face.

… ?

Shen Yuan broke into a cold sweat as he looked down.

Where was his fan?! Oh god, he’d managed not to lose it for two years, or at least not lose it for long, but now… ?!

Oh no, it was… it had to be when he performed Overturning the Sky and Ground technique, when he threw his sword and fan aside, but afterwards, he’d picked up his sword but… … … Oh. No. He… left it? Within the Savage Valley? The one he can’t re-enter?!

“… Xiao Jiu? What’s wrong?” Yue Qi asked, picking up on Shen Yuan’s panic immediately.

“N-no… it’s...it’s nothing… ” Oh gods, Shen Yuan kind of wants to cry.

---

Ugh. Another hour of heated hunting later and the competition was FINALLY OVER.

Qi Ruolan sighed as she and the other disciples exited the array, all of them milling around as the last minute scores were being calculated.

“… What’s that?” she asked, glancing over at her shidi as they waited.

In the end she couldn’t overcome the time she spent helping fight Wu Yanzi and landed solidly in third place, but honestly, she felt like this year’s competition results mattered about as much crow’s fart.

Still proud of her shidi for maintaining a 56 point lead in the end, though.

Take that you fucking assholes, thinking that all of Cang Qiong’s best were fighting a major criminal so it would be your chance to overtake them. Gods, she hated people sometimes.

Her shidi looked up from where he was fidgeting with something he had tucked in his robes.

At her question, Liu Yingjie pulled it out and showed her a simple, white silk fan with a white sword tassel attached to it.

“That guy left it behind,” he said.

“Ah,” Qi Ruolan said. “You should return it to him.”

Liu Yingjie gave a nod, tucking it back into his robes as he stared blankly in front of him, clearly willing the announcements to go faster.

It was being dragged out because Zhao Hua Temple had begun to snidely argue that Wu Yanzi should count for 100 points, which would easily shoot Qi Ruolan to second place and Shentu Guang and that Shen Yuan into the top quarter of the rankings despite retiring early.

Since the sects that wanted to wait for the competition’s last few hours to end and set a trap for Wu Yanzi had been arguing that the disciples should be prepared for anything, then they should count him as part of the monsters. Ten disciples had been killed, five rendered unconscious, and another five injured while fighting him. It was a threat far above what the Savage Valley should provide.

Qi Ruolan didn’t expect that argument to go through, though. Zhao Hua didn’t seem to expect it to either, but they weren’t above giving those assholes a hard time about it.

Anyway, Yue-shixiong was the one who killed him, and he wasn’t a participant, so… forget it. Everyone knew who the REAL second place was, hmph.

“… I’m going.”

“...Huh? Liu-shidi? They’re still announcing the results, where are you-”

“To see Yue-shixiong.”

“...” It’s not like waiting around here was doing anything for them, so Qi Ruolan hesitated for only a moment before following her shidi towards the medical tents.

… Whoa, there are three Peak Lords in Yue-shixiong’s private medical tent, as well as that Shen Yuan guy.

“Yue-shixiong, are you alright?” Qi Ruolan said, after they had greeted their Shigus and Shishu.

“I’m doing much better, thank you,” Yue Qi replied, his usual serene look feeling a little more light than usual.

“And you, Shen Yuan? Are you alright?” Qi Ruolan asked.

“Ah… yes… I’m fine...”

… Mm? That Shen Yuan guy looks panicked in a way that he hadn’t been in even when facing Wu Yanzi.

Before she could stop him, Liu-shidi approached him quickly.

“… This. You left it,” Liu Yingjie said as he held out the fan.

Shen Yuan’s eyes went wide, his lip trembled, and suddenly, Liu Yingjie was startled by the fling of Shen Yuan’s arms around him.

“Oh, thank god, I thought I’d lost it forever-!”

Qi Ruolan raised an eyebrow as she tried to keep a smirk off her face, watching her stoic, unsociable shidi stand completely still in alarm as he was hugged tightly by the wandering cultivator.

It didn’t take long for Shen Yuan to realize his mistake and he pulled away, recoiling in shock.

“S-sorry! That’s… I… this sword tassel was something Tang-mei – something my sister made me, so I just… I thought it was lost for good, so… ” he drifted off, bright red at his impropriety.

Iiinteresting…

Qi Ruolan snickered quietly as she watched her shidi nod stiffly, his ears bright red as he averted his eyes from everyone in the room.

Notes:

When SJ and YQY met back up, SJ attempted to keep YQY away from WYZ by rejecting him, then ended up having to save YQY by killing WYZ.
In contrast, YQY’s first sight of SY was SY trapped in an array needing to be rescued, and in the end, YQY did in fact save him.
The difference between the two is the difference between greatly accelerating the corruption of YQY’s heart demon and helping YQY to begin to regain control over it

Chapter 7: Identity

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Sect Leader Lan looked up as Zhao Hua Sect Master Wu Chen sat down next to her and refilled her teacup respectfully.

“Thanking Sect Leader Lan for her hard work today,” he said. “There would have been a lot more casualties if Sect Leader Lan hadn’t noticed something going wrong.”

Sect Leader Lan chuckled dryly, accepting the teacup from the young Sect Master.

“Even if this Master had noticed, I’m afraid that this Master was still greatly lacking in judgment. To have allowed the situation to escalate so far simply because of some dissenting opinions is this Master’s negligence,” she said.

“Sect Master Lan was not negligent,” Sect Master Wu said, shaking his head as he poured himself a cup of tea as well from the low table in front of them. “Cang Qiong had the foresight to station a disciple with a Fifth Grade Core within the array, and it’s to Cang Qiong’s honor that their disciples did not shy away from danger in favor of saving victims and punishing evil.”

Sect Leader Lan smiled. Honor and bravery was all well and good, but perhaps it was because she was old, she would rather her disciples run away to live another day. Although she was proud of them for wanting to save others.

“Even so,” she said, “With how things turned out, it was a good reminder that one cannot control the outcome despite making all the preparations. It would have been wiser to take the responsibility on Cang Qiong and ended the competition by force than risk the lives of the future generations.”

Sect Master Wu wasn’t sure how to respond, and they sat in the quiet corner of pavilion.

Normally, this evening would be filled with socializing, with only the leaders of the sects and elders allowed to enter this particular pavilion, but after the mess with Wu Yanzi, most sects only sent the bare minimum attendees that would be socially acceptable, and most people kept to themselves.

The Old Palace Master didn’t even attend himself, sending one poor representative who was sitting uncomfortably near the edge of the pavilion the entire night.

“This one has heard that Xiao Yuan will be taken in by Cang Qiong. He is a good seedling, Cang Qiong is very fortunate,” Sect Master Wu suddenly said.

Sect Leader Lan smiled wryly. “This Master has heard that Shen Yuan and Zhao Hua Temple have had some interaction. Cang Qiong was fortunate that Sect Master Wu did not take him under his wing first.”

“It was impossible for this one’s sect to do so, when Xiao Yuan’s cultivation base was so similar to Cang Qiong’s. It would have been a great disservice to the boy,” Sect Master Wu said, some regret in his voice.

Sect Leader Lan raised an eyebrow. “The boy had a solid foundation? Right when you found him?” she asked. From what she understood, they had met almost the moment the boy had left the Qiu Manor. Even if Shen Yuan was a genius that had managed to cultivate himself a foundation as a slave, how could he have built up something solid enough that wouldn’t have benefited from getting taken apart and rebuilt from formal instruction from Zhao Hua?

Not to mention, that his foundation was distinctly like Cang Qiong’s? Even back then?

Sect Master Wu gave a small, almost resigned smile. “If it weren’t for the fact that he would be unable to hide it from the Qius, this one believes he would have already formed a golden core before I met him,” he said.

Sect Leader Lan was quiet for a moment before she gave a light chuckle. “Sect Master Wu,” she said. “Do you believe in fate?”

Zhao Hua’s Sect Master blinked once, waiting for her to continue.

“Can you believe that boy’s foundation follows the Qing Jing cultivation method so precisely it could be considered an example lifted straight from the manual?” she asked, giving a laugh that was at least half disbelief. She hadn’t been able to believe it when Peak Lord Kang confirmed it.

Sect Master Wu’s eyes went wide.

“It’s to the point that Peak Lord Qin wants him to become Qing Jing’s Head Disciple.” Although technically, she wanted him as Head Disciple before they had the Qian Cao Peak Lord carefully investigate the boy’s cultivation.

“I have heard that Peak Lord Qin had refused to chose a successor thus far,” Sect Master Wu said carefully.

Cang Qiong’s succession was always a bit of a mystery to other sects. The Peaks’ Head Disciples usually meant nothing more than a disciple that organized the affairs of the other disciples on the Peak and often aided the Peak Lord in minor official matters.

When they graduated from discipleship, many became teachers within Cang Qiong, then elders. Some of them ascended when they were able, some chose to wait and ascend when the Peak Lords ascended. A Peak Lord would often go through many Head Disciples before they ascended.

But during the period when Cang Qiong’s Peak Lords were preparing to ascend, like now, the position of Head Disciple became candidates for succession. Instead of choosing esteemed teachers or elders like other sects would, they choose to raise a new generation of young disciples to become their successors, carefully grooming them for succession throughout their discipleship.

However, if their candidates, their Head Disciple candidates, were unable to form a Fifth Grade Core during this period, they were often replaced with another promising disciple.

So to say that Qing Jing Peak Lord Qin was considering Shen Yuan to become Qing Jing’s Head Disciple … Sect Master Wu couldn’t just assume that meant Shen Yuan was being considered for succession.

Cang Qiong’s succession process was just too confusing.

“...” Sect Leader Lan just gave him a mysterious smile, and Sect Master Wu decided not to press the question.

He sat there in silence for a moment as he turned his teacup in his hands, a pensive look on his face, and Sect Leader Lan waited patiently.

She assumed he hadn’t come over just for small talk.

Finally, Sect Master Wu opened his mouth again. “Take care of that boy,” he said. “He’s a soft-hearted one, who has learned to overlook the hurts he has to bear.”

Sect Leader Lan smiled gently.

“Of course,” she said.

---

---

Shen Yuan was dead exhausted by the time everything was all said and done.

Longest fucking day in his life… well, maybe not, but it’s definitely a contender for the title for sure.

After embarrassing the fuck out of himself after just losing it when Liu-shidi handed him his fan, then he had to deal with the torrent of well-wishers, like the old wandering cultivators and people from Zhao Hua making sure he was actually, truly okay.

Then there were all the curious disciples and Peak Lords from Cang Qiong, trying to catch a glimpse of the wandering cultivator who not only fought with their best disciples in the Savage Valley against the vile criminal Wu Yanzi, but also caught Qing Jing Peak Lord Qin Yanfen’s eye as a Head Disciple candidate.

Now, late at night, Shen Yuan was sprawled out over a table in a most undignified manner.

“Hahaha, wow, to think you might be my shixiong in the future!” Shentu Guang laughed heartily, smacking him heartily on the shoulder.

“Ugh… how does that even work? Is it really okay for some random guy to become a Head Disciple that easily?” Shen Yuan groaned.

For crying out loud, the Peak Lords are preparing for ascension, so to become a Head Disciple meant that they were considering you to be the next Peak Lord!

Which, great, the System’s pleased as fuck, but … wtf?!

“Dunno, but it’s Qin-shigu, so everyone’s probably just gonna accept it,” Shentu Guang said with a shrug. “She probably ‘saw’ something, anyway.”

“Saw something?” Shen Yuan repeated.

“Qin-shigu sometimes sees things with her left eye. It’s not like the future or anything, but something like premonitions or signs. I don’t really get it myself, but it’s something like seeing colors or lights, or sometimes birds or something. That’s why she has that cloth, to be able to cover her eye when she needs to be able to tell what’s real and what’s not,” Shentu Guang explained.

The previous Peak Lords were people that Shen Yuan had very little knowledge about, so it was very interesting for him to hear about them. Especially about the person who would become his Shizun.

“Xiao Jiu.”

Yue Qi entered the inn room that Shentu Guang and Shen Yuan were hiding in to get out of the raucous celebrations the other disciples, including ones from other sects, were holding.

They were wounded and TIRED, okay? Well, Shentu Guang was wounded, and Shen Yuan was tired.

“Qi-ge.” Shen Yuan sat up properly as he asked, “Are you really okay to be walking around so soon?”

“It’s nothing. I can’t do anything too extensive, but your talisman seems to have mitigated the damage well,” Yue Qi said calmly, sitting down next to Shen Yuan.

“That’s good, then,” Shen Yuan said. “It was really scary, you know? Seeing you just go into a qi deviation like that. Please take care of yourself better, Qi-ge.” Now that the heart demon seemed to have loosened its hold on him, Yue Qi was starting to remind Shen Yuan of his over-working Da-ge from his first life. Breaking his health because he just HAD to make a deadline or something, the fool.

“I understand, Xiao Jiu.”

A silence drifted over the room as Yue Qi poured himself a cup of tea until Shentu Guang cleared his throat awkwardly.

“… … Hey, why do you call him Xiao Jiu?” he asked. “Isn’t his name Shen Yuan?”

Yue Qi froze for a second.

“Ah… …” he said awkwardly. He glanced at Shen Yuan. “… Should I… should I not call you...” ...Fuck, now that the guilt was more or less gone from them, Yue Qi’s sad eyes were dangerous. Or Shen Yuan was just weak to sad eyes.

“It’s okay,” Shen Yuan said quickly. “Some of the former servants still call me Xiao Jiu occasionally. It’s not like I hate it or anything, I just took the opportunity to change my name. You know, wandering cultivators get subjected to a lot more scrutiny, so sticking with ‘Jiu’ would be a bit ...”

Shentu Guang tilted his head, confused, but Yue Qi understood what he meant. A former slave turned cultivator would get much poorer treatment by townspeople when they’re not connected to a sect.

“… You chose the name ‘Yuan’ yourself?” Yue Qi asked carefully.

“En.”

Yue Qi looked out the window thoughtfully for a moment before he smiled softly. “Then I guess I’ll start calling you Xiao Yuan.”

“I don’t really mind,” Shen Yuan started, but Yue Qi looked so pleasantly satisfied that he decided to just let it be.

It was probably for the best, anyway. Even if Shen Yuan didn’t mind being Qi-ge’s Xiao Jiu, the fact of the matter was that he simply wasn’t. Not the Xiao Jiu that Qi-ge had raised and protected.

In the first place, Shen Yuan didn’t want to pretend to be Shen Jiu any longer. Now that he wasn’t under the threat of OOC penalties, Shen Yuan found it extremely distasteful to try to interpret the feelings of and speak for a man who wasn’t there any longer. Especially not for this. It felt like he’d be making a mockery of Shen Jiu’s feelings for his Qi-ge, whatever they might be.

He wasn’t Shen Jiu and he wasn’t even remotely qualified to continue the relationship the two had with each other let alone fix it, but he was willing to build a new brotherly relationship with Yue Qi as the next best thing he could do.

Maybe Yue Qi changing the way he called him might be what Shen Yuan needed to make this work.

“… I don’t really get it, but Yue-shixiong, you’ve known Xiao Yuan for a long time, huh? Since before he… changed his name?” Shentu Guang said, clearly not fully understanding the context to the conversation, but deciding not to pry.

“Yes,” Yue Qi responded, but he seemed to be unsure of how to explain it. “For … a long time. We’re...”

“We’re brothers,” Shen Yuan said firmly. “Although some things happened, we grew up as brothers. … Or maybe Qi-ge acted more like a father? You practically raised me.”

Yue Qi blinked, then laughed. “Maybe so,” he chuckled. “But I’m clearly not old enough to be your father.”

“...”

At Shentu Guang’s confused look, Shen Yuan relented.

“We were orphans,” he explained. “Then a lot of things happened. It’s complicated, but long story short, I have a half-sister now, and an Aunt and Uncle, and Qi-ge’s made a mountain full of martial siblings. Speaking of...” Shen Yuan hesitated a moment, then took a deep breath. “I need to return and tell Tang-mei that I’ve joined a sect and won’t be coming back as often.” He gave Yue Qi a side glance.

Yue Qi looked back at him curiously.

“That’s...” Shen Yuan stuttered, then quickly said, “I was wondering if Qi-ge would like to come. Since… since we’re brothers, I thought… you might like to meet Tang-mei.”

At Yue Qi’s stunned expression, Shen Yuan hurried on to say, “Her family might have been like… well, they might have been like that, but Tang-mei’s a good girl. The Mins are also kind people. I just thought … I mean, of course you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but I just thought...”

“I’ll go.” Yue Qi’s voice was firm.

“Ah… It won’t conflict with your duties as Qiong Ding’s Head Disciple?” Shen Yuan asked.

“It’s fine. I’ll go.”

Shentu Guang laid in bed, watching the two in front of him.

Dammit! He felt like he just witnessed something important, but he had NO idea what it was!

But at least he now knows that the amazing super cultivator Yue-shixiong actually has a younger brother! Qi-shijie was going to be SO pissed that she missed out on this!

---

---

“What is the winner doing so far away from the festivities?”

Liu Yingjie shifted as the deep, booming voice interrupted his silent meditation on the ledge he’d decided to retreat to.

“Shizun.”

Liu Yingjie quickly stood up as Bai Zhan Peak Lord Zheng Yanxiong appeared, but Peak Lord Zheng quickly lifted a hand to placate him, that gentle smile looking out of place on such a large, fierce man as usual.

“You did well today,” Peak Lord Zheng said, patting Liu Yingjie on the head. “But something tells me that you are dissatisfied.”

Liu Yingjie remained silent for a moment, looking down into the Savage Valley, at the scar in the forest that remained from the fierce fight with Wu Yanzi, and then a berserk Yue-shixiong.

“… Shizun, what is strength?” he finally asked.

Peak Lord Zheng didn’t look surprised at the question.

“What do you think it is?” he asked.

Liu Yingjie scowled. If he knew, he wouldn’t be asking. But he couldn’t exactly talk back to his shizun.

“Bai Zhan teaches that strength overpowers all. That before might, all must give way,” Liu Yingjie said slowly.

“Do you believe differently now?” Peak Lord Zheng asked.

Did he? Liu Yingjie frowned.

Even though he refused to give in, refused to believe he couldn’t fight give a good fight, honestly, in the face of Wu Yanzi’s might, he had felt helpless.

He couldn’t exactly say he didn’t believe that tricks and schemes were useless before overpowering might. All four of them combined could only struggle against Wu Yanzi. Only Yue-shixiong, who possessed more might than Wu Yanzi, could deal with the evil cultivator, easily, even in the midst of a qi deviation.

But…

Shen Yuan.

That was the name of the wandering cultivator who dealt with the threats coming towards him with finesse and techniques, and even tricks.

Liu Yingjie had always looked down on people who had to resort to tricks and schemes to win a fight. Needing to do so meant you lacked strength, that you possessed a spirit that preferred to scheme rather than improve your cultivation.

But Liu Yingjie had never had a fight like this before.

His missions were always carefully picked by Cang Qiong to be things he could handle even if unexpected situations arose.

He might have fought people stronger than him before, strong enough to make him yield almost instantly, but they were limited to spars with his Shizun and Yue-shixiong, and maybe one or two of the elders.

To be faced with the full might of someone who wasn’t trying to tease out his best attacks, who was actually trying to kill him?

Liu Yingjie hadn’t experienced such helplessness despite fighting with his full strength with all of his techniques on full display.

Without Shen Yuan’s presence, it’s likely all of them would have died.

It wasn’t his might they needed. Truthfully, Liu Yingjie was probably stronger than him in a battle of brute force.

What they needed was his abilities. His quick thinking. His inexplicably perfect coordination with their movements. All of that made it possible for them to fight against Wu Yanzi without taking a huge loss.

And it made Liu Yingjie wonder. What was strength?

Peak Lord Zheng chuckled as he watched his most promising disciple’s face contort in confusion.

Although he had been furious about the negligence of the Immortal Alliance Conference in allowing Wu Yanzi to infiltrate and freely kill within the Savage Valley, Peak Lord Zheng couldn’t help but think that perhaps the encounter was beneficial to his Head Disciple.

Bai Zhan Peak certainly subscribed to the doctrine that strength will overpower all, and the Peak was founded on the idea that all else was powerless before overpowering might. But the founder of Bai Zhan also understood that, conversely, might was useless unless it was overpowering.

There was a need for Bai Zhan to join Cang Qiong, partnering among Peaks with other doctrines.

Peak Lord Zheng only fully understood the meaning behind it within the last half of his time as a Peak Lord. After all, despite the surprisingly poetic origins of Bai Zhan Peak, most who joined the Peak were … meatheads.

Peak Lord Zheng was embarrassed to admit he had also been one of them.

Why Bai Zhan Peak existed among Cang Qiong’s Peaks and wrestling with the meaning of ‘strength’ were both exercises that often led to various enlightenments, furthering their cultivations to heights that would be unimaginable otherwise, but too few of his disciples bothered to question them.

However, right now, his Head Disciple was seriously pondering what strength was.

It was a good sign for the growth of Bai Zhan.

Notes:

In the previous timeline, WYZ was killed off earlier and the others didn’t get a chance to fight him. In this one, LQG, QQQ, and Shentu Guang faced an opponent far out of their league for the first time in their lives.

Chapter 8: Siblings

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“Miss! Miss!”

Haitang looked up from her studies as Xiao Hong, one of her younger maids, came running.

“Goodness, Xiao Hong, calm down. What has happened?” Haitang asked, looking in amusement at the young girl who was far too easily excitable.

The girl’s face was flushed with excitement “Young Master Yuan has-!” “Xiao Hong, calm down, calm down. You’re going to trip like this.”

Haitang’s eyes lit up as a familiar voice floated through the room, and a slender hand quickly caught Xiao Hong around the midriff right as she tripped despite the warning.

“Yuan-ge-!” Haitang resisted leaping to her feet and jumping on her Yuan-ge. She was already 12 years old, and for a mortal, that was the age where a noble girl would begin receiving bridal education. In the next two years, it was likely that her engagement would be determined, and hopefully she would have children before the age of 20.

Such was the timeline of a mortal girl’s life in this world. The cultivators who had immortality to look forward to may think marriage around the age of 16 to be too soon, but the life of a mortal would rise and fall within 60 years. 80 if they’re lucky. Maybe 100 if they had the support of expensive tonics and elixirs.

So although she was still young, Haitang was now expected to act with the bearing of a young noble woman.

… Well, the Mins, who doted on her, weren’t very strict about it, but Haitang was a bright girl who already understood that if she acted frivolously, she’d attract a frivolous husband. If she acted with grace and decorum, she would increase the chances of attracting a man who valued those qualities.

She was lucky that the Mins were willing to let her marry for love; she’d be a fool who couldn’t learn from the past if she allowed herself to simply surround herself with only lovely and beautiful things again without preparing for her future.

… Well, maybe a little hug.

Haitang got up gracefully, walked over gracefully, and … flopped into her Yuan-ge’s arms, hugging him tightly.

Shen Yuan smiled down at his cute little sister.

“I’m back,” he said, patting her head affectionately.

“Welcome back,” she said happily, then noticed the man behind him.

Haitang flushed in embarrassment and quickly pushed off from her Yuan-ge at the presence of a guest.

“Excuse me,” she said. “I didn’t realize we had a guest...”

The man behind her Yuan-ge was tall and noble-looking, a serene look on his face. But was it Haitang’s imagination or did he seem a little nervous?

Her Yuan-ge smiled. “That’s right, I had someone to introduce to you. This is Yue Qi ...” he hesitated a moment, a strange look on his face, before he dipped his head downwards and quickly said, “He is my brother from before I joined the Qiu household. We were separated for some time, and I only just found him.”

All present, except for Xiao Hong, understood that the separation was caused because Yuan-ge ‘joined the Qiu household’, and they all quietly avoided mentioning it.

Not one of them found it a pleasant time to think back on, after all.

“Qi-ge, this is Haitang, my precious little sister,” Yuan-ge said, a tender smile on his face.

Haitang gave a little bow, but she was a bit overwhelmed. On one hand, her Yuan-ge’s back again and he doesn’t seem any worse for wear, on the other, she was suddenly presented with a brother she didn’t know he had. She wasn’t upset, but … for goodness’ sake, Yuan-ge, you couldn’t send a letter or something first?!

Haa… Yuan-ge was so smart sometimes, and other times…

“Xiao Yuan, Magistrate Min and Lady Min were asking for you…” Pei-jie suddenly poked her head in, and then blinked in surprise at the unfamiliar but gentle looking young man in the study with Yuan-ge and Haitang.

… So Yuan-ge just landed, probably in the courtyard, and came looking for her without even greeting Auntie and Uncle again.

“Ah, I should go greet Magistrate Min and Lady Min… Sorry, I’ll be right back.”

“Eh? Wait a minute, Yuan-ge-!” Haitang blinked, eyes wide as her reliable(?) Yuan-ge rushed out of the room.

He might be trying to hurry and get back soon, but… he just left them? With nothing more than an introduction?!

Haitang loves her Yuan-ge, but sometimes…

The man in front of her also seemed at a loss, for all that he was trying to hide it behind the mask of an immortal master.

Haitang… felt a little pity for him.

“… Sorry, I’m a little overwhelmed that Yuan-ge had a brother I didn’t know about,” she said, breaking the awkward silence. “But, I suppose it’s my fault for not thinking that Yuan-ge had a past before … well, before we met. Yuan-ge is the type who avoids talking about his sufferings unless asked, after all.” Then she realized what it sounded like and hastily said, “N-not that I’m trying to say that his time with you was suffering or anything-!”

Yue Qi’s face softened a bit, losing its tenseness, and he said, “Miss Haitang isn’t wrong. The time we spent as children wasn’t a very pleasant time. And Xiao Yuan definitely avoids talking about those types of things, no matter how worried it makes others.”

“Seriously!” Haitang cried out. “Every time he returns he only talks about the interesting things, but never talks about his own well-being! We know it’s difficult to be a wandering cultivator, so when he doesn’t say anything, we can only imagine on our own! It really makes one unable to stop worrying! Furthermore, it’s in his nature to be reckless and sacrifice himself without a second thought!”

Yue Qi couldn’t help but think of how Xiao Yuan threw the others to safety, becoming ensnared in Wu Yanzi’s array. A sweatdrop appeared on his temple, and he thought it wasn’t so easy to be Xiao Yuan’s Tang-mei, sitting at home with worry while clearly aware of Xiao Yuan’s tendencies.

… It wasn’t going to be easy being his Qi-ge, either.

“He is indeed reckless,” he agreed, deciding not to worry her even more thoroughly about the evil cultivator that almost killed her brother and choosing instead to say, “Just on the way over, my heart almost gave out seeing how he flew on his sword.”

“I knew it!” Haitang said, her cheeks puffing out a little in a pout. “He just says that’s how flying on a sword is, but I KNEW that sort of speed and angle isn’t normal!”

The two suffering siblings looked at each other, then gave each other small, commiserating smiles.

Although they felt awkward with each other, meeting for the first time as siblings of the same person, it was impossible not to feel some sort of comradery.

“Um… could you tell me about Yuan-ge, from before?” Haitang finally asked, and the gentle-looking Yue Qi smiled.

When Shen Yuan returned, he blinked.

His Tang-mei and Qi-ge were sitting much more closely together, trading stories, the two of them looking up together with wide eyes as he walked back in.

… Why did he feel like they’ve done some things behind his back?

Haitang and Yue Qi exchanged looks.

Neither of them were going to mention the book that was now tucked into Yue Qi’s qiankun pouch, the one that Haitang certainly had never seen, the one that Pei-jie’s merchant cousin’s wife certainly never wrote, and the one that was certainly not titled Plum Blossom in the Brood of Vipers.

Even though it was nothing like the actual events of the Qiu Manor, as Haitang warned him, it didn’t change the fact that Yue Qi was curious, and Haitang enjoyed foisting trashy romance novels on unsuspecting victims.

The only reason Haitang enjoyed it was because it was so dissimilar she found it ridiculous. The main character was a pure white lotus who gave alms to the poor, visited the sick, and was selfless to a fault, a fluttery, silly character that Haitang would never be able to equate with herself in a hundred years. And except for Shaoran, based on Yuan-ge, Haitang had no idea who any of the other three love interests were supposed to be based on.

But Yuan-ge was never to know that either of them had read (or was about to read) the book. That was something they both agreed on. He’d be upset if he ever found out…

“What did Auntie and Uncle say?” Haitang asked, a somewhat smug grin on her face, knowing that although they weren’t angry, the Mins had probably scolded Yuan-ge for his inability to give them prior warning before showing up, especially with a guest in tow.

“Ahaha… they’re really upset that I didn’t warn them ahead of time, especially since they want to prepare a banquet, since I’ve been accepted as a disciple at Cang Qiong Mountain Sect,” Shen Yuan said, and Haitang sat there for a moment, her mouth wide open.

“You were accepted into a sect?! Why didn’t you tell me-!” she said, fake-hitting her Yuan-ge with a pitta-patta, screwing her face up in that expression of dissatisfaction that only a little sister could make.

“I meant to tell you first, but there was a lot of things going on-!” Shen Yuan said, a face of suffering – that was too poorly concealing the amusement and fondness beneath it.

Yue Qi chuckled, a soft, but somewhat complicated look on his face. He was happy that Xiao Yuan had family, a close little sister who was smart and intelligent, but he couldn’t forget the harsh days from before, and the rumors of Xiao Yuan’s harsh days during the Qiu Manor.

He quite liked the young Haitang, but it was difficult for him to feel completely satisfied that Xiao Yuan had made family outside of his Qi-ge.

But he couldn’t deny that seeing the Xiao Jiu who didn’t have to snarl and fight for every grain of food or dignity under the sun, who had become mischievous and reckless in a way he should have been able to be as a child, made something uneasy within him settle down.

Thankfully, his broken promise didn’t ruin Xiao Yuan. It still made his blood run cold when he thought about abandoning Xiao Yuan at the Qiu Manor, and he would probably never forgive himself, but if Xiao Yuan had been ruined, had the ability to be happy beaten out of him…

Yue Qi would never be able to atone, even if he spent his entire life attempting to make amends.

---

---

Peak Lord Hong Yanyu frowned.

After hearing the news that Wu Yanzi had appeared at the Immortal Alliance Conference and murdered many disciples, all the Peak Lords that had remained were understandably on edge.

As the delegation from Cang Qiong finally appeared, climbing the stairs, people sighed in relief as they could see their friends and martial siblings safe and whole.

But the person Wan Jian Peak Lord Hong Yanyu was most concerned about was missing.

At the immediate Peak Lord Meeting that was called shortly after they had returned, he turned to Sect Leader Lan.

“I heard that Yue-shizhi was the one who defeated Wu Yanzi. However, I didn’t see him among the returning disciples,” he said. What he really wanted to say was, ‘What about Xuan Su?’ but he couldn’t, not when this was a secret held between Sect Leader Lan, himself, and the Qian Cao Peak Lord, Kang Yanjie.

Sect Leader Lan gave a thin smile, thinking about the qi deviating Yue Qi stabbing straight through Wu Yanzi with his bare hands. “With some assistance, he was able to defeat Wu Yanzi even in the midst of a qi deviation. He didn’t even have to draw his sword.”

At first, Peak Lord Hong was relieved. He wouldn’t blame the young man for drawing his sword when his life was threatened, but of course, considering what had occurred when the boy had attempted to master it, he would prefer if Yue Qi didn’t. Wait. Qi deviation?

“He is … uninjured?” An Ding Peak Lord Duan Yanshi asked. It would be disastrous if the (practically) confirmed next Sect Leader had met with a grave injury from an evil cultivator, or had his cultivation compromised with the qi deviation!

“He is. However he is currently visiting his younger brother’s home, so he will be along later,” Sect Leader Lan replied.

“Younger brother?” The six Peak Lords that had remained at Cang Qiong exchanged confused looks.

Wasn’t the Qiong Ding Head Disciple an orphan?

“MY Head Disciple.” Peak Lord Qin looked smug as she hid her mouth behind her sleeve, her lazy look like a cat that had gotten its cream.

The other Peak Lords, including some who had even been at the Conference, felt even more mystified.

Sect Leader Lan gave a sigh.

“Kang-shidi,” she said, “If you would give a report first, so that we can all be on the same page?”

“Of course.” Peak Lord Kang of Qian Cao smiled, although a bit weary. “Liu Yingjie placed first, and Qi Ruolan placed third among the contestants, although it’s generally believed that Qi-shizhi could have placed second had it not been for the disturbance. Shentu Guang… did not seriously participate, so Shentu-shizhi ended up in the lower half of the contestants.”

The beast peak’s Jian Ya Peak Lord, the lady Ruan Yanfei, gave a sigh, covering her eyes with her hand in embarrassment. She knew she should have gone, if just so she could put pressure on that idiot boy!

“As for the others...” Peak Lord Kang finished listing out the other disciples’ placements, many of them better than Shantu Guang’s.

“As we sent word about, however, a serious disturbance occurred, with the evil cultivator Wu Yanzi appearing. He killed ten disciples, three from Tian Yi and seven from other small sects, before he was discovered. Together with a young wandering cultivator, our Head Disciples participating in the competition did well in saving five disciples from other sects and holding their own against him before Yue-shizhi killed Wu Yanzi, despite experiencing a qi deviation. In the end, Shentu-shizhi had a deep wound, but is healing well, Qi-shizhi and Liu-shizhi had only minor superficial wounds, and Yue-shizhi has recovered quickly.”

The Peak Lords murmured in relief and pride that Cang Qiong’s finest fought valiantly and returned with minimal damage.

“Although it’s difficult to say whether the result would have changed, some sects like Huan Hua Palace, Xin Yue Gorge...” Peak Lord Kang listed out some other minor sects as he continued before saying, “These sects opposed immediate action and could have greatly jeopardized our disciples had it not been for our stationing of Yue-shizhi within the Savage Valley.”

“And also my Head Disciple,” Peak Lord Qin said with a frown of petty dissatisfaction.

Silence fell around the table until Ku Xing Peak Lord Gu Yantie finally spoke.

“… Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I was unaware that Qin-shijie had finally elected a Head Disciple candidate?” he said softly.

“… I was wondering that myself,” Xian Shu Peak Lord Tao Yanbi said. She had been attending the Conference, and she had no idea what Qing Jing Peak Lord Qin was talking about. Did she just miss a memo…?

Sect Leader Lan sighed. Although Peak Lord Qin was undeniably a master tactician and stored limitless knowledge within her head, she was … eccentric. Sect Leader Lan was often stuck explaining the various things Peak Lord Qin just couldn’t be bothered with.

“During the battle with Wu Yanzi, a young wandering cultivator participant fought with our disciples, coordinating extremely well with them and able to counter the evil cultivator’s methods precisely with his vast knowledge and experience in fighting other evil cultivators. Afterwords, we discovered that he was Yue Qi’s long lost sworn brother, and the young slave child Sect Master Wu encountered during the Qiu Manor incident.”

What kind of coincidence… Sect Leader Lan could read those thoughts crossing all of her martial siblings’ faces, except for Peak Lord Kang and Peak Lord Qin, who were the only ones aware of all the details.

Jian Ya Peak Lord Ruan Yanfei suddenly leaned forward eagerly. “Wait, you mean, like Shaoran from Plum Blossom among -

“I’ve had it confirmed that the truth is nothing like the fiction,” Sect Leader Lan said sweetly, and as expected, the Beast Peak’s Lord deflated in an instance. “But yes, that one. It turns out his cultivation methods, that he developed himself, are identical to Qing Jing’s, and so...”

“He’s my Head Disciple now,” Peak Lord Qin said smugly.

Among all the other stunned and incredulous Peak Lords, Bai Zhan Peak Lord Zheng Yanxiong blinked with a different sort of surprise.

Huh. And he had just been telling his little Head Disciple (almost confirmed) that it might be difficult to track down the boy just for a spar… Seems like the future could get interesting.



Notes:

Normally I don’t like to give an exact recounting of events that happened before, but it’s brief and has a different viewpoint’s emphasis, so I guess it’s okay :)
Fanart from yuu12riku/soluine of the hugs: https://twitter.com/soluine/status/1399073722212917250

Chapter 9: Arriving at Cang Qiong

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The Twelve Peaks of Cang Qiong Mountain.

Each Peak has their own cultivation methods, techniques, and idealogies, as if Cang Qiong is made up of twelve separate sects.

However, at their cores, all the Peaks’ cultivation methods rested on the same base, making all the Peaks’ cultivation methods sisters to each other.

Cang Qiong was also a sword sect, so all twelve Peaks trained in sister sword techniques, using the sword as their main weapons (mostly), qi manipulation training tools, and mode of transport.

Many Peaks had overlapping curriculum, such as painting and musical cultivation being taught at Qing Jing despite the existence of the artistic cultivation Peak Chuang Zuo, or the fierceness of Bai Zhan’s physical combative techniques of all forms versus Wan Jian’s elite sword techniques or Ku Xing’s iron body techniques.

All Peaks could boast a completely thorough curriculum to raise their disciples to be among the best in the cultivation world, but, of course, as much as the Peaks were similar, each Peak was also different, boasting different ideologies that influenced their cultivation methods and techniques.

Qiong Ding valued equity and civility. Thus they practiced a cultivation method that balanced physical and spiritual cultivation, with emphasis on spiritual aura’s like Authority of Earth and Sky or the Heart Soothing Mantras as well as focus on clean fighting techniques that deflected and subdued the opponent.

Qing Jing valued knowledge and precision, with more emphasis on spiritual cultivation, complicated qi techniques, the written word, and the formation of talismans.

Wan Jian valued the sword, the ability to make swords as well as to become one with the sword.

An Ding valued foresight and preparation, the array experts of Cang Qiong.

Xian Shu valued the strength of women, practicing cultivation methods that not only gave women control over their cycles, but allowed them to gain control over the female yin.

Bai Zhan valued strength and might, focusing almost solely on physical cultivation and combat techniques to turn themselves into deadly human weapons.

Jian Ya valued mutuality with beasts and the natural world, seeking to tame beasts and resonate with them in order to improve the beasts’ cultivations as well as their own.

Qian Cao valued medical knowledge, both to heal and to harm.

Ku Xing valued purity, the absence of physical desire to transcend physical limits.

Min Xiang valued the power in the five elements, pursuing the study and manufacture of artifacts, weaponry, and tools.

Chuang Zuo valued the five senses, pursuing artistic cultivation methods that stimulated them.

Zui Xian valued the drink, both the making, the imbibing, and the heightened states produced by spiritual alcohols and waters.

With such different ideologies, it’s inevitable for the same foundation to become twelve separate cultivation methods, for some sword techniques to be sharp and simple and others to be soft and flowing.

This was the oddity and also the strength of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, that twelve seemingly separate Peaks were bound at their core, all improving upon the same base, but allowed to spread out and pursue different objectives.

This balance and harmony of this lofty sect was suddenly rudely disturbed as an out-of-control sword approached Qiong Ding Peak at breakneck speeds.

Or at least, the horrified Qiong Ding disciples thought the sword of was out of control.

With a dip and sway like a swallow, the sword pulled a beautiful, but terrifyingly abrupt, turn, and went into a spiral before tipping forwards, allowing its rider to leap down and catch the grip as it swung upwards. With a smooth, practiced movement, the sword was sheathed before its rider’s feet had touched the ground.

The Qiong Ding disciples gaped as they sized up the young man. He was slim and had the face of a scholar, but the way he held himself made it clear that he had a solid physical foundation. He was dressed simply in the style of a wandering cultivator, long bangs tied back at the top of his head, the ends gathered with the rest of his hair in a low ponytail.

With a carefree smile on his face, he turned towards the direction he’d come in, and while the disciples were wondering what they should do about this stranger, another cultivator on his sword came flying in.

“… Xiao Yuan, you really should stop flying so recklessly. What would I say to Xiao Tang if you died by falling off your sword?” the other cultivator said with a sigh, descending in a much more normal speed and manner.

Ah, it was Yue-shixiong! The disciples were relieved that they didn’t have to decide whether they had to worry about whether the man was an invader or not, if Yue-shixiong was the one who brought him.

The stranger rolled his eyes, although he had a smile on, and said, “I keep telling you, it’s fine, I won’t fall off (anymore). Besides, when did you get so close to Tang-mei, promising to send letters?”

“Do I have a choice, when her own brother is so reckless and won’t send word about his well-being?”

The stranger winced and grumbled under his breath as Yue-shixiong … chuckled.

The Qiong Ding disciples were stunned.

Yue-shixiong was nice. That much they knew. He smiled often, and could be considered gentle but stern, a formidable opponent to be paired against no matter if it was combat or debate, who always won with a relaxed expression and that pleasant, gentle smile.

But Yue-shixiong, laughing?

That was something they’d never seen.

“Is Shizun in?” he suddenly turned to ask, startling the disciples.

“Aah… yes...” the nearest shidi said, a bit dazed.

With his usual kind smile, Yue-shixiong gave the shidi a nod before gesturing towards the stranger, who gave a slight bow and hurried after him.

When the two had disappeared into Qiong Ding’s Grand Hall, the disciples looked at each other.

“… Is that… Yue-shixiong’s younger brother?” one shimei finally said, and all heads whipped back around towards the Grand Hall, despite the fact that neither of the two cultivators were in sight any longer.

Gossip traveled quickly through Cang Qiong, and every disciple present knew of Yue-shixiong’s long-lost sworn brother, who had also been selected by Qin-shigu as Qing Jing’s new Head Disciple.

Thinking back to his rash descent onto the mountain, the Qiong Ding disciples couldn’t help but think that perhaps the reason Qin-shigu chose him was because eccentrics attracted other eccentrics.

---

Shen Yuan stood a little awkwardly in front of a panel of Peak Lords he’d never seen before.

It felt a little surreal, seeing strangers in the seats he was used to seeing his martial siblings sitting in.

“This one’s name is Shen Yuan. It is an honor to meet the esteemed Peak Lords of Cang Qiong,” he said with a salute.

“We’ve heard a lot about you,” An Ding Peak Lord Duan Yanshi said, eyebrows raised as he carefully observed Shen Yuan standing in front of them. “You seem to be familiar with fighting evil cultivators.”

“A young wandering cultivator with a golden core is a very tempting target, after all,” Shen Yuan replied. “It was inevitable that I had to learn how to counter them early on.”

“And you seem to have developed an independent cultivation method that’s identical to Qing Jing’s?” Peak Lord Duan continued.

“… The inspiration of the Heavens works in mysterious ways,” was all Shen Yuan could say, with a helpless look on his face.

He didn’t really know what else he could say, and he had no (believable) explanation.

‘Hi, I’m the guy who took over a future Peak Lord’s body, then died and went back in time,’ doesn’t seem like it would go over so well.

With the faces of disbelief and skepticism facing him, Shen Yuan couldn’t help but say, “I really don’t know how to explain it.”

He saw Hong Jing next to the Wan Jian Peak Lord’s side, and felt a sense of deja vu.

Why is it that he’s always being suspected of demonic possession…

Yue Qi stood at the side, a slight dissatisfied frown on his face at his Shishus and Shigus grilled Shen Yuan about his identity.

He wasn’t the only one.

Qing Jing Peak Lord Qin Yanfen was also looking displeased as her martial siblings stared Shen Yuan down, questioning him about every little thing, trying to feel out whether he was … who knows, a spy, actually an evil cultivator, demon possessed?

After twenty awkward minutes, she’d had enough.

Shen Yuan was startled as she suddenly stood, gave a short huff, and stomped over to Shen Yuan, seized him around the shoulders, and spun around.

“This is pointless. I’ll be taking my Head Disciple back to Qing Jing now,” she said with a pout before dragging Shen Yuan out of the meeting room, not stopping until they exited Qiong Ding’s Grand Hall, Shen Yuan’s arms and legs flailing futilely, trying not to fall as he was dragged out, backwards.

Barely able to recover his balance as Peak Lord Qin released him, Shen Yuan blinked in confusion.

“This sort of thing is pointless. They won’t find anything, it’s just a waste of time,” Peak Lord Qin said. “It’s more important to get you settled into Qing Jing.”

She whipped her sword out and flew off, leaving Shen Yuan to hurriedly pull his out in order to follow her.

It didn’t take long for the speed-demon Shen Yuan had become to catch up with the Peak Lord.

“Peak Lord Qin...”

“Shizun.”

Shen Yuan blinked as Peak Lord Qin whipped her head around to stare at him.

“Shi-shizun,” Shen Yuan amended, then watched as Peak Lord Qin smiled in satisfaction, turning back to watch where she was going.

Qing Jing Peak soon came into view, and Shen Yuan was unable to ask his question before they landed.

The Qing Jing disciples were watching them with wide eyes as Peak Lord Qin gracefully descended. She really was a beautiful woman who looked like a fairy angel descending down to earth.

Shen Yuan was a little nervous, to have a shizun for the first time, and for that shizun to be a beautiful but eccentric woman like Peak Lord Qin.

Absentmindedly, he pulled up sharply before kicking his sword up to grasp it by the grip and smoothly sheathe it, as has become his habit, touching down on the mountain shortly behind the Peak Lord.

“Shizun,” a pretty shijie said, approaching Peak Lord Qin.”Welcome back. Is this… is this the new Head Disciple?”

Shen Yuan felt uncomfortable under the many eyes that latched onto him.

“Yes.” Peak Lord Qin paused for a moment, looking back at him.

…. She forgot his name, didn’t she?

Shen Yuan stepped forward, giving a small salute. “This one greets this shijie. This one’s name is Shen Yuan.”

The shijie laughed. “If you’re going to be Head Disciple, this one will be your shimei. I am Han Ehuang, the acting Head Disciple. You can call me Huang-shimei.”

Shen Yuan flushed. “Somehow, it doesn’t feel proper, to call someone who’s been here longer and is older than me ‘shimei’.”

“That’s just how these things go,” Han Ehuang said. “It will be even more awkward for some of the other Peaks, I think, when Liu Yingjie is officially instated as Bai Zhan’s Head Disciple, since half the sect will have to call him ‘shixiong’.”

Stifling an amused smirk at the thought of the 13-year-old Liu-shidi becoming ‘shixiong’ not only to all the disciples of Bai Zhan Peak but also to the Head Disciples of Peaks 7 through 12, Shen Yuan was startled out of his thoughts by an angry shout.

“Shizun, how can you make this random person Head Disciple! This isn’t how things should be done!”

A belligerent-looking shixiong glared at Shen Yuan before looking back to Peak Lord Qin with wide, beseeching eyes.

Han Ehuang didn’t hide her eyeroll as the young man approached Peak Lord Qin.

Peak Lord Qin drew herself up and stared at the older teenager.

“The Peak Lord chooses who is the most eligible for the position of Head Disciple. How does your complaint matter in the slightest?” she asked evenly, eyes narrowing as she looked at him.

The young man’s mouth opened and closed several times before his face turned red and he gritted his teeth. “I just think it’s improper to have chosen an outsider to become Head Disciple,” he said, voice low from trying not to snap at his Shizun.

Peak Lord Qin just stared, her face a blank canvas, but clearly annoyed.

… To be acting like this to his Shizun? Shen Yuan suspected that this guy thought he deserved to become Head Disciple, but strongly suspected that he also had no qualifications to become one whatsoever.

None of Shen Yuan’s disciples had dared to blatantly challenge him like this, and it wasn’t just because Shen Jiu had terrified them into submission before Shen Yuan came to Qing Jing.

For a disciple to be so disrespectful, and a disciple of Qing Jing, a Peak that properly studies and enforces formal etiquette, it almost felt like it was personally offensive to Shen Yuan.

“Peak Lord Qin’s decision may not be conventional, but it is improper for a disciple of Cang Qiong to question the decision of their Shizun on such a matter,” Shen Yuan said placidly, whipping out his fan and staring coldly over it as he unconsciously channeled his Shen Qingqiu persona. “Moreover to challenge her authority in front of your martial siblings is disrespectful to your Shizun and reflects shamefully on your own character.”

His ‘shizun voice’ stunned the surroundings to silence, while Peak Lord Qin’s eyes sparkled in amusement.

After a moment, the belligerent disciple managed to recover and scowled furiously at Shen Yuan.

“What does an outsider like you know?” he snarled. “You don’t have any say in this, as someone who’s conned your way into Shizun’s good graces! You’ll let down Qing Jing’s name if someone with no learning in Qing Jing’s cultivation becomes Head Disciple!”

Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow. “To base one’s arguments on assumptions is a sure way to weaken one’s cause, and to spend effort in fruitless endeavors of questioning your Shizun wastes not only time but also dignity. If you are so determined to show Peak Lord Qin that her decision is misguided, your efforts might be better spent applying yourself to your studies and cultivation in order to prove yourself a worthy candidate.”

It seemed Shen Yuan’s argument was a little too wordy for the young man, and the disciple just stood there looking confused.

Shen Yuan sighed. “I’m saying, you should try harder to make sure you’re better than me before you try to convince Peak Lord Qin,” he said bluntly, and at that, the young man spluttered like a vat of hot oil, turning red in the face.

Still, he couldn’t find anything to say, so he finally shot Shen Yuan a death glare before hurrying away.

As the angry disciple stomped off, scattering many of the other disciples as he snarled at them, Han Ehuang sighed and looked at Peak Lord Qin.

“Shizun,” she said, “You really shouldn’t allow Ju Chonglin to get away with such disrespect. It seems to make him feel like he’s entitled to have his way, and he’s become even more lax in his studies and training.”

“No point,” Peak Lord Qin said with a wave of her hand. “That child will not listen, nor will he apply himself. It is doubtful he will be able to form a golden core, let alone one that can support even a single ring, so why should I bother? Allowing him to be a lower-ranked inner disciple was already enough to avoid offending his family’s face, but Cang Qiong will not keep those who expect much but try little.”

“… He hasn’t even formed a golden core?” Shen Yuan said, face going slack in surprise and disbelief.

Wtf, man, you want to take the Head Disciple seat without even having the basic of basics? If Peak Lord Qin elected him as Head Disciple, would she miss the ascension waiting for his lazy ass to form a golden core?

Not to mention, the Peak Lords want their successors to have at least a Fifth Grade Core, which isn’t the easiest thing to form in the world.

Wandering cultivators often had golden cores without the capability to have a single ring, due to their difficulties in cultivating without enough guidance or pills. Minor sects usually produced cultivators with low grade cores, and Cang Qiong’s disciples tended to form Third Grade Cores, on average.

The amount of gilded essence in your golden core at core formation determined what grade core you could cultivate.

While it was possible to increase the amount of gilded essence with medicines and rare treasures, it would be difficult and expensive. Not a method that many would choose to use, and certainly not something that would help a Third Grade Core jump to a Fifth Grade Core, let alone to the Sixth Grade Cores that Peak Lord successors were preferred to have.

Because of Shen Yuan’s almost textbook perfect cultivation of Qing Jing’s cultivation methods, which minimized the blockages and setbacks others would tend to have, as well as Shen Jiu’s ridiculously OP spirit veins, Shen Yuan had been able to form a golden core with the potential to cultivate to a Sixth Grade Core.

It was honestly not surprising that Peak Lord Qin had thought he would be a possible candidate for a successor… no wait, it was still surprising, because the woman picked him out BEFORE they determined his abilities and potential.

“Ju-shidi is from a wealthy cultivator family that has some ties to the mortal world,” Han Ehuang said with a sigh. “He doesn’t seem to understand that his status means nothing once he joined the Peak.”

Shen Yuan lightly tapped his folded fan against his lips, the white tassel swaying gently. “If one cannot cut off mortal expectations, one cannot become immortal,” he said, a soft sigh gracing his lips as he shook his head.

“That is why it is useless to temper him. Without listening to his teachers or his Shizun, unless he reaches enlightenment himself, there’s no worth in investing in him. While troublesome children can be cute, this one is simply an unreasonable person,” Peak Lord Qin said, then looked at Shen Yuan, a pout on her face. “However, you scolded him for disrespecting his Shizun, and yet you are also not calling me Shizun.”

Han Ehuang laughed as Shen Yuan’s eyes turned into dots, shock and apprehension clearly displayed on his face.

“P-pardon this one,” Shen Yuan stammered. “Since I haven’t been officially accepted, I’m not entirely comfortable...”

“But I’ve already chosen you as Head Disciple,” Peak Lord Qin said with a sniff.

“… Pardon this one, but how is it that this one is worthy of being Peak Lord Qi – Shizun’s Head Disciple?” Shen Yuan asked, correcting himself at Peak Lord Qin’s glare. “This one feels that being made Head Disciple so suddenly with no prior involvement with Cang Qiong may sow resentment and disharmony in the Peak.”

“You are just as bad as that unreasonable child, disrespecting your Shizun,” Peak Lord Qin said, but Shen Yuan wasn’t having it.

“Technically, not yet a disciple,” he said instead, then blinked innocently at Peak Lord Qin’s dissatisfied pout.

Han Ehuang was trying hard not to giggle. It’s not everyday that someone can stand toe-to-toe against Peak Lord Qin in an argument. Usually they just give up, thanks to Shizun’s stubborn nature and disinterest in continuing most conversations.

Shen Yuan gave a little bow. “This one is also not questioning Shizun’s decision. This one simply wishes to understand why Shizun made the decision she made.”

“Semantics,” Peak Lord Qin said with a roll of her eyes.

Han Ehuang made a small smile and said, “Shizun has made it clear that none of Qing Jing’s disciples were suitable from the very beginning, ever since the Peak Lords have decided on their ascension, so I believe that most of the resentment has already passed. If anything, I think our shidis and shimeis will be watching you more critically on every word and move you make, to see if you are truly suitable, or what makes you so different from them.”

“… Great,” Shen Yuan groaned. “So… why was I picked out if everyone on Qing Jing didn’t even make it as a possibility? Without knowing my abilities or personality, even.”

“That’s...” Han Ehuang looked at Peak Lord Qin.

Peak Lord Qin stared at Shen Yuan a moment, pursing her lips, before she opened her mouth, saying, “I see a clear green light about you, with a golden halo, a sword aura rising like a mountain behind you. There is no doubt in my mind that you have a Peak Lord’s abilities locked within you, and that you match Qing Jing.”

It was then that Shen Yuan realized Peak Lord Qin’s cloth, that tended to cover her left eye, was pushed back, almost like a headband, leaving her two eyes unobstructed.

… Is this something she’s seeing because Shen Yuan is supposed to become a Peak Lord … or is it because he used to (in the past-future) BE a Peak Lord?

Unfortunately, as interesting as the question was, he didn’t think it was something he should ask. Damn.

Notes:

Peak Lord Qin did see SOMETHING with Shen Jiu as well, but much weaker, and due to his … lackluster abilities, she didn’t announce him as Head Disciple right away. She did her best to nurture him, especially after seeing how hard he worked, and supported him as best she could, but … she never really ‘clicked’ with SJ like she has with SY, so although their relationship wasn’t bad, it also wasn’t very close.

Chapter 10: First Impressions

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Han Ehuang was close to graduating from being a disciple on Qing Jing Peak. She was a responsible, level-headed girl (well, woman now) who served Peak Lord Qin Yanfen diligently as Head Disciple for over a decade.

Was she upset that her Shizun was passing over her and bringing in a complete outsider to take her place?

Han Ehuang wanted to laugh at the people who asked her that.

Did they really think Qin Yanfen was capable of determining that no one on Qing Jing was suitable to be her successor, but incapable of choosing a temporary Head Disciple that wouldn’t give her trouble in the future?

The fact that Han Ehuang was close to graduating from being a disciple right around this time when the Peak Lords were beginning their preparations to ascend was telling enough, almost like it was timed perfectly so that she would be absolved from her duties right when her Shizun was looking to prepare a successor.

Honestly, Han Ehuang enjoyed organizing the disciples and assisting the teachers, but she wasn’t as invested in any of the other duties of being Head Disciple, let alone becoming a Peak Lord. She preferred teaching, and hoped to become a teacher on Qing Jing.

Besides, just because she had the potential of cultivating a Fifth Grade Core doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed that she’d actually be able to cultivate one. She couldn’t help but feel that a Fourth Grade Core might be her limit. She hasn’t been able to break through in a long time, let alone comprehend any enlightenments in several years.

In fact, Han Ehuang’s greatest worry had been that she might be forced into being her Shizun’s successor if Peak Lord Qin couldn’t find another person, and the pressure had been getting to her.

Was she upset? Hah! She was quite happy that Qin Yanfen had finally found someone to take her place!

But … of course she was a bit worried.

Even if Kang-shishu said his cultivation was precisely that of Qing Jing’s, it didn’t mean that Shen-shixiong would be able to adapt to the culture of Qing Jing, let alone learn all the other techniques and knowledge that most disciples his age had been soaking in for 5-8 years now.

However…

Peak Lord Qin’s decision may not be conventional, but it is improper for a disciple of Cang Qiong to question the decision of their Shizun on such a matter.”

Shen-shixiong had stood perfectly straight, lightly fluttering a fan elegantly with an imposing aura, cowing that annoying Ju Chonglin with a single look of disapproval.

Seeing him like that made Han Ehuang realize. It wasn’t that the cultivation of the disciples on Qing Jing were lacking, or that they didn’t meet Cang Qiong’s expectations.

There were just some people who were Peak Lord material, and some people who weren’t.

Shizun likely saw that there wasn’t a single person who could hold up to the pressures or reflect the stature of Peak Lord, and was waiting, either for one of Han Ehuang’s martial siblings to step up to the task, or for someone who could to appear.

Unlike the other Peak Lords, Qin Yanfen could see who was suitable and who wasn’t, and after meeting Shen Yuan, Han Ehuang agreed with her Shizun’s decision to avoid electing a successor until she found someone truly suitable.

Anyway, Qin Yanfen wasn’t the only Peak Lord who was extra picky – Bai Zhan Peak Lord Zheng Yanxiong didn’t want to confirm Liu Yingjie as his successor until he saw how he did at the Immortal Alliance Conference, Wan Jian Peak Lord Hong Yanyu was still evaluating between several disciples, Ku Xing’s Peak Lords never elected a successor until someone actually cultivated a Sixth Grade Core and comprehended a major enlightenment, and the artificer peak Min Xiang’s Peak Lord, Wen Yanba, simply didn’t think any of his disciples were acceptable.

But Qin Yanfen didn’t have to test each disciple or develop criteria necessary for her successor, she only had to take one look. So perhaps it was inevitable for Qing Jing’s inner disciples to have negative feelings about the whole process.

Furthermore, Qin Yanfen was the type of woman who believed results would speak for themselves. She wasn’t adverse to explanations, but if she felt that the other party was uninclined to listen, or if the explanation was too tedious and had little chances of being understood, she just … wouldn’t bother.

Take Ju Chonglin, for instance.

He had decent enough spirit veins and passed the entrance exams, his family was well-known, and taking him in was a favor Qin Yanfen wasn’t opposed to doing. He was made an inner disciple of the lowest rank for that reason.

Unfortunately for Ju Chonglin, though, it was a bit of an open secret to the older disciples that it was the low-ranked inner disciples, not the outer disciples, who were actually the most at-risk for expulsion with Peak Lord Qin running Qing Jing. She stuffs all the disciples she takes in as ‘favors’ in that position, and either they improve enough to be moved up, or they’re thrown out.

But because Ju Chonglin was so far below Qing Jing’s standards, mostly in character, it was inevitable that he was going to be expelled, so Qin Yanfen didn’t bother dealing with him, whether it was disciplining him or teaching him.

Han Ehuang agreed that it felt like a waste of effort to deal with the boy, since he didn’t care to listen or put in effort himself, but she didn’t like that Qin Yanfen did nothing to curb his growing sense of entitlement that often bordered on disrespect to his elders, teachers, and even Shizun.

Sure, the end result was that he would be thrown out, but the currently ongoing disrespect was… well, Han Ehuang was going to cheer Shen-shixiong on if he was going to set the more self-entitled disciples straight.

Hopefully he’d do well in the evaluations the Qing Jing elders were going to put him through… Han Ehuang didn’t want her more… argumentative martial siblings to get a chance to criticize him.

Two days later, and Han Ehuang was feeling like she shouldn’t have wasted even a second of her time worrying about Shen-shixiong.

Right, Shizun didn’t even bother attending these evaluations, like she already knew the outcome (Did she? It was always a bit confusing about what Shizun could and couldn’t ‘see’), so why should Han Ehuang have worried?

However, just because Qing Jing’s Peak Lord didn’t show up didn’t mean there wasn’t a Peak Lord in attendance…

---

“Gu-shishu.”

Ku Xing Peak Lord Gu Yanxu gave Qing Jing’s former Head Disciple a nod as she politely saluted him, but he had nothing to say to her clearly curious eyes that were asking, ‘What are you doing here?’

It’s not like the other Peak Lords were still concerned about that boy, what was his name, Shen Yuan? They weren’t concerned about his origins any longer; the boy’s origins were very clearly documented by Zhao Hua Temple’s Sect Master and corroborated by Qiong Ding’s Head Disciple. The questioning was more of a formality than anything, when the boy first came to Cang Qiong.

Logically speaking, even if they were still concerned about him, it wouldn’t be the KU XING Peak Lord that would be investigating.

“Should I… go get Shizun?” Han Ehuang asked, but Peak Lord Gu quickly shook his head.

“No, no, I was just… curious, that is all...” he said, keeping calm despite the faint blush on his cheeks.

Looking in to the inner courtyard training grounds, one used for more private lessons compared to the main Qing Jing training grounds, he watched as the new Qing Jing disciple, the new Qing Jing Head Disciple no less, displayed his sword techniques before several high-ranking Qing Jing elders.

… It really was just like Qing Jing’s sword techniques. Just how did a wandering, self-taught cultivator manage to replicate Qing Jing’s techniques and cultivation methods so perfectly without any instruction?

It wasn’t like Gu Yanxu doubted Qin Yanfen’s foresight or abilities to judge people, but when there are too many coincidences, one will often feel restless.

“… Han-shizhi, what do you think of Shen Yuan?” he finally asked. “Is his character good?”

“Answering Gu-shishu, I feel that Shen-shixiong is very admirable,” Han Ehuang said. “He keeps his temper and responds to scrutiny and criticism with patience, and does not seem to lack self-control. He is very learned and quickwitted, and has a depth of character that this disciple can’t help but to believe was from the weight of many hardships.”

Han-shizhi wasn’t wrong. The boy’s experiences can only be described as ‘hardships’, from what Gu Yanxu had learned at yesterday’s Peak Lord meeting. This shizhi with excellent perception would make a good teacher after graduation, and likely a good elder even farther into the future.

“He seems suitable, then? You think that he would be able to follow in Qin-shijie’s footsteps and uphold the honor of Qing Jing?”

“This one thinks there may be no one more suitable,” Han Ehuang said confidently. “After meeting Shen-shixiong, this one understands Shizun’s hesitance in announcing a successor. Even if there is some discontent on the Peak, I believe Shen-shixiong will be able to overcome any and all dissenters.”

Peak Lord Gu gave a very slight frown as he turned back to watch Shen Yuan interacting with the elders.

“Wait, this sword form’s thirteenth step, please demonstrate it again from the tenth step!” one enthusiastic elder cried, stopping the boy in the middle of his forms.

With a good natured smile, Shen Yuan did as he was told.

“… Hm? Shouldn’t step thirteen and fourteen be like…?” another elder said, performing the sword forms as he knew them before repeating from step ten and then moving as Shen Yuan did.

“Oh… instead of expanding the river and stretching out roots, you choose to first use a movement to contract, increasing the explosiveness of the movement? No, it’s a little more complicated than that… ah! How interesting.”

“Perhaps we should consider amending this sword form?” one elder suggested.

The boy, Shen Yuan, shook his head. “The original sword form should not be abolished. It was only by thorough understanding of the river and roots that this amended form can show its true strength.”

Even Peak Lord Gu Yanxu was impressed. Without thought for acclaim, the boy patiently taught the elders (… how did the evaluation turn into that?) which parts of Qing Jing’s sword forms were most important, and how they could be taught in order to help the disciples become more attuned to their sword techniques.

The boy wouldn’t have made a bad ascetic, with how even his temper and how generous his nature was, Gu Yanxu mused.

Unlike hardcore ascetic sects, Ku Xing Peak merely practiced temperance and regular regiments of self-discipline rather than abstinence of all physical desires at all times, so Peak Lord Gu thought that it might be possible to lure the boy to Ku Xing, if he had that kind of attitude towards his own accomplishments … but of course, how could Gu Yanxu do that to Qin-shijie – er, how could he do that to another Peak Lord?

Qin-shijie had been waiting a long time for this person, and with Shen Yuan’s bearing, his abilities and intelligence, and the Heaven’s themselves assisting all the stars to align, Peak Lord Gu would, naturally, not be foolish enough to try to take him from Qing Jing.

Although his needless worries weren’t fully assuaged, Gu Yanxu felt at least a little more reassured, to the point that he finally struck on the thought that snooping secretly around Qing Jing’s new Head Disciple might be… improper.

With a nervous, embarrassed cough, he quickly bid Han Ehuang farewell, hoping he could be off Qing Jing Peak before Qin Yanfen was aware of his presence.

Although he was an old immortal who practiced self-discipline and prudence, to be so concerned over the matter of Qing Jing’s new Head Disciple … Peak Lord Gu felt that he had lost some face. To himself.

How embarrassing! He should go meditate under a waterfall for a week!

---

To be honest, when Shen Yuan was Shen Qingqiu, or rather, when he was Shen Qingqiu for the first time, he hadn’t thought much about doing his duties as Peak Lord.

More like, at that time, he was so desperate not to be OOC, and then he was so desperate to appear competent enough that no one would be suspicious, that he didn’t think that much about carrying out his tasks.

But right now, as Shen-shixiong … he found that he had kind of missed it. Teaching and encouraging the cute disciples, discussing lesson plans with the teachers, and assisting the elders in their missions and personal endeavors… especially teaching the cute disciples.

Ai… maybe he should have considered being a school teacher in his first life. Or maybe not. Modern kids didn’t have the self-control or discipline sect disciples have … But maybe he could have been a tutor instead of just wasting time reading online novels, waiting to die.

“… Shen-shixiong, how have you thought of making a talisman like this?” a cute shidi asked as he was showing them some of the little things he’d created to help keep him safe as a wandering cultivator.

What the shidi was holding was a talisman made by mixing a potent powdered chili-like fruit in the ink. It made for a terrific tear gas-like item when activated and thrown.

“Many beasts are sensitive to scents, and even people cannot remain unaffected when a particularly strong smell arises. There may be many who think it’s cowardly to use this sort of tactic to run away, but there are actually many fights that are pointless, having no reward to winning nor consequences to running away. In that sort of fight, it is better to quietly keep the memory of your experience, and your life,” Shen Yuan replied.

“But you shouldn’t desert in the middle of a fight,” a shimei argued.

“Mm, that’s true,” Shen Yuan said with a smile. “I’m not talking about abandoning your comrades or the weak who need protection. Nor am I talking about running away from a duel. But in actuality, those types of honor-bound fights aren’t as common as a monster attack in the forest, or an ambush that puts you at a disadvantage in a secret realm. There were many fights I had to deal with that were simply a waste of time and resources. Anyway, you could also use these talismans as a distraction to fight honorless opponents. But you have to be careful not to effect yourself.”

Let’s not talk about the time he accidentally maced himself with one of these ‘pepper spray’ talismans… it’s actually not that easy to write a talisman that vaporizes all the ink and explodes violently on activation, okay? It would have been easier to draw the necessary figures for a talisman that exploded the paper and had the chili-type plant in the paper… but having to make the paper with the chili in it?

Shen Yuan would prefer to just draw more complicated figures. Mixing the chili into the ink was quicker.

Honestly, without all that expert Qing Jing talisman knowledge in his head, Shen Yuan thought that being a wandering cultivator would have been much harder.

His … innovative talismans saved his hide so many times.

“Shen-shixiong-!”

Shen Yuan and his little group of shidis and shimeis (and a few ‘shidis’ and ‘shimeis’ who were actually older than him) looked up as Han Ehuang called out, walking over.

She had been very pleased when Shen Yuan passed the elders’ evaluations with flying colors, and Shen Yuan had been relieved that she didn’t appear to have any bad feelings towards him taking her spot as Head Disciple.

“What is it, Han-shij – shimei?” Shen Yuan quickly corrected himself as she gave a quirk of an eyebrow. She’s 23, okay? It’s, it’s going to take some time for him to get used to being the ‘Da-shixiong’ on the Peak!

“Duan-shishu asked about the items you took from Wu Yanzi. He would like you to submit them to Head Disciple Shang for auditing,” Han Ehuang reported.

Eh… hm. It seems that there were two things he’d been forgetting about…

A slightly wicked smile flitted over Shen Yuan’s lips as he gave a nod, patting his butt off as he stood up from the ground.

Twenty minutes later…

BANG!

“AIRPLANE-SHOOTING-TOWARDS-THE-SKY-!”

Shang Deming’s shriek of terror echoed across An Ding Peak as a disciple in Qing Jing robes burst through his window with a bellow.

Notes:

Airplane overreacting to being outed will never not be funny to me. Ever.

I don’t think I’ll be able to work it (naturally) into the story, but part of the reason SJ was so strict with his disciples was because he disagreed with Peak Lord Qin’s sometimes lax manner of dealing with hopeless cases.
I would like to point out that Qin Yanfen does not avoid discipline or tolerate disrespect from her disciples, she just doesn’t care about disrespect coming from people whose opinions don’t matter to her, and unreasonable people might as well be air in her eyes.

Chapter 11: Catching Up with Shang-shidi

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

A horrific shriek echoed through the dormitories, and several of the senior An Ding inner disciples ran towards their shixiong’s room in a panic.

“Shang-shixiong-!” the older shidi called out, slamming the door open to find…

Their eccentric Shang-shixiong sprawled on the ground, having clearly fallen from his seat, and a Qing Jing inner disciple doubled over, shaking so hard from laughter that he was actually breathless, unable to make a sound, just wheezing helplessly with tears in his eyes.

The three An Ding disciples stopped dead in their tracks, gaping in confusion (and exasperation).

“… Shang-shixiong… is everything okay?” one them finally managed to say.

“-! Okay! Yes! I’m fine! Everything’s fine!” Shang Deming flailed wildly as he tried to upright himself, face red and eyes wide. “Just-! Just got startled-! Nothing happened-!”

The other disciples looked skeptically at the Qing Jing disciple, practically dying of laughter in the corner, then at each other.

“… If you say so...”

They backed out of the room.

Shang-shixiong was so strange sometimes…

Meanwhile, inside the room, Shang Deming managed to sit up enough to whip around to look at the Qing Jing disciple who had barged in through his window – why the window?! - and was laughing breathlessly, trembling in mirth, practically collapsed in laughter.

Right now, countless thoughts were running wildly through Shang Deming’s head, like a herd of grass mud horses stomping on his brain.

This was the new Qing Jing Head Disciple, wasn’t it? Shen Yuan? But … in the first place, who the heck is Shen Yuan? Shouldn’t it be Shen Jiu? And for him to have been made Qing Jing’s Head Disciple immediately – Shang Deming was the most confused person on Cang Qiong regarding THAT turn of events!

Only after struggling and working hard for many years did Shen Jiu finally receive Peak Lord Qin’s approval, and his peers where dissatisfied with his election as Head Disciple, forcing him into further bitterness and resentment under the mocking and condemnation of Qing Jing’s disciples.

So who the HELL is this ‘Shen Yuan’, who’s basically got half the mountain singing his praises, and who clearly made up with Yue-shixiong, and who, for some damn reason can’t use the door like a NORMAL PERSON-!?

Although he wanted to yell this – and more – Shang Deming was, for all intents and purposes …. a coward. He’ll admit it-! Freely-!

“Aah… h-how can I help… Shen… shixiong…?” he managed to stutter.

At that, the Qing Jing disciple in front of him managed to stop laughing, changing to staring piercingly at him, tears of mirth still in his eyes.

Just when Shang Deming was beginning to feel really uncomfortable, the other boy finally opened his mouth.

“You don’t recognize me? Airplane?” he asked, and Shang Deming’s mind went blank.

He looks exactly like how he imagined a young Shen Jiu should look, but Shang Deming was certain that’s not what this boy was talking about.

Shang Qinghua shouldn’t have had any intersection with Shen Qingqiu before reaching Cang Qiong, right? Shang Deming’s memory might not be the best, but he’s pretty sure.

“… No?” Shang Deming managed to say, voice wavering.

He was surprised to see a concerned, worried look cross the boy’s face before the Qing Jing disciple groaned, covering his face with a hand and muttering, “Goddammit, so much for my revenge. Figures. Instead of getting back at him, I just look like an asshole scaring a hamster for no reason… oh well, he deserves it.”

…? Shang Deming was soooo confused-! He flinched as Shen Yuan looked up to stare at him again, an annoyed look on his face.

“Oh for goodness’ sake, what am I calling you right now, Airplane?” Shen Yuan snapped.

…?

… … … ! !! !!!

“Wait-! You … you’re … how do you know me?!” Shang Deming asked in a fluster.

“Hi, I’m Peerless Cucumber. This is my second time meeting you, but I guess it’s your first time meeting me?” Shen Yuan said, holding his hand out for a very western handshake that has no place in PIDW’s setting.

Struck dumb with the very out-of-nowhere introduction, Shang Deming reached out his hand and took the other’s, allowing Shen Yuan to give it a shake.

“… What? Peerless Cucumber?!” he suddenly squeaked, the words that Shen Yuan had said finally sinking in. He stared, eyes practically bulging, as if trying to see through the Shen Jiu mask to the internet troll underneath.

“Yes, yes. It’s me, you’re biggest anti trapped in the body of the scum villain, hi.” Shen Yuan rolled his eyes.

Shang Deming blinked blankly again, still trying to process all of this information before he realized the second concerning piece of information Peerless Cucumber said.

“Ah?! Second time meeting? What…? What?!”

Shen Yuan chuckled lightly. “Good to see you’re finally catching up. It’s kind of a long story and I don’t want to have to repeat it, so listen up...”

Ten minutes later and Shang Deming was clutching his hair and groaning.

Destroyed the world?!” he said, voice pitched extremely high, sounding like he was in extreme agony. “How did THAT happen?!”

“I was hoping you would know,” Shen Yuan, no, Peerless Cucumber, said with a shrug. “See, I was dead the entire time.”

Airplane peeked at Peerless Cucumber fearfully. “Y-you’re not here to… get back at me, are you?” he asked. If it really was his fault that Peerless Cucumber couldn’t revive, then it’s a valid worry, okay?!

“My impression of the Kool-Aid Man was my revenge, but it feels pretty damn pointless now that I know you don’t remember a damn thing.” Peerless Cucumber gave an irritated “Tsk.”

Now, Shang Deming was a bit of a spaz, with a brain that ran a thousand miles and hour without a single filter, but he wasn’t stupid. It just took him a while to organize his thoughts and set aside his knee-jerk emotions.

Seeing how Peerless Cucumber was so relaxed around him, and how his ‘revenge’ for Airplane’s future idiocy condemning him to eternal death (kind of?) was just jump-scaring him, Shang Deming guessed that the relationship between him and his biggest anti-fan was … maybe kind of good?

Although he was certain that Peerless Cucumber probably bullied him, regardless. Fuck, his anti-fan is actually a good fit for the sadistic Shen Jiu-!

As for doubting what this person in Shen Jiu’s body said, well… dude, he transmigrated into his own damn story. At this point, Shang Deming wasn’t about to say that time-travel was impossible.

“That’s what it is, isn’t it? Time travel?” Shang Deming said. “You … ah… you probably got sent back along the same timeline you, er… we? first transmigrated into?”

“I guess,” Peerless Cucumber… Cucumber Bro? He might be able to get away with calling him Cucumber Bro, right? Peerless Cucumber Bro gave a somewhat depressed sigh. “And here I thought I’d have someone to complain at. Shit, does that mean everything we’ve done was all erased? That’s kind of fucking depressing...”

Yeah, sorry, but even if you tell him what ‘happened’, this Shang Deming hasn’t experienced it at all. For him, there’s nothing to remember, so … please don’t be upset at him, Cucumber Bro!

After a moment, Cucumber Bro gave a sigh and a shrug. “Gotta admit, though, things have been going a lot better this second time around. At least I won’t get broad-sided with Qiu Haitang out of nowhere this time. So I guess … thanks? But at the same time… stop – doing – unnecessary – things – you – hack -!”

Shang Deming gave a little yelp as Cucumber Bro beat him with his fan. “Sorry, sorry-! I haven’t done anything even remotely like gardening yet in this life, but I’m sorry-!”

Hmph-! Cucumber Bro rolled his eyes before flopping over to sit on Shang Deming’s bed, crossing his legs prissily.

Shang Deming was still a little dazed from finding out he had a transmigrator brother with him now, that his transmigrator brother had actually lived out a future where they had struggled against the System together, and … then in true idiot Airplane fashion, he’d cocked it up with some unnecessary steps, convicting his transmigrator brother to eternal death … and somehow doomed the world.

It was a LOT to take in, you know?!

“I can’t believe you gave my son daddy issues… wait, I mean Shizun issues.” Shang Deming groaned as more and more of the story Shen Yuan had told sank in.

“I was just trying to survive, like you hugging ‘your King’s’ thighs… but yeah, it could have been better.” Cucumber Bro admitted, his face looking a little tired and regretful.

“… Wait, you… you lived through Shen Jiu’s Qiu arc?!” Shang Deming suddenly realized, and he flinched. Even he didn’t know all the details of the Qiu Manor at first, only that he’d marked it down to be corrupt and awful. To be VERY corrupt and VERY awful, enough that it should have driven a lesser man crazy, if it weren’t for Shen Jiu’s extreme stubborness. That Qiu Jianluo was a horrific abuser, and Qiu Haitang a misguided and oblivious woman so that Shen Jiu would forever carry the sin of killing the family of the girl he depended on – that was all he had written down.

When Shang Deming had dug up the details of what had been going on from the reports sent out from Zhau Hua Temple, he had shivered with horror. As Airplane, he only wanted to write a little bit of depth into the villain’s character. Who would have thought this world would have interpreted things so sinisterly!

In another story, Shen Jiu should have been lauded as a hidden hero for getting rid of the Qiu family!

Shen Yuan watched Shang Deming’s horror and dismay from over his fan before he sighed and flicked the fan shut with a swish of his wrist.

“… Yeah, it sucked, and it’s probably your fault for such a shitty backstory,” he said slowly, watching the crushing guilt sink onto Shang Deming, “But… well…”

To be honest, Shen Yuan hadn’t cussed out Airplane Bro at all during his time at the Qiu Manor. It surprised even him, now that he thinks back on it.

But how should he say it… that fucking Qiu family … it didn’t feel like something Airplane Bro constructed. It didn’t carry any fingerprints of Airplane’s craptastic storytelling, no random porn-related scenes, no inexplicably dumb decisions made without some sort of reason by cannon fodders (only explainable dumb decisions by people who thought themselves clever), no ‘I just felt like writing it this way’ authoring…

“… I don’t think it’s fair to blame the entire shitshow on you. It was too well thought out and didn’t have any plotholes, so there’s no way it’s YOUR work,” Shen Yuan finally said. “And trust me, I’ve read your shitty work, so I’d know.”

“Hey-!” Shang Deming said, but color was returning to his face.

Maybe Shen Yuan just didn’t want to believe this talentless hack hamster had anything to do with the Qius, but he’d decided not to blame him for it. They had enough shit to deal with.

“But you did a number on the Qius,” Shang Deming said. “All that talk about a slave boy cultivating secretly with inspiration from the Heavens… that’s not actually what happened, is it? Did you manage to buy cultivation upgrades from the System? And if so, how, because my System keeps saying it’s impossible!”

“As if-!” Shen Yuan snorted, then tapped his own head with his shut fan. “I had over five years of being a Peak Lord and over half the Qing Jing library in here, and you know my memory – ah, or maybe you don’t. Well, I have a pretty good memory. Besides, Shen Jiu’s meridians weren’t royally fucked up by Wu Yanzi testing all his shitty evil cultivation methods on him, so honestly, I cultivated so quickly that it was like transmigrating with a cheat. Anyway, my System is on low-power-saving mode, so I can’t use the Store.”

Hm? Shen Yuan suddenly tilted his head thoughtfully.

“Hey, Airplane, how is your System working? Mine needs Luo Binghe as a power source, apparently, but he’s not born yet. Yours… is yours also on low-power-saving mode?” It couldn’t be, right? Even the first time he’d transmigrated – ah, no, it would be this time? Fucking hell, time travel and transmigration bullshit is annoying – Airplane had been Shang Qinghua since birth and had his System around, so it can’t be based on Luo Binghe’s presence.

“Low-power-saving mode? That’s a thing?” Shang Deming said, clearly mystified. “No, my System has always been working.”

“And … it’s micro-managing your life? Like before? Ah… I mean…” Shen Yuan gave a slight frown as he tried to figure out how to explain.

“Yeah… it fucking sucks… I’m still being made to be my King’s … er… I mean, you know…” Shang Deming looked depressed.

“Oh please, even if it didn’t make you, you’d still go help him and you know it, you hack,” Shen Yuan rolled his eyes. “But, it’s … definitely trying to make you do everything exactly how Shang Qinghua did?”

“Yeah. I mean, not EVERY little thing, but enough that I’m sure I’ll end up...” Shang Deming drew a thumb across his neck. “Gods… I just… I wrote him as just a shitty person, but seeing what the System translates as ‘events that portray necessary characterization’, I … fuck, I’m going to … get so many people killed, or hurt, or...”

… Oh.

Shen Yuan blinked, a bit blindsided as Shang Deming suddenly curled in on himself, almost having a small panic attack.

Come to think of it, Shang Qinghua wasn’t … well, he wasn’t a nice person. Shen Yuan hadn’t thought about what it meant for Airplane to have to live Shang Qinghua’s life.

Shen Qingqiu… he was a child abuser who killed off the Qius, maybe Liu Qingge, was a womanizer, and then shoved the protagonist into the Abyss.

But Shang Qinghua… he didn’t have any less blood on his hands. Maybe, he had even more.

When Shen Yuan had met Airplane, it hadn’t occurred to him to consider what Airplane had been forced to do. Maybe… when Shen Yuan had finally uncovered Airplane in Shang Qinghua, Airplane’s morality had been beaten out of him, by the System’s puppeting.

Shen Yuan could only speculate, but he didn’t like it. The System’s bullying… it was intolerable the first time. To see someone else have to go through it…

System, I just had a thought. What if Shang Qinghua’s System’s missions directly contradict the things I will choose to do? After all, it’s already clear that I have made significant changes to the plot. If Shang Qinghua’s System attempts to pull the plot back, then...”

A thoughtful whir and beep sounded in Shen Yuan’s head.

[User 002’s concerns are recorded. According to protocol, regressors have higher priority than transmigrators, so User 002’s decisions will have higher priority than the other User. However, concerning this System’s inability to contact the Mainframe, User 002’s concerns are valid. Please interface with the other User so this System can contact the Mainframe.]

Interface… how?!

“… Cucumber Bro? You uh… you okay?” Shang Deming asked, eyebrows furrowed. “You kind of… went silent there, and now you look kind of … like you want to murder someone.”

“… I was just talking to my System,” Shen Yuan said. “It… wants me to … interface … with you?”

Hah-! See?! Now you’re looking horrified too-!

[… User 002, please interface by placing a finger against the other User’s forehead. This System will then be able to properly contact the other System despite being in low-power-saving mode.]

OH THANK GOD!

Shen Yuan practically collapsed in relief.

“… I just need to put a finger to your forehead. Like ET.”

“Oh thank god…” Shang Deming also collapsed in relief.

Although it still felt pretty fucking awkward, sitting opposite Airplane while holding a finger to his forehead, at least it wasn’t papapa!

For a second there was silence then,

[This System objects to interference by another System. Furthermore, this System is the System of User 001, and thus has priority over that of User 002]

Oh, so that’s Airplane’s System. … Yeah, no obvious difference whatsoever from Shen Yuan’s own System, at least with how it sounds.

[This System once again would like to emphasize that User 002 has been upgraded from transmigrator to regressive transmigration, and thus has priority over User 001.]

[This System has not received any notice of this whatsoever, and requests User 002’s System to step back or face violations.]

[This System notes that the System of User 001 is not at the latest version. This System advises User 001’s System to run diagnostics to ensure that it is properly receiving updates.]

[This System is perfectly up to date. This System advises the System of User 002 to run diagnostics itself to ensure there is no corruption – Stop- Desist invasive action – Cease at asdffolko9702834A!#(AWER%7… SYSTEM UPDATINGTHERE ARE5038 OUTSTANDING UPDATES]

“… Cucumber Bro. Is your System… hacking my System?”

“… I… think so?”

Two transmigrators stared at each other with wide eyes, completely baffled by the current turn of events, as Airplane’s System continued its update.

In the end, Airplane’s missions were also switched to ‘minimal’, with ‘essential plotpoint missions only’, and Shen Yuan gently rubbed Shang Deming’s back as he cried with relief.

Notes:

Don't worry, SY made sure there are no eavesdroppers and took precautions!

Chapter 12: Bros and other Martial Brothers

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“Oh man… so what now?” Shang Deming asked. His eyes and nose were a little red from crying, but it was fading fast thanks to a cultivator’s constitution.

His eyes were bright and face energetic, and he almost looked like he wanted to go out and kick the plot in the face.

Let’s not get carried away now, Airplane. Just because there’s MORE freedom doesn’t mean they had ALL the freedom.

“Oh, that’s right,” Shen Yuan said. “Duan-shishu wanted me to hand over the stuff I took off of Wu Yanzi.”

“Ooooooh, yeah, I remember hearing about that. Is that okay?” Shang Deming asked. “I mean, taking stuff off of you from before you officially joined the sect is a little...”

Shen Yuan rolled his eyes. “Pft. Like it’s mine to take. Wu Yanzi is Qi-ge’s kill anyway. I just took it for safe keeping. Habit, you know.”

“Ah, I heard you’d fought a lot of evil cultivators before,” Shang Deming said. “You always loot them?”

“It’s not about looting,” Shen Yuan said with sniff. “It’s safe keeping. Safe keeping. Although I probably don’t have to worry about Cang Qiong cultivators misappropriating this sort of stuff, but that’s something you have to worry about out there, you know.”

Shang Deming stared at him for a moment, mouth open. “Misappropriate… how?” he asked.

“Well, you know. There are profiteers in any world,” Shen Yuan said carelessly. “You have no idea how many immortals, even ‘righteous’ cultivators won’t hesitate to pawn this shit off on unsuspecting mortals or even gullible cultivators.”

“B-but… that stuff can be dangerous-!” Shang Deming yelped.

“Yup,” Shen Yuan said. “But some people can’t be bothered with what happens to their customers after the money changes hands. And there’s also a risk of other evil cultivators finding this stuff too. That’s why I always keep the stuff that looks like it can be used and burn everything else. I burn the corpses, too.”

Shang Deming didn’t have to think too hard to understand that the corpse of an evil cultivator could be an attractive resource for other evil cultivators.

“Is that why you burn the evil cultivators’ notes too?” he asked. He’d already heard the report from Mu Wencheng, after all, so he knew a little more about what had occurred compared to other people.

“Ah… that.” Shen Yuan frowned.

Unlike cultivators that are part of a sect, wandering cultivators and evil cultivators basically have to figure out their own cultivation methods by themselves.

Wandering cultivators tend to develop more orthodox methods that resemble those from sects, but without easy access to resources or guidance it tends to take them much longer to develop and be less effective.

Evil cultivators are those who can’t bear to proceed in such a tedious and orderly manner and seek to become more powerful no matter the means, which often leads to depraved and wicked methods that defy the Heavens. However, how much solidarity can evil cultivators have with each other, when they cut the flesh and tear the bones of others in order to devour them?

Although there may be a few evil sects, most evil cultivators work solo, making their cultivation methods from scratch and experimenting as they go. Shen Yuan may not know exactly what Shen Jiu’s life was with Wu Yanzi, but he suspected that Wu Yanzi would use Shen Jiu by ‘teaching’ him cultivation methods and seeing which ones actually worked and which ones didn’t.

That would explain why Shen Jiu’s meridians were so messed up, Shen Yuan supposes.

At first Shen Yuan would take the notes of the evil cultivators he defeated and try to use them to develop countermeasures against common evil cultivation techniques, but one day he found himself wondering if it really would be faster to try circulating qi as one evil cultivator did, even if his qi was pure instead of the dirty qi evil cultivators tended to have, and he felt a chill run down his spine.

Right now it’s just the method of circulating qi. In the future, would he start excusing some of the more morally questionable methods for the sake of progress?

Ever since then, he would immediately burn any evil cultivation notes he found, not daring to even read them for fear he’d start “experimenting” himself.

“If you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes back into you, after all,” Shen Yuan mused.

“… What?” Shang Deming asked, and Shen Yuan rolled his eyes.

“It means that the more you study your enemy, the more likely you’ll start to become like them,” Shen Yuan said. “It’s better for those notes to be burned.”

“Haa...”

It was clear Airplane didn’t read philosophy, but Shang Deming didn’t ask any questions, just preparing his scroll and writing board, as well as a bamboo quill and ink pot, in order to begin taking notes.

“Wait. Let’s take this to Qian Cao,” Shen Yuan said. “There are a lot of substances I’m not sure about, whether it’s what they are or if they are useful for orthodox practitioners, or if we should use them to develop antidotes. There’s a lot of stuff I got from other evil cultivators that’s just being fertilizer in my qiankun pouches because I don’t dare let them loose into the world.”

When Shen Yuan and Shang Deming left for Qian Cao Peak, the other curious An Ding disciples peered out after them.

Although some of them had tried to eavesdrop, curious about what kind of relationship the new Qing Jing Head Disciple had with Shang-shixiong, not a single word could be heard from inside the room, and none of them were gutsy enough to try sneaking a peek inside.

After all, it was the An Ding Head Disciple’s personal room. There’s important documents and stuff in there!

But as they watched the two fly off … it seemed like the Qing Jing Head Disciple and An Ding Head Disciple were getting along pretty well? Even though Shang-shixiong often had difficulties getting along with other Head Disciples?

… Is this a good thing?

All sorts of questions ran through their minds.

At Qian Cao Peak, the transmigrator bros managed to snag Mu Qingfa- er, Mu Wencheng in passing to help them determine what exactly it was that Shen Yuan had stored up in his qiankun pouch, but when the Qian Cao Head Disciple saw what (and how much) they were dealing with, he immediately went pale and went to find his Shizun.

Peak Lord Kang Yanjie narrowed his eyes as he picked up a heavily sealed jar.

“Corpse poison. Mind obliterating elixir. Parasitic demon beast embryo. Among quite a few other things.” The Peak Lord peered over his tiny glasses (so anachronistic) at the identical looks of dumbfounded horror on the Qing Jing and An Ding Head Disciples’ faces. “I see you weren’t aware of what you had.”

“… I just shoved all the ingredient-looking things and potion-looking things into my pouch and sealed it shut,” Shen Yuan said. The hair on the back of his neck and arms were standing up in revulsion from the fact that he had been carrying that disgusting stuff on his person this entire time.

Sure, he’d slapped the pouch with about twenty talismans to keep everything shut in it, safe, and unable to be accessed by others, but still… eeeeurgh.

Peak Lord Kang ended up burning quite a few things on the spot, just like Shen Yuan did to the evil cultivator notes he’d found, but not everything was deemed unusable and evil. Also, some things shouldn’t be disposed by fire.

Shen Yuan was relieved he hadn’t decided to deal with everything on his own. It would have been disastrous if he’d accidentally started a plague or something just because he didn’t know how to handle an item.

Yeah, leaving it to the Qian Cao Peak Lord and Head Disciple was DEFINITELY the better idea here.

When they were done cataloging everything Shen Yuan had stowed away in his qiankun pouches, not just the medicines and poisons but everything, including some artifacts and weapons and such, Shen Yuan and Shang Deming flopped facedown onto the desk.

“… Fucking hell. How many evil cultivators did you defeat?” Shang Deming whined.

“… Lost count. Don’t know. They’re all fucking hoarders, though, so it’s probably less than you think,” Shen Yuan said, trying to make believable excuses but failing.

It had been such a long day, and he still had to return to Qing Jing to report to Shizun… Shen Yuan just wanted to pass out. Until the next day after forever.

The only consolation was that Shang Deming also had to go report to the An Ding Peak Lord now, and that man is anal, so good luck, Airplane.

Suffering together in the past life and the current one… what a fucking tragic bond the transmigrator bros have.

---

Liu Yingjie shivered as he felt the rush of new power flowing through his meridians.

After the Immortal Alliance Conference, he’d petitioned his Shizun to meditate in the Lingxi Caves.

There had been some commotion among the disciples as they returned to Cang Qiong, but Liu Yingjie hadn’t paid any of it any mind.

His mind was too full of thoughts of his own weakness to pay attention to the surrounding gossip, and he only realized that Yue-shixiong hadn’t returned with them when they’d already arrived at Cang Qiong.

Although he was somewhat curious as to why, Liu Yingjie was more concerned about getting stronger faster.

The fight with Wu Yanzi had engraved the necessity for strength into his mind, and yet, his mind was in turmoil as he felt like the meaning of ‘strength’ was slipping through his fingers.

Meditation. He needed to meditate and iron all of this uncertainty out.

At the time, his Shizun had just given him a wry smile and permitted his entry into the Lingxi Caves, but that smile had unnerved him a little.

Would it… really be that simple? Could he just … regain his control over his mind just by meditating his concerns away?

The short answer was … no.

It was frustrating. Even after a month of meditation, he was still a half-step away from drawing his third ring around his core, his uncertainties in his thoughts making him reluctant to try when having such a distraction could make things go poorly.

At this stage in cultivation, after forming a golden core, training can only get one so far before they hit a bottleneck, and drawing rings around the core relied on mental fortitude and inspiration.

If he could comprehend an enlightenment then drawing his third would probably go very smoothly, but Liu Yingjie didn’t kid himself.

If it was that easy to reach any sort of enlightenment, then everyone could cultivate a golden core.

There’s a reason there are usually less than 20 disciples on any given peak at any given time. There’s a reason there are usually less than 10 inner disciples with the privilege of learning from the Peak Lord at any given peak at any given time.

Cultivating isn’t only a question of determination and dedication. It also requires a lot of luck, in innate abilities, sparks of inspiration, the random Will of the Heavens...

In short, cultivating is difficult. It has a lot of components that can’t be forced through sheer will or brute force alone.

Enlightenment is something one usually stumbles into. It’s not something he can just train better.

And anyway, that sort of fancy thinking wasn’t something Liu Yingjie was particularly skilled at. Using his might, his techniques, and his experiences, he had drawn 2 powerful rings already, but now…

Sitting in the caves for another month won’t do a thing. The problem isn’t with his spiritual power or his qi.

Feeling defeated, Liu Yingjie emerged from the Lingxi Caves and returned to Bai Zhan to report to his Shizun.

Unfortunately, Peak Lord Zheng Yanxiong wasn’t there, having gone off on a mission of some sort, so Liu Yingjie was left to remain frustrated over his lack of progress.

To be honest, drawing that third ring wasn’t Liu Yingjie’s main concern right now. Rather, he could tell that Peak Lord Zheng knew something about his question on ‘strength’, but was withholding it from him.

Even if his Shizun was doing it for his own good, it was like having an itch he couldn’t scratch, and it bothered Liu Yingjie to the point of driving him crazy.

… Forget it. He hasn’t sparred in a while. He should go do that. Maybe it will clear his head.

At the training field, however, Liu Yingjie didn’t find many people up for a spar. Instead, he found a group of Bai Zhan’s outer disciples, discussing something heatedly.

… Liu Yingjie frowned.

He didn’t particularly like this group of Bai Zhan disciples.

It wasn’t like Bai Zhan Peak expressively forbid its disciples from testing themselves against disciples from other peaks, but Liu Yingjie didn’t understand the obsession some of the outer disciples had with picking fights on the other peaks.

It was one thing to test yourself against a formidable opponent, but what was the point of constantly harassing the other peaks’ disciples?

Well, even though he thought it was pointless, and maybe a little tasteless, it wasn’t any of Liu Yingjie’s business.

How the Bai Zhan disciples chose to use practice using their strength was up to them, and if the disciples of other peaks want them to stop, then maybe they should get stronger themselves.

At any rate, Liu Yingjie was disappointed because these disciples weren’t going to be able to provide him the spar he was looking for.

Unfortunately, as he turned around to see if he could track down someone who could give him a fight, those disciples noticed him.

“Liu-shixiong-!”

He wasn’t ‘shixiong’ yet, so Liu Yingjie felt himself scowl. Without Shizun officially appointing him as Head Disciple, he didn’t feel right accepting honor that didn’t belong to him yet.

“Liu-shixiong, have you heard that Qing Jing has a Head Disciple?”

“Qin-shigu brought him back from who knows where.”

“He must be some sort of rich young master, buying his way into Head Discipleship.”

… For Bai Zhan disciples to be gossiping like this, it was something Liu Yingjie didn’t really want to be included in, and his brows furrowed even tighter.

However, he couldn’t help being curious about what they were saying.

Qing Jing Peak had a Head Disciple?

Qin-shigu was known for accepting some disciples for political reasons, but surely she wouldn’t choose her Head Disciple like that?

… No, he shouldn’t let the gossip get to him.

“… I see,” was all he said and then made to leave, but these outer disciples, who he barely knew the names of, quickly made panicked faces and nearly pulled at his sleeves before they stopped themselves.

This potential ‘Da-shixiong’ was known to dislike excessive closeness with people he didn’t know very well, and they would much greatly prefer not to be laid out on the ground for the second… third… fourth? … time today.

“Wait! Liu-shixiong-!”

“Those cowards on Qing Jing …! They’re using talismans to keep us off the peak!”

Just because they can’t fight us properly, they use cowardly means!”

“That’s right, they’re such… cowards!”

Liu Yingjie paused for a moment.

Maybe before he would think similar thoughts, that hiding behind a talisman wasn’t true strength, but right now he was beginning to think a little differently.

“… And all of you weren’t able to do anything about it?” he asked. How pathetic of them, to be unable to break through a talisman technique and then complain about how the one using it was a coward.

Although he still thought other techniques were inferior to martial techniques, just a little, something in the back of his mind was whispering that they had no right to complain if they couldn’t break through it.

If their strength wasn’t strong enough to break through anything, then that’s all they amounted to.

Liu Yingjie was beginning to think a little more like that.

… Anyway, he was kind of curious about what kind of talisman technique could deter Bai Zhan disciples, outer disciples though they might be.

He couldn’t help but think about the Immortal Alliance Conference, and how qi control techniques and knowledge saved their lives thanks to one wandering cultivator.

He couldn’t deny he was curious about the person who outsmarted his fellow Bai Zhan disciples with just talismans.

Ignoring the embarrassed looks on the other disciples’ faces, full of shame for being unable to do anything against a talisman, Liu Yingjie decided to redirect his steps towards Qing Jing Peak.

“..! Liu-shixiong! Are you going to get revenge for us?!” the other disciples asked excitedly, and it made a vein throb in Liu Yingjie’s temple.

Why should he? How shameless are they?

“No,” he said with a ferocious scowl and pulled out Cheng Luan, flying off and leaving them behind.

And when he reached Qing Jing… …

“… It’s you.”

“Hm? Ah, it’s Liu-shi – wait, I can call you Liu-shidi now, right?”

He didn’t know why he wasn’t surprised, but seeing that wandering cultivator, Shen Yuan squatting next to the rainbow bridge while drawing in the dirt, showing younger Qing Jing disciples how to draw talismans, he kind of felt like he already knew that guy would be here.

Although why Shen Yuan was so excited to be able to call him ‘shidi’ was yet another something Liu Yingjie didn’t quite understand.

Notes:

Got distracted by my fic for Liushen week and then had a very stressful weekend I needed to decompress from (good stressful, but stressful all the same). But I’m still around!

Chapter 13: Reflective Talisman

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“What are you doing here?!”

“Are you trying to get revenge for those other guys?!”

The young Qing Jing out disciples glowered at Liu Yingjie, although they were somewhat cowering behind Shen Yuan. Not blatantly cowering, but somewhat.

Liu Yingjie couldn’t help but frown.

Why did everyone assume he was here for revenge for other peoples’ decisions?

This was only going to make things more annoying… …

“Now now, what have I told you about making assumptions?”

Liu Yingjie blinked as Shen Yuan chided the two young disciples, patting them on the head.

“… B-but … … that’s...”

“Hmmm…?” Shen Yuan prodded questioningly.

“ “… Basing beliefs on assumptions without basis can do much harm and little good,” “ the two Qing Jing outer disciples said in unison.

“That’s right,” Shen Yuan said with a broad smile, and patted them on the head again before turning to Liu Yingjie. “So what can I do for you, Liu-shidi?” he asked, and Liu Yingjie felt himself relax a little.

“… Are you Qing Jing’s Head Disciple?” Liu Yingjie asked, and when Shen Yuan made a strange, awkward smile and nodded, Liu Yingjie found himself giving a curt nod of understanding in response.

Although he doesn’t quite understand why a wandering cultivator was able to become Qing Jing’s Head Disciple, considering that he should be lacking in Qing Jing training, Liu Yingjie knows that Shen Yuan wasn’t some sort of pampered young master who didn’t understand hardships, at the very least.

As always, the irresponsible gossip that flows through Cang Qiong feels questionable once you know the truth of the matter.

“… Is that all Liu-shidi wanted to know?” Head Disciple Shen Yuan asked, snapping Liu Yingjie out of his thoughts.

“No. Also, the talisman used against our peak’s disciples,” he said.

“See!” the Qing Jing shimei said with a pout, “It’s about those bullies after all!” but Shen Yuan chuckled, placing a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

“Let me guess,” he said, the tiniest hint of a tease in his tone. “Liu-shidi wants to try his own strength against it?”

How did he know? Liu Yingjie’s eyebrow quirked curiously upwards as he gave a nod.

For some reason, that Shen Yuan seemed to think Liu Yingjie’s response was the funniest thing, and burst out laughing.

“Of course that was the case!” he said, bent over and slapping his leg as he laughed.

Liu Yingjie frowned. “Are you willing or not?” he asked, not terribly pleased at being laughed at.

“Ah… haha… I can, but… hm...” Shen Yuan straightened again, giving a tiny frown.

“Is there something wrong?” Liu Yingjie asked.

“That’s… the talisman is one that produces a small barrier that reflects attacks. Although those other disciples were fine having their attacks reflected back onto them, if it’s Liu-shidi’s attacks, it might not be so safe...” Shen Yuan said thoughtfully.

“… What?” Liu Yingjie furrowed his brows and tilted his head. “Why would you use that sort of talisman against them?”

He had thought it would be some sort of attack talisman, or a talisman that sealed their qi or something, but a defensive talisman?

And to think his fellow Bai Zhan disciples failed while going up against something like that…

“Ah…” Shen Yuan closed an eye as he scratched the back of his neck, heaving a sigh. “You see, Liu-shidi, I don’t know how it is on Bai Zhan, but here on Qing Jing, we don’t appreciate getting ambushed and having fights forced on us without caring for others’ circumstances. Especially since it’s always our youngest and most inexperienced ones who get attacked.”

Liu Yingjie’s brows furrowed.

That is NOT how things are done on Bai Zhan. Why hasn’t he heard about this before?

“Those brutes … ahem, those fellow disciples of yours really don’t listen to anything but force, unfortunately, and although it’s overkill for me to deal with them directly, I do have a duty to enforce the rules and peace of Qing Jing Peak. So I compromised and used these talismans. Surely downing them with their own attacks can’t be considered underhanded?”

“No. It’s not,” Liu Yingjie said, a ferocious scowl on his face. “Rather, it’s our peak that has wronged you. Spars with disciples from other peaks are to be mutually agreed upon.”

He watched as Shen Yuan blinked, a bit surprised. “I thought for sure that Bai Zhan would say that it was their own fault for not constantly being prepared to be attacked,” he said.

“Bai Zhan does have training for combat awareness, but it’s Bai Zhan Peak only,” Liu Yingjie replied. “And choosing to spar on another peak means to submit to the other peak’s rules. That’s not only Bai Zhan’s regulations, but also Cang Qiong’s.”

“… Ah, so it is,” Shen Yuan mused, his white fan with the tassel playing against his bottom lip. “Then this Shen Yuan will not hesitate to use force to throw them out from now on.”

“It’s best to do that,” Liu Yingjie agreed. He was going to have to talk to his Shizun about this.

Bai Zhan was pretty lax with what their disciples did in their free time, since what mattered was results and determination. Those who wasted their free time would naturally fall behind and risk getting expelled.

However, it seems that some people have been taking advantage of Peak Lord Zheng and the other elders’ frequent missions off the peak recently to waste their free time in malicious ways.

This… well, this was something he would deal with later. For now…

“The talisman?” Liu Yingjie asked.

Shen Yuan’s mouth quirked upwards, even as he made a troubled face. “You’re not going to let up on that, are you? But like I said, it wasn’t dangerous for them, but for you… no, there should be an upper limit to the damage it can reflect … but still, that’s untested. I can’t in all good conscience…” Shen Yuan drifted off as he stared at Liu Yingjie.

… ?

“Dammit, don’t pout like that-! No! I can’t give in, this is dangerous!” Shen Yuan suddenly wailed, covering his eyes with his hands, and Liu Yingjie flinched.

Pout? He touched his face. He, Liu Yingjie, who was more than a little well-known for having a stone face, shouldn’t be pouting… right?

Since the other two Qing Jing disciples are staring at their shixiong like he’s crazy, Liu Yingjie feels like he’s right.

“There isn’t much difference between this and a spar,” he insists, deciding to put Shen Yuan’s crazy to the side for the moment. “I want to test my strength against your talisman.”

“That’s...” Shen Yuan slowly lowered his hands before sighing in defeat. “Alright. Alright, that’s fine. But you’re going straight to Qian Cao if you get injured from this.”

Did he know that Liu Yingjie often avoided going to Qian Cao for light injuries? (Although whether they were truly light injuries or not… perhaps Liu Yingjie’s opinion isn’t the most trustworthy.) … No, probably not, he’s probably just saying that. How would he know?

“… Fine,” Liu Yingjie said, but Shen Yuan gave him a dirty look.

“I don’t trust your ‘fine’… well, no matter. You two, this is a good opportunity to see why you shouldn’t rely on your talismans too much...”

Shen Yuan taught the two disciples with him as he pulled out a talisman.

Tossing it lightly, the Qing Jing Head Disciple sang a note, and it suddenly froze in midair, and Liu Yingjie couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at the edges of his lips.

Before he thought of defensive talismans as cowardly, unworthy means for a righteous cultivator to employ, but here he was excitedly preparing to go up against one.

But first, “… Is that all the qi you’ll be using?” Liu Yingjie said. Talismans in general are more effective the more qi is poured into them, up to the limit the talisman is capable of absorbing.

Although the amount of qi in this defensive talisman is a lot, Liu Yingjie knew Shen Yuan had a lot more qi. He might not know the capacity the talisman had, but it was surely more than that.

“Hm… this is the amount I’d use in a practical manner, though,” Shen Yuan replied, and that made Liu Yingjie pause. “This sort of talisman is more suited for buying time. If I use anymore qi than this, it would be a waste. Counterproductive. That’s also why it’s pointless to raise the capacity of this talisman, you two,” he continued, directing the last bit at the two disciples. “And also, if we make the talisman any more complicated, it would be far more efficient to just make an array that has better durability and cost-effect ratio.”

Along with the two Qing Jing disciples, Liu Yingjie also gave a nod to show that he had understood, then took up a stance.

BANG!

A loud percussive sound caused their surroundings to shudder as Liu Yingjie punched the talisman head on.

He winced as the force rippled back through his fist, up his arm, and he felt the full weight of his own might slamming back into him.

Giving a grunt, Liu Yingjie furrowed his brows slightly. It was just a little, but he’d felt the barrier creak. It wouldn’t take much more of a punch to destroy it…

Pa-!

With a second punch and a shattering sound the barrier fell apart, and Liu Yingjie had a small smile on his face.

“Effective,” he said. He didn’t doubt that the reflective damage was more than enough to down those outer Bai Zhan disciples.

They were the type to neglect their fundamental training, after all, and would throw their strength around recklessly without having built up the necessary endurance and durability to properly deal with it.

Even with Liu Yingjie consciously dissipating the force of his punch through his arm, it certainly still hurt, and his arm was numb with what felt like twice the force he’d put into the punch. Those idiots were probably knocked completely flat out on the ground, with their ‘abilities’ to deal with the force of an attack.

“But in a real fight, that amount of qi is too easy to break through. It only took me a few seconds, so it feels like there’s no point to using the talisman,” Liu Yingjie said.

“Ah, but even a split second can be an opportunity,” Shen Yuan replied. “If I had timed an attack with your breaking of the talisman, it wouldn’t give you much time to react, would it?”

Liu Yingjie thought for a second.

He was confident he could react quickly enough, but when considering the backlash from the reflected damage, perhaps it wouldn’t be that easy to deal with. Then, going around the barrier? Would Shen Yuan be prepared for that? Or maybe he should back off to bait his target? Or…

“Fight me.”

Liu Yingjie’s eyes glinted as his mind raced through the possibilities, head turned expectantly towards the Qing Jing Head Disciple.

Shen Yuan stood there a moment, mouth open.

“Where did THAT come from? No, I guess you’re always like that...”

The second half was muttered very quietly, and Liu Yingjie tilted his head for a moment before he refocused on the more important matter at hand.

“Fight me,” he repeated, taking a step forward.

“No way,” Shen Yuan sighed in exasperation. “And you said you’d go to Qian Cao for your injuries!”

… Crap.

Liu Yingjie looked down at his slightly bleeding arm and hid it behind his back.

“It’s not enough to go to Qian Cao,” he said, but Shen Yuan clicked his tongue and reached out as quick as lightning, startling Liu Yingjie, who hadn’t expected it, and caught him by the ear.

“Are you going back on your word? Hm~? Liu-shidi~?”

… … It really wasn’t worth going all the way to Qian Cao for something like this…

“… Xiao Yuan, is something wrong?”

Liu Yingjie looked up as the next sect leader, a disciple he truly respected, Yue Qi, came flying over, presumably from Qiong Ding.

Yue-shixiong had a concerned look on his face as he looked back and forth between Shen Yuan and Liu Yingjie. It wasn’t quite disapproval, but it was on the verge of it.

“Oh, Qi-ge. Is the Peak Lord meeting over?” Shen Yuan asked brightly.

“Yes. Qin-shigu wishes for you to see her immediately,” Yue-shixiong replied, but his eyes were on Liu Yingjie, clearly asking what he was doing here.

Liu Yingjie felt a bit hurt. He was someone who pursued recognition from other strong people, so it couldn’t be helped that he’d feel wronged when being looked at so skeptically when he didn’t know what he did to deserve it.

“Good timing. Liu-shidi was helping me test out a talisman, but now he won’t go to Qian Cao to get his wound looked at,” Shen Yuan said, and Yue-shixiong’s piercing look towards Liu Yingjie softened.

“He was helping you test a talisman?” he asked.

“En. It would be hard to find someone who could overcome the threshold of that barrier through brute force alone, but at the same time, it reflects damage so I was a little reluctant… anyway, he said he’d go to Qian Cao as long as I showed it to him at first, but now he’s refusing,” Shen Yuan tattled, and Liu Yingjie balked.

“It’s not bad enough to be considered a wound -” he started to say, but Shen Yuan just gave an exasperated sigh and pointed, saying, “See? Qi-ge, do me a favor and make sure he gets to Qian Cao while I go see Shizun.”

Yue-shixiong chuckled. “Alright, Xiao Yuan. Liu-shidi, you should honor your agreements,” he said, and Liu Yingjie couldn’t argue with the next sect leader, so his shoulders slumped as he gave up and followed Yue-shixiong.

Behind him he heard Shen Yuan telling the two Qing Jing disciples, “See? This is why you can’t put all your focus onto a talisman. In a confrontation, the stronger force will overcome the weaker. So instead of being a shield to withstand a hammer, it’s better to be like water or wind, giving only enough resistance to keep your options open. Even a rock can be worn down by water and wind, after all.”

Something about that tickled the knot of confusion in the back of Liu Yingjie’s mind and he wanted to turn around and ask Shen Yuan what he meant, but the Qing Jing Head Disciple was already leaving to return to the Qing Jing Peak Lord.

Also, Yue-shixiong was standing there watching him, making Liu Yingjie break into a bit of a cold sweat as he hesitated before deciding that it would be better to just follow Yue-shixiong obediently.

“I was unaware that Liu-shidi and Shen-shidi were on such good terms,” Yue-shixiong suddenly said.

Liu Yingjie blinked, a little surprised, but then he remembered the Immortal Alliance Conference. Shen Yuan had said he and Yue Qi had a past together. … But isn’t Yue-shixiong being a little too overprotective of someone like Shen Yuan, who wasn’t all that weak?

“He’s my younger brother,” Yue-shixiong said with not just a little pride and much more fondness, as if he could read Liu Yingjie’s mind.

Oh.

… Wait. What?

Eyes wide, he stared at Yue-shixiong for a second, saying, “… I didn’t know Shixiong had a younger brother.”

“Mm. A lot happened,” Yue-shixiong said, and the pain that flitted across his face made Liu Yingjie think that it would be better to not ask too much about it.

The two traveled to Qian Cao in silence, which honestly was already such a strange event, having the next sect leader escorting him to the medical peak, and it just showed how much Shen Yuan meant to Yue Qi, probably.

Liu Yingjie was slightly distracted as he reflected on this, so it startled him when Yue-shixiong spoke again.

“I’d heard that some Bai Zhan disciples have been showing an unusual interest in Qing Jing Peak’s new Head Disciple,” Yue-shixiong said.

… Oh.

Yue-shixiong was speaking as if he was only stating some facts, but was it Liu Yingjie’s imagination, or was there something more to it under the surface of the words?

Damn, he wasn’t any good at this kind of thing.

“… I don’t really know about that,” Liu Yingjie said with a frown. “But I recently found out some of our disciples have been doing as they please against Bai Zhan’s rules.”

“I see.”

Yue-shixiong didn’t say anything else after that.

You see? What do you see? Wait, Yue-shixiong…? Liu Yingjie hoped his true feelings about those troublemakers had gotten across and had intended to assure Yue-shixiong that they’d be dealt with, but without more of a chance to explain himself he found himself in the care of Mu Wencheng.

Feeling very confused, Liu Yingjie bid Yue-shixiong farewell before he realized he had missed his chance to escape and was now fully entrusted into Qian Cao’s care.

He left with a scolding about testing his strength directly against a reflective barrier of all things and a stern warning to avoid doing anything strenuous with his right arm for a full day.

… How unfortunate.

Notes:

Silly Liu-shidi.

Why were Bai Zhan disciples such terrors in the past-future if there were rules against them harassing other peaks? This habit of terrorizing other peaks wasn’t detected early on, since it was only a few outer disciples that did it initially. It spread to the others slowly, and by the time LQG became peak lord it had become common among the outer disciples. And we know LQG wasn’t going to notice it with how often he’s on Bai Zhan as a Peak Lord.

Chapter 14: Spirit Sword

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“Shizun, this Shen Yuan has come,” Shen Yuan said, saluting Peak Lord Qin Yanfen as she sat at her desk on the bamboo house’s veranda.

Shen Jiu hadn’t set up this desk when he was the Peak Lord. What a shame, it looks like a comfortable place to get paperwork done, while also being available to any of the inner disciples that needed her.

… That was probably why Shen Jiu didn’t work outside, now that he thought about it.

“Good.” Peak Lord Qin stood up and pulled out her sword. “You will come with me to Wan Jian Peak. I have just received permission from Hong-shidi.”

Shen Yuan tilted his head. There were a few possibilities so he didn’t want to get his hopes up too soon, but even after he reflected on it, there was still only one conclusion he could come to.

“… Is it this one’s sword?” he asked.

“Indeed. Even though most Cang Qiong disciples receive a spirit sword right after golden core formation, it took me this long to get permission.” Qin Yanfen said with a frown.

“I believe it’s reasonable for Hong-shishu to withhold permission until he’s reasonably assured of this one’s nature and abilities. There is a lot that can go wrong in pulling out a spirit sword, after all,” Shen Yuan replied.

Peak Lord Qin pouted. “Why is it that you’re always going against me?” she said with a sigh. “Do you really have any respect for your Shizun?”

“Of course I do?” Shen Yuan said, tilting his head.

“… And why is that a question?” Peak Lord Qin asked, puffing out her cheeks before poking Shen Yuan hard on the forehead.

Ow…

As Shen Yuan rubbed his forehead tearily, Peak Lord Qin got on her sword.

“Well, come on, cheeky disciple,” she said, turning to look down imperiously at Shen Yuan.

“Yes, unyielding Shizun,” he replied as he also pulled out his sword and got on with a sigh.

As they flew towards Wan Jian, Qin Yanfen couldn’t help but give a small smile.

Unyielding Shizun, hm? Well, she didn’t mind being called that by her cheeky disciple.

Landing on Wan Jian Peak, Qin Yanfen couldn’t help the smirk as her disciple’s reckless flying startled the Wan Jian disciples.

“Hong-shidi,” she greeted as the Wan Jian Peak Lord stood, glowering at her at the cave’s entrance. “I don’t see why you have to be here.”

Peak Lord Hong Yanyu just stood, arms crossed and features flat as he stared at her a moment before sighing heavily.

“Such a reckless person like this… of course I’d be curious about what kind of spirit sword he’ll pull out,” Peak Lord Hong said.

Ah. Is Peak Lord Hong disapproving about how Shen Yuan flies on his sword?

He’s not treating it poorly, he swears! It’s the sword that the Min family bought him, there’s no way he’d treat it roughly!

To be honest, if he wasn’t being super careful with it, it probably would have fallen apart already, given how much greater his power is compared to what the sword can handle.

“You have an ulterior motive for being here,” Qin Yanfen suddenly accused, and Peak Lord Hong shifted a bit uneasily.

“… I don’t know what you’re talking about...” he said, looking away.

… Hm? Was it not about how Shen Yuan treats his sword?

“You’re thinking about using my Head Disciple’s sword to determine your own Head Disciple,” Peak Lord Qin said.

“… Haa… it’s really unfair that you can see signs like that,” Peak Lord Hong said with an irritated frown.

Peak Lord Qin sniffed and turned her head away, scowling a bit. “What ‘seeing’, you’re just too easy to read.”

Her eyepatch was still on, after all. Accusing Peak Lord Qin of cheating by using her sight… at least wait until she uncovers it.

“… Well, I don’t really care. It’s true that a swordsman who can understand sword intent is the pickiest about their spirit swords. Shen Yuan,” Peak Lord Qin called, and Shen Yuan sighed a little inside.

So at this time, Wan Jian Peak doesn’t even have a candidate for Head Disciple?

Taking Hong Yanyu’s cautious personality into account, though, Shen Yuan was certain there were a few candidates, and he was just trying to decide who to choose between them.

Wei Qingwei surely was among them, right?

Although Shen Yuan wasn’t sure about the unnamed Peak Lords, but he suspected the plot wouldn’t allow changes among the Peak Lords Airplane bothered writing about.

The method of selection, though…

At Cang Qiong, Wan Jian Peak may forge swords, but the true spirit swords are featureless blades that adjust to their owner’s soul upon being pulled out from the spirit cave. However they come out naked, requiring hilt, grip, and sheathe to be made to suit them.

If made improperly or unsuitably, it would cause discomfort to the owner of the blade, or restrict the blade’s potential.

… Eh… … so Shen Yuan’s spirit sword was going to be the test that determines Wan Jian’s Head Disciple? Is that okay…?

Peak Lord Hong and Peak Lord Qin stood and watched as Shen Yuan entered the shallow cave alone, approaching the monument that had several blade tangs sticking out of it.

A thrill ran up Shen Yuan’s spine as his hand closed around one tang.

He may have had a spirit sword in the past-future and a cultivator’s sword in this time, but this is the first time he’s going to pull out his very own spirit sword.

So he feels a little like a giddy 5-year-old before Christmas, so sue him!

Shen Yuan took a deep breath and pulled.

The blade lit up and burst into being as he pulled it out of the stone.

It had a very familiar weight and heft to it.

It was… very, very familiar all around.

It was Xiu Ya.

Shen Yuan wasn’t really sure how to feel about it.

On one hand, he really did like how Xiu Ya looks. The slender blade was slimmer than all of his Head Disciple martial siblings’ swords, with a more pronounced, delicate taper.

It was beautiful and elegant, truly the sword of an elegant scholar, as ‘Xiu Ya’ implied.

He really, really liked how it looked back then and now.

But at the same time…

… Did that mean he and Shen Jiu were a lot more similar at their core than he’d thought?

Umm… he didn’t know how he felt about it at all…

Well, he couldn’t deny he’d relied on this sword in the past(-future), and that he would continue to rely on it in the future.

Although he had mixed feelings about Xiu Ya being his spirit sword as well as Shen Jiu’s, maybe he would have been disappointed if a very different sword appeared before him.

And this time, Xiu Ya was truly his.

“I’ll be relying on you in this life as well,” he murmured quietly, and Xiu Ya’s sheen seemed to grow even clearer, and the presence of the sword grew more pronounced in Shen Yuan’s hand.

Feeling Xiu Ya attempting to reach out to him, Shen Yuan closed his eyes.

Shen Jiu had never successfully comprehended sword intent, so this was going to be a first for everyone involved.

Shen Yuan took a deep breath and concentrated, feeling his aura become sharp, taking on the shape of Xiu Ya’s blade, and he accepted the feeling of his soul molding to accommodate the new connection it had to Xiu Ya.

“This is…!” Peak Lord Hong Yanyu’s eyes widened.

“You already knew he’d comprehended sword intent,” Peak Lord Qin Yanfen said, but Peak Lord Hong gave a quick shake of his head.

“This isn’t just sword intent,” he said excitedly. “This kid… he’s already achieved sword resonance!” Even as Hong Yanyu spoke, the swords around them began to rattle in excitement as the qi around Shen Yuan and Xiu Ya thickened, sending the sword aura soaring to the sky.

“Xiu Ya. Will you become my third ring?” Shen Yuan asked, opening his eyes as he looked at the blade that kept on answering his call out to it.

Xiu Ya shone brightly in response, and Shen Yuan laughed wetly, some emotion caught in his throat.

It wasn’t like he’d been that attached to Xiu Ya in the past, but somehow, this felt like meeting an old friend that supported him from behind a veil all this time, but finally it was face to face.

This experience, the comprehension of sword resonance and the reassurance of a staunch partner, Shen Yuan would use this energy and inspiration to draw a ring around his core, immortalizing it as one more thing that made the cultivator Shen Yuan who he was.

The energy within the cave whipped energetically, and yet not violently, and the brightness from the glow between Shen Yuan and Xiu Ya became so overpowering that even the Peak Lords had to shield their eyes.

In the next moment, all of it had vanished, as if nothing had happened, and Shen Yuan walked out of the cave, a cultivator now with a Third Grade Core and a newly born spirit sword.

He blinked in surprise at the sudden audience that was gathered a little ways away from the entrance of the cave.

Amazed and agitated Wan Jian disciples were watching him intently.

Maybe he’d been a bit too showy when he resonated with Xiu Ya and broke through to a Third Grade Core…

“Mm.” Peak Lord Qin said, directing Shen Yuan’s attention from the Wan Jian disciples towards her as she held out her hand, and Shen Yuan obediently handed her Xiu Ya to inspect.

A thin smile covered her face as her delicate fingers traced its crystal clear surface (the surface of the Xiu Ya from the past-future had been a little cloudier, hadn’t it?)

“… What a beautiful sword. It suits a cultivator who prefers to … how did you say it. Fight smarter, not harder?” she said.

“Ahahaha...” Shen Yuan could only laugh awkwardly as his Shizun smiled in satisfaction at Xiu Ya’s appearance while quoting one of Shen Yuan’s modern phrases he’d accidentally let slip in a previous discussion.

“Hm… we’ll have to make sure the finishings and sheathe of such a sword and its bearer will be suitable for this bond,” Peak Lord Hong said, stroking his chin with a sharp smile. “Who wishes to make the house for such a soul?”

His last words were directed towards the crowd of Wan Jian disciples milling about, who had been watching the proceedings excitedly.

At that, many of the Wan Jian disciples that had been watching flinched. Some were excited, others seemed anxious.

But one had piercing eyes that seemed like they would light on fire as he stared at Shen Yuan and Xiu Ya.

“Shizun, I wish to.” The Wan Jian disciple took a shaky, shuddering breath, as if trying to suppress his frenzy. “I wish to build the house for this soul.”

Standing there, Peak Lord Hong surveyed the other disciples.

“Does no one else dare?” he asked, voice thundering over the peak.

Another disciple shivered under the pressure of Peak Lord Hong’s voice before saying, “It’s not that we don’t dare, Shizun. It’s that we are not so bold as to believe that we won’t fail.” The tone of derision towards the first disciple was clear as this disciple shot a dirty glance at him before continuing on to say, “This disciple believes that Shizun should choose the one most suitable for this task.”

“Oh?” Peak Lord Hong turned to look at the first disciple. “What do you say to that?”

The first disciple tore his eyes away from Shen Yuan and Xiu Ya.

“I can’t say that I’m not afraid of failure. But my fear of missing the chance to build this house is greater than my fear of failing,” the disciple said, eyes firm and without hesitation. “If Shizun believes this one is incompetent, this one will not insist, but this one could not bear to stand aside and allow the opportunity to pass without trying.”

Peak Lord Hong barely hid a grin.

“I see,” he said. “Then, Wei Zhiqiang, I leave this sword’s house to you.”

Oh, Shen Yuan thought. It really is Wei-shidi.

As Shen Yuan and Peak Lord Qin returned to Qing Jing, Qin Yanfen gave a quick glance backwards.

“You … could draw up five rings already,” she said. It wasn’t a question.

“Mm.” Shen Yuan made a bit of a complicated look on his face. He had two lives of being a cultivator to draw on, after all, although that first life was more borrowed than his.

“But you’re not doing so,” Qin Yanfen said.

“You can’t add to an already drawn ring, after all,” Shen Yuan replied.

Peak Lord Qin smiled with satisfaction.

“That’s right,” she said. “Many disciples don’t understand it until it’s too late, but rushing to draw rings as soon as one is able to does not necessarily provide the strongest core in the end. The rings around the core will define what kind of cultivator you are. Do as you please.”

“Yes Shizun.”

“… Why is that the only time you answer so confidently?”

Qin Yanfen huffed a little at her cheeky disciple before speeding up towards Qing Jing.

Notes:

A bit short, but that’s where the cut lay…
I’m basing the appearance of the swords on the novel illustrations.

In my vers of Wan Jian, it’s not just a smithery peak, it’s also the peak that has the best sword techniques that dedicates everything to the sword. Bai Zhan’s techniques tends to be more powerful from mastery of their physical cultivation, but Wan Jian’s techniques bring out the best of the sword.

Chapter 15: The Heat of Battle

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“Shijie.”

“What is it, Liu-xiong?”

Liu Yingjie scowled as his shijie still persisted in calling him that way, even though he was so much younger than her.

Shizun still hadn’t named him as Head Disciple yet, either.

Even though Shizun had said he was likely to be Head Disciple, he hasn’t been named so even now. It couldn’t be helped that Liu Yingjie was beginning to feel anxious about whether or not he would truly become his Shizun’s successor.

Still, there was no point to arguing with this shijie. There weren’t many girls who were willing to join Bai Zhan, and those that did were … unshakeable. To put it politely.

Shao-shijie was even worse than the other Bai Zhan shijies, as she was Peak Lord Shao Yanqiang’s headstrong daughter who insisted on joining Bai Zhan, to the Zui Xian Peak Lord’s dismay.

But although Shao Cuifen may not enjoy using her brain, she still had one that she used occasionally, and she was still Liu Yingjie’s best bet for this sort of consultation. What with the selection of politically astute disciples on Bai Zhan being… slim.

“I heard that the outer disciples have gone against Bai Zhan’s code of conduct,” Liu Yingjie said. “Shizun isn’t here, so I don’t know what we should do.”

Shao Cuifen’s normal devious smirk grew more and more severe as Liu Yingjie explained what he’d found out on Qing Jing.

She slapped the flat of her sword angrily against her thigh like a cat lashing its tail.

“Our shidis have been keeping themselves busy, eh? Very good, very good! Let me go see the ‘results’ of their ‘training’,” she said, showing her teeth in a ferocious grin.

Liu Yingjie supported Shao-shijie’s idea and pulled out his sword as well to follow her. Those few outer disciples enjoyed one-sided beatdowns so much, so let this shijie and shixiong indulge them!

The other outer disciples trembled a little when these two illustrious inner disciples suddenly came storming their courtyard, demanding to know where those troublemakers were.

Yes, they knew about their fellow disciples’ misbehavior, but no one was a snitch on Bai Zhan… but maybe they should have tried to hold their fellow disciples in check better, instead of either goading them on or ignoring it, depending on how they felt about attacking the other Peaks’ disciples.

Now it seems like the entire outer courtyard was going to be in biiig trouble once Shizun returns… practically crying, one outer disciple pointed their terrifying martial siblings to Qing Jing, stating that the group of five troublemakers had once again set off to get revenge on their unexpected defeat last time.

As Shao-shijie and Liu Yingjie took off towards Qing Jing, Shao-shijie laughed.

“Having their asses handed to them by a scholar should break their noses real well,” she said with a grin. “Even if it’s one of Qing Jing’s inner disciples – those idiots should learn that Cang Qiong’s finest aren’t meant to be trifled with!”

Liu Yingjie thought for a moment. “You’re okay with Bai Zhan being defeated by Qing Jing?” he asked.

Well, he didn’t mind so much either, since the Bai Zhan disciples were of the dishonorable sort, but … once again, Liu Yingjie didn’t know how he should feel about the entire situation.

“Mm? Of course! If you do stupid things, you deserve to get your ass beat,” Shao-shijie said. “It doesn’t matter what Peak you’re … from… ….”

As Qing Jing came into view, Shao-shijie fell silent, and Liu Yingjie craned his neck to look around her.

What… was that vortex of wind?

Just a few paces from the end of the rainbow bridge, there was practically a tornado of a whirlwind, and among the loud whooshing of the wind, Liu Yingjie could vaguely hear some screaming from within.

Shao-shijie touched down on the rainbow bridge, walking cautiously towards Qing Jing, and Liu Yingjie followed.

Behind the whirlwind was a familiar sight.

“… It’s you again,” Liu Yingjie said.

“Mm? Liu-shidi! And… a … Bai Zhan shimei?”

Shen Yuan was squatting on the ground again, looking utterly bored as he watched the whirlwind, head propped up with one hand, but he perked up and stood when he saw Shao-shijie and Liu Yingjie arrive, dusting off his robes.

“What are you doing?” Liu Yingjie asked, looking towards the whirlwind.

“This? Ah...” Shen Yuan scratched the back of his head. “Well, I took your advice about giving those troublemakers some punishment...”

Now that he looked closer, Liu Yingjie could definitely see some bodies wearing Bai Zhan outer disciple robes being whisked around there.

“Ah, so our shidis are in there?” Shao-shijie said, her eyes narrowed.

“Yes… is that going to be a problem?” Shen Yuan asked. “I was planning on throwing them back towards Bai Zhan once I’m done with them.”

“So lenient!” Shao-shijie said with an exasperated sigh. “It would be better to beat them half to death before returning them! They won’t learn their lesson otherwise.”

Shen Yuan coughed. “Well… I was also planning on doing that once they broke out of this wind trap talisman, but...” he admitted.

Shao-shijie blinked in surprise then laughed uproariously, slapping her thigh in her amusement.

“So they couldn’t even defend against a talisman, and they had the guts to storm Qing Jing?” she snorted in between laughs.

“They went after our must unskilled, so I suppose they weren’t planning on dealing with talismans,” Shen Yuan replied, hiding his smirk behind his fan.

Liu Yingjie would like to point out that it wasn’t that they didn’t plan, it was that they didn’t think at all, but he decided to keep quiet in the end.

Dishonorable and shameful as they were, they were technically still Bai Zhan disciples.

“Ahahaha-! Ah… My name is Shao Cuifen. May I ask who this martial sibling is?” Shao-shijie asked, finally managing to collect herself, although her voice still held large traces of amusement.

“This one is Shen Yuan, recent Head Disciple of Qing Jing,” Shen Yuan replied.

“Oh, the one who comprehended sword resonance when he received his spirit sword,” Shao Cuifen said, and her eyes gleamed in a way that could only be considered ‘predatory’. Her hands began toying with the hilt of her sword in anticipation.

Sword resonance?

He comprehended sword resonance?

Liu Yingjie couldn’t help the little feeling of jealousy that rose up.

It was what every Bai Zhan disciple who chose to live and die by the sword wanted. Sword resonance!

That means, this Shen Yuan mastered Sword Intent?

… Wait.

Liu Yingjie’s brows furrowed as a thought drifted through his head … but surely this person didn’t learn Sword Intent purely for his reckless flying.

Even if Sword Intent ended up helping him control his sword as if it was an extension of his own body, surely that was just a coincidence.

… No, that’s not what’s important right now. What’s important right now is…

“Fight me.”

“Aaah-! Liu-xiong! That’s not fair, I wanted to fight him!” Shao-jie immediately protested.

Shen Yuan looked up at the Heavens for mercy as he fluttered his fan in front of his face and muttered, “Are… all the Bai Zhan disciples like this…?”

It didn’t seem like he was asking anyone in particular.

After a moment, he sighed and looked at the two obviously over-eager Bai Zhan disciples – well, one obviously eager Bai Zhan shijie and one less obvious Bai Zhan shidi.

“Pray tell, why are two Bai Zhan disciples so eager to fight with this scholar?” Shen Yuan asked, putting very, extremely clear emphasis on the word ‘scholar’, as if to underline the ridiculousness of their request.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to work on these two.

“You’re strong,” Shao-shijie said, a toothy grin stretched across her face.

“I want to learn Sword Intent,” Liu Yingjie said, then, almost as an after thought he added, “… Shixiong.”

Shen Yuan twitched, face slowly turning red, and Liu Yingjie thought he’d just upset him. But that’s not fair, Qing Jing’s Head Disciple seems to enjoy calling him shidi, so it should go both ways.

“Th-that’s – I don’t see why we’d need to fight – I assume you mean a spar, right? But either way, if you want to learn Sword Intent… anyway, shouldn’t you try Wan Jian instead-” Shen-shixiong said, quite a bit flustered.

Liu Yingjie frowned.

He knows that Bai Zhan’s way of learning through combat wasn’t a method every Peak utilized, or enjoyed, and logically speaking, disciples from Qing Jing were more likely to dislike that method, but for some reason…

It just had to be Shen-shixiong.

Liu Yingjie didn’t know why he felt that way, but somehow, he thought that he had to fight him, that fighting Shen-shixiong would help him figure out what strength was somehow.

But how was he going to convince the Qing Jing Head Disciple to fight him?

To be honest, Liu Yingjie still didn’t quite understand why cultivators would try to avoid combat.

Not that he didn’t understand being reluctant to have a fight when feeling disadvantaged; Bai Zhan cultivators were always up for a fight but they weren’t IDIOTS (mostly).

But simply not ever wanting to fight, like many of the Qing Jing and An Ding disciples… Liu Yingjie didn’t understand.

Why would you be learning cultivation if you wanted to be a pacifist? If you’re a cultivator, you’ll have to fight some time, and if you have to fight some time, you should get used to it while the stakes are still low. Why avoid fights so thoroughly?

Because he doesn’t understand, Liu Yingjie felt like he was at a loss for a way to convince Shen Yuan to fight him.

He couldn’t help bite his lower lip a little in frustration.

Shen Yuan made a small distressed sound. “L-look, I’m not against helping you try to learn Sword Intent,” he said, a bit helplessly. “I just don’t see why we’d need to fight to do it. Anyway, we’re not really well-matched – I mean, I just achieved a Third Grade core, and Liu-shidi’s still a Second Grade...”

With raised eyebrows, Shao-shijie looked between Liu Yingjie and Shen Yuan, a slow grin spreading across her face before she opened her mouth.

“Oh, but Shen-shixiong,” she said. “Your spirit blade is still at Wan Jian, isn’t it? Isn’t that enough of a handicap? Besides, our Liu-xiong isn’t a normal cultivator with a Second Grade core. He’s able to go against Third Grade cores with no problem, not to mention being able to out-slay even high grade core cultivators. If anything, won’t the two of you be more well-matched.”

“Th-that’s…” Shen Yuan made a complicated face, probably because he knew it was true.

Although a Third Grade core cultivator is naturally far stronger than a Second Grade core cultivator, Shen Yuan only just drew his third ring and was still refining his new powers.

Furthermore, as he had said, he’s a scholar, while Liu Yingjie is a warrior armed with Cheng Luan and the most proficient disciple in Bai Zhan’s martial techniques.

It was more than enough to make up the difference.

The Qing Jing Head Disciple knew it, and unable to think of a good rebuttal, Shen Yuan gave a loud groan, covering his face fully with his fan, before finally giving a distressed whine and saying, “I’m only going to fight once! I refuse two spars!”

“Hm… that’s a shame~ Oh well, I’ll yield to Liu-xiong for now.~” Shao-shijie said, but she didn’t seem at all upset.

As Shen Yuan went to see where they could hold a spar, Liu Yingjie looked at his shijie.

“Shijie, didn’t you want to fight him too?” he asked quietly, but she just gave a grin.

“Mm, well, I thought it would be more interesting like this,” she replied, then tapped her fingers on the hilt of her sword. “Besides, when he says he refuses two spars, he only meant today, right?”

“...” Somehow Liu Yingjie thought Shao-shijie was wrong, but he decided not to say anything.

It was better to ensure that he got his fight with Shen-shixiong than correct Shao-shijie’s misunderstanding!

---

The clang of swords clashing echoed throughout the lower peaks of Qing Jing – is what would have happened if the fight actually gave time for the echoes to sound.

Shao Cuifen couldn’t actually tell if there were echoes or not, given how violently – er, vigorously the Qing Jing Head Disciple and the Bai Zhan Head Disciple (he really is, now if only Shizun would just tell him already) were fighting.

It made Shao Cuifen grip her sword in excitement.

There was a lot of gossip floating around Cang Qiong about Qing Jing’s new Head Disciple, but it was very difficult to tell what was true and what wasn’t, ranging from being Yue-shixiong’s younger brother, to being a rich second young master, to fighting off fifty evil cultivators by himself.

As a disciple of Bai Zhan, well, okay, Bai Zhan certainly had their own prejudices against some of the other Peaks.

A disciple of Qing Jing was one thing, but a new Head Disciple of Qing Jing? How good could his combat abilities possibly be?

Shao Cuifen had been quite curious and couldn’t resist tagging along to Qing Jing when it seems that some of their wayward outer disciples had made nuisances of themselves over there.

Ah, she swears it’s also to deal with those troublemakers, but curiosity is as curiosity is, right?

Well, regarding the answer to that curiosity… …

Look, most of the shixiongs on Bai Zhan have a hard time fighting Liu-xiong.

Being able to last 10 exchanges was considered good.

Right now Shen Yuan and Liu Qingge had … what, over 20 exchanges?

Deep gauges were dug out from the aftershocks of their swordflashes, and the air reverberated with qi.

… Shao Cuifen wasn’t sure she’d be able to match the new Qing Jing Head Disciple, but after watching this, she really wanted to try-!

“What is going on here?!”

Shao Cuifen had been so immersed in watching the battle in front of her that she had completely missed the approach of several other cultivators, and she flinched.

“D-Duan-shibo-!” she stuttered.

Bai Zhan does look down on An Ding for their martial prowess, but … Peak Lord Duan sure is scary when he’s mad.

There’s probably a reason why the troublemakers went to Qing Jing instead of An Ding with their mischief…

The An Ding Peak Lord, An Ding Head Disciple, and several senior inner Qiong Ding and Qing Jing disciples came flying by.

“What is going on here?” Peak Lord Duan Yanshi demanded again, looking furiously down at Shao Cuifen.

Now she REALLY wished she was joining the fight with Shen-shixiong and Liu-xiong… you traitors, ignoring all of this to continue fighting-! Let this one join you-!

“They’re sparring,” she said, putting on a front of composure even as her heart was weeping inside. “Surely that’s not against the rules.”

Sparring?” Duan-shibo said, eyebrows raised and a clear look of DOUBT on his face as he surveyed the half torn up training field.

Okay, granted, Shao Cuifen would also admit that she would get the wrong idea and think this was a battle to the death if she didn’t know any better, given how much of a disaster zone the area had become and how hard Shen-shixiong and Liu-xiong were going at it, but…

“We heard a ruckus like someone was attacking Qing Jing, came and found a handful of Bai Zhan disciples trapped in a whirlwind, and now see that Qing Jing and Bai Zhan’s Head Disciples are locked in vicious combat,” Duan-shibo snapped frostily.

Ah … Shao Cuifen forgot about those guys.

“Liu-xiong and I came to retrieve our shidis who have been breaking Bai Zhan regulations,” Shao Cuifen said. “But since Shen-shixiong had already caught them, we asked him to keep them in there as punishment.” That wasn’t even a lie. Shen-shixiong had been hesitant to keep those troublemakers in there, but as far as Shao Cuifen and Liu-xiong were concerned, they were asking for it and couldn’t break out of it themselves, so this was kind of their own just desserts.

“And how did that lead to this destructive fight?” Duan-shibo asked, eyebrows raised disapprovingly. “This needs to end now-”

“Wait! Please Duan-shibo! It took so much effort to convince Shen-shixiong to spar!” Shao Cuifen pleaded.

“Um… Shao-shimei… did Cucu – Shen-shixiong really agree to a spar?” Head Disciple Shang suddenly said, poking his head out from behind Duan-shibo. “He’s the kind of guy who doesn’t like to do anything too troublesome if there isn’t a reason for it...”

“Liu-xiong wanted to learn Sword Intent,” Shao Cuifen replied, but she wasn’t sure if they would believe her…

Shang-shixiong gave a little frown, but not of doubt. “… Shen-shixiong seems to give in to Liu-shidi pretty easily...” he muttered quietly, but Shao Cuifen’s ears picked it up.

“You think so too?!” she said excitedly, and Shang-shixiong choked a bit, coughing.

“Uh… I didn’t say anything!” he said, but everyone was pretty used to the An Ding Head Disciple’s eccentricity, so they didn’t think anything of it.

“A consensual spar or not, they’re destroying the lower training field of Qing Jing,” Duan-shibo said with heavy irritation.

That’s… that’s true…

Suddenly, a billowing of qi shot straight upwards in a pillar of light from the fighting pair, agitating the mountain mist and clouds, drawing abstract pictures in the sky.

“What-!” Shang-shixiong squeaked. “Insight? No… wait, is this an enlightenment?!”

---

How long has it been since he’d had a fight like this?

Liu Yingjie was still only a Second Grade core, but his fighting prowess had shot through the roof, making it difficult for even the senior disciples to match him in a serious spar. He’d prefer to spar with the junior teachers instead, or stellar disciples from other Peaks like Yue-shixiong, but they all have other duties, being very busy… rather, it’s surprising that Shen-shixiong isn’t super busy either, being the Head Disciple of Qing Jing.

But Liu Yingjie couldn’t complain, when that meant he could wheedle a fight out of Shen Yuan. He also couldn’t help the thin smile that tugged on the end of his lips.

Fighting Shen Yuan wasn’t like when he’d fought Yue-shixiong, massively overwhelming even before Yue-shixiong drew his fourth and fifth ring.

With Shen Yuan’s sword being a cultivator’s inferior steel sword instead of a spirit sword, the power difference between Shen Yuan’s Third Grade core and Liu Yingjie’s Second Grade core could be easily overcome with Liu Yingjie’s superior strength, techniques, and mobility.

It felt like he could win, his strength was overwhelming, his combat abilities were superior – all of these things were true, in Liu Yingjie’s favor, and yet it wasn’t enough.

It was the first time he had to use his brain to fight – not that Bai Zhan didn’t have tactics, but it was always about beating them into their bodies, turning tactics into their own reflexes and second nature so that they would react, not wasting time to think.

But he couldn’t do that when fighting Shen Yuan.

Liu Yingjie didn’t know if it was because Shen Yuan was used to fighting cultivators much stronger than him, or if it was something wandering cultivators naturally preferred to do so in order to avoid overtaxing themselves and their resources.

Shen Yuan’s feints weren’t like the feints Liu Yingjie was used to, used as the ‘shadow’ of the sword as if they were as much part of the sword technique as the actual attacks themselves.

Instead, Liu Yingjie began to find himself second guessing every opening Shen Yuan showed, wondering whether every spike of qi hid an attack or was just a distraction…

Perhaps in another time, maybe even just a few weeks or a month prior, he’d find this irritating, maybe even underhanded, but right now, in the middle of this fight, he didn’t have the excess brain power to think about that.

What WAS going through his head was … regret?

Regret that he had never fought someone who had these tactics before, regret that he wasn’t just a little stronger… if he was just a little stronger… no, if he was a lot stronger, it wouldn’t matter if Shen Yuan was feinting or if he wasn’t.

Before might, all must give way.

That’s Bai Zhan’s teachings.

But then… but then…

Liu Yingjie was strong, he didn’t doubt that. But he wasn’t strong enough. In the first place, how strong would be strong enough? How strong did you have to be to be able to ignore all tactics and destroy all resistance?

He’d never thought about that before. He’d always focused on getting stronger and stronger, never caring if there was an end to the path. No, he much preferred that there was no end to the path of strength, that he could always strive for more.

But right now… the endlessness of the path wasn’t upsetting to him, but it was a little disturbing.

For the first time, he realized it came with a sense of uncertainty, not just endless opportunity.

Just how strong was the founder of Bai Zhan Peak, that he could say that? That before might, all must give way?

Was he the strongest? Could he be certain he was the strongest? That he could smash through all opposition with strength alone?

How confident in your strength must you be to make such a statement?

Liu Yingjie gritted his teeth as he deflected another graceful, fluid stroke from Shen Yuan, the swordflash being sent into their surroundings as Liu Yingjie twisted, attempting to catch and control his opponent’s sword angle, but quick as a cat, the Qing Jing Head Disciple had already withdrawn, leaving Liu Yingjie whiffing air again.

Might… might should be able to defeat everything. But if you didn’t have enough, it might as well be worthless.

The thought thudded into Liu Yingjie like a blow, but it didn’t fluster him.

Crossing swords once again, Liu Yingjie used just the strength of his arms to launch Shen Yuan away, the Qing Jing Head Disciple quickly recovering in midair to land on his feet.

Weak gave way to the strong – it was what all Bai Zhan disciples acknowledged, so it wasn’t a shocking revelation that not being strong enough was the same as being weak.

The founder of Bai Zhan should know this, though.

That if your strength wasn’t strong enough, then strength alone was worthless.

It was this that made Liu Yingjie wrinkle his brows and frown.

Why, then? Why say…

… for that matter, why was Bai Zhan a Peak of Cang Qiong?

If might was superior to everything, surely Bai Zhan’s founder would prefer separating to found his own sect – the answer hit Liu Yingjie like lightning.

Bai Zhan’s founder never said that might was superior to everything. He never believed it. He thought that Cang Qiong needed Bai Zhan – and Bai Zhan needed Cang Qiong.

The meaning of that saying about might … well, Liu Yingjie still didn’t fully understand it, but he thought he might understand the sentiment behind it.

Might was powerful. Study it, master it, take control of it. Be strong.

But might was powerful. In the face of an enemy’s overwhelming might, your own strength would be considered as nothing.

Before might, all must give way – it was both a belief and a warning.

Something deep within Liu Yingjie stirred, his mind and body coming together to sing out the realization he’d suddenly uncovered.

A massive pillar of qi and spiritual energy erupted from Liu Yingjie and he stood still in a daze.

Shen Yuan barely managed to keep from stabbing his shidi at the sudden, unexpected situation, leaping backwards in surprise.

Holy shit! Look at the size of that enlightenment!

“Liu-shidi! Now, draw your third ring!” Shen Yuan yelled, standing to the side as Liu Yingjie looked at him in confusion before nodding and plopping down into lotus position.

Fucking hell, Liu-shidi’s third ring is going to be BEEFY! What in the world did he comprehend?!

After staring for a moment, Shen Yuan also plopped down into meditation, focusing on releasing his qi as spiritual energy to help Liu Yingjie’s cultivation.

Not that he really needed to, given how dense Cang Qiong’s natural spiritual energy was, but they had used up some of the ambient energy in their fight…

Tens of minutes passed as Liu Yingjie painstakingly drew his third ring around his core, using all of his experience and the residual energy from his enlightenment in his cultivation.

When he finally opened his eyes, he gazed down at his hands and arms, as if trying to see any changes.

He had successfully become a Third Grade core cultivator.

“… Congrats. You’re going to beat the shit out of me next time we spar,” Shen Yuan said, but he couldn’t help feeling a little proud.

Notes:

Sorry for the delay, was trying to figure out how to link all the coming situations together and in what order to put them in, then got distracted with other stories. _(:3」∠)_

Chapter 16: Paperwork

Notes:

Cang Qiong Sect’s primary role is not a school in this fic.

As the strongest sect in the world, Cang Qiong, and therefore the Peak Lords, hold a lot of political power and, as a righteous sect, takes their duties about defending the weak seriously (one of the reasons LBH resents them is that he thinks they’re hypocrites who ignored his plight while on Cang Qiong while being ‘righteous cultivators’ after all).

Thus teaching is a very small portion of the tasks the Peak Lords have to do, and in this story Peak Lords teach only a few classes a week to the inner disciples only, taking under 5-ish direct disciples that they guide more thoroughly. Taking in disciples is less about accepting students and more about looking for truly talented individuals that will benefit the sect, although nepotism and politics always sneak into everything.

There aren’t very many disciples on a Peak at any given time, always under 50 total, and probably more like 15-20.
In contrast, there are more non-disciples, like teachers and elders, who are organized by the Peak Lords to do the tasks on and off the mountain that each Peak needs to accomplish.

Basically, Cang Qiong is like a government and each Peak is a different governmental body within it, where the Peak Lord is the chief officer, elders and teachers are their subordinates of varying seniority, and the disciples are divided into apprentices (inner disciples) and interns (outer disciples) and are taught the skills they need and evaluated to determine whether they’re fit to be part of the Peak.

And there was no great way for me to include that organically in the story without bogging things down, so here you go.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Tap tap tap.

Shen Yuan knelt in front of Peak Lord Qin’s low desk, eyes glued to the floor as she tapped the end of her brush thoughtfully against the inkstone.

“You’ve done a lot in the short time you’ve been here, haven’t you?” she said with a light hum.

“Ah… is that so?” Shen Yuan replied with a smile and a sheepish scratch on the back of the head.

“Advised some of the teachers with revising their lessons, taught a lot of both the outer and inner disciples, assisted quite a few elders in their research, stopped some misbehaving Bai Zhan disciples, and even helped Bai Zhan’s Head Disciple comprehend an enlightenment.”

“Ah, so Liu-shidi really is the Head Disciple? I heard Zheng-shishu hasn’t officially announced it, though,” Shen Yuan said.

“You’ve truly done well, surpassing my expectations, but ...” Peak Lord Qin continued, completely ignoring his statement as she finally looked up from the missive she was writing to stare at Shen Yuan for a moment before heaving a sigh.

“Shen Yuan,” she said, holding her forehead. “Why are all these Bai Zhan disciples swarming my Peak?”

Shen Yuan coughed. “Ah… that’s a very good question, Shizun.”

It’s not like he intended for this to happen!

How was he supposed to know that sparring with Liu-shidi would draw so much attention!?

Okay, so maybe he shouldn’t have fought so hard, but, like, wasn’t this probably the only chance he’d ever get in his lifetime to maybe defeat the future War God? So he got a little too into it… how was he supposed to know that Liu-shidi was going to comprehend an enlightenment and breakthrough?

For fucks sake, that was all Liu-shidi! Bai Zhan shidis, please step off and stop chasing this shixiong around for a fight! You can’t breakthrough just by fighting this Shen Yuan!

Seriously… even if they’re not the Bai Zhan brutes from when he was Shen Qingqiu in the past-future, this sort of persistence in begging him for fights is seriously intimidating. And also disruptive to the scholar’s peak’s atmosphere, y’know?!

Geez! He though Liu-shidi had no respect for doors… if things keep up like this, almost all the doors on Qing Jing will have to be replaced.

“You should just go to Bai Zhan and deal with them there,” Peak Lord Qin grumbled. “Let them tear up their own Peak.”

“Shizun!” Shen Yuan said, shock and horror on his face. “You complain about me wandering off to other Peaks all the time, but now you’re kicking me out when it’s inconvenient for you?”

Peak Lord Qin pursed her lips, skimmed her index finger over the surface of the water in the water dropper, and used her qi to launch a small jet of water directly into her cheeky disciple’s face.

As Shen Yuan spluttered, Peak Lord Qin sighed again.

“As punishment for not exercising restraint during a spar and ruining Qing Jing’s lower training field, you’ll be doing paperwork and overseeing the calligraphy lessons for the next week. So stay quiet and stay inside, and maybe Zheng-shidi’s disciples will eventually give up.”

Neither shizun nor disciple believed it for a second, though.

Bai Zhan’s people were very tenacious when it came to getting a fight.

But maybe things will cool down while he’s ‘being punished’.

Wobbling under a massive stack of papers and scrolls, Shen Yuan managed to make it to his own quarters before being faced with a closed door.

He lightly kneed the door and yelled, “Airplane, get the damn door!” ignoring the scandalized and amused looks from a few of the older Qing Jing shijies – he doesn’t know why they, and some of the teachers as well, keep stopping when he passes them before whispering behind his back.

Aiii…. Forget it. Hopefully this will all blow over in a week.

Shen Yuan’s door opened, revealing Shang Deming, ink splotch on his fingers from where he just can’t quite get the hang of dipping his bamboo pen into the ink well on the stone without getting a finger or two in the ink as well.

“… Woah. And here I thought I get a lot of paperwork,” the An Ding Head Disciple said with a low whistle.

Shen Yuan rolled his eyes as he walked in, setting his stack next to a – only slightly – smaller stack of paperwork that belonged to Shang Deming.

“Mine’s a punishment, apparently, and I have a week to do it all,” he said with a smug look, and Shang Deming gave a pout.

“Shit! Why is mine all due today?!” he wailed.

“Ah, quite whining,” Shen Yuan retorted, with a small smirk. “At least you get to do yours with a pen. Why does Qing Jing have to use a brush, huh?”

“Because you’re the scholar’s Peak, bro,” Shang Deming said seriously, then flinched and dodged as Shen Yuan gave him a half-hearted swat with his fan.

“And just who made it like this?” Shen Yuan grumbled. “Who cares how pretty the handwriting is… … well, I’ll agree sometimes the reports we get from An Ding are kind of difficult to read.”

It wasn’t like it took much more time, but it required a lot more expertise to write well with a brush, and brush calligraphy was more highly prized than the scrawlings done with a dip pen, where there would inevitably be splotches of ink all over the paper thanks to one inexperienced disciple or other who couldn’t quite get the hang of dipping the pen in the ink.

Aah… why does the writing have to look good? Half of this is just making archiveable reports out of An Ding’s accounting -!

Shen Yuan sat down opposite, and slightly to the side, of Shang Deming’s spot where the An Ding Head Disciple had been working, hiding from Peak Lord Duan’s tendency to unload even more work on him before he could get his backlog done.

“… Of course, if you were going to put any anachronism into this story, a computer ...” Shen Yuan began as he dripped some water on his own inkstone and began to grind ink.

“Bro, don’t. We’ve been through this before,” Shang Deming said with a scowl, glaring at the numbers on his report like they’d called his mother a bad name.

Shen Yuan hummed lightly. “I’m just saying, I’d be okay if there wasn’t the internet, if there was some xianxia equivalent of a terminal you can easily input records and crap in, and easily search through those records on -”

“I know, I know!” Shang Deming wailed. “I was one of those people who type better than they write! I regret being too wary of the readers and not writing one in! In the first place, wouldn’t you have been one of my antis who’d raise a fuss about how stupid a xianxia-esque computer would be?”

“Yeah, probably.” Shen Yuan nodded in complete seriousness.

“… Never change, Cucumber Bro...” Shang Deming rolled his eyes.

The two head disciples worked in silence for a while, both feigning intense concentration on their paperwork.

Shang Deming kept sneaking side long glances at Shen Yuan, while Shen Yuan kept pretending he didn’t notice Shang Deming sneaking glances at him.

Finally, Shang Deming finished recording and balancing an invoice, wiped the ink off his bamboo pen, and coughed.

“So ah… Liu-shidi, huh?”

Shen Yuan pursed his lips together and set his brush down with a crisp clack. He picked up his cup of lukewarm tea and took a sip.

Finally, he furrowed his brows and said, “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t give me that, spill!” Shang Deming leaned forward eagerly, nearly upsetting the inkstone and ruining his clothes, if it weren’t for Shen Yuan’s quick reflexes. “You’re clearly being soft on him!”

“Who’s being soft?” Shen Yuan scoffed. “Haven’t you heard the rumors? Head Disciple Shen sent Head Disciple Liu to Qian Cao, Head Disciple Shen and Head Disciple Liu had a fight to the death. Gods, I hate your stupid story, why are Liu-shidi and I still considered mutual enemies?”

Shang Deming opened his mouth, then closed it, deciding that he liked his face the way it was and didn’t feel like getting it rearranged ala Shen Yuan.

Those are only the rumors the people jealous of you and Liu-shidi are spreading, and of course they’ll ‘accidentally’ say it where you can hear! The actual rumors that are spreading are really really REALLY the opposite! And they’re not going to tell you it to your face! At all! Although there are a lot of people who are giggling about it behind your backs!

“No, but seriously. I know we don’t have to follow my story anymore, but giving in to Liu Qingge so dang easily… way too OOC, bro,” Shang Deming said, switching the topic back.

Shen Yuan stiffened.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he sniffed.

“Riiight...” Shang Deming returned, then jabbed the end of his pen towards Shen Yuan. “I’ve heard about it, you know. Don’t underestimate Cang Qiong’s gossip circuit!”

Shen Yuan withers, putting a disgruntled pout on Airplane’s scum villain’s face that is also way too OOC, but currently no one cares about that. Not even the two voices in these Head Disciples’ heads.

“Fuck, man. I don’t know why everyone else isn’t just as gone when it comes to Liu-shidi. That gap moe was already kind of cute when the man was 90 kilos of pure muscle, now that it’s on a tinier version of him, it’s fucking deadly,” Shen Yuan groaned.

Shang Deming blinked.

Yeah, okay, maybe he didn’t put a lot of it in the story, but HE knew what Liu Qingge was supposed to be like, and it wasn’t cute-! And what did he mean by gap moe?! Since when was Liu Qingge a freaking moe character?!

Shang Deming reached out a hand and placed it on Shen Yuan’s forehead, placing the other on his own.

“Cucumber Bro, you okay? Are you sure you don’t have a fever?” he quipped, and Shen Yuan swatted his hand away in annoyance.

“You’re the freaking author,” Shen Yuan snapped. “You can’t tell me you have no idea! For that matter, how the hell have all you martial siblings completely missed it, leaving the one who’s freaking disoriented from transmigrating in to be the one who notices that the guy just has resting bitch face.”

Shang Deming gaped at his Cucumber Bro, mouth wide open.

“… What?” he finally squeaks.

Shen Yuan gave an exasperated sigh. “So he constantly looks like he’s pissed off, right?” he asked, as if he was trying to lay out an explanation for a thick student.

“Yes… isn’t he?” Shang Deming asked.

“That’s just his default expression,” Shen Yuan replied. “Half the time he looks like he wants to stab someone, he’s actually just confused. Or embarrassed.”

Shang Deming blinked again.

Wait… really? Don’t tell him this damn world interpreted his ‘always angry-looking’ cannon fodder son into some weird breed of tsundere!

Oh shit. Now that Cucumber Bro’s pointed it out, Shang Deming can’t not see it, either.

It’s not like Liu Qingge, well Liu Yingjie for now, was particularly difficult to get along with or anything, but his intimidating aura and the fact that he could single-handedly defeat most of the disciples and some of the teachers as a second grade cultivator with physical ability and technique alone made it difficult to really get to KNOW him.

So how did Shen Yuan, no, Shen Qingqiu of all people…

Shang Deming buried his face in his hands.

“Cucumber Bro… what have you done to my cannon fodder second male lead?” he moaned. “In the first place, weren’t you guys supposed to be sworn enemies when you transmigrated in? What the hell happened?!”

I didn’t do anything, he was already like this, clearly,” Shen Yuan said. “And aside from saving his life and making him feel like he owes me a life debt, or an exorcism, I’m not really sure which, we became friends. Eventually.”

“And how long...” Shang Deming began.

“It took me over a year to figure out that he didn’t want to stab me in the face, yes,” Shen Yuan admitted.

He had no problems with admitting that.

Their other martial siblings knew Liu-shidi for decades and still didn’t figure it out-!

“So… like, is this something like trying to rebuild the relationship you guys had back in the … future?” Shang Deming asked, a little confused over the whole time travel thing, but, well, it’s time travel.

“Well, yeah,” Shen Yuan said. “He’s a good guy to have on your side, y’know? And it’s always good to get strong allies on our side. Just because we’re given a little more freedom doesn’t mean the story won’t happen.”

“Ah...”

Right. Shang Deming forgot.

He doesn’t have to become THAT Shang Qinghua anymore, but he’s still Shang Qinghua.

And from Cucumber Bro’s experiences in Shen Jiu’s past, just because he didn’t do the things Shen Jiu did doesn’t mean that things won’t unravel the way they did in PIDW.

The Qiu manor still burnt down, the entire Qiu family and not just the men were dead except for Qiu Haitang, and Wu Yanzi still met Yue Qi and Shen Yuan at the Immortal Alliance Conference and died there.

As Shang Deming gave a bitter smile at the thought of their far future, Shen Yuan quirked a smile.

“And Liu-shidi’s just really fucking fun to tease,” he said.

Shang Deming almost tipped over his inkstone again at his biggest anti’s admission.

“So like… you guys were … just friends?” Shang Deming said, trying to sound nonchalant but not quite succeeding.

“...Yes?” Shen Yuan tilted his head in confusion, his eyes suspicious as he tried to probe out what the hell Airplane Bro was trying to get at.

“Th-that’s good...”

Dear lord, Cucumber Bro… … Shang Deming pressed his lips together and decided that silence was the better virtue to exercise in this instance.

Dear shijies and shimeis of Cang Qiong… your rumors might be onto something, but whether or not the two involved will ever figure it out…

Silence fell over the small room again as Shang Deming decided to keep his mouth shut and Shen Yuan decided to ignore the awkward hamster and get back to work.

Then, Shen Yuan frowned, pausing in his writing for a moment before clearing his throat awkwardly.

“So, ah, Mr. Future An Ding Peak Lord of Invoices. Promise me you won’t be angry, okay?”

Shang Deming had a bad feeling…

“… Why…?” he asked cautiously.

Shen Yuan coughed.

“So… like… right. You know how I told you that I transmigrated in without any of Shen Jiu’s memories and had to rely solely on muscle memory?”

“...Yeah...”

“So, obviously, I had no idea what to do with any of the desk work Shen Qingqiu had to do ...”

“Oh god.” Shang Deming didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t want to hear what future him had to deal with in the past-future!

He clutched his head as Shen Yuan hummed awkwardly.

“So, like … I may have shoved it all on to Ming Fan…”

“… Even the important classified shit?” Shang Deming whimpered.

Shen Yuan lightly tapped the end of his brush to his lips in obviously faked composure.

“You know, it’s kind of difficult to tell what’s classified and what’s not when you’ve lost your memories...” he said loftily, and Shang Deming let out a distressed whine.

“You didn’t lose them! You never had them to begin with!” Shang Deming couldn’t help but wail, because really, that was the only thing he could pick on without feeling like pulling out his hair.

“And I’m telling you, that makes things even more difficult,” Shen Yuan said seriously. “Maybe it would help if we put ‘Classified’ in big letters on the top of the important stuff that shouldn’t be handed over to disciples.”

“Maybe you should have read the missives you got before just handing it over to your disciple!” Shang Deming shot back.

“Well, yes. I’m starting to understand that NOW,” Shen Yuan said with a frown as he looked down at the current report in his hand.

Sure, some of it was menial work – like converting the chicken scratch from An Ding into archiveable records. This was stuff that could be reasonably handed over to a Head Disciple or trusted senior disciple, since most of it was budget and inventory records or routine mission reports and monster sightings.

But not all of it was like that.

Some of it was actually important!

A request for research for a target for a classified mission. Putting together the reports from various scouting missions in order to form a cohesive picture, either to form some sort of conclusion or drawing a map of sightings or current distribution of something or other. Requests for powerful talismans or Qing Jing personnel to accompany someone on a mission.

Shen Yuan was a succeeding Head Disciple, so it wasn’t strange that Peak Lord Qin was beginning to train him on how to do some of the more classified stuff, but even then she had attached some basic rules, guidelines, and even sometimes her response for him to phrase into reports.

Some nights, she’d sit down and walk him through her thought process of how and why she chose to do things this way or that way, or how to reply formally within the sect and outside of the sect.

But Ming Fan wasn’t a succeeding disciple. Ming Fan didn’t have a diligent shizun who taught him how to do any of the work he just had thrown at him. Ming Fan had to suddenly make decisions and perform work that only the Qing Jing Peak Lord should have done.

… Poor Ming Fan. It’s a surprise the kid’s hair didn’t go gray!

Shen Yuan was beginning to wonder if Ming Fan had stopped bullying Luo Binghe due to the sheer workload he’d been given and the stress thereof. Or maybe Ming Fan thought his shizun was thinking highly of him by entrusting him with all this important work, and had stopped trying to seek Shen Qingqiu’s approval through less productive means.

The first thought was … well, whatever, but the second one might be worth investigating in the future…

Anyway, even if he was dead sure the System wouldn’t let him get out of taking Ming Fan on as a disciple, and probably as Head Disciple, it’s not like Shen Yuan could do anything about it when Ming Fan wasn’t even born yet.

“Please… please don’t do that this time around,” Shang Deming pleaded, shaking Shen Yuan out of his musing. “I don’t want to find out first hand what the hell would happen if you did that again!”

“I won’t, I won’t. I actually know what I’m doing this time.”

Shen Yuan waved his hand lazily, and Shang Deming wanted to cry.

That’s not actually reassuring, ah! You internet gremlin!

Notes:

SY and SQH using shij-ie/xiong is more to indicate gender and age than referencing their actual relative status. When they speak to people they’ll properly use shidi/shimei, but when they refer to ‘the shijies’ or ‘the shixiongs’, they’re referring to the older girls or older boys among the disciples.

Chapter 17: Take THAT Bai Zhan!

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Peak Lord Zheng Yanxiong stood there silently for a moment as he heard the report of what had been occurring on Bai Zhan Peak while he was away.

His face was calm and impassive, but for those who knew him well, they could see the anger boiling under his skin.

It couldn’t be helped. Peak Lord Zheng was often on missions away from Bai Zhan. He couldn’t supervise the entire Peak while he was away, so it was inevitable that such things fell through the cracks.

It couldn’t be helped… like hell that’s a good excuse for this situation.

The Bai Zhan Peak Lord being away from Bai Zhan Peak is nothing new.

Most of the Bai Zhan Peak Lord’s duties took him, and all the previous Bai Zhan Peak Lords, off the mountain for long periods of time. That’s why it was up to the elders, teachers, and Head Disciple to keep order on Bai Zhan.

So it was Peak Lord Zheng’s fault for not actually informing Liu Yingjie that he really was the Head Disciple of Bai Zhan and could start performing the Head Disciple’s duties. Peak Lord Zheng will freely admit he was wrong in that matter, no matter how much he thought it would be better for Liu Yingjie’s development.

However, what excuse do the elders and teachers of Bai Zhan have to have overlooked Bai Zhan’s outer disciples’ misbehavior?

A suitable explanation would be that they were hoping to allow the disciples would learn from the consequences of their own actions and had misjudged when they as their seniors should have stepped in to interfere.

But Peak Lord Zheng highly doubted that was what happened.

“Liu Yingjie.”

Peak Lord Zheng’s sharp, curt call made the young Bai Zhan disciple look up from where he had been meditating as Shao Cuifen had been voicing her complaints and reporting on all the things she had discovered.

Maybe Liu Yingjie should have been the one to make the report, but he was still holding himself back, worried about presuming too much about his position.

Liu Yingjie scrambled to his feet and saluted.

“Shizun.”

“Congratulations on drawing your Third Ring,” Peak Lord Zheng said evenly. “And you have done well to take action immediately on discovering your shidis’ misbehavior.”

Liu Yingjie bowed his head. “… This one doesn’t deserve the praise. This one wasn’t able to do anything without first consulting others.”

“Consulting others is still doing something, and was successful in bringing this matter to light,” Peak Lord Qin said serenely.

“I think it’s quite a virtue to know when one should consult another,” her Head Disciple said

Both Qing Jing Peak Lord and Head Disciple were practically mirroring each other as Peak Lord Qin hid her mouthbehind her sleeve and Head Disciple Shen did the same with his plain white fan.

Peak Lord Qin and Shen Yuan, were present due to … well, the complaints Peak Lord Qin had.

Not about the misbehaving Bai Zhan outer disciples. That was something that was entirely Bai Zhan’s problem, and both she and Shen Yuan judged that it was better not to exacerbate the situation and to let Bai Zhan save some face by dealing with the matter internally.

What they were here for was Peak Lord Qin’s irritation on the Bai Zhan disciples who kept harassing her dear Head Disciple for spars.

Technically they went about things in the proper order, coming to demand request spars directly from the person in question, without sneaking around or attempting to force anyone into anything, but the sheer amount of broken doors and the annoyance of the ruckus they caused on Qing Jing, making it impossible for many disciples to concentrate on their scholarly studies, well, THAT was what Peak Lord Qin was complaining about.

Peak Lord Zheng raised an eyebrow at both of the Qing Jing residents, who both smiled primly before returning to being onlookers.

… Peak Lord Zheng didn’t know if it was a good thing or a bad thing that his Qin-shijie had found a Head Disciple that was so compatible with her.

Deciding to ignore them, Peak Lord Zheng turned to the elders and teachers of Bai Zhan, who flinched as the Bai Zhan Peak Lord’s steely gaze rested on them.

“I believe we will have to have a discussion about this,” Peak Lord Zheng said sternly. “I am very interested in how all of this was allowed to happen right under Bai Zhan’s nose. Qin-shijie, do you have anything to add before I take my elders to Qiong Ding to have an arbitrated meeting?”

Peak Lord Qin merely looked at Shen Yuan, who stood up and saluted the Bai Zhan elders and teachers.

“This disciple would like to request the elders to convey his words to the rest of Bai Zhan,” Shen Yuan said. “That Liu-shidi’s enlightenment was done with his own efforts, and not due to his spar with this one. Sparring with this disciple is not a short cut to achieving greater results, and in fact searching out such short cuts instead of seeking further challenges and refining oneself’s own spirit seems like it would undermine one’s progress in cultivation.”

Shen Yuan bowed before returning to stand behind his Shizun.

As this impromptu meeting came to the end, the elders and teachers filed out of Bai Zhan Peak’s simple meeting hall, looking somewhat ashamed.

It wasn’t like the Qing Jing Head Disciple bluntly said that they had been neglecting in training their disciples’ characters and wills, but they couldn’t help thinking that the swarm of Bai Zhan disciples attempting to fight the Head Disciple of Qing Jing in hopes of reaching enlightenment, or at least some sort of comprehension, reflected shamefully on their Peak.

As Shen Yuan wandered around, waiting for his Shizun who had remained behind to discuss other matters with Peak Lord Zheng, he was jumped called out to.

“Shen-shixiong.”

Aaaah, geez! Even though Liu-shidi NEVER called him ‘shixiong’ EVER before! Not even once, in the past-future!

… Okay, so it’s because Liu-shidi’s relationship with the original goods was pretty shit, but still! How could hearing Liu Yingjie actually calling him ‘shixiong’ not make him grin?!

Resisting the broad smile that threatened to break out across his face, Shen Yuan coughed, fluttering his fan in front of himself.

“Liu-shidi, what can I do for you?” he asked, pretending to be composed.

“… … Sorry for the trouble,” Liu Yingjie muttered awkwardly, making Shen Yuan smile happily at how cute and obedient mini-Liu Qingge was.

“It’s not Liu-shidi’s fault,” Shen Yuan said, eyes curving into crescents as he smiled.

“…… Next time we should spar at Bai Zhan. The training fields are sturdier,” Liu Yingjie said.

“… Heh?”

Shen Yuan blinked. Wait, what? Next time? What next time?

He flinched as Liu Yingjie looked up, meeting his eyes. “Now that I have a Third Grade Core, and you’ve received your spirit sword from Wan Jian, we can spar again. You said that I would beat you next time, but I don’t think it’s that straightforward.”

When did he say that?! Shen Yuan’s eyes spun a bit as he tried to figure it out.

… Ah, no, now that he thought about it, maybe he did… but he didn’t MEAN it! He was just trying to say that Liu-shidi was going to be totally OP now!

“I-is that necessary?” Shen Yuan said. “If you’re wondering about how I fight, wasn’t that enough?”

Ah, shit… Liu-shidi is totally looking disappointed… oh wait, crap. Now he’s got that look on his face that means he’s not ever going to let this go…

Shen Yuan braced himself as Liu Yingjie set his jaw firmly, a determined look in his eye.

“Sword intent.”

“E-eh?”

“I haven’t learned sword intent.”

“Nonono, didn’t you get an enlightenment out of it instead of sword intent?!” Shen Yuan couldn’t help dropping his reserved facade as he yelped. Not that Liu Yingjie had been buying into it anyway, but, you know, he was here on official Head Disciple business so he had to at least try to look good.

“… But I wanted to learn it,” Liu Yingjie said, looking down as he rested his hand on Cheng Luan’s hilt. “That’s something everyone on Bai Zhan yearns for.”

Geez…

Shen Yuan heaved a sigh, snapping his fan shut as he scratched the back of his head with it.

“You know, it’s not like it’s guaranteed you’d learn Sword Intent just from sparring with someone. It’s not like that’s how I learned Sword Intent,” he said. “If anything, I think it’s better to try resonating with your sword.”

Liu Yingjie scowled.

“That’s what I’ve heard, but I don’t know what that means,” he said, brows furrowing in frustration.

Okay, that’s kind of a valid point. How is he supposed to explain it?

… Crap, this is kind of one of those ‘How do you explain the color blue to a blind person’ kind of situations, isn’t it?

“That’s… channeling your sword with qi and … um…” Shen Yuan also furrowed his brows as he lifted Xiu Ya – his newly hilted Xiu Ya – thinking about how to explain how he resonates with the sword.

The long white sword tassel swung, catching Liu Yingjie’s eye.

“… Shen-shixiong. That sword tassel…” the Bai Zhan disciple let slip, before catching himself.

It wasn’t any of his business why Shen-shixiong moved the tassel from his fan to sword … … no, he was really curious. He’d always thought it was weird that Shen-shixiong had hung the large tassel from his fan, since it looked so disproportional, but…

“Ah, this?” Shen Yuan smiled, a clearly fond look in his eyes as he looked at the tassel. “Mm, well, I can finally hang it on my sword. I have a habit of misplacing my fans, so it really made me anxious… I always had to double-check or triple-check that I had it on me all the time. I don’t know how many times I had to go back and look for it…”

Liu Yingjie remembered how this shixiong had accidentally left the fan behind at the Immortal Alliance Conference.

“Why didn’t you hang it on your sword to begin with?” Liu Yingjie couldn’t resist asking.

“That’s...” Shen Yuan looked a little embarrassed as he unfurled his fan again, hiding his face behind it. “The sword I’ve had all this time has served me well, and I would have been in trouble many times if I never had it, but, ah… it’s not a very good sword. If I made a mistake in channeling qi through it, it would, you know, explode…”

Oh, Liu Yingjie’s heard of that. So there was a chance that he could lose the tassel by explosion if he hung it on his sword.

… Being a wandering cultivator sounds rough.

“… AH.”

“…?” Liu Yingjie was startled as Shen Yuan suddenly made an exclamation.

“I think… because I always had to use an inferior sword no matter what I tried to do, and because I always had to try to use the sword at maximum strength without overburdening it with qi, maybe… maybe that’s why I learned Sword Intent so quickly,” Shen Yuan explained.

Well, that and the stunts he pulls, but that’s not relevant… probably.

“I didn’t realize it until I got Xiu Ya, but these spirit swords are already partially attuned to you, being spirit swords and all. Maybe it’s harder to learn how to resonate with a sword when the sword’s doing half the work already, or something like that… …” he said, then laughed. “Or maybe not, what do I know? Like I said before, it might be more helpful to go to Wan Jian Peak and ask around there -”

“So try using an inferior sword to learn the method… …” Liu Yingjie muttered, then squared his shoulders, eyes fierce. “I’ll try that.”

“Good luck,” Shen Yuan said, pleased that he’d distracted Liu Yingjie from requesting another spar.

But he was celebrating too soon.

Liu Yingjie gave a curt nod. “En. Then let’s fight after I learn Sword Intent.”

“… …”

Liu-shidi… why are you always like this…

… Well, it’s not like there are any… problems with sparring with Liu-shidi… and this time Shen Yuan actually knows how to use his sword, so maybe he’ll be able to actually enjoy it this lifetime. You know, instead of worrying that he wasn’t doing it right and being terrified he’d out himself as not Shen Qingqiu.

With a defeated sigh, Shen Yuan resigned himself to having to being his Liu-shidi’s sparring partner.

He felt a slight vindictive satisfaction when he heard that Liu Yingjie had destroyed five training swords several weeks later, though.

Take THAT Bai Zhan!

---

Yue Qi quietly sipped his cup of tea as he watched Liu Yingjie sparring wtih Qi Ruolan.

It had been several months now, since Shen Yuan was brought to Cang Qiong, and the Qiong Ding Head Disciple had been very pleased to see how easily Xiao Yuan had been accepted.

It took a bit of getting used to, the fact that Xiao Yuan was truly here, alive and well, and that he could go see him whenever he pleased.

It also took a bit of getting used to the fact that it was no longer just the two of them, Qi-ge and Xiao Jiu, struggling to survive and only having each other.

His manifested heart demon may have been calmed when Yue Qi slew Wu Yanzi, saving Shen Yuan from the evil cultivator, but it was only temporary, and Yue Qi knew it.

Even now there was a dark voice in the back of his head telling him that he wasn’t enough for Xiao Yuan, that he didn’t deserve to be Xiao Yuan’s brother, just look how much happier Xiao Yuan was when he was with other people, when he was free of Yue Qi’s failures …

But that was just that, the murmurings of his manifested heart demon, and Yue Qi was beginning to be able to tell when his inner voice was his, and when it was tainted by his heart demon.

His Shizun and Qian Cao Peak Lord Kang were helping him keep it under control, and Shen Yuan squished his cheeks together angrily when Yue Qi just barely mentioned that maybe he should not visit and be a bother since Shen Yuan was doing so well by himself…

They have tea every week together, now. Xiao Yuan insisted. Yue Qi fought his urge to make excuses for missing these meetings, and these days, he feels like he’s finally accepted that yes, Xiao Yuan was here. Yes, Xiao Yuan was happy. Yes, Xiao Yuan still wants him in his life.

To be honest, Yue Qi was a little surprised that he wasn’t more jealous about Xiao Yuan’s new relationships. He had been very worried that his heart demon would get in the way of Xiao Yuan’s happiness as Shen Yuan made friends and found his place at Cang Qiong.

After all, he’d felt an intense pang of jealousy when meeting Qiu Haitang, but just like with her, it felt… like a normal bought of jealousy that he could deal with. That he could reason his way out of. That wasn’t his heart demon, that was all him.

And because it was him, the jealousy quickly made way for suspicion.

He was abnormally suspicious of everyone, worried that they were trying to take advantage of Shen Yuan. That… that might be at least part his heart demon.

“Your heart demon doesn’t seem to be fixating on Shen Yuan himself,” Peak Lord Kang had said with a low hum. “Rather, it seems to be fixating on keeping him safe.”

“Is that better?” Peak Lord Lan asked with a frown.

Peak Lord Kang shrugged. “Can you say one trauma is ‘better’ than another? At the very least, it’s less restrictive towards Xiao Yuan.”

Yue Qi had been very relieved. He screwed things up for Xiao Yuan once. Letting his heart demon screw things up again would be intolerable.

So although he was abnormally suspicious of everyone who began getting close to Xiao Yuan, Yue Qi wasn’t too frustrated. Peak Lord Lan had pointed out that these suspicious impulses were good chances for Yue Qi to practice wrestling with his heart demon over fairly low-risk situations.

Yue Qi thinks he’s doing well with mitigating his impulses on a whole, but he did feel a bit bad about being a little too hard on Liu Yingjie.

The younger boy had an abnormal fixation on Shen Yuan, and Bai Zhan’s disciples had been a little … well their behavior had been out of line, so he thinks it was inevitable that he was extremely suspicious.

Yue Qi had dragged the boy out for several spars, beating him soundly and grilling him over his intentions (in that ‘I’m not interrogating you but I really am’ way that Yue-shixiong was well-known for), but Liu Yingjie was nothing if not, well, himself.

Liu-shidi was very excited and threw himself into each spar full-heartedly, no matter how badly Yue Qi defeated him.

… To be honest, Yue Qi would have wondered if Liu Yingjie had planned it, pretending to be interested in Shen Yuan to lure Yue Qi into being his sparring partner, if he didn’t know the boy probably didn’t have that sort of scheming ability in his body.

Anyway, as it probably should have been obvious, Liu Yingjie only ever had fighting and getting stronger on his mind. His interest in Xiao Yuan was primarily inquisitive, curiosity about Shen Yuan’s abilities and fighting patterns.

Seems like it paid off, since Liu Yingjie’s already burgeoning potential shot up after he started interacting with Xiao Yuan more.

Now if only he’d stop wandering Cang Qiong searching out new sparring partners all the time…

“Ah, I give, I give!” Qi Ruolan groaned, shaking her wrist to disperse the tingling from their clashing swords. “It’s not like I can beat you now after you learned Sword Intent!”

As Yue Qi looked over, he saw Liu Yingjie scowl a little.

“… That’s no excuse,” he said. “Yue-shixiong can win against me without even drawing his sword.”

“Ugh! You geniuses are ridiculous!” Qi Ruolan grumbled, but Yue Qi was fully aware of the extra training she’s been doing ever since Shen Yuan joined Cang Qiong and Liu Yingjie drew his Third Ring.

“Sorry I’m late! Wait, I’m late, right? Where’s Yuan Bro?”

As the two swordsmen sheathed their swords and walked back over to the growing group of Head Disciples, another person Yue Qi had been very suspicious of came running up.

Shang Deming and Xiao Yuan seemed to click a little too well almost right away, which made Yue Qi struggle a lot with wrangling his impulses to threaten and intimidate the An Ding Head Disciple, but, well, after walking in on Xiao Yuan and Shang Deming arguing over … literature… a few times, well…

It was a little amusing, though, so Yue Qi was able to slowly accept their strangely close relationship. He’s still a little wary of Shang Deming to this day, but the An Ding Head Disciple has been acting a lot less shifty these days as well, which helps.s

“I’m not sure -” Shentu Guang said, frowning. “Everyone else is here… should we go look for him or should we just start the meeting?”

They had 9 out of 10 currently named Head Disciples.

“Oh wait, over there,” Mu Wencheng said, a wry smile on his face as he pointed at a cultivator flying in at an ungodly speed.

“Sorry I’m late! Am I late? … Mingming’s here. I’m late.”

With his normal, terrifying dive and abrupt spin and stop, Shen Yuan leapt off of Xiu Ya, panting and slightly disheveled.

Liu Yingjie blinked before shooting out a hand towards Shen Yuan’s hair. When it came away, it was holding a twig with some leaves.

“… Shen-shixiong, were you sleeping in a tree again?” he said, a small frown of disapproval on his face as Shang Deming stared at the leaves before starting to laugh uproariously.

“I wasn’t intending to sleep!” Shen Yuan protested. “I was hiding out from the younger kids on Qing Jing, okay? I mean, I’m more than willing to help them with their assignments, but recently many of them have been coming to me for every little thing… they need to learn how to think for themselves too!”

“So you’re saying you didn’t fall asleep?” Shang Deming asked, still wheezing a little.

“… …” Shen Yuan looked away as he unfurled his fan, hiding behind it a little and causing Shang Deming to redouble his teasing.

As the rest of their martial siblings began to join in on the teasing, Yue Qi just smiled, sitting back to pour himself some more tea.

Maybe Xiao Yuan had a point.

They may not have had a family before, but now they had ‘a mountain full of martial siblings.’

Yue Qi still had a lot of issues to work through, but happiness had never seemed more in reach before.

Notes:

YQY isn’t necessarily all good now, but you know, it’s a work in progress.

Chapter 18: Such a ridiculous rumor

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“Shen-shixiong!”

The sharp bark and splinter of wood made Shen Yuan flinch.

Even after three years, Liu Yingjie still hadn’t learned how to open doors without damaging them when he’s in a hurry.

It’s probably an improvement from the past-future, where he now only damages one out of every three or four doors instead of every single one, but … sigh.

This is Qian Cao, Liu-shidi, please be more quiet …

Mu Wencheng sighed heavily as Liu Yingjie came stomping down the hall.

Actually, it should be Mu Qingfang and Liu Qingge now.

All eleven Head Disciple candidates had achieved their fifth rings, and the next generation of Peak Lords had officially received their courtesy names. Except for Ku Xing, whose Head Disciple selection is a little more unique, every Peak now had a succeeding Peak Lord.

Shen Yuan was now Shen Qingqiu.

He remembered very clearly the day his Shizun had pulled him aside, her normally serene look marred with troubled brows furrowed together to hesitantly ask if he wanted her to change his courtesy name.

To be honest, Shen Yuan had thought about asking her to change it before she had even told him the name she had chosen, long before she had even chosen a Head Disciple candidate. But not only was the System against that (been a while since he had the System objecting to anything he did), when he heard her reason for wanting to bestow the name ‘Qingqiu’ on him, he gave in.

So that Qing Jing would have a ‘pure harvest (of students)’ and ‘clean and upright years’ - Qingqiu.

Shen Yuan had told her that it was fine because the System told him to, but when he retreated to his favorite ridge overlooking Cang Qiong’s valley and actually thought about it… he really was fine with it.

He wondered if the previous Shen Qingqiu had known the blessings Shizun had tried to bestow on him with that name, or if he thought it was a curse from fate.

Shen Yuan, or rather Shen Qingqiu, was startled out of his thoughts as Liu Qingge burst into the dispensary where he and Mu Qingfang were packing medicine.

“… Liu-shidi, what have we said about being quiet in the medical wards?” Shen Qingqiu said with a sigh, turning towards the door.

“Shen-shixiong!” Liu Qingge, now 16 and already filling out the tall, broad-shouldered figure he had in the past-future, bellowed out again, then froze and turned pale. “B-blood…” he stammered.

Shen Qingqiu looked down.

Ah… yes, he was covered in blood. It actually looked quite terrible, now that he thought about it.

Before he could say anything, Liu Qingge had crossed the room and had seized him by the shoulders, looking him over for injuries.

“It’s fine! Liu-shidi, I’m not hurt! It’s not my blood!” Shen Yuan said, looking Liu Qingge in the face.

Fucking hell, Liu-shidi’s already his height. It wasn’t going to be much longer until he shot past him – even though he was enjoying having his tiny Liu-shidi around, it only lasted less than three years.

“… Are you thinking something stupid again?” Liu Qingge asked with a frown, and Shen Qingqiu pouted.

“Don’t make fun of your shixiong!” Shen Qingqiu said, rapping him on the head lightly with his fan. With a flourish, he took his distance and unfurled his fan in front of his face. “Seriously, bursting in here like this, what is it?”

“And must I remind you, although this is the dispensary, this is still part of the medical wards,” Mu Qingfang said with a sigh, but knowing that Liu Qingge was much like an unstoppable force when he was focused on something, the Qian Cao Head Disciple just turned his attention back to compounding medicine.

Liu Qingge blinked for a moment, then furrowed his brows. “They said you’ve been going to the brothels,” he said with a scowl.

Shen Qingqiu and Mu Qingfang exchanged surprised looks.

“Well, that’s true…” Shen Qingqiu said, and watched as Liu Qingge’s face paled, then blued, then went red.

How interesting…

“But how did you know that?” Shen Qingqiu said, after watching Liu Qingge struggling to come up with something to say that would express his outrage and confusion. “I’ve only gone to one today and just returned.”

“Just returned-!” Liu Qingge flushed bright red, then a thought occurred to him, and his face returned to normal, a scowl returning. “What happened?”

“There was a demonic attack in the village,” Shen Yuan said. “I happened to be in the village -” (buying tanghulu and red bean sweets – Mu Qingfang and Liu Qingge didn’t have to ask to know that) “ - so I carried the girls to the brothel they worked at, and questioned the prostitutes there as well. Afterwards I immediately came to Qian Cao. There’s still some poison in the girls’ wounds, and we’ll have to organize a mission to hunt out the demon – even if it’s probably just a lone demonic beast, to let something like that prowling loose so close to Cang Qiong… ”

Shen Qingqiu’s disapproval was obvious as he frowned and returned to the report he was filling out to send to Qiong Ding.

“However… how did Liu-shidi find out about this?” Mu Qingfang said, finished with the list of Qian Cao disciples he was sending to the brothel to care for the wounded. “It only just happened.”

Liu Qingge scowled. “There’s a rumor that Shen-shixiong was seen entering a brothel, and appeared close with the prostitutes.”

Shen Qingqiu paused mid-brushstroke, a frown on his face.

He’d done his best to avoid attending brothels, and the System never forced him into going to one, but to think that this rumor would still arise…

He was being a good person, okay?! Dammit world!

“And so Liu-shidi came to lecture this shixiong?” Shen Qingqiu asked, but couldn’t help but smile at Liu Qingge’s flushed and flustered appearance. “I’m just kidding. Thanks for letting me know. It sounds like someone saw me going into the brothel, but it’s odd that the person would think I was going for pleasure when I was carrying four injured ladies all bandaged up and covered in blood. How did someone mistake it?”

Shen Qingqiu tilted his head curiously.

“Shen-shixiong, these rumors…” Mu Qingfang started to say.

“It’s not too bad,” Shen Qingqiu said with a laugh. “At least the Red Warmth Pavilion is a brothel I’d actually pay to go to!”

He trailed off his laughter as his shidi’s gave him dubious looks.

“No-! I mean, compared to other brothels, the girls are actually treated well and get to keep the money they earn – I mean, not that I want their services, but if I HAD to support a brothel, it would be … you know what, I’m going to take this report to Qiong Ding now…!”

Shen Qingqiu flushed bright red and zoomed out of the dispensary and down Qian Cao’s halls before Mu Qingfang and Liu Qingge saw Xiuya go flitting past the windows, dipping and rolling as Shen-shixiong still enjoys doing.

It was a bit more hectic than normal, though.

“… Shen-shixiong would also do well to remember this is a medical ward,” Mu Qingfang sighed, shaking his head at how his shixiong had noisily left the premises before giving Liu Qingge a sideways glance. “… You know, he was trying to make it a joke, but Shen-shixiong probably felt at least a little hurt that you believed the rumors…”

Liu Qingge flushed. “It’s obvious someone is trying to frame him,” he muttered, ears bright red. “I just wanted to know for sure. Before I did something about the rumors.”

… This awkward shixiong. Mu Qingfang sighed.

“Please don’t send too many people this way,” he said. “We’re a little short-handed at the moment.”

---

Qi Ruolan, or rather Qi Qingqi, was fingering the hilt of her sword angrily as she stood outside Ku Xing’s gates. Although that was the only thing that betrayed her mood.

Ku Xing’s gates weren’t really made to keep people in or out – it was just a gate that could be easily bypassed with no wall on either side after all – but it was more of a theoretical boundary, where certain things of secular life were not permitted past.

Like women.

That wasn’t what was offensive to Qi Qingqi, though.

Xian Shu had an actual barrier array up to keep men out, after all, and Ku Xing’s asceticism was less about ‘no women’ and more about keeping Ku Xing Peak free of fleshly desires. No books outside of Ku Xing’s manuals, no alcohol, no tools or games for entertainment, and no women were allowed past the gates.

If Ku Xing’s disciples wished to partake in such things, they had to do it off the Peak.

They weren’t nearly as hardcore as other ascetic monk sects, only using self-denial as a means to achieve enlightenment and increase their strength of will rather than a strict lifestyle they had to adhere to at all times.

Ku Xing looked quite favorably on women, unlike some very misogynistic sects.

So, no, what Qi Qingqi was offended about was something different.

“The rumors came from Ku Xing?” she asked one of her shimeis, just to be sure.

“Yes, this is where we tracked it to.”

Her Xian Shu shimeis were also upset.

As women taught to be sensitive to information and strong enough to destroy public opinion, they were well aware of all the gossip that flitted throughout Cang Qiong.

A little gossip never hurt anyone, and the Xian Shu disciples often derived great amusement from watching how rumors would change from person to person, and which rumors would explode in popularity.

However, this rumor was a little too strange and a little too malicious to ignore.

Shen Qingqiu, a pervert who preys on women and goes to brothels a lot?

This rumor was strange, because although all the Head Disciples have some negative rumors floating around, for Shen Qingqiu’s rumors to go from ‘Shen-shixiong is a weirdo, reckless, and a bit lazy’ to ‘Shen Qingqiu is a lecherous man who spends all his free time at brothels’ is a little too strange.

It was too sudden for it to be believable. Normally there would be rumors about, perhaps, partiality towards the female disciples, or maybe just a rumor about catching Shen-shixiong in the red-light district. It would start small at first before the rumors would escalate to ‘Shen Qingqiu is a lecher’.

But for such a ridiculous rumor to suddenly appear – it could only be someone with malicious intentions.

And for someone within Cang Qiong to disrespect their Da-shixiongs and Da-shijies like this… well, that wasn’t just personally intolerable for Qi Qingqi.

It was an act that could be considered acting against Cang Qiong itself.

Also, the Xian Shu disciples WERE actually personally upset about this.

Shen-shixiong always remembered to bring back sweets or accessories for them whenever he went into town. He tended to bring them for all the Peaks, but he always sent extras for the ladies of Xian Shu, since they had much stricter conditions to being allowed to go down the mountain.

He also snuck them certain books … and although he swore he never read them, he sure had a lot to say about them if asked…

Anyway, Shen-shixiong was like a brother to the Xian Shu disciples.

Someone trying to spread such harmful rumors about him?

Well, they weren’t just going to let some assholes say whatever they liked about Shen-shixiong!

After enough Ku Xing disciples had gathered, curious about what the Xian Shu beauties wanted with their Peak, “Who is the one who claims to have seen Shen-shixiong in a brothel?” Qi Qingqi demanded.

It was a bit of a relief to see that most of the Ku Xing disciples were very confused. They hadn’t heard the rumor yet – probably because the Xian Shu disciples had been eagerly awaiting news of Shen-shixiong’s return from his mission and had caught the rumor almost immediately.

N-not that they were looking forward to the sequel to a romance novel or anything-!

For a moment, it seemed like no one was willing to step up.

… Actually, even though the culprit really seemed unwilling to step up, it’s not like the Xian Shu ladies were incompetent.

They’d already narrowed it down to several potential disciples.

Sure enough, it didn’t take long before the shifting of glances all pointed to the one they were most suspicious of.

The boy soon realized that there was no way he could keep it hidden any longer and reluctantly stepped forward.

“I did, is there something wrong with saying what I saw?” he said sullenly.

Qi Qingqi wanted to smack him across the face.

Slandering a Head Disciple of Cang Qiong and brazenly asking ‘So what?’ like that deserves getting punched in the face!

She opened her mouth angrily, but was surprised and nearly jumped out of her skin at a gentle hand placed on her shoulder.

“Of course not, but I did have some questions to ask.”

Qi Qingqi turned at that recognizable voice and saw her Shen-shixiong, eyes curved in a smile and peering over his fan.

The Ku Xing disciple turned as white as a sheet of paper when he saw the Qing Jing Head Disciple.

And yet, “Wh-what?” he asked belligerently. “I definitely saw you enter the brothel!”

“Yes, yes, good,” Shen Qingqiu said with a sigh, closing his fan with a snap. “And so? Did you recognize the demonic aura?”

“ “ “… “ “ “

There was stunned silence from the Ku Xing disciples, and they turned to look at their martial brother who was being questioned.

“… What?” he finally managed to squeak out.

“The demonic aura coming from the scene of the crime?” Shen Qingqiu said, tilting his head. “Since you saw me carrying those girls into the brothel, surely you were near enough to sense anything strange about the environment. Although I do have my guesses about what had attacked them, it’s always better to corroborate with another witness. If you have anything to add, it would help us greatly in writing the mission report.”

“… Shen-shixiong, that blood…” Qi Qingqi finally managed to say, so surprised by the Qing Jing Head Disciples blood stained robes that she had been shocked silent.

“Ah… I was in a bit of a hurry,” Shen Qingqiu said with a bitter smile. “There were four girls, all bleeding out badly. I didn’t even have time to investigate the scene thoroughly. So?” He turned back towards the Ku Xing disciple. “Did you notice anything? It would have been very helpful if you had gone to investigate.”

The Ku Xing disciple was visibly trembling at this point. “N-no, I …”

“I see. That’s a shame. Then I’ll just have to go with my assumptions in the report. Ah, Qi-shimei, if I may have a word…”

Qi Qingqi let herself be led away to the rainbow bridge, her shimeis following behind them after shooting dirty looks at the Ku Xing disciple.

“Shen-shixiong, are you just going to let him be?” one of the shimeis complained.

“That’s right! He actually tried to ruin your reputation!”

“We can’t just let him off-!”

Qi Qingqi eyed Shen Qingqiu suspiciously. “… What are you up to?” she asked.

“Goodness, shouldn’t I be asking all of you that?” Shen Qingqiu asked with a slight shake of his head. “While it makes me very happy that all of you wanted to defend me, there’s no need to go about it that way.”

“And why not?” one of the shimeis asked. “Isn’t that the best way to get rid of the rumors?”

“Hm…” Shen Qingqiu looked a little troubled. “Well, if you think about it, he said he saw me go into the brothel, but he didn’t notice me carrying four bleeding women in. I feel like that’s something that would be hard to miss, and yet he did, completely. So if he never saw me carrying the girls but saw me at the brothel, where would he have seen me?”

The girls looked at each other in confusion.

“… Within the brothel?” Qi Qingqi said suddenly. “He was inside as well?”

“I suppose so,” Shen Qingqiu said with a hum. “To defensively start spreading rumors about me …”

“He was trying to make it difficult for you to accuse him of being there too!” one of the older girls suddenly realized.

“Wait, could he have been in his trial of abstinence?” another suddenly realized.

While sexual acts were not forbidden to Ku Xing disciples, they were encouraged to withhold their desires regularly, and had to abstain completely from sex, alcohol, and a long list of many other things during their trial of abstinence.

The trial of abstinence was an important time for Ku Xing disciples that showed their determination to follow through Ku Xing’s beliefs and training, as well as being an important boost to their spiritual cultivation.

It wasn’t unheard for someone to fail, and some were moved to other Peaks while others were made to leave the sect, but NO ONE has ever gone to a BROTHEL to sleep with women during their trial!

“It seems likely,” Shen Qingqiu said with a wry smile. “It’s even possible that he’s already on the verge of being kicked out of the sect, to be honest… anyway, it’s doubtful Gu-shishu will allow him to remain based on his conduct in this matter, so we should let Ku Xing deal with it privately,” Shen Qingqiu said. “To ruin the relations between the other Peaks and Ku Xing on account of a person like that, wouldn’t it be a shame?”

“… I suppose,” Qi Qingqi said grudgingly, the other girls also reluctantly agreeing.

“By the way, Qi-shimei-!” Shen Qingqiu clapped his hands together. “Because of the emergency, I wasn’t able to pick up the sequel to that novel! Sorry!”

Soft sounds of disappointment came from the Xian Shu disciples, but none of them complained. There were, and still are, peoples’ lives at stake after all.

“It’s fine, it can’t be helped when there’s a demonic beast on the loose,” Qi Qingqi responded.

“In exchange, I suggested that several Xian Shu ladies should go help out with this mission, since the women in the Red Warmth Pavilion would probably respond better to other women. And since Red Warmth Pavilion is a rather luxurious brothel, those jiejies are also quite knowledgeable about certain trends and some gossip among the nobles…” Shen Qingqiu said.

Some of the girls’ eyes lit up, but others looked apprehensive. Even disapproving.

Qi Qingqi stopped walking for a moment and looked at Shen Qingqiu.

“… You seem to be quite fond of the prostitutes,” she said, a slight teasing in her voice.

“… Qi-shimei, please spare me from another scandalous rumor,” Shen Qingqiu said with a sigh. “But, well… it’s very difficult for mortal women to make a living without any backing. Especially if they’ve been … forced before. Especially servants. They can’t refuse or they’ll be thrown out or beaten to death, and if they are thrown out afterwards, no household will hire them or marry them because they’re ‘loose women’. Not a few prostitutes are in that business literally because they either sell their bodies or starve to death.”

The Xian Shu disciples made sounds of anger and disbelief.

“But it wasn’t their fault if they were forced,” one said, and Shen Qingqiu gave her a gentle smile.

“No, but unlike cultivators, mortal women who have lost their virginity out of marriage have very little chance of making a living. They aren’t taught how to read or write, they're usually forbidden from owning properties or businesses, it’s very difficult for them and they usually have little to no protection. Actually, many prostitutes are kidnapped and forced into the trade,” Shen Qingqiu said.

Qi Qingqi let out a sigh.

She herself didn’t have an aversions to prostitutes, but she knew there were definitely women who looked down on other women who sold their bodies.

Still, she hadn’t thought that mortal women had it so bad. As a cultivator, even if a woman was no longer a virgin, or rather, it didn't matter if they were virgins or not. They could still easily make a living with the strength of their swords.

“Were the women of that household also…” she asked, and some of the Xian Shu disciples made bad faces, as if just now remembering the rumors about THAT household.

“Mm. The Mins hired several of the women who had been wronged,” Shen Qingqiu said, but he didn’t smile. The others had all died in the fire, after all.

“Still, if there are girls who won’t despise them, the Red Warmth Pavilion’s mistress said she would be willing to cooperate,” Shen Qingqiu said. “She’s a strong woman who managed to win custody from the previous master, and one of the rare women who is running a business in this world. Of course, she’s surrounded by men just waiting for her to show any weaknesses before they swarm in to try to take it from her… ”

To be honest, Shen Qingqiu was beginning to suspect that … perhaps the original goods sympathized with the Red Warmth Pavilion’s mistress and backed them, letting the Red Warmth Pavilion become totally independent of the shady backers the mistress still had to have today.

So instead of visiting them as a pervert or even a not-pervert client, the original goods was simply a patron that wanted to make sure they were doing okay… not to mention, having the title of ‘the Qing Jing Peak Lord’s favorite brothel’ is more than enough to stop some malicious opportunists.

Shen Qingqiu would feel too guilty if he let the Red Warmth Pavilion flounder on their own in this life. He’d like to do something for them…

“… Shen-shixiong, you’re too compassionate,” Qi Qingqi chided, then slapped him on the back.

Gah-!

Dammit, Qi-shimei, you’re a physical cultivator! Watch your strength!

Shen Qingqiu coughed painfully, trying to catch his breath again.

“You heard shixiong!” Qi Qingqi said, turning towards the other girls. “Some women are trying their hardest to fight against their fates, and some damn demonic beasts are ruining it for them! Disrespect towards them will not be tolerated! Who’s interested in this mission?!”

Qi-shimei really is reliable… Shen Qingqiu truly thought so.



---





Several days later, a Ku Xing disciple who had been put on probation was challenged to a spar and relentlessly beaten up by the Bai Zhan Head Disciple.

It was a bit overkill, but Yue Qingyuan gave a nod, folding up the informal report and tucking it into his sleeve.

Seems like he didn’t have to get personally involved this time.

Notes:

Sorry for the delay~ I knew I wanted a time skip, but I wasn’t sure exactly where I wanted to skip back in to.
Qiu – while ‘qiu’ is most commonly known as ‘autumn’, it can also refer to the ‘season of harvest’ specifically, and has the meaning of ‘years’ or ‘ages’ in more literary contexts.

Chapter 19: Speaking of rumors…

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“I’ve heard that idiot – excuse me, that former Ku Xing disciple has formerly been dismissed from Cang Qiong for failing Ku Xing’s teaching and demonstrating a personality that is not in line with the sect’s principles,” the mature beauty, Pan Qingfen, the Zui Xian Head Disciple, sighed, placing a hand on her cheek, single thick braid draped over her shoulder.

Perhaps it was because her eyes were weak, but Pan Qingfen’s other senses were exceptionally sharp, making her the unparalleled Zui Xian Wine Fairy, capable of coaxing the best spiritual energy and healing effects out of her wines – as well as the best taste.

Even though I’d rather be known as a Wine Master – Pan Qingfen had said, but no matter who they asked, whether on Zui Xian or off it, the monicker that stuck was ‘Wine Fairy’.

Her breasts were also unparalleled… Shen Qingqiu was honestly shocked that Airplane didn’t write this buxom beauty with gentle older-sister energy as a main wife.

Lord knows Bingge could use an ara ara oneesan.

Qi Qingqi sometimes whispered that the Zui Xian Head Disciple probably stores all the alcohol she drank in those knockers. Shen Qingqiu just thinks Qi Qingqi’s a little annoyed that she’s never even gotten close to out-drinking Pan Qingfen.

“Ahahaha! That was a disaster, wasn’t it Shen-shixiong? Saying that you’re a hopeless lecher!” Shentu Guang, or rather Shentu Qingji now, laughed.

“Stop repeating it… that’s how you make rumors stick,” Shen Qingqiu pouted behind his fan.

“But when I think about it…” Shentu Qingji stared at Shen Qingqiu seriously, as if trying to imagine him as the subject of the rumor, then his cheeks puffed out before he exploded in laughter.

Alright, alright! Gods! Lay off! Shen Qingqiu knows he gives off virgin vibes!

… Speaking of virgin vibes…

“Huahua, our shidis and shimeis are picking on me,” he whined, flopping down next to Shang now Qinghua.

“… Bro, I was okay with Mingming, but Huahua?” Shang Qinghua groaned.

“What’s wrong with ‘Huahua’?” Shen Qingqiu attempted to say seriously, but just like Shentu Qingji, he couldn’t get it out without a snicker.

Right, Airplane Bro’s style was probably the furthest thing from ‘huahua’ possible. (gaudy, flashy)

“Alright, alright. Shang-shidi,” Shen Qingqiu amended as Shang Qinghua shot him a reproachful glare.

“Still, to think one of our shidis was so concerned with covering up his own mistakes that he dares to sully the name of one of his own Da-shixiongs,” Wei Qingwei said with a sigh. “I guess Gu-shishu is absolutely livid.”

“In the first place … even if he manages to hide the fact that he went to a brothel during his trial of abstinence… it won’t change the fact that it would ruin his cultivation base?” Xiu Qingjue, Head Disciple of the artistry Peak, Chuang Zuo, said.

She was a slender, somewhat plain woman … until she was in motion. Dancing, painting, playing music – when Xiu Qingjue was creating, it was like the world suddenly brightened with her at its center, making one feel as if she was the only woman in the world worth looking at, and that all around you lost its color except her.

And for some reason, this crazy shimei keeps chasing Shen Qingqiu around, asking him to teach her songs for the qin. Xiu-shimei… this Qingqiu can’t hold a candle to your musical prowess! Anyway, Qing Jing and Chuang Zuo’s musical cultivation methods are completely different! It’s like comparing folk songs to hard rock!

Well, she’s teaching him the combat cultivation methods for the xiao, so if she wants him to teach her Chinese pop songs from his previous life … Shen Qingqiu thinks he’s still getting the better end of the deal.

He just, ah, ignores Airplane’s accusatory glances whenever Xiu-shimei comes out with something that distinctly sounds like mandopop – or a Teresa Tang ballad.

“You’d think that’s something he would remember,” Mu Qingfang said with a sigh and a shake of his head. “Unlike most of the other cultivation methods in Cang Qiong, Ku Xing’s trial of abstinence cannot be failed or else all of Ku Xing’s methods and techniques are invalid. This is something that is always stated clearly before any disciple enters Ku Xing.”

“Ah, I heard the disciple was strictly raised by his noble parents in hopes of dedicating him to an ascetic sect for good karma,” Qi Qingqi said, peeling a lychee. “He got addicted to fleshly desires during the period of indulgence before his trial.”

“… … His parents wanted to use their son to give them good karma?” Shang Qinghua sneered. “If they want good karma, get it themselves!”

“Oh, that’s right, your parents did something similar,” Qi Qingqi mused, then patted Shang Qinghua on the head and stuffed a peeled lychee into his mouth.

“Qi-shimei, I’m your shixiong,” Shang Qinghua tried to complain, but it came out garbled with his cheeks stuffed full of lychee.

“Qi-ge,” Shen Qingqiu suddenly said, turning to look at their Da-shixiong, calmly sitting under the tree with his teacup as he watched his martial siblings chatting. “Is this going to delay Gu-shishu’s selection of Ku Xing’s Head Disciple?”

“Hmm…” Yue Qingyuan hummed, tilting his head as he considered the question. “It’s quite possible. After all, it’s more vital for Ku Xing than any other Peak that the Peak Lord adhere strictly to Ku Xing’s principles. So far, Gu-shishu has found all the enlightenments of his candidates rather lacking. Now, with a disciple failing his trial of abstinence in such an unheard of manner, he’s become much more particular about their characters as well.”

“… So these meetings are just going to be eleven of us for a while still,” Qi Qingqi frowned, continuing to peel lychees and setting them on the tea tray, free for whoever wanted them.

“So it seems,” Yue Qingyuan said with a smile.

“Hm…” then a wicked smile spread over Qi Qingqi’s face. “Speaking of rumors… didn’t Liu-shidi just finish his journey of discovery?”

Liu Qingge froze, hand outstretched to take a lychee, but now not so sure he wanted one.

Ever since Qi Qingqi discovered that she was unlikely to best Liu Qingge in swordsmanship alone, she’s taken to teasing him relentlessly.

Shen Qingqiu can’t deny he feels a little sad that he’s not the only one who’s discovered this pasttime this time around, but it was nice to see that Liu-shidi was getting along so much better with their martial siblings.

… Although Qi-shimei’s teasing could get a little out of hand…

“I toootally thought Liu-shidi would spend his entire year hunting demons in the border lands,” Qi Qingqi smirked. “Imagine my surprise to hear about the handsome swordsman that ran about the countryside, slaying bandits and defending villages from demons, and even causing the hearts of countless maidens to swoon, right, Selfless White Swordsman … hm?!”

Qi Qingqi was shocked to see unpeeled lychees come pelting towards her face – was Liu-shidi attempting to stuff her mouth with them? Good grief! This isn’t the force you should use to toss fruit at people, Liu-shidi! You could knock out someone’s teeth!

Shen Qingqiu blinked and looked up at his shidi, whose ears were turning red.

“Hm? You just told me that you hunted down bandits and rogue cultivators, but you saved enough people that they’ve given you a nickname?” he asked, and Liu Qingge flushed bright red.

“I didn’t do much. They started calling me that on their own,” he scowled, giving Qi Qingqi a deathglare. “And it’s not much of a nickname.”

“Eh? But I want to know how you got it!” Shen Qingqiu pouted.

“Well, you see…” Qi Qingqi said, leaning in, and Liu Qingge drew his sword, causing her to cackle as she fled, chased across the Qiong Ding courtyard by a badly embarrassed Liu Qingge.

“It seems like Liu-shidi was hunting for evil cultivators specifically, and found a ‘cauldron user’ who had been kidnapping travelers. A minor noble woman called him the White Swordsman when he freed them, and was deadset on trying to marry him,” Shang Qinghua said, quite willing to gossip in place of Qi Qingqi. “He got quite a few proposals from that event, actually. He left before they could even get his name let alone reward him, and got ‘Selfless’ tacked onto ‘White Swordsman’.”

Oh dear… Liu-shidi must have been so flustered from the attention that he just fled…

“It was still probably better than my accident,” Pan Qingfen sighed. “Drinking an entire tavern under and not bringing enough to pay… I was lucky that the village was having trouble with ghosts, or I don’t know what I would have done.”

Ah… it might sound like a harmless mistake, but if it’s Pan Qingfen, did she underestimate how much liquor was in the tavern and drain it dry? For a village, especially if it was one that catered to travelers, that could be disastrous.

They were probably furious that she hadn’t had the money to pay for it.

“Haha… I think all of us have had mistakes on our journeys that we’d rather not think about,” Shang Qinghua laughed, and almost all their martial siblings averted their eyes.

“At least you guys got to have your journeys,” Shen Qingqiu pouted behind his fan. “I only got a few months.”

“Isn’t that because you basically did your journey of discovery in the two years before you came to Cang Qiong?” Shentu Qingji said. “You didn’t need to go on a year-long journey to experience the world outside the sect. And hey, you have a nickname too, right?”

Shen Qingqiu flushed.

“What was it… Wayward Sword -”

“Ah-! No, no one calls me that anymore!” Shen Qingqiu yelped.

… No, unfortunately, his old wandering cultivator buddies still call him that regularly… …

“And it’s not like you didn’t get some time off. It was your own choice to spend one of those three months you did get at the Mins’” Shang Qinghua said.

“They’re starting to have marriage talks for Haitang!” Shen Qingqiu protested. “How the hell could I NOT go?!”

Yue Qingyuan nodded in agreement. “Xiao Yuan was right to go take a look at the candidates.”

“You two siscons,” Shang Qinghua muttered under his breath, then yelped as Shen Qingqiu whacked him lightly with his fan.

“… By the way,” said Tang Qingde, Head Disciple of Min Xiang, the artificers Peak, one of the unfortunate(?) cultivators whose prime of life happened to be much younger than the others, stuck in an eternally 14-year-old body. “What were we actually supposed to be talking about this meeting?”

“The schedule for night hunts, I think,” Shang Qinghua responded, pursing his lips as he pulled out the agenda from his sleeve.

“… We’re not even pretending we’re not spending most of these meetings goofing off anymore, are we?” Shen Qingqiu sighed.

---

To be honest, Shen Qingqiu was given a lot more freedom than other disciples to leave the mountain, so that might be the other reason Peak Lord Qin said the ‘journey of discovery’ that each disciple of Cang Qiong took wasn’t really necessary for him.

After all, he’d been a wandering cultivator for a long time before coming to Cang Qiong, so the Peak Lords judged that he could be responsible for missions that took him further from the Peaks than other disciples.

Still… it’s not like he could do whatever he wanted when he went off the mountains. He had to, you know, do the missions? And then he couldn’t just goof off… he’s the Head Disciple of QING JING for goodness’ sake.

There’s always something he has to do…

Even though Peak Lord Qin eventually gave in and let him have a vacation, er, go on a journey…

Tracking the moonglow swallowtailed bats along their migration routes would take more than three months, Shizun -! Ugh, he was so jealous of Shentu Qingji, who spent his journey cataloguing rare beasts in the border lands…

Well, it’s not like Shen Qingqiu didn’t understand that Peak Lord Qin was more worried about his capabilities to manage Qing Jing than she was about his cultivation.

Hell, he had been the Qing Jing Peak Lord in the past-future, and he’ll be the first to tell you – don’t trust his capabilities!

Shen Qingqiu stood quietly as Peak Lord Qin finished looking over his report.

She frowned. “… Qingqiu. What do you think about these recent missions?”

“… Is Shizun concerned about the increase in demon activity?” Shen Qingqiu asked. When his Shizun didn’t respond, either positively or negatively, he gave a small hum. “Mm, this disciple thinks the increase in demonic activity close to the border lands is concerning, and is worried about the small villages that are not on the map. However, this disciple is also concerned about the activity that’s decreased near Huan Hua’s territory.”

The first part of his analysis didn’t seem to surprise Peak Lord Qin, but the second part made her tilt her head curiously.

“You are concerned about the … decrease… of demon activity?” she said, then looked back at the report. “It’s not even all that much of a decrease.”

Yeah, to tell the truth, the decrease of activity is like, within the margin of error for the average count of reports of demonic activity.

However…

“It’s strange that the reports are increasing everywhere else, isn’t it?” Shen Qingqiu replied.

“… …” Peak Lord Qin glanced back over the numbers. “Even if that’s true, except for the areas closest to the border lands, it’s not that much of an increase. Perhaps Huan Hua Palace has been sending out more patrols.”

“… I wonder…” Shen Qingqiu said.

Peak Lord Qin pursed her lips. “Is there something you know about Huan Hua Palace?” she asked, eyes narrowed as her Head Disciple fidgeted.

No, but it’s better to be safe than sorry, Shen Qingqiu thought.

“I just dislike Huan Hua Palace and want to make things difficult for them – ah, I switched my inner voice and outer voice, my apologies,” Shen Qingqiu said, placing a hand over his mouth. Ai… what a time to have misplaced his fan…

“… I don’t believe you didn’t make that mistake on purpose,” Peak Lord Qin said with a sigh. “Well, it’s no problem since you’re only in front of me, but you should watch your mouth in front of others.”

“Yes Shizun,” Shen Qingqiu said seriously, so why did she shoot him such a doubtful look?

Eh? What happened to the Shizun who doted on him from time to time?

Peak Lord Qin: Put your hand over your heart and ask yourself if you deserve this treatment or not, cheeky disciple!

“Hm… come to think of it, I’ve heard that it’s common wisdom among wandering cultivators to avoid getting too close to Huan Hua Palace. Why is that?” Peak Lord Qin asked.

“Eh…” Shen Qingqiu averted his eyes.

Sure he has a personal grudge on Huan Hua Palace on their shitty treatment of prisoners who have yet to be tried, but … you know… given the circumstances and all … well, basically, he had decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and put that all aside and just … avoid Huan Hua as much as possible.

But … … well… he wasn’t going to not feel justified when he found out that wandering cultivators shared his opinions on Huan Hua.

“Does… anyone enjoy getting involved with Huan Hua Palace?” Shen Qingqiu said innocently.

Peak Lord Qin snorted in amusement, but she schooled her face to be stern.

“Shen Qingqiu…” she said warningly.

“Apologies, Shizun,” her Head Disciple said. “However… while Huan Hua Palace treats the disciples of the Great Sects with the bare minimum courtesy required, wandering cultivators aren’t so lucky.”

Peak Lord Qin drummed her fingers on the table.

It was true that Huan Hua sect members tended to be arrogant and somewhat uncooperative, and it’s also true that wandering cultivators tended to be treated poorly by cultivators from sects, even those from Cang Qiong, unfortunately, but that was simply the nature of having to deal with wandering cultivators.

Truly learned wandering cultivators were rare so there were many times where wandering cultivators made things more complicated or ruined the plans of sect cultivators. And there were many wandering cultivator scammers … anyway, it was difficult to say that treating wandering cultivators with suspicion was improper.

But there must be something else to it, for wandering cultivators everywhere to warn each other to avoid Huan Hua territory.

As he watched his Shizun’s brooding, Shen Qingqiu gave a sigh.

“Shizun,” he said. “Righteous wandering cultivators will only willingly trade information and wisdom that satisfies two conditions. The first is that keeping it a secret gives no advantage to the person who possesses the information. The second is that keeping it a secret will be disadvantageous to other righteous cultivators.”

“…” Peak Lord Qin tapped her finger against her chin consideringly. “You’re saying that this ‘wisdom’ to avoid Huan Hua is something that wandering cultivators think is vital to spread amongst other wandering cultivators, but keeping the details a secret from the sects is equally as important.”

“Yes, Shizun,” Shen Qingqiu replied. He shifted uncomfortably. “Wandering cultivators have unspoken rules and things they can’t tell other sects as precautions to protect themselves from being taken advantage of, or cheated, or otherwise when interacting with sects. Although this disciple is no longer a wandering cultivator, this disciple cannot betray the wanderers’ code. My apologies.”

“...Forget it,” Peak Lord Qin said with a sigh. “It’s advantageous for us that you still maintain good relationships among the wandering cultivators. There’s no point in upsetting them by breaking their unspoken rules.”

“… Well, I mean, if you think about it… someone with no background going into the territory of people who flaunt their background relentlessly is suicide,” Shen Qingqiu said.

“So you’re just going to tell me anyway!” Peak Lord Qin snapped, and this time she flung a talisman at her Head Disciple’s head.

“Ack! Wait, Shizun-!?” Shen Qingqiu tugged at the talisman stuck on his forehead, but it refused to come off.

Feeling somewhat mollified by sticking a talisman with the words ‘Cheeky Disciple’ written prominently on them, Peak Lord Qin sighed.

“Is that all it is to it, though?” she said.

Giving up on removing the talisman, Shen Qingqiu pouted.

“It’s difficult for wandering cultivators, you know. They’re often scapegoated for bad results, or even blamed for theft in order to steal their things. If a wandering cultivator got ‘disappeared’, it’s difficult to prove he even existed in the first place ...ah.”

“Ah?” Peak Lord Qin said, narrowing her eyes.

“… No, it’s nothing,” Shen Qingqiu said.

Peak Lord Qin sighed. Right, she got the picture now. Huan Hua mistreatment towards wandering cultivators wasn’t light.

“So anyway, what you’re trying to say is that you’re suspicious of any strange movement in Huan Hua’s territory, no matter how minute it is,” she said.

“Forgive this disciple’s personal prejudice,” Shen Qingqiu said with a bow, the talisman flapping forward.

“… As long as you don’t allow it to cloud your judgment or influence your decisions as Head Disciple of Qing Jing, you’re free to have your suspicions,” Peak Lord Qin said, casting her eyes towards the report again.

It seems there would be a need to keep a closer eye on these numbers over the next few years.

Notes:

SY doesn’t actually know what SJ did in the brothels and is just making educated guesses, but they’re just guesses, since he hasn’t asked SQH about it. And maybe the same rumor incident happened to SJ, but it was probably one of many similar rumors, so …
LQG’s journey in the previous timeline was likely 100% hunting demons and demonic beasts with very little interaction with humans.

Series this work belongs to: