"Peak Master, I want to leave the peak!"
Azure Yang Sword Sect.
Starfall Peak.
Watching the young man's retreating figure, Lin Xuan shook his head, though he felt little sadness. This scene had played out countless times over the past three years.
He had already grown somewhat numb.
"That leaves only five people on Starfall Peak, doesn't it?" Lin Xuan muttered to himself. Those five included him.
Three years ago, how prosperous Starfall Peak had been! With over ten thousand disciples, it ranked thirteenth among the Azure Yang Sword Sect's peaks and had even stood a chance of breaking into the top ten.
Yet in less than three short years, Starfall Peak had fallen from thirteenth place to its current thirty-third.
The entire Azure Yang Sword Sect only had thirty-six peaks.
All of this stemmed from an unexpected turn of events three years ago.
Lin Xuan's proudest disciple, Nangong Yaoyue, had never returned after leaving to gain experience. At first, Lin Xuan's heart had burned with anxiety, worried that some accident had befallen her.
But three days later, when a letter arrived at the Azure Yang Sword Sect and reached Lin Xuan's hands, he learned that his worries had been unnecessary.
Nangong Yaoyue had written the letter herself to bid Lin Xuan farewell.
She had not encountered any danger. Instead, during her travels, she had met someone who claimed to be the palace master of the Jade Pool Heavenly Palace. Seeing her exceptional talent, that person had wanted to take her as a disciple.
And she had agreed.
Staring at the letter, Lin Xuan remained silent for a long time before finally giving a self-mocking smile.
The Chiyao Heavenly Palace was one of the overlords of the Profound Domain, and its palace master, Fairy Chiyao, was one of the domain's ten strongest experts, a mighty Venerable Realm cultivator.
Although the Azure Yang Sword Sect was one of the Tangqing Empire's ten great sects, the two were not remotely comparable.
The Profound Domain was boundlessly vast, with countless nations like the Tangqing Empire.
The Chiyao Heavenly Palace was a giant even within the Profound Domain, whereas the Azure Yang Sword Sect could not claim first place even in this tiny Tangqing Empire. The gulf between them was easy to imagine.
Body Refining, Qi Gathering, Earth Mysterious, Heavenly Profound, Tribulation Realm, King Realm, Emperor Realm, Venerable, Thearch Realm, Saint Realm...
The vast Tangqing Empire did not have a single Emperor Realm cultivator, but the Chiyao Heavenly Palace had more than one Venerable, let alone Emperor Realm cultivators.
The blow this dealt Lin Xuan was immense. It had even become his heart demon.
Lin Xuan had always regarded Nangong Yaoyue as his pride. Ever since accepting her, he had spared no effort in nurturing her, holding nothing back. He had never expected this to be what he received in return.
This had also directly caused Lin Xuan to suffer a backlash when he later attempted to break through to the King Realm. Not only had he failed, but he had fallen two levels instead.
Since then, Lin Xuan had spent most of his time in seclusion healing his injuries, leaving him no time to handle the peak's affairs.
And from then on, Starfall Peak had declined year after year.
Not only had hardly any new disciples joined, but even its existing disciples had left one after another to join other peaks.
In three short years, the place remained, but its people had changed.
There were two different opinions within the Azure Yang Sword Sect regarding Nangong Yaoyue's "betrayal." One, naturally, was that she had forgotten kindness and betrayed loyalty.
Others believed Nangong Yaoyue had made the right choice.
After all... a mighty Venerable Realm cultivator had personally recruited her. How many people could resist such temptation?
And after news spread through the Azure Yang Sword Sect that Nangong Yaoyue had entered the Hidden Dragon Ranking half a year ago, more and more people felt that her decision to leave Starfall Peak and take Palace Master Chiyao as her master had been absolutely correct.
Remaining on Starfall Peak would only have squandered her peerless talent.
As for Lin Xuan, most people could only sigh.
Once the sect's most sought-after Peak Master, someone with great hope of reaching the King Realm, he had ended up in such a state.
"Hm?"
As Lin Xuan watched that disciple leave, he suddenly gave a soft exclamation of surprise. A virtual panel was slowly appearing above Yang Hao's head...
Name: Yang Hao Age: 17 Cultivation: Qi Gathering, first level Identity: True Disciple of Crimson Yang Peak Destiny: Innate spiritual aptitude (green, sixth grade) Recent events: Recruited by Elder Huang of Crimson Yang Peak, he decided to leave Starfall Peak and intended to make one final attempt to persuade Junior Sister Su Lianxin, whom he admired, to leave with him.
"Is this... a system?"
Leaning back in his wooden chair, Lin Xuan's eyes narrowed.
A system!
What a familiar yet unfamiliar word!
Ever since transmigrating into this world, he had not seen so much as a hair of any system or golden finger.
He had reached his current Tribulation Realm entirely through his own efforts.
Eventually, Lin Xuan had stopped holding out any hope for systems or golden fingers.
Yet twenty-seven years later, that long-buried word had surfaced in his mind once again.
Withdrawing his gaze, Lin Xuan closed his eyes, and a virtual panel slowly appeared in his mind.
[Investment Rebate System] Host: Lin Xuan Age: 27 Cultivation: Tribulation Realm, seventh level Identity: Peak Master of Starfall Peak Destiny: Born Swordsman (blue, third grade) Disciples: 1/10
The Investment Rebate System!
Lin Xuan, who had read plenty of fantasy novels in his previous life, was no stranger to such things.
He understood its function in an instant.
Investment rebates, as the name suggested, meant choosing someone to invest in to trigger a rebate. For now, the investment target could only be one of Lin Xuan's disciples.
The better the disciple's aptitude, the more precious the rebate.
Besides that, Lin Xuan's cultivation speed would also be closely tied to his disciples.
The sum of all his disciples' cultivation speeds would be Lin Xuan's cultivation speed!
That was far too broken!
"Lianxin, summon all the disciples on the peak. I have something to tell them."
Excited, Lin Xuan could hardly wait to try the system's investment rebate function and sent a voice transmission directly to a disciple on the peak.
Su Lianxin was one of the few disciples who still remained on Starfall Peak.
Her talent was ordinary, and Lin Xuan had once shown her kindness. That was why she had yet to leave.
Although her talent was mediocre, she had a face that could topple kingdoms and bring ruin to nations.
There were quite a few people in the Azure Yang Sword Sect who admired her.
Yang Hao, who had just left, was one of her pursuers.
"Yes, Peak Master."
At Starfall Peak's plaza, Su Lianxin heard Lin Xuan's voice transmission. On her way to notify the other disciples, however, she ran into Yang Hao, who had recently left the main hall and was preparing to leave Starfall Peak.
"Yang Hao, you're just in time. The Peak Master sent me a voice transmission asking all the peak's disciples to come to the main hall. He has something to tell us."
To her surprise, Yang Hao shook his head slightly. "I just came from the Peak Master. I'm no longer a disciple of Starfall Peak."
Su Lianxin froze, understanding at once.
Her expression chilled, and she walked straight past Yang Hao, preparing to notify the others.
"Junior Sister Su, are you really not coming to Crimson Yang Peak with me? Elder Huang has already promised me that, as a favor to me, he can give you a core disciple's spot!"
"A core disciple's spot at Crimson Yang Peak is something countless people can't obtain no matter how they beg. There's no point in staying on Starfall Peak..."
Before he could finish, however, Su Lianxin had already walked away without looking back.
She neither cared nor could control what others did, but Su Lianxin knew she would never leave Starfall Peak unless Lin Xuan personally expelled her one day.
Her talent might have been unremarkable, but she understood gratitude.
She had witnessed what happened three years ago.
Su Lianxin only hated that her aptitude was insufficient.
For the past three years, she had worked tirelessly at cultivation, hoping that one day she could help the Peak Master slap Nangong Yaoyue hard in the face.
But a gap in talent was not something effort alone could bridge.
A short while later, in Starfall Peak's main hall.
Sensing someone enter, Lin Xuan opened his eyes, only to see Su Lianxin alone.
"I don't know where Senior Brother Wang Yan went. Senior Sister Qu isn't on the peak either. She went to Azure Yang City, but I've sent them both messages. They should be here soon." Seemingly afraid Lin Xuan might misunderstand, Su Lianxin hurried to explain.
Lin Xuan nodded, thinking, Since they aren't here yet, I'll start with you and try out this Investment Rebate System.
Lin Xuan had a fairly strong impression of Su Lianxin.
Though her talent was ordinary, she cultivated very diligently.
Yet when Lin Xuan looked at the virtual panel above Su Lianxin's head, he froze.
Name: Su Lianxin Age: 17 Cultivation: Body Refining, ninth level Identity: Disciple of Starfall Peak Destiny: Su Ancestor's Thearch Blood [crippled] (gold, first grade) Recent events: Troubled by her prolonged inability to break through to the Qi Gathering Realm.
Su Ancestor's Thearch Blood?
Gold destiny?
Lin Xuan almost suspected he had misread it.
His own destiny was merely blue.
According to the system, above blue came purple, then orange, and only then gold...
Even for his former True Disciple Nangong Yaoyue, Lin Xuan estimated that her destiny would, at most, have been orange.
This usually inconspicuous Su Lianxin actually possessed a gold destiny?
No, that wasn't right. There was also a [crippled] after Su Lianxin's gold destiny. Did that mean it was a gold destiny that had been crippled?
That was it. If she truly had a gold destiny, Su Lianxin wouldn't still be at the ninth level of Body Refining at seventeen.
After frowning in thought for a while, Lin Xuan had a rough idea of what had happened.
Su Lianxin had likely once possessed a gold destiny, that Su Ancestor's Thearch Blood, but... someone had forcibly taken it away!
To verify his guess, Lin Xuan asked Su Lianxin some questions about her family. After hearing her answers, he was almost certain his guess was close to the truth.
The Profound Domain had some ancient clans with long-standing legacies. Though they had declined, their ancestors had once enjoyed great glory.
The Su Clan was one of them.
Although the Profound Domain's Su Clan was no match for the Chiyao Heavenly Palace, even an overlord-level power like the palace would not lightly offend an ancient clan with a legacy stretching back over ten thousand years.
Of course, Su Lianxin did not come from the Profound Domain's Su Clan itself, but merely one of its branches in the Tangqing Empire.
The Profound Domain's Su Clan had many such branches.
Every child born to a branch had to visit the main lineage of the Profound Domain's Su Clan at ten years old to undergo the ancestral land's test. Those who gained its recognition could remain in the main lineage to cultivate. This was the dream of countless children from the Su Clan's branches.
Su Lianxin had also taken the ancestral land's test, but her talent had proved ordinary, and she had ultimately been sent back to the Su Clan's branch in the Tangqing Empire.
"Heh."
Lin Xuan sneered.
The Su Clan's main lineage was truly ruthless. Not only had they stolen the Su Ancestor's Thearch Blood that Su Lianxin had awakened in the ancestral land, but they had also altered her memories.
"Su Ditian!"
Lin Xuan suddenly recalled a rumor he had once heard.
This Su Ditian was no ordinary figure.
He came from the ancient Su Clan of the Profound Domain and was the current clan chief's son.
Several years ago, he had burst onto the scene and decisively defeated the person ranked first on the Hidden Dragon Ranking at the time!
Even now, he remained first on the Hidden Dragon Ranking, his position unshakable.
It was said that he had awakened the Su Clan's Emperor Blood.
He was regarded as the Su Clan's hope of returning to the pinnacle of the Profound Domain.
If Lin Xuan's guess was correct, then Su Ditian's Emperor Blood belonged to Su Lianxin, didn't it?
What a Su Clan. What a case of swapping a civet cat for the crown prince.
Everything Su Ditian had should have belonged to Su Lianxin.
When Lin Xuan told Su Lianxin all of this, she was utterly stunned.
So... her aptitude had never been ordinary at all?
No wonder she had always felt something strange about her memories of the time after she visited the ancestral land, yet could never pinpoint what.
So that was... what happened?
"Lianxin, are you willing to become my disciple?"
Looking at Su Lianxin's conflicted expression, Lin Xuan suddenly asked.
Though Su Lianxin was a disciple of Starfall Peak, she was not yet Lin Xuan's disciple.
Today, Lin Xuan intended to formally take her as his disciple.
Although her gold destiny had been crippled, it still appeared in the destiny field. Did that mean...
Lin Xuan wanted to give it a try!
"Ah? B-but my aptitude..."
Su Lianxin was a little flustered.
Of course she wanted to become Lin Xuan's disciple. That had been her goal all these years.
Although she had once possessed Emperor Blood, that was in the past.
As she was now, she was merely a seventeen-year-old ordinary person who had yet to break through to Qi Gathering.
"I'm only asking whether you're willing."
Hearing this, Su Lianxin's eyes reddened slightly, and she nodded firmly.
"I am!"
"Master, please accept your disciple's bow."
With that, Su Lianxin knelt before Lin Xuan.
Lin Xuan did not stop her. Instead, he tossed out a small jade vial.
Inside the jade vial was a drop of phoenix sparrow essence blood that Lin Xuan had once obtained in a secret realm. Merging it into one's bloodline could transform that bloodline and improve one's aptitude. It was exceedingly precious and rare.
Looking at the small jade vial, Lin Xuan sighed inwardly.
He had originally prepared this phoenix sparrow essence blood for Nangong Yaoyue back then.
"This is your apprenticeship gift. Take it."
"Thank you, Master!"
Just after Su Lianxin accepted Lin Xuan's apprenticeship gift, the system's voice rang out.
"Ding! Congratulations, host! You invested phoenix sparrow essence blood and received a rebate: ice phoenix true blood (Gold, ninth grade)." "Ding! Congratulations, host! Possessed by the Luck Emperor, you triggered a critical hit and received an additional rebate: Innate Primordial Sword Physique (Red, first grade)."