VHSTS CH2

A day later, a junior shidi ran over to inform Luo Jianqing that the malfunction on the Path of Thunder was purely an accident.

As the number one sect in the cultivation world, Taihua Mountain recruited disciples from across the land once every ten years. To cultivators, ten years was merely the duration of a single closed-door seclusion. Naturally, such a recruitment event would not be handled directly by the sect elders, and was instead entirely entrusted to the younger generation of disciples.

Luo Jianqing was the head disciple of Taihua Mountain, as well as the sole disciple of the seventh peak, Yuxiao Peak. Ten years ago, he had managed the recruitment once, but this time he happened to be away traveling, so the task had fallen onto the shoulders of Taihua Mountain’s third shijie¹Shijie (師姐) / Shimei (師妹): Senior martial sister / Junior martial sister., Wei Qiongyin.

Yet, of all places, a mishap had occurred on the Path of Thunder.

The disciple responsible for activating the Path of Thunder with spirit stones had accidentally inserted mid-grade spirit stones instead of low-grade ones. This caused the difficulty of the Path of Thunder to spike drastically, nearly resulting in a major disaster.

Knowing she had failed in her leadership, Wei Qiongyin voluntarily accepted a month’s punishment and went to the Cliff of Repentance to reflect on her mistakes. Consequently, the upcoming Inter-Peak Grand Competition fell into Luo Jianqing’s hands.

Listening to Wei Qiongyin’s thousand-mile voice transmission, Luo Jianqing truly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“Luo-shixiong, among the seven peaks of Taihua Mountain, your Yuxiao Peak is the most idle. This incident was my fault, so I must accept punishment. Per the Sect Master Shibo‘s²Shibo (師伯): Martial uncle (specifically, a senior martial brother of one’s own master/Shizun). wishes, I would like to ask you to preside over the Inter-Peak Grand Competition for me. I would be endlessly grateful. Wei Qiongyin.”

Who asks someone for a favor by starting off with “you’re the most idle”?

It seemed that, just like in his past life, Wei Qiongyin still only knew how to cultivate and had no idea how to deal with people.

Luo Jianqing did not refuse the task. In fact, in his previous life, he had also been the one to organize this Inter-Peak Grand Competition. He had watched with his own eyes as that boy with ordinary spiritual roots seemed to receive divine assistance—his strength improved by leaps and bounds within a mere ten days, allowing him to take second place in the competition in one fell swoop and directly enter Yuxiao Peak as its second disciple.

Three days ago, Luo Jianqing had woken up amidst a pile of beast corpses.

Every bone in his body felt as if it had been crushed, his head weighed a thousand jin³Jin (斤): A traditional unit of weight equal to 500 grams (about 1.1 pounds)., and his white robes were drenched in thick, dripping blood. Surrounding him were hundreds upon thousands of demonic beast carcasses. At that moment, Luo Jianqing thought he had arrived in hell, until he discovered the spiritual power within his body circulating on its own. Overjoyed, he suddenly remembered this place—

Ten Thousand Beasts Ridge.

Many years ago, he often liked coming to Ten Thousand Beasts Ridge to slay demons, sometimes staying for two or three years at a time.

Slaying demons in Ten Thousand Beasts Ridge was completely unregulated. Demon cultivators could also come here to hunt human cultivators. It was a lawless zone where both human and demon cultivators frequently came to settle personal grudges. Killing here carried no restrictions whatsoever.

Upon waking, Luo Jianqing did not immediately get up. Instead, he sat amidst the beast corpses, reflecting on his past life. He already realized he had returned to eighteen years ago, back when Li Xiuchen had not yet entered Taihua Mountain or become his shidi.

Moreover, right now was the crucial period when Li Xiuchen was about to enter the sect!

Having figured this out, Luo Jianqing immediately prepared to return to Taihua Mountain to stop Li Xiuchen from joining the sect. Unexpectedly, he had barely taken a step before mounting his sword to fly when he suddenly sensed an object hurtling down rapidly from the sky, aiming straight at him.

Luo Jianqing raised a hand and pinched it between his fingers, catching the hidden weapon. He lowered his gaze to look: “Seeking Immortality?”

After opening this book, Luo Jianqing’s entire worldview was completely overturned.

His world was a book! And a harem stallion novel with no morals, no bottom line, and no logic at that!

Li Xiuchen was the type to find magic treasures just by looking up and encounter spirit beasts just by looking down. From the moment he entered Taihua Mountain, he took to it like a fish to water, practically snatching away all the luck and fortune under heaven. Perhaps none of the girls in this book had a favorable impression of him when they first met, yet Li Xiuchen always had endless opportunities to play the hero saving the beauty, making them change their minds and secretly pledge their hearts to him.

After reading this book, Luo Jianqing felt completely unwell. His handsome, refined face was filled with rage, his phoenix eyes narrowing tightly. With a sweep of his sword, he slew a demon cultivator attempting a sneak attack on the spot, then hurriedly flew back to the sect on his sword.

The book Seeking Immortality was not entirely complete; it only covered up to the point where Li Xiuchen replaced Luo Jianqing, becoming the beloved junior shidi of everyone on Taihua Mountain. Luo Jianqing knew what happened afterward: he was framed by Li Xiuchen time and again, until finally, in a fit of rage, he killed one of Li Xiuchen’s spirit beasts and severely injured Li Xiuchen inside a secret realm, resulting in his expulsion from Taihua Mountain.

—Clearly, they had been treasure hunting in the secret realm when Li Xiuchen picked a fight with him, leading to that outcome. Yet in the end, it was twisted into him ambushing Li Xiuchen!

All the way back to Taihua Mountain from Ten Thousand Beasts Ridge, Luo Jianqing read Seeking Immortality twelve times from cover to cover.

The sensation of having his heart pierced in his past life still lingered in his memory. In this life, he would never allow such a thing to happen again.

Before arriving at the Path of Thunder, Luo Jianqing had even considered killing Li Xiuchen right there with a single strike of his sword. However, that remained only a thought. Many shidi and shimei were watching from outside the Path of Thunder; he absolutely could not act so out of character. Thus, Luo Jianqing blocked that bolt of lightning for the little girl who was originally meant to die an innocent, tragic death, altering the course of the plot.

However…

“Luo-shixiong, this is the roster of the newly accepted disciples for this year. Please take a look.”

Luo Jianqing lowered his eyes to scan the dozens of names. When he saw the three characters for “Li Xiuchen,” the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. He looked up at the junior shidi with a smile and asked in a gentle tone, “If I recall correctly, this Li Xiuchen has ordinary spiritual roots. He entered the sect as well?”

Gazing at that fair, refined face and that smile as tranquil as the breeze, the junior shidi couldn’t help swallowing hard, saying with a trembling voice, “Although Li Xiuchen’s spiritual roots are poor, he passed the Path of Thunder. Luo-shixiong, after you intervened to stop that lightning bolt, the Path of Thunder was immediately shut down. Because of that, a total of twenty-four shidi and shimei were accepted in this batch.” Almost every trial-taker who had held out until the end had been admitted.

Luo Jianqing raised an eyebrow and said no more. The junior shidi stared at him with eyes full of reverence and admiration. Even when leaving Luo Jianqing’s room, he looked back repeatedly, mentioning that he would come invite Luo Jianqing to preside when the Inter-Peak Grand Competition began in three days.

Luo Jianqing agreed to everything one by one. Once the shidi left, however, the smile on his lips vanished abruptly.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Luo Jianqing stood up and left Yuxiao Peak, returning only half a day later with an extra item in his hand.

Three days later, the Inter-Peak Grand Competition commenced right on schedule.

The twenty-four newly inducted disciples stood beneath the martial arena, looking around with curious eyes. Out of these twenty-four disciples, only eight were girls, among whom Liu Xiaoxiao was the most dainty and eye-catching. However, Liu Xiaoxiao kept tugging on the boy beside her to chat, completely oblivious to the gazes of others.

It would have been one thing if the boy were exceptionally talented, yet Li Xiuchen possessed ordinary spiritual roots and completely plain features.

Because of this, quite a few people took notice of him, wondering where this kid got such good luck with women to make a new female disciple with third-grade spiritual roots like him so much.

“Chen-gege, have you finished practicing that set of fist techniques? I feel like I haven’t quite mastered it. Will something go wrong today?”

Li Xiuchen nodded perfunctorily. “Mn.”

Seeing his dismissive attitude, Liu Xiaoxiao scrunched up her little face in sadness. “Chen-gege, didn’t you say that as long as we enter Taihua Mountain, we can become immortals, and once we’re immortals, my parents can live a good life? But that shixiong yesterday said we aren’t allowed to go home whenever we want.”

Li Xiuchen replied impatiently, “You’ll be able to go home sooner or later.”

Li Xiuchen didn’t spare Liu Xiaoxiao even a glance out of the corner of his eye while speaking, leaving the girl, who wasn’t even ten years old yet, feeling terribly wronged.

Liu Xiaoxiao had no idea what was wrong with her Chen-gege. Before the Path of Thunder, Chen-gege had always taken special care of her, showing her concern and affection over the past three years. Yet now, Li Xiuchen constantly acted as if he didn’t want to pay attention to her. She had only come with Li Xiuchen so her parents could live a better life, and she didn’t know anyone else here.

All at once, a wave of sour emotions welled up in her chest. Being only an eight- or nine-year-old child after all, Liu Xiaoxiao blinked her eyes, on the verge of tears. However, when she lifted her head and suddenly spotted that beauty dressed in fluttering white robes, her eyes widened in pleasant surprise, and she shouted loudly, “Big Sister! Chen-gege, look quickly, it’s the Big Sister who saved us!”

Liu Xiaoxiao’s voice was by no means quiet. Most of the disciples present were at the Qi Refining stage or above, possessing acute hearing, and immediately caught her words.

“B-Big Sister? This little girl just called Luo-shixiong ‘Big Sister’?”

“Hahahaha, well, with how graceful and radiant our Luo-shixiong is, he is the dream lover of countless young maidens across the Thirty-Six Prefectures.”

“On my first day at Taihua Mountain, I also thought Luo-shixiong was some shijie who liked wearing men’s clothes. He’s just too good-looking…”

Hearing this, Luo Jianqing froze momentarily as well. He looked down in astonishment at the little girl below the stage, only to see her tightly hugging her Chen-gege‘s arm, happily waving at him nonstop.

Barely over a meter tall and skinny—this little bean sprout of a girl actually called him Big Sister?!

A black-clad youth beside him chuckled softly, leaning close to Luo Jianqing’s ear to say, “Shixiong, this little girl has pretty good taste.”

Luo Jianqing cast a sidelong glance downward at him. The black-clad youth immediately spread his hands innocently and fell silent. Luo Jianqing then swept a calm gaze across the entire venue, prompting the whispering shidi and shimei to promptly shut their mouths.

Still, there were some using private voice transmissions to continue discussing quietly. Luo Jianqing could guess as much even with his eyes closed. Thus, he curved his lips into a faint smile, stepped to the center of the high platform, and flipped his hand to retrieve a white crystal stone from his storage ring.

Under the bright, radiant sunlight, the tall, handsome youth wore a white robe trimmed with silver thread, looking gently at the shidi and shimei below. That extraordinarily refined face looked as if brushed by a spring breeze, so gorgeous it was impossible to look away, yet his powerful, oppressive aura kept anyone from daring to act out of line, leaving them only able to look up at him in quiet reverence.

Luo Jianqing lightly shook the white crystal in his hand and said, “The Inter-Peak Grand Competition is a major event for the six peaks of Taihua Mountain to recruit disciples. At such an important time, refrain from pulling any petty tricks in private. If this Sound Transmission Stone lights up, don’t blame my sword for showing no mercy and sending you to keep your gentlest Wei-shijie company.”

The crowd of disciples, who instantly went dead silent: “…”

Wei Qiongyin, catching stray bullets all the way over at the Cliff of Repentance: “…”

The black-clad youth beside him: “Haha, shixiong, aren’t you abusing your authority a bit too much? Not even voice transmissions are allowed? And ‘gentlest Wei-shijie’? If Wei-shijie is gentle, then I’m practically the most devoted, affectionate man under heaven.”

Luo Jianqing turned his head to look at his shidi, speaking earnestly, “Fourth Shidi, I will pass those exact words along to Third Shimei for you.”

Xie Zizhuo looked horrified. “Luo-shixiong, you’re bullying me!!!”

Luo Jianqing merely smiled without replying.

That was just a brief interlude. A moment later, upon Luo Jianqing’s announcement, the Inter-Peak Grand Competition officially began.

The twenty-four new disciples ascended the arena one by one according to the order drawn earlier, showcasing the results of their cultivation over the past ten days to the shixiong and shijie of Taihua Mountain’s six peaks. The victors would advance to the next round, and those with exceptional talent might even be directly taken in as closed-door disciples by an elder.

Disciples accepted by Taihua Mountain were required to have zero prior cultivation. Even young masters and misses from prominent clans were at most permitted to learn basic self-defense techniques, with not a trace of spiritual power allowed. Therefore, this Inter-Peak Grand Competition essentially tested each disciple’s innate talent and personal effort over those ten days, making it completely fair.

However, precisely because these disciples had no real cultivation, the matches weren’t particularly exciting to watch.

Most of the female disciples secretly shifted their gazes toward the high platform, looking at their eldest shixiong standing out so remarkably in white. Luo Jianqing, on the other hand, remained completely composed, playing with the Sound Transmission Stone in his hand while watching the matches in the arena with a calm expression and a smile on his lips.

After a long while, it was finally time for Li Xiuchen—the one with ordinary spiritual roots and dog-shit luck—to take the stage. Luo Jianqing’s hand suddenly paused. Beside him, Xie Zizhuo keenly noticed Luo Jianqing’s unusual reaction. He glanced over at Li Xiuchen and chuckled softly, “It seems shixiong is quite interested in this kid with the worst spiritual roots here?”

Luo Jianqing raised an eyebrow. “Do you think he can win?”

Xie Zizhuo laughed heartily. “If he wins, I’ll go into closed-door seclusion for a whole year!”

Luo Jianqing waved a hand. “No need to be so miserable. Just go to the Cliff of Repentance and keep your Wei-shijie company.”

Xie Zizhuo widened his eyes. “Luo-shixiong, you’re bullying me!!!”

Luo Jianqing curled his lips into a light chuckle, appearing entirely relaxed. Yet, unnoticed even by Xie Zizhuo, Luo Jianqing’s gaze remained fixed steadily on Li Xiuchen, watching the completely ordinary boy walk onto the arena with a gloomy face and stare at his opponent across from him with a complicated expression.

Luo Jianqing slowly let his smile fade, a dark glint flashing through his clear, bright eyes.

“…Without that item, Li Xiuchen, what are you going to do now?”

——

Translator’s Note:

• Cultivation Realms: Ranked from lowest to highest:
  1. Qi Refining (煉氣) — split into 9 tiers
  2. Foundation Establishment (築基)
  3. Golden Core (金丹)
  4. Nascent Soul (元嬰)
  5. Soul Formation (出竅)
  6. Body Integration (合體)
  7. Tribulation Transcendence (渡劫)
  8. Mahayana (大乘)
  9. Deity Transformation (化神)

Footnotes:

• 1
  Shijie (師姐) / Shimei (師妹): Senior martial sister / Junior martial sister. ↩︎
• 2
  Shibo (師伯): Martial uncle (specifically, a senior martial brother of one’s own master/Shizun). ↩︎
• 3
  Jin (斤): A traditional unit of weight equal to 500 grams (about 1.1 pounds). ↩︎