“Jun Jiu,” Li Qingxue called out, her voice sharp against the quiet morning air.
Alex stepped from the doorway of his small, thatched hut, blinking in the sunlight. "Yes?"
"The Sect Master wants to see you. Come with me."
A ripple of shock passed through the thousand herb disciples gathered nearby. The Sect Master rarely summoned anyone, least of all an outer disciple like Jun Jiu. Heads turned.
Whispers spread like wind through dry grass. Not just anyone earned a personal audience with the man who ruled the entire mountains.
Alex''s face hardened.
“No.” He turned on his heel and started back inside. "I don''t want to meet anyone. I want to go home to Xia."
The silence that followed was absolute. Li Qingxue''s eyes widened. The disciples stared, mouths half-open.
An outer disciple refusing the Sect Master? It was unthinkable.
“Jun Jiu,” Li Qingxue said, her tone dropping to ice. She stepped closer, cold eyes locked on his. “Just because you climbed to first ce on every peak doesn''t give you the right to act arrogant."
Alex let out a short, bitterugh. “"Arrogant? Fine. Call it whatever you want."
His voice stayed low, but the anger underneath it burned hot. "You dragged me here from Xia against my will. You ripped me from my life, and now you expect me to follow you like some obedient dog? Never."
Fury shed across Li Qingxue''s face. She lunged, fingers snapping toward his arm.
Alex moved.
She missed.
She tried again. And again. Each grab cut through empty air.
Alex didn''t even shift his feet more than a fraction. His expression never changed. "Your movements are so slow they''re putting me to sleep."
Li Qingxue''s cheeks burned red. She dropped into a fighting stance, channeling every ounce of her power.
She stood at Greater Foundation Establishment-only one small step from Core Formation. He was still stuck at the first level. She should have been able to crush him without effort.
Yet she couldn''t touch him.
A hundred exchanges passed in a blur. Her strikes sliced the air, precise and deadly. His body simply wasn''t there when they arrived. Not once did her fingertips brush his sleeve.
Alex finally spoke, voice calm and cutting. “I''m telling you, Li Qingxue-your movement technique is iplete. You''ve only mastered seven of the nine forms. You never learned the rest, did you?"
She froze mid-motion, breathing hard. "This is the Seven Stars Wudang movement art. There are only seven forms. There have never been nine."
"Really?" Alex''s smile was thin and mocking. "The original name was Nine Stars Wudang movement art. Two forms were lost centuries ago." He tilted his head slightly. "Want me to teach you the missing ones?"
Li Qingxue''s chest heaved. She could feel the truth in every impossible step he took -his speed was terrifying, almost inhuman. No matter how hard she pushed, she would never catch him.
She straightened, fists still clenched at her sides. The mission the Sect Master had given her still burned in her mind. She couldn''t fail. Not here. Not to him.
But for now, she stopped.
But Alex didn''t seem to care about her frustration at all. He simply continued speaking, his tone casual.
"Here. Watch the eighth step carefully."
Without waiting for a reply, he began demonstrating the original Nine Stars Wudang movement technique he had learned from the first-ce stone stele. His feet moved with effortless precision and frightening speed, tracing patterns that looked both simple and impossibly profound.
Li Qingxue wanted to stay angry. She really did. But curiosity quickly overpowered her pride. Before she realized what she was doing, she had already started following his steps.
"Good,” Alex said, nodding once. "You learn fast. No wonder they call you one of the smartest in the sect. Still, you''re messing up this part... and this one right here."
He patiently pointed out the exact mistakes and exined how to correct them. As Li Qingxue adjusted her movements, ording this guidance, she immediately felt the technique be smoother, the flow of inner energy inside her body growing stronger and more natural.
"Good enough,” Alex said. "Now this is the ninth movement. It''s moreplicated."
He performed the next sequence, his body flowing into a series of intricate, advanced steps.
This time, Li Qingxue had to pause and study him for a long moment before attempting to copy the motion.
"How can you be this stupid?” Alex sighed. He snatched a thin stick from the ground and lightly tapped her foot with it. "Wrong. You''re supposed to shift your weight like this."
Strangely, Li Qingxue felt no anger. Instead, her eyes widened as the true beauty and power of the final movement washed over her. It felt incredible elegant deep, and full of hidden strength. A fierce desire to master it ignited inside her
When Alex corrected her posture and guided her through the proper form, she felt
her inner energy circte far more smoothly. Pure delight bloomed in her chest.
"This fifth movement," Alex continued without pause, "you''re putting almost no force into it at all. Do it again."
He tapped her leg sharply with the stick.
Instead of getting upset, Li Qingxue lowered her head slightly. "I apologize."
"Good. At least you know when you''re wrong," Alex said. "Again."
"Yes," she answered obediently and dove back into practicing the sequence.
For the rest of the day, Alex scolded her, corrected her mistakes, and asionally struck her legs or feet with the stick whenever she slipped up. And every time, Li Qingxue epted his harsh teaching withoutint.
A short distance away, Lu Piao and the other herb disciples watched the unbelievable scene in stunned silence. One of them finally raised a thumb toward
Alex.
"Man... In the entire Wudang Sect, only our big brother would dare hit Miss Li Qingxue that hard and still stand next to her without being scared off by her beauty."
"Yeah," another disciple muttered. "Whenever Sister Li stands in front of me, I freeze up. I wouldn''t even dare to breathe too loudly."
"Our big brother is really built different."
By the end of the day, as the sun dipped toward the horizon, Li Qingxue had finally grasped the eighth and ninth movements. She could now chain all nine forms together flowing seamlessly frem. the first movement through to the ninth and circling back to the beginning in one continuous, graceful cycle.
Suddenly, everything felt smoother. Her inner energy flowed without resistance, and
her speed sharpened with every step.
“Good,” Alex said, ncing up at the night sky. "It''s already midnight. You can head home now."
“Thank you,” Li Qingxue replied, bowing deeply.
In that same moment, both of them sensed something was wrong.
Alex didn''t seem to care. He simply turned, walked into his small hut, and shut the door behind him with a solid thud.
Li Qingxue stood alone in the quiet courtyard, confusion swirling inside her. She hade here to force him to meet the Sect Master.
Instead, she had forgotten her entire mission. She had spent the whole day learning from him—and, strangely, she had enjoyed every second of it.
She stared at the closed door of his hut, and a quiet warmth bloomed in her chest.
No one in the entire Wudang Sect had ever treated her the way Alex did. He didn''t seem to notice her beauty at all. He simply treated her like a person-nothing more, nothing less.
Yet she knew she had failed. She had not brought him to the Sect Master.
When she finally returned to the main hall, Li Qingxue knelt before the assembled elders and the Sect Master.
"Please forgive me," she said, head bowed low. "I was unable to bring Jun Jiu to meet you."
One elder mmed his palm on the table. "We have waited here all day! How dare
that outer disciple ignore a direct summons from the Sect Master? Does he want to be punished?"