White Dragon Sect.

Luoxia Peak.

A lone skiff drifted on the pond.

From afar, Aurelia Voss could be seen stretched out inside it, a sweep of red against the water, tapping the bamboo pole now and then with one finger, slow and idle, like she had all the time in the world.

After a while, a disciple in green came to the pondside, cupped his hands, and bowed.

“Peak Master Voss, the Sect Master has issued an order. Peak Master Voss is to go down the mountain at once and accept disciples.”

The words rode the wind and fell clean into Aurelia’s ears.

She rolled over lazily and picked up the bamboo hat beside her, dropping it over her face.

Accept disciples?

What kind of rotten joke was that?

She was nothing but a stray soul from another world. Three years ago, by some twist she still couldn’t explain, she had taken over this body.

She had the original owner’s memories, yes.

But as for cultivation? Not a scrap.

Not even a shred.

In these three years, she had turned Luoxia Peak’s library upside down, read through everything she could get her hands on, and still hadn’t found a way to cultivate.

For three whole years, she had only dared stay on Luoxia Peak. She hadn’t stepped out even once. Not once. She was scared that if she slipped, even a little, someone would see through her. And if those mighty cultivators caught her and searched her soul, that would be the end of it.

She had finally gotten used to life on the peak. Growing what she ate, eating what she grew, living quiet and clean.

And now they wanted her to go down the mountain?

No chance.

Absolutely no chance.

[Ding. The Strongest Sect System has been activated. I am the system Sevenfold. You may call me Little Seven.]

System?

Aurelia shot upright in the skiff so fast it rocked on the water.

“Damn it, three years. Do you even know how I’ve lived these three years?”

[Host, do not speak nonsense. In these three years, you fished, planted trees, picked fruit, and lived quite freely.]

Aurelia rubbed her nose, embarrassed for half a breath, then changed the subject without a trace of shame.

“Then why did you only show up now?”

[Because the host’s soul force is very strong. Bringing the host back cost me a great deal of power. I had no choice but to fall asleep. For causing the host unnecessary trouble, I apologize.]

“It’s fine. Right now, the real question is whether I can cultivate at all.”

Aurelia Voss had long since found this body strange beyond reason. No matter how hard she tried, no matter how much spiritual energy she drew in, it vanished the moment it entered her body—like pebbles tossed into a boundless sea, swallowed whole without even a ripple.

After three years of that, a person would go numb.

So now that a system had dropped out of nowhere, maybe—just maybe—it could solve the one knot that had never loosened: her inability to cultivate.

[Detected host’s need. Host may choose one of the following two paths.]

[First: cultivate through disciple recruitment. Obtain heavenly treasures and earthly rarities. A steady path, grounded and practical. Drawback: cultivation speed is slow, and results are uncertain.]

[Second: instantly become a Tribulation Crossing realm powerhouse. Drawback: spiritual power may only be used for half an hour each time.]

Aurelia Voss did not even need to think.

“Is that even a choice?”

Tribulation Crossing sounded fierce, sure. But half an hour? What could that do? Show off a bit, scare a few people, then go dry?

She chose the first path on the spot.

[Host’s choice confirmed.]

[Distributing beginner gift pack.]

[Beginner gift pack now arriving.]

[Insightful Eye: identify disciple talent.]

[Mist Veil: conceal cultivation, making it impossible for others to detect.]

[Special item: Vajra Invincible Body, one use, duration five minutes.]

[One-Hit Kill: two uses.]

Aurelia’s eyes lit up at once.

Then the system’s next words came down hard and clean.

[Please complete the disciple recruitment mission within 3 hours.]

[Reward: gain first-layer Qi Refining spiritual power and Nascent Soul stage pressure.]

First-layer Qi Refining.

Nascent Soul pressure.

Her heart gave a sharp jump. She rose at once. The flat little boat drifted with the wind and slid to the edge of the pond.

A disciple standing there quickly bowed.

“This disciple greets Peak Master Luo.”

Aurelia flicked her sleeve, calm and crisp.

“Let’s go.”

The disciple hurried after her, but as he watched her slender figure move ahead through the clear wind, elegant and impossible to ignore, confusion crept into his face.

Wasn’t it said that the master of Luoxia Peak was unfathomably strong?

Then why was she walking down instead of flying?

Could it be... this was some special cultivation method known only to true experts?

The thought hit him like a spark striking dry grass.

His eyes brightened.

Could it be that he had relied too much on sword-flight all these years, forgetting to feel the spiritual energy around him with his own body? Was that why his cultivation had stalled for so long?

The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became.

And then—

The spiritual energy in the air surged.

It rushed into his body in a fierce stream, flooding his meridians.

His cultivation, stuck for three whole years, broke loose at that very moment.

He advanced.

The disciple’s breath turned ragged. He forced down the wild joy in his chest and said, voice trembling,

“Peak Master... I think I’m about to break through.”

Aurelia paused.

Break through?

As expected of a sect disciple. Take a few steps, and he breaks through. Enviable. Bitter, too. Aurelia Voss felt a stab in her chest. No, she had to hurry and take in a disciple herself. The sooner she started, the sooner she could step onto the road of the strong.

“Luoxia Peak is quiet. People rarely come up there to bother you,” she said plainly. “Stay here and make your breakthrough properly. I’m heading down first.”

The disciple watched her leave, his eyes fixed on her back. Respect rose in him like a tide. He clenched his fists without knowing it. He had to cultivate well. One day, he had to become a disciple of Luoxia Peak.

Aurelia Voss, of course, had no idea that a casual sentence from her had planted such resolve in someone’s heart. Right now, she stood below and looked at the square full of children running here and there. She could not help sighing inwardly.

Youth really was a fine thing.

The disciple recruitment square was broad and open. Eight giant pillars stood around it, one on each side and one at each corner. Dragons were carved around every pillar, their scales and claws lifelike, as if they might burst free the next moment. The whole place looked fierce and imposing.

“L-little Junior Sister?”

The White Dragon Sect’s Sect Master, Roland Whitmore, rubbed his eyes hard, almost thinking he had seen wrong. He stared straight at Aurelia Voss where she stood.

Aurelia felt a little awkward and cupped her fists toward him. “Senior Brother Sect Master. Long time no see.”

“Good, good, good.” Roland Whitmore’s voice shook with excitement. “It’s good that you came out. Good. Good.”

His mind could not help drifting back ten years.

Back then, his little junior sister had led White Dragon Sect’s team into a secret realm trial. No one had expected a vile evil thing to appear inside. At that critical moment, she had stood alone in front of the sect’s disciples and cut the evil thing back by sheer force. She had protected everyone, but she herself had fallen into a deep coma.

Luckily, White Dragon Sect was still under the ancestors’ blessing. Three years ago, she finally woke up.

Even if she rarely left the mountain and wanted little to do with the outside world, that alone had eased a great burden in the hearts of the whole sect.

“Senior Brother Sect Master,” Aurelia asked, glancing around, “why are you the only one here?”

According to the original owner’s memories, White Dragon Sect was one of the most renowned sects on the Jizhou Continent. Every year, those who came to seek apprenticeship were like a flowing river, never ending. Yet this year, not only was there no crowd at the sect gate asking to enter, even the other brothers and sisters were nowhere to be seen.

At that, a flicker of embarrassment flashed across Roland Whitmore’s face. It passed quickly, and he changed the subject at once.

“Little Junior Sister, your Luoxia Peak doesn’t even have one disciple.” He cleared his throat and put on a stern face. “No matter what, this year you must bring one in.”

Aurelia Voss nodded. “Thank you, Senior Brother Sect Master. Mingqiu understands. I’ll walk around and take a look.”

As she spoke, her gaze fell on the square. The children there were chattering nonstop, noisy as sparrows, full of life.

She wondered if she really could find a disciple fated to be hers within three hours.

…

“Oliver Mercer, do you still think you’re some young master everyone pampers?” Jasper Mercer sneered, his chin lifted high. “This is the cultivation world. And me, Jasper Mercer, I was personally accepted by the Fifth Elder of Qingshan Sect as a direct disciple. If you kneel and beg me now, I might show some mercy and ask Master to let you in as an outer disciple. How about it?”

The little fatty called Oliver Mercer climbed up from the ground. He slapped the dust off his brocade robe in a rough hurry. His round little face was full of stubbornness.

“Not interested,” he said. “I have no interest in Qingshan Sect. And I’m not kneeling to you.”

Aurelia Voss had only just slipped into the crowd when the system gave a prompt in her mind.

[Ding. Son of Fortune detected.

Name: Oliver Mercer

Age: 10

Talent: Water Spiritual Root

Grade: Top-tier]

Aurelia’s eyes sharpened at once.

A Son of Fortune.

And a top-tier Water Spiritual Root.

Her heartbeat jumped. This was too clean to ignore. If she wanted to finish the task, this was likely the best chance she would get.

“You said you won’t kneel to me?” The smile on Jasper Mercer’s face darkened on the spot, the warmth vanishing clean. “Then aren’t you afraid you won’t be able to enter any sect at all?”

“I will.”

Oliver Mercer straightened his chest, small and round as he was, and looked right at Jasper Mercer. There was no fear in his eyes, only a hard little fire.

“I definitely will.”