“No point in talking about this. The sect master and the peak lords know what they’re doing.” Liu Fuyou sighed and said.

The sect had changed considerably since his departure. Internal power struggles have intensified and he didn’t wish to be involved.

“Senior Brother, come back, you’ll still be able to rise again.” Huang Jie earnestly persuaded before glancing at the village.

Fuyou was no longer the genius of the past. However, he was still a conqueror, enough to preside over a large territory. Staying here like a turtle hiding inside its shell was a waste of his power.

Fuyou turned towards Li Qiye but the guy was just calmly sitting there, not giving any opinion. He then looked towards the direction of Divine Black.

Huang Jie didn’t know that Fuyou had recovered completely. This version of him could indeed soar once more.

However, he still hesitated about returning. He was confident about reaching a higher level but in his opinion, no one was wiser than Li Qiye. Staying with Li Qiye meant that he could learn so many more things.

“We’ll talk about this later.” Fuyou withdrew his gaze and shook his head, refusing the invitation.

“I won’t force you, Senior Brother, but our door will always be open for you.” Huang Jie had no choice but to give up.

He didn’t want to stay for long and bid goodbye to Fuyou. He then smiled at the children and said: “Little brats, keep on working hard, Divine Black is waiting for you. I’ll be the one to greet you when you get there.”

An Enlightened Being like him being so friendly to the children was because of his relationship with Fuyou.

The children’s eyes lit up with hope and dream for the future. This was the reason why they have been training so hard.

Huang Jie and his group left. Fuyou returned to his spot and told the children to go back to training. He fell into silence.

“Want to go back?” Li Qiye asked a while later with a smile.

“I rather stay with you, Young Master.” Fuyou had a wry smile. This was not mere flattery since he was telling the truth. Staying with Li Qiye was clearly the better choice.

“I won’t be here for too long. Your future prospect will still be in your sect.” Li Qiye smiled.

Fuyou had expected this because a true dragon would never stay on the ground. He hesitated from speaking his mind and eventually let out a sigh.

“Our Divine Black is a great demonic sect…” He paused, finding it hard to choose his words.

“The problem is that you’re a human. Your talents resulted in competition within the sect back then.” Li Qiye added, aware of these mundane issues. Of course, he found them trivial and boring.

Fuyou sighed again and didn’t dwell on this matter.

***

The children became livelier after seeing Huang Jie and trained harder. Joining Divine Black has always been their goal.

For these villagers, accomplishing this would be the greatest glory, more than enough to make their ancestors elated.

They had members joining Divine Black before Fuyou. However, they didn’t do anything special. Fuyou had great potential but still ended up returning to the village.

Nonetheless, this was still good news because the children gained an instructor instead of needing to learn cultivation by themselves.

Their path became easier with Fuyou’s guidance. Now, with the addition of Li Qiye, they were granted a heaven-sent opportunity, allowing them to improve considerably.

In fact, the village transformed with Li Qiye’s presence. He taught them various methods on how to farm spirit grass and medicinal materials.

Fuyou knew that just these casual acts from Li Qiye were enough to change the direction of their village.

Keep in mind that even the major sects wouldn’t reveal the farming methods of special plants. Moreover, ordinary cultivators that weren't alchemists had no knowledge of this. Fuyou was one example. This was the reason why it was such a big deal for Li Qiye to teach them.

His methods were extremely effective as well. Their materials grew at a rapid rate, far faster than those back in Divine Black.

He let the village sell a portion of the harvest to Divine Black while keeping the rest. The villagers were ecstatic because the profit far exceeded previous years.

He didn’t keep the rest of the materials for himself but rather boiled them into ointments for the children to strengthen their body.

Fuyou became jealous because he didn’t have such luck during his youth. He had to learn cultivation all by himself, let alone having access to augmentation ointment.

These children were enjoying a privilege unavailable to most cultivators during their age. In Fuyou’s opinion, just one year with Li Qiye was more than ten years at Divine Black.

Of course, Li Qiye didn’t spend that much time instructing the children. He only occasionally corrected their mistakes on the cultivation path.

He focused on his own cultivation the majority of the time, seemingly lost in thought.

Fuyou didn’t know what Li Qiye was thinking each time but intuition told him that they were matters far beyond his station.

On another day, Li Qiye sat beneath the shade of a tree next to the stream, staring at the current.

Fuyou prepared him some tea. He boiled the water then left right away, not wanting to disturb Li Qiye.

Only two sounds remained - the gurgling water and the tea boiling. Oh, also the occasional crackles of the fire.

The gentle breezes were pleasant and comforting as well. Li Qiye was enjoying his big chair, leaning back and closing his eyes.

He tapped his fingers with a special rhythm. The order of the world itself needed to follow his lead.

Just like that, time slowed down around the area and turned into eternity.

A while later, he opened his eyes and ordered: “Come out, it’s tiring sitting on a branch.”

The wind accompanied by a sweet fragrance was caused by a girl floating down - a great beauty in a green dress. Her great spirituality resembled that of a forest fairy.

Her hair draped down her shoulders like two waterfalls. They fluttered to the wind like an immortal in a painting.

A phoenix hairpin was placed casually on her hair. The phoenix itself looked incredibly animated, ready to fly away with the wind.

Her eyes were brimming with spirituality as if all the spirit energy in the world were there. A red dot could be seen on her forehead, akin to a ruby being engraved there. It occasionally flashed with a magical light.

Others would be enthralled at this beauty’s sight. Alas, Li Qiye only gave her one glance before closing his eyes again.

She tilted her head while analyzing him. This was a fruitless endeavor. Her red dot exuded a radiance only to find that he was a mortal who had only started cultivating.