TIC Chapter 18: Path of the Proud and Unrestrained Youth

In the blink of an eye, the yin monsters swooped down from the sky, and the Golden Osmanthus Palace was thrown into chaos.

The people gathered here were the most outstanding youth of the Immortal Realm. They shouldn’t be powerless against yin monsters. Yet, it was known that anything stained with yin qi was extremely dirty and evil. These young cultivators were innately afraid of yin monsters, fearing that they might become corroded and injured by yin qi. It was good enough if they could exert 60 to 70% of their full strength.

“Ah…!” Within the chaos, a female disciple from Furong Pavillion tripped and fell. A yin monster swooped down at the top of her head with its maw wide open. The disciple was so scared that her face turned pale, on the verge of fainting.

Swish——

A dark blade flashed by, and the yin monster was split into two pieces and dissipated.

The female disciple who had narrowly escaped death raised her head tremblingly, and a pair of cold and fierce eyes with a murderous look came into her sight. She looked down again and saw that the cold blade was only a few millimeters away from her neck.

“Ah…” The female disciple’s face turned even paler with fear, and she crawled away to where her senior sisters were.

Lin Fuqing swung his sword and killed a monster that was approaching him. He turned around and softly complained to Fang Zhiyuan, “Why are you still so fierce? Look, you didn’t even get a thank you for saving her.”

Not caring in the slightest that he wasn’t shown gratitude, Fang Zhiyuan took his sword and went elsewhere.

Under the osmanthus tree where they had been resting, Xun Mingsi and his companions protected Shen Xiaojiang, who had successfully activated his hidden spiritual root and built his foundation.

The child sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, still consolidating his state of mind and unaware of the outside world.

With Fang Zhiyuan around, the yin monsters didn’t wander far. Nearly all of them pounced on this calamitous star– and then were promptly killed one by one, as if chopping melons and vegetables.

The young cultivators from various major sects were all stunned.

Xun Mingsi had already taken out his guqin, Que Ting. But upon seeing this, he calmly put it back.

“Zhiyuan,” Lin Fuqing said loudly, “Stop it. Leave one for the child to play with.”

Fang Zhiyuan understood and put away his long sword. He turned and kicked the last yin monster. The monster howled as it flew backward and slammed into the osmanthus tree!

“……:

Shen Xiaojiang had just managed to calm down the spiritual energy rioting around his body. He took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes.

In front of him, his shixiongs and shijie moved away tacitly.

The yin monster screamed wildly, “Hehehe—”

“…………?”

Shen Xiaojiang turned pale.

“Come and try.” Lin Fuqing took out a sword from his Qiankun bag and threw it over. “Fight it.”

=========

Many years later, when Shen Xiaojiang, who had become the leader of Xuyun Sect, recalled the past, he couldn’t help but tremble in his legs and wanted to kneel down to his da shixiong with tears in his eyes.

Although there was only one yin monster, its strength was roughly equivalent to that of a cultivator at the fifth level of Great Acknowledgement.

And he, a useless little weakling who had been at the third level of Qi Refining a quarter of an hour ago, had just broken through to Foundation Establishment in a daze. He knew nothing.

Da shixiong actually dared to let him go and fight this qi monster..

What a carefree person.

Black air swirled in front of him. The red eyes of the yin monster were already fixed on the young boy in front of it. Shen Xiaojiang held the hilt of the sword with both hands, and cold sweat as big as beans ran down his young face.

He had seen this sword at a roadside stall a few days ago. It cost three hundred spirit stones, and was a most common green-bladed iron sword.

The only swordsmanship he knew was the Twenty-five Basic Swordsmanship, which were the most common sword techniques in the Immortal Realm, and they were indeed suitable for the sword in his hand.

As for Traceless, which he had chosen as his main focus, he was still far from mastering it, even though he had received a lot of guidance from da shixiong over the past few days.

Abruptly, the yin monster screamed and flew toward him like an icy black arrow, approaching at a distance of nearly twenty feet. In the blink of an eye, its sharp claws had reached the youth’s face!

With blood boiling, Shen Xiaojiang gritted his teeth and raised his hand to draw the sword.

He only knew basic sword techniques and so could only use these to fight back.

The green sword pointed straight forward, the tip flashing in the sunlight.

The third move of the basic sword technique: step forward, stab the willow..

In an instant, sword and claw collided.

Boom–

The terrifying force of the yin monster sent Shen Xiaojian and his sword flying. He landed heavily in the dirt and vomited a mouthful of blood.

The flesh on his arms sizzled, having been corroded by yin qi, leaving horrible wounds.

Lin Fuqing watched calmly, and waved his hand to tell Fang Zhiyuan, whose physique was comparable to that of a “yin monster magnet” to quickly move aside with the rest of their fellow disciples.

Hidden spiritual roots were an extremely rare kind of spiritual roots. It could remain dormant in the body of a cultivator for many years. But once stimulated, a hearty and exhausting battle was immediately needed.

The more one consumes, the greater one’s potential.

His original intention was to use the Golden Osmanthus Challenge to test Shen Xiaojian, so that a good battle could help him attain greater potential. However, it was even better that yin monsters had come. He would personally supervise this battle and train the kid.

Shen Xiaojiang climbed up with a pale face, not uttering even a groan of pain. Eyes still as bright as ever, he grasped the sword again and rushed towards the yin monster.

This time, Shen Xiaojian consciously used Traceless. He turned and used the eighteenth move of the basic sword technique: Flying wind, cutting the head.

But a moment later, Shen Xiaojiang was sent flying again.

There was no way to fight back.

Gradually, people gathered around and looked from afar at Shen Xiaojiang, who was in a humiliatingly wretched state from the attacks of the yin monster. They pointed and said:

“This Xuyun disciple was the one who was building his foundation and ended up attracting yin monsters.”

“Oh, it’s Xuyun Sect… No wonder…”

“Look! That young immortal in white under the tree over there is Xuyun’s chief disciple, Lin Fuqing!”

Yin monsters were dirty creatures, and no one was willing to touch them. Since the chief disciple of Xuyun Sect was sitting aside without moving, no one wanted to meddle in other people’s business.

Therefore, these young talents simply gathered around to watch the fun, looking and talking but not helping.

“Cough, cough…”

The impact of the spiritual energy had cracked the ground, sending dust everywhere.

Shen Xiaojiang’s face was covered in blood and dirt. With difficulty, he spat out a few mouthfuls of blood foam. His head buzzed and severe pain riddled the entirety of his body. He held his breath and staggered to his feet.

Suddenly, he felt a chill at his back as the yin monster’s sharp claws came at him again!

He instantly rolled to the ground, trying to prevent the claws from reaching vital parts. Even so, a cut appeared on his shoulder.

Lin Fuqing’s lips moved slightly.

A cold voice filled Shen Xiaojiang’s mind, “Draw your sword, nine.”

Despite being startled by the sudden voice, he quickly jumped up and drew his sword with his backhand.

The ninth move of the basic sword technique was to diagonally chop the jade mountain.

Spiritual energy gathered at the sword’s edge, making the plain green sword shone brightly and directly striking at the yin monster’s eyes.

The timing was amazing!

“Jeh——!!”

The yin monster screamed, and the yin qi around its body rose violently.

Shen Xiaojiang’s pupils abruptly shrank, and a chilling force snaked up the hilt of his sword. In the next moment, blood spurted from his mouth and nose, and his body slammed into the ground with a loud thud.

Lin Fuqing frowned slightly.

The gap in realms was too difficult to overcome.

Shen Xiaojiang had weak spiritual power and low-level martial skills. Even if Lin Fuqing pointed out the most perfect flaws and the most appropriate moves, he could not cause effective damage to the yin monster.

There was an uproar.

Among the young cultivators watching, some explained in surprise, while others felt pity.

Some people also made disdainful sounds.

“Everyone said that Xuyun’s outer disciples are useless. It turns out that they are indeed useless…”

They were considered geniuses, and it was no surprise that they would disdain a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator being ridiculously defeated time after time.

Some people laughed and slapped their thighs:

“Alas, Xuyun! What kind of sect is Xuyun?”

“It’s just this…”

“Isn’t it just a small, broken island that houses a bunch of losers whose physiques are naturally attractive to yin monsters?”

The teasing voice was like a careless poison dagger piercing into the heart, and blood immediately flowed out.

Shen Xiaojiang fell to the ground in a daze. He was riddled with internal injuries, blood flowed from his mouth and nose, and his vision was hazy.

A sharp tinnitus sounded in his head, like waves at sea.

=========

Seven years ago.

On the shore of Taiqing Island.

“A’Yuan, do you want to save them?”

The sea breeze was blowing.

Two young men sat side by side on a white immortal sword.

Under the sword were the surging waves of the sea.

Below them, the boat was a pitiful little wreck floating on the waves. It was packed with a dozen ragged, dirty, smelly mortals comprising of men and women, young and old. There was even a sick and haggard woman with a toddler on her back and a newborn baby in her arms.

Almost everyone had bodies corroded with yin qi. They lay hunched over on the boat like a group of animals infected by the plague, some dying and others waiting for death.

Behind the small boat, a monk floated in mid-air over the sea.

The monk pointed his sword at the group of refugees, but he was looking at the young man who had just spoken without fear.

“Little Immortal, you may not know…”

The monk said gloomily, “This group of untouchables are people with yin bodies. They’re born to attract yin monsters and bring bloody disasters to the mortal realm. They should not exist in this world. It is our mission as cultivators to kill demons and protect the people.”

Hearing this, the cold faced young man in black slightly furrowed his eyebrows.

“A’Yuan,” the young man in white had a soft voice, but clear and indifferent eyes. He repeated,
“Do you want me to save these people?”

The mortals in the small broken boat huddled together in despair. They were used to being humbled and hated, and no one dared to even shout for help.

Only the newborn baby cried weakly like a kitten. The haggard woman covered the baby’s mouth with tears in her eyes, and the boy on her back sobbed and begged softly, “Mama… Mama… Little brother is dying of illness… Mama…”

Fang Zhiyuan suddenly turned his face to the side. He closed his eyes and said, “I don’t want to.”

Lin Fuqing said, “No, you want to.”

“…..” Fang Zhiyuan was silent for a moment, and when he spoke again, his voice was still as cold as ice, “Don’t meddle in other people’s business. No one…”

“—No one can save you. You’re all beyond saving. I’ll just be courting my death,” Lin Fuqing interrupted, accurately saying all the words that Fang Zhiyuan hadn’t said yet, and rolled his eyes at him. “Oh yes, I’ve learned it all by heart.”

Fang Zhiyuan: “……”

Lin Fuqing stood up from his Tunan sword and said softly to the monk, “I’m so sorry, please leave now.”

He bowed and added, “Taiqing Island will protect the lives of these yin-bodied people.”

“What!? You, you, you…” The monk’s face was distorted. He was in disbelief. “You’re talking nonsense! You’re obviously a stranger to this group of people. What gives you the right to—”

Lin Fuqing smiled and said, “I can do whatever I want.”

For his own pleasure, he chose to protect a group of strange mortals he’d just met, and these were even people with yin bodies that would incur yin monsters and cause bloodied disasters. The twelve-year-old Lin Fuqing didn’t think this was strange at all.

“You – Little Immortal! Please act sensibly!”

The monk had never seen such a person before, and he was so angry that he puffed his beard and glared. If it wasn’t because his cultivation wasn’t as good as Lin Fuqing, he would have already chopped him down with his sword.

He said angrily, “I came all this way to hunt down these evil creatures with yin bodies. Should I go back home just because of a word from a person who had nothing to do with me?!”

Lin Fuqing thought about it seriously, raised his eyes and said leisurely. “Oh, I supposed you’re right. It does make sense.”

Then he said softly, “Then I will establish a sect.”

The monk was stunned. “What?”

The little immortal turned and calmly pointed at a distance.

“See those four mountains on the island?”

“They’re called Xuyun, the Four Peaks of Xuyun.”

“Let’s just call my new sect Xuyun, the Xuyun Sect.”

“I’m the da shixiong.” Lin Fuqing smiled slightly, pointing at himself. Then he pointed at the astonished Fang Zhiyuan. “And he’s the second shixiong.”

Fang Zhiyuan was stunned. “What’s wrong with you?”

Lin Fuqing pretended not to hear. “We still have a master and a little disciple sister.”

Finally, he pointed at the group of more than a dozen people who were as lowly as ants in the eyes of the monk and as dirty as insects in the eyes of mortals.

There were more than a dozen dying lives. More than a dozen pairs of mournful eyes, with a little bit of dimming hope, fell on the young immortal lord and his snow white sword.

“I will accept you all as my outer disciples.”

The young immortal smiled slightly.

“Well, now they’re related to me.”

Since he could save someone at will for his own pleasure, he could naturally establish a sect at will for his own pleasure.

Twelve-year-old Lin Fuqing said seriously, “Since they’re related to me, if you insist on killing them, then I will have no choice but to kill you.”

———————–

The author has something to say:
Lin Fuqing: In fact, Xuyun Sect is not an immortal sect at all. It should be called an orphanage. The director is just a figurehead, and I’m responsible for making money to support the family and pick up children.

 

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