The sky was high and the land vast. A towering mountain stood alone upon the wasteland, sparse with flowers and grass, majestic like a colossal god standing upon the earth.
At the edge of a cliff atop the mountain, a white-haired old man sat in meditation. He wore a crimson robe, his feet bare, his hair loose and disheveled. Facing the wind, he sat with eyes closed. Before him stretched the boundless world, while eagles circled in the sky, their cries tearing through the firmament.
A figure approached from behind and stopped at his back, bowing respectfully.
It was a man clad in black armor, wearing a tiger-bone hair crown. Two swords were strapped to his back, one long and one short, their hilts wreathed in eerie black qi.
He raised his head to look at the old man in red and spoke, "Sect Master, the southward plan has failed. Sword Extremity Sect was annihilated by Qingxiao Sect. Our people were also hunted down by Qingxiao Sect and can no longer step into Cangzhou territory. The Northern Court's armies are likewise being driven back, mainly defeated by Li Sifeng of Qingxiao Sect. Li Sifeng campaigns across the battlefield clearly to seize Jiuzhou for Qingxiao Sect."
The red-robed old man was none other than Gui Wuqiong, the Sect Master of the Xuanji Sect.
Hearing this, Gui Wuqiong was not surprised. He slowly asked, "So, if one wishes to occupy Jiuzhou, whether on the battlefield or within the martial world, Qingxiao Sect cannot be bypassed?"
The sword-bearing man replied in a deep voice, "That's right. Qingxiao Sect is different from the former Two Martial Saints or the Three Founding Sects. They are too strong. I believe now is not the right time for Xuanji Sect. We can temporarily abandon the plan."
"You also said Qingxiao Sect is different," Gui Wuqiong said. "Do you think time is on our side?"
Faced with Gui Wuqiong's question, the sword-bearing man fell silent.
Gui Wuqiong opened his eyes and gazed toward the horizon, saying faintly, "I only fear that in the future, Qingxiao Sect will march north, while the terror in the north will move south, leaving us attacked from both front and rear."
The sword-bearing man opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing.
The cliff fell into silence.
A clear breeze passed by, carrying with it a faint scent of blood.
After a long while, Gui Wuqiong spoke again. "Go find Elder Gui and have him carry out the plan I previously agreed upon with him."
The sword-bearing man frowned, wanting to ask what plan it was, but fearing to anger Gui Wuqiong, he could only agree and turn to leave.
After he departed, Gui Wuqiong raised his head toward the heavens and murmured to himself, "With heaven and earth so vast, why is there no place for our Northern Court to stand?"
…
As autumn deepened, Qingxiao Mountain became different from before. The most obvious change was the increasing number of figures flying through the sky on swords.
The Qingxiao Sword allowed disciples to consume less vital energy while flying on swords. This caused more and more disciples to favor sword flight, a sight that left visiting pilgrims and martial artists utterly astonished.
The fact that Qingxiao Sect was a cultivation sect began to be accepted by more people.
For Qingxiao Sect, the greatest role of the Qingxiao Sword was to help them rapidly expand the sect. The Taikun Mountain Range truly began to be absorbed into Qingxiao Sect.
The Taikun Mountain Range was vast. Previously, it only nominally belonged to Qingxiao Sect. Now, with disciples' figures covering the range, it truly became Qingxiao Sect's territory.
More and more disciples began opening cave dwellings. Heavenly Works Hall announced a policy allowing disciples to choose their own dwellings, after which Heavenly Works Hall would dispatch disciples to repair and refurbish them.
Though the Taikun Mountain Range was large, it was not something disciples could simply occupy at will. After selecting a location, it had to be reviewed by the Spirit Management Hall, and an equivalent amount of Dao Fate had to be paid.
Not only that, across various mountains and lands of the Taikun Mountain Range, disciples began reclaiming medicinal fields.
On this day, after completing his cultivation of the Divine Ability — Moving Mountains to Suppress the Divine, Li Qingqiu returned to Lingxiao Courtyard.
In recent months, he had been focused on researching this divine ability. He was already looking forward to the sight of using Moving Mountains to Suppress the Divine to astonish the sect's disciples.
Today, his mastery of the technique reached a new height, putting him in an excellent mood.
He sat down at the long table. On it was spirit wine prepared by Yuan Qi. This spirit wine was a recent achievement of the Cultivation Hall. Drinking it aided the recovery of vital energy, and once it went on sale, disciples scrambled to buy it.
Out of habit, Li Qingqiu summoned the Dao Lineage panel, first checking on the situation of newly admitted disciples.
Not bad.
Today, another disciple with Excellent Cultivation Aptitude had been found!
Li Qingqiu was delighted. The threshold of Qingxiao Sect was growing higher and higher now; those able to directly become registered disciples all possessed obvious talent.
He silently noted this disciple's name, looking forward to seeing which hall would take him in next.
There were already enough geniuses around him. He needed to give the other halls some opportunities as well.
After reviewing the new disciples, Li Qingqiu then looked over those disciples whose fates carried destiny indications, checking whether their Fate had changed.
Soon, Li Qingqiu raised an eyebrow.
Someone's Fate had indeed changed.
[Name: Zhang Ping]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 23]
[Loyalty (Sect Master/Sect): 89/84 (Maximum 100)]
[Cultivation Aptitude: Fair]
[Comprehension: Mediocre]
[Fate: Ordinary Man, Seeker of Fortune and Avoider of Calamity, Defier of Fate]
[Ordinary Man: Ordinary birth, ordinary appearance, ordinary bearing; easily overlooked by others]
[Seeker of Fortune and Avoider of Calamity: When encountering trouble or danger, always thinks of avoidance; possesses a degree of good luck and does not act without confidence]
[Defier of Fate: Three opportunities in life to alter fate; two remaining]
Already altered fate once?
Li Qingqiu remembered that Zhang Ping's Cultivation Aptitude had been Mediocre, yet it had risen by one tier. Could this be related to a fate-altering opportunity?
This kid was indeed not simple.
Li Qingqiu considered whether he should copy the Fate [Defier of Fate].
But he quickly rejected the idea. He did not need to defy fate—what he needed were Fates that directly enhanced his own strength.
Ever since Zhang Ping entered the sect, Li Qingqiu had been paying attention to him. In secret, he had even asked Zhang Yuchun to look after him. The reason he had not done so openly was to avoid frightening Zhang Ping away.
After so many years, Zhang Ping's loyalty still had not reached 90. Li Qingqiu felt it was time for him to take action.
He sent a voice transmission to Yuan Qi outside the courtyard, telling him to go find Zhang Ping.
After that, he stood up and went to look for Yun Cai.
The reason he went to Yun Cai was mainly because he had placed Li Shouzheng and Li Shoumin in her courtyard, where her seven sisters took turns caring for the two boys.
Both boys were Exceptional-grade geniuses, and he had very high expectations for them.
In twenty years, when geniuses like Yuan Li, Yun Cai, Zhao Zhen, and the three Xiao brothers had grown up and no longer participated in combat assemblies, Li Shouzheng and Li Shoumin would inevitably become the leading figures of the new generation.
…
By evening, Li Qingqiu returned to Lingxiao Courtyard, where Yuan Qi had been waiting for a long time.
"Going down the mountain for training? How long has he been gone?"
After hearing Yuan Qi's report, Li Qingqiu could not help but ask.
That kid wouldn't have run into danger, would he?
How could one alter fate for no reason at all?
"Almost two months already," Yuan Qi answered honestly.
Li Qingqiu frowned and walked toward the long table. Seeing his expression, Yuan Qi immediately followed, waiting for instructions.
After some thought, Li Qingqiu ordered, "Have the three Xiao brothers make a trip to the Training Hall. Find out what mission Zhang Ping accepted, then go down the mountain to investigate. Make sure that kid hasn't run into trouble."
Yuan Qi was surprised. He had no deep impression of Zhang Ping. That this person could prompt the Sect Master to dispatch the three Xiao brothers for support made him involuntarily curious about what kind of relationship Zhang Ping had with the Sect Master.
"Yes!"
Yuan Qi did not ask further questions and immediately accepted the order before leaving.
Li Qingqiu did not actually think Zhang Ping would come to harm. After all, the kid had already altered his fate. He merely wanted to see whether he could offer timely help.
…
Moonlight poured down from the cliff, illuminating a pit two hundred zhang deep. At the bottom of the pit lay a lake, unfathomably deep, emitting a faint glow in the night.
Zhang Ping sat on a reef by the lake. He gazed up at the bright moon outside the opening above, his face filled with despair.
Upon closer inspection, his legs were bent at unnatural angles—clearly, both of his legs were broken.
His hair was somewhat disheveled, parts of his robe torn open, and his entire figure was in a sorry state.
"Am I really going to die here…"
Zhang Ping was unwilling to accept it. His shallow medical skills were completely incapable of treating his broken legs, let alone escaping from this place.
Had he known this would happen, he should never have gone down the mountain.
The power struggles within the sect gave him headaches, but they would never have driven him into such a desperate situation.
At that moment, a woman in white emerged from the darkness. Her robes were soaked through, outlining her graceful figure. Her hair hung loose, and though disordered, her delicate face was still bright and moving, evoking pity.
She held several fiery red fruits in her arms, each one as large as a fist.
She came to Zhang Ping's side, placed the fruits on his legs, and adjusted his broken limbs to keep the fruits from rolling off the reef.
Zhang Ping could no longer feel pain, but her actions still made the corner of his mouth twitch.
"Could you at least respect my injuries a little? I was injured saving you, after all," Zhang Ping said resentfully.
Murong Xi snorted. "If I didn't respect you, I wouldn't be taking care of you or going to find these fruits for you."
"Instead of sitting here dazed, you might as well practice the peerless divine art on that wall. Maybe it can heal your broken legs."
Hearing this, Zhang Ping fell silent. He picked up a fruit and began to chew on it.
Seeing his expression, Murong Xi grew irritated and said, "Your martial arts are quite good. How can you not see how extraordinary the art on that wall is?"
She did not know that Zhang Ping was a disciple of Qingxiao Sect.
He had already seen that so-called peerless art. In the martial world, it truly counted as a divine technique, but compared to his Supreme Purity and Primordial Harmony Sutra, it was not worth mentioning at all.
For a cultivator like him to learn martial arts—especially internal techniques—would be a pure waste of time.
It was just that he could not clearly explain this to Murong Xi.
"If you want to learn it, then go learn it yourself. Who knows, maybe your enemies will find their way down here someday and come looking for trouble," Zhang Ping said, his heart softening when he thought of her care over these past days.
"So high up—how would they even come down?" Murong Xi said disdainfully.
Zhang Ping asked curiously, "I've wanted to ask for a long time now—who exactly are you, and why are those experts after you?"
He had wanted to ask before but feared getting dragged into even greater trouble. Now that he saw no hope of escaping alive, he decided to ask anyway.
"I come from Murong Manor. Have you ever heard of it? Those people are from my own clan. They want to seize a treasure on me," Murong Xi replied.
If Zhang Ping had not grabbed her when they fell, she would have been shattered to pieces long ago. Because of that, she now trusted him completely.