First Disciple

The morning mist clung to the pine ridges like a veil, pale tendrils winding down the slopes of Qingluan Sect. 

Huolian sat cross-legged beneath the slanted eaves of the training pavilion, her breath steady, her eyes shut. She was cultivating, but her mind wandered. The token in her robe pressed faintly against her ribs, its warmth now familiar, no longer startling.

A sharp clack of boots on stone broke the silence. Zhi Yu's presence arrived before her voice did.

"You're not gathering qi," Zhi Yu said.

"I'm thinking."

"Thinking doesn't raise your cultivation."

Huolian opened her eyes, her lips quirking. "It does when what I'm thinking about is the Shen Realm."

Zhi Yu raised an eyebrow but didn't argue. She folded her arms and leaned against the pavilion's wooden beam.

"You're wondering about the tournament," she said.

Huolian nodded. "He mentioned it. Shenxiu. Said I would have to win it."

Zhi Yu was silent for a moment, eyes on the horizon. "Then you should know why it matters."

Huolian tilted her head. "Sect prestige. Inner court status. Resource access. What am I missing?"

"You're missing the part where our master is running out of time."

Huolian frowned. "What do you mean?"

Zhi Yu let out a breath, slow and deliberate. Her face filled with pity. 

"Elder Shenxiu is the Fourth Elder, a position earned by both power and contribution. But it's been years since he's taken a disciple. Fifteen years, to be exact. He's fallen out of favor."

"That doesn't make sense," Huolian said. "He's powerful. Respected."

"Yes. But this is a sect. Not a monastery. Influence here flows through legacy. Through students."

Huolian blinked. "You mean… they're planning to strip his title?"

"It's already being discussed," Zhi Yu said flatly. "You think the allowance you received was just kindness? It was a stake. He's betting on you."

The words hit harder than Huolian expected. She looked down at her palms, calloused from her training here in the sect. 

Her cultivation was strong, but erratic. Her fate culture was still in the baby steps, but unrefined. Was she really enough to revive a falling elder's legacy?

She looked up. "Why now? Why did he wait so long to take another disciple?"

Zhi Yu's expression darkened.

"Because of the first."

Huolian leaned forward slightly. "He had a disciple before me?"

Zhi Yu nodded. "Only one. Fifteen years ago. The most talented cultivator Qingluan Sect has seen in generations. A boy named Xu Tian."

The name meant nothing to Huolian. "What happened to him?"

Zhi Yu didn't answer immediately. She stepped down from the pavilion and walked to the edge, looking out at the mist.

"Xu Tian was Shenxiu's pride," she said. "He was barely thirteen when Shenxiu took him in. A quiet child. He was studious. Unshakably loyal as well. But his talent was terrifying. He entered the sect as an outer disciple and ascended to the Wu Realm in seven years."

Huolian's breath caught.

"That fast?"

'It took me thirty five years as Boluo.' Huolian thought.

Zhi Yu said without judgment. "Most take longer. He was a prodigy. The Sect Leader himself praised him publicly. Said he might surpass even Shenxiu one day."

Huolian tried to imagine it, a boy, gentle and silent, outpacing every senior disciple. Revered by the sect head. Personally trained by the Fourth Elder.

"He didn't let it change him," Zhi Yu said. "He stayed humble. Never spoke out of turn. Never asked for more than what was given."

"But others noticed," Huolian guessed.

Zhi Yu's gaze hardened. 

"Of course. Envy festers in places like this. There were rumors. Whispers. Some said Shenxiu was grooming him to take the elder seat. Others feared the Sect Leader might name him heir."

Huolian frowned. "I thought Qingluan didn't have a hereditary system."

"We don't," Zhi Yu said. "But power doesn't care about rules. Enough admiration, enough fear, and a successor gets chosen in everything but name."

Huolian exhaled. "So they plotted against him."

Zhi Yu gave a small nod. "At first, just petty sabotage. Misplaced cultivation resources. False accusations. But Xu Tian was careful. Too careful. He never gave them the excuse they wanted."

"What changed?"

Zhi Yu looked at her. "He reached the Shen Realm."

The air seemed to still around them.

"It took him just four more years," Zhi Yu continued. "He was twenty-four. Same level as Shenxiu. And then everything unraveled."

Huolian's voice came out quietly. "What happened?"

"No one knows the full story," Zhi Yu said.

"Only that a mission went wrong. A diplomatic exchange with another sect turned into bloodshed. Xu Tian was blamed. They said he slaughtered an envoy in cold rage. Broke the pact. Betrayed the sect."

Huolian felt something twist in her chest. "Did he?"

Zhi Yu looked away. 

"Shenxiu didn't believe it. Still doesn't. But by the time the news spread, Xu Tian was gone. Vanished. They never found a body. No trace of his fate culture. It was as if he had never existed."

Huolian swallowed. "And Shenxiu?"

"He had been disgraced. Silent. The Sect Leader passed the matter to the Inner Council. Shenxiu was demoted in all but name. He withdrew from public matters. Stopped taking disciples. Stopped attending sect events. He only began teaching again this year."

Huolian felt the weight settle on her shoulders. "And now he's risking everything… on me."

"You're his last bet," Zhi Yu said. "Not because he's desperate. Because you're the first he's seen who might survive the same climb."

Huolian stared at the horizon. The clouds parted briefly, letting a shaft of sun through. She didn't feel warm.

"Why me?" she asked.

Zhi Yu's tone softened slightly. "Because you have what Xu Tian did not. Determination to do what you want. To have the guts to do what it takes. And because your fate culture… it isn't just rare. It's violent. Raw. It matches his."

Huolian breathed slowly. She remembered the way her energy pulsed, cold, coiled, barely restrained.

"I'm not him," she said.

"No," Zhi Yu agreed. "You're not."

There was silence for a while. Then Huolian asked the question anyway.

"If Xu Tian is alive…"

Zhi Yu gave her a sidelong glance. "Then he's out there with more power than anyone in the sect can match. And a reason to hate us."

Huolian closed her eyes.

"So what does winning the tournament do?"

"It restores Shenxiu's seat. Protects you from political attack. Secures your right to ascend through the sect without interference. And sends a message."

Huolian opened her eyes. "What message?"

Zhi Yu's mouth curved slightly. "That Shenxiu's legacy didn't end fifteen years ago."