"You're my senior, Martial Ancestor Uncle, but you shouldn't take advantage of me just because I'm your junior disciple."
"Otherwise, that Thunder Beast, whose cultivation is comparable to the Mahayana Stage, would be impossible for anyone in the Righteous Path Alliance to defeat alone. If it came to that, not only would the Azure Nether Sword Sect face calamity, but all living beings would suffer a disaster."
"Why are you in such a hurry to head down the mountain, Martial Ancestor Uncle?"
Throughout all this, Bai Qiuran hadn't said a word. He had watched silently, and when things finally settled down, he sighed. "Time really does fly. That clueless young hothead from back then has become a Sect Master in his own right."
Bai Qiuran was a name that appeared only in the oldest records of the Azure Nether Sword Sect.
"Then what the hell are you afraid of?"
Jueyunzi looked at the three petty bourgeoisie who had no fighting spirit, betrayed the revolution, and surrendered to the forces of evil at the first sign of trouble. Then he glanced at the forces of evil themselves, leaning against the doorway with an amused smile as they watched him. At last, he let out a long sigh.
Bai Qiuran asked again.
"Give it a rest, Martial Ancestor Uncle."
At the mention of this, anticipation appeared on Bai Qiuran's face.
After arriving at the Sect Master's residence on Main Peak, Jueyunzi led the elders into the main hall. But instead of taking the seat of honor, he gave it to Bai Qiuran.
His master, Daoist Qingming, had been overjoyed. He'd even abandoned his plans to go into seclusion and prepare for the Heavenly Tribulation, coming out in person to refine a furnace of supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pills for Bai Qiuran.
Ignoring the several elders present, he grabbed Sect Master Jueyunzi by the lapels.
After some thought, Jueyunzi said, "The Thunder Beast's attack destroyed the preparations we'd made to select new disciples. Bieyun, I'm leaving that to you. Restore everything as soon as possible. As for the candidates waiting in Sword-Hanging Town below the mountain, the Azure Nether Sword Sect will cover their food and lodging for the next three months."
Jueyunzi hesitated, then shook his head.
"Exactly."
"Uh, I was planning to sell it at the next Dao Alliance auction."
"We also need to move forward with rebuilding the Mountain Protection Array and the Mountain Gate."
After Bai Qiuran slew the Thunder Demon Venerable with a single sword strike, Jueyunzi immediately took charge. In his capacity as Sect Master, he ordered the first-generation direct disciples to clean up the aftermath, then led the elders in welcoming Bai Qiuran, their Martial Ancestor Uncle at the Qi Refining Stage, onto Main Peak.
Bai Qiuran pointed at Jueyunzi. "Besides, you don't practice Poisonous Technique. What use do you have for this thing? You might as well let me deal with it."
Three thousand years had passed in the blink of an eye. His master, Daoist Qingming, had successfully crossed his tribulation and ascended to immortality in broad daylight. His Senior Disciple Brother had taken over as Sect Master, then failed his tribulation and died, his body and soul destroyed. Even the youngest junior sister's great-great-great-great-great-grandson had successfully established his foundation and learned to ride the wind on his sword.
Second Elder Xuan Yunzi was the first to step forward.
"We have you to thank for protecting us, Martial Ancestor Uncle."
"Postpone it by three months."
"That does seem to make sense."
"Uh..." Bai Qiuran started toward the door, muttering, "I'll go get traveling money from little Liu Yun. While I'm at it, I'll have a chat with her about how you, Xuan Yun, Fu Yun, and Bai Yun snuck off as a group to Moon Gazing Pool three hundred years ago to peep at her and Qing Yun bathing..."
Bai Qiuran asked him, "Of the five great sects in the Righteous Path Alliance, which of the other four Sect Masters can you not beat in a one-on-one fight?"
Jueyunzi looked troubled.
"Senior Brother Sect Master!"
"And among the four branches of the Demonic Sect, which of the old devils leading them can you not beat?"
"I'm going down the mountain. Give me traveling money! Oh, and a stalk of Heavenly Heart Grass. Give me that too."
Jueyunzi thought it over.
Jueyunzi's handsome face was utterly expressionless.
Jueyunzi said, bewildered, "The Azure Nether Sword Sect's disciple selection ceremony is just around the corner. Now that the Thunder Beast has attacked, other sects might hear the news. Without you holding down the fort, Martial Ancestor Uncle, things could go awry..."
Jueyunzi still tried to refuse.
"Cut the crap!"
And Bai Qiuran didn't disappoint. He settled his mind and kept working hard. At seventeen, he became the fastest among his fellow disciples—and the fastest cultivator in the history of the Cultivation World—to reach the tenth level of the Qi Refining Stage.
"The Thunder Beast attacked, but fortunately, none of our disciples were injured. Still, it'll take time to restore the Mountain Gate."
Sixth Elder Qing Yun Yuan Jun spoke gently. "When Sect Master and the Thunder Beast fought, the power and Sword Qi they unleashed destroyed quite a few buildings. Two were storehouses, and much of the supplies inside were probably ruined. We'll need to replenish and repair them."
"Martial Ancestor Uncle."
Bai Qiuran waved a hand. "That settles it. I refuse to believe you, a Sect Master, and a bunch of elders at the Body Integration and Spirit Severing Stages can't keep the disciple selection in order."
"That's all right."
"Since ancient times, the young have deferred to the old. Martial Ancestor Uncle is our elder. If he wants something, we disciples should do everything in our power to find it for him, to show our filial piety."
"Thank you for getting us out of trouble this time, Martial Ancestor Uncle."
"Alas, Senior Brother Sect Master, Second Senior Brother and Fourth Senior Brother are only speaking up for what's right."
Bai Qiuran was one of the disciples Daoist Qingming had taken in after taking a liking to him. He was an orphan whom Daoist Qingming had found on a battlefield. Before that, he'd wandered the battlefield, surviving by stripping corpses.
Even now, the brat he'd brought through the gates when he'd gone down the mountain to travel more than seven hundred years ago had become a Grand Elder and gone into a deathly seclusion to prepare for the Heavenly Tribulation. Yet Bai Qiuran still struggled tirelessly to successfully establish his foundation.
"Mm. Qing Yun, I'll leave this to you. Take the first-generation direct disciples and oversee the work. I'll have Liu Yun allocate the funds you need."
Carrying the Foundation Establishment Pill personally bestowed by his master and the blessings of his fellow disciples and the senior cultivators of the Cultivation World, Bai Qiuran went into seclusion that night to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage. He swallowed the pill, sank his qi into his dantian, and sent his thoughts coursing through his meridians and bones. Three days later—
"Lately, I've had this feeling that I'm about to break through."
Qing Yun Yuan Jun and Liu Yun Yuan Jun, the two female elders of the Azure Nether Sword Sect, received their orders and withdrew to handle the matter.
"Seeing you here puts my mind at ease."
"You two are getting so worked up over this?" Jueyunzi laughed. "You said the same thing last time. Then the hen you'd been raising for eggs turned into a golden-core cultivator two hundred years ago, while you're still at the Qi Refining Stage. You only broke through a dozen or so levels, that's all. Do you know? Before the Grand Elder went into seclusion, he grabbed my hand and wept, snot running down his face. He said the day he emerged would be the day he crossed the tribulation, and that he might never live to see you successfully establish your foundation."
Jueyunzi hesitated. "I think I'd still have the edge..."
"What are you afraid of?"
Third Elder Bieyunzi said from the side, "Senior Brother Sect Master, what are we going to do about tomorrow's disciple selection?"
Bai Qiuran clenched his fists, his face black as the bottom of a pot.
Bai Qiuran asked him.
"I've reached the eleventh level of the Qi Refining Stage."
Jueyunzi addressed Bai Qiuran with utmost sincerity.
Fifth Elder Bai Yunzi said woodenly, "Besides, you were the one who led the way back then. When Liu Yun and Qing Yun get angry, you're the one who ends up suffering the most."
Bai Qiuran smiled. "I'm going down the mountain tomorrow."
In those chaotic times, an unparalleled genius of a sword immortal had burst onto the scene. He called himself Qingming, and with a single sharp sword, he slew demons and exorcised evil, bringing peace once more to the Ten Lands of Jiuzhou.
Afterward, he came to the area around Qingming Mountain in Guzhou, took in several gifted disciples, and founded the Azure Nether Sword Sect.
"I know you ran off over the wall to travel thirty years ago and came across a stalk on the way. You're not fooling me."
"Martial Ancestor Uncle, if you want traveling money, your disciple will prepare it for you. But Heavenly Heart Grass is hard to come by even for us. There isn't any in the Azure Nether Sword Sect's herb storehouse. Where do you expect me to find some for you...?"
"Mm..."
"Fine, you won't give it to me."
Back then, Bai Qiuran had been exceptionally talented. His intelligence and ability were among the best of his fellow disciples. He began cultivating at ten, and by twelve, he had broken through the limits of his mortal body, gathered the Three Flowers atop his head and the Five Qi in his chest, and officially embarked on the path of cultivation.
Because he had a Wood Spirit Root of Heavenly Spirit Root quality, Daoist Qingming had taken a liking to him, brought him up the mountain, and accepted him as a disciple. He was the third to join.
Jueyunzi nodded, but then asked, "Why do you suddenly want to go down the mountain, Martial Ancestor Uncle? You haven't left Qingming Mountain in centuries, not since moving to Seven Star Peak."
Bai Qiuran replied calmly, "Of all the first-generation disciples my master took in, I'm the only one still alive. Protecting the sect he left behind is naturally my duty."
Jueyunzi calmly gave his orders.
Back then, the entire Azure Nether Sword Sect—and even the Cultivation World, battered by the great war and the demonic calamity and in desperate need of new blood—had placed their hopes in him. They believed he would become a second Daoist Qingming.
"Actually, I think I might, perhaps, possibly, maybe, just have a tiny bit of an edge over you."
Fourth Elder Fu Yunzi followed, closing the door behind him.
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