This translation is by Pocketrobbin at S h a n g h a i f a n t a s y . c o m
Awakened from a nightmare, Chu Mingyao had broken out in a cold sweat.
The experiences in the dream had felt far too real. After waking, she stared at the familiar plain-colored canopy above her bed, unable for a moment to remember where she was.
She wanted to carefully sort through the memories from the dream, but several people crowded around her at once, their noisy voices overlapping, making it impossible for her to calm down.
“Eldest Senior Sister has woken up!”
“Eldest Senior Sister, are you all right?”
“Eldest Senior Sister, how do you feel? Should I take a look for you?”
“Eldest Senior Sister, I’m sorry. I-I really didn’t do it on purpose. I didn’t know you would end up like this because of me…… wuuwuu……”
“Yun’er, be good, don’t cry. This isn’t your fault. Mingyao, since you’re awake and don’t look seriously injured, can’t you just say something nice to Yun’er? Do you really have to watch her cry like this before you feel satisfied?”
Just hearing these voices made irritation surge in Chu Mingyao’s heart.
The resentment and unwillingness from the nightmare all came flooding back.
Frowning, she sat up in bed. Her dark and sharp eyes swept coldly over the people gathered by her bedside in the order they had spoken.
Ah Hong, an outer sect disciple who attended to her.
Chu Mingxi, her third junior brother, who was usually carefree and flippant, and who had only grinned and asked a casual question upon seeing her wake.
Chu Mingnan, her second junior brother, who was skilled in medicine and pills, and who was relatively more concerned about her.
Xiang Qingyun, her little junior sister, who had entered the sect less than half a year ago but had already become the sect’s new darling. It had nothing to do with cultivation. Everyone simply liked to dote on and protect her.
And lastly, Chu Mingdong, the eldest senior brother and the Sword Sect’s chief disciple, who was widely seen as the most likely next sect master.
With one premise— that she, Chu Mingyao, did not compete for it.
The Sword Sect had never ranked its disciples by gender, and she was addressed by all as the eldest senior sister, standing shoulder to shoulder with Chu Mingdong as the eldest senior brother and even faintly surpassing him. This was earned purely through strength.
Chu Mingyao’s gaze lingered briefly on each of them.
The time she had lived through in the nightmare was so long that she needed to recall carefully before she could match the people before her with the memories she carried.
The Sword Sect held a grand sect competition once every ten years. The younger generation first fought in pairs to determine rankings. Afterward, the first-ranked disciple guarded the arena, and every other disciple was granted one chance to challenge that position.
Chu Mingyao was an orphan, taken in as an infant and raised by the Sword Sect’s grand elder, Perfected[1]referring to an enlightened sage living in perfect harmony with the Dao, free from earthly desires, fears, and passions, embodying authenticity and spiritual mastery jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1697445_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1697445_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); Ziqiong. She had joined the sect early, but as a child, her strength had been insufficient to participate in the sect competition, making this year her first time.
She had shone brilliantly in the competition, claiming first place with late-stage Golden Core cultivation, further cementing her status as the eldest senior sister.
During the competition, Chu Mingyao had been extremely careful.
She remembered Perfected Ziqiong’s words clearly. If she did not want to become sect master, then when facing Chu Mingdong, she had to control the pace. It needed to look to the other disciples as though Chu Mingdong’s previous opponent had been particularly strong, draining him too much, and that the allotted rest time had been insufficient for full recovery. Only then could she seize the opportunity. She and Chu Mingdong had to exchange countless moves, winning first place only after a hard-fought, perilous battle.
Chu Mingyao truly had fought with great difficulty.
She practiced the Path of the Swift Sword, valuing decisive strikes and unbroken, flowing attacks.
In her eyes, Chu Mingdong had plenty of openings. She had struggled immensely to restrain herself from striking those flaws immediately and ending the fight too quickly.
Yet her difficulty, in the eyes of others, became proof that Chu Mingdong was indeed powerful, that both sides had been in peak condition and fought fairly, and that she might not have been his equal.
After her match with Chu Mingdong, Perfected Ziqiong praised her acting, and she had wanted to say then that she was not acting at all. She had genuinely gone all out just to make Chu Mingdong lose a little later.
That was why others thought she had fought so hard.
That really was not an act.
After that match, all the junior brothers and sisters knew she must be exhausted, and no one intended to step up and challenge her.
Except for the newly initiated Xiang Qingyun, who leaped onto the arena with an innocent smile.
Chu Mingyao could still clearly remember what Xiang Qingyun had said at the time.
“I’ve heard of Eldest Senior Sister’s great reputation ever since I entered the sect. Today, seeing Eldest Senior Sister and Eldest Senior Brother’s wonderful match, I truly couldn’t restrain myself and wanted to experience Eldest Senior Sister’s strength firsthand. Although Eldest Senior Sister has just finished fighting Eldest Senior Brother, I haven’t been in the sect long, and my strength is weak. I shouldn’t be able to hurt Eldest Senior Sister, right? I ask that Eldest Senior Sister kindly instruct me.”
As she spoke, Xiang Qingyun kept her head slightly lowered, stealing glances at Chu Mingyao with frightened, reddened eyes like a startled rabbit. Her voice trembled with fear, as though she had once suffered some great grievance at Chu Mingyao’s hands, to the point that even facing her now required such caution.
This demeanor was completely different from how Xiang Qingyun usually spoke with others.
Chu Mingyao had not forgotten the looks from the people beneath the arena at that moment, as if she had secretly abused their dearest little junior sister when they were not looking.
Ridiculous.
She barely had enough time for her own cultivation. Where would she find the leisure to bother with anyone else?
Since Xiang Qingyun entered the sect, all of their interactions had been either on the sword practice field or at the lecture hall, always with many people around. She had never once been alone with Xiang Qingyun. As for how she treated her, hadn’t they all seen it clearly?
Was the way she treated Xiang Qingyun any different from how she treated others? She guided them in cultivation, resolved their doubts, and controlled her strength when sparring and exchanging moves with them.
Had they all forgotten it? Or did they truly think she had nothing better to do than seek out Xiang Qingyun in private just to bully her?
If not for Perfected Ziqiong constantly reminding her that if she did not want to be sect master, she could not surpass Chu Mingdong and also had to help him shoulder more of the mundane duties of guiding junior disciples so he would have enough time to cultivate, she would not even want to do these things.
And yet? Her efforts seemed like a complete waste.
Once removed from the charged atmosphere of the arena, and thinking back calmly on Xiang Qingyun’s words, Chu Mingyao only found them full of contradictions.
When she guided her juniors in swordplay or sparred with them, was she not already demonstrating her skill? Did she truly have to go all out for it to be recognized? Besides, if that were the criteria, did Xiang Qingyun even have the qualifications to force her to full strength? To Chu Mingyao, stepping onto that arena was no different from a routine practice session.
“Chu Mingyao, speak!”
The sudden cold shout interrupted her memories.
Chu Mingyao shot a sideways glance at the speaker and let out a mocking laugh.
“Eldest Senior Brother, did you forget that I just woke up from a serious injury? You came in making such a racket, and now you won’t even let me catch my breath?”
Chu Mingdong’s stern face showed a trace of embarrassment, and his tone softened.
“Mingyao, that’s not what I mean. Look at Yun’er, she’s crying herself sick over your injury. Can’t you at least comfort her first?”
“Comfort?” Chu Mingyao felt her heart grow colder still. She waved her hand wearily. “Ah Hong, escort them out. I need to rest quietly.”
“Eldest Senior Sister?” Ah Hong, squeezed into a corner, small, pitiful, and helpless, tried to persuade softly, “Eldest Senior Brother and the others all came with good intentions to see you……”
Chu Mingyao’s expression darkened. “Are you disobeying my order?”
Ah Hong’s eyes widened in shock. “I-I didn’t mean that, E-Eldest Senior Sister……”
“Then why haven’t you seen them out yet? Stand guard outside and don’t let anyone disturb me!”
“Yes, Eldest Senior Sister.” Ah Hong responded timidly, turning stiffly to face Chu Mingdong and the others, hesitating as if she wanted to speak.
“Mingyao, you—” Chu Mingdong’s face looked very unpleasant.
Xiang Qingyun sobbed a few times and carefully tugged at Chu Mingdong’s sleeve.
“Eldest Senior Brother, hic—” She barely managed to call out before letting out a sobbing hiccup. “F-forget it. Eldest Senior Sister isn’t feeling well right now. Let’s go out first. Don’t make things difficult for Ah Hong.”
As soon as she said that, Ah Hong immediately looked full of gratitude, and Chu Mingdong gently patted Xiang Qingyun’s head.
“Yun’er is so sensible. Fine, let’s go.” After turning away, he still glanced at Chu Mingyao. “We’ll come see you again when you’re feeling better.”
Chu Mingyao lay back down on the bed and closed her eyes.
“I’m not seeing you out.”
She truly had no time to waste words on these people right now.
She still needed to sort through her memories again.
Those she had just experienced— and those from the dream.
She remembered that during the sect competition, after Xiang Qingyun stepped onto the arena and finished speaking, she immediately attacked.
At first, it was fine, and everything followed proper rules. With some control, Chu Mingyao could still fight Xiang Qingyun the way she normally did when sparing.
Then what?
Just as she was ready to end it, she caught a lapse in Xiang Qingyun’s guard. She moved to sweep her off the stage, but Xiang Qingyun did not retreat. In a move of pure madness, she threw herself onto Chu Mingyao’s sword just as the strike was landing.
To avoid injuring Xiang Qingyun, Chu Mingyao wrenched back her spiritual power at the exact moment of impact. The sudden reversal of force rebounded into her own chest, leaving her internally wounded.
Yet before she lost consciousness from the injury, she heard the crowd below the arena full of praise, marveling at how Xiang Qingyun had improved so much in such a short time since entering the sect and calling her truly gifted.
Chu Mingyao did not even know what to say.
She felt as though the people of her sect had turned into a bunch of idiots— so foolish they could not even tell how Chu Mingyao had been injured, nor whether Xiang Qingyun’s so-called great progress was real.
But compared to what she had learned in the nightmare, these things felt almost insignificant.
If that nightmare was a future in which she changed nothing, then this sect competition was only the beginning.
After this, Xiang Qingyun and Chu Mingdong would interact more and more frequently, growing closer and closer.
To help Xiang Qingyun truly raise her strength and live up to that so-called genius title, Chu Mingdong not only neglected his own cultivation but also gave her a large portion of the cultivation resources the sect had allocated to him.
After learning of it, Chu Mingyao took the initiative to persuade Chu Mingdong to care more about his own cultivation and not delay himself just to look after others.
After all, Chu Mingdong was the Sword Sect’s chief disciple of the younger generation, the publicly acknowledged successor to the sect master position.
In the eyes of others, Chu Mingdong’s every word and action represented the Sword Sect. His attitude toward cultivation would influence the other disciples as well.
Chu Mingyao did not want to be sect master, nor did she want the Sword Sect to fall out of the ranks of top immortal sects. Naturally, she had to urge Chu Mingdong to cultivate diligently. She even helped Xiang Qingyun improve her strength even more because Chu Mingdong cared too much about Xiang Qingyun’s progress.
With the unreserved assistance of Chu Mingyao, Chu Mingdong, and their other three junior brothers— Chu Mingnan, Chu Mingxi, and Chu Mingbei— Xiang Qingyun truly stabilized her reputation as a genius, becoming the third standout among the Sword Sect’s younger generation, after only Chu Mingyao and Chu Mingdong.
After that came a long string of love and hatred entanglements between Chu Mingdong and Xiang Qingyun, things Chu Mingyao neither understood nor wished to understand.
But there were always people who forced her to be dragged into those storms, leaving her no choice but to learn about them.
That person was her little junior brother, Chu Mingbei.
・❥・
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