A thousand miles without a cloud, nothing but blue sky; immortal mountains float in the azure, mysterious and distant.
If one were to hear a crane’s cry by the pines, it would seem as if a river of stars hung in a jade vessel.
When Xu Ping’an once again set foot upon this mountain he’d visited before, the influence of the sect’s gates was immediately felt.
But now, he possessed the Chaos Golden Eyes, and would not pass through the immortal gate unaware as he had before.
The Liuyun Sect was nestled among the mountains of the northern realm.
Since ancient times, this mountain had been famed as a blessed land for cultivators and was known as Misty Mountain.
Upon Misty Mountain stood nine peaks.
They corresponded to the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth.
These were: Heavenly Gold Peak, Spiritwood Peak, Coldwater Peak, Blazing Fire Peak, and Yellow Sand Peak.
Each of these five peaks represented a faction within the sect, each with its own unique heritage.
Then there were the other four peaks.
They were Swordsmith Peak, Disciplinary Peak, Sect Guard Peak, and Ten Thousand Treasures.
Like the aforementioned five peaks, these four also possessed their own legacies and purposes.
Among them, Swordsmith Peak, as its name suggested, was originally dedicated solely to sword forging.
However, with Pei Qingxuan’s meteoric rise, Swordsmith Peak’s swordsmithing had flourished over the past millennium.
Now, it was already the largest peak in the entire Liuyun Sect.
As for how to measure the size of each peak, that depended on the number and quality of its disciples.
Swordsmith Peak currently had one hundred and twenty disciples.
Nearly a hundred of them were entry-level disciples refining essence and transforming qi, while the remaining twenty-some had already reached the grand stage of qi transformation.
Of these, Pei Qingxuan’s Senior Disciple, Xiao Yunyuan, had even touched the threshold of Spirit Refinement and Void Return.
It was estimated that within a few years, he would break through to that realm.
The moment Pei Qingxuan entered the grand array, the sect-protecting formation lit up at once.
Immediately, several patrolling disciples of the Liuyun Sect rushed forward on their swords, blocking the path ahead.
“Who goes there, report your…Sect…Sect Master!? Disciple Wu Sandao of Blazing Fire Peak greets the Sect Master!”
“Disciple Lin Hai of Heavenly Gold Peak greets the Sect Master!”
The two disciples had stood tall at first, but when they saw who had arrived, they instantly bowed their heads, fearful of being too slow to salute.
“At ease. During my absence, has anything of great importance happened in the sect?”
The two disciples exchanged a glance and shook their heads.
“Reporting to Sect Master, nothing has occurred.” “Very well, continue your guard.”
“Yes!”
They answered in unison and stepped aside.
Pei Qingxuan didn’t stand on ceremony, forming a hand seal and directing her flying sword straight towards Swordsmith Peak.
Not until Pei Qingxuan was gone did the two finally dare to come back to their senses.
“Phew… As expected of the Sect Master, her presence is truly extraordinary. Even just standing by her side makes me sweat and tremble inside.”
Lin Hai shook his head, his face full of awe and fear, while Wu Sandao beside him didn’t think quite so much.
“You’re just scaring yourself. Although the Sect Master is imposing, she wouldn’t target her own sect disciples, would she?”
“Tch! Easy to say, but weren’t you the one who chickened out the fastest just now!”
Lin Hai shot him a sideways glance.
At those words, Wu Sandao’s face turned a bit sheepish.
“Uh~ That was just out of respect for the Sect Master, you know nothing.”
“Yes, yes, yes, I know nothing. And someone was acting all high and mighty just a moment ago, but turned into a quail the instant he saw the Sect Master.”
“You rascal, always exposing my shortcomings. Dinner’s on me tonight!”
“No, no, brother, let’s not take it so seriously, we can talk things over!”
Seeing that Wu Sandao seemed truly annoyed, Lin Hai, for the sake of tonight’s meal, hurried up to appease him.
But seeing that Wu Sandao still ignored him, Lin Hai’s eyes rolled and he suddenly remembered something.
“By the way, Senior Brother Wu, that Miss Liu from the Liu family… don’t tell me you still haven’t spoken to her?”
At this, Wu Sandao’s face grew a little embarrassed and he quickly waved his hands.
“No, don’t talk nonsense, I don’t have any such intentions!”
Seeing his unconvincing denial, Lin Hai laughed inwardly. But to keep in Wu Sandao’s good graces, he suppressed his laughter.
“Listen, Senior Brother Wu, when it comes to chasing girls, you can’t be so timid. You have to take the initiative! You can’t expect the girl to come talk to you first, can you? Girls are more shy than you, aren’t they? Wouldn’t you agree?”
Wu Sandao paused for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
“Right, right, that’s how it should be. How muddleheaded I am! Girls are indeed shy, how could I wait for her to speak first?”
“Senior Brother Wu, I’ll tell you, back in my hometown, we have all kinds of tricks for winning over girls. I’ll tell you all about it at dinner tonight!”
Wu Sandao couldn’t wait any longer.
“Why wait? Tell me now!” “Eh?”
Lin Hai was momentarily stunned, but Wu Sandao was no fool, just a little naïve.
Seeing Lin Hai’s expression, he immediately understood Lin Hai’s real intention.
Lin Hai was just an ordinary family’s child, fortunate to be gifted and chosen as a disciple of Heavenly Gold Peak, but with no family backing.
He didn’t receive many benefits in the sect.
Naturally, he’d want to find someone powerful to lean on.
Wu Sandao, on the other hand, was from a proper cultivation clan—Wu Daozhi, the Elder of Disciplinary Peak’s Right Hall, was his great-grandfather.
So, though Wu Sandao was not a major figure, he was respected wherever he went in the Liuyun Sect.
Naturally, he enjoyed better treatment than disciples from common backgrounds.
So it was: a naïve rich young master and a cunning commoner—somehow, the two had hit it off.
Of course, Xu Ping’an knew nothing of this little episode. By now, he had already reached Swordsmith Peak.
“Disciple Yunyuan greets Master!” “Disciples of Swordsmith Peak greet the Peak Master!”
When Pei Qingxuan returned to Swordsmith Peak, the one who welcomed her was, as always, Swordsmith Peak’s foremost Senior Disciple, Xiao Yunyuan.
[Among the younger generation of Swordsmith Peak, he was considered the most talented, and his appearance was equally remarkable—handsome as Pan An. Many female disciples on the peak, both openly and secretly, expressed their feelings for him.]
Yet Xiao Yunyuan had seemed to reject all of them.
As Xiao Yunyuan’s Master, Pei Qingxuan was sometimes puzzled—how could such an outstanding disciple be so clueless about matters between men and women?
But then she would remember: before she met Xu Ping’an, she herself hadn’t understood such things at all.
Things were much better now!
“Mm, rise, all of you. Yuanyuan, this is your junior brother, also the last disciple I have accepted, Xu Ping’an. Get to know each other. Also, have someone tidy up the Autumn Water Hall. He’ll be living there from now on.”
“Autumn Water Hall!?”
The moment he heard those three words, Xiao Yunyuan was stunned!
Of all places on Swordsmith Peak, the one he most wanted to live in was Autumn Water Hall—because it was separated from Pei Qingxuan’s own Pavilion of Immortal World by only a single wall.
That’s right.
As the top Senior Disciple of Swordsmith Peak, famed as the most talented of his generation and Pei Qingxuan’s personal disciple—
Xiao Yunyuan… he was, in fact, someone who liked his own Master.
Though it was not accepted by the world, Xiao Yunyuan always believed that if he persevered, there would be a chance.
Yet he never expected… the Autumn Water Hall he had hinted for, longed for many times, and which his Master never gave him, was actually being assigned to a new junior disciple?!
In an instant, Xiao Yunyuan’s gaze toward Xu Ping’an grew rather unreadable.