Chapter 7: Dequan

Qu Yi stood up straight and smiled, “Greetings, elders. My name is Qu Yi!”
The ten elders were momentarily surprised, then each smiled as they looked at Qu Yi, retracting their imposing aura to show friendliness.
The leader of the Xianyun Sect had always been chosen from the disciples of the Zuiyun Peak lineage, so the activities of this faction were of great concern to the other peaks—this was why the ten elders were so attentive.
Huaqing observed the expressions of the elders and realized they were all guessing why he had taken Qu Yi as a disciple. He immediately began to consider his reasons. Before returning to the sect, Huaqing had already thought of an excuse.
“Qu Yi possesses a spiritual root, though it’s the weakest among the five types. Yet his fate holds opportunities for cultivation. By the time I met him, he already had a piece of starfall iron. To join the Xianyun Sect, he offered it to the sect,” Huaqing said with a smile.
The ten elders understood at once and returned smiles to Qu Yi as encouragement.
Elder Huaimiao, who was in charge of crafting in the sect, hurriedly called out, “Senior brother, leader, could I take a look at that starfall iron?”
Huaqing’s master had taken four disciples: Huaqing, Huaiyou, Huaimiao, and Huaijin. Among them, Huaqing reached the Yuan Ying stage and became the leader, Huaiyou became an elder responsible for passing on teachings, Huaimiao became a master craftsman, and Huaijin became the sect’s administrator.
Huaimiao loved crafting, and upon hearing about starfall iron—material used to create spiritual weapons—he grew impatient.
“Alright, I’ll leave it in your care, junior brother,” Huaqing said, knowing his junior brother was straightforward and not wanting to provoke him.
Soon, Huaqing manifested his storage bracelet, and a piece of starfall iron flew out, landing in Huaimiao’s hands.
“Haha, it’s indeed starfall iron!” Huaimiao’s dark face showed excitement.
The other elders glanced at it and confirmed it was indeed starfall iron, dispelling their suspicions that Qu Yi was Huaqing’s disciple.
With a five-type spiritual root, one’s greatest achievement in life would be reaching the Foundation stage. The ten elders agreed with Huaqing’s judgment, so they concluded that Qu Yi was indeed accepted by Huaqing because of his offering of starfall iron, and Huaqing agreed to take him on to avoid future obstacles in his cultivation path.
The matter of the jade sword was thus covered up.
The ten elders left the Xianyun Hall to attend to their respective duties.
Huaqing slowly stood up, took a breath, and looked at Qu Yi kindly. “Disciple, I have taken four disciples in total. With you, that makes five. I’ve decided to entrust your cultivation to your senior brother Dequan, who will teach you on my behalf.”

After hearing this, Qu Yi felt somewhat displeased, but after thinking it over, he understood. His master was the sect leader, burdened with sect affairs, and since Qu Yi was only at the early Yuan Ying stage and needed to focus on cultivation, he had no time to teach a mere novice like himself.
“Yes, Master. Your disciple will surely not disappoint you. I will achieve the Golden Dan stage soon and then come back to listen to your teachings,” Qu Yi said firmly.
By now, Qu Yi already knew the several stages of cultivation: Qi Introduction Stage, Foundation Building Stage, Golden Dan Stage, and Yuan Ying Stage. After all, during his time at Xianyun Sect, he had asked Huai Qing for some basic knowledge about cultivation. As for stages beyond Yuan Ying, he was unaware of them.
A hint of concern flashed across Huai Qing’s face, but he still smiled and said, “Good. Your master will be waiting for you.”
With a Five Spirit Root, the path of cultivation was extremely slow. Huai Qing was already not optimistic about Qu Yi’s prospects, but because of the Jade Sword, he could only guide Qu Yi on this path, allowing him to live a little longer.
Qu Yi nodded firmly.
“Dequan, come in!” Huai Qing called out lightly.
An answer came from outside, followed by the entrance of a tall, handsome young man.
“Dequan, this is your fifth junior brother, Qu Yi. From now on, you will be responsible for teaching him cultivation within the sect,” Huai Qing said gently, in a tone that left no room for refusal.
“Yes, Master,” Dequan replied with a bow.
Huai Qing nodded and then flew away suddenly.
Dequan raised his head and examined Qu Yi carefully. He released his aura and pressed it toward Qu Yi. Seeing that the younger brother seemed completely unaware, he felt somewhat disheartened and inwardly sighed that his master truly had a sharp eye for finding such an excellent disciple.
“Senior Brother Dequan, hello,” Qu Yi said with a bow.
Qu Yi did not dare to show disrespect toward this man who served both as a senior brother and a master. He would rely on him from now on.
Dequan looked at Qu Yi satisfactorily, accepted his greeting gladly, and said with a smile, “Junior brother, I am the master’s fourth disciple. From now on, you can call me Fourth Senior Brother. The other three senior brothers—First Senior Brother Kang Feng has already achieved the Golden Dan stage and is on his own Wind and Mist Peak. Second Senior Brother Li Ji and Third Senior Brother Wang Mo are both in the later stages of the Foundation Building Stage and are out on missions. Only I, the Fourth Senior Brother, am still in the early stages of Foundation Building. Let’s get along well from now on.”
Qu Yi tried hard to remember everything and gained a general understanding of the situation at the main peak of Xianyun Sect. Since only those who reached the Golden Dan stage could have their own title and cultivation peak, Dequan would have to stay on Chuiyun Peak until he achieved that stage. For decades, Dequan had been very lonely, so he was quite happy to have a younger brother now.

“Fifth junior brother, come with me. I’ll first arrange a place for you to stay, then tell you some rules to keep in mind within the sect.” Dequan was very enthusiastic. Saying that, he took Qu Yi’s hand and rushed out of Xianyun Hall.

Qu Yi felt annoyed to be held by a man, but he endured it. He kept coughing to signal to Dequan to be more careful.

Having practiced cultivation for a long time, Dequan didn’t care about worldly taboos. In his view, holding hands between men simply meant friendship.

On Zuiyun Peak, there were thousands of pavilions scattered across the flat areas on the mountainside. Most of them were built from giant trees, grand yet simple, in harmony with nature.

Dequan led Qu Yi to a pavilion about a kilometer below Xianyun Hall. It was very quiet inside, seemingly uninhabited.

The pavilion had only three rooms but covered nearly an acre of land. It was constructed from cloud wood, surrounded by towering ancient trees that completely concealed it. From above, it would be impossible to detect its existence.

On the central room’s wall hung a plaque with the three characters “Tingfeng Ju” written in an upright and solid style, giving off a sense of seriousness at first glance.

Dequan released Qu Yi’s hand and pointed at Tingfeng Ju, saying, “Junior brother, this will be your residence from now on. It used to belong to Senior Brother Kangfeng. After he reached the Golden Core stage, he no longer needed it.”

Qu Yi immediately became serious. With an admiring look, he carefully examined Tingfeng Ju before stepping inside. He found nothing but a wooden bed and a table.

“So it was Senior Brother’s residence. Then I must thank him when I see him in the future,” Qu Yi said earnestly.

Hearing this, Dequan burst into laughter and said, “Young junior brother, you don’t need to be so formal. All the pavilions on Zuiyun Peak belong to the sect. Any disciple of the sect can live here.”

Seeing Qu Yi about to argue again, Dequan waved his hand and said loudly, “Enough, young junior brother. Since you don’t seem to have much with you, I’ll tidy up the room and add a few things so it looks more habitable.”

Soon, Dequan tapped his waist, and a pile of items fell out of his storage bag—animal skin quilts, cultivation robes, medicine bottles, and a bunch of books.

“Junior brother, you haven’t started practicing yet, and your body can’t withstand the cold night wind and rain. You still need to use this animal skin blanket. These two sets of cultivation robes are what ordinary disciples of our Xianyun Sect wear; you must take good care of them. This bottle of pills contains some common medicinal pills—Fasting Pills. One pill can keep you from eating or drinking for seven days. There are a hundred pills in these five bottles, enough for you to use. These books contain basic knowledge of cultivation; you should read them when you have time, as they will also be helpful for your cultivation journey.”

Dequan was very responsible and explained everything in detail.

Qu Yi looked at Dequan with gratitude and said happily, “Fourth senior brother, thank you. I will read them carefully. By the way, fourth senior brother, when can I start practicing?”

Having rushed all the way here and seeing many people flying around on Chuiyun Peak, Qu Yi felt extremely excited.

Flying in the sky and reaching for the moon—Qu Yi had dreamed of this since he was a child. It was only natural that he would be thrilled to see it with his own eyes now.

Dequan began to like this young junior brother. With such sincere and passionate dedication to cultivation, his future achievements would surely be great.

Of course, at that time, Dequan still didn’t know that Qu Yi had a Five Spirit Roots constitution; otherwise, his enthusiasm would have dropped to zero.

“Junior brother, there’s no need to rush. Finish reading these books first. I’ll come teach you cultivation in seven days,” Dequan said with a smile.

Qu Yi awkwardly lowered his head, realizing he had been too hasty.

“Alright, junior brother. I’ll go now. If you need anything urgent, you can go to Quande Residence, 500 meters above. That’s where I live,” Dequan said with a smile before flying out of Tingfeng Residence.

After Qu Yi left the room and watched Dequan go, he returned inside and lay back on the bed.

Reflecting on the past few days, Qu Yi couldn’t help but marvel. First, there was the battle between the eagle and the snake, then he was framed and fell into the gorge. By chance, he entered a cave, ate lotus seeds, saw that strange sphere, his body changed drastically while he was unconscious, and then he found a sword, leading him to join a cultivation sect.

“Chance, it’s all chance! I, Qu Yi, am destined to embark on the path of cultivation!”

Qu Yi thought to himself, sighing with emotion.

Gurgle! Gurgle!

As soon as he finished thinking, Qu Yi’s stomach started to rumble.

His eyes immediately fixed on the five red pill bottles. He rushed to the table and opened one of them.

A pleasant aroma filled the air, extremely soothing.

Qu Yi immediately poured out a Fasting Pill and swallowed it, carefully sensing the changes in his body.

As the fasting pill entered the body, a surge of heat immediately spread throughout it, boosting strength all over the body and giving a sense of fullness; the feeling of hunger completely disappeared.
“Indeed, it’s an excellent thing!” Qu Yi praised highly.
Then, Qu Yi glanced at the other items on the table—robes, pills, books—all of which were now important to him and needed to be carefully kept.
“Oh, right, I also have a storage bag.”
Qu Yi suddenly remembered that Huai Qing had given him a storage bag, which still contained the Green Python Sword.
The storage bag was only the size of a palm, with a volume of ten cubic units. Though not large, it was still sufficient to hold these items.