After Being Reborn, I Refuse To Be The Holy Son Of The Sect Anymore

Chapter 19:

The spiritual spring in the backyard of the Holy Son’s Residence had dried up. Without question, it was Qin Fei’s doing.

“Qin Fei…” Xiao Yang clenched his fists tightly. Even with a second life, it was almost impossible for him to suppress the raging anger in his chest.

“Qin Fei, the higher you climb, the harder you’ll fall. When you think you’ve reached the pinnacle of life, I’ll show you the true meaning of despair and a fate worse than death.”

Xiao Yang turned and walked into the house. He approached a bookshelf in the bedroom and pressed a hidden switch. The bookshelf slowly moved aside, revealing a secret door. He opened it and stepped inside.

This was a hidden chamber even his junior sister, Jiang Ting, didn’t know about. The room wasn’t large, containing only a few pills and spiritual herbs. Most of the pills and herbs he had acquired had been given to Jiang Ting. In his previous life, he had treated her with utmost care and generosity, yet no matter how much he gave, he couldn’t warm her cold heart.

Xiao Yang opened a box on the table, revealing two jade bottles. These contained Nine Revolutions Water Spirit Pills, specially crafted by an alchemist from the Pill Cauldron Sect at great cost and effort. These pills were meant to enhance Jiang Ting’s cultivation, helping her advance to the Heavenly Martial Realm more easily.

Jiang Ting, being of the water attribute among the Five Elemental Martial Bodies, could greatly benefit from these pills. In his previous life, Xiao Yang had already given her one bottle, leaving these two behind. Back then, he had hoped his kindness and effort would make Jiang Ting care for him more. However, reality proved otherwise. She had instead handed the spiritual pills he painstakingly acquired to Qin Fei.

But in this life, things were different. These pills were now useless to Xiao Yang, but he wouldn’t let Qin Fei have them either.

After packing up the pills and everything else in the chamber, Xiao Yang left and sealed the room. Then, he activated the defensive formation of the Holy Son’s Residence, ensuring that even Jiang Ting couldn’t enter again. 

With that done, Xiao Yang departed.

He arrived at the entrance of the Azure Sun Secret Realm in the back mountain. Before him stood a tightly shut stone gate. At its center was a depression shaped exactly like the Sect Master’s Token. Only the Sect Master could use the token to open the gate and enter the secret realm.

Soon, a streak of sword light descended before the stone gate. As the light dissipated, Jiang Qitian appeared.

“Master!” Xiao Yang clasped his hands in greeting.

Jiang Qitian gazed at Xiao Yang deeply but said nothing. He simply retrieved the Sect Master’s Token and pressed it into the indentation on the gate.

“Boom…”

The heavy stone gate slowly opened, and a wave of spiritual energy surged out. Xiao Yang felt a sense of nervous anticipation—this was his first time entering the secret realm. In his previous life, Qin Fei had won Jiang Qitian’s trust and gained access instead. 

Without the resources from the secret realm, how could Qin Fei have cultivated to the Sacred Martial Realm and challenged Xiao Yang?

Qin Fei had an innate Dao Body but lacked focus, spending his time scheming against Xiao Yang rather than cultivating. Yet, even extraordinary talent required effort to achieve greatness.

In this life, Xiao Yang devoted himself entirely to cultivation. He knew clearly that only the strong could control their destiny.

When the gate was fully open, Xiao Yang stepped inside without hesitation. Jiang Qitian watched his back with a complicated expression as the stone gate slowly closed behind him.

“Xiao Yang, even if you win first place in the Grand Competition for the sect, I will never let you leave Azure Sun Sword Sect,” Jiang Qitian murmured resolutely. Transforming into a streak of sword light, he disappeared into the sky.

Inside the secret realm, Xiao Yang found himself on a narrow, rocky path flanked by sheer cliffs. Looking up, he could see only a sliver of sky, creating a terrain that was easy to defend and difficult to attack. Slowly, he advanced along the path, his hands brushing against the smooth stone walls.

After about half an hour, the path opened into a vast valley surrounded by steep mountains. At the center of the valley stood a towering platform, shrouded in visible spiritual mist.

“So much spiritual energy…” Xiao Yang exclaimed in awe. The density of spiritual energy here was several times greater than in the Holy Son’s Residence. This was undoubtedly the ultimate cultivation ground of the Azure Sun Sword Sect, a place where progress would come easily.

“Are you Xiao Yang?”

A deep, aged voice echoed suddenly, startling him. Xiao Yang nearly forgot that this place housed an ancient reclusive expert of the sect. In his previous life, this elder had emerged from the secret realm when the demonic sect attacked. With just his sword, he had almost single-handedly repelled the assault and thwarted Qin Fei’s schemes. Unfortunately, he fell to an ambush during a battle with the demonic sect’s ten elders, though not before killing six of them and severely weakening the sect.

Calmly, Xiao Yang clasped his hands and said, “Xiao Yang greets the Patriarch.”

“I heard you defeated the Saintess of the Fuyao Sword Sect. You’re stronger than I was at your age,” the voice replied.

“How could I compare to the Patriarch?” Xiao Yang said humbly, his tone sincere. In his previous life, the Sword Guardian Patriarch’s heroic sacrifice had left a deep impression on him.

“I couldn’t defeat the Fuyao Sword Sect’s Holy Maiden,” the elder sighed, his voice tinged with regret. “Since you’re here, focus on cultivating well.”

The voice echoed through the valley, but Xiao Yang couldn’t sense the elder’s exact location.

“Don’t enter the Sword Hiding Cave until you’ve comprehended sword intent,” the elder warned.

“Sword intent?” Xiao Yang’s lips curled into a faint smile. With a thought, a small flying sword appeared above his palm.

A powerful surge of sword intent radiated from his brow, enveloping the space within a three-meter radius.

“What… You’ve already comprehended sword intent?”