Sixteen years later...

The flame sect became the most powerful sect once again with the best disciples, the other sect was once again becoming uneasy as they watched the flame sect growing back into what it used to be, although they had managed to reduce the number of disciples in the flame sect who could practice the flame skill, the flame sect still had more power than the rest of the sect and they were still isolated by the rest of the sects. ​​

The wind sect was the only sect that could compete with the flame sect in terms of their cultivation, their sword skills were the best in the jianghu world, they were also well respected and they had a good reputation in the jianghu world compared to the flame sect who was regarded as a cult. The first disciple of the wind sect Lin Bohai was regarded as a martial art prodigy, he had completed his early stage cultivation at the age of ten and had already entered the second stage of his cultivation was rarely seen in the young generation, the early stage of cultivation was considered as the hardest stage to breakthrough for a beginner in cultivation, he was also good at poems and his looks made him very popular among the females.

Lin Bohai is a handsome teenager from the depth of his eyes to the gentle expression of his voice, he was taller than most of his peers and he had a trim build, not overly muscular and he is extremely talented both in cultivation and music, he was the dream future husband for most of the females in every sect to the dissatisfaction of many young masters.

The disciples from the flame sect were hardly seen in the public, they never interfered with any issue that was going on in the jianghu world unless it concerned their sect, there were many rumours about the disciples of the flame sect, most of the rumours were based on the young mistress of the flame sect Huo Ying, some said she was very ugly and looked like a beast just like her twin sister, others said that she was very weak, ugly and extremely strong, some even said that she was a monster who enjoyed burning people to death. However, none of these rumours was confirmed because she had never appeared in public as the young mistress of the flame sect.

Huo Ying trained every day in hopes of becoming stronger so that one day she will take her twin sister away from the wind sect forcefully, her powers grew stronger day by day. She broke through the early stage cultivation at the age of eight and was already in the third stage of the middle stage cultivation.

Her whip skills are also unrivalled among the disciples of the flame sect, her mother Huo Jingyu is well known for her whip skills, she is regarded as the best when at using the nine section flame whip but now Huo Ying has surpassed her mother's whip skills, the level of her martial was concealed from the rest of the world. At the age of sixteen, she had already been given the responsibility of handling the sect affairs, she was also responsible for training the sect disciples, apart from Huo Ying, there are three other disciples who are also outstanding.

Huo Lian, Huo Mei and Huo Qiang are the most outstanding disciples of the flame sect, they were given the title of guardians at the age of fifteen, they were also in charge of training the disciples with Huo Ying. Huo lian and Huo Mei are fraternal female twins, their father and mother died during the battle years ago while Huo Qiang was adopted by the flame sect leader, he is also the most attractive male disciple in the flame sect.

The four of them became sworn siblings at the age of fifteen.

Huo Ying stood in the middle of the training ground in the sect uniform, she was practising her whip skill using her mother's nine section whip, as her whip plunged into the air, it created a sound that seemed like huge waves on the sea, her speed increased each time she hit the air using her whip and it was almost impossible to dodge her attack, she focused all her attention on her training which made her unable to notice her father who had just entered into the training ground, she turned around as she released her whip into the air, she noticed her father standing on the training ground but it was too late, her whip had almost hit her father. He quickly dodged her whip while she retracted the whip and rolled it into a small circle.

"Father why didn't you tell me when you arrived I almost hurt you, are you alright," she said panting, sweat trickled down her face from her forehead and slicking the hair on her face.

"I am alright, I just wanted to watch your practice to know how much you have improved," her father said, he put his hand into his robe and brought a blue coloured handkerchief, he wiped the sweat on her forehead and arranged her hair that was stuck on her face because of the sweat.

"You have been working hard these days now that you are in charge of the sect affairs, don't overwork yourself," he said holding both of her hands.

"It is nothing dad I have always wanted to help you in managing the sect, moreover I have my sworn siblings to help me," she said with a cheerful smile on her face, she has always enjoyed the love of her father and he only gave her the right to manage the sect affairs only because she kept asking him for it, given her father's character towards her, he would never have given it to her if she didn't ask for it.

"Although the whip skill doesn't require your cultivation to be high, it still depends on a person's strength, if you exert too much energy while training and something bad happens to you I and your mother would be worried about you," her father said as he held her hand and rubbed it in between his palms.

"Father, you are worrying too much, I have been training for years and nothing bad has ever happened, rest assured" Huo Ying replied with a reassuring smile on her face.

"I regard all of you as my children so nothing bad must happen to any of you, where the other three go? I haven't seen them today," her father asked.

"They went out to have fun, they wanted me to go with them but I wanted to finish my practice before joining them," she said, she flicked her wrist then the whip vanished.

"Make sure no one finds out that you are from flame sect when you go out and be careful, ",

"Father, you worry too much, I have left the sect countless times under guise and no one has ever recognised me, moreover, I have already given my order to the disciples that they are allowed to go down the mountain after training but they shouldn't reveal their identities once they are outside the sect," Huo Ying said

"Good, you can go now, I won't disturb you anymore," he said

"then I will take my leave now, we will come back before evening," she said then and ran out of the training ground, her father smiled as he watched her run off without taking his eyes off her.

She went back into her room and changed out of the flame sect uniform then changed into another set of clothing of the same red and black colour but she wore male clothing this time.

She looked around the street and looked around for things to buy, as soon as she arrived at Nangong street, which is the rowdiest and crowdy street in the city, she had planned to meet the guardians at a restaurant but she had forgotten about it, her eyes lit up at the sight of the delicious-looking street snacks by the side of the road, she licked her lips and swallowed her saliva then she moved closer to the stall.

"Give me ten deep-fried durians," Huo Ying said with a bubbly smile on her face as she swallowed her saliva, the foodseller immediately wrapped it up for her and handed the wrap to her, she collected them with both hands and reached out for her money pouch then she paid him and left the stall.

As soon as she walked away from the stall, she opened the wrap and started eating the durians, she closed her eyes and moved her filled mouth left and right as she chewed the snack.

"As expected..." Huo Ying said then she placed another mouthful into her mouth, she turned to look around when she saw a by seeling hawthorn candy, she immediately ran to him.

"how much is your sugar candy," she asked a little boy.

" ten-cent for each" the boy replied, she took out ten coins from her pouch and handed it to the boy who in turn gave her three stick of sugar candy.

"brother, you are very handsome," the little boy said smiling at her.

"you have good eye little boy," she replied to his compliment then she gave him two more coins to reward him for his compliment and continued walking around the street, she noticed a large crowd gathering around a group of people, she was curious so she ventured into the crowd to see what had attracted so many people.

She made her way to the front and realised that they had gathered around to watch a circus performance, she loved watching such performances every time she came down the mountain and it has been long since she last had the opportunity to watch a circus performance.

She was always excited whenever she watched their magic shows and tricks, the moment she anticipated the most was the rope walk part, she just couldn't understand how they managed to walk on the rope without using their Kung fu. She had tried doing the same thing several times but she always ended up with injuries, but the last time she tried she finally got it right.

This time she was just anticipating the moment when a person will be called to volunteer for the rope waking performance, at this moment, she has completely forgotten her arrangement with the guardians.