Highest Loyalty

After the excitement of New Spring, life at Qingxiao Sect returned to its usual calm. Some cultivated immortality, while others practiced martial arts.

A month later, Li Qingqiu finally broke through to the Yangyuan Realm Second Layer in the underground Spirit Lake. Feeling the Origin Energy within him grow several times stronger, he couldn't help reflecting on the gap between his aptitude and Jiang Zhaoxia's.

Although the disciples took turns visiting the underground Spirit Lake, he was the one who came most often. The others had no objections; Jiang Zhaoxia even hoped he would come every day. It wasn't as though he had anything else to do.

Li Qingqiu had raised his junior brothers and sisters. Now that he was enjoying the benefits, they didn't think it was unfair. On the contrary, they felt he deserved it.

Besides, the stronger their sect leader was, the farther Qingxiao Sect could go.

"Senior Brother, did you just break through?"

Li Dongyue, meditating across the lake, looked at Li Qingqiu and asked curiously.

She had clearly felt the spiritual energy rush toward Li Qingqiu faster just now, even affecting her own absorption of energy.

Li Qingqiu opened his eyes and smiled. "Yes, I did break through. Next, I can cultivate the second layer of the Primordial Scripture."

Li Dongyue looked envious and asked, "By the way, Senior Brother, I heard Senior Yang say that the martial world ranks martial artists by their strength. Do you think the Yangyuan Realm Second Layer counts as first-rate, or is it beyond that?"

The scene of Jiang Zhaoxia killing Luo Lie in a single move was still fresh in her mind. Though it had been a sneak attack, Yang Jueding had said Luo Lie was a first-rate expert. Anyone capable of killing him, even with a sneak attack, couldn't be far from that level.

"I couldn't say. Besides, we practice to make ourselves stronger. We can't always be thinking about how we compare to others," Li Qingqiu said earnestly.

For cultivators, what mattered was cultivating the heart. It wasn't a matter of a day or two, but of a long stretch of years.

Li Dongyue nodded. "I understand. I was just curious."

They practiced as they chatted, but after a few brief exchanges, they each fell quiet.

Two hours later, they finally left together and returned to Qingxiao Sect.

By the time they arrived, dusk was near. Most of the disciples had gathered in the courtyard where they usually lived, where they also ate their meals.

Li Qingqiu saw Xu Ning standing alone outside the kitchen, waiting to bring out the dishes. The other disciples were already gathered around the table, discussing what they had learned that day.

Aside from cultivating the Primordial Scripture, the disciples spent most of their time practicing martial arts under Yang Jueding's guidance. They hadn't improved by leaps and bounds like Li Sifeng, but their bodies had clearly grown much stronger.

Xu Ning hadn't begun cultivating the Primordial Scripture yet. Without Li Qingqiu's instructions, Li Dongyue and Zhang Yuchun wouldn't teach it to the disciples on their own, and even Yang Jueding hadn't practiced it.

Of course, Yang Jueding wasn't interested in Qingxiao Sect's internal cultivation method. For martial artists, rashly switching to a different method was a major taboo, unless the new method was far superior to the old one.

Switching methods meant having to cultivate Internal Energy from scratch. That wasn't something one could accomplish in just a month or two.

Li Qingqiu walked up behind Xu Ning and asked, "Do you want to practice cultivation?"

He startled Xu Ning. She turned to look at him and asked cautiously, "You mean internal cultivation?"

She had already been learning martial arts. She worked harder than the other disciples and often earned Yang Jueding's praise.

But Yang Jueding clearly favored boys. His main focus was on Li Sifeng, while the martial arts moves he taught the other disciples were quite ordinary.

"Of course. And it's Qingxiao Sect's exclusive internal cultivation method."

Li Qingqiu smiled, looking inscrutable. His words delighted Xu Ning. She had seen Yang Jueding use Internal Energy and had been deeply impressed. She had wanted to learn internal cultivation for a long time.

"I want to! I really want to!" Xu Ning nodded furiously like a pecking chick, her eyes shining. This was the first time she had ever shown such excitement.

Li Qingqiu asked with a smile, "If I teach you internal cultivation, what should you call me?"

"Sect Leader?"

"Hmm?"

"Master?"

Xu Ning asked tentatively, nervous. She knew what the bond between master and disciple meant. In the martial world, that bond could be even more important than the one between father and daughter or father and son.

Li Qingqiu's lips curled up. "Bow your head three times. From now on, you'll be my first disciple."

Zhang Yuchun, who was stir-frying food, couldn't help glancing over curiously when he heard this.

"Eldest Senior Brother, how can your first disciple be a girl?"

Jiang Zhaoxia's voice rang out. He had arrived with a sword in hand.

Ever since he picked up the iron sword, he had become confident and bold, his edge shining through. Sometimes, even from dozens of yards away, they could hear the whoosh of his sword strokes as he practiced in the woods.

By now, everyone in Qingxiao Sect agreed that Jiang Zhaoxia was their strongest.

At his words, the other disciples all turned to look, including Yang Jueding.

Under everyone's gaze, Xu Ning's little face turned bright red. But she looked at Jiang Zhaoxia with clear displeasure.

"What's wrong with being a girl? She might be even stronger than you one day."

Li Qingqiu said it as if it were nothing. His words moved Xu Ning so much that tears began to well in her eyes.

Then Li Qingqiu looked at Xu Ning, signaling for her to hurry up and bow.

Xu Ning immediately knelt and bowed to Li Qingqiu three times.

And just like that, Li Qingqiu took his first disciple.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief. With a genius like her, it made him itch to cultivate her talent as soon as possible.

But he was also afraid that once Xu Ning grew stronger, she would threaten his position as sect leader, so he had to resort to a little trick.

This way, Xu Ning, with her Paranoid Destiny, would surely be devoted to him from now on and wouldn't betray him.

As for Jiang Zhaoxia's boast, even if Xu Ning was displeased, it wasn't enough to make her hate him. After all, Jiang Zhaoxia had saved her.

"All right, let's eat first."

Li Qingqiu helped Xu Ning up, dusted off her knees, and smiled warmly.

He obviously had to treat an ordinary disciple differently from his personal disciple. Li Qingqiu even felt as if he were raising a daughter, though he was only seven years older than Xu Ning.

The sect leader taking a disciple was a major event. The others discussed it over dinner.

Some mischievous, bold disciples asked to become Li Qingqiu's disciples, but he rejected them outright. Zhang Yuchun and Li Dongyue, however, couldn't help taking on a disciple each.

As for Jiang Zhaoxia, he didn't take these disciples seriously. His cold expression made them all too afraid to approach him.

Yang Jueding set down his wine bowl and said with a sigh, "Sect Leader, the first disciple's position is no small thing in any sect. Are you sure she's up to it?"

Xu Ning clenched her back teeth when she heard that.

She couldn't help it. She was young and skinny, and to Yang Jueding, she didn't look like she had what it took to amount to anything. In any case, she was nothing compared to his precious Li Sifeng.

Unfortunately, Li Sifeng was Li Qingqiu's peer, so Yang Jueding couldn't take him as a disciple.

"Even if she isn't, it won't matter. Qingxiao Sect may be a martial sect, but we're not here to fight for superiority. More than martial skill, I care about her character and sense of responsibility. I believe this child will make me proud."

Li Qingqiu spoke beautifully, continuing to win Xu Ning over.

He nearly applauded Yang Jueding. I haven't even paid you, so why are you practically pressing your face against me?

Li Dongyue couldn't help interjecting. "All right, Xiao Ning is already Eldest Senior Brother's disciple. From now on, she's our junior niece. Let's look to the future."

"Junior niece! Xiao Ning, you're my junior niece now!"

Young Li Sijin smiled happily. She was a year older than Xu Ning, but when the two stood together, people always felt that she looked more like the younger sister. Mostly because she was still so innocent, while the quiet Xu Ning seemed more mature.

Xu Ning's little face finally relaxed into a smile. She liked Li Sijin's lively personality, so she couldn't help serving her more food again.

Li Qingqiu brought up the Legacy System and checked Xu Ning's loyalty.

99/99!

Good grief, she'd gone straight to the top!

In Li Qingqiu's view, this was already the highest loyalty. Could a normal person really have a loyalty score of one hundred?

He could cultivate her without worry now!

Three days later, Li Qingqiu took Xu Ning and Li Sijin to the underground Spirit Lake to practice. Today, he would teach Xu Ning the Primordial Scripture for the first time, and she was looking forward to it.

The two little girls were always chattering when they got together. But Xu Ning was eager to practice, and soon even got the restless Li Sijin focused.

Just as expected, Xu Ning cultivated Origin Energy at an absurd speed.

With the help of the underground Spirit Lake, she produced a wisp of Origin Energy in just an hour. Li Sijin was stunned.

It wasn't just Li Sijin. Even Li Qingqiu, though he'd been mentally prepared, was still shocked.

Li Qingqiu turned to Li Sijin. "Don't tell anyone about this. If someone asks, just say it took her a whole day to cultivate Internal Energy."

"Why?" Li Sijin asked blankly.

"I'm afraid your Third Senior Brother will be upset."

At that, Li Sijin thought of Jiang Zhaoxia's sour face and nodded in complete agreement.

She thought Third Senior Brother was petty too, and quick to get angry.

Even though Li Qingqiu had warned her, Xu Ning's success at producing Origin Energy in a single day still astonished Zhang Yuchun and the others.

Cultivators were extraordinarily sensitive to Origin Energy. Yang Jueding and the other disciples hadn't noticed anything, but when Li Qingqiu's junior brothers and sisters saw Xu Ning, they immediately sensed it.

They began to see Xu Ning in a new light. Even Jiang Zhaoxia was among them.

But Jiang Zhaoxia's opinion only shifted a little. In his view, Xu Ning had succeeded thanks to the underground Spirit Lake. If she'd practiced outside, she definitely wouldn't have been faster than him.

Xu Ning's success made Li Qingqiu look forward even more to Qingxiao Sect's future.

As time went on, the seven disciples they had recruited from the village still couldn't cultivate Origin Energy, so Li Qingqiu could only have them focus on martial arts.

The underground Spirit Lake couldn't be exposed lightly, and having too many people there would interfere with his and his junior brothers' and sisters' cultivation.

Day after day passed.

Spring gave way to summer. Li Qingqiu had just celebrated his seventeenth birthday. His junior brothers and sisters all thought his birthday was in autumn, and he had never corrected them, because he didn't like making a big fuss over celebrating his birthday.

One afternoon.

Li Qingqiu sat on the grass in front of the mountain gate, with nine swords laid out before him. He was establishing a connection with the swords so he could cultivate the Supreme Sword Control Technique.

Suddenly.

He looked up. Farther down the mountain path, someone emerged from the woods. The man wore a yellow robe cinched at the waist and carried a sword on his back. He was tall and broad-shouldered, clearly a martial artist.

The yellow-robed man looked up and spotted Li Qingqiu in front of the mountain gate. A bright smile spread across his face as he walked up the steps and asked, "May I ask if this is Qingxiao Sect?"

Li Qingqiu replied irritably, "Can't you see the words above my head?"

The three large characters for Qingxiao Sect were carved into the mountain gate. He simply couldn't tolerate such blatant evidence of poor eyesight.

The yellow-robed man didn't get angry. He chuckled. "I can see them, but I need to hear you say it yourself. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm the new sect leader of Qingxiao Sect. My name is Mo Jiujiao."