“Little Qi[1]!” After leaving Sue Kirin’s room, Qi Qiqi was called towards the main hall by someone.

“Uhm?”

Qi Qiqi stopped and looked towards where the voice came from.The one who called her appears from the shadow of a tree. It was a woman that looked about 20 years old. She had long, fire-like red hair was tied into a ponytail, a stern appearance that made her look very experienced, and she wore a suit covered in charcoal ash.

“Sister Ting! It was you!” Qi Qiqi seemed happy to see her. While in public places the two referred to each other in the fas.h.i.+on appropriate their stations.  In private, however, they called each other by nicknames, a sign of their good relations.h.i.+p.

“So…,” Li Wanting looked at the Snow Watch Tower a short distance away from them and directly asked ”have you found a place for the Little Ancestor to stay?”

In the past, the Snow Watch Tower was the home of the sect’s patriarchs and ancestors. Although it wasn’t very large and was by no means luxurious, the building fancied a chic garden style[2].

“Uhm, ah…...Yeah, I found a place for her.” Qi Qiqi’s eyes were a bit uncertain, something Li Wanting‘s didn’t miss.

“Uh, Little Qi, you wouldn’t have… possibly done something disrespectful to the Little Ancestor, right?”

“H-how could that be possible?!”

“So you did do something?”

“No, no I didn’t! I just... I just punched her one time is all.”

Qi Qiqi felt uncomfortable being stared at by Li Wanting, so she looked away, and subconsciously started playing with her dress.

Li Wanting sighed, shook her head, and facepalmed herself:

“I knew it….That little ancestor looks ditzy; you couldn’t hold your temper... ” Li Wanting knocked Qi Qiqi on the head and continued to lecture her.

“EVEN SO! She is our ancestor; she is the elder of our sect! How could you possibly use force against her? Your impulsive temperament will get you killed someday! ”

“I, I got it!” Qi Qiqi touched the spot where she was whacked and conceded with teary eyes.

“That’s my cutie!” Li Wanting laughed and started ruffling Qi Qiqi’s hair.

“Stop stop!” Qi Qiqi pulled off Li Wanting’s hand, a trace of anger evident in her voice.

“Come on; now my hair is all messed up!”

“Aw, how cold.”

“By the way, who are you going to ask for clean up this mess you made?” Li Wanting asked with a devilish voice having suddenly remembered.

Qi Qiqi was stunned before vaguely replying, “Sister Luo. ”

“Oh, so you’re planning on having Sister Luo clean up after you again?”

“What else can I do! Sister Luo’s mild temperament is best for dealing with that a.s.shole!”

“Ahahaha, you just called our little ancestor an a.s.shole, if old man Liu Chenzong heard that, you’re sure to have gotten an earful.”

“It’s alright; I faked pretty well when I was in front of Elder Liu.”

“Well, seems like you failed today.”

Qi Qiqi’s smiling face vanished as if she’d lost her faith in response to Liu Wanting’s words.

“It’s all because of that a.s.shole!” Qi Qiqi gnashed her teeth as she recalled how Sue Kirin made her curse in front of everyone.

“Anyway, our little ancestor must have an excellent temper, considering you still find yourself in one piece after having punched her.”

“That is not the case…...Qi Qiqi thought as her face contorted into a strange expression.

“Well, what happened then? Isn’t that what happened?”

“I don’t know... she lost consciousness after I punched her...”

“WHAT?”

Qi Qiqi nodded her head shyly. Li Wanting looked stunned and taunted her.

“Well done! To think you would even throw this terrible mess that can't be even more terrible to Luo Qing and then escape without a trace.”

“What else can I do? I don’t know why, but for some reason, I feel like punching her in the face whenever I start talking with the little ancestor! Qi Qiqi responded as if she’d given up.

“No matter what, you must go apologize to little ancestor after she wakes up!”

“Okay okay, I got it!”

“Anyway, was she really knocked unconscious by a single punch of yours? Did you go all out?”

“Why would I use all of my strength!”

“Then how come she fell unconscious?”

Li Wanting’s words reminded Qi Qiqi.This little ancestor was a peer of the founder of the Tian Xuan Temple, her great-grandfather.

Great grandfather once mentioned that there was a little ancestor closed up within the Sword Hill to practice while she was still young. Since no one within Tian Xuan Temple knew of her existence, she must have been holed up for at least 80 years. In other words, this little ancestor may look like a child, but she was actually 80 years old if not older. In fact, she must have already achieved a strong cultivation base for her to return to her younger form.

The power rankings for warriors are divided into four stages, the Mortal stage, Earth stage, Heaven stage, and the Celestial Immortal boundary. Among those stages, the Celestial Immortal is a fantasy that every cultivator wishes to achieve. For one to use the skill to regain one’s former youth they must at least be in the Heaven stage. Therefore, the little ancestor’s power must not be lower than the Heaven stage. How could an Earth stage fighter like herself, beat a Heaven stage master into a coma? Qi Qiqi thought it was very strange.

“What’s the matter?” Li Wanting asked. Qi Qiqi nodded and told her what was on her mind.

“Little Qi, are you doubting the ident.i.ty of the little ancestor? ”

“It’s not really her ident.i.ty that I’m questioning, she is in possession of great grandfather’s Jade, and she walked out of the Sword Hill, neither of which are easy to accomplish.”

Although the Jade could have been obtained by any number of methods, walking into the guarding sword formation of the sword hill is not an easy task. Only a grandmaster of the Celestial Immortal level could do so without taking any damage.

“So, you doubt the little ancestor's strength?”

“Not doubt, I just find it strange! Besides, her real strength is also quite significant.”

In Jiang Hu, it is not just the hardness of the fist that decides victory or defeat, but also

the decision making of the head of the sect.

Knowing one's situation and that of the enemy, therefore, leads to victory to every battle.

This decision making process is all about evaluating one’s self and the opponent and using what you know to decide whether or not to fight. That is why knowing everyone’s strength within the sect is so important. If you misjudged your power, then your strategy must have some deviation.

Sue Kirin’s strength would naturally be counted as the strength of Tian Xuan Temple, and she holds a huge percentage of it. So Qi Qiqi must know Sue Kirin well.

“Let me test out her bottom line.” Qi Qiqi made a conclusion.

“---chief, there is no need for that.” It wasn’t Li Wanting who spoke.

“Oh? Vice chief Ye listened to us for this long, are you finally willing to reveal yourself?” Qi Qiqi taunted as she saw him appear from the shadows.

“Chief, that is not true. I wasn’t hiding my presence.” Ye Zhen responded with a poker face.

The presence of a heavenly master is really strong, so if he wasn’t hiding his breath, even a human stage fighter would be able to sense him, not to mention Qi Qiqi who had reached the Earth stage.

In other words, Ye Zhen meant that he wasn’t eavesdropping. Instead, he happened to hear them as he approached.

“This dude is as annoying as ever.”

Li Wanting said with disgust in Qi Qiqi’s ear. Obviously, she understood the hidden intent in Ye Zhen’s words.

“Vice Chief Ye, what do you meant that I don’t need to worry about it? ” Qi Qiqi asked without emotion.

“Because someone already asked little ancestor that question.”

“Who? When?” Qi Qiqi felt surprised.

“Situ Wood[3] asked her while leading her to the tower.”

Situ Wood was Qi Qiqi’s s.h.i.+ Zhi. After Qi Qiqi had set up a room for a little ancestor, it was him that lead the way for the little ancestor.

“Only that martial art zealot dares to ask that question directly to that mysterious little ancestor's face.”

Li Wanting said, and couldn’t help laughing after she heard that. Just as Situ Wood’s name implied, he was as dumb as wood but showed great zeal towards martial art. The only thing that might interest him is the things that relate to gong fu.  

“So, what did little ancestor say?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

Is he playing me? Qi Qiqi’s face turned ugly for a second. Since Ye Zhen mentioned this, he must already have some knowledge of the event.

“I meant, little ancestor responded with ‘I don’t know.” After hearing that, Qi Qiqi and Li Wanting looked at each other.

“How comes she doesn’t know?”

“Therefore, I don’t know.” Ye Zhen said without emotion.

“Is little ancestor hiding her strength? Or---” Qi Qiqi murmured to herself before being interrupted by Ye Zhen.

“Anyway, we must have a clear understanding of her strength no matter what.”

“But how?” Qi Qiqi responded while laughing.

“There is no better way to judge one’s strength than by having a life-threatening battle.”

Indeed, even within the same rank of power, the strength difference between two different people  can still be huge, not even Heaven stage masters are exactly equivalent to each other in a fight. One’s stage wasn’t an absolute division of strength, but rather a general power level. Power is not the representation of strength, but the level of one’s energy and even that is merely a single factor of strength. The fighting style and attributes of that martial art also can’t be ignored.

“Are you planning on fighting the little ancestor?” Ye Zhen looked at Qi Qiqi with a fixed gaze, then turned and left. After Ye Zhen had disappeared from their eyesight, Li Wanting continued to speak.

“I hate that guy.”

“But he is strong.” Qi Qiqi had to admit that even if she didn’t like it.

“Anyway, we must understand little ancestor’s strength. Not to mention she's still a senior! You must have a good relations.h.i.+p with her!”

“That is...”

“I know you don’t like these factional struggles, but it is not you who decides these things, you have to ask Ye Zhen to agree to it also.” Qi Qiqi couldn’t say anything.

The situation of Tian Xuan Temple is like the Apple of Sodom[1]. The Imperial court has been afraid of the Five Great Sects for a long time, and they have put a lot of pressure on them for quite a while now. However, there was an arrogant b.a.s.t.a.r.d who attempted to a.s.sa.s.sinate the emperor and eventually was killed. a.s.sa.s.sinating the Emperor is forbidden. Successful or not, it angered the imperial court.You can imagine the result.

The Imperial Court released its anger toward the Five Great Sects, sending out its armies and trying to destroy them. The Five Great Sects, of course, refused to accept their groundless accusation, so they united to fight against the Imperial army. Eventually, both sides suffered heavy casualties ending with the Five Great Sects being heavily weakened.

An elite military troop could be formed within ten years, but a martial art master needs several decades to train to a sufficient level.  Since that day, the Five Great Sects lost most of their glory, especially the Tian Xuan Temple, which was suspected to be the sect that formed the a.s.sa.s.sination attempt on the emperor. No matter how many treasures or legendary weapons were taken away, they were just tools and properties. As long as there were still men standing, they could be taken back eventually. Unfortunately, Tian Xuan Temple lost most of their men, almost all of the elites were killed, and all of the grandmasters of the sect had fallen.

If it wasn’t for the influence of the former head of the sect, Qi Guiyuan, Tian Xuan Temple might have lost its place in the Five Great Sects already. This is the moment when a thousand things wait to be done, and matter to the future of Tian Xuan Temple.

However, since the former head of Tian Xuan Temple pa.s.sed away, Qi Qiqi inherited the chiefdom, and Ye Zhen was re-elected to be vice chief, this choice split the Tian Xuan Temple into two factions, the factions of Qi Qiqi and Ye Zhen, or the “Keep a low profile side” and “Make Tian Xuan great again side.” The former side was lead by Qi Qiqi and supported by the 4th elder Li Wanting, head of the sect’s blacksmiths, and 5th elder Xia Xue; the latter side was led by Ye Zhen, and its member includes the great elder of management, Liu Chenzong, 2nd elder of judgement, Liu Yuening, and 6th elder Qin Chen.

The biggest difference between the two groups was the direction they planned to develop the Tian Xuan Temple after the event five years ago. One advocated pulling out all the stops to regain the former glory of the Tian Xuan Temple and return to the table with a high profile, keeping the sect as active in the world as it could expand the influence of the sect. The other suggested keeping a low-profile before they are ready to show their strength to the world again.

For that, Qi Qiqi found herself pretty helpless to the situation. She deeply wished that the Tian Xuan Temple could unite as one, but she felt that Ye Zhen’s plan was incorrect, Ye Zhen felt the same about her plan. Therefore, the two sides struggled in opposition that couldn’t be resolved.

Even though, the balance between two sides was extremely weak. So, except for the Luo Qing and Zhang Ming, who claimed to be neutral towards both sides, the position of this little ancestor became really important. I have to create a positive relations.h.i.+p with the little ancestor? When that thought came to her mind, Qiqi couldn’t help but become stressed. She couldn’t deal with the little ancestor’s personality at all…

Footnotes

Footnotes