Wind G.o.d wondered if Li Qiye was actually useless or it was just an act. The whole appointment by Lucidity was strange. They thought that he was an illegitimate son, especially after seeing his immoral and uncouth behavior.
Otherwise, how could Lucidity dote on a piece of trash like him in this manner?
After further interaction, he felt that this brat wasn’t as stupid as he seemed, just crazier yet strangely insightful - seeing things that big shots like them never thought about.
“Alright, follow me back to G.o.dstep.” Wind G.o.d eventually said.
“For what?” Li Qiye smiled and told the truth: “I guess I still have some uses for your sect, a powerful bargaining chip.”
“Hmph.” Wind G.o.d snorted in response: “You’re overthinking it. It’s just that you could die any time in the open. Myriad Formation, the Bingchi, and your own dynasty want nothing more than your death so they can have peace of mind.”
Wind G.o.d was correct. Eight Formation True Emperor and his allies needed Li Qiye’s death in order to legitimize their rule and taking over the throne. They didn’t wish to be viewed as unrightful usurpers forever.
“It doesn’t matter.” Li Qiye shrugged before contemplating while rubbing his chin: “Hmm, from what I’ve heard, your sect has a great library, right?.”
“What do you want?” Wind G.o.d’s eyes narrowed as he uttered coldly.
“Don’t worry, I’m not interested in your martial arts or the word Xing. if I cared about them, I would have had plenty to pick back at the imperial treasury. I only want to see your old scrolls - just the entertaining and historical ones. That might be worth taking a trip there.”
Wind G.o.d didn’t know what this brat wanted to do. He asked: “What are you looking for?”
“Nothing in particular.” Li Qiye replied: “Just reading to improve my knowledge. Don’t you know that knowledge is power? Your sect was built on espionage and information selling, allowing it to prosper.”
Wind G.o.d agreed with this logic, albeit slightly surprised.
“If you want information, I can help you.” Wind G.o.d generously said.
“I don’t care about the present or the movements of the world.” Li Qiye said: “I’m interested in ancient mysteries, the older, the more precious. Basically, just historical stories, whether they be official or just popular folktales.”
Wind G.o.d took another look at him. G.o.dstep did start out as an intelligence guild, but as time pa.s.sed, many things have changed. Their disciples now pursued power and cultivation, no longer caring about mysteries of the past.
“That’s fine, you can take a look.” Wind G.o.d agreed.
“Oh right, what’s the name of your girl?” Li Qiye stood up and suddenly realized something so he clapped his hands.
“Splendorous Saintess.” Wind G.o.d said with a hint of annoyance.
Splendorous didn’t only have the most prestigious bloodline in their sect but was also the most gifted. The elders had high expectations for her. Even if she wouldn’t take over their sect, she would still become a powerful Eternal, perhaps surpa.s.sing a supreme ancestor such as himself.
They naturally wanted to keep this good seed around. Unfortunately, Lucidity demanded their best bloodline to be a consort.
Wind G.o.d didn’t want this at that point because Li Qiye was a useless brat. No one would want to betroth their best disciple to someone like him. Unfortunately, out of both fear and grat.i.tude, he became the first to agree.
Of course, refusal was not an option since Lucidity was famous for punis.h.i.+ng nonconformity. The first to voice this opinion would suffer the wrath of Lucidity, especially when Sun Lengying and Silver Secret were still around.
This was no longer the case. These three threats have disappeared. Plus, the kingdom has fallen. Li Qiye was a king without land.
Under these circ.u.mstances, was he still suitable for her? In the past, she could arguably be reaching up to marry him. But now, she wouldn’t favor a fallen king like him.
“What, change your mind?” Li Qiye noticed Wind G.o.d’s annoyed expression and laughed.
“Self-awareness is a virtue.” Wind G.o.d replied.
Wind G.o.d was rightfully annoyed, thinking that this Li Qiye wasn’t worthy of his saintess! Of course, he had principles and was a man of his words. Since he had agreed with Lucidity on top of signing the marriage pact, he couldn’t actually change his mind nor deny this marriage.
This made him feel quite helpless. The whole thing was akin to planting flowers into a pile of manure. The only thing he could do was hope for Li Qiye to know his place and decline this marriage himself.
“Self-awareness?” Li Qiye smiled: “Your saintess is only a maid in my eyes. If she were to be my concubine, then she better serves me well. But then again, scrolls and lamps in a cold room, I do need a servant to take care of daily tasks.”
A fire of fury started in Wind G.o.d’s mind, wanting nothing more than to slap the brat to death. He was still acting so imperious and haughty.
“You’re just a fallen king right now!” Wind G.o.d expressed coldly; his intent was as clear as day.
“So what?” Li Qiye smiled: “A man must stay true to his words; this is especially true for strong people. Otherwise, they’ll stay ordinary. One decision alone could decide victory or defeat, and could also decide one’s nature and dao heart.”
“Dao heart.” Wind G.o.d closed his eyes, aware of this magical aspect and how important it was to a cultivator.
The problem here was that the young generation didn’t care for it. They only talked and bragged about having powerful cultivation and techniques. Thus, a weakling like Li Qiye bringing it up was outside of his expectations.
New cultivators only cared about having better merit laws and treasures in order to grow stronger. But in this process, they neglected to polish their dao heart. Some didn’t even know of this phenomenon.
In fact, this was indeed the case for the majority of cultivators. The dao heart was intangible and mysterious, seemingly trivial for cultivation.
An Eternal like Wind G.o.d naturally knew of its importance after reaching this level, but someone like Li Qiye shouldn’t.
“A deceiver can’t stand proud and definitely can’t reach the sky.” Li Qiye said: “A heart without honesty and integrity can’t give birth to true conviction and will inevitably waver.”
Wind G.o.d’s eyes flashed with bright rays. He was stronger than many True Emperors, so his words were worth more than gold.
It wasn’t hard for him to deny this marriage right now, given the circ.u.mstances.
However, the biggest problem was himself. Would he be able to keep his promises and integrity?
The Bingchi Clan never felt this pressure. They directly turned against the dynasty and even swapped someone else for the marriage alliance.
Lucidity and the kingdom weren’t around. Reneging wasn’t hard if they didn’t care about this personal test.
For Wind G.o.d, at the very least, he couldn’t do something despicable like Bingchi Juezun so he found himself in quite a predicament. That’s why he wished for Li Qiye to have enough self-awareness and back off.
1. The literal translation for her t.i.tle is Flying + Flower; or scattering flowers in various seasons. The actual, literary meaning is a beautiful scene out of a painting; many musicians use this word for their song t.i.tles. Scattering Flower isn’t a good t.i.tle for a character in English, too long as well. Splendorous fits the literary definition and isn’t used often