Path of the Sect Leader-Chapter 1: The Chu-Qin Sect’s Final Days

A single bean-sized flame danced in the oil lamp, filling the sealed chamber with the heavy scent of sandalwood. No windows pierced the bare walls. In the center sat a low ebony table: one bronze censer trailing pale smoke, one flickering lamp, and two ancient scriptures—*The Yellow Court Classic* and *The Evergreen Art*.
Behind the table knelt a man in vermilion Daoist robes, legs crossed, eyes closed, lips moving in barely audible chant.
“Life-essence granted by Heaven itself,
My companion walks the path beside me.
In carefree harmony we face the world,
Together reciting the Yellow Court.
By decree: Let it be done as law commands—swiftly, swiftly!”
His ten fingers wove together like a cage, trapping something small in front of his chest. Every few breaths he leaned forward and exhaled gently over the captive. The cadence of the incantation rolled slow and deep, mingling with the curling incense until the tiny room felt like the still heart of some forgotten temple.
*Knock. Knock-knock.*
Three abrupt raps shattered the quiet.
The man’s brows drew together. He ceased chanting and called toward the door, voice low and edged with irritation, “What is it?”
“ing to the Daoist Master—the Lord seeks audience,” came the servant’s muffled reply.
A soft exhale of resignation. “Show him in.”
He finished the closing stanza under his breath, then parted his hands and rose.
The man was not tall, and years of ascetic living had left him lean to the point of gauntness; the crimson robes hung loose on his frame. Worry had etched faint lines around eyes that might once have been bright. He looked closer to forty than the twenty-nine winters he carried. On his shoulder perched a tiny creature no bigger than a man’s finger—black-and-white fur, bright obsidian eyes—the very thing he had just released from his finger-cage. It scrambled up his sleeve the moment his hands opened, then mimicked its master perfectly: sitting upright, head cocked toward the door, whiskers twitching with curiosity.
Two liveried boys entered first, grunting under the weight of an ancient rosewood chest bound with crossed talisman papers glowing faint gold. The seals alone screamed “not of the mortal world.”
The Daoist’s face flickered—shock, then instant composure—but the gloom in his eyes deepened.
The boys bowed and withdrew. Only then did the true visitor step inside.
An old man, white-haired and deeply lined, yet he moved like a blade unsheathed. He cupped his fists in crisp salute. “Qin Ye greets Daoist Master Qi. Forgive this old man for not visiting more often.”
His voice boomed, full of vigor that belied ninety years.
Qi Xiu hastily returned the salute. “Lord Qin flatters this poor Daoist. My humble hut lies far from the beaten path—your journeys here must weary you greatly. The fault is mine.”
“Spare the pleasantries,” the old man said, seating himself across the table with military straightness.
Qi Xiu. Orphaned at birth, left in a ditch, rescued by a childless couple surnamed Qi. At three, the sect discovered he possessed the legendary Single Spiritual Root and a unique Life-Bound Companion—the rarest of immortal physiques. The Qi household happened to be blood kin to the secular branch of the Chu-Qin Sect’s founding patriarch. Thus the infant was whisked away to the mountain gate and raised as direct disciple by Sect Leader Qi himself.
Alas, nine years of rigorous training yielded not the slightest advancement. Master and disciple traveled the realm seeking answers, only to learn that Qi Xiu’s Life-Bound Companion was utterly unique—nothing similar existed beneath Heaven. All hope of grasping the Great Dao died that day.
Yet the old sect leader’s affection ran deeper than doctrine. Rather than cast the boy aside, he kept Qi Xiu close, eventually sending him to this forsaken corner of the world to handle certain… delicate matters on behalf of the sect.
Twenty-nine years old now, still stuck at the second layer of Qi Refining—the absolute bottom rung of the cultivation world. He had long ago switched to the longevity-focused *Evergreen Art*. Ascension? A distant dream.
Qi Xiu forced a smile. “Five years since we last met, my lord, and your vigor remains undimmed—”
“Enough flattery!” Qin Ye cut him off with a sharp downward chop of his hand. The kindly elder was gone; in his place sat a furious patriarch. “We speak plainly now.”
Qi Xiu’s half-smile froze on his face, awkward and stiff.
Qin Ye’s eyes blazed beneath bushy white brows. Though his body showed every one of his ninety mortal years, his spine could have served as a spear shaft. The authority of a lifetime spent giving orders crackled in the air.
Qi Xiu’s thoughts raced. He already knew why the old man was angry.
The Chu-Qin Sect followed the Daoist tradition, yet the greater cultivation world here bowed to rules laid down by the Confucian orthodoxy of the Great Zhou Academy. That academy revered ancient rites above all else, and so this entire realm operated under the so-called Ancestral Code—a web of laws so intricate they governed everything from spirit stones to bedroom etiquette.
One clause in particular kept mortal wars in check: secular nobles could only rule territories matching the rank granted by their protecting sect’s strength. A Golden Core ancestor meant viscount status for his mortal descendants. A Foundation Establishment sect leader? Only baron. And if a sect fell to mere Qi Refining… well.
The Chu-Qin Sect’s founding ancestor had been Golden Core. Three generations later, they had not a single Foundation cultivator left. The current sect leader—Qi Xiu’s own master—was peak Qi Refining, one step from Foundation, but that step might as well be the width of the heavens.
Qin Ye, direct descendant of that Golden Core ancestor, had watched his family’s title shrink from viscount to baron and now to the laughable “Gentleman” rank barely above common gentry. His lands dwindled yearly. Families within his territory who sheltered late-stage Qi Refining cultivators were already ignoring his edicts.
Worse: the Ancestral Code protected new sects for exactly three generations of leaders. After the third, the protection vanished. Survival of the fittest began.
The current leader, Sect Leader Qi, was the third. Seventy-four years old, with perhaps thirty winters left at most. He had promised that the fourth-generation leadership would return to the founding Qin bloodline—meaning Qin Ye’s own house. But the only Qin descendant with talent was a twelve-year-old boy at mid Qi Refining. When the time came, he would face competition from several bastard-branch cousins already at the late stage.
And for over a decade, Sect Leader Qi had been secretly funneling resources through Qin Ye to this remote hut—resources whose purpose no one knew.
How could Qin Ye not be furious?
Qi Xiu saw the storm gathering in the old man’s eyes. No more games.
He flicked out a blank white talisman, whispered an incantation, and snapped it alight. The paper burned without ash, blooming into a translucent dome that sealed the chamber in perfect silence.
“Now,” Qi Xiu said coldly, “speak freely. No sound leaves this barrier.”
Qin Ye didn’t bother with courtesy anymore. He jabbed a finger at the sealed chest. “Fine. For ten years your so-called ‘father-master’ has bled the sect dry sending crates here. No one knows what’s inside. Today I want answers!”
Qi Xiu glanced at the chest, then met the old man’s glare without flinching. “I cannot tell you what lies within. Ask until your tongue falls out—it changes nothing. All I will say is this: every grain of rice, every spirit stone, serves the sect’s survival. Not one copper has lined my pockets.”
He paused, reaching up to scratch under the tiny monkey’s chin. It grabbed his finger and wrestled it playfully.
“Look at this little one,” he continued, voice softer now. “My Life-Bound Companion. Not even a first-rank spirit beast—just a clever mortal creature with a spark of awareness. And look around.” He swept an arm at the barren walls. “Four bare walls and a lamp. Fifteen years I’ve rotted here without stepping beyond the door. Thirty years old soon, still second layer Qi Refining, still unmarried—because who would bind their daughter to a dead-end cultivator? Tell me, my lord, where exactly is this ‘profit’ I’m supposed to be hoarding?”
Qin Ye opened his mouth, closed it again. He had watched Qi Xiu from afar for years. The young man was many things—wasted talent, certainly—but never a thief. And a mortal, no matter how exalted, could not truly coerce a cultivator.
The old man changed tack, voice still hard. “Fine. Keep your secrets. But I’m no fool. Families in my territory with late-stage Qi Refiners under their roof grow bolder by the day. Whispers say the moment Sect Leader Qi breathes his last, neighboring sects will carve us up like a festival pig. Even the Qin clan will lose Gentleman status entirely. You call that baseless rumor?”
Qi Xiu’s lips curved into a wintry smile.
“The Code is clear,” he answered. “New sects enjoy three generations of protection. After that, fate takes the stage—we live or die by our own strength. The Chu-Qin Sect is not unique; every sect walks this road. Your Qin ancestors basked in wealth and honor for centuries thanks to a single Golden Core forefather. Most mortals never taste one lifetime of such glory. Greed truly knows no bounds.”
He leaned forward, eyes gleaming. “But the heavens have not abandoned us yet. Sect Leader Qi stands at the peak of Qi Refining—one paper-thin step from Foundation Establishment. Should he succeed, a hundred years are added to his life with a flick of his sleeve. Those jackals circling our gates will tuck their tails and slink away.
“And do not forget Old Ancestor Chu of the Qi Cloud Sect—Nascent Soul cultivator, direct master of our founding ancestor. One word from that ancient monster, one whisper of old master-disciple sentiment, and who beneath heaven would dare touch a hair on our heads?”
【Terminology Updates – Chapter 1】
- Chu-Qin Sect: 楚秦门
- Yellow Court Classic 《黄庭》: ancient Daoist scripture for inner alchemy
- Evergreen Art 《长春功》: longevity-oriented cultivation method
- Life-Bound Companion (同参): a unique spirit partner bound at birth
- Single Spiritual Root: supreme aptitude, one elemental affinity only
- Qi Refining (练气): entry-level cultivation realm
- Foundation Establishment (筑基): second major realm
- Golden Core (金丹): third major realm
- Nascent Soul (元婴): fourth major realm
- Ancestral Code (宗法): Confucian-derived laws governing this realm
- Great Zhou Academy: orthodox Confucian cultivation superpower
- Qi Cloud Sect: larger sect where the Chu-Qin founder trained
- Finger Monkey: Qi Xiu’s tiny Life-Bound Companion (not yet formally named)