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Chapter 16: Han Qin'ger (1)
🕑 Added 2024-09-22 16:26:15 +0000 UTC
At this moment, a beautiful woman, who could rival and defeat any goddess or so-called Heavenly Maiden in terms of looks and grace, was sitting on a stone.
The noble and graceful aura surrounding her made it clear she wasn’t someone to be trifled with.
But her charming presence still couldn't hide the trace of worry and nervousness in those beautiful light blue eyes as she looked at the silver-haired child sitting cross-legged in front of her.
This woman was Han Qing’er, the Sect Master of the Floating Blossom Sect.
Her gaze was fixed anxiously on the young boy, and as she did, her thoughts drifted back to her past and how she became who she was today.
She also belonged to a Sacred clan and although not as powerful as The Ling Clan it was still one of the strongest clans in the Flame Domain.
The reason she took on the role of sect master in this small sect was because of a life-saving debt she owed to the previous sect master, who had sacrificed her life to save Han Qing’er.
When she was young and carefree, she often left the clan under the guise of training, but mostly for adventure and to hunt magical beasts.
However, one day, during her travels, she was attacked by a Fifth-Tier Magical Beast, the Blue Winged Tiger, while she was still a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.
But, although she had many life-saving treasures given to her by her clan and even though she knew that a magical beast’s strength was typically far greater than that of a cultivator in the same realm, she decided to fight the beast head-on.
After all, she was hailed as the most talented cultivator in her clan’s history, having already leapfrogged and defeated cultivators two or three realms above her.
So, she thought she could also defeat a magical beast, which was less intelligent than a human and technically only one realm higher than her,
Totally forgetting the fact that she was the only daughter of the Patriarch of the clan and the members of her clan were too afraid to hurt her so they didn't dare try their best and had always held back, using simple attacks against her.
This was the only reason she had been able to defeat opponents several realms above her.
In reality, the difference between cultivation realms isn’t just a matter of doubled strength; it’s a vast, exponential gap.
For example, a simple Foundation Realm cultivator is ten times more powerful than a Qi Gathering cultivator, not to mention someone with a perfect foundation.
The gap becomes even more exaggerated in higher stages, increasing a hundredfold at the next stage and even more beyond that.
So, leapfrogging a realm to defeat an opponent in the higher realm happens rarely and these cases are only for people having some Special Physique or Some Higher level cultivation technique or
So, leapfrogging a realm to defeat an opponent in a higher realm is a rare occurrence, typically seen only in those with special physiques, advanced cultivation techniques, or
in case of extreme realms when a person had cultivated to a perfect and most extreme peak of each realm.
So the feat of skipping two or three realms and defeating an opponent three realms higher is something that only Son of Destiny or a protagonist with plot armor can achieve. (As the MC will do in this one)
Unfortunately for her, she wasn’t one of those prodigies.
So, what happened next was inevitable—she was severely wounded by the Magic Beast, so badly that she was completely paralyzed, unable to even lift a finger, let alone use the life-saving treasures from her clan.
As the beast leapt towards her with its long claws, she could only close her eyes and wait for her impending doom.
But just as she prepared for her doom, a woman appeared, wielding a blue-coloured longsword.
She blocked the beast’s attack, standing firmly in front of her.
The woman wore a tight dress, her black hair held in place by a simple accessory.
Her face wasn’t that of an otherworldly beauty; it was plain, almost simple.
But in that moment, her calm expression, unshaken even in the face of such a ferocious beast, made her seem anything but ordinary.
The woman in front of her was only at Peak Nascent Soul Stage only a few small realms above her; her fighting techniques looked very simple and they seemed to be only of lower grade but from her movements she could feel that she had a thorough comprehension of these techniques, despite her apparent lack of affiliation with a major clan or sect.
Han Qing’er knew how difficult it was to fully comprehend a technique, even a lower-grade one.
This was precisely why she had been hailed as the greatest prodigy of her clan—her exceptional comprehension abilities, combined with her special physique, made it obvious that she would have an extremely bright future.
But the woman before her seemed like someone from a small sect, leading her to wonder what her fate might have been if she had been born into a powerful clan.
However, that was just an if.
Even though her fighting techniques were refined and fully comprehended they were only low-ranking techniques after all and she was only at the Peak Nascent Soul Realm so, she was still no match for the Magic Beast in front of her.
She was quickly overwhelmed by the Magic Beast.
And as it looked like after a few moments she would also be over, she took a deep breath seemingly reaching a conclusion as she smiled towards the injured girl.
Looking at the woman who was fighting with the Magic Beast in front of her and was on the verge of losing, Han Qing'er wanted to scream at her to run away, but when she opened her mouth, no sound came out.
Although she was young she wasn't completely naive about the world.
She had heard many times from her parents and others in her clan about how cruel this world could be.
That’s why, whenever she had run away from her clan before, a few of her clan members had always followed, secretly protecting her.
But this time, due to a major event within the clan, the elders were preoccupied, allowing her to slip away unnoticed.
Now, as she sat there with tears in her eyes, she questioned her own reckless decision to fight an opponent she had no chance of defeating.
Why had she been so foolish?
But what hurt even more was that someone who had nothing to do with her was now risking her life to protect her.
Why didn't she just run away when she could..now she had also caused harm to another person.
But she didn't know that even though she could hide and run away from the eyes of a few guards and some elders of the clan when they were busy how could she escape from the eyes of a Supreme Saint Realm cultivator like her Father?
Unbeknownst to her, several pairs of eyes had been watching her every move, ready to intervene at any moment.
These were members of the Han Clan, sent by her father, the patriarch, to protect her life if it came to a critical point.
They hadn’t interfered earlier because her father wanted her to learn a lesson about the consequences of her willfulness and recklessness, and to understand the harsh realities of the world.
That’s why, even when she was heavily wounded and paralyzed, they didn’t step in—they simply watched.
However, she didn't know.
Han Qing'er was surprised by the woman in front of her.
Was there still such a person in this world who would try to save someone without caring about their own life .??
Although she would call herself naive and foolish as she recklessly fought against a magic beast she had no chance to beat but she would like to call that woman much more foolish and naive than her.
A life which she herself put at risk due to her willfulness...
Was it really worth saving?
As she thought about this, the woman suddenly turned, muttering something and smiling, seemingly resigned to her fate.
Although she was far away from her and the woman only muttered under her breath which didn't even reach the ear of people watching from the sidelines for her, it seemed like she spoke into her ears.
"Go to Floating Blossom Sect
if you want to repay,"
And
"Don't blame yourself and live
after all, a long time ago someone said to me,
'Some things happen just because they do'."
The next moment, she saw the woman moving toward the forest, the beast chasing after her.
It was clear that the woman had diverted the beast’s attention to herself, giving her time to call for help.
Tears fell from her eyes as her gray eyes looked helplessly at the woman who suddenly disappeared.
_______________
Sometime later...
The members of her clan, who had been watching from the shadows, finally emerged.
A muscular man with a scar beneath his left eye stepped forward to check on her.
"Young Miss, are you alright?" he asked, but he was met with her red, tear-filled eyes.
"I'm fine Elder Song"
Seeing Elder Song and the other clan members standing before her, she understood that her father had known all along that she had run away from the clan,
As for not helping her before, it was because her father wanted to teach her a lesson.
But she wasn't in the mood to focus on these things.
As the elder could feel, after all, he was the one assigned to protect her when she runs away from the clan and she also knew about him after all he was one of the elders of the Clan and also a good friend of her father and she used to call him "Uncle Song" in the past.
Seeing him here, she knew why she never got into any trouble during her escapades ever since she was just a child,
It seemed like he was assigned by her father to protect her secretly.
But this time, she addressed him as Elder Song, creating a sense of distance between them.
After her paralysis wore off, she took a healing pill from her ring.
Then stood up and directly ran towards the forest.
"Miss!" Han Song and the other clan members called out as they hurried to follow her.
As she searched the forest, she found a broken blue-coloured sword stained with blood, and the Blue Winged Tiger lying relaxedly on a large stone, looking as though it had just enjoyed a hearty meal.
The beast casually tossed out some shredded clothes and a token from its mouth.
When she saw the bloodied clothes and the token, she knew she was too late.
She picked up the broken sword, and as the surrounding qi condensed into the sword, a blue-coloured flame formed around it.
She muttered, "Sword Sutra, Third Form... Sword of Judgment."
This was the third form of the Sword Sutra, an Emperor Grade Sword Technique, and the only one present in her clan.
It had a total of nine forms, but her clan only possessed six, and she was the only one in the Han Clan who had comprehended it.
Before today, she had only mastered the first two forms, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t use the third form.
She had thought it was due to its high requirements, but today, after witnessing the woman sacrifice her life to protect her and seeing the beast that killed her still alive and well, something inside her changed.
She felt cold...
A person like that woman didn't deserve such a fate.
A tremble arose from deep within her heart and soul, driving her with a single desire: she wanted the beast dead, no matter the cost.
It was then that she felt she could finally use the third form.
A sword strike formed as the surrounding spiritual energy gathered, fueled by her resentment and unparalleled rage as she slashed it toward the beast with all her might.
It was the purest emotion she had ever felt, producing the strongest attack she had ever unleashed—a strike that completely transcended realms, instantly splitting the magic beast apart.
She then picked up the token, placing it into her storage ring along with the broken sword.
Afterwards, she glanced lightly at Han Song and said, “Elder Song, tell my father that I’ve learned my lesson. I won’t be a willful girl anymore.”
The words sounded cold without any trace of emotion.
Her father had wanted to show her the consequences of her willfulness and recklessness, and now she had learned that lesson.
But she had also learned something else—how a person could be so selfless.
A woman whose name she didn’t even know had sacrificed her life to save her.
She also saw how heartless a person can be as the people of her clan didn't even bother to intervene as that woman became the food of the beast while trying to save her.
It truly was a cruel world.
That day, she learned her lesson, but perhaps it wasn’t the one her father intended to teach.
After all, since that day, she completely disappeared and never returned to her clan again.
Instead, she went to the sect the woman had mentioned, where she introduced herself as the woman’s disciple.
Despite facing some hardships and opposition from a few sect elders, her ascent to the position of Sect Master of the Floating Blossom Sect was inevitable, with the former Sect Master’s token in her possession.
But since that day, the world was no longer graced with her beautiful smile.
End of the Chapter
___________________________
PS:
Regarding Xun’er’s conflicting emotions two chapters ago, I don’t really need to explain, but I will anyway.
Xun’er is from the Ancient Gu Clan and is the daughter of the Patriarch.
As the little princess of the clan, she was used to people being respectful toward her, but she understood that it was only because she was the daughter of the clan’s head.
Due to the ongoing power struggle within the Gu Clan, she was often viewed as her father Gu Yuan’s weakness.
This was one of the reasons she was sent to the Xiao Family.
Even though she was only a small child, her mind was more mature than others her age.
Knowing and feeling the behavior of her own clan members toward her, she grew up with the mentality that no one in this world would help another without expecting something in return—which is mostly true.
So, when Ling Tian saved her from being taken advantage of by Xiao Yan and helped resolve her strange fire without asking for anything in return, it left a deep impression on her heart.
That feeling only grew when she saw how distant the people of the Xiao family were from her, and when she discovered that even Xiao Yan’s father, whom she had thought of as kind, was only showing fake kindness while speaking ill of her behind her back, trying to alienate her.
So, when she found out that Ling Tian did it simply because it was a mission, she felt empty.
