Fuyou was at a loss for words because Li Qiye described the battle vividly as if he was there in person. However, he knew that the guy wasn’t and didn’t see the fight. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Li Qiye seemed to be the combatant given how well he knew the moves, not Fuyou. It took a while for Fuyou to calm down and started stuttering: “How, how do you know this?” “It’s obvious given your condition. Just a quick deduction.” Li Qiye said. “Deduction?” Fuyou thought that this level of deduction was above his station. Li Qiye smiled and leisurely walked forward as if this was springtime. “Young Master, is this curable?” Fuyou gave chase and hesitated for a moment before asking respectfully with hope in his eyes. The problem had plagued him for so long now so Li Qiye’s words gave him hope. “It’s not a big issue. The bull mantra is a fiery merit law, the same with Celestial Seal and Eight-armed Devil Ape. You ran out of vitality with nothing left yet you still used these direct merit laws...” Li Qiye talked while walking slowly. “And, and what’s the result?” Fuyou asked. “Just like a bow pulled back to the limit. What do you think will happen if you keep on pulling?” Li Qiye looked at him. “The string will be torn.” Fuyou blurted out. “Yes. But you’re lucky because you weren’t strong enough to break the bow or that would be the end of your dao foundation.” Li Qiye revealed. Fuyou shuddered despite Li Qiye’s casual tone. He actually won that fight after struggling hard. His wounds also healed quickly. Thus, the seniors never connected his problem with this fight, unable to give the right diagnosis. Now, if Li Qiye was right, then he was actually very lucky. Just a bit more force and he would have become a cripple instead of this gradual weakening process. He was as impressed as can be because Li Qiye didn’t actually check on his conditions. The guy only glanced at him and asked a few questions before figuring out the cause. This required frightening power and abilities. “Young Master, are you really a mortal?” Fuyou asked. The strongest senior in his sect couldn’t pinpoint the problem yet Li Qiye could do so in a few minutes. Li Qiye definitely looked like a mortal but Fuyou no longer thought so. “Of course I am, right now.” Li Qiye said. “But... how did you...” Fuyou didn’t know what to say. “I’ve just read enough books. Remember, reading is good so that you’ll know more things.” Li Qiye said. Fuyou smiled wryly. Was this really true? Did he know this from just reading books? “Young Master, is this curable?” Fuyou stopped thinking and asked again. “Easy as pie.” Li Qiye chuckled. “Really?!” Fuyou became excited; his eyes flashed brightly. This was the best possible news. “Youn-Young Master, so, so what should I do?” He rubbed his palms and didn’t know how to ask politely. He was ready to beg or do anything for Li Qiye to help him cure this problem. “No rush. You’ve been impatient in recent years and that still didn’t amount to anything. Relax and you’ll accomplish more.” Li Qiye said. “My mistake.” Fuyou understood the logic behind this and took a deep breath to mellow down. Nonetheless, his anxiousness was understandable. The problem plaguing him for several years could finally be solved. Li Qiye didn’t say anything else and moved on with Fuyou right behind him, looking like a servant. They have left the village so Li Qiye began looking at the forest with great focus without missing a single blade of grass. Fuyou didn’t understand. What was so special about the leaves and grass? “The world has changed. It’s not a case of one’s home being there but their loved ones are no longer around. Now, even the home is gone.” Li Qiye sighed, becoming slightly emotional. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞 Fuyou didn’t get it but remained silent along the way. The two of them walked for some time before stopping in front of a large stone statue on the road - a Black Tortoise. It looked divine and lofty on top of being very arrogant, clearly a divine beast. Its shell looked strong enough to shoulder the sky. Strangely enough, the beast also looked kind and friendly. Li Qiye found it to be very familiar as if he had seen it before. Fuyou explained right away: “My sect’s name is Divine Black and this is our symbol. As long as it is still our territory, you’ll find one very often.” “Oh? I see. What is it depicting?” Li Qiye asked. “Our patriarch and progenitor, the divine beast Black Tortoise.” Fuyou said with respect. “Black Tortoise?” Li Qiye found this surprising. [1] “Indeed. During the ancient era, our patriarch was the mount of a great immortal. He traveled across the nine heavens and absorbed the stars, even entering immortal paradises and treacherous grounds. Later on, the great immortal left this world but he chose to stay and created our sect.” “Tell me more about this immortal.” Li Qiye couldn’t help but smile. “Hmm, I don’t know much.” Fuyou smiled wryly. He only knew about his patriarch from the stories told by the seniors. Li Qiye shook his head in response. “Well, my master said that the great immortal was completely unbeatable with a penchant for massacres. He was worshipped by all despite being a destroyer of sects.” Fuyou scratched his head and added. “Sounds like a murderer more than an immortal.” Li Qiye chuckled. [2] “I heard that the great immortal only killed those who deserve death, they were all evil.” Fuyou smiled awkwardly after saying this. “That does sound more pleasant. A great immortal, I haven’t heard this in a long time.” Li Qiye smiled at the statue and decided to gently pat the tortoise’s head. Once again, Fuyou still found Li Qiye as mysterious as can be. There was something more to this smile that he didn’t get. 1. So I originally translated the title of this sect as Arcane. It was the word “divine” + “black/mysterious/profound/inscrutable/unbelievable”. The latter is always hard to translate. This is the exact example of why I was wrong. I chose Arcane because it sounded good and true to the mysterious meaning. Now, it turns out that “black” is referring to Black Tortoise. This makes the title of the sect hard to translate. “Black” has to be a part of it because the reference has been made. But a school named “Black” or “Divine Black” sounds bad in English. This isn’t the case in Chinese because the character for “Black” has other meanings that can stand alone. “Divine Tortoise” is okay but we can’t use it here because that’s adding information that’s not supposed to be there. When a Chinese reader saw this title the first time, they would never connect it to a Black Tortoise. Another option in a different scenario is to use a cooler word for “black”, such as obsidian or onyx. Unfortunately, it’s a Black Tortoise, not Obsidian or Onyx Tortoise. It has to be Divine Black to match the meaning of this conversation and the context. 2. The word for murder here is actually the word I translate as Fierce.