Chapter 3
Chapter 3: Qing Xu Sect Jiang Li Sheng
By the time Yun Duan arrived, Jiang Li Sheng had finished her snacks, finished her spring water, and was already preparing to sleep.
When she saw someone coming down from the mountain, she narrowed her eyes and watched first, not daring to speak rashly.
Yun Duan stopped before her and cupped his fists politely. “Are you Jiang Li Sheng of Qing Xu Sect, Junior Sister Jiang? I am Yun Duan of Kun Lun Sect’s Jiu Hua Peak, here under the Sect Master’s orders to pick you up.”
Jiang Li Sheng blinked, then immediately scrambled to her feet and returned the greeting with perfect obedience. “Hello, Senior Brother Yun. Thank you.”
Surprise flickered across Yun Duan’s face. He asked, “Why didn’t Junior Sister Jiang ride a sword up the mountain?”
It wasn’t an unreasonable question. She’d stayed on the mountain road for three days. She didn’t look like someone putting on airs, waiting to be personally invited—yet with no one coming to fetch her, she still refused to go up.
“I came in a hurry and didn’t bring my sword.” Jiang Li Sheng scratched her head. Even with thick skin, she felt awkward saying it aloud. “No sword, no way up.”
Yun Duan went quiet.
Jiang Li Sheng added, even more embarrassed, “I took my sword off while soaking in a spirit spring. Then I didn’t have time to grab it.”
Yun Duan had long heard of Qing Xu Sect Master’s only personal disciple. Rumor said she knew a little of everything—swordsmanship, talismans, divination, formations, artifact refining, pill refining, and so on—but excelled at none of it. Otherwise she wouldn’t have placed three thousand on the Feng Yun Rankings, failing to even brush the tail end.
She was still at the Foundation Establishment Stage and young, already stronger than many. But people also whispered her realm had been stacked up by Sect Master Yu Wu Chen with countless treasures and miracle medicines—more appearance than substance.
Even so… a cultivator who could unbuckle her sword and leave it behind?
Unreliable to this extent?
That, Yun Duan hadn’t expected.
He cut the topic short with a kind tone. “I’ll take you up on my sword, Junior Sister Jiang.”
“Thank you, Senior Brother Yun.”
Yun Duan stepped onto his sword first and gestured for her to stand behind him.
Jiang Li Sheng eyed the height, rubbed her nose, and said obediently, “Senior Brother Yun, your sword is too high. Can you lower it a bit?”
Yun Duan froze.
“I can’t get on,” she added, still in that painfully polite voice.
Yun Duan hurriedly lowered the sword. “Like this?”
Jiang Li Sheng hopped up. “That works.”
Yun Duan said nothing more. He flew her up Kun Lun Sect’s mountain, keeping his speed deliberately slow, as if afraid she might not handle it. After all, she couldn’t even mount a sword that started too high.
At the mountain gate, Yun Duan retracted his sword. Jiang Li Sheng jumped down and thanked him again. “Thank you, Senior Brother Yun.”
“No need.” Yun Duan put his sword away and started forward. “The Sect Master ordered me to take you to the Discipline Hall. From today on, you will study Kun Lun Sect’s rules with Hall Master Zhou there.”
Jiang Li Sheng blinked. “Okay.”
He brought her to the gate’s registration desk, filed her entry, and helped her receive a token for entering the mountain.
The senior brother in charge glanced at the name on the record, then looked at Jiang Li Sheng twice more, his expression full of admiration. “So you’re Qing Xu Sect’s Junior Sister Jiang? I’ve heard so much about you.”
Jiang Li Sheng’s face heated. “Senior Brother, you’re too polite.”
Her “fame” was not the kind anyone should admire.
The senior brother laughed loudly. “Junior Sister Jiang, no need to be modest. Your name is known across all three sects. I am Lu Shao Ling of Jade Pearl Peak, filling in at the mountain gate for a friend today. I’ve heard Junior Sister can do pill refining. Another day, I’ll ask Junior Sister for guidance.”
“Guidance is too much.” Jiang Li Sheng broke into a sweat. “I just know a little. Really.”
Lu Shao Ling grinned. “Don’t be humble. Looking across the three sects, you’re the only one they call an all-rounder.”
Jiang Li Sheng blushed so hard her ears nearly matched.
Her so-called “all-rounder” label was worse than having none.
Lu Shao Ling handed her the token, then turned to Yun Duan with a casual question. “Senior Brother Yun, Junior Brother Wei came back a moment ago. Did you see him?”
Yun Duan nodded. “I did. I passed on the Sect Master’s message. Junior Brother Wei has gone to see him.”
“No wonder he was walking so fast,” Lu Shao Ling muttered. Then, unable to help himself, he sighed. “Junior Brother Wei was out for three months this time. Longer than usual. I think he advanced again… late Golden Core Stage? Late Golden Core Stage at eighteen. That’s absurd.”
He shook his head, envy plain on his face. “No one can compare to his talent. Some people just don’t have that kind of fate.”
Yun Duan smiled faintly. “Junior Brother Wei is gifted, and his opportunities are good. Advancing once every three months isn’t strange.”
“It’s not the timing,” Lu Shao Ling said. “It’s the leap. This time it feels like he jumped two levels at once. That’s what’s terrifying.” He let out another sigh. “I’ve been stuck at mid Foundation Establishment Stage for half a year with no movement.”
“The Dao can’t be rushed,” Yun Duan said. “Besides, the Qi Shan Secret Realm will open in another month. Junior Brother Lu can go try his luck.”
Lu Shao Ling stared. “Doesn’t the Qi Shan Secret Realm open only once every hundred years? Why is it opening after just eighty?”
Yun Duan shook his head. “I don’t know. The three sects deduced it together. In a month, it will open. Anyone at Foundation Establishment Stage or below can enter. This time all three great sects will send people. Junior Brother Lu qualifies.”
Lu Shao Ling’s expression turned earnest. “Thank you for the tip, Senior Brother Yun.”
“No need.” Yun Duan glanced at Jiang Li Sheng and led her inside the mountain gate.
From the outside, Kun Lun Sect’s immortal mountain was a distant wall of cloud and mist—towering, mysterious, vast, untouchable.
Inside the gate, grand halls rose in layers, magnificent and sweeping. Deeper in, the scenery unfolded like a painted scroll: a world of blinding snow and a world of endless misty waters, winding ridgelines like brocade and cliffs that looked as though they held up the sky.
It was worthy of being first among the three sects—far more imposing than Qing Xu Sect.
Kun Lun Sect disciples passed by one after another, backs straight, bearing refined. No one laughed loudly. No one fooled around.
Jiang Li Sheng warned herself in silence: Behave. Behave even more. Fit in. Do not cause trouble.
Her master had lost too much face because of her already. She could not let him lose more—especially not here.
As they walked, Yun Duan gave brief introductions to each place. Seeing how quiet and obedient Junior Sister Jiang was, he couldn’t help wondering how someone this well-behaved had earned such notorious rumors for reckless troublemaking.
Could the rumors really be wrong?
He didn’t pry. In the end, he brought her to the Discipline Hall.
Hall Master Zhou Zhen Yan was already waiting at the entrance. He had received the Sect Master’s message and knew that Qing Xu Sect Master’s personal disciple would be placed under his hall’s supervision. Since the Sect Master had spoken personally, Zhou Zhen Yan treated it as something to handle with care.
Yun Duan stepped forward and cupped his fists. “Martial Uncle Zhou. This is Jiang Li Sheng of Qing Xu Sect, Junior Sister Jiang. From today on, she will study in the Discipline Hall.”
Jiang Li Sheng cupped her fists as well. “Hello, Hall Master Zhou.”
Zhou Zhen Yan had heard her name too. Seeing her in person, he hadn’t expected such a pale, obedient girl. He smiled warmly. “Martial Niece Jiang, yes? Fine. From today on, you will remain in the Discipline Hall.”
He waved at Yun Duan. “Martial Nephew Yun, go on with your work.”
Yun Duan nodded and started to leave, but hesitated. He glanced back at Jiang Li Sheng, unease flickering across his expression. “Martial Uncle Zhou… Junior Sister Jiang came in a hurry and brought nothing. You see…”
Jiang Li Sheng’s cheeks warmed with embarrassment.
Zhou Zhen Yan had noticed as well. Aside from a low-grade storage pouch, she had nothing—not even a sword. Though he didn’t know why, he still nodded. “Understood. Later, according to the rules for new disciples, I will take her to collect a set of supplies.”
Yun Duan nodded, finally relieved, and left.
Watching him go, Jiang Li Sheng couldn’t help thinking: Senior Brother Yun really was careful. A good man.