“It’s impressive that your clan’s old man is still alive.” Li Qiye glanced at her and smiled.

“It is thanks to your blessing, Young Master.” Ye Lingyao took a deep breath, realizing that Li Qiye cared about the previous ties with her forefather. At the very least, he wouldn’t make it difficult for juniors like them.

“It has nothing to do with me. There is an adage about this - evil people live a long life. The more bad deeds, the more they can go on.” Li Qiye shook his head.

She smiled at the joke - a smile as beautiful as a blossoming flower. However, this was disrespectful towards the forefather so she immediately stopped.

“Some live long only to have regrets while others have a short yet brilliant and colorful life.” Li Qiye became sentimental and gazed towards the horizon.

Ye Lingyao nodded, having heard something similar from the forefather before. She couldn’t truly understand this type of mood but still sympathized.

“The forefather also said that if the Dragon-phoenix Matriarch were still around, he might have made a different choice.” Lingyao added.

The matriarch started the valley and was an extremely powerful Heavenly Sovereign. She lived for a long time but eventually faltered.

“Creating the valley is an amazing achievement, her legacy will remain.” Li Qiye smiled.

Lingyao had no comment. The valley and her clan had extremely deep ties because the matriarch was a member of her clan.

She used to be one of the strongest ancestors there but eventually left to form her own lineage.

According to the rumors, she had both support and opposition for this move. However, she still had a good relations.h.i.+p with the forefather. He fully supported her choice back then.

Her death was quite a blow to the forefather. He then entered his dormant state and stopped appearing.

Li Qiye recalled the distant past once more, nearly having forgotten them.

“Would you like to meet our forefather, Young Master?” Lingyao asked Li Qiye, not daring to take charge in this matter.

“I don’t want to disturb him. If he’s sealed, let him be.” Li Qiye shook his head.

“I heard that he’s about to come into being.” Lingyao answered right away.

“So you have reported this matter?” Li Qiye looked at her.

She turned red and admitted: “I wasn’t sure back then and did tell some people. The forefather should know by this point.”

“Leave it up to fate then.” Li Qiye said. So many old friends were gone due to the pa.s.sage of time. Meeting one of them again wouldn’t be a bad feeling.

Lingyao became happy after hearing this.

Li Qiye didn’t say anything else and s.h.i.+fted his focus towards the stone in front. It looked like an egg but was one-third taller than a mature person. The surface looked coa.r.s.e, seemingly the scars from years and years of weathering.

The character, “foolish”, was written on it - large enough to take up an entire side. It was expertly written with red ink, extremely eye-catching. It seemed to be making fun of something or someone.

Any spectator standing in front of the stone would feel as if they were the target of this word.

Li Qiye didn’t mind and stood there with a faint smile. Qing s.h.i.+ also stared at this stone.

He had heard about it before since it was quite famous in Ancestral City. The Golem Ancestor himself wrote this word down for some unknown reason. It seemed out of place given his status.

Thus, this actually increased the level of curiosity regarding this stone in history. Everyone wanted to know why he did this but none found anything.

“Over there, I see the maiden.” An expert shouted from the distance and more came closer.

It didn’t take long before the place became crowded. This displeased Ye Lingyao since she didn’t want Li Qiye to become angry.

She glanced at him and he seemed fine, still completely focused on the stone and aloof to all else. This made her feel much better.

Her forefather had told her about the grave consequences of Li Qiye’s rage. He had ma.s.sacred sects and races before, trampling over their bones.

The ones present were awfully excited to be so close to her, especially the young suitors. They became enamored while staring at her face.

“Miss Ye, it’s good that you’re still here. We were thinking about how to congratulate you.” The prince and the G.o.dchild arrived and moved past the crowd.

Ye Lingyao nodded to them and didn’t say anything else.

The duo noticed Li Qiye and Qing s.h.i.+ as well, finding this quite strange. They initially thought that Lingyao had an urgent matter, not that she recognized Li Qiye.

They a.n.a.lyzed the guy and found that he was only a Silver Carapace cultivator, nothing more. Why did this n.o.body know Ye Lingyao?

“Miss Ye, who is this gentleman?” The G.o.dchild didn’t really care about Li Qiye, thinking that it was only a coincidental meeting.

Lingyao opened her mouth but stopped, not daring to answer without Li Qiye’s permission.

“A friend.” Li Qiye nonchalantly said while still looking at the stone.

Those nearby found this unthinkable due to Li Qiye’s averageness. How could he claim to be the maiden’s friend? He simply thought too highly of himself.

“Hmm, he should look at a mirror first.” One spectator murmured.

“True, even the first prince and Firmaments G.o.dchild aren’t as haughty as him.” Another commented, annoyed that Li Qiye didn’t bother looking at them.

“Yes, a friend.” Lingyao nodded, following Li Qiye while feeling nervous.

She knew that she wasn’t qualified to be his friend. They were countless generations apart. This was a supreme honor for her.

Others shut up after her acknowledgment but still felt annoyed and jealous.

“I see, I see. Nice to meet you.” The prince smiled and said.

“Miss Ye, we’ve talked about it a while ago. Since today is your birthday and we’re all here, how about a celebration?” All of his attention was on her, wanting to make her happy.

“It’s the maiden’s birthday?” Everyone became surprised.