Chapter 1
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Chapter 1: Thieves Are Here
As the morning light rises, the flowing mist is clear.
Disciples of the Qingliu Sword Sect rise with their swords, their white clothes fluttering elegantly, and the sword light under their feet shines on the nine peaks as if they were precious treasures.
Below the peak, the outer disciples lined up to look up at the sky.
“Brother Lu’s swordsmanship is truly like a fairy, the reputation of the Third Peak’s senior disciples is well-deserved!”
“Wait, look at Senior Brother Mo from the Ninth Peak, the aura of his sword is intimidating, and you can vaguely see the breaking of space when he flies, it’s truly terrifying!”
Although not sure about the strength of these inner disciples, everyone can judge by their appearance. When handling the sword, the calmest expression and most elegant posture can be deemed outstanding.
Such excitement occurs every morning in the outer courtyard, Wen Yun had long been tired of it.
Moreover, before coming to Qingliu Sword Sect, she had been an Archmage in the magical world for over five hundred years. With a wave of her Dragon Bone Magic Wand, she could casually cast a Floating Skill and float in the sky for a year without touching the ground.
Geniuses are too proud to study low-level magic like the Floating Skill, at that time she only wanted to create a Time Space Spell to send herself back to the most familiar modern era.
In fact, she did not disappoint her genius reputation, it only took a hundred years to complete most of this spatial curse, but she did not expect to fail when casting the spell.
She blew herself up.
This explosion not only blasted her from the magical world to the cultivation world, but also transformed her from a mature 500-year-old wizard into a 15-year-old girl.
Interestingly, this talented girl is also called Wen Yun.
Originally a orphan secretly cultivated by a cultivating family since she was young, she started practicing at the age of five, Qi Refining at six, Foundation Establishment at ten, Golden Core Formation at fifteen, almost reaching the Nascent Soul Stage.
On the other hand, the young master of the family has been weak since childhood with poor cultivation talent, despite accumulating numerous rare treasures from the heavens and earth, he only reached the Foundation Establishment Stage and had no chance of forming a Golden Core.
Some waste individuals who could not form a Golden Core themselves began to scheme to steal others’ Golden Cores.
And so, Wen Yun’s rare and flawless thousand-year-old Golden Core with a golden attribute became a target.
Being young, she only knew that the family head was her benefactor who adopted her, and she had always been defenseless towards them.
It was not until the cold sword pierced through her abdomen, cruelly and carefully rotating twice in her flesh and blood, that the bloody Golden Core was extracted.
Cultivators without a Golden Core lose their value, the guards, seeing her pitiful state, could not bear to deliver the final blow and instead threw her into the river to fend for herself.
She gritted her teeth and persevered with all her might, floating along the river for goodness knows how many days, until she unexpectedly arrived at the foot of the outer mountain of Qingliu Sword Sect, where she was rescued and brought back to life by Aunt Zhang, the cook fetching water by the river.
Even though she had lost her cultivation, she still showed spirit and, relying on her amazing sword skills, became a disciple of the outer sect of Qingliu Sword Sect.
Unfortunately, she was unable to turn the tables. Refusing to give up after losing her Golden Core and gravely injured, she insisted on seeking vengeance through cultivation. However, on a cold rainy night last month, she eventually ran out of breath, closing her eyes sadly.
Since she had taken over someone else’s body, Wen Yun naturally had to seek justice for the original owner.
The cultivation world is just like the magical world, strength is what matters.
Even though the body without a Golden Core no longer responded to spiritual power, magic focuses on manipulating elements through the soul. Now, she had no difficulty starting afresh with a new body to learn magic.
It’s true that having an extra skill means having another way out.
Who says that in the cultivation world, one must only study the path to immortality? Can’t one ascend through magic as well?
Besides, she was very eager to continue studying that Time Space Spell, hoping to find a way to send herself back home.
Unfortunately, the magic in this world seems to be mixed with other substances, not pure enough. She is now relearning magic, so she can only cast some basic spells at most.
Wen Yun was in the woodshed feeling the magic elements when suddenly she heard someone approaching outside saying, “…Why not let Wen Yun go? Wen Yun, where are you!”
The latter half of the sentence was almost shouted out, pretending not to hear was not an option.
The woodshed door creaked open, and a girl in green clothes walked out from inside.
Others carried swords, but she held a strange charred wooden stick in her hand.
She wore simple clothes without any decoration, her eyes like water, skin like jade, appearing pure and elegant as if untouched by worldliness. Her face still held a hint of youthfulness, but her demeanor was so aloof that people dared not look directly at her.
The expressions of the nearby female disciples were subtle. The round-faced girl who seemed to be the leader took a step forward upon seeing her come out, saying, “You are always hiding in the woodshed all day, trying to avoid work, aren’t you?”
Wen Yun’s voice was cold, “I have been chopping wood for three days straight. If I am not in the woodshed, where else should I be?”
The other person sneered. She had seen Wen Yun almost dying not long ago. How could she carry firewood with such a frail body?
“Don’t make excuses for pretending to work hard, saying you’re chopping wood, yet there’s no wood in sight…”
She stopped talking halfway, but then she saw Wen Yun take a small step and reveal a pile of wood in the corner.
Goodness gracious, she actually filled the woodshed so early in the morning, that’s absurd!
Even the two strongest cows in the courtyard can’t finish chopping so much wood early in the morning!
The round-faced female disciple’s face turned red, she turned her head and glanced around before haphazardly accusing, “What about the water tank? Why is it still empty!”
“I’m not in charge of fetching water, how would I know? Maybe you drank it all yourself.” Wen Yun replied casually.
The round-faced disciple felt both embarrassed and annoyed, she’s not a water buffalo, how could she have drunk so much!
Unable to argue with Wen Yun, she could only explain her purpose for coming today, “Today, a talented young man from a prestigious family is visiting our sect, the outer mountain gate must be carefully cleaned. I need to practice swordsmanship and have no time, so remember to go earlier, don’t delay important matters of the sect.”
Wen Yun lazily raised her eyelids, “What does it have to do with me?”
The woman repairer said boldly, “What do you mean it’s my business? This is the sect’s business! The elder sees that your sword skills are good, and kindly wants to take you in even though you lack Spiritual Roots. Since you can’t cultivate, you should do more things to repay the sect!”
As soon as she said this, the outer sect disciples couldn’t help but whisper among themselves.
Spiritual Roots are extremely rare, and among these people are the nobles and wealthy from the mortal realm, who are proud and arrogant. It’s not easy for them to be admitted to the outer sect of the Qingliu Sword Sect.
On the other hand, Wen Yun, a girl with unknown background, was favored by the outer sect elders solely based on her sword skills, breaking the norm to become an outer sect disciple like them.
What’s even more annoying is that many people heard the elder’s evaluation that day.
“At a young age, her sword skills are outstanding, if she had Spiritual Roots, she could have been a direct disciple. Unfortunately…”
That elder was at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Stage, none of them had received such high praise before!
Thinking about this, the disciples also started discussing.
“Younger Martial Sister Liu is right. We work hard to cultivate, but since you don’t need to cultivate, what’s wrong with doing more work?”
“The weeds in the Spirit Medicine Field haven’t been removed. I need to practice basic sword skills, making Martial Sister Wen go through trouble.”
…
Wen Yun pretended not to hear those shameless remarks, and calmly said, “I’m busy, I have to go back to chop firewood.”
Suddenly, a dog barking startled everyone, and the previous noise and excitement turned into silence.
A man in a brocade robe with a big belly walked over, holding a yellow dog in his right hand while stroking his sparse beard with his left hand. He glanced around with disdain, and scolded, “Has the Medicine Field been watered? Are the clothes of the inner disciples all washed? And are the water tanks filled up? Making noise here early in the morning without doing any work, it’s really damaging the reputation of our sect!”
The disciples quickly bowed, saying, “Steward Zhou, you are right.”
The outer disciples were all eliminated by the inner sect, their spiritual abilities were poor, and they were unlikely to succeed in their cultivation journey. Although they were called disciples, they were not officially recognized disciples of the Qingliu Sword Sect, and their status was similar to that of the inner disciples’ servants.
This man named Zhou was a steward sent by the inner sect, responsible for managing the affairs of the outer sect. Although he only had the cultivation level of an early Foundation Establishment stage, he held a high position in the outer sect.
Steward Zhou glanced at everyone and asked, “What were you just arguing about?”
The round-faced girl hurriedly complained, “Wen Yun is being lazy again! She refuses to sweep the outer mountain gate!”
In the midst of speaking, she discreetly tucked a spirit grass into Steward Zhou’s sleeve.
Steward Zhou casually pinched it with his hand and then turned to give orders to Wen Yun, “Then hurry up and go, why, do I need to invite you to sweep?”
Wen Yun couldn’t be bothered to argue, she would stay wherever was quiet, and now the woodshed was noisy, so going to the outer mountain gate was fine.
Anyway, chopping wood used magic, sweeping also used magic, it was all the same.
The girl lazily picked up the broom but still gripped the charred wood stick in her right hand, leisurely making her way towards the outer mountain gate.
The voice of Steward Zhou behind her echoed–
“Aside from welcoming that talented individual, there is another matter… Recently, all nine peaks intend to accept disciples from the outer courtyard into the inner gates. Any disciple under thirty years with a mid-level Qi Refining cultivation can choose a peak to register with their palm print. Tomorrow, senior brothers from each peak will come to assist you in participating in the trial.”
The inner gate trial had nothing to do with Wen Yun after all, as her Golden Core was lost and she had no cultivation left.
It was still early in the morning, the outer mountain gate was usually deserted, unlike the bustling inner mountain gate.
All around was quiet, only the occasional sound of the wind rustling through the leaves, the chirping of insects and birds could be heard. The shadows of the trees formed patterns on the ground, with layers of flowers casting shadows on the foot of the mountain. The path paved with long jade stones had patches of damp moss growing, with only the top half near the inner gate basking in the warm yet dazzling sunlight.
Wen Yun casually dropped the broom and carefully rubbed the charred wooden stick in her hand.
It looked like someone had carved half of it and then discarded it as firewood, although the material was not precious, the magic inside was surprisingly pure.
She focused, raised her hand, and quickly chanted a spell with her lips moving swiftly.
Various unknown magical elements mixed together were accurately separated by her powerful mind, obediently following her instructions to reassemble.
Suddenly, as if an invisible wind lifted Wen Yun from under her feet, her body floated lightly towards a big tree on the mountain path. With grace, she lifted the hem of her green skirt as she elegantly sat down.
They say, you don’t need a flying sword to fly.
Leaning against the tree, she listlessly waved the firewood stick in her hand.
The Floating Skill was applied to the broom, making it float lightly and sweep away the dried branches and fallen leaves on the stairs.
It was unknown how long it had been, as Wen Yun was almost falling asleep from tiredness, when suddenly a distant crane’s cry echoed from the horizon.
She was puzzled, “Hmm… does anyone from the Qingliu Sword Sect ride on cranes?”
Aren’t they all using swords to fly?
She squinted and looked up, for some reason, the pain in her lower abdomen seemed to worsen, hurting badly.
However, Wen Yun didn’t have time to check because her strong mental power made her sense that the outer sect disciples were starting to gather at the outer mountain gate, so she hid herself deeper among the branches.
The round-faced girl from earlier, whose name she couldn’t remember, ran at the forefront, her face flushed, not forgetting to show off her knowledge to her companions.
“This is the Young Master from the Xie Family, do you know about the Xie Family? One of the three major families, the Xie family is only second to the three major sects!”
“Although Young Master Xie was not well-known in the past, once he reached Core Formation, his fame spread throughout the world. Have you heard of anyone reaching Core Formation at the age of twenty? And it’s a flawless golden core!”
“Metal attribute! That’s the best for sword cultivation. Is Young Master Xie going to be our senior brother?”
The discussions below were all drowned out by the clear cries of the immortal cranes.
Eight immortal cranes pulled a magnificent treasure carriage flying in the clouds, while sixteen young women dressed in white robes held various magical treasures guarding the sides.
A group from the Qingliu Sword Sect stepped out, saluted with their swords, and the leader spoke loudly, “Apologies, Young Master Xie, the inner sect cannot fly in the sky.”
“My young master is feeling unwell…”
“It’s alright,” a gentle male voice intervened, stopping the maid, “Let the guests do as they please.”
A slender young man in a white robe gracefully landed and ascended the steps with a slow pace.
His features were delicate and gentle, but his face was pale with light lips, giving off a hint of illness. He appeared as faint and distant as an ink drawing of a faraway mountain, except for the bright red teardrop mole at the corner of his eye adding a touch of color.
The white-robed youth respectfully bowed, his clear voice hinting at a cultivation of the Golden Core Stage, resonating like a bell throughout the entire mountain gate.
“Thank you, Mian, for visiting Qingliu Sword Sect.”
＊
“Hmm.”
Wen Yun looked at the mountain gate from afar, holding her stomach with her left hand and playing with a burning stick in her right hand.
She said to herself expressionlessly, “Thieves are coming.”
The author has something to say: [Note]Xie Mian is not the male lead, he has already eaten a “hot meal”, this story does not whitewash any villains! This story is one-on-one, with strong characters.
Cultivation levels: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Changing Stage, Transmigration, Ascension
Magic levels: Magic Apprentice, Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Magic Guide, Grand Magic Guide, Master of Magic
Translator: 1 chapter/day. This novel has not been authorized, so we can’t sell its ebooks.
