The Destiny Selection was a copy, not a transfer. It wouldn't affect Jiang Zhaoxia at all, so Li Qingqiu made his choice without a second thought.
The moment he confirmed it, his consciousness was yanked into a dream.
He experienced a long, hazy dream. In it, he practiced swordsmanship endlessly, the sword in his hand constantly changing. He trained without goal, without fatigue, continuing until he was numb to it all.
When he woke, the dream felt strangely brief. He opened his eyes to find the window dark. Moonlight streamed through, casting a pale glow across the room.
"Senior Brother! Time to eat!"
Zhang Yuchun's voice came from outside the door, tinged with hesitation. He'd already called out three times and was debating whether he should just barge in.
Li Qingqiu quickly replied, "I'll be right there."
"Okay."
Zhang Yuchun breathed a sigh of relief, and his footsteps faded away.
Li Qingqiu tried to recall the dream but found he couldn't remember any of the details. No new memories had been added to his mind either.
He stood up and examined his body. Nothing had changed.
His gaze fell on the treasured sword resting on the small table nearby—the Skyrainbow Sword, the one Lin Xunfeng had given him. Sheathed, it weighed nearly six pounds, and he usually couldn't be bothered to carry it.
He walked to the table. His right hand grasped the scabbard, lifting it. His left hand closed around the hilt.
Li Qingqiu's eyebrow shot up, surprise flickering in his eyes.
Holding the Skyrainbow Sword, he could actually sense a certain power within the blade. And it felt intimately familiar.
The sensation was utterly mysterious. He had never experienced anything like it. If he had to put words to it, he'd say it was spirit. He sensed the sword's spirit.
"So this is what it means to be a Sword Saint?"
Li Qingqiu suppressed the urge to draw the blade. He set the Skyrainbow Sword back down and turned toward the door.
He could study the Daoist Legacy panel later. Right now, he couldn't let his junior brothers and sisters worry.
Their master had just left, and now their senior brother was shutting himself in his room. The younger ones would definitely overthink it.
He pushed open the door and looked into the courtyard. His junior siblings were already gathered around the dining table. An old tree nearby held an oil lamp, illuminating the table's surface.
They always ate in the courtyard. Normally, everyone would be scrambling for food like starving wretches. But tonight, the little ones were unusually well-behaved, all waiting for Li Qingqiu.
"Senior Brother!"
"Big bro!"
"Bro, come eat!"
They all jumped up, waving at him. Even the prideful Jiang Zhaoxia secretly let out a sigh of relief.
Looking at them, Li Qingqiu's heart felt warm. His confidence in elevating the Azure Firmament Sect grew even stronger.
As for his earlier dreams of roaming the martial world freely? They were already tossed aside. With the Daoist Legacy panel, he would use the Azure Firmament Sect to carve out a brand new life for himself.
He strode forward, stopping beside his youngest junior sister, Li Sijin. He reached up, ruffled her hair, and then sat down.
"Sit, everyone. Let's eat and talk." Li Qingqiu smiled. Seeing his usual, familiar smile, the others finally relaxed completely and began serving rice and dishes.
His second junior brother, Zhang Yuchun, filled everyone's bowls, acting far more mature than his fifteen years.
The long table was just big enough for the seven of them. But there were only three dishes and one soup on the table, and only the soup had a few shreds of meat in it. That was life on the mountain. With Lin Xunfeng gone most of the time, they mostly ate the vegetables they grew themselves, occasionally scrambling an egg.
Li Qingqiu picked up his chopsticks and said casually, "Master has left and passed the position of Sect Master to me. I've thought about it for a long time, and I've decided we're going to make the Azure Firmament Sect big and strong. After all, this is our home."
As soon as he said this, his sixth junior brother, Li Sifeng, jumped up, hollering, "Big and strong! Big and strong!"
As soon as he started, the fifth junior brother, Wu Man'er, joined in, yelling along.
Li Qingqiu looked at twelve-year-old Li Sifeng and thought of his Destiny tags.
Wolf's Heart. No Means Too Base.
The kid seemed so sunny and lively. How could his true nature be like this?
"'Big and strong,' you say? That's easy to talk. Just the seven of us?" Jiang Zhaoxia couldn't help but sneer.
But Li Qingqiu's impression of him was excellent now. After all, Jiang Zhaoxia had the highest loyalty to him of anyone present, and the strongest natural talent. He was the sect's future number one enforcer.
Facing Jiang Zhaoxia's mockery, Li Qingqiu just smiled. "We're young. We have infinite possibilities. So from now on, we need to work hard on our training together. First, we strengthen ourselves. Once we're all adults, we'll go down the mountain and recruit new disciples."
This prospect excited the other disciples, and they started chattering away.
Seeing Li Qingqiu's attitude, Jiang Zhaoxia's hostility dissolved. He pursed his lips and muttered under his breath, "What's the point of training? With Master's lousy kung fu? He didn't even leave us any cultivation manuals."
His voice was too low for anyone but himself to hear.
After Zhang Yuchun finished serving everyone, he asked, "Senior Brother, Master only left behind three manuals: a Fist Art, a Sword Art, and a Movement Art. Which one should we practice?"
Li Qingqiu held his bowl, shoveled a mouthful of rice, and chewed as he spoke. "I'll study that carefully and assign them to you later. Just set aside some time each day to train. The most important thing right now is securing our food supply. Once we start real martial training, our food needs will skyrocket, especially for meat. So we need to start raising chickens and pigs, and plant more vegetables..."
He laid out his general plan. Zhang Yuchun's eyes lit up at the structured approach, and he nodded along eagerly.
Aside from him and the fourth junior sister, Li Dongyue, the others weren't too keen on the idea. They didn't want more work. But right now, they couldn't really object. Their master was gone; they had to rely on themselves.
Li Qingqiu conveyed the general requirements to Zhang Yuchun, putting him in charge of arrangements and giving him the authority to assign tasks to the other disciples.
He looked at Zhang Yuchun. "Second junior brother, you have a steady personality, and you like studying. The development of the Azure Firmament Sect will depend a lot on you. Just do what needs to be done. If anyone disobeys, you tell me. I won't necessarily break their legs, but I'll at least make sure they're sore for a few days."
At this, the other disciples shuddered. Even Jiang Zhaoxia's expression turned uneasy.
As the senior brother, Li Qingqiu had genuinely beaten them before. This was authority cultivated since childhood. Every single one of them had felt his hand.
"Senior Brother, don't worry. I won't let you down!" Zhang Yuchun said excitedly.
He'd wanted to take on responsibility for a long time. But he had a soft personality, and aside from the fourth junior sister, everyone else dared to push him around.
Li Qingqiu smiled and nodded, then steered the conversation toward tales of the martial world to stoke everyone's aspirations.
The Azure Firmament Sect might be small, but their master had a certain reputation. Every year, wandering heroes would visit the mountain, and they'd told the disciples many stories of the world beyond.
The land beneath their feet was ruled by the Great Li Dynasty, which governed nine provinces and fourteen territories. The Azure Firmament Sect was located in the Taikun Mountain Range in Gu Prefecture. For a hundred miles in every direction, there were only mountains and scattered villages. The nearest city was over two hundred miles away.
In this feudal dynasty reminiscent of ancient China, cold weapons were the norm, and the practice of martial arts was widespread. In Gu Prefecture alone, countless gangs and sects filled the martial world, with seven major schools renowned throughout the land.
When Li Qingqiu was little, he'd once seen a wandering hero expel a burst of energy from his mouth, sending it flying twenty feet to leave a mark on a tree trunk. He'd been awestruck, and from that day on, he'd harbored the desire to learn martial arts.
This world was the wuxia realm he'd dreamed of in his past life. How could he not want to train?
Li Qingqiu remembered he still had one Inheritance Reward from the Daoist Legacy. His heart burned with anticipation.
What if it unlocked a world-shaking divine technique?
If the Azure Firmament Sect wanted to grow big and strong, they needed a signature ultimate technique. Without powerful martial arts, how could they make a name for themselves in the world?
The amateurish skills Lin Xunfeng had left behind simply wouldn't cut it.
At this dinner, the disciples of the Azure Firmament Sect envisioned their future. There was no sadness over being abandoned by their master. As long as Li Qingqiu was there, they weren't afraid.
A full hour passed before they dispersed, leaving Zhang Yuchun and Li Dongyue to clear the table.
Li Qingqiu returned to his room. He sat cross-legged on his bed, struggling to contain his excitement. He summoned the Daoist Legacy panel and selected the option to activate the inheritance.
[Claim Inheritance Reward.]
[Initiating Daoist Legacy Inheritance.]
[You have obtained a Qi Absorption Art: Supreme Purity Chaos Genesis Scripture.]
[Accept Inheritance?]
Supreme Purity Chaos Genesis Scripture?
It sounded like something from an immortal cultivation novel. He wondered how powerful it was.
Li Qingqiu immediately accepted the inheritance. In the next instant, a flood of memories poured into his mind.
That night, Zhang Yuchun, Jiang Zhaoxia, Wu Man'er, and Li Sifeng lay in their room, unable to fall asleep for a long time. Li Sifeng was the most excited, endlessly chattering about their future and keeping his senior brothers talking.
In their room, Li Dongyue and Li Sijin also whispered to each other. They encouraged one another, vowing to help their senior brother carry the burden.
The moon set. The sun rose.
The first rays of dawn pierced the sky, illuminating the rolling mountain peaks.
Jiang Zhaoxia rose early. In the courtyard, he began practicing his fist forms, occasionally glancing toward Li Qingqiu's room with a hint of worry in his eyes.
He remembered Li Qingqiu saying, when they were younger, that he wanted to roam the world with a sword, living a life of passion and justice. Now, with so many junior siblings depending on him, would Li Qingqiu feel trapped and resentful?
Soon, a rooster crowed. Zhang Yuchun and Li Dongyue emerged from their rooms. They greeted each other and began their chores.
Jiang Zhaoxia did as he pleased and hated doing chores, but Zhang Yuchun and Li Dongyue worked without complaint. It was because of them that the others could live so easily.
Meanwhile, indoors.
Li Qingqiu, who had been sitting cross-legged on his bed all night, opened his eyes. They quickly focused, clear and alert.
He instinctively stretched, his whole body aching from the night of sitting still.
As he recalled the details of the Supreme Purity Chaos Genesis Scripture, his expression changed dramatically.
Wait a minute!
This is a REAL cultivation method?
Li Qingqiu was stunned. The Supreme Purity Chaos Genesis Scripture focused on absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, drawing in the essence of the sun and moon, and condensing spiritual energy within the body.
Nourishing the Origin, Spiritual Awareness, Solar Illumination...
Each stage of the mental cultivation method extended one's lifespan, even explicitly stating how many years one could live.
Entering the Spiritual Awareness stage granted three hundred years of life. The Solar Illumination stage extended that to six hundred years.
Li Qingqiu was genuinely shocked. He had always assumed this was a world of martial heroes, at most with things like internal energy or Qi.
His master had lost his mind, wanting to go seek immortals.
But immortality cultivation was real?
It turned out the Daoist Legacy panel wasn't for a martial arts sect. It was a panel for an immortal cultivation sect!
As the realization hit him, Li Qingqiu grew even more excited.
Who would bother with martial arts when you can cultivate immortality!