"Junior brother, it's time to take your medicine. Junior brother!"
The urgent voice of a young woman woke Lu Qian up.
He slowly opened his eyes, his consciousness gradually clearing from the haze, and the scene before him becoming clearer.
In front of him stood a young woman with a delicate appearance, probably in her early twenties. Even the disheveled hair and the dust on her face couldn't hide her beauty.
At this moment, she was holding a porcelain bowl, looking at him with a complex expression.
As his sense of smell and touch slowly returned, Lu Qian smelled a bitter medicinal scent, and in an instant, he felt an excruciating pain all over his body. He struggled to look down at his chest.
A few large pieces of cloth were haphazardly wrapped there, and a shocking bloodstain almost covered his entire chest.
Blood! At that moment, it was as if a membrane was pierced in his mind, and a tide of memories surged forth, causing Lu Qian to suddenly widen his eyes.
Lu Qian of the Yunshan Sect, four years after joining, Sect Leader's Disciple, Level Five Qi Cultivation, Gold-Water Dual Spiritual Roots...
Modern-day Lu Qian, fifteen years of work experience, corporate executive, owns a house, car, and savings...
The Spiritual Spring suddenly discovered on Yun Mountain, the traitorous allies, the mad enemies, fellow disciples dying in blood at the mountain gate, the once small Yunshan Sect wilting like fallen leaves overnight...
The corporate slogging life, besides the exhausting work, how many times of drinking exchanges at banquets, how many rounds of cringe-inducing flattery, handling countless backstabbing and messy affairs, finally rising to a leadership position in a large corporation...
The two lives from two worlds merged instantly, like two glasses of clear water poured together, perfectly fusing, indistinguishable.
Am I Lu Qian? I am Lu Qian!
After all the fellow disciples were killed, the dying Sect Leader handed the Sect Leader's Ring to me!
"From now on, you are the fourth-generation Sect Leader of the Yunshan Sect... Quickly, go!"
Lu Qian, staring blankly at the bowl of medicine, apparently caused some misunderstanding with the woman. She snorted angrily, placed the bowl heavily on the table, even causing the liquid to spill out.
"There's no poison in this! You don't have to be so guarded against me! If I wanted to harm you, I would have abandoned you long ago. Sect Leader? Truly ridiculous!"
With that, she turned her head and left, slamming the wooden door of the small hut with a bang.
"Senior Sister Qingfeng!" Lu Qian shouted, struggling to stand up, but any movement caused intense pain in his wound, forcing him to give up.
He sighed, picked up the medicine bowl, took a sip, and found it incredibly bitter, hard to swallow, so he simply put the bowl down and closed his eyes, lost in thought.
In an instant, his mind was racing, and various thoughts flashed by.
The Yunshan Sect Leader's Ring contained the sect's legacy amassed over more than three hundred years. Thus, the Quyang Wang Family and the bastards of Ziluo Mountain relentlessly pursued them. But on the run, as a newly-appointed Sect Leader, he gave chaotic orders, making several foolish decisions, causing the fleeing group to fall apart. No wonder Senior Sister Jiang Qingfeng felt this way about him.
Now, gravely injured, he had used up all the Healing Elixirs along the way, leaving them no choice but to find temporary respite in this hunter's cabin deep within the forest. Jiang Qingfeng, still mindful of their sect ties, gathered herbs to brew a healing potion for him.
The enemy's territory... the enemy's pursuing troops' strength, waves, and dispersion... the current route, the last ambush's location and timing... their own speed, physical condition, and available arms and supplies...
– We must not stay here, even if the injuries worsen; we have to keep moving. Only by leaving Quyang County can we relax, if only temporarily.
In an instant, a conclusion formed in his mind.
Huh? Lu Qian opened his eyes in surprise.
It seemed that once he issued the "think" command, his brain began operating rapidly, processing each piece of intelligence and memory he had gathered along the way with unprecedented clarity. Instantly organizing the conditions, judging, combining, reasoning... and reaching a conclusion in a moment.
What is going on? Why does my thinking feel several times faster than before?
Amidst his bewilderment, the wooden door creaked open, revealing a small crack. A little girl with bright eyes, sculpted like a masterpiece, was peeking through the gap.
"Taotao, come over here." Lu Qian beckoned.
The little girl hesitated. She opened the door slightly wider but did not enter, for the senior brother lying on the bed inside seemed a bit intimidating as he often got angry along the way.
After hesitating, and looking at Lu Qian's smiling face, she finally mustered the courage to speak timidly: "I'll come in, but you mustn't scold me."
"No scolding, whoever scolds is a little dog."
Reassured, the little girl eventually gathered the courage, pattering over to the bedside, trying hard to appear serious: "Sect Leader Brother, you can't bully my sister; you made her cry."
She was Jiang Qingfeng's younger sister, named Jiang Baitao, just turned six. Previously discovered to have a Spiritual Root, Jiang Qingfeng brought her into the sect. Unfortunately, no sooner had she joined than catastrophe struck the sect. Luckily, the little girl was lightweight enough to be flown away without issue, and her lively, adorable nature made everyone fond of her, so she was protected all the way to safety.
Lu Qian, Jiang Qingfeng, and Jiang Baitao were the only members left of this fugitive group.
Sighing inwardly, Lu Qian reached to pat Jiang Baitao's head gently, "I won't anymore. I was wrong before. Could you help me apologize to your sister? Let's hurry and move on, okay?"
Outside, under the shade of the trees, Jiang Qingfeng leaned against a tree trunk in a daze. She thought of the past joyful peace in the sect and the grievances on the current journey, and couldn't help but feel a surge of sadness, tears falling.
She had done everything she could, yet Lu Qian still showed no appreciation. All along the journey, she saw through this so-called Sect Leader.
Tall and slender, handsome, especially with a pair of strikingly slanted eyebrows, he exuded bravery. Yet who would have thought he was empty-headed inside!
Arrogant and aloof, thinking highly of himself. Clearly, they had become a desperate lot and should be sticking together. Yet Lu Qian treated everyone coldly and bossily, quickly losing everyone's favor.
Selfish and petty, holding onto the remaining few Elixirs and Talismans. If anyone had previously offended him, they couldn't get any emergency supplies. He even misused everything himself, using it all up.
Incompetent and envious, after the catastrophe, he acted like a headless chicken, incapable of planning an escape route. Only with the elder fellow disciples' support in advising did they manage to break through. Yet instead of gratitude, Lu Qian viewed their help as a power grab and remained suspicious in his words and actions.
Such a person, fit to be the Sect Leader?
If it weren't for the sect's elite being wiped out in one fell swoop, leaving him as the only Sect Leader's Disciple, and the former Sect Leader valuing his Dual Spiritual Roots, how could the Sect Leader position have fallen to him?
Enough is enough! Useless to the core, I might as well abandon him here and take Taotao with me! Fortunately, with the team scattered, the pursuers were also fewer and dispersed. I'm already close to the edge of Quyang County.
Just as she was thinking this, Jiang Qingfeng stood up in anger, wiping her face haphazardly, about to look for Jiang Baitao.
Suddenly, a rustling sound came from behind, and a yellow talisman shot toward Jiang Qingfeng!
"Decree!"
With a boom, the yellow talisman exploded into a fireball, engulfing Jiang Qingfeng.
"Ha! Got her!" Two male figures emerged from the bushes. The young Daoist, pinching a spell, was full of smug satisfaction. Yet the fire died down to reveal a Jade Pendant hovering in front of Jiang Qingfeng, enveloping her in a radiant green light.
"A Defensive Spiritual Artifact!" The other middle-aged man, face full of greed, exclaimed. "We're going to hit it big this time." Saying this, he formed a hand seal, and with a clang, the Flying Sword behind him drew, chopping toward Jiang Qingfeng.
The young Daoist got anxious: "That's mine! Dare to fight me for it?" He too formed a seal, launching an attack with his Flying Sword.
Jiang Qingfeng was at Level Six Qi Cultivation, having just stepped into the "Exorcism" realm as a Mid-Stage Qi Cultivator, she couldn't simultaneously wield two Magical Artifacts. There was no time to switch artifacts now, and she could only watch helplessly as two white beams brutally struck the light shield of the Jade Pendant!
She let out a sorrowful cry, her body being sent flying, crashing heavily against a tree trunk, coughing up a mouthful of blood. The Jade Pendant's light faded and it dropped down before her.