When Nan Zhijin first entered the sect, his two senior brothers were both renowned as geniuses.
Influenced by his father, the young Nan Zhijin was deeply fascinated by the swordsmanship. However, in the words of True Lord Hengling, he lacked sufficient comprehension and relied solely on courage and enthusiasm.
Ordinary sword techniques could unleash 90% of their power in the hands of Pei Xuanjing and He Yu, while in his hands, it was only 60%. Even Shen Chuyun, who came later and was from a small mortal village, had two more points of comprehension than him.
Greatly frustrated, he could only immerse himself in the study of swordsmanship day and night until he was exhausted and covered in wounds.
After Lin Yibai found out, she would often accompany him to practice sword and teach him how to maximize the damage to the opponent in a tricky way. However, these moves were just like hurting one thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of one's own.
But Nan Zhijin was still very grateful to Lin Yibai, because only she would notice him in the sect full of shining stars.
However, after Shen Qing came, she saw his way of practicing sword and actually went to True Lord Hengling to complain, saying that he didn't take good care of himself and the sword techniques he used were too full of evil qi, which made Lin Yibai dare not accompany him to practice sword anymore.
Therefore, he was convinced that Shen Qing had ulterior motives and was only eager to gain favor from Lin Yibai, which gradually made him unable to like this newly - entered junior sister anymore.
Moreover, due to Lin Yibai's subtle instigation in front of him, he maliciously asked Shen Qing to practice sword with him specifically.
During the sword practice, he always "accidentally" injured Shen Qing. However, Shen Qing didn't care at all and even pointed out his deficiencies when fighting against him.
The evil qi in his swordsmanship decreased while the killing intent increased.
Since he couldn't accept that even Shen Qing with mixed spiritual roots had higher comprehension than him, every move in the fight was full of strong killing intent.
At that time, Shen Qing gradually noticed his resentment and once said aggrievedly that it was all for his own good.
Nan Zhijin suddenly understood why Pei Xuanjing always wanted to get Shen Qing's forgiveness. It turned out that the feeling of having a troubled conscience was so uncomfortable.
Duan Chunyi was determined to go to the mortal world. No one knew how many troubles he would cause. These things weighed heavily on Nan Zhijin's heart, making him extremely depressed.
For a moment, he even thought that the decision to enter the main divine hall was wrong.
"Nan Zhijin, Immortal Huiyan has given an order. He asks you to lead a team to the mortal world. The immortal asked me to remind you not to forget to go to the Demon Realm first."
Nan Zhijin lowered his head to hide the emotions in his eyes and replied in a low voice, "Yes, I obey the order."
———
After that day's chat, Yu Xuzi returned to his cave to prepare for seclusion.
Before going into seclusion, Yu Xuzi fully entrusted the affairs of the sect to Xiao Jinglan, asking him to assist several elders in managing the internal affairs of the sect.
During this period, Shen Qing took Li Xian back to the Qingyun Sword Sect.
After returning, Shen Qing was pleasantly surprised to learn that Hong Chaoyang and Qi Nian had both formed golden cores and advanced to the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm.
After a long - time experience outside, besides missing her friends, Shen Qing missed True Lord Honghua the most. She always remembered that when she was first helpless and in distress, it was True Lord Honghua who enforced justice impartially and helped her leave True Lord Hengling.
Therefore, as soon as she returned to the sect, Shen Qing took Li Xian to visit True Lord Honghua.
"Hahaha, as expected of the disciple I've taken a fancy to. Shen Qing, you really haven't disappointed me. Li Xian, you're also great. You haven't disgraced your master."
True Lord Honghua's eyes were narrowed into slits with laughter, and he kept nodding.
Shen Qing said modestly, "Thanks to the care of the sect master. All my progress today is inseparable from the sect master's teachings. If it weren't for the sect master, I'm afraid I'd still be wasting my time on Worry - Free Peak."
Shen Qing sighed. If things had followed the trajectory of her previous life, by now she would surely have become an object of disgust in the sect. And Lin Yibai had already discussed with Ji Chongming to slander her with the supreme treasure of the Demon Realm.
Counting the time, it wasn't far from the time of her miserable death in the previous life.
However, in this life, all the trajectories had been changed. Shen Qing's eyes sparkled with determination. This lifetime, she would never end up in such a miserable and pitiful situation.
After a round of pleasantries, True Lord Honghua suddenly slapped his thigh and said, "By the way, Shen Qing, did you meet a fellow cultivator during your cultivation? He said you left something with him.
"Since you didn't come back and he had nowhere to go for the time being, I took him in. Now he's temporarily staying in the guest courtyard. You can go and meet him."
Shen Qing was a bit surprised and asked, "Which fellow cultivator is it? Did he leave his name?"
True Lord Honghua grinned sheepishly and said, "I forgot. The disciple guarding the gate didn't say when he led the person in. When I talked to him, I found that his speech and behavior were very outstanding. He didn't seem like a bad person, so I took him in."
Shen Qing was a bit helpless. "Sect master, how could you take in someone without figuring out who he is? If everyone came in under my name, the Qingyun Sword Sect would be overcrowded."
True Lord Honghua then came to his senses and realized that his decision was indeed a bit rash.
He didn't know the person's origin or name. He didn't know what he was thinking at that time. After just chatting with him for a few sentences, he thought the person was trustworthy and directly took him in.
As the sect master, his vigilance was not as high as that of Shen Qing, a disciple. He really should reflect on himself.
"Shen Qing is right. However, that person hasn't shown any abnormal behavior during his stay here. He doesn't wander around the sect every day but only meditates in his own yard. So I let my guard down against him."
Hearing this, Shen Qing frowned. "May I ask the sect master, has this person been staying in the sect for a long time?"
True Lord Honghua thought for a while and said, "Indeed. According to the time, it was almost when you and Li Xian just left the Beast - Taming Sect and headed for the Green Wood Sect."
So early!
Who on earth was this person?
Shen Qing and Li Xian glanced at each other, completely at a loss.
Among the people they met during this experience, no one would come to the Qingyun Sword Sect without giving their name. I'm afraid this person had ill intentions.
Anyway, they should meet the person first.
Shen Qing immediately stood up, bid farewell to True Lord Honghua, and took Li Xian to the guest courtyard.
On the way to the guest courtyard, Shen Qing almost took the wrong way because she was not familiar with the path. It was Li Xian who led her back.
"Are you so unfamiliar with your own sect?"
Li Xian's tone was a bit helpless.
Shen Qing was also on the verge of tears. "Although I grew up in the Qingyun Sword Sect, the people in the sect didn't like me. I only focused on pleasing them every day, so I rarely went to other places in the sect."
Li Xian suddenly felt sorry for Shen Qing. The people on Worry - Free Peak were really too much.
People like Pei Xuanjing even chased her to the South Sea. Maybe it was because they lacked such a cheap maid as Shen Qing and wanted her to return to the sect.
Such people were really disgusting!
Li Xian speculated about Pei Xuanjing and others' thoughts with the greatest malice, and her dissatisfaction with them grew deeper and deeper.
Many of the guest courtyards were empty. Only one courtyard had a much lower temperature than the others.
Suddenly, Shen Qing felt a familiar aura. Her heart tightened, and her whole body tensed up.
It was actually him!