Chapter 9: The First Sect Challenge – “Catch the Cloud Carp!”

  Morning sunlight bathed the Cloudpetal Sect in soft gold.

  Lin Xian snoozed peacefully on a hammock he had tied between two peach trees. Xiao Hei sprawled on his chest, both snoring in perfect rhythm.

  Fwip!

  A paper crane dive-bombed him, hitting him square on the forehead.

  “Urgghhh… assault…” Lin Xian mumbled, peeling the note off his face.

  It read:

  “First Sect Challenge:

  Catch a Cloud Carp from the Sky Lake by sunset.

  Top 10 fastest catchers will be rewarded.

  Attendance compulsory.

  — Elder Fei”

  Lin Xian blinked.

  “…Catch a fish from the sky?”

  Bai Xueqing popped her head over the fence.

  “You got the notice too, rival?” she asked, grinning.

  Lin Xian yawned. “Yep. Sounds easy. Bring a pan, maybe we fry it after?”

  Bai Xueqing gaped. “You’re thinking about eating the challenge??”

  He shrugged. “A Cloud Carp sounds delicious.”

  At the Sky Lake

  Sky Lake wasn’t an ordinary ke.

  Floating midair, the ke shimmered like a suspended piece of heaven, with translucent fish — the famous Cloud Carps — swimming through the air like flying ribbons.

  The disciples gathered below, holding nets, ropes, and some even wielding talismans.

  Lin Xian showed up empty-handed.

  Bai Xueqing stared at him, scandalized. “Where’s your gear?”

  He tapped his forehead. “Weapon of mass rexation.”

  Then he y down under a tree with a fishing rod he carved from a stick he found nearby.

  The elder in charge — an old man with a giant mustache — coughed loudly.

  “BEGIN!”

  Disciples shot into the air like fireworks.

  Talismans exploded, nets flew, ropes tangled. Screams echoed.

  One guy accidentally caught another guy.

  Another disciple got dragged through the air by a ughing Cloud Carp.

  It was pure chaos.

  Meanwhile, Lin Xian lounged peacefully.

  Xiao Hei, cmped to the end of the stick like a fuzzy lure, wiggled his tail enticingly.

  Suddenly, a fat Cloud Carp spotted the “bait.”

  Bloop!

  It lunged — right into Lin Xian’s waiting arms.

  Without standing up, without even fully waking, Lin Xian caught a Cloud Carp.

  He tied a ribbon around it, raised it zily, and shouted:

  “Done~!”

  The mustached elder’s jaw dropped.

  First pce.

  Without moving.

  Bai Xueqing looked like she wanted to cry.

  Later, Atop the Sect Roof

  Lin Xian y on the tiles, letting the breeze ruffle his hair.

  The freshly caught Cloud Carp floated next to him, still zily nibbling on Xiao Hei’s tail.

  For a moment, peace wrapped around him like a warm bnket.

  Then… it came.

  A whisper of a memory.

  He was standing atop a battlefield.

  Armor cracked.

  Blood on his sword.

  Allies, enemies, all blurred into silence.

  He remembered…

  Skipping meals to meditate longer.Ignoring ughter to chase fleeting strength.Waking every day feeling hollow, no matter how high he climbed.

  The face of a younger him — cold, proud, alone — flickered across his mind.

  “Is this all?” the past him had once asked.

  Back on the rooftop, Lin Xian ughed softly.

  “Past me was kinda dumb,” he said to the Cloud Carp.

  Xiao Hei meowed in agreement.

  He stretched like a zy cat under the sun.

  “Strength’s nice. But this time, I’m gonna live a little too.”

  Meanwhile, in the Distant Sky

  Far above the sect, hidden in swirling clouds, a pair of silver eyes watched.

  Bai Jingyi sat cross-legged on a drifting spirit boat, her silver hair dancing in the wind.

  She smiled faintly.

  “So you chose this path, Lin Xian…” she murmured.

  “But will the world let you?”

  The boat vanished into mist.