Don't Cause Trouble Chapter 15: Soaring Swords

The strange disturbance in the secret realm three months ago hadn't stirred much attention in Dinghai City. At most, a few cultivators chatted about how everyone had suddenly been thrown out of the secret realm that day, but the topic quickly faded.

It didn’t even come close to the excitement surrounding today’s announcement of the selected artifact refiners for Poyuan Sect.

"Jiaying?" Rong Chuqiu turned her head to glance at the person walking beside her. "What brings you out today?"

Since the day he saw the Mistflower Fang, Quan Jiaying hadn’t stepped outside his sect once. He’d spent the past three months in the refining chamber, cultivating nonstop.

Standing atop the steps of Poyuan Sect, Quan Jiaying’s eyes swept over the massive crowd below. "I want to see that person."

His senior brother had told him the one who submitted the Mistflower Fang was the same person who had competed with Wuxing Sect in talismans on the street that day. He didn’t quite believe it, but no matter what, he had to see the artifact refiner who created that piece with his own eyes.

Rong Chuqiu smiled. "The incense has already been lit. The names of those selected will be announced shortly."

Nearly twenty thousand unaffiliated artifact refiners had submitted their works, but only a thousand would be chosen. As Rong Chuqiu raised her sleeve, a golden scroll flew out and slowly unfurled in midair, drawing everyone’s attention upward.

"Those whose names are called, please come forward to receive your jade token. This grants entry into Poyuan Sect for the preliminary trial," Rong Chuqiu announced in a clear voice, stepping forward.

Though the crowd below was packed shoulder to shoulder, it remained unusually quiet—everyone was clearly tense about what was to come.

A name slowly appeared on the floating scroll. At the same time, a deep male voice echoed from the surrounding pillars: "Liu Min, selected."

The names were announced in reverse order, beginning from the 1000th. As each name appeared, a playback projection was shown beside it—a memory fragment of the moment the refiner submitted their artifact.

"I made it! I made it!!" a man in his forties pushed through the crowd, shouting with excitement. "That’s me! I’m Liu Min!"

A Poyuan Sect steward came forward holding a tray with the jade token. "Please."

Liu Min took the token with trembling hands and followed the steward into Poyuan Sect, practically glowing with joy.

The process repeated: name announced, image shown, token handed over. Each selected refiner was thrilled—even if they didn’t pass the trial, just making it this far would greatly boost their reputation.

Though reading a thousand names didn’t seem like much, the scroll had to display a memory for each one, confirming the person collecting the token was indeed the original submitter. It also gave the crowd a chance to see the quality of the winning artifacts. By the time the fifth name was read, the sky was already growing dark.

Rong Chuqiu noticed Quan Jiaying suddenly tense beside her and chuckled. "Nervous? A single artifact doesn’t define your path. You’re the most gifted disciple of Poyuan Sect—ranked in the top 200 of the Baiqing List even before reaching the Foundation Establishment stage. And just the other day, you broke through again. You’re now in late Foundation Establishment. Only the two from Zhanjin Sect could be considered your equals."

Quan Jiaying stared down at the intricate patterns on the stone steps beneath his feet. For three months, he’d tried to recreate the Mistflower Fang in his chamber. The results were always off—something about them felt wrong. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't replicate the original’s life and spirit.

Not quite mist, not quite flower—graceful and ethereal one moment, then suddenly fierce and deadly the next. It seemed like something born of heaven and earth.

That was insight.

He didn’t have it, so he couldn’t recreate it.

And it wasn’t just him. Among artifact refiners, something like that could only be encountered, never forced. Even the same refiner might never be able to create such a piece twice.

Eventually, Quan Jiaying gave up trying to copy the artifact. Instead, he focused on cultivation—and broke through.

"Fourth place, Xia'er."

The name and projection appeared on the scroll, but no one stepped forward.

Rong Chuqiu frowned and stepped forward again, repeating the name: "Fourth place, Xia'er."

Still no response.

The scroll continued: "Third place, Xiyu."

Again, the projection played, and again, no one came out.

Quan Jiaying scanned the sea of unaffiliated cultivators below. Most of them had given up hope of being selected and were now simply curious about who had made it into the top ranks, whispering quietly among themselves.

Rong Chuqiu had seen these few individuals before and now swept her gaze across the crowd, trying to spot them.

"Second place, Ming Liu Sha."

Still, no one came forward.

The chatter died down. No one could understand why these top-tier refiners didn’t show up—this was the Poyuan Sect’s selection day!

"First place, Ye Su."

Even the number one didn’t come?

Rong Chuqiu called the name several times, but no one responded.

The crowd of unaffiliated refiners suddenly lit up with gossip. Many began sending messages to their friends via jade transmitters, spreading the strange news—so many had been selected, yet hadn’t come.

"I knew it—those artifacts probably weren’t even made by them. They’re too guilty to show up," Fang Xiu scoffed nearby. "Elder Rong, it’s already dark. We should return to the sect."

Rong Chuqiu stood at the front, watching the now restless crowd. "Everyone, the selection is complete. If you’ve no more business here, you may leave."

There were no alternate spots in the Poyuan Sect trials. Seeing there was no more excitement to be had, the crowd slowly dispersed.

"Elder Rong, the incense hasn’t burned out yet," Quan Jiaying stepped forward suddenly. "Can we wait a little longer?"

He couldn’t explain the feeling in his heart—he just wanted to meet the person who had created that Mistflower Fang.

He barely even remembered what they looked like on the street that day. He hadn’t paid them any attention back then.

Rong Chuqiu glanced at the stick of incense still burning in the center. "Alright. We’ll wait a little longer."

But even after night fully fell, no one came.

"Let’s go," Rong Chuqiu finally said, turning to lead the nine hundred-plus selected artifact refiners into Poyuan Sect.

……

"Senior Sister! Go!" Xia'er clung to Xiyu’s sleeve, yelling, "Hurry! Little Junior Brother is ahead of us!"

"Just… one… step… ahead!" Ming Liu Sha grinned triumphantly as he clung tightly to Yi Xuan’s waist, his feet nearly floating off the sword. He turned back to shout lazily at the three people on Ye Su’s sword.

"Let go." Yi Xuan flew the sword with a blank expression, trying to pry him off.

But Ming Liu Sha ignored him completely. When he looked back and saw Senior Sister gaining on them, he quickly said, "Junior Brother, your sword control’s not great. Senior Sister’s catching up—and she’s got two people on board! Or maybe I’m just too heavy?"

Yi Xuan didn’t need him to point it out—he’d already sensed the energy fluctuations behind him. After so much experience outside, his sword flying was well-practiced. What surprised him was that Ye Su had also learned sword flight—and could even keep up with him.

The red mark between Yi Xuan’s brows glowed more intensely as he poured in more spiritual power, making the sword shoot forward even faster.

"Junior Brother’s really gunning it now," Ye Su said with a shake of her head, chasing right after. Her spiritual reservoir was unusually full today, so sword flight was no problem.

And so, five people riding two swords began racing through the air, their speed so intense that passing cultivators below were nearly knocked out of the sky by the turbulence.

"Flying like lunatics in the dead of night—what’s the rush, off to reincarnate?! @#%!"

Despite flying at top speed, the five of them only caught sight of the backs of the Poyuan Sect members turning to leave.

"Wait, fellow cultivators!" Ye Su called out instinctively.

Quan Jiaying looked back and saw two streaks of sword light shooting down from the sky. One of them landed steadily at the Poyuan Sect entrance, two people on board.

The other came barreling past the first and crashed into the tall steps, launching all three riders off the sword in a clumsy pile.

"…."

It was Ye Su’s first time flying that fast—she hadn’t quite mastered how to stop. She climbed up from the steps, casually brushing the wind-mussed hair from her face and politely cupped her hands toward the group above. "Fellow cultivators, has the selection list been announced yet?"

"You’re too late!" Fang Xiu snapped. He clearly wasn’t happy to see them. "Even if you were selected, the incense has burned out. Don’t think you can still enter our Poyuan Sect."

Ye Su raised an eyebrow. So they were selected.

"Why did you come so late?" Rong Chuqiu stepped forward again. "The Poyuan Sect values rules above all. Once the incense burns out, your chance is forfeit."

Naturally, Ye Su couldn’t admit they forgot. She glanced at the incense burner on the steps, quickly stepped up, bent down, and blew away the ash on top of the incense stick—revealing a faint red ember. She pointed. "It’s still burning."

Rong Chuqiu: "…"

Fang Xiu muttered under his breath, "Who bought that incense?! The quality’s way too good!"

"Elder Rong," Quan Jiaying spoke up beside her.

They had waited this long—what was a few more minutes?

"…Fine," Rong Chuqiu nodded. "Come on up."

The thousand selected artifact refiners were to enter Poyuan Sect for the preliminary trial. Yi Xuan hadn’t submitted an artifact, so he couldn’t go in.

Ye Su turned and walked toward him. "Junior Brother…"

"I’m leaving," Yi Xuan cut her off and turned to take off, but she grabbed his sleeve.

"Wait." Ye Su quickly pulled out a pile of talisman papers from her storage pouch. "Swift Movement Talisman, this one’s a Diamond Talisman, here’s a Sleep Mist one… oh, and take this Cackling Charm too."

She rattled off what each talisman did, then stuffed them all into his hands.

"I don’t have the spirit stones to pay you," Yi Xuan said coldly.

Ye Su clicked her tongue. "You’re still my junior brother until you leave the sect. It’s dangerous out here—use them if you need to. Enough talk, we need to sneak into Poyuan Sect and soak up some spiritual energy."

"Junior Brother, take care of yourself!" Xiyu turned and waved at him.

"Senior Sister’s talismans are really useful—you’ll see!" Xia'er chimed in confidently.

"Junior Brother, become a powerful sword cultivator soon, so no one dares bully us from Qianji Sect again," Ming Liu Sha patted him on the shoulder and lazily followed the others up the steps.

Yi Xuan watched their retreating backs for a long time, then looked down at the talismans in his hands. For the first time, he didn’t feel annoyed.

Before his little junior sister left, she had asked him to come with her.

Yi Xuan didn’t even know why he hadn’t left—he’d stayed behind and, along with Ming Liu Sha and the others, wandered around like idiots every day, hanging around that mountain where the secret realm had appeared.

…And yet he’d told Ning Qian Yao he was going out for solo training.

He remembered the sword cultivators in the secret realm who had completely overpowered him. Every single one of them was stronger than him.

All the frustration and confusion in his heart faded.

He looked down for a long while, then finally tucked away the talismans and flew off on his sword, vanishing in the night outside Poyuan Sect.

One day, he would become strong.