The Shadow Sect’s Scion and the Unruly Master

“Persistent? If I’m not, where are the spirit stones going to come from? Master, you’re all talk!”

Lin Xingjian stood tall amidst the dense, secluded bamboo grove.

A gentle breeze swept through, rustling the bamboo leaves with a soft whisper.

As he conversed with his master via a secret sound transmission technique, his hands deftly manipulated the bridge of his nose.

His movements were as precise and intricate as a master butcher dissecting an ox.

With several crisp ‘cracks,’ like the snapping of green bamboo, his face began to undergo a strange transformation.

His once unremarkable, common appearance was reshaped by an almost divine artistry, gradually morphing into a soft-featured, oval-shaped face.

His eyes, like the moon reflected in a cold pond, were clear and profound, so deep they seemed capable of mirroring all phenomena in the world.

With a delicate flick of his fingertips, a movement as gentle as plucking a flower, he peeled off the cicada-wing-thin mask from his face.

His slightly tanned skin instantly became as white as snow.

“You brat, is this truly your master’s fault?”

“The world has changed drastically; the Xuantian Dao Sect now dominates half the Southern Frontier. Where could my Shadow Sect possibly find refuge as it once did?”

His master’s sound transmission carried a hint of helplessness.

“That the Shadow Sect has survived to this day, and still possesses a small corner for refuge, is already a great fortune.”

Hearing this, Lin Xingjian’s lips curled downwards slightly.

The Xuantian Dao Sect was currently at its zenith.

Its mountain gate was grand and imposing, with palaces and pavilions arrayed like fish scales, their glazed tiles shimmering with golden light.

Countless disciples bustled to and fro, and to expand the sect, they had categorized their cultivators according to their paths of cultivation.

Numerous branches, such as the Dao of the Sword, the Dao of Gu (TL Note: Gu refers to a type of venomous insect or its poison, often used in ancient Chinese black magic and medicine), and the Dao of Alchemy, had been established.

Few knew that beneath these illustrious sects, the mysterious Shadow Sect lay hidden.

The Shadow Sect, as its name implied, was a sect concealed in darkness.

Recalling those distant years, when the Xuantian Dao Sect was still struggling to develop, the Shadow Sect disciples were like specters of the night.

They traversed the martial world, secretly lending their strength to eliminate numerous troubles arising from overt and covert struggles.

They had rendered meritorious service, paving the way for its rise.

However, as the saying goes: ‘When the birds are gone, the good bow is put away; when the cunning rabbit dies, the hound is cooked.’

As the Xuantian Dao Sect grew ever stronger, its sphere of influence continuously expanded, eventually occupying half the Southern Frontier.

With no other powers daring to contend, the Shadow Sect’s role gradually diminished.

The Shadow Sect’s dwellings were now dilapidated, teetering precariously in the wind and rain.

Due to some unknown vicissitudes, its inheritance had been severed for nearly a decade.

It wasn’t until Lin Xingjian’s master returned from an external mission that she was shocked to discover the interrupted lineage.

The woman stood alone before the Shadow Sect’s dilapidated mountain gate, her eyes burning with the fire of determination to revitalize the sect.

Currently, the Shadow Sect had only a sparse number of disciples, barely a dozen.

Most had been dispatched on external missions, their fates unknown.

Some, after only a few days out, vanished without a trace, like kites with severed strings.

Others had been wandering outside for several years, with no end to their travels in sight.

As a genius of the Shadow Sect, Lin Xingjian possessed an assassination talent rarely seen in a thousand years.

Unfortunately, his timing was ill-fated.

“Ah, my good disciple, you were truly born at the wrong time.”

“With the talent you’ve displayed in the Shadow Sect, had you been born a century ago, you would undoubtedly have been a terrifying Shadow, renowned throughout the world!”

His master’s words were filled with regret, tinged with a nostalgic recollection of past glories.

Lin Xingjian rolled his eyes, his face etched with helplessness as he spoke.

“Master, how many times have you said that? My ears are practically calloused from hearing it.”

“Even with all my talent, I’m still just running errands for others.”

With that, he casually snapped off a bamboo branch and idly drew patterns on the ground.

“You’ve gone and taken those strange, peculiar missions again, haven’t you?”

His master’s tone held a hint of scolding, like a strict teacher reprimanding a misbehaving disciple.

“How foolish!”

“Your master has repeatedly warned you not to misuse your disguise art, yet why do you always go helping those scions pursue some immortal maiden?”

“Master, you should give me spirit stones then!”

Lin Xingjian raised his voice, the sound echoing through the bamboo grove and startling a flock of birds.

“Without spirit stones, how can I establish my foundation (TL Note: A crucial step in cultivation where a cultivator forms their spiritual foundation)?”

“I can’t just establish my foundation without a Foundation Establishment Pill, can I?”

For a moment, silence fell on the other end of the sound transmission.

Lin Xingjian continued.

“After all these years, where is my monthly stipend?”

“You tricked me back then, saying that Sword Cultivators and Pill Cultivators were inferior to Shadow Cultivators, and that becoming a Shadow Cultivator would make me superior, revered by all cultivators under heaven. But what was the outcome?”

“Seriously, is this all there is to it?”

“Now I can’t even kill a single person, nor do I get many decent missions.”

“I go out and take on some jobs myself, and you’re still displeased, you old geezer who disrespects your juniors.”

Lin Xingjian showed absolutely no deference to his master.

“Let me tell you, today I survived ten moves under Bai Qingxue’s sword, completing a major commission for a cultivator scion.”

“Once I turn in the mission, my junior sister and I will have our Foundation Establishment Pills sorted.”

“Relying on you, I might as well go drink the northwest wind (TL Note: A Chinese idiom meaning to go hungry or live in poverty).”

Upon hearing this, instead of being angry, the woman was delighted.

“As expected of my good disciple! To actually survive ten moves under the sword of the Sword-Heart Enlightened Bai Qingxue, how promising!”

“Your master truly didn’t teach you in vain, so your master’s…”

“No, you’re not getting any!”

Lin Xingjian interrupted mercilessly.

“The spirit stones are just enough to buy the Foundation Establishment Pills; you can fend for yourself.”

“My current predicament is all thanks to you; calling you ‘Master’ is already a display of my benevolence.”

“What!”

“You stinking brat, how dare you treat me like this?”

His master’s voice rose sharply, so piercing it seemed to threaten to puncture Lin Xingjian’s eardrums.

“Your master painstakingly raised you, and now you won’t even buy me the new candied hawthorns from the Food Sect that I want to eat.”

“If you don’t agree, your master is going to cry!”

Lin Xingjian could not bear to listen any longer and promptly cut off the sound transmission.

His master was good in every aspect, except for being overly childish at times, which made her unbearable.

He angrily threw the bamboo branch in his hand to the ground and snapped it with his foot.

Lin Xingjian was not originally a native of this cultivation world.

He had transmigrated by accident, an abandoned infant cast aside by his parents since birth.

Had his soul not been mature, he likely wouldn’t have survived past the age of three.

In those years, he wandered the streets and alleys, enduring the bitter hardships of hunger and cold.

Watching others cultivate immortality and seek the Dao, his heart was filled with envy.

Fortunately, he was exceptionally talented, possessing the aptitude for cultivation, and at around ten years old, he was able to enter the Xuantian Dao Sect.

This cultivation world was somewhat different from what he had imagined.

It lacked the legendary, heaven-shaking abilities to swallow the sun and moon or pluck stars with one’s hands.

Before the Golden Core stage, cultivators were merely stronger than ordinary people.

Even if they could withstand modern bullet and artillery fire, they were still incapable of moving mountains, filling seas, or transforming the world.

To achieve such divine powers, one would at least need to cultivate to the Nascent Soul stage.

He had heard that Nascent Soul stage cultivators could condense a Nascent Soul, which possessed an independent consciousness and complemented their own being.

With a mere wave of their hand, they could alter the very heavens and earth.

Lin Xingjian joined the Shadow Sect.

Firstly, he had been sweet-talked and deceived by his master; secondly, it was due to a mysterious system.

“System, is my mission complete?”

Lin Xingjian asked, full of anticipation, but the system remained silent for a long while.

“Hey, that’s not what you said back then!”

Lin Xingjian grew anxious.

“You said that as long as I completed the Shadow Sect’s commissions, no matter how big or small, I would receive rewards.”

“What, are you trying to go back on your word now?”

After a good while, a line of text appeared before his eyes: [I’ve seen thick-skinned hosts, but never one quite this thick-skinned.]

“Heh heh, can ‘face’ fill my stomach?”

“Hurry up and give me the reward, even if it’s just a mosquito’s leg (TL Note: A Chinese idiom meaning something very small or insignificant), it’s still meat; I’m not picky.”

Over the years, Lin Xingjian had obtained numerous rewards from the system by completing Shadow Sect missions.

The disguise art that others would painstakingly practice for a decade to master, he received as a gift from the system—the orthodox Shadow Sect disguise art—after completing just one mission.

It continuously improved as his cultivation advanced.

The Shadow Sect’s inheritance had once been severed, its cultivation techniques incomplete.

Yet, the cultivation techniques he obtained from the system were complete and flawless.

The system had also specifically warned that these cultivation techniques must never be divulged unless permission was granted.

From initial improvements in muscle endurance, agility, and strength, to later, after entering the Qi Condensation stage, the system bestowed upon him the most complete Shadow Sect inheritance cultivation technique—’Shadow.’

The system’s reward mechanism was peculiar; it never actively issued missions.

He would receive rewards by accepting Shadow Sect missions or completing cultivation related to the Shadow Sect.

The higher the mission’s difficulty, the more generous the rewards.

Rewards for daily cultivation, however, were relatively ordinary.

Lin Xingjian still remembered the first time he completed a Shadow Sect mission; the system had rewarded him with top-tier spiritual roots and bone structure for cultivation.

Subsequently, he successively obtained cultivation techniques such as disguise art, Shadow Steps, and grappling techniques.

Each time he acquired a new cultivation technique, he would eagerly find a quiet place to practice it thoroughly, from initial awkwardness to eventual mastery.

What reward would the system bestow this time?

He sat on a rock in the bamboo grove, his eyes fixed intently ahead.

When the reward was revealed, he couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

“Only this? Ghost Shadow Hand?”

He recalled that Ghost Shadow Hand was a unique secret technique of the Shadow Sect, capable of stealthily pilfering objects from others without their knowledge.

However, the Ghost Shadow Hand cultivation technique passed down by the Shadow Sect was severely incomplete, and he had never bothered to cultivate even its most basic thieving arts.

Unexpectedly, the system had now gifted him the complete version, so it wasn’t a loss after all.

“Senior Brother, Senior Brother!”

“Where have you gone again?”

A soft, sweet sound transmission abruptly interrupted his thoughts; it was clearly from his adorable junior sister.

“Little lass, your Senior Brother went to take on missions and earn money! I’ve already earned enough for your Foundation Establishment Pill, isn’t your Senior Brother amazing?”

Lin Xingjian replied with a hint of pride.

“Really, Senior Brother?”

“A Foundation Establishment Pill of excellent quality costs fifty spirit stones, it’s very expensive!”

“Senior Brother, if you give me the Foundation Establishment Pill, what will you do?”

His junior sister’s voice was full of worry, warming Lin Xingjian’s heart.

“Don’t worry, this time your Senior Brother took on a commission that earned enough for two Foundation Establishment Pills. We’ll each have one.”

“Senior Brother is too amazing, much stronger than that useless Master!”

Li Xingtong’s voice was as sweet as autumn candied fruit, making Lin Xingjian burst into laughter.

“That’s right, Master is just a muddle-headed old fool.”

“However, Junior Sister, you absolutely must not say these words in front of Master; that old woman dotes on you the most.”

“It’s fine for me to say it, but you must let her save face.”

“I understand.”

“So when will Master return to the Shadow Sect?”

“Don’t rush, little lass.”

“Recently, your Senior Brother’s momentum is strong; I just completed a big deal, and there are several more waiting.”

“Your Senior Brother plans to make a trip to the Gu Sect and the Alchemy Sect, so I can’t return for now.”

“Oh right, I’ll send you some spirit stones via flying sword in a bit. Use them to buy Foundation Establishment Pills, and absolutely do not let Master find out.”

“If there’s any left over, then buy Master a string of candied hawthorns.”

After ending the sound transmission with his junior sister, Lin Xingjian contacted his client—a scion of the Dao of the Sword.

This person’s residence was utterly luxurious; exotic flowers and rare plants competed for splendor in the courtyard, and pavilions and towers were artfully arranged.

At this moment, he was leisurely seated on a stone bench in the courtyard, savoring fine wine, with several maidservants attending to him.

–Boss, the mission is complete.

–Completed?

An incredulous voice, tinged with surprise, came from the other end.

–Yes, I used a stratagem to survive ten moves under Miss Bai Qingxue’s sword, and I did so using your face. Next, you…

–Good, brother. Your Shadow Sect’s efficiency is truly high; it only took a year to complete my commission.

–But… it’s no longer needed.

–What? No longer needed?

Lin Xingjian nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood.

–No, Boss, what do you mean by that?

–You’re not trying to renege on the payment, are you?

–Oh, brother, rest assured, I won’t shortchange you a single spirit stone.

–I’m already with Wang Xiaomei from the neighboring Alchemy Sect; it’s been almost half a year.

–If you hadn’t reminded me today, I would have forgotten about this entirely.

–I was young and reckless back then, and sought your help on a whim.

Lin Xingjian’s mouth twitched.

–Then, Boss, I…

–It’s fine, brother.

–I know my place; I’m not worthy of that Sword Dao immortal maiden.

–How about this: use my identity again to reject her.

–Boss, why don’t you go yourself?

Lin Xingjian delivered a soul-searching question.

–I don’t dare!

–My dao companion (TL Note: A cultivation partner or spouse) is very strict. If she found out I went to see another immortal maiden, I’d definitely have to kneel on magical treasures when I got back.

–Enough, enough talk. The spirit stones have already been transferred to your magical treasure. Don’t contact me unless it’s important!

With that, the other party directly blacklisted Lin Xingjian’s sound transmission.

“What the!”

“What kind of nonsense is this! He says he doesn’t need it, and he just doesn’t? What am I supposed to do with this mess?”

Lin Xingjian stomped his foot in anger.

“You don’t dare to go, so you think I do?”

“I chased her for a year, finally completed the mission, and you just say you don’t need it? And now I’m supposed to go reject that immortal maiden who kills without batting an eye?”

“What a joke!”

Lin Xingjian currently had other missions to attend to and truly had no time to deal with this matter.

After much thought, he decided to send an anonymous sound transmission.

[Immortal Maiden, Wang has pondered for a long time and feels that we are not suited for each other. My heart already belongs to another.]

[May we forget each other in the martial world (TL Note: A Chinese idiom meaning to part ways and never meet again), and may the Immortal Maiden find a good partner in the future. Farewell forever!]

Upon receiving the sound transmission, Bai Qingxue casually waved her hand, erasing it, a cold smile gracing her lips.

“Trying to run?”

“Not so easy.”

“The man Bai Qingxue sets her eyes on will never escape in this lifetime!”

She stood on the sword platform of the Sword Dao Sect, surrounded by swirling sword qi, her cold smile under the sunlight exuding a bone-chilling frost.