Chapter 188 - 4.53 Luqiu Sect
For a few years after the Red Snow Rebellion, the cultivation world’s foundation remained shaky. Lingyan was no longer the most distinguished and powerful sect with the loss of its precious members and leader and in exchange, more and more new sects appeared and rose in power.
The most prominent one was Luqiu Sect, which was founded by two females of high cultivation. The older sibling, Luqiu Hong was often seen in public as the representative. She was a domineering, strict woman who didn’t lose her ground against many male cultivators. If so, she appeared even more courageous with her tenacity to speak up on the behalf of demonic cultivators. The other sibling, Luqiu Ning, was a rare genius who wrote many books about demonic cultivation, the advantage and danger of cultivating it and how it shouldn’t be seen as a threat but merely another source of energy that would become useful if it was practiced in the right way.
They also became the first sect that sheltered many rogue demonic cultivators from all over the world, making it stand up among others for its diversity, neutrality and impartiality.
Once the world had learned ways of demonic cultivation, people’s wariness and fear toward it sharply decreased and Luqiu Sect became known as a sanctuary for people who believed they were different from others.
However, everytime Luqiu Hong was asked whether she or her younger sister was the sect leader, they always denied firmly. Their sect leader was a mysterious man who hadn’t been seen in public ever since the sect was founded and thus, it became the source of rumors. Some suspected it was the man who was often seen with Luqiu Ning and Luqiu Hong, the other speculated that the sect leader’s position was left empty because the sect leader had passed on. The latter theory was further proven by the fact that Luqiu siblings had always worn white robes as if they were mourning.
Nevertheless, being the most probable possibility, the man was often put in the limelight, scrutinized for a long period of time.
No, they concluded, he couldn’t be the sect leader. For starters, he was too mischievous and reckless which didn’t conform with the trait that a sect leader should have. He was almost always seen whenever chaos was, accepting the most dangerous mission which everyone would hesitate to do, seemingly uncaring for his own wellbeing and safety. Many assumed that he was deliberately seeking death although it was a baseless theory because the man was an excellent cultivator who had a huge stock of weapons and talismans in his possession in case of emergency. Not only that, he was also a brilliant archer, a fighter through and through and didn’t seem like someone who longed for the afterlife.
To be more precise, the way he traveled high and low was as if he was searching for something. Nobody knew what he was searching for, the same as nobody knew the story behind the broken sword that he always carried on his back. He was often seen polishing the sword in his free time and traced it with an affectionate yet longing look, yet he always brushed it off if someone were to brace themselves to ask.
There was speculation that the sword looked like Hexue, Jingxue-Jun’s famous spiritual weapon, judging from the ivory color and the unique markings on its hilt. But how could it be possible for Jingxue-Jun’s sword to end up in the hand of a random someone? That was ridiculous. It might have just been any sword that resembled Hexue.
Along with time, people gradually learned the man’s name, ’Hei-gongzi’ because that was how he had always introduced himself. It was simply contrasting with the white robes he wore as well as the ivory sword he carried, making his name stick to people.