18 Filled with an indomitable fighting spirit throughout his entire being

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Master Qingyan, as usual, practiced his swordsmanship, circulated his cultivation technique a few times around his body, and then savored some tea.

Another day without the slightest progress in cultivation.

Master Qingyan had been stuck in the early Nascent Soul stage for quite some time now, but fortunately, his mindset remained calm and he wasn’t overly anxious.

Setting down his teacup, he waved his hand to cast a cleansing spell, clearing the leftover tea from the teapot and cup. He was about to take his “cup and dish” and retire for some rest.

Just then, the chirping of birds reached his ears. He looked up and saw a plump bird flying overhead.

It had been quite a while since he last ate meat; the craving suppressed by poverty now surged fiercely within him.

With a binding spirit technique, a blue spiritual power extended like silk threads into the air, automatically gathering into a net as it approached the fat bird, trapping it.

The bird rolled around in the spirit net, dizzy and disoriented, its feathers fluffed up.

Hmm, it looked even more delicious.

Master Qingyan retracted his spiritual power, pinching the bird’s small wings as he pondered whether to roast or stew it.

“How dare you! Why are you catching me?” the bird suddenly spoke.

The bird had intelligence and could speak.

Since it possessed intelligence, it could not be eaten. Master Qingyan reluctantly released its wings. The little fat bird, still dizzy, blinked its large black eyes and stumbled a few steps.

Though its head was dizzy, it remembered its mission and asked, “Is this the Free Leisure Sect?”

Upon receiving an affirmative answer, it let out a long breath of relief from its sharp beak; it had finally arrived.

***

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Master Qingyan was calling them together unusually at dusk. Along the short walk to his courtyard, many of the disciples imagined various scenarios.

Could it be that the Free Leisure Sect was finally on the brink of collapse, about to close its doors for good?

Jiang Xuan regarded the Free Leisure Sect as his support, his home in the cultivation world, and felt deeply saddened. He thought to himself that had he known earlier, he would have trained harder and contributed more to the sect, perhaps delaying its downfall.

Although Zhao Zhixu felt the sect’s strength was weak, he too considered the Free Leisure Sect his master’s school and felt uneasy.

Fu Qin and Zhu Yu, as the sect’s largest debtors, each nursed their own concerns—one thinking how to retrieve spiritual crystals from Cui Huai before they parted ways, the other wondering if the sponsorship fee would be refunded since she had only joined a few months ago.

Cui Huai suppressed her excitement, repeatedly asking her system in her mind whether, if the Free Leisure Sect dissolved, the tasks would be canceled and whether she could return to her role as the Spirit Flame Sword Venerable peacefully and without worries.

Truly, some rejoiced while others mourned—these sect brethren, each harboring their own motives, gathered before Master Qingyan, who sadly held a fat bird.

“Hm? A bird?”

“Master, is there something you wish to tell us?” Jiang Xuan spoke first.

Master Qingyan said, “There is news from the Boundless Sect. Early next year, they will hold a comprehensive contest across the cultivation world to determine who qualifies for the Sumeru Realm.”

Zhao Zhixu, who had the broadest knowledge in the sect, asked in confusion, “The Sumeru Realm contest only opens once every hundred years, and in the past, weren’t only Boundless Sect disciples allowed to enter?”

“That was the case before. Recently, the Spirit Flame Sword Venerable has bestowed grace upon various sects, deciding to choose qualifications based on strength. Previously, small sects couldn’t even get close to the Sumeru Realm, so this is a rare opportunity.”

“If it’s good news, then why do you sigh, Master?” Zhu Yu asked puzzled.

“Because there is a threshold for this contest: it requires a team led by a mid Nascent Soul cultivator, with at least two Foundation Establishment members in the team. Our sect does not meet any of these conditions.”

Oh, so that’s the matter.

So the Free Leisure Sect hadn’t collapsed after all.

Those who feared or rejoiced now settled down, feeling their earlier emotional investment had been wasted.

Everyone talked over each other, comforting the downhearted Master Qingyan, saying that if they didn’t qualify, so be it—they simply wouldn’t participate.

Seeing his disciples calm and unshaken, not bitter over the lost opportunity, Master Qingyan’s mood lightened. “True, I was just coveting the three thousand spiritual crystals awarded to teams passing the preliminaries, forgetting that we are still far from qualifying. It’s best to focus on steady cultivation first.”

“Three thousand spiritual crystals?” Cui Huai perked up immediately; since knowing the Free Leisure Sect wasn’t closing, she hadn’t really paid attention, but now she caught the key words and loudly asked.

Master Qingyan said, “Yes, it’s quite a reward, but it’s beyond our reach.”

Besides Cui Huai, another poor disciple, Jiang Xuan, also lit up at the mention of spiritual crystals.

In her heart, Cui Huai praised the Spirit Pool Immortal Lord for the first time in a thousand years.

That old scoundrel, the Spirit Pool Immortal Lord, was doing well, generously offering spiritual crystals. Or rather, this showed the Boundless Sect’s wealth and status.

Driven by a simple desire for spiritual crystals, Cui Huai immediately said, “Master, I think we can do it! We still have a year, two Foundation Establishment disciples and one mid Nascent Soul cultivator—it’s not impossible.”

Back in the day, she easily reached Foundation Establishment in a month. Now limited by her spiritual root, she couldn’t advance quickly, but bringing along some novices to Foundation Establishment should be no problem.

As for Master Qingyan, teaching two sword techniques and with some insight, ascending to mid Nascent Soul wouldn’t be difficult.

Seeing Master Qingyan hesitate, she asked, “Is it possible?”

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Cui Huai shouted out a slogan her system often used to pep her up during vocabulary drills: “No fight, no gain; life’s wasted without struggle!”

Another poor disciple, Jiang Xuan, immediately joined in: “To succeed, first go mad—charge forward recklessly!”

The other three wealthy disciples didn’t understand why they had to work so hard, but the slogans stirred a strange enthusiasm within them.

Master Qingyan, somewhat bewildered, agreed to sign up and give it a try. Filled with passion—or rather, adrenaline—he gently stroked the fat bird’s head. “Please, messenger, take this message: the Free Leisure Sect will participate.”

Only then did the long-tailed jay snap out of its daze, nodding its small head to confirm it would deliver the news.

Since Cui Huai entered the sect, it had been secretly watching her.

The statue of the Spirit Flame Sword Venerable stood before the Boundless Sect’s training ground, her portrait hung in the main halls, and small replicas of her image were copied onto the first pages of various secret manuals.

She was the spiritual leader of the Boundless Sect, the strongest sect in the world, and had countless devoted fans.

Was it just an illusion? That young female disciple really resembled the Spirit Flame Sword Venerable.

***

According to custom, the long-tailed jay would deliver the message, be treated to a meal, then head back home.

But the Free Leisure Sect’s financial situation and customs threw everything off.

The bird ate a small bowl of wild fruit freshly picked from the mountain; the sourness made it want to jump.

Hah, it had seen the seemingly dull fellow sneak the sweeter ones into his belly.

This place was truly narrow, sparsely populated, with a harsh local custom.

Amid the disciples’ warm send-off, the long-tailed jay left carrying news of the Free Leisure Sect’s participation.

Honestly, it still thought that young female cultivator looked a bit like the Spirit Flame Sword Venerable.

It shrugged, thinking the Spirit Flame Sword Venerable’s sword was heaven-defying and majestic—how could she be so down-and-out, so poor, and so strange?

Surely it was just hunger-induced hallucination.