“Although I’m still young and haven’t become very strong yet, I’ll work hard to cultivate, work hard to grow stronger, and work hard to take first place in the sect’s entrance examination.”
“I believe in you.” Shen Yun Yuan stared into the young man’s jet-black eyes and repeated each word with solemn seriousness, “I believe in you.”
In the future, he would not only take first place in Qingxuan Sect’s entrance examination; he would even rise to become the number-one sword cultivator in the cultivation world.
For his innate Dragon Clan bloodline had already destined him to be extraordinary.
In the original story, before the male protagonist Xie Zhao’s Dragon Clan bloodline awakened, he was merely an ordinary-talented disciple in Qingxuan Sect. Relying on his own acquired diligence and hard work, he had only barely managed to distinguish himself within the sect.
Compared with those who were naturally gifted in cultivation, however, he was clearly somewhat lacking.
It was not until he reached adulthood at the age of eighteen that he underwent his first remolding of his innate constitution.
His initially ordinary cultivation aptitude from childhood would make a single leap, transforming him into a naturally born Sacred Cultivation Body.
Afterward, he would sweep through the entrance disciple competition of Xianling Sect and claim the championship, becoming a disciple under Venerable Yuhua.
From then on, his cultivation would advance at an utterly terrifying speed, leaving behind the favored geniuses of the various great sects at a height no one could hope to reach.
Hearing the affirmation of himself in Senior Sister’s words, the young man could not help but develop beautiful hopes for the future.
Then Shen Yun Yuan saw the young man’s jet-black eyes gleam with blazing heat. With his ears flushed red, he said to her, “A-Zhao will never disappoint Senior Sister!”
At that moment, the eyes with which the young man looked at her held the purest and most ardent love of a green youth.
It was a pity that later, Shen Yun Yuan would throw him away with her own hands.
*
During this period, the disciples of the Sword Practice Hall all noticed that Xie Zhao had changed.
Of course, he had become even more reckless with his life!
The boy had already been absurdly diligent to begin with. Now, after Sword Venerable’s classes ended, he would even practice for an additional hour.
Even Song Yihen, who was known among the disciples as a sword fanatic, was beginning to find it unbearable.
After exchanging several rounds with Xie Zhao, Song Yihen slid to the ground and collapsed there completely.
“I’m not fighting anymore, I’m not fighting anymore.” The man could not help waving his hand as he rubbed his waist. “If I keep fighting this brat, your Senior Brother’s old bones are going to fall apart.”
“Senior Brother, what are you saying?” Xie Zhao deftly flicked out a beautiful flourish with his sword before placing it on the sword rack to the side. “Senior Brother is in the prime of youth. Why belittle yourself?”
“What your Senior Brother Yihen means is that he admits defeat. I’m right, aren’t I?”
As soon as Chang Yi said this, Song Yihen, lying on the ground, snapped angrily, “You’re the one who talks too much.”
As he spoke, he raised his leg to kick him, but Chang Yi nimbly dodged it.
Then Chang Yi smiled and draped an arm over the young man’s shoulder, asking, “A-Zhao, tell us honestly. What happened to you lately?”
“Exactly.” Another disciple nearby could not help speaking up. “First you moved out of Senior Sister Yun Yuan’s Floating Cloud Peak, and then you started cultivating even harder than before. Why is that?”
“Did you have a fight with Senior Sister Yun Yuan?”
“Of course not!” Xie Zhao hurriedly defended himself. “Senior Sister and I have an excellent relationship! The reason I moved out of Senior Sister’s Floating Cloud Peak is that I’ve grown up. I can’t spend every day running around Senior Sister.”
More importantly, he needed to work hard at cultivation and become stronger. That way, he could confess his feelings to Senior Sister and become her cultivation partner.
Naturally, Xie Zhao did not tell everyone present those words, because he understood the principle that too much talk could lead to trouble.
As for anything related to Senior Sister, he had to believe in it—even if it was superstition.
Hearing this, Chang Yi burst out laughing. He reached over and rubbed the boy’s head, teasing, “You’re a little brat who hasn’t even finished growing your hair. How exactly have you grown up?”
As he spoke, Chang Yi even cruelly extended a hand to compare their heights. The sixteen-year-old boy had only just reached the level of his nose.
Xie Zhao was the youngest disciple among this group of senior and junior brothers.
That was also because when they had first met Xie Zhao, he had been only six years old—a tiny little bundle hiding behind the young Yun Yuan, clutching tightly to the girl’s sleeve and looking terribly frightened of people.
Even though a full ten years had passed, in their eyes Xie Zhao still looked like a child who had not grown up.
Besides, he was only sixteen. He truly had not grown up yet.
Xie Zhao said, “In a few more years, I’ll definitely grow taller.”
To be honest, Xie Zhao was not short among disciples his age. Unfortunately, his Senior Brothers were all tall, handsome men five or six years older than him, which put him under considerable pressure.
“What are all of you doing gathered here? It’s so late, and you still haven’t gone back to sleep?!” Just as everyone was talking, a woman’s voice suddenly came from the doorway.
It was Senior Sister Feng Yao.
Seeing that the disciples were still lingering in the Sword Practice Hall, Feng Yao’s gaze fell on Song Yihen and Chang Yi in the distance. “The two of you stay behind. Go to Jiangzhen Platform for group training later.”
Upon hearing this, the two men, who had still looked somewhat human a moment before, instantly wilted.
“What? You might as well kill me. We still have to train this late at night? Please spare this old man!”
Seeing their appearance, Feng Yao became furious. She rolled up the book in her hand and gave each of them a knock on the head.
“Can the two of you act a little more like Senior Brothers? The Immortal Alliance Conference is less than two months away. This year, we absolutely must win honor for the sect. We cannot let people look down on Qingxuan Sect again.”
Hearing this, Song Yihen, who was sitting on the ground, could not help saying, “Is there really any shortage of times when people have looked down on Qingxuan Sect?”
As soon as he said this, the expression on Feng Yao’s face, standing before the two men, stiffened.
“This time… it will definitely be different.”
After Feng Yao finished speaking, she did not bother with the expressions of the two men beside her. She merely tossed out, “I’ll be waiting for you at Jiangzhen Platform,” and then turned around and left.
Listening to the conversation among the three Senior Sisters and Senior Brothers, the disciples present faintly sensed something unusual within it.
The Immortal Alliance Conference was held once every three years. It was a competition organized by the various great sects to compare the strength of their disciples.
It was held at Xianling Sect, known as the number-one immortal sect in the cultivation world.
Qingxuan Sect had received an invitation to every Immortal Alliance Conference in the past, but the rankings it obtained each time had been utterly disgraceful.
At the previous Immortal Alliance Conference, Chang Yi, Feng Yao, and three others had formed a five-person team and gone to participate.
Before leaving, they had naturally been brimming with fighting spirit and full of excitement, believing that they could obtain a good ranking at the Immortal Alliance Conference and bring honor to Qingxuan Sect.
But only after they arrived did they understand what the Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters who had participated in the previous Immortal Alliance Conference had meant by their hesitant expressions as they watched them depart the sect.
Only after going to Xianling Sect did they realize that their diligence and hard work were utterly insignificant compared with true talent.
What was more, there was a chain of discrimination even among the sects themselves.
“Huh? Qingxuan Sect? Never heard of it.”
“Did you come from some remote backwater in the middle of nowhere? Hahahahaha!”
“My god, look at the clothes they’re wearing. Even the servants in my household don’t wear fabric this coarse.”
“They’re so pathetically shabby!”
…
…
Those mocking and contemptuous words crushed the young men’s dignity and pride until they were utterly humiliated in that instant.
It was also at that moment that they understood that family background and talent were chasms that ordinary people like them could never cross, no matter how hard they worked.
At the Immortal Alliance Conference three years ago, Qingxuan Sect had not even made it into the top five.