Chapter 0: Prologue

“Disciple, are you listening to me?”

“…Hmm?

Mmm… Mmmhmm.

I’m listening.”

“Sigh, I knew it would be difficult for you to pay attention, which is a great taboo for us cultivators.

Never mind.

I will start over from the beginning.

You, my rebellious disciple, had better listen carefully.”

Inside a dilapidated temple, open to the wind from all sides, a young man and an old Taoist priest sat opposite each other on the floor.

The old Taoist priest had a head of white hair and a white beard, was draped in a Taiji Daoist robe, and wore a Five Elders Daoist crown on his head.

His complexion was ruddy and his spirit, vigorous; he was the very picture of one with white hair but a youthful face.

Anyone who saw him would praise him as an old immortal.

He stroked his goat-like beard and let out a long sigh.

“I, your master, suffered a desperate blow from a great enemy, which aggravated my old injuries.

Now, my time is at an end, and I do not have long to live.

Fortunately, I have found a disciple of your unparalleled talent to inherit my mantle, so I can consider my hundred years of life to have been without regret.

Birth, aging, sickness, and death are all part of the human condition.

You must not grieve over this in the future.”

The young man sitting opposite him nodded, “Mmmhmm.”

“I won’t be sad, I won’t be sad.”

“What?!

You ungrateful wretch!

I’d rather not have a disciple like you at all!” the old Taoist priest suddenly flew into a rage.

“Ah, this.”

The young man was stunned for a moment, then squeezed out a few tears.

“Master, what will I do without you—”

“Look at you!

What’s with this weepy, girlish posture!

How can anyone feel at ease entrusting my legacy to you with such a cowardly appearance?!”

The young man: “…”

“Never mind.

It must be because my death is near that I am losing my temper randomly…” the old Taoist sighed.

“I will give you my last few words.

Remember to listen carefully.”

The young man immediately sat up straight and roused his spirits.

“I, your master, have long been accustomed to a free and unrestrained life.

I can only pass on the methods of cultivation to you.

If you wish to cultivate in peace, you must still join one of the immortal sects of the Five Continents and Four Extremes.

The hardships therein can only be overcome by you yourself…”

“Sigh, to think that back in the day, your master was also a renowned figure, known by all in the Central Divine Continent.

They called me ‘The Daoist Whose Grand Profound Qi Spans Across Antiquity and the Present.’

I once visited the Daoist Sects with my sword, my aura suppressed the starry river, and I sat and discussed the Dao with Arhats and eminent monks.

What a pity that now…”

The young man listened intently, with rapt attention.

Half an hour later, he covertly let out a yawn and moved his stiff legs.

An hour later, he was drowsy and unconscious.

He really couldn’t be blamed for this.

The old man’s stories were indeed quite interesting, all tales of immortals that one wouldn’t even hear from a storyteller.

But no matter how interesting something was, one couldn’t bear to listen to it repeatedly!

He had already heard the glorious past and romantic affairs spouted by the old Taoist a full three times.

He had been listening from morning until afternoon, and each time it was exactly the same.

Only a ghost could possibly keep listening!

‘Hurry up and finish your last words so you can drop some loot, you old geezer!’

Perhaps it was because he had put on a better act this time, or perhaps the old Taoist had completely resigned himself to his fate.

In any case, the young man got some quality sleep.

He didn’t know how much time had passed before he was awoken by a clap of thunder.

He shot his head up to the sound of howling wind and saw the sky had turned dark.

A torrential downpour had begun, and the dilapidated temple, which didn’t have many wooden planks left to begin with, started to sway precariously.

The chilling wind blowing in from all sides considerately helped him regain his senses.

He took another sharp look and saw that the old Taoist was still rambling on about his own past!

‘My heavens, isn’t your life flashing before your eyes a bit too long…’

The young man opened his mouth, feeling an immense weariness in his heart.

BOOM—!!!

Another clap of thunder exploded, and the old Taoist finally stopped.

He looked around, a dawning realization on his face.

“So it’s already this late.

Disciple?

Disciple?

Oh, you haven’t run off yet… Ahem, I may have been a bit long-winded.

Please be considerate of your poor master who hasn’t long to live.”

Staring with a pair of dead-fish eyes, the young man nodded heavily.

—And then his spirits immediately lifted.

Because the old Taoist grabbed Xun Qiu by the wrist and earnestly stuffed a bulging pouch into his arms.

“I know that becoming my disciple was not what you wished for, but trust me this once.

Your aptitude is rarely seen in this world; you are a born seedling for the Dao.

If you had been born seventy or eighty years earlier, you would surely be shaking the eight wildernesses and four seas by now, pushing through all the heavens and myriad realms, to be called invincible and proclaim immortality.

Even the ethereal realm of true immortals would not have been beyond your reach…”

‘It’s hard to deny it when you praise me like that…’

The young man rejoiced inwardly, tugging at the pouch in his hand.

It didn’t move.

The old man’s strength was so d*mnably great, not at all like someone on the verge of death.

“Ah, right.

Earlier, when I was fleeing—no, traveling in a hurry, I forgot to ask your name.

Disciple, what was your name again?”

Xun Qiu: “…”

“Xun Qiu.

The ‘Xun’ that is often mispronounced as ‘dog,’ and ‘Qiu’ as in spring, summer, autumn, winter.”

“A good name, a truly good name.”

The old Taoist stroked his beard and exclaimed, “Xun, the divine grass of antiquity.

Qiu, the choice of the lesser yin, the quality of all things in their initial state of quiet and gentle yin.

Good!

Excellent!”

Xun Qiu simply didn’t have the heart to tell him that his parents were both dead, that he had grown up eating from a hundred families, and that his level of knowledge was about the same as the yellow dog on the street that also ate from a hundred families.

He had picked his own name randomly from a book.

Just look at him, how much did he even resemble his name—the quality of gentle yin, was that a way to describe a man?

“Oh, right.

I am about to pass away, and leaving my name behind will only bring sadness.

Although you, my worthy disciple, are calm and detached, possessing a celestial bearing, emotions like joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness are all part of the human condition.

In the future, you will inevitably grieve for your master.

So my name… I should probably leave it.

It’s not that I’m afraid no one will burn joss paper for me in the underworld and I’ll have less than others, it’s mainly because I’m afraid you, my disciple, will have regrets later on…”

Xun Qiu tugged again, but the pouch in his hand still wouldn’t budge.

He understood that he probably couldn’t outlast this old coot whose life could flash before his eyes for five or six hours, so he had no choice but to play along.

“This disciple understands.

During festivals and holidays, Master’s share will certainly not be forgotten.”

“Good!

I knew my worthy disciple would not disappoint me.

Of course, it’s not that I covet that bit of joss paper.

Things like the heavenly court and the underworld are all superstitions; I have never believed in them.”

The old Taoist was greatly gratified, looking as if he was about to pull Xun Qiu along for another four or five hours of his life’s flashback.

Terrified, Xun Qiu quickly spoke up.

“Master!

Master, you still haven’t told me your name!”

“Oh, oh.

I, your master… I… er, right.

I am Bo Qiuyun.”

The old Taoist let go of the pouch, pushed it into Xun Qiu’s arms, and his speech suddenly became rapid.

“Inside the pouch is my inheritance.

It may not look like much, and indeed it isn’t much.

Just a few spirit stones, and besides that, a few IOUs for rather large amounts.”

Xun Qiu was suddenly a bit disappointed.

“IOUs?

Master, my cultivation is shallow.

I’m afraid asking cultivators for debts might be…”

Bo Qiuyun waved his hand with a flourish.

“What kind of talk is that?

To be frank, those IOUs are actually debts I owe!

After you take them, you can repay them if you want, or don’t if you don’t want to.

As long as you don’t go around loudly proclaiming that you are the disciple of Bo Qiuyun, no one should come to collect.”

“You motherf*cker…”

The thunder rumbled, and the torrential rain that had suddenly started in the night seemed to grow even heavier.

Puddles of rainwater visibly began to form on the floor of the dilapidated temple.

Bo Qiuyun coughed, pretending not to have heard Xun Qiu’s classic curse, and took out a jade box from his robes.

It was rectangular and a bit flat.

Under Xun Qiu’s gaze that screamed ‘you old coot, you did have something valuable after all,’ he placed it in Xun Qiu’s hands.

“This is the Nameless Book that I obtained from Cloud-Top Peak in the far eastern lands.

Although the principles within take an unorthodox path, its conception is extremely profound.

It is a peerless, miraculous book that points directly to the celestial realm of men and immortals.

I am advanced in age and my vital energy is shallow, so I cannot switch my cultivation to it.

But you, my worthy disciple, have not yet entered this path, so it is just right for you.

When you guide qi into your body and enter the threshold, you must, must remember to use the method recorded within…”

Xun Qiu was stunned.

He hadn’t expected this old swindler to actually give him something good, and it seemed he was genuinely trying to instruct him.

For a moment, his mind was filled with mixed emotions, and a bit of genuine sentiment couldn’t help but surface.

“Master…”

“Enough idle talk, I don’t have much time left.”

Bo Qiuyun interrupted him, his speech becoming even faster.

“I can no longer guide you in your cultivation, but do not worry.

I have already used immortal means to notify your junior sister to come.

When the time comes, you will follow her to cultivate.

The world is vast; there is nowhere you cannot go…”

“Junior Sister?”

Xun Qiu was taken aback and couldn’t help asking, “I’ve just entered the sect.

How could I have a Junior Sister…”

“Eh, just call her that when the time comes.”

Bo Qiuyun’s voice gradually faded, the light in his pupils slowly dissipated, and the immortal aura around him vanished along with it.

His white hair gradually took on a deathly gray hue, and he exuded the weakness of a dying person struggling for breath.

“Remember… do not publicize the Nameless Book everywhere… Also, this item… you must keep it safe…”

Xun Qiu felt something heavy in his arms.

He looked down and saw that Bo Qiuyun had pushed a plain-looking stone ball into his arms, while he himself spoke, his breath as thin as a thread.

“Do not tell your junior sister about this item… ahem, if she tries to take it… just give it to her…”

‘What does that mean?

Master, do you have a grudge against my junior sister?’

Xun Qiu’s expression changed.

Just as he was about to ask for clarification, lest he be dragged into some undercurrent of sect politics, he suddenly heard the sound of wind approaching from a distance, whistling loudly.

It wasn’t as deafening as thunder, but it inexplicably made one’s heart tighten.

He instinctively turned to look at the temple entrance.

The figure of a woman emerged from the woods and stood outside the temple gate.

Xun Qiu swallowed.

He got a clear look at her appearance—crimson lips and white teeth, a graceful figure, her soft and beautiful features carrying a hint of heroic spirit.

Her dress was a mix of cyan and white, elegant and otherworldly, just like the green pines and cypresses that covered the mountains and plains.

The words “Junior Sister” were about to leave his lips, but Xun Qiu abruptly caught sight of the longsword she held in her left hand.

The blade was slender and covered in a thin layer of frost, reflecting a cold light even in the night.

Strands of fresh blood slowly flowed towards the tip of the sword, forming droplets that looked ready to fall.

Xun Qiu immediately swallowed the words in his mouth.

In an instant, Bo Qiuyun’s previous words flooded his mind—”suffered a desperate blow from a great enemy and do not have long to live,” “traveling in a hurry,” “notified junior sister to come… just call her that”…

‘And to think I felt a little guilty just now!

So you, old coot, were looking for someone to take the blame and be your scapegoat!

This “Junior Sister” doesn’t look like a junior sister at all; she looks a hell of a lot like an avenger!’

A hundred thoughts intertwined, and Xun Qiu subconsciously looked in front of him.

Bo Qiuyun had vanished at some point, leaving only a pile of white ash on the ground that scattered with the wind.

Xun Qiu’s heart skipped a beat.

Trembling, he turned his head again, only to see that the “Junior Sister,” who looked like an immortal from a painting, had already entered the temple.

Her face was dark, her tone icy, and her eyes held killing intent.

“Where did that old coot run off to?”

Xun Qiu swallowed, pointed at the ash on the ground, and said hesitantly.

“He, he should have turned into that… right?”

The “Junior Sister” raised a delicate eyebrow, a hint of anger coloring her face.

Xun Qiu’s mind instantly went blank.

He subconsciously stood up, holding the inheritance he had just received with both hands, and performed a grand bow.

“Mercy, milady, immortal fairy, I really don’t know anything, everything is here, take whatever you like, just please spare my life, I was also abducted by that old coot, I didn’t know anything before he forced my head down to become his disciple, please be kind and don’t commit the great injustice of killing an innocent person that will be remembered for ages…”

Suddenly, with a thud.

Because he had been sitting for too long, his body was stiff.

Standing up in a hurry, he couldn’t maintain his balance.

Xun Qiu fell flat on his face, and because his hands were stretched forward and hard to pull back, he landed perfectly in a full kowtow, facing the woman who had just stepped through the door.

The woman: “…”

After a moment, she realized that Xun Qiu was just a powerless little kid who looked to be about fifteen or sixteen.

She sheathed her longsword with some awkwardness.

“There’s no need for all this… Um, can you get up…?”

Xun Qiu tried to push himself up with his hands, lifting his body slightly, but then went limp again.

“Doesn’t look like it.”

“Oh, then you can just lie there.”

“…Oh.”

TL Notes:

Nameless Book- A peerless but unorthodox cultivation manual given to Xun Qiu by Bo Qiuyun. Its first step, “Aperture Opening,” requires the practitioner to “die once” by shedding their body and soul to be completely reshaped.

Qi-  The fundamental life force or spiritual energy that cultivators manipulate. True Qi is the refined version used for techniques.