Chapter 1
The instant I dropped to my knees, my father, my mother, the cultivators around us, and our household servants all stared, wide-eyed.
They probably hadn’t imagined anyone in the world could kneel quite so readily.
Ignoring the dull ache in my knees, I clung to my cousin and sobbed. “Please, Sister, take me with you. I want to cultivate too…”
My cousin was the seventh child of our generation in the clan, so they had named her Li Qi. Seven.
I was the ninth, so I was Li Jiu. Nine.
Two utterly thoughtless names.
Her father had been the Marquis of Yongning, undefeated in battle, renowned for his military exploits.
Her mother had been a brilliantly talented daughter of an eminent family, famous throughout the land.
Unfortunately, both of them had passed away.
The title went to my father, and I became the Marquis of Yongning’s daughter.
At seven, I stole her dresses.
At twelve, I stole her jewelry.
At fifteen, I stole her fiancé.
She and Zheng Heng, heir to the Prince of Su, had been betrothed before birth and grown up together.
But I wanted to be the heir’s wife.
Zheng Heng was frivolous and stupid. Hardly a good match.
Never mind. I simply liked whatever belonged to my cousin.
An ambiguous love letter penned by a maid. A meeting that might or might not have been deliberate. A little drawing close and pulling away.
And besides, I was the current Marquis of Yongning’s daughter.
Zheng Heng changed his affections as readily as an autumn wind shakes dead leaves from a tree.
Simple. Easy. Perfectly natural.
For Li Qi to refuse me now, to humiliate me and take her revenge, would have been just as simple, easy, and perfectly natural.
But she didn’t.
She really took me with her.
Spiritual energy was scarce in the Nine Provinces. Even forming a golden core was difficult; ascension existed only in legends.
In all the world, only Divine Sword Mountain’s Supreme Elder, Sihai Zi, had reached the Nascent Soul realm.
He came out in person to welcome Li Qi on the day we arrived.
Every kingdom worshipped the Father God and the Mother Goddess. Temples to them stood everywhere, and Divine Sword Mountain was no exception.
Beneath a gray sky stood statues of the Mother Goddess and Father God. Beside them waited a man who looked a little over thirty.
Handsome. Tall. His back perfectly straight, his bearing impeccably dignified.
What an elegant, dashing gentleman.
He took Li Qi as his personal disciple. Everyone bowed and bent their knees, addressing her as “Martial Aunt.”
A crowd is like the sea, and each person a drop of water.
When the tide surges, a single drop can scarcely resist the pull of the moon.
So I had no choice but to bow and bend my knees with them.
Lower your body, lower your head, and you can no longer see what is above you. You can only see what is beside you.
There was little respect on the faces of those calling her Martial Aunt. Most had reddened eyes and looks of unwilling resentment.
As it happened, so did I.