Li Qiye glanced at the youth, clearly possessing a demon bloodline.

His cultivation wasn’t strong enough for a complete transformation and he only had two horns. This meant that he was a mixed-blood.

“My name is Lu Daowei, I have heard of you long ago, Senior Brother Li.” He stretched out his hand to show his goodwill.

[1]

“Call me Young Master.” Li Qiye glanced at him and said nonchalantly.

Lu Daowei became awkward. He joined the sect earlier than Li Qiye so the guy should be calling him “Senior Brother” instead. He a.s.sumed a lower status in order to show respect to this famous guy.

Who would have thought that the guy would demand to be addressed as “Young Master”?

Cultivators wouldn’t do so because this was how servants would address their masters in the mortal world. Who would want to a.s.sume this position? Not to mention, Li Qiye was weaker than him.

“Well…” Daowei scratched his head, confused. For some unknown reason later, he still acquiesced: “Young Master.”

He heard the children from Liu Village call Li Qiye this before, the same with Senior Uncle Liu. It might not be that bad to do the same.

Li Qiye acknowledged and turned his sight towards the statue.

Daowei saw his interest and immediately elaborated: “This statue depicts the great immortal, the ultimate existence in our world, peerless across the ages and in the Ancient Era, he dominated everyone and earned the reverence of all.”

“I see.” Li Qiye chuckled, finding the whole thing amusing.

“The patriarch traveled with the great immortal across the lands of immortals and saw wondrous paradise.” Daowei had a look of aspiration, eager for an adventure.

“You believe in the existence of this immortal?” Li Qiye couldn’t help but smile after seeing the guy’s appearance.

Daowei didn’t expect Li Qiye to actually make small talks. People have been telling him that Li Qiye was a cold person who didn’t care for anyone outside of the children from the village.

“The immortal is real, there are numerous records in the sect, plus our patriarch has met him too. He taught and gave many wondrous things to our patriarch. Some scrolls contain the patriarch"s oral recount, written by his disciples. This is as reliable as can be due to the abundant evidence.” Dao Wei said seriously.

“I see.” Li Qiye nodded. A few stories have gradually changed after many generations. The records of Divine Black were close to reality despite a few exaggerations and embellishments here and here. Most were still based on actual events.

“I read that this statue has a special significance too.” Daowei could see that Li Qiye was interested.

“Go on.” Li Qiye said. The statue depicted a young man riding a Black Tortoise. Of course, it wasn’t a Black Tortoise back then.

“So, the great immortal was an erudite scholar and knew everything. The patriarch created this statue in order to encourage our sect’s disciples to read more and learn about the world instead of just focusing on cultivation. Hmm, the patriarch also had lectures in front of this statue regarding this issue. That’s why many of our disciples during his era knew everything, from history to other disciplines. They gathered plenty of books, resulting in one of the greatest libraries in existence. Unfortunately, this culture eventually died down and our libraries deteriorated, losing many books in the process... “ Daowei sighed at this point.

“Reading, huh?” Li Qiye had a thick smile after hearing this while still staring at the statue.

He has forgotten about many things by this point but Daowei reminded him of his long past.

For example, this whole reading issue. He used to give this answer whenever people questioned his knowledge, whether it be the iron palace or the sandy lake…

“Looks like you also know quite a bit.” He stopped his remembrance and told Daowei.

“I’ve partic.i.p.ated in the official tests before cultivating, that’s why my hobby was reading random scrolls. I rarely have time for it now but I still know these old stories.” Daowei scratched his head in response.

Li Qiye smiled and entered the library with Daowei right behind him.

Li Qiye returned some books and took one manual from the shelf. This was his first time borrowing a merit law manual ever since he got here.

He picked “Society”, one of the seven arts.

Divine Black had a strong emphasis on merit law. Each disciple required approval from a senior before reading or cultivating any merit law.

The higher level the merit law, the more contribution points required. Of course, the talented disciples had more leeway.

For example, Gong Qianyue was an exception due to her inborn true fate. She started with the best merit laws instead of starting from the bottom like the others. The sect master and the peak lords granted her special permission. After all, a genius at this level was too precious.

As for someone with terrible talents like Li Qiye who hasn’t contributed anything? It was impossible for him to pick a good merit law.

However, the Seven Laws of the Golden Age were available for anyone to read. They were actually arranged among the regular bookshelves instead of the cabinets.

The library also had numerous versions of the seven. Nonetheless, very few took the time to read them.

For many disciples, both reading and cultivating these laws were meaningless. Their South Fence Mantra was so many times better so there was no point in wasting time.

“Society Mantra?” Daowei became surprised after seeing Li Qiye take this scroll off the shelf: “You want to use it to break Mortal Sh.e.l.l, Young Master?”

A cultivator could pick one mantra at each realm but they wouldn’t do so. The majority would stick with one mantra every three realms along with matching high-level merit laws.

“Soon, I’m done with All-things so it’s time for Society.” Li Qiye patted the dust off the cover and smiled.

It has been many years so this manual was filled with dust.

“Your first mantra was All-things?” Daowei’s astonishment increased.

[2]

Li Qiye nodded and opened the manual. As expected, this version contained countless errors and lost its true essences long ago.

“You should select something else, Young Master.” Daowei suggested with good intention and picked a different manual from another shelf. He quietly said: “Yes, a simple South Fence version with notes from our ancestor. The seniors said it was developed from All-things and is one of the best for new learners. Since you started with All-things, choosing South Fence now will be perfect.”

He knew that Li Qiye hasn’t gone to any lecture and should lack general knowledge regarding cultivation.

1. Li Qiye was famous in Divine Black. Not a single disciple didn’t know about him. After all, knocking the thirteen sections and obtaining the Nine Primeval Laws were shocking matters, enough to stir the entire sect. Both the higher-ups and regular disciples knew his name. I omitted this paragraph because it is as redundant as can be. I believe it has been mentioned several times already within the last 5 chapters.

2. Who in Divine Black would be stupid enough to cultivate All-things? Their entry mantra, South Fence, was so many times better. I omitted this line since it has been repeated enough. These are some examples of repet.i.tion that I try to remove, the egregious offenders