A beauty as fair as jade, a sword that blazes like lightning — Big Brother is here to bring you a roaring good opening act.
Three years later, in an unmarked stretch of rolling mountains in Central Province —
...
Dusk was settling in thick and fast. Mountain gales howled, and a cold drizzle drifted through the air.
The winding, rugged mountain path stretched out endlessly ahead, with barely a soul to be seen on it. The occasional crisp chirp of a bird cut through the quiet, only making the vast wilderness feel more still, desolate, and steeped in a somber, almost menacing hush.
Right on that desolate mountain path, two robed cultivators in black were making their way deep into the hills. Each carried a bronze lantern lit by their own spiritual energy, their faces pale and their expressions tight with nervousness, as if they were wary of something lingering nearby. They moved with the utmost care, stepping lightly and cautiously.
Every few steps they would stop to scan their surroundings, checking to see if anyone was trailing them.
Just then, a sudden rustle of grass broke the silence, startling both of them so badly they jolted in place.
"Who's there?!"
"..."
The next moment, they spotted a plump, round-headed snow-white fat rabbit hopping past right in front of their eyes.
"...Ugh, what a letdown. It's just a rabbit."
Both of them exhaled in relief at the exact same time.
Probably trying to lighten their tense mood, one of them joked half-heartedly, "Hey, don't you think that could be a Jade Branch Moon Rabbit?"
"Senior Brother Yuan, don't even say that stuff." The other man's mouth twisted into a grin that looked more pained than a sob, "Jade Branch Moon Rabbits could pop up anywhere. I have no idea where they might jump out from."
"Let's just hurry up and get moving," the one called Senior Brother Yuan urged. "Once we reach our destination, we'll have a crowd of people with us, and we won't have to worry about all these silly things anymore."
His companion hesitated, sounding unsure. "Senior Brother, is what we're doing really okay? Even if they're just small trinkets, we did steal Master's things to sell them on the black market..."
"Junior Brother Zhou, that's no way to think," Senior Brother Yuan huffed, glaring at him over his shoulder. He patted the heavy storage pouch at his waist. "These are just discarded pieces Master tossed aside. They're gathering dust anyway, we might as well turn them into some extra spirit stones. I joined Tianyan Sect to learn the craft and make good money. Who knew Master would be such a total cheapskate? He won't let us sell any of the artifacts he's not satisfied with — where's the sense in that?"
Zhou Quan, who was Junior Brother Zhou, mumbled meekly, "You're right, Senior Brother. But Master's worried that those poorly made artifacts might end up hurting someone..."
Senior Brother Yuan scoffed. "What harm could they possibly do?"
"Like, say, if a cultivator buys one of our artifacts, and when they're fighting someone, it can't channel the spiritual power they expected, or just breaks down out of nowhere..."
"Hah, you're thinking about that now?" Senior Brother Yuan snickered, slinging an arm around his junior's neck and lowering his voice. "Zhou Quan, come on, use your head. Once we sell those artifacts, whatever happens to them afterward has nothing to do with us. Who forced those people to buy them? Those outsiders all go crazy over anything with the Tianyan Sect mark on it, they line up to be our unsuspecting suckers..."
"Besides, Zhou Quan, you need the money, don't you? The Flower Rites Festival is in a month, aren't you planning to confess to that Ninehua Sect female cultivator you fell for at first sight?"
"..."
Zhou Quan was struck silent by that sharp, well-aimed jab at his soft spot. He hung his head, not saying a word.
The Flower Rites Festival, while not a grand event like the Purple Star Immortal Gathering that draws attention across the entire cultivation realm, is still one of the biggest celebrations in Central Province. For Zhou Quan, it meant more than anything else in the world.
To understand why, we have to go back a little.
In the lands of Central Province stand two great cities, Yao City and Wei City. The two have always been on close, friendly terms, supporting each other like kin.
The current lord of Yao City, Yao Zhongliang, is a steady, moderate man who always plays things safe. His daughter Yao Huang is a disciple of the Tianxuan Peak of the Ninehua Sect.
The lord of Wei City, Wei Tianjiao, once trained at the Mystic Jade Palace in the East Sea when she was younger. Bold and heroic, she has always been known for her chivalrous spirit, and is every bit as capable as any man. Her daughter Wei Zhi is also a disciple of the Mystic Jade Palace, personally taken in as a direct apprentice by Fairy Lingbo herself.
Every ten years, Yao City and Wei City co-host the Flower Rites Festival, inviting cultivators from all over the realm to attend.
This festival shares many similarities with the mortal world's flower festivals. On the eve of the celebration, both cities get a full makeover: every household hangs red lanterns and drapes themselves in brocade and fresh flowers, until the entire city is drowned in a sea of brilliant, blooming blossoms.
With so many cultivators around, everyone pitches in a little with small illusions and simple spells: a rainbow strung across the sky, a drift of lotus petals scattered across the lake, or handfuls of colorful paper cuttings that float down into the flower beds and turn into fluttering butterflies. The whole scene looks so dreamlike and beautiful it could only be a fairyland.
During this grand event, the cities not only set up huge immortal markets, but also host all kinds of fun activities for visitors to enjoy. It is a perfect place to make connections, meet new friends, and, most importantly, a once-in-a-lifetime chance for lovers to confess their feelings to each other.
The reason for that lies in a special treasure unique to Yao and Wei cities, called the Tied Fate Flower.
The Tied Fate Flower is extremely rare and almost impossible to cultivate. The ancestors of the two cities managed to keep only two plants alive through secret arts. They bloom once every ten years, with each plant bearing exactly three flowers. The blooms are full and lush, colored bright golden and deep purple, with glimmers of spiritual light swirling across their petals that stay bright even in the dark of night.
Legend says that if a pair of cultivation partners receive a Tied Fate Flower and absorb the spiritual energy from it together, it will not only greatly benefit their cultivation, but also unlock a special skill called "Hearts Joined as One". Even if they are thousands of miles apart, they can sense each other's feelings and thoughts at any time, as if the other person is right by their side. They can even switch control of each other's cultivation tools when needed.
From then on, pair of cultivation partners don't even need to talk to communicate, and don't have to travel to meet each other remotely. As long as they open the Tied Fate Flower app, their hearts are perfectly in sync — you can even experience two layers of passion at the same time when you share an intimate moment!
There is nothing you can't think of, and nothing the Tied Fate Flower can't do.
It's absolutely mind-blowing!
That's why in today's cultivation world, anyone who wants to confess to the person they adore will immediately think of the Tied Fate Flower from the Central Province Flower Rites Festival.
But the Tied Fate Flower isn't easy to get, either.
The Flower Rites Festival has tons of fun events, including competitive contests like martial arts arenas, spell performance showcases, and cultivation trivia quizzes. The Tied Fate Flower is the top prize for these events, meant only for the strongest to claim.
...Well, actually, no.
Rich people can get it too.
After all, sometimes that so-called "strongest cultivator" might be dead broke, and desperate to sell the flower just to buy a new pair of pants.
Zhou Quan knows perfectly well he's not a powerhouse, and not a rich tycoon either. He's just a new, low-level disciple with a thin wallet and mediocre cultivation skills, a poor soft little newbie.
But he's completely head over heels, ever since he caught a glimpse of that Ninehua Sect female cultivator by chance on a trip a few months back. He doesn't even know her name, and knows nothing about her other than that stunning face he saw for a split second, but he's convinced this is fate, love at first sight.
Ever since that day, he's been tossing and turning, thinking of her day and night.
Zhou Quan knows he doesn't have much to offer. The only thing he could possibly give her that's worth anything is that legendary, once-in-a-decade Tied Fate Flower.
On the Flower Worship Festival, cultivators gathered from all over. Zhou Quan was convinced that the girl from his dreams would surely show up, stepping on auspicious clouds and draped in radiant glow, landing right before him so he could pour out all his admiration and pining.
You can do this, Zhou Quan!
Just because of this single foolish thought, he listened to the persuasion of his Senior Brother Yuan Qingfeng, stole the sealed magic artifact from their master, and traveled thousands of miles all the way to the black market stronghold in Central Province, hoping to make a huge fortune quick, so he could throw money his way to earn a spot in the good graces of his beloved.
If you asked Zhou Quan how he was feeling right now, it would be nothing but regret — deep, profound regret.
But regret as he might, the second the image of his crush's pretty face and bright, sunny smile crossed his mind, he could never bring himself to say the word "give up".
In the end, he mumbled and rambled nonstop to himself the whole way, trailing behind step by step, until he and Senior Brother Yuan finally reached the legendary black market stronghold — the White Bone Pagoda.
The White Bone Pagoda, as its name suggests, is a striking tall tower entirely pure white from top to bottom.
According to what Yuan Qingfeng said, this pagoda is nothing more than a landmark. To prevent "merchandise" from escaping, the real trading ground of the black market is built underground.
The White Bone Pagoda was constructed with exquisite craftsmanship. There are all kinds of formations and illusion barriers laid out along the path, everything becomes clear once you turn into the valley, but if you don't know the right way in, you can't spot a single clue of its existence from the outside world.
It's built to guard against fire, theft, robbery, and most of all, precision crackdowns from the righteous path cultivators.
When the two of them arrived, there was already another cultivator in a black robe standing before the pagoda. He carried a great sword in his hand, and a hideous knife scar stretched across his face, as he was going through the "goods inspection" process by the White Bone Pagoda guards.
That cultivator had an arrogant demeanor, looking extremely impatient, as he cursed and grumbled to hurry them up, "Check, check, check! What the hell are you checking for? Are you new here? The whole cultivation underworld knows my name, Blackwind Sword! Do I really need you dawdling here to run checks on me? What a freaking pain in the neck!"
The guard nodded and bowed, apologizing repeatedly with a smile, "Forgive us, forgive us. It's our black market rule that every visitor must go through an inspection before entering. Please bear with us. Also, my mother doesn't have any balls, sir."
"Cut the crap, stop trying to be funny and just get on with your check."
The scar-faced cultivator was still not buying it, snorting contemptuously through his nose. "Speaking of which, with my reputation as Blackwind Sword, there's nothing I haven't hunted — creatures that fly in the sky, run on the ground, swim in the water! The goods I deliver can't possibly be fake!"
"Just last time, I brought you a whole bag of mermaid tears, and mermaid scales too! I caught that lone mermaid, and scraped every single scale off her alive! She was stubborn at first and refused to cry, but I scraped the flesh right along with the scales, the pain made her cry no matter what!"
"And the time before that, I brought you that nine-colored deer, don't you all remember? Tsk tsk, the quality of those antlers was one in a million. The deer blood and venison are great for boosting your cultivation, not just you folks, everyone out there is fighting to buy them."
"And this time —"
The scar-faced cultivator waved his big hand, flinging open his black robe proudly, and showed off a whole living person like he was presenting a treasure.
Well, calling her a "whole living person" isn't exactly accurate. She was small in stature, still looked childish and immature, no more than fourteen or fifteen years old, a delicate, pretty little girl.
This girl looked like she came from a very wealthy and noble family. All her clothes were made of the finest silk, a gold-inlaid jade necklace hung on her chest, her glossy black hair was styled into seven or eight long braids, and the end of each braid was decorated with a gemstone of a different color.
She was exquisitely pretty and sweet-looking, her skin fairer than snow, with white teeth and red lips. Her pair of round, limpid beautiful apricot eyes didn't have pure black pupils — they glowed with a deep, rich red, just like agate, so dazzling that anyone who laid eyes on her could hardly look away.
Witnessing this scene, Yuan Qingfeng didn't think anything was amiss, he just assumed the little girl was some rich noble daughter the scar-faced cultivator had abducted, and didn't bother to mind his own business.
But Zhou Quan was the complete opposite.
The second he laid eyes on the girl, he felt a burning pain in his heart, his head spun, all the color drained right off his face in a flash, even his lips started turning pale.
"Senior Brother Yuan, Yuan, Yuan Yuan Yuan, that, that that that's..."
"What?"
Yuan Qingfeng glanced at him with disgust. "What's wrong with you? You don't mean to tell me you've taken a fancy to this little girl, do you? Junior Brother Zhou, your taste is kind of wild."
"No, no no no it's not..."
Zhou Quan was shivering all over, his teeth chattering, and it took him ages to squeeze out a sentence. "This, this little girl, I think I know her!"
Yuan Qingfeng looked even more disgusted. "Come on, I've heard that line a million times. I use it all the time when I'm hitting on female cultivators. Where on earth could you have met a little girl like her? Don't tell me she's a disciple from our Tianyan Sect."
"No, she's not from Tianyan Sect!"
Zhou Quan's vision went dark, he was about to faint right then and there. "She, she's from Nine Glories Sect, Zhao Yun —"
At the very same moment, the scar-faced cultivator also grabbed the little girl by one arm, introducing her proudly. "See this? A juvenile Qiongha Jade Rabbit! Look at her regal, precious bearing, her status must be super high, most likely the daughter of one of their sect elders. Whether we use her to lure other rabbits out, or just bury her in the soil to harvest, she'll give us an endless, never-ending supply of treasures!"
"Really?"
The guard's eyes lit up, but he didn't let them in rashly. He raised a cautious question. "Qiongha Jade Rabbits are fierce and extremely violent by nature. Once they get captured, they will kill themselves immediately, there's no way they'd let themselves be tamed. What method did you use to make her so docile?"
"Hah, I didn't need to use any method at all!" The scar-faced cultivator laughed loudly. "The second my name Blackwind Sword is out, this little bunny wouldn't dare go east if I tell her to go west, wouldn't dare laugh if I tell her to cry."
As he said that, he roughly shoved the little girl. "Brat, yell 'help' for us to hear, make this grandpa happy!"
"..."
There was a loud thud. Zhou Quan could no longer bear the overwhelming terror, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed onto the ground. "Stop, please stop... isn't living great..."
"Junior Brother Zhou, what are you doing lying on the ground?"
Yuan Qingfeng was utterly confused, and was just about to step forward to pull him up, when a soft, sweet voice rang out from behind him, warm as a spring breeze carrying a faint peach blossom scent.
"Help..."
It was a sweet, mesmerizing voice that made one's heart flutter.
Under the scar-faced cultivator's giant palm, the gorgeously dressed little girl parted her red lips slightly, and curled into a naive, cute smile.
"Fufu, Senior Sister is so scared, come save me quickly."
And then —
Her slender, fair little hand flicked, and in an instant she twisted the Blackwind Sword's arm a full one hundred and eighty degrees, before she snapped and crushed all his bones and joints one by one, crunching them into a twisted mess.
"AH — AH — AHHHHHHHH!!!"
Amidst Blackwind Sword's horrified, disbelieving screams, the little girl lifted his tall, bulky body with one hand, and threw him far towards the mountain wall like tossing a piece of trash, without even glancing his way.
The screaming cut off abruptly.
All that was left in everyone's sight was a bright spray of blood, and the man's mangled flesh slowly sliding down the rock face.
"Oh dear, what's wrong with you?"
The young girl covered her mouth with both hands, feigning a shocked expression as she widened her almond eyes. "I screamed for help, aren't you supposed to be overjoyed? Could this be what Fufu called 'so happy you slam yourself against the wall over and over'?"
As she spoke, she stepped forward nimbly, using the tip of her foot to roll the man over.
"Great, you're still breathing. That's perfect. Later I'll have my Third Junior Brother carve you up properly, so make sure you don't kick the bucket too soon, okay?"
"Your tears might not be worth much, but I do love listening to you cry."
...
"Wh-wh-what the heck..."
"Who on earth is that?! That little girl!!"
Yuan Qingfeng and the guard both stared at this unbelievable scene, their eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. Their minds could not process what they were seeing for a moment, but their legs instinctively began to step back, trying to pull their bodies away to escape.
But before they could make their move, a sharp, peerless sword qi came surging toward them, vast and majestic as the Milky Way pouring down from the Ninth Heaven. When it hit the ground, it turned into thousands upon thousands of silver streaks, weaving into an airtight net that blocked every single one of their escape routes.
Right after that, another ribbon-like sword light sliced across the sky, intersecting with the first sword qi to form a perfect cross, heading straight for the towering White Bone Pagoda that stood in the mountain hollow.
The sword intent was icy cold, piercing straight through the drizzling rain in an instant, stirring up fierce, biting gusts of wind that swept across the wilderness, turning the entire area into a scene of stark, deadly stillness, as if it had cut right through the Heavenly River.
"..."
After the sword light faded, Yuan Qingfeng watched in disbelief as the pagoda, the iconic landmark of the black market, let out a shrill, screeching wail. A straight crack appeared right in the middle of its body. The spire section above the crack slid slowly like a glacier, before losing its balance and crashing down with a thunderous roar.
"Alright, Senior Sister, that's enough."
Amid the deafening crash and the clouds of dust covering the ground, a clear, bright young woman's voice rang out, as pure as the starry sky on a summer night.
"Put a lid on your acting spree. If you keep going, it's going to get annoying."
"............"
Right before Zhou Quan completely broke down, the last scene he saw when he looked up was the woman he had a crush on stepping forward to take his head, her feet seeming to tread on auspicious clouds and her figure draped in glowing sunlight.
"You, you are..."
"No, my lady could never be... You're not her, you're not..."
"Hm? What's this, little brother, you know me?"
There's an old saying that goes "a beauty as jade, a sword like a rainbow". The sword qi swept across like snow falling over a thousand mountains, and the beauty's smile was like a spring flower just beginning to bloom.
But this beauty in front of them had bone-chilling cold killing intent even in her smile, like a frosty flower perched right on the edge of a sharp blade.
"We're fated to meet like this, so why don't you call me Big Brother?"
