Chapter Eleven: The Crimson Cloud Sect

Cangyun Mountain rose steeply, its peaks clustered like serrated blades. Amidst these thousand-mile stretches of rugged hills, three major sects devoted to cultivation stood: Xuanzhen Temple, the Seven Absolutes Sect, and the Danxia Sect.

Nestled within the territory of Yong Prefecture, Cangyun Mountain was blessed with abundant spiritual energy, a veritable haven for those seeking the path of cultivation. Yet these three sects, though respected, were not the sort to command universal awe or deter all challengers. For years, they had clung together, united against external threats eyeing the mountain’s resources, barely managing to preserve their foundations.

Despite the profound mysteries of martial arts and Daoist magic, most sects across the land still bowed to imperial authority, forging ties with various regional lords. Over a decade ago, thanks to the patronage of the mighty Marquis Weiwu, overlord of Yong Prefecture, the three sects received generous gifts and financial support, and their most talented disciples were recruited into his service. Thus, Cangyun Mountain enjoyed a rare period of peace. Yet once the external dangers faded, internal rivalries surfaced, and the former unity gradually dissolved into open and covert strife.

Night had fallen in Danxia Sect’s revered Heaven Chamber, where Sect Master Lu Qingxuan and the elders stared in despair at a batch of ruined pills just drawn from the furnace. Their hearts ached with regret, anxiety gnawing at them.

Of the three sects, Xuanzhen Temple held the greatest sway, its disciples numbering over a thousand. Its chief, Daoist Cangsong, had attained the third stage of Daoist divine powers—Out-of-Body—earning the Marquis’s special respect. The Seven Absolutes Sect, a martial order, was famed for its seven peerless arts; its disciples often distinguished themselves in the Marquis’s army, securing his favor. Danxia Sect, though adept at concocting Daoist pills, was but a third-rate alchemical sect, trading its medicines for cultivation methods from impoverished clans and lesser sects. It was the weakest among the three, and at any moment, could be swallowed by its rivals.

To safeguard their legacy, Danxia Sect had no choice but to seek the Marquis’s support. But for a lord of such stature, mere wealth held little allure.

Lu Qingxuan and the elders resolved to use the sect’s precious spiritual herbs to craft a superior pill as tribute. Yet today, all their efforts yielded nothing but failure.

As their hopes crumbled, a sudden commotion erupted outside the pill chamber.

Anger flared in Lu Qingxuan’s heart. He shouted, “Who dares disturb the pill chamber!”

His outburst silenced the corridor. After a moment, a white-robed disciple, summoning his courage, entered and bowed. “Master,” he reported, “while searching the mountain tonight, we found a suspicious youth. He possessed formidable martial energy and great strength; it took all our effort to subdue him. He claims to be one of our own and insists on seeing you, saying he has urgent news.”

Lu Qingxuan’s heart tightened; he pondered, “If he were truly one of ours, why wouldn’t you recognize him? If he wields martial energy, could he be a spy from the Seven Absolutes Sect?”

The white-robed youth nodded, “That was our suspicion as well. The matter is grave, so I dared not decide alone and brought him here for your judgment.”

Thinking this youth might be a spy, Lu Qingxuan and the elders exchanged worried glances. Lu Qingxuan spoke solemnly, “Jin An, bring him in. Remember, utter not a word of this outside.”

“Yes, Master.” The youth Zhao Jin An withdrew and soon returned, escorting a shabby, disheveled boy into the chamber. Zhao Jin An then bowed and waited outside.

The boy, barely inside, cried out, “Master, I am innocent! I truly am a disciple of this sect, not a spy from the Seven Absolutes. Please, Master and elders, hear my plea!”

The elders exchanged baffled looks. Though the boy insisted on his identity, none in the chamber—where the sect’s leaders were gathered—recognized him. Danxia Sect boasted hundreds of disciples, yet this youth was a stranger. If he were a spy, why did he appear so earnest and aggrieved?

An elder’s face darkened as he demanded, “If you claim to be a disciple, whose tutelage are you under?”

The boy hesitated, then awkwardly replied, “I am a medicine-gatherer from the outer court, not yet apprenticed to any elder.”

Hearing this, Lu Qingxuan and the elders exchanged odd looks. Could this youth truly be from the outer court?

Over the years, as wars ravaged the land, the three sects had taken in many orphaned youths. Those with talent became full disciples; the rest served as outer court members. In truth, the so-called medicine-gatherers and pill apprentices were little more than laborers, commoners taken in by the sect.

If the boy really was an outer court member, it made sense none recognized him. Yet Lu Qingxuan’s eyes flashed coldly. He reasoned: if this youth was a mere medicine-gatherer, how could he possess such potent martial energy?

He demanded, “You scoundrel! If you’re an outer court medicine-gatherer, how do you wield martial arts? Who are you, really? Speak the truth!”

The boy looked even more aggrieved. “Master, I dare not deceive you. Half a year ago, I joined Senior Ye and Senior Wang with others to gather herbs in the west. We encountered a transformed beast in the deep mountains; all but I perished. I survived by luck alone. If you doubt me, you can summon the outer court steward to verify.”

Seeing lingering suspicion, the boy explained further, “You ask how I came by this martial energy; that’s why I sought an audience, hoping you could explain.”

He carefully drew a delicate jade bottle from his robes. “After escaping the beast, I stumbled into a mountain valley, where I found an abandoned cave of a master. There, I was fortunate to discover this bottle of spirit pills.”

Lu Qingxuan and the elders, confident in their own cultivation, hadn’t paid much heed to the youth’s martial energy. The elder who questioned the boy stepped forward, took the bottle, and opened it. Instantly, a gentle fragrance filled the chamber.

“Jade—Jade Essence Pills? It’s Jade Essence Pills!” The elder poured out a red pill, his hands trembling with excitement.

Lu Qingxuan and the elders were stunned. At the very moment their own pill furnace had failed, this humble medicine-gatherer had produced a bottle of high-grade Jade Essence Pills.

Though Danxia Sect was third-rate, they could easily recognize such pills. Fragrant and brimming with spiritual energy, they were unmistakably the work of a true master.

Lu Qingxuan carefully returned the pill to the bottle, gazing at the youth with newfound appreciation.

With the Jade Essence Pills in hand, all doubts about the youth’s identity vanished. Surely, his improved talent and martial energy were due to ingesting these precious pills. Yet, even so, without proper martial training, how could his energy be so strong?

Lu Qingxuan asked, “Did you gain your martial energy by consuming these Jade Essence Pills?”

The boy nodded. “Master, when I fell into the valley, I was gravely injured and starving. Upon finding these pills, I ate one. Its power healed my wounds and greatly increased my strength.”

Lu Qingxuan’s expression changed, and he pressed, “How many did you eat?”

The boy scratched his head, thinking. “I lived in the valley for months. To escape sooner, I ate one every few days to grow stronger. I can’t recall exactly how many.”

His answer left Lu Qingxuan and the elders dumbstruck, as if stabbed in the heart.

Such waste! If only the boy could return all the pills he’d eaten, Danxia Sect’s power would soar, perhaps even surpassing the other two sects. What a tragedy that so many precious Jade Essence Pills had been squandered!

After a moment of regret, Lu Qingxuan and the elders gradually composed themselves.

Lu Qingxuan sighed inwardly: at least one bottle remained, a stroke of luck amid disaster. The boy’s martial energy was now considerable; accepting him into the sect was a blessing.

He said, “By offering these pills, you have performed a great service. With your newfound talent and martial energy, and having rendered this merit, I ask: are you willing to formally join Danxia Sect?”

The boy’s face lit up with joy, and he bowed repeatedly. “Thank you, Master. I will obey your guidance and that of the elders.”

Still cautious, Lu Qingxuan instructed, “Tomorrow, after discussion, we will assign you a teacher. The matter of the Jade Essence Pills must remain secret.”

The boy solemnly promised, “Thank you, Master. I will not breathe a word.”

Lu Qingxuan nodded, comforted. With this bottle, the threat from Xuanzhen Temple and the Seven Absolutes seemed greatly diminished.

He summoned the waiting disciple, entrusting the new youth to Zhao Jin An. Before dismissing them, Lu Qingxuan’s expression changed slightly. He asked, “What is your name?”

The boy raised his head and replied clearly, “Master, I am Qi Fei.”