Chapter 10: Heavenly Thunder Spiritual Root
How come they even brought someone back with them?
Li Qingqiu felt surprised, though his face remained calm and unchanged.
He had taken in seven disciples before, yet none of them had managed to cultivate even a trace of Vital Energy.
This had greatly dampened his desire to recruit more people.
The path of Immortal cultivation was not one meant for everyone.
Those unable to cultivate Immortality could easily become a burden to the Clear Sky Sect, so recruiting disciples in the future had to be done with extreme caution.
After unloading his shoulder pole, Zhang Yuchun quickly stepped before Li Qingqiu, panting as he said, “Senior Brother, there was a military rebellion in Guzhou. We met many refugees along the way. That child behind us followed for a hundred li. We couldn’t bear to drive him off. As Third Junior Brother said, if he has such perseverance, he’ll surely accomplish something in martial arts.”
A hundred li?
That was no small feat.
Let alone such a small child—even an adult would collapse after walking that far continuously, not to mention climbing the mountain afterward.
Li Qingqiu glanced at the little beggar.
Seeing that the child could still stand, he silently nodded—quite impressive.
He then asked, “Why was there a rebellion? You didn’t run into trouble on the road, did you?”
Zhang Yuchun replied, “No trouble. Because the army was running rampant, even bandits were scarce. Only after entering the city did we learn that the world hasn’t been peaceful these past years. The officials are neglectful, and famines are spreading everywhere.”
Li Qingqiu felt sympathy for such turmoil but could do nothing about it.
He curiously asked, “Then how did you have the money to buy all these weapons? Don’t tell me you robbed someone?”
Zhang Yuchun raised his thumb toward Jiang Zhaoxia and smiled. “Thanks to Third Junior Brother. His swordsmanship caught the attention of a noble family in the city. Their young master wanted to recruit him into their manor, but he refused. They rewarded him with a large bag of money instead and said they’d visit the Clear Sky Sect in the future.”
“You just accepted it for nothing?”
“Of course not. We promised that if their family ever faces trouble, as long as they send someone with a letter to the Clear Sky Sect, we’ll help them to the best of our ability.”
“That’s better. Favors work like this—mutual exchange strengthens ties. Since they were generous, it’s worth befriending them, given our current circumstances.”
Li Qingqiu nodded in approval.
He agreed with the promise made by Zhang Yuchun and the others.
One shouldn’t owe others without reason, and this was also a good opportunity for the Clear Sky Sect to make a name for itself.
If the Clear Sky Sect left behind by Lin Xunfeng had been a major sect with solid foundations, they wouldn’t have had to descend the mountain at all.
Up here, resources were limited and recruiting disciples was difficult.
Eventually, venturing into the world became unavoidable.
Li Qingqiu also needed the sect’s growth to strengthen himself.
Over this period, he had realized that his own cultivation aptitude was far inferior to Jiang Zhaoxia’s.
He visited the Subterranean Spiritual Lake every other day, yet he still hadn’t broken through the second layer of the Nourishing Vital Energy Realm.
However, since he had once been able to copy Fate Traits, he believed he could do so again. His heart remained full of hope; he was far from discouraged.
The disciples helped Zhang Yuchun and Jiang Zhaoxia carry the luggage.
Besides a pile of weapons, there were also many seeds—quite a fruitful harvest.
Zhang Yuchun then brought the little beggar before Li Qingqiu and said, “If you want to join the Clear Sky Sect, you need the Sect Master’s approval. It’s not up to us.”
The little beggar looked about eight or nine years old, not even reaching Li Qingqiu’s shoulder. She raised her head to look at him, her gaze clear, and said, “Please, Sect Master, take me in.”
After speaking, she directly knelt down and kowtowed toward Li Qingqiu.
The other disciples looked on curiously.
Li Qingqiu glared at them, and they immediately took the luggage and went back inside the sect.
Only Li Qingqiu, Zhang Yuchun, and the little beggar remained before the mountain gate. The setting sun cast long shadows over them.
Li Qingqiu looked down at the little beggar, not telling her to rise. “What’s your name? What about your family?” he asked.
Once she joined the Clear Sky Sect, he could cross-check her information and see if she was lying.
It never hurt to be cautious.
Li Qingqiu mostly feared she might drag the sect into some deep vendetta that could pull them into a deadly whirlpool.
The little beggar pressed her forehead tightly against the ground, her voice hoarse as she replied, “My name is Xu Ning. I’ve depended on my father since childhood. A year ago, he passed away, and I’ve been struggling alone to survive ever since.”
“Any distant relatives?” Li Qingqiu asked again.
“None.”
Hearing that, Li Qingqiu finally felt at ease.
“Now, make three vows, and you may enter the sect,” he said.
Zhang Yuchun immediately instructed Xu Ning to repeat after him.
After she finished, Li Qingqiu personally helped her up. “The Clear Sky Sect doesn’t keep idlers,” he said, “but once you join, you’re one of us. You’ll never go hungry again, and you’ll live with dignity.”
Xu Ning looked up at him, her eyes dull and emotionless, clearly unmoved by his words. He didn’t mind—it was merely a formality.
“Take her inside, let her wash up and change into clean clothes,” Li Qingqiu said to Zhang Yuchun.
Zhang Yuchun nodded and led Xu Ning toward the sect. He tried to take her hand, but she dodged.
Thinking she was simply shy, he didn’t mind.
Li Qingqiu followed leisurely behind, opening his Dao Lineage panel and locating Xu Ning’s profile among the disciples’ details.
Her portrait was unexpectedly delicate and fair. If not for the fact that he hadn’t seen this face before, he wouldn’t have believed she was the same Xu Ning.
A girl?
Li Qingqiu was taken aback and opened her profile.
【Name: Xu Ning】
【Gender: Female】
【Age: 9】
【Loyalty (to Sect Master/Sect): 70/90 (Max 100)】
【Cultivation Aptitude: Outstanding】
【Comprehension: Excellent】
【Fate Traits: Heavenly Thunder Spiritual Root, Stubbornness, Competitiveness】
【Heavenly Thunder Spiritual Root: A rare single-element spiritual root. Possesses exceptional talent in thunder-attribute Dao arts. For those with this root, heavenly tribulation lightning becomes a source of aid rather than harm.】
【Stubbornness: Once something is set in her mind, not even death will change it.】
【Competitiveness: Born proud and unwilling to lose to anyone.】
——
Li Qingqiu’s breathing quickened.
Cultivation Aptitude: Outstanding!
Comprehension: Excellent!
Completely opposite of Jiang Zhaoxia—at least not inferior to him.
From what Li Qingqiu knew, the rankings for Cultivation Aptitude and Comprehension from lowest to highest were: Extremely Low, Unranked, Average, Good, Excellent, Outstanding. He hadn’t yet seen anything beyond that.
And this “Heavenly Thunder Spiritual Root” Fate Trait seemed truly extraordinary.
What was even more valuable was that Xu Ning’s loyalty to the Clear Sky Sect had instantly reached 90, while her loyalty to him personally was lower.
Could it be that, because of her Stubbornness Trait, she had already accepted the Clear Sky Sect as her home?
Li Qingqiu silently looked forward to Xu Ning’s future.
Perhaps, in time, Jiang Zhaoxia and Xu Ning could become the Clear Sky Sect’s left and right protectors—their specialists in battle.
When they arrived at the courtyard, he saw Zhang Yuchun trying to lead Xu Ning into a room, but she refused to enter, remaining silent.
“Dongyue, take care of Xu Ning. Help her bathe and change clothes,” Li Qingqiu called to Li Dongyue, who was watching from nearby.
At his words, both Zhang Yuchun and Xu Ning turned toward him.
“Senior Brother, this…” Zhang Yuchun asked, puzzled.
Li Qingqiu glared at him irritably. “She’s a girl. What do you think you’re doing?”
A girl?!
Startled, Zhang Yuchun immediately stepped back, staring at Xu Ning in disbelief.
Xu Ning turned away and walked toward Li Dongyue, who was approaching her.
Zhang Yuchun moved closer to Li Qingqiu and whispered, “Senior Brother, how are you sure she’s a girl?”
“My eyes aren’t something you can compare to.”
“Then why didn’t you say so earlier?”
“I thought you knew.”
After hearing that, Zhang Yuchun looked toward Li Dongyue uncertainly. “Should I go and check anyway? What if we’re mistaken?”
“Fourth Junior Sister still has a mouth, doesn’t she?”
Leaving him with that, Li Qingqiu walked over to where the other disciples were gathered.
Yang Jueding had also come out to introduce the various weapons.
To his surprise, the weapons Zhang Yuchun and Jiang Zhaoxia had brought back came in many styles—and none were shoddy.
Li Qingqiu picked up a longsword, examining it carefully as he said to Jiang Zhaoxia beside him, “Well done.”
“Of course! From now on, just focus on being the Sect Master. Leave the rest to me,” Jiang Zhaoxia said proudly.
“Oh? Planning to overthrow me?”
“How could you say that? Besides, you never do anything anyway. At least I’m teaching Fifth Junior Brother—you, on the other hand, do absolutely nothing.”
“That’s exactly why I’m the Sect Master. I have to think about a lot of things—you wouldn’t understand my exhaustion.”
The brothers began their usual banter.
The other disciples were used to it and wisely stayed out of it.
Li Qingqiu pondered silently, wondering if these swords could be used to cultivate the Supreme Sword Controlling Technique.
——
When the New Year arrived, with Zhang Yuchun and Jiang Zhaoxia back, Li Qingqiu’s spirits lifted.
From dawn, the entire Clear Sky Sect bustled with energy.
The older disciples hung lanterns and cooked, while the younger ones gathered around Yang Jueding, listening to his stories of the martial world.
Li Qingqiu also sat nearby, his gaze occasionally drifting toward Xu Ning.
She had changed into clean clothes—compared to how she’d looked when she first came up the mountain, she was almost unrecognizable.
Though still gaunt, with heavy eye bags, one could tell she was the same person shown on the Dao Lineage panel.
Xu Ning sat in the back, listening quietly to Yang Jueding’s tales, not yet mingling with the other disciples.
Li Qingqiu reached for a roasted corn cob on the plate beside him and called out, “Xu Ning, come here.”
She turned toward him, her eyes instantly drawn to the corn in his hand.
After a moment’s hesitation, she stood and timidly walked over.
When she reached him, Li Qingqiu said nothing, simply handed her the corn.
“Thank you,” Xu Ning whispered, taking it. Just as she turned to leave, Li Qingqiu added, “Sit here beside me. You’ll hear the story better.”
Xu Ning glanced at him.
Seeing he was focused on the storyteller, she quietly sat down beside him and began nibbling the corn.
“Waaah!”
Before long, cries interrupted the peace. Li Sifeng came running into the courtyard in tears, shouting, “Senior Brother! Third Senior Brother hit me! I almost died!”
His wails drew everyone’s attention.
Li Qingqiu sighed helplessly and rose to his feet.
Xu Ning’s eyes followed him, wide open.
Compared to the day before, there was now a faint glimmer of light in them.