Wrong, All Wrong

After traveling for a full ten hours, the spirit boat finally slowed down and hovered before a mountain gate.

Xue Mingzhao and Su Ye looked up.

An ancient, weathered plaque hung above the mountain gate, the calligraphy vigorous and sharp—

The Grand Primordium Sect.

Xue Mingzhao froze in her tracks.

A strange sense of incongruity welled up in her heart, and in the next instant, she suddenly realized where the problem lay.

The Grand Primordium Sect?

She quickly ran through the plot of the original novel in her mind, and everything clicked instantly.

It was wrong.

All wrong.

This wasn't the Heavenly Origin Sect where the novel's destiny-favored female lead was at all, nor was this the golden thigh whose opportunities she had planned to leech off of.

The golden thigh she had been so sure of this whole time was the wrong person from the very start. By some bizarre twist of fate, she had ended up at a completely unfamiliar sect.

No wonder the female lead had never shown up. It turned out she had mistaken his identity from the very beginning!

Xue Mingzhao: “...”

But she quickly calmed down.

Whether it was the Grand Primordium Sect or the Heavenly Origin Sect, at the end of the day, she finally had a safe place to settle down and focus on her cultivation. It wasn't really a loss.

In just a few seconds, she calmly accepted this ridiculous mix-up.

Beside her, Su Ye still hadn't figured out what was going on. With a bewildered expression, he looked at Su Mingyuan and was about to ask, “Master, have we arrived at—”

Before he could finish, Xue Mingzhao stepped forward quickly and clapped a hand over his mouth.

Su Ye: “???”

She then leaned in close to Su Ye's ear and whispered in a low voice, “We made a mistake. We saved the wrong person. He isn't Huang Siqi; he's the Sect Master of the Grand Primordium Sect.”

Su Ye instantly froze in place, his mind going completely blank.

The top-tier Heavenly Origin Sect he had been dreaming of joining all this way had somehow been swapped for the Grand Primordium Sect, a place he had never even heard of.

He glanced at the quiet, desolate mountain gate where barely a soul could be seen, and lowered his voice. “What kind of sect is the Grand Primordium Sect? This gate is way too deserted. There's almost no one around. It doesn't look like a powerful, great sect at all.”

Xue Mingzhao, however, looked around, becoming more and more satisfied the more she looked.

“Who hangs around the mountain gate for no reason? Look at these five continuous peaks. The mountain range is vast and majestic. Just from this grandeur alone, the sect's scale definitely isn't small.”

Su Ye nodded. That... actually made sense.

Xue Mingzhao continued her analysis. “Besides, smaller sects have their own benefits. Great sects might look glorious, but they are hyper-competitive and packed with geniuses. Here in the Grand Primordium Sect, we are genuine personal disciples of the Sect Master. But if we went to the Heavenly Origin Sect, we might only end up as outer sect or utility disciples.”

Su Ye's heart stirred as he listened.

He was right. The treatment of a personal disciple and an outer sect disciple was worlds apart.

Xue Mingzhao looked up at Su Ye. “Whether you stay or leave is entirely up to you. But since I have already formally entered the sect and acknowledged Master, I am a true disciple of the Grand Primordium Sect. No matter what this sect is like, I will stay here.”

The disappointment in Su Ye's eyes vanished in an instant.

Staying at the Grand Primordium Sect as a personal disciple of the Sect Master meant being a key focus of the sect's cultivation resources. Cultivating peacefully and making steady progress was far more worthwhile than being a nobody elsewhere, no matter how he looked at it.

Under Xue Mingzhao's persuasion, he quickly and calmly accepted this accidental stroke of fortune.

Just then—

A grey shadow darted out from within the mountain gate at extreme speed, kicking up a gust of strong wind.

The moment he saw the frail-looking, heavily injured, and haggard Su Mingyuan, his expression darkened instantly.

Anxious and furious, he cried, “Senior Brother, who injured you like this? All my transmissions over the past few days went completely unanswered. If I couldn't find you soon, I was preparing to head down the mountain to search for you myself!”

As soon as he finished speaking, his gaze swept over to the unfamiliar Xue Mingzhao and Su Ye, his brow furrowing deeply. “Who are these two brats? They look completely unfamiliar.”

Su Mingyuan explained slowly, “This time, I went down the mountain to Sunset Valley to find the spiritual herbs needed to break through to Soul Formation. Unexpectedly, I was ambushed by two groups of cultivators and was heavily injured. Thanks to these two children saving my life, I was able to escape and return to the sect. I have already officially accepted them as my personal disciples.”

He turned to look at his two new disciples. “This is the sect's Elder Wen.”

He instructed gently, “Your master's injuries are unstable, so I need to enter secluded cultivation to heal for a few days. During this time, follow Elder Wen to settle in and familiarize yourselves with the sect. Once I emerge, I will personally teach you cultivation methods.”

Xue Mingzhao and Su Ye quickly nodded obediently and agreed in unison.

Seeing how sensible they were, Su Mingyuan felt slightly relieved. He told Wen Shuxian to take good care of them, then his figure flickered, turning into a faint streak of light as he headed straight for the secluded cultivation cave dwelling in the back mountain.

The moment their master left, Wen Shuxian turned around to size up the two new disciples.

When his gaze landed on Xue Mingzhao, his brow instantly knitted into a tight knot.

The young girl looked delicate and well-behaved, but there was absolutely no spiritual energy fluctuating around her. She hadn't even achieved the most basic drawing of Qi into her body. She was a mortal through and through.

Xue Mingzhao accurately caught the unconcealed disdain in his eyes. She wasn't annoyed, however, and gave Wen Shuxian a friendly, simple smile.

Wen Shuxian: ...It's bad enough she has no spiritual energy, but she doesn't seem very bright either.

When he looked at Su Ye, his expression softened considerably, and he nodded to himself.

A cultivation at the third layer of Foundation Establishment was top-tier among the younger generation, and his foundation was exceptionally solid.

Though he was full of doubts about Xue Mingzhao's ridiculous aptitude, he didn't ask further. He waved his hand and said, “Alright, follow me. I'll take you to settle into your quarters.”

The two obediently followed him, stepping through the mountain gate of the Grand Primordium Sect.

Wen Shuxian summoned his Shattered Shadow Blade and took them aboard.

The three of them stood steadily on the blade, looking down to survey the entire sect.

The five peaks of the Grand Primordium Sect clustered together, encircling a vast, open flatland in the center, with the mountain gate situated at the gap on the eastern side.

The main peak where Su Mingyuan resided faced the mountain gate directly and was the tallest and most majestic of the five.

There was none of the magnificent, layered palace architecture of great sects; instead, it embraced a clean and minimalist style.

Spiritual fields were scattered about, the cottages were rustic, and the bluestone mountain paths were pristine. The overall atmosphere was comfortable and serene.

Xue Mingzhao nodded secretly.

Not bad, this was exactly to her taste.

Before long, they arrived at the exclusive territory for the Sect Master's personal disciples—Cloud Listening Peak.

“You have an Eldest Senior Sister and four senior brothers above you,” Wen Shuxian explained casually. “Eldest Senior Sister, Second Senior Brother, and Fourth Senior Brother are all out adventuring. Your Fifth Senior Brother has run off to play somewhere unknown. Right now, only Third Senior Brother is left guarding the sect. This entire area of courtyards is empty. Take your pick and stay in whichever one you like.”

As he spoke, he pointed ahead. Five or six small courtyards were scattered along the slope, all built with green bamboo walls and log-cabin main houses.

Xue Mingzhao immediately locked her eyes onto the first courtyard by the cliffside.

The house was built hanging over the cliff, with a roaring waterfall right below. It had an unmatched view, a remote and quiet location, and offered maximum privacy, perfectly hitting all her preferences.

She decided on the spot—this was the one.

Su Ye didn't really care where he stayed, so he chose the courtyard directly opposite Xue Mingzhao's, making them neighbors.

Seeing that they had settled in, Wen Shuxian instructed, “It's getting late, so rest up. Tomorrow at the Hour of the Hare, gather at the front hall on time. I'll show you around the sect grounds and introduce you to the rules.”

“Yes, thank you, Elder,” the two replied in unison.

Wen Shuxian nodded, turned, and departed as a streak of light.