“Your daughter is born with a spirit root, possessing a destiny with immortality. I see that she is fated with me, so how about letting her join my immortal sect?”
In front of the vermilion courtyard, a passing middle-aged man in white robes held a whisk.
With the bearing of a transcendent immortal, he smilingly stopped a noblewoman who was bringing her child out.
“Of course I know my Ling’er has an affinity for immortality. Our Ji family is not some small, insignificant household in the capital; we tested her spirit root right after she was born.”
The noblewoman held up a round fan to half-cover her face, looking the man up and down with a face full of suspicion:
“Which sect are you from? If it’s a small sect or faction, or you’re a Rogue Cultivator at the Qi Refining Stage or Foundation Building, leave while you can. Let me tell you, don’t think you can pretend to be some peerless expert just by holding a whisk and wearing white—our Ling’er is destined for a major sect!”
“Uh…”
The smile on Ye Qingyuan’s face stiffened slightly as he cleared his throat:
“Ahem, I am Ye Qingyuan of the Xiaoyao Sword Sect, and this is my identity token.”
He handed over a carved wooden token. The noblewoman took it, looked at it, and was instantly dumbfounded.
Xiaoyao Sword Sect? Wasn’t that the prestigious major sect that had rapidly risen to prominence over the past few millennia?
Even though she was just an ordinary noblewoman from a Minister’s family, she had still heard of the illustrious name of the Xiaoyao Sword Sect.
“Oh my, Immortal Elder! This commoner woman had eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai! Quickly, Ling’er, quickly bow to your Master!”
She hastily pushed the quiet, black-haired, black-eyed girl beside her towards Ye Qingyuan.
“Ah, ah, Madam, there is no need for this. Our Xiaoyao Sword Sect has its own formal disciple recruitment process. If you are willing, you can have your beloved daughter return to the Sect with me. She will first join the Outer Gate, and then devote herself to cultivation.”
The noblewoman naturally agreed a hundred times over, nodding repeatedly.
And so, at the innocent age of childhood, Ji Ling left the courtyard she had grown up in, left her parents, and joined the immortal sect.
“Ling’er! When you are away from home, you must listen well to the Immortal Elder’s words and remember to take good care of yourself!”
At the capital’s city gates, this was the final farewell her parents left her before she was taken away by Ye Qingyuan.
Watching her parents’ figures shrink little by little until they could no longer be seen, she turned her head to look at the other person on the Spirit Boat and asked:
“Immortal Elder Ye, are we heading back to the Sect next?”
“No rush, no rush. You can wait for me a little longer. Coming down the mountain this time, I naturally won’t just recruit you as my sole disciple to take back.”
The bearded, middle-aged Daoist waved his hand and said with a chuckle.
More than half a month later, there were a few more children on the Spirit Boat.
There were boys and girls, all around the same age as Ji Ling.
Among them was an agile and lively girl—she claimed to be the daughter of a certain escort agency chief.
She quickly mingled with everyone, even the quiet and somewhat withdrawn Ji Ling.
“Hello there, Ji Ling. My name is Jiang Changge!”
The girl smiled radiantly. When she smiled, shallow dimples appeared on her face, and her eyes seemed to hold stars:
“I heard from Immortal Elder Ye that we are disciples of the same batch, which means we are junior and senior sisters of the same year. I want to be friends with you so we can look out for each other in the future. How about it?”
Ji Ling looked at the pretty, sunny girl in leather clothes with a bright smile before her, and remembered her parents’ instructions when she left home.
‘When away from home, you must take good care of yourself. So partnering up with someone and not being alone can’t be wrong.’
Thinking this, she grasped Jiang Changge’s hand:
“Alright, my name is Ji Ling. It is very nice to meet you.”
“Junior Sister Ji, do you miss home?”
On a summer night, Jiang Changge invited Ji Ling to a flower-covered cliff. The night breeze brushed gently, the galaxy was dazzling, and fireflies dotted the air.
“I… I just feel like I miss my mother…”
Jiang Changge, who was always full of energy on normal days, looked down at her feet, her expression carrying a rare touch of loneliness.
At this time, the two had been in the Outer Gate for several months.
Wearing uniform disciple robes, they had both successfully stepped into the Qi Refining Stage.
They were among the few with the fastest cultivation progress among the disciples of their batch.
And since Jiang Changge was the first to enter Qi Refining, she became Ji Ling’s Senior Sister.
“When Elder Ye brought us into the Sect, he said it: once our cultivation steps into Foundation Building and stabilizes, we can frequently go down the mountain, return home, and visit our families.”
Ji Ling didn’t know how to comfort the girl in front of her, so she could only repeat the Sect rules they had both known early on.
“I know, I just… sigh…”
Jiang Changge sighed and shook her head again:
“Forget it, what’s the point of thinking about these things? It only makes your mood plummet along with mine, Junior Sister Ji.”
“Compared to this, why don’t we talk about something interesting—for instance, Junior Sister Ji, why did you join the Xiaoyao Sword Sect?”
Ji Ling paused slightly. After a moment of silence, she said:
“I… I actually don’t know either. My parents just told me to follow Elder Ye to the Sect to learn skills, saying that I would be more successful in the future this way, so I came…”
“You really are an obedient girl, Junior Sister. You’re not like me at all.”
The pretty young girl laughed, showing her shallow dimples:
“I joined the Xiaoyao Sword Sect to look cool!”
“Cool?”
Ji Ling was a little confused.
“Right! Think about it, Junior Sister Ji. Our Sect’s Sword Cultivators roam the world with their swords; how cool is that! When the time comes, I will definitely pick a good sword, cultivate my Sword Arts and cultivation level to be incredibly powerful, and I’ll certainly be able to make many pretty girls fall for me!”
Jiang Changge smiled radiantly.
“Pretty girls… fall for you?”
Ji Ling was bewildered. She had seen men and women fall in love in the mortal realm before she joined the Xiaoyao Sword Sect, but Jiang Changge was clearly a woman herself. Why would she talk about making other girls like her?
“Oh right, I forgot to tell you, Junior Sister—I am actually a Mojing, you know, the kind of person who likes women. I’ve known since I was little.”
Jiang Changge rubbed her head somewhat embarrassedly and hesitantly asked Ji Ling:
“Junior Sister Ji, you probably won’t despise me, right?”
Ji Ling shook her head.
‘Whether one likes women or men, what is wrong with that?’
She didn’t feel that she would despise the Jiang Changge in front of her because of this.
“Ah, I knew you would definitely understand me, Junior Sister Ji!”
Jiang Changge excitedly grabbed Ji Ling’s hands. Patting her still-developing chest, she promised her:
“Don’t worry, Junior Sister Ji! Even if I, Jiang Changge, am a womanizer, I will definitely never make a move on you in the future! If you ever fall for any woman or man later on, just tell your Senior Sister. I guarantee I’ll help you win them over!”
Ji Ling nodded somewhat ignorantly and agreed to her.
Little did she know that her own future affection would end up being something she never got the chance to voice for the rest of her life.
“The first place in this year’s Outer Gate disciple competition is Jiang Changge!”
Amidst the cheering of the crowd below the stage, Ji Ling lay on the ground, panting heavily. Sweat dampened her eyelids, and the figure before her blurred.
“Junior Sister Ji, are you alright?”
That blurry figure walked towards her, friendly offering a hand and wiping the sweat from her face.
Her vision cleared—Jiang Changge was bowing to apologize to her with some regret.
At this moment, she had shed her youthful, immature appearance.
With a long sword on her back and her full head of black hair tied up in a simple high ponytail, her pretty childhood face had matured.
She looked heroic and striking, carrying the high spirits of a young woman.
“I’m sorry, Junior Sister Ji, but I still have to win this competition against you. After all, only the first place gets to freely choose their mountain peak. I have to apologize to you here.”
Ji Ling shook her head. She took the pill Jiang Changge handed her, put it in her mouth, panted lightly for a moment, and grasped the outstretched hand to stand up:
“It’s fine. You have excellent aptitude, Senior Sister Jiang, and all the peaks are fighting over you. This right to freely choose your peak is naturally more useful to you. Meanwhile, I have basically decided to enter Danxia Peak to minor in the Dao of Alchemy.”
She paused, then added:
“Furthermore, my skills are simply inferior to yours.”
“Hahaha! I knew you wouldn’t mind these things, Junior Sister Ji! Rest assured, once I make a name for myself on Mianyun Peak in the future, I will definitely keep you in mind. Even if we don’t live together anymore, we’ll still be good junior and senior sisters!”
“Mhm.”
Looking at the bright, open smile on Jiang Changge’s face, Ji Ling nodded gently, a smile in her eyes.
“Hey, Junior Sister Ji, look quickly! The good sword I got!”
Jiang Changge never went back on her word. Even though the two were separated into different peaks, she still frequently brought novel items when she visited Ji Ling at Danxia Peak.
This time, she clutched a longsword to her chest, bursting into Ji Ling’s apothecary with a face full of joy.
“This sword…”
Ji Ling set down the medicinal herbs in her hand. Looking at the longsword held by Jiang Changge, who had barged into her apothecary, she was a bit dazed.
The half-unsheathed sword’s blade was like a pool of autumn water, condensing cold stars. Thin as a cicada’s wing, it vibrated slightly in the young woman’s hand, seeming to have spiritual energy flowing through it.
“This sword has a sword spirit? Senior Sister Jiang, where did you find this?”
Ji Ling quickly asked. A divine weapon with an artifact spirit was not a Magic Treasure they could get their hands on nowadays—even if Jiang Changge had stepped into the early Nascent Soul stage one step ahead of her, it was the same.
“I found this in a Secret Realm a few days ago. My Master said that although I might not be able to completely subdue it right now, it will only be a matter of time! I’ve already picked a name for it—it’s called Autumn Water Sword!”
Jiang Changge sheathed the blade. Hugging the sword that was slightly struggling in her arms, she wore a look of utter delight.
“Oh right, Junior Sister Ji, let me tell you. Recently, Junior Sister Xiaolan from Xiaoyao Peak and I…”
After showing off her new sword, Jiang Changge couldn’t wait to share about her new lover with Ji Ling.
And Ji Ling was long used to her “bad habit” of frequently changing the female cultivators around her, so she simply listened quietly.