The Prodigies War

Liu Qingyan!

When Lin Xun was just a fourteen-year-old boy who had just come to the Ziyao Empire, Liu Qingyan was already a renowned art cultivator ranked first in the empire.

Her eyes and brows were as perfect as though they were the ones found in famous paintings of beautiful women. Her beauty was ethereal, and her musical skills were marvelous.

Back then, after Lin Xun rose to fame in the Forbidden City and received an audience with the emperor and empress, Liu Qingyan composed the Heaven Pride Song to congratulate him.

Later, Liu Qingyan left the Ziyao Empire and he had not heard from her since. It was rumored that she had gone to train in the Ancient Wasteland Domain.

In the years that followed, whether it was during the years when Lin Xun was in the Ancient Wasteland Domain or when he returned to the empire, he never heard any news about Liu Qingyan.

Lin Xun had never thought that he would see her again in the Ancient Nebula Road, let alone on Whirlwind Ship, which belonged to Heavenly Sound Pavilion!

For a moment, Lin Xun went into a daze.

At the same time, Liu Qingyan frowned slightly. The way that man is looking at me is a little too rude.

“Fellow Daoist, she is my disciple Liu Qingyan. Before we arrive at the Great Primordial Chaos World, I will have to trouble you to protect her,” Zhuang Yunzhi said with a smile.

She noticed the strange look on Lin Xun’s face, but she also understood that anyone would be stunned by the beauty of her extraordinary disciple.

Who in the Ziheng Star Field had not heard the name Liu Qingyan from Heavenly Sound Pavilion?

“Okay.”

Lin Xun calmed his emotions and nodded in agreement.

He had fully calmed down. Even if his old friend was right next to him, his present identity was Yu Xuan from the Imperial Yu Clan.

“I am Liu Qingyan, greetings senior.”

Liu Qingyan bowed. Her voice was as sweet-sounding as the sounds of nature, her appearance was perfect as a painting and her temperament was as gentle as an orchid.

“Don’t mention it.” Lin Xun felt a strange feeling in his heart. How would she react if she knew his true identity?

“Yan’er, you should rest in the neighboring courtyard,” Zhuang Yun urged.

Liu Qingyan nodded and left.

Only when her figure completely disappeared did Zhuang Yunzhi sigh softly out loud. “Fellow Daoist, are you wondering why a disciple of Heavenly Sound Pavilion would need your protection?”

Lin Xun raised his eyebrows. “I really don’t know, but I hope you can tell me.”

Zhuang Yunzhi inhaled deeply and said ruminatively, “You are not an outsider and I also can’t hide it from you forever...”

Zhuang Yunzhi explained the reason.

As the number one sect in the Ziheng Star Field, Heavenly Sound Pavilion had many stunningly talented disciples.

Liu Qingyan was one of them.

She joined Heavenly Sound Pavilion five years ago. In just three years, she demonstrated her extraordinary talent and skills over her fellow disciples and rose above them. As a result, Zhuang Yunzhi, an elder of the sect, took her in as a true disciple.

In particular, in the past two years, Liu Qingyan made tremendous progress in the dao of music and became the most dazzling one among the true disciples.

However, it was precisely because she was so dazzling that she not only faced fierce competition from her peers but was also excluded by them.

As the saying went, the tree that grows tallest in the forest will always be the first to be toppled by the wind.

If this was the only problem, then given Zhuang Yunzhi’s power within the sect she could have protected Liu Qingyan from any major sufferings.

Unfortunately, an incident had happened not long ago.

A disciple of the Primordial Dao Court called Kong Yu had taken a fancy to Liu Qingyan when he visited Heavenly Sound Pavilion and tried to win her heart.

Liu Qingyan rejected Kong Yu, but he did not give up and continued to pester her.

Liu Qingyan, unable to bear it anymore, planned to take a trip until everything died down, but who would have thought that she had run into Kong Yu on her way.

Adding to that, after being rejected by Liu Qingyan once again, Kong Yu lost his temper and tried to abduct her.

If she had not acted quickly and escaped with a secret technique, he would have succeeded.

The incident alarmed the entire Heavenly Sound Pavilion and Liu Qingyan thought that the sect would stand up for her and call for severe punishment for Kong Yu.

Surprisingly, in the end, Liu Qingyan had to bow her head and apologize to Kong Yu!

Speaking of this, Zhuang Yunzhi’s eyebrows lowered with helplessness and guilt. “Because Kong Yu is a disciple of Primordial Dao Court, after the incident happened, I, her master, could do nothing due to the pressure from the sect. My heart ached to see Yan’er suffer such injustice.”

Lin Xun’s dark eyes were unfathomable. “What happened after that?”

Zhuang Yunzhi smiled bitterly. “What else can I do? As Yan’er’s master, I had to personally bring her to apologize to Kong Yu.”

Lin Xun frowned, feeling uncomfortable. A disciple of the Primordial Dao Court could make the number one sect in the Ziheng Star Field handle that matter in such a way. How absurd was that?!

It was easy to imagine how disappointed and aggrieved Liu Qingyan must have felt after the incident.

“I thought I could take Yan’er on my trip to the Great Primordial Chaos World to get her mind off things, but I didn’t expect that...”

Zhuang Yunzhi’s eyes flashed with cold intent. “Someone in the sect secretly colluded with Kong Yu and they gathered some people to keep a close watch over Yan’er with the intention to harm her!”

“Is this true?”

Lin Xun’s frown deepened.

Zhuang Yunzhi sighed, “When Yan’er was in the sect, she had suffered a lot of isolation and suppression because of her remarkable talent and outstanding progress. Many people saw her as a thorn, but I didn’t think that they would betray a fellow disciple and choose to work with Kong Yu.”

Lin Xun asked, “Is Kong Yu also on Whirlwind Ship?”

Zhuang Yunzhi shook her head. “No, but according to the intel I received, Kong Yu has sent a group of experts to infiltrate this ship.”

She let out a long sigh before she continued, “I no longer trust the people in the sect. Fellow Daoist, you come from the Imperial Yu Clan, and Old Ancestor Qingyang has a close relationship with a supreme elder of Heavenly Sound Pavilion. I believe it would be safer for Yan’er to stay with you.”

Lin Xun finally understood the situation, but he was speechless for a moment.

He concealed his identity because he wanted to keep a low profile and head to the Great Primordial Chaos World. He never thought that his fake identity Yu Xuan would cause him to get involved in such a matter.

If the other party was not Liu Qingyan, then Lin Xun would never take this matter upon himself.

This was not because he was afraid, but because he did not want to deal with trouble. It would be troublesome if his real identity was exposed.

“But don’t worry, if something happens, I, Zhuang Yunzhi, will definitely take care of it. I won’t put you in danger.” Zhuang Yunzhi’s beautiful and mature face bore a look of determination.

“Okay.” Lin Xun nodded.

He sharply realized that what Zhuang Yunzhi, a supreme Saint-King, valued most about him was not his strength, but his identity Yu Xuan.

It made sense, after all, the real Yu Xuan was just a Saint-King and hadn’t even set foot on the Supreme Path. How would Zhuang Yunzhi think highly of him?

All she wanted was someone she could trust to take care of Liu Qingyan, and nothing more.

“Thank you very much, Fellow Daoist. From today on, I will arrange for Yan’er to live here.”

Zhuang Yunzhi chatted with Lin Xun for a while before she said goodbye and left.

Sure enough, not long after Zhuang Yunzhi left, the beautiful Liu Qingyan, dressed in white, came again.

There was a lingering pensive sadness on her beautiful face.

No one was around, so Lin Xun wanted to reveal his identity many times, but in the end he held himself back.

“I will be around so from today on, you can just stay here with peace of mind.” Lin Xun’s gentle voice had a comforting power.

Taken aback, Liu Qingyan raised her bright eyes and looked straight at Lin Xun, as if she was a little surprised, then she lowered her head and said softly, “Sorry to trouble you, Senior.”

Lin Xun smiled. “It’s no big deal.”

Liu Qingyan sighed lightly and said nothing else.

From that day on, Liu Qingyan resided in this courtyard.

She was often very quiet, and occasionally she would play the zither, but the tunes were always low and slow and with a hint of melancholy.

Lin Xun also knew that, given his current identity, if he appeared too concerned, it would make Liu Qingyan overthink.

Since she did not want to talk, he also did not want to disturb her.

Only during meals would the two exchange brief conversations, but most of the time, Liu Qingyan was as quiet as an orchid.

This made Lin Xun feel a wave of sadness.

Back then, Liu Qingyan was always bright and full of smiles, and not quiet and low in spirits like she was now.

Time flew by. More than ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

Liu Qingyan became accustomed to Lin Xun’s presence, but she only treated him as a senior and had not realized that Senior Yu Xuan was actually one of her old friends who she admired the most.

During these days, Lin Xun had not been idle. He was focused on studying the World-Guarding Nine Cauldrons Scripture. With his current cultivation, he naturally made rapid progress on comprehending the secrets of this dao scripture.

So far, he had mastered several dao arts recorded in the World-Guarding Nine Cauldrons Scripture. In particular, the dao art Nine Cauldrons Battle Seal was so magical that it astonished even Lin Xun.

In addition, the World-Guarding Nine Cauldrons Scripture also contained some profound secrets regarding the three ways of cultivation, qi cultivation, physical cultivation and spirit cultivation. Lin Xun was greatly enlightened by the scripture and hence his cultivation also improved significantly.

On this day, Liu Qingyan sat alone by the window, composing music and playing the zither. Her expression was serene, and the strumming of the zither was ethereal and subtle like the heavenly sounds from an empty valley.

Lin Xun was pondering the Grand Dao Yellow Court Classic in this tranquil atmosphere.

It was at this moment when Qiu Kui scurried over and handed a note to Lin Xun with a nervous expression. “Senior, someone wants me to pass it to you.”

Lin Xun opened the note and saw a sentence written in blood-red ink.

“I advise you not to meddle in other people’s affairs, lest you bring trouble upon yourself!”

Every chilling-red word was written in unrestrained handwriting and the strokes were as sharp as blades. An unsettling murderous intent seeped out from the paper and assaulted the face.

Lin Xun narrowed his black eyes slightly, expression unchanged. The next second, the piece of paper suddenly turned into ashes and vanished between his fingers.

He asked, “Who told you to bring this to me?”

Qiu Kui shook her head, looking nervous and fearful.

Lin Xun shifted his gaze to Liu Qingyan, who was sitting alone by the window and she also happened to look over at the same time.

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