Guardian Divine Beast

All the disciples had gathered in the courtyard. Even Yang Jueding was standing at the back of the crowd, craning his neck to look inside.

Li Qingqiu was squatting in the middle of the crowd. On the ground in front of her sat a bird's nest containing three eaglets and two eagle eggs.

The three eaglets were covered in dark-gray down. Their beaks already revealed the bearing of eagles, but they were still very young and had no idea how to fly. They chirped and bumped into one another inside the nest, with the eggshells they had left behind scattered beside them.

Zhang Yuchun was explaining where he had found the nest.

It turned out that when he had gone down the mountain earlier, Zhang Yuchun had deliberately bought several books on medicinal herbs, wanting to learn a little medicine. Following the books, he had gone up the mountain in search of herbs and happened to spot the eagle's nest atop a mountain peak.

He described the process as perilous in the extreme, making the disciples cry out in alarm from time to time.

Li Qingqiu looked at the eaglets and thought of the guardian divine beasts in the Legacy System. She had no idea whether she could lead these eaglets onto the path of immortal cultivation.

"Master, did you see their parents?"

Zhang Yuchun's eldest disciple, Huang Shan, spoke up. He was the oldest of the seven new disciples, thirteen years old, and had already become the leader of their little circle. Although he had yet to cultivate Origin Energy, his talent for martial arts was quite good, and he was the strongest of the seven.

Zhang Yuchun shook his head. "No. If I had encountered them, it wouldn't have been so easy."

Li Qingqiu stood up and smiled. "Nicely done. Raise them, especially those two eggs. Do your best to hatch them. In the future, let them become the Qingxiao Sect's guardian beasts. Once people in the martial world see eagles, they'll know the Qingxiao Sect has arrived and avoid us in droves. Wouldn't that be impressive?"

As soon as she said this, the disciples' eyes lit up. Even Jiang Zhaoxia was the same, his gaze toward the nest of eaglets growing feverish.

Yang Jueding couldn't help pouring cold water on them. "An eagle isn't a dog. How could it be so easy to tame? Once they grow up, they'll definitely fly away."

"So we'll have to think of more ways. It'll be best if we succeed." Li Qingqiu spoke with complete indifference.

Apart from cultivating, there was little entertainment on the mountain. Raising some pets was not a bad idea.

The disciples began discussing the matter along the lines Li Qingqiu had suggested.

Li Qingqiu listened while helping them broaden their thinking.

The Qingxiao Sect was too monotonous. Its disciples needed to be creative, just as Zhang Yuchun had taken the initiative to study medicine and even brought back an eagle's nest.

As they chatted, Li Qingqiu suddenly felt that she needed to establish some structure for the Qingxiao Sect.

For example, every month, she and her six junior brothers and sisters could hold a formal meeting to plan the development of the coming month. They couldn't be so lax. This would also cultivate the junior brothers' and sisters' ability to think like the sect's upper echelons.

The disciples should also divide their martial training into different schools. Only then could the Qingxiao Sect's martial path branch out and flourish in the future.

As for the immortal cultivators, they could be treated as the Qingxiao Sect's elite. In any case, she had already claimed the Legacy System's reward for turning the entire sect into immortal cultivators.

The most important thing now was to lay a solid foundation for the Qingxiao Sect.

Internal affairs needed proper rules, and finances needed planning!

Resources had to be developed over the long term!

It was time to reclaim the wilderness!

The more Li Qingqiu thought about it, the more she felt that time waited for no one. She had been far too lax before.

That very evening, Li Qingqiu called her six junior brothers and sisters to her room for a meeting. Although Wu Man'er was foolish, and Li Sifeng and Li Sijin were young, Li Qingqiu still had them come.

The seven of them grew more and more excited as they talked. Even Jiang Zhaoxia offered many constructive ideas.

After the meeting broke up, they returned to their own rooms and began holding small meetings with the other disciples. That night, the entire Qingxiao Sect tossed and turned until very late. When they got up for morning practice the next day, many of them had dark circles beneath their eyes.

Yang Jueding stood atop the mountain, stretching his body. Looking down at the vibrant Qingxiao Sect disciples in the courtyard below, he felt deeply moved.

He suddenly felt that in ten years, the Qingxiao Sect would become famous throughout the land. The sect would grow stronger and undergo earth-shaking changes.

Perhaps he really ought to work even harder.

After coming to this realization, Yang Jueding decided to seriously cultivate the seven disciples from the mountain village. These seven would surely become the Qingxiao Sect's mainstays in the future. As for Xu Ning, there was nothing he could teach her even if he wanted to—the girl only listened to Li Qingqiu now.

As the days went by, the disciples began expanding the range of their activities. Practicing martial arts within the three courtyards was no longer enough to satisfy them, so they began going to the woods below the mountain to train. Yang Jueding also began teaching them one by one.

Yang Jueding's attitude pleased Li Qingqiu, and she began to view him differently.

In the blink of an eye, three months passed. The weather was hot, and the ever-mischievous Li Sifeng was lying beneath a tree resting, unable to calm his mind.

This was halfway up the mountain, two hundred zhang from the sect at the summit. He was practicing alone because the Eldest Senior Brother had instructed him not to let Yang Jueding and the others see him practicing the Gale Technique.

Li Sifeng had been practicing the Gale Technique for half a month, yet he still hadn't grasped the essentials. He was almost ready to give up.

"Not cultivating is still the best."

Young Li Sifeng rested his hands beneath his head and sighed from the bottom of his heart. He crossed his legs, his little feet swinging nonstop.

He felt that his current life was pretty good—carefree and without worries, with plenty of things he wanted to do every day.

Today, he wanted to raid a rat's nest. That big rat he had encountered before had escaped, and he had remembered it ever since.

A voice drifted over from afar. Li Sifeng couldn't help sitting up and looking carefully. He saw two figures approaching in the distance, one old and one young. They were travel-worn and were pushing aside the weeds along the way.

"Huh? There's a child over there!"

The cloth-clad youth walking in front pointed at Li Sifeng and cried out in surprise. The old man following behind him was tall and carried a pack. Though his hair was white as snow, he still gave off a sturdy air.

The white-haired old man raised his eyes and immediately spotted Li Sifeng. He couldn't help frowning.

This place was so far from the village at the foot of the mountain that it was impossible for a child to have crossed the distance.

He seemed to have thought of something and asked, "Child, are you a disciple of the Qingxiao Sect?"

Li Sifeng did not run. Sitting on the ground, he replied, "That's right. Who are you?"

When the cloth-clad youth heard that he was a disciple of the Qingxiao Sect, he immediately quickened his pace and ran over.

"Young Master, slow down!"

The white-haired old man followed behind, calling out helplessly.

The cloth-clad youth came before Li Sifeng and said excitedly, "My name is Jiang Nian. I'm thirteen this year. What about you? What's your name, and how old are you?"

Li Sifeng stood up and answered, "My name is Li Sifeng. I'm thirteen too."

He compared their heights and discovered that he was a little shorter than Jiang Nian, which immediately made him somewhat depressed.

At that moment, the white-haired old man walked over and asked, "Little brother, is your master Lin Xunfeng here?"

Li Sifeng looked at him and said, "My master left long ago. Didn't he announce his retirement from the martial world at that Carefree Martial Tournament or whatever? Haven't you heard?"

Ever since Lin Xunfeng had announced his retirement from the martial world, Li Qingqiu had stopped making the disciples hide the truth.

The white-haired old man did not look disappointed. Instead, he smiled. "Then is Jiang Zhaoxia still in the sect?"

"You know my Third Senior Brother?" Li Sifeng asked warily.

They both had the surname Jiang!

Something wasn't right!

Although Li Sifeng usually feared Jiang Zhaoxia, the bonds between the senior and junior brothers were still very deep. They were all orphans, yet none of them knew anything about the others' origins.

Could it be that the Third Senior Brother still had a family at the foot of the mountain?

What would happen to the Qingxiao Sect if the Third Senior Brother left?

Although Li Sifeng was young and usually careless, his thoughts were actually deep. At that moment, he imagined all sorts of terrible consequences.

The Qingxiao Sect could not do without Jiang Zhaoxia right now!

"He's my elder brother. We came here specifically to find him and take him home."

Jiang Nian smiled. He was handsome, with fair skin, and his smile was sunny and endearing.

Yet in Li Sifeng's eyes, that smile was unbearably hateful.

"Third Senior Brother went down the mountain with my master earlier. You've come for nothing."

Li Sifeng extended his hand, putting on an expression of helpless sympathy.

The white-haired old man frowned when he heard this, then said, "Then could you let us stay for one night? It's too late to go down the mountain now."

Li Sifeng shook his head. "There are other guests in the sect. There's nowhere for you to stay."

"We'll just take one look," the white-haired old man said unwillingly.

Li Sifeng was ultimately too young, and the white-haired old man saw through him.

After saying that, the white-haired old man pulled Jiang Nian toward the mountain.

Li Sifeng panicked and hurriedly blocked their path. "You're not allowed up the mountain!"

The white-haired old man showed displeasure, but he still patiently asked, "Little brother, why are you stopping us from looking for Young Master Jiang?"

Li Sifeng glared and said, "You abandoned my Third Senior Brother, and now you want to take him back. What gives you the right to control my Third Senior Brother like this?"

The white-haired old man said helplessly, "There were many reasons behind what happened back then. You're still young, so I can't explain it clearly to you. Your Third Senior Brother will live in comfort if he comes back with us. It's far better than staying on this mountain. If you can't bear to part with him, you can come with us too."

Jiang Nian was very interested in Li Sifeng. Hearing this, he added, "That's right. Come with us. My father is a high-ranking official, and our life is very good now."

Li Sifeng was not persuaded. Instead, he grew even more terrified, feeling as though Jiang Zhaoxia was leaving him.

"No! Absolutely not! Don't even think about going up the mountain!"

Li Sifeng clenched his tiny fists and shouted angrily. As he spoke, he drew a dagger from his waist, its blade flashing brightly.

When the white-haired old man saw Li Sifeng draw a weapon, he smiled instead. Stroking his beard, he said, "Brat, do you know who I am? In the martial world, if you dared draw a weapon on me, not even the gods could save you."

"Blow it out your father's ass!"

Li Sifeng shouted with his neck craned forward. He had learned that phrase from the Eldest Senior Brother.

The white-haired old man did not understand the words, but he could clearly tell that the boy was cursing him.

The white-haired old man's expression turned cold. He snorted and said, "Since that's the case, I'll teach you in Lin Xunfeng's place how to speak to your elders!"

He raised his hand and grabbed at Li Sifeng.

Suddenly.

Li Sifeng moved.

His left hand shot up like a bolt of lightning and seized the white-haired old man's right wrist. With a forceful pull, the old man was caught off guard, lost his balance, and stumbled toward him.

Li Sifeng had another move prepared. As he yanked the white-haired old man closer, he gripped the dagger in his right hand and stabbed it toward the old man's chest.

The white-haired old man's pupils widened, his eyes filled with disbelief.