Li Wangqing had never particularly liked her name, even as a child.
The powerful cultivators of the first-rate sects were always meticulous when naming their disciples. Whenever a new disciple joined the sect, they would burn incense, bathe, choose an auspicious hour, and consult the divination charts. They feared that giving a disciple an unsuitable name might ruin the child’s entire life.
Take her senior sister, Yu Wanqing, for example. A princess of the former Hai Sang Kingdom, the most dazzling prodigy of the Xingyun Sect, and the dream lover of the younger generation in the Honglu Cultivation Realm. Her name had been bestowed upon her when the sect consulted an old almanac, selected the most auspicious day, opened the mountain gates, and established an altar to pray for blessings. Auspicious clouds had appeared in response, and thus her name had been chosen.
Wanqing. What a lovely name. Even without saying it aloud, just rolling it around on one’s tongue evoked a lingering, tender sentiment.
But when it came time to name Li Wangqing, her master had only just lit the talisman paper when heavenly lightning came crashing down with a deafening barrage of thunderbolts. Apart from her master and herself, the entire main peak of the Xingyun Sect, Sì Wangchuan, was reduced to scorched earth.
According to the survivors, her master had brushed the ashes off the offering table and somehow made out a few words in the crooked, jagged marks left by the lightning. Then, reaching beneath his sleeve, he pulled her out and said,
“Then let’s call you ‘Wangqing.’ How does that sound?”
Li Wangqing shook her head. “No good.”
Her master conjured a candied hawthorn skewer and tried persuading her a second time. “There’s nowhere else left to blow up. Why don’t we just make do with it?”
Fine, then.
She had been little at the time, and the candied hawthorns had immediately captivated her. Whatever her master said went.
She should never have settled for it. She should have insisted on the matter with every ounce of stubbornness she possessed.
Only after growing up did she realize that, to get by in this Honglu cultivation world, one either had to succeed on the battlefield or find success in love.
And Li Wangqing, one of the only two direct disciples of the Xingyun Sect’s sect master, had managed to grasp neither fish nor bear’s paw. Not only was her cultivation progress miserable, but she had failed to find a cultivation partner, too.
Her master paid absolutely no attention to her lifelong prospects. He had once comforted her by saying, “A lonely woman stays young forever.”
He said the same thing year after year. She was almost seventy, for heaven’s sake. What the hell was there left to preserve about her youth?
Furthermore, sword cultivators followed a different path from spell cultivators, who built their foundations and formed their golden cores. When the latter encountered a bottleneck, they could simply swallow a medicinal pill and force a breakthrough.
Sword cultivators did not enjoy such long lifespans. Moreover, once they possessed a natal sword, any pill used to force a breakthrough would leave medicinal poison in their natal sword, making cultivation even more difficult.
Consequently, the best way for a sword cultivator to break through was to find a suitable cultivation partner.
When faced with an insurmountable bottleneck, all they needed to do was share a little romantic sentiment with their partner. As long as their hearts resonated with one another, their cultivation would improve together, achieving twice the results with half the effort.
Since forming a cultivation partnership with a sword cultivator offered so many benefits, cultivators from the Xingyun Sect, where practically everyone practiced the sword, had always been highly sought after in the matchmaking market.
Well, everyone except her.
She still had to blame her master for being so careless. Of all the names he could have chosen, why Wangqing? It sounded as though she were destined to spend her life beside a lonely Buddhist lamp, forsaking worldly attachments…
He might as well have named her Wangcai, for all the difference it would have made.
After pondering this for a long while, Li Wangqing looked at the male cultivator she had encountered by chance in this secret realm. She could already foresee how their encounter would end.
“…So, judging by your lovely appearance and the exquisite spell you just performed, might you have some connection with the Hehuan Sect…”
“I’m a proper sword cultivator. The kind who hopes to find one person with whom to share a devoted heart, grow old together, and ascend to immortality side by side. I’m not from the Hehuan Sect, nor am I from the Haitang Sect.” Li Wangqing explained as she flew alongside the male cultivator.
To return to the present situation, they were in a secret realm that Li Wangqing had happened to pass through. At someone’s request, she had rescued a male cultivator who had been trapped among a horde of demonic beasts. They were now making their way out of the secret realm together.
The moment the man learned that Li Wangqing was a sword cultivator, his enthusiasm increased considerably.
“So that’s how it is! When I saw you save me from those demonic creatures’ claws earlier, you weren’t carrying a sword. I assumed you were an ordinary spell cultivator. I never expected you to be a sword cultivator!”
Li Wangqing nodded modestly. “Once we cross the mountain ahead, the demonic beasts won’t pursue us any farther. Your fellow disciples are also waiting for you at the edge of the secret realm.”
The woman before him wore a smoky blue-green skirt patterned with crescent-shaped ripples. Her skin was as white as snow, and her hair was as dark as ink. Her gaze was languid, like a mirror reflecting the water and sky.
In contrast to her tranquil appearance, her right hand, though seemingly slender, revealed prominent tendons around the wrist whenever she exerted force. It was clear that she had practiced the sword for many years. Even more strikingly, the back of her hand was covered in intricate, uncanny golden markings, with faint currents of flame seemingly flowing through them.
The two contrasting qualities of her appearance—elegant beauty and bewitching allure—blended together. Combined with her calm, unhurried manner of speaking, they had already made a favorable impression on the man during their brief journey.
He glanced around. After fleeing for so long, they had finally reached the edge of the secret realm, and he could relax at last. Taking advantage of the moment, he initiated another conversation.
“Thank you for taking the trouble to escort me out of the secret realm. To be completely honest, I’m a direct disciple of the Jindi Sect.”
The Jindi Sect was the largest sect in the surrounding region. Ordinarily, mentioning its name would prompt even a wandering cultivator to exchange a few polite words. Yet the female cultivator beside him remained entirely unmoved.
Reading her expression, the Jindi Sect disciple became certain that she, too, came from an impressive background. He continued, “You have saved my life, fellow cultivator. Why not accompany me back to my sect as a guest? It would give me the opportunity to entertain you properly.”
Li Wangqing shook her head. “I appreciate the offer, but my sect previously assigned me to an external patrol. I’ve already exceeded my deadline by quite some time, and my natal sword isn’t functioning very well either. I need to return to the sect and have it repaired. Until we meet again.”
The man looked disappointed, but he had no intention of giving up.
“Although my sect cannot compare with giants like the Xingyun Sect or Yulong Capital, we have achieved some modest success in sword forging. Might I take a look at your natal sword? Perhaps I could help you repair it.”
Asking a female sword cultivator of the opposite sex to show him her natal sword was a somewhat improper request in the Honglu Realm. It was roughly equivalent to saying, How about we check whether our birth dates are compatible?
Upon hearing this, Li Wangqing’s dark eyes narrowed slightly. She looked as though she wanted to speak but hesitated.
The male cultivator assumed she was shy.
“I was being presumptuous. I should have introduced my own sword first. Please, take a look.”
He drew the long sword from his back, his face filled with pride.
“It’s three chi and four cun long, forged from Blackwater Cold Iron. A fifth-tier artifact refiner personally quenched it by hand, and it’s powered by a water spirit core. When activated, it can cover three hundred paces in a single breath. Just listen to that magnificent ringing of the sword! If I’m fortunate enough to receive your sword tassel, then the two of us, with our combined strengths, could…”
Before he could finish, he saw the female sword cultivator opposite him, who had seemed increasingly interested, reach up and pull a hairpin from her hair.
Upon closer inspection, he realized that it wasn’t actually a hairpin but a sword weapon that had been shrunk to the size of one.
With a grating, teeth-aching creak, the sword weakly unfolded, revealing the true appearance of her natal sword.
“This sword…” The male cultivator examined Li Wangqing’s weapon from every possible angle, inspecting it as though he were diagnosing a patient. Then he exclaimed in shock, “Could this be an ancient treasure you just dug out of some ancient cultivator’s tomb?”
Li Wangqing weighed the rusty sword in her hand. She rather appreciated his tactful choice of words and began introducing it.
“This is indeed my natal sword. It’s two chi and eight cun long, assembled from scraps and slag left over from a ruined iron furnace, with the addition of some mung bean soup my master accidentally spilled. When it came out of the furnace, it cured the entire sect’s bad temper. Since its owner—me—has little of my lifespan remaining and has been unable to find a cultivation partner with whom to practice a dual cultivation technique, it’s been rusting ever since.”
The male cultivator fell silent.
As the saying went, a natal sword was the reflection of one’s Dao heart. If the heart of the sword was obscured by dust, it meant the cultivator’s Dao heart was clouded and their path to seeking the Dao would inevitably be fraught with difficulties.
But the rusty sword before him could hardly be described as merely dust-covered.
Even among the wicked criminals who burned, slaughtered, looted, and pillaged in the Suxi Prison Sea, he had never seen anyone whose natal sword was rusted to such an extent.
Good heavens! There could actually be such a sickly, hopeless wreck among sword cultivators!
If he married a useless sword cultivator like this, forget advancing his cultivation—he would be lucky if she didn’t drag his cultivation level down with hers.
“Fellow cultivator, you aren’t making fun of me, are you? I sincerely wish to form a friendship with you.” Cold sweat appeared on the male cultivator’s forehead. He instinctively edged farther away from her, even changing his form of address from “immortal maiden” to “fellow cultivator.”
Li Wangqing remained expressionless. “I’m being perfectly sincere, too. If you agree, we can return to our respective sects immediately, inform our elders, and exchange sword tassels tomorrow. We could even establish a blood oath of mutual understanding.”
“……”
So casual about it? She must belong to some obscure, third-rate sect.
Damn it. He was about to get himself entangled with her.
Seeing his expression change repeatedly, as though someone had overturned a dye vat across his face, Li Wangqing gradually lost interest.
“Are we still going to pursue this?” she asked quietly.
The male cultivator let out an awkward cry and clutched his chest. “To be honest, the injuries I sustained in the secret realm are acting up…”
“I remember you were pecked on the butt by a Heart-Rending Blood Swallow. Your butt should be hurting.”
Male cultivator: “The bird’s beak was poisonous. The poison has reached my heart by now. And it seems to be getting late, so perhaps today we should…”
Seeing him prepare to run, Li Wangqing, who hadn’t taken the matter seriously in the first place, called after him.
“Wait.”
“Ah, well… Immortal maiden, I’ve just calculated the auspicious dates, and today isn’t suitable for seeking a romantic connection or forming a cultivation partnership…”
As he scrambled to come up with an excuse, a violent demonic wind suddenly rose behind them, making the forest canopy surge in waves beneath their feet.
Both turned around.
The swallows and sparrows nesting in the frost-covered forest scattered in every direction. Those that failed to escape in time were torn to pieces by the enormous, dark mass of birds swooping in behind them.
“The Heart-Rending Blood Swallows! They’ve caught up with us again!”
The male cultivator had only just escaped being surrounded by these demonic creatures. Seeing them again, he was immediately terrified out of his wits. He stepped onto his flying sword and prepared to flee.
“Immortal maiden, let’s hurry! The boundary of this secret realm is just ahead. As long as we—”
Before he could finish, the cloud of Heart-Rending Blood Swallows swooped down to attack.
The female sword cultivator, who had appeared so indifferent just moments ago, came to a halt in midair and turned her sword around, pressing its blade behind her waist.
“What are you doing?! We only managed to escape earlier because we used Concealment Talismans. Right now, we have less than thirty percent of our spiritual power remaining. You—”
The male cultivator was horrified.
After weighing his options for a moment, he decided there was no reason to throw his life away for a female cultivator he had only just met. He was about to channel spiritual power into his feet and make a quick getaway when an indescribably powerful spiritual pressure suddenly emerged from Li Wangqing’s sword.
That sword?!
While the male cultivator stared in disbelief, Li Wangqing drew her sword and swept it sideways. Her rusty blade hummed, and the rust trembled violently. Then, as the sword tassel fluttered, a streak of icy sword energy swept outward, cleansing the air in its wake.
“Sharpening Edge Style: Splitting Bamboo.”
As she softly uttered the name of the technique, the crescent-shaped sword arc she unleashed traveled more than a hundred feet. With a resonant hum, its blue-green light swept across the landscape.
Thousands upon thousands of Heart-Rending Blood Swallows in the distance froze in the same instant.
The shrill cries of the birds were cut off. Their beating wings were suspended in midair. In the next moment, clouds of blood burst outward like fireworks.
The heavens and earth fell silent.
Only a vast rain of blood poured slowly down, accompanied by the shattered corpses of the demonic creatures. Even the surrounding mountains seemed to have darkened by seven shades.
The male cultivator stood rooted to the spot, his mouth hanging open in disbelief.
“You… You’re not a sword cultivator at the Sharpening Edge realm, are you?”
Li Wangqing grasped the sword tassel. After waiting for its vibrations to subside slightly, she spun it halfway around in her hand until the sword shrank back to the size of a hairpin. She tucked it into her hair again and glanced back at him.
“Fellow cultivator, you’ve misunderstood. We’re at the same cultivation level. I was merely relying on a treasure bestowed upon me by my sect.”
Sword cultivators had six cultivation realms: Sharpening Edge, Unsheathing, Cutting Gold, Shattering Jade, Concealing One’s Talent, and Annihilating the Void.
To annihilate such a vast horde of demonic beasts with a single sword strike, one would have to be at least at the Cutting Gold realm.
Unless some senior expert was pretending to be a low-level cultivator just to toy with others, the only explanation was that the woman before him had an exceptionally powerful background and had been given a treasure by an elder.
In any case, their Jindi Sect would never entrust such a treasure to a low-level cultivator.
The male cultivator swallowed nervously, unsure what to do. Just then, his fellow disciples from the Jindi Sect arrived at the edge of the secret realm to receive him.
“Senior Brother! You’ve finally made it out! It’s not that we refused to rescue you. Our cultivation simply wasn’t strong enough. Only disciples from the upper sects could enter a secret realm like this.” One of the Jindi Sect disciples smiled ingratiatingly. “Fortunately, this immortal maiden from an upper sect happened to pass by, and that’s how…”
An upper sect was exactly what the name suggested: a sect of superior standing.
The male cultivator stared at Li Wangqing, utterly dumbfounded.
She casually adjusted the flowing-cloud sword tassel attached to her sword hairpin. Her brows drew together slightly before relaxing back into their usual languid expression. Sword light flickered beneath her feet.
Before leaving, she called back the words she had meant to tell him earlier.
“I almost forgot to mention this. My rescue service wasn’t free. I accepted a commission from your sect to save you, so don’t forget to settle the bill with my sect. Farewell.”
During the few seconds the male cultivator stood there in a daze, Li Wangqing had already disappeared into the distance.
He hurriedly called after her, “I haven’t had the chance to ask! Which sect are you from, immortal maiden?”
From the distant red sword light that was gradually fading away came a faint reply.
“The Xingyun Sect. Li Wangqing.”
…
Xingyun Sect — Triple-Fold Terrace
“…Forty-six thousand outer sect disciples have all completed their patrols. Their natal swords sensed possible Fallen Beast locations in three places. One Fallen Beast was discovered, with three hundred casualties.”
“Three thousand five hundred and ten inner sect disciples have all completed their patrols. Five locations suspected of harboring Fallen Beasts have been investigated, and no abnormalities were found.”
“Four hundred and seventy-nine true disciples have all completed their patrols. One Fallen Beast was discovered in the Great Marsh Kingdom. After two days of combat, it was exterminated. Twelve disciples perished.”
“Thus, across the thirty-two kingdoms west of the Punishment Saint Mountains and extending to the distant borders of the Hundred Dynasties, no other traces of Fallen Beasts have been discovered.”
As one of the great powers in the Honglu Cultivation Realm, standing shoulder to shoulder with Yulong Capital, the Xingyun Sect dispatched its disciples on patrols every few years. Their purpose was to determine in advance whether any Fallen Beasts had appeared within their territory.
In the Honglu Realm, Fallen Beasts were the greatest natural calamity of all.
Once a Fallen Beast appeared on the land, a terrifying Falling Fire Catastrophe would strike the surrounding region. The disaster might arrive within a few days or take as long as a month, but its arrival was inevitable.
For thousands of years, every region visited by a Fallen Beast had been reduced to a sea of flames and scorched earth by the ensuing catastrophe. Such places became death zones where neither birds nor beasts dared approach.
Even the mountain-protecting formations of ordinary cultivator sects could not withstand the disaster, let alone the mortal cities under their jurisdiction.
Only by exterminating the Fallen Beast before the catastrophe descended could the disaster be prevented.
That was precisely why mortals supported and revered cultivators: they relied on them for protection.
“You haven’t finished reading. Continue.”
The administrator glanced at the expression of Si Wen, the Xingyun Sect’s Law-Enforcing Master, and replied somewhat nervously.
“There are two direct disciples… Er, the young sect master, Yu Wanqing, completed her two-thousand-li patrol across the three northwestern kingdoms three months ahead of schedule. On her way back to the sect, she participated in the battle against the Fallen Beast in the Great Marsh Kingdom, rescued more than a hundred disciples, and assisted an elder of the Shattering Jade realm in exterminating the beast.”
Si Wen had been sipping tea.
Upon hearing this, the man known among the disciples as the Living King of Hell pulled down the corners of his mouth. His face was so deeply furrowed that every wrinkle seemed to conceal a blade.
“So what you’re saying is that the other direct disciple has failed to complete her patrol again?”
The administrator stammered, “Li Wangqing is… three months overdue. Her cultivation is only at the Sharpening Edge realm, so naturally, she progresses a little more slowly.”
With a sharp smack, Si Wen slammed his teacup onto the table, shattering it. His face darkened with fury.
“Her again! We used to conduct patrols every three years, and now we do them every seven. Is that really so difficult?! And you dare bring up her cultivation level? There isn’t even a single Sharpening Edge cultivator left among the inner sect disciples! Look at Wanqing—she’s so young, yet she’s already beginning to break through into the Shattering Jade realm! And what about her?! Every year, she hides whenever the sect’s grand competition comes around. People say that if you won’t fight for steamed buns, at least fight for your pride. But she refuses to fight for either! All day long, she clings to the title of the sect master’s direct disciple, making our sect a laughingstock in the eyes of outsiders. This is outrageous!”
“Please calm your anger, Your Reverence…”
“Calm down, my ass! She’s nearly seventy years old. How much of her lifespan does she even have left? Even the dogs I raise will outlive her! Our Xingyun Sect has always had sword cultivators who die in battle, never useless ones who die of old age! Do you know what those lesser sects think of us? They show us respect to our faces, but behind our backs, they say we’re not as fair as Yulong Capital and that we refuse to give talented disciples a chance! I can’t even bear to show my face outside! Today, I will personally report this disgrace to the sect master and demand that the wretch be thrown out of the mountain gates!”
Throughout Triple-Fold Terrace, disciples coming and going—those swallowing medicinal pills, practicing sword techniques, and meditating—were all startled by Si Wen’s furious tirade.
“The Law-Enforcing Master is cursing someone out again. I wonder who’s unlucky this time.”
“Who else could it be? Senior Sister Li, obviously.”
To put it in terms of a small mortal kingdom, it was like a private academy dedicated to producing top scholars suddenly admitting a freeloader who did nothing but eat and wait to die—and who happened to occupy half of the title of young sect master.
It would be stranger if no one criticized her.
Someone lowered their voice, unable to conceal a certain excitement.
“Hey, the Law-Enforcing Master said Senior Sister Li is nearing the end of her lifespan. Is that really true?”
“I heard him say something similar the last time he scolded her. After all, the Sharpening Edge realm can only keep a cultivator healthy and youthful, depending on their aptitude. In terms of lifespan, they can’t compare with those who have established their foundations and formed golden cores. If she wants to live longer, she has no choice but to cultivate her natal sword diligently and work hard to advance to higher realms.”
“Th-Then, if Senior Sister Li really dies of old age, the sect master won’t have any excuse to keep her around anymore, right…?”
The sect master accepted only two direct disciples. Once Li Wangqing was gone, one coveted position would naturally become available.
As long as someone became a direct disciple, even if they couldn’t compete with the Xingyun Sect’s supreme prodigy, Yu Wanqing, they could still hope to become a revered master in the future.
“I’ve been at the Unsheathing realm for more than ten years. I’m about to attempt a breakthrough into the Cutting Gold realm. I wonder if I can catch the sect master’s eye.”
“Keep dreaming! The Cutting Gold realm is merely the threshold for becoming a true disciple. If the sect master wants to take on a disciple, he’ll select the most outstanding candidates from among the true disciples of the various halls. There’s no chance for us inner sect disciples.”
Being selected from the outer sect into the inner sect was already a one-in-a-thousand achievement. Advancing from the inner sect to become a true disciple was a one-in-ten-thousand feat.
The competition was so brutal that merely thinking about it brought tears of blood to one’s eyes.
“Considering Senior Sister Li is only at the Sharpening Edge realm, it’s not easy for her to have survived all these years under the hostile glares of a bunch of true disciples…”
Amid the restrained snickers, a sound resembling the gentle ringing of a small bell drifted through the air.
As the sword light gathered and faded, a figure wearing a rusty sword hairpin appeared on Triple-Fold Terrace.
The moment Li Wangqing landed, the disciples’ laughter and conversations abruptly stopped.
They all stared at her with the same peculiar expression for a moment before deliberately turning their heads away and resuming whatever they had been doing.
She let out a soft breath and listened carefully. After confirming that the stern Law-Enforcing Master wasn’t around at the moment, she quickened her pace and entered the Record Hall on Triple-Fold Terrace.
“Li Wangqing. Patrol of the southern Heili Kingdom and Guafang Kingdom, overdue by two…” she began.
“Three months overdue,” the administrator corrected her with a sigh. “What was it this time?”
Li Wangqing drew out a long, hesitant, “Uhhh…”
“When I reached a prefectural city north of the Suxi Prison Sea, my natal sword reacted abnormally. I suspected there might be a Fallen Beast nearby, so I delayed my journey for a while to investigate.”
“And did you find anything in the end?”
“No.”
The administrator couldn’t help showing a trace of disdain. He glanced at the rusty sword hairpin on her head.
“Junior Sister Li, don’t take this the wrong way. I’m not trying to criticize you, but although natal swords are the only things in the Honglu Realm capable of reacting to Fallen Beasts, that only applies to normal natal swords. If any other disciple had made the same claim—even someone at your Sharpening Edge realm—I would certainly have reported it and sent people to investigate the area thoroughly.”
Li Wangqing said, “But my natal sword really did…”
“That rusty sword of yours makes strange noises every now and then inside the sect. Yet when a Fallen Beast actually appears and everyone else’s swords start humming, yours stops working.”
Seeing her fall silent, the administrator secretly rolled his eyes. He casually made a few strokes with his jade brush across the sect’s jade register, then said listlessly, “All right, at least you didn’t disappear for more than a year like last time and force the sect master to search for you personally. I’ll count this as a completed patrol.”
He took the final Qiankun pouch from a box beside him and tossed it to Li Wangqing.
“These are your spirit stones and medicinal pills for this year. In previous years, you only received a fraction of what Senior Sister Yu received. But considering that you’re the first person in the history of the Xingyun Sect to reach your seventieth birthday while still stuck at the Sharpening Edge realm, I’ll round it up for you this time. If something unfortunate happens to you later, consider it your retirement fund.”
The meaning was obvious.
The “unfortunate event” he referred to was Li Wangqing losing her status as the sect master’s direct disciple and being expelled from the sect.
The Xingyun Sect was not like Yulong Capital, which accepted cultivators of all levels of ability. A sword cultivator who failed to unsheathe their sword after thirty years was unlikely to achieve much in the future and would never be admitted into the inner sect.
Li Wangqing had spent seventy years without reaching the Unsheathing realm. By all rights, she had long since lost the qualifications to remain in the main sect of Xingyun.
To make matters worse, she was still occupying the position of the sect master’s direct disciple.
The mocking gazes surrounding her gathered around her once more like a spiderweb. From the corner of her eye, Li Wangqing saw nothing but fellow disciples laughing at her misfortune.
Clutching the Qiankun pouch, she gave a soft, “Mm.”
Then she slowly walked toward Sì Wangchuan.