By this point, everyone in Divine Black knew about the “Tortoise Fist” phenomenon.

The majority made fun of Li Qiye, thinking that he was as stupid as can be for trying to teach children who were stronger than him.

Some thought that it was ridiculous, unable to understand why the children would play along.

The peak lords found it strange. They knew that Li Qiye wasn’t actually foolish so this made even less sense.

The sect had plenty of choices due to its age and power. There were numerous manuals available, especially at the yellow level - several hundred or more.

He could have picked any intermediate or even the high-level ones instead of this lowest type, Tortoise Fist.

For many generations now, no disciple had picked this merit law simply because its name was terrible and inelegant. Moreover, it was just too simple with three actions. It had no effective power to speak of.

“What is he trying to sell?” The bodhi king had no idea.

“Tortoise Fist.” Ping Suoweng murmured before falling into silence after hearing this news.

“Ridiculous!” Zhang Yue shouted and said: “Any other merit law is better than that crap!”

He was knowledgeable and earned his position. Many disciples have heard of Tortoise Fist but they haven’t actually seen it before. Zhang Yue had read the actual manual.

He thought that the three actions were useless. Perhaps they were effective for body training or to increase one’s health in the mortal sense.

But to use it to cultivate? It would have zero effect.

“Go bring the disciples back, don’t let Li Qiye do this unauthorized.” He ordered.

“Peak Lord, isn’t this what we want? The humans are ruining their own future. These children are actually good cultivators but they’ll be chosen by Eight Zhang soon enough and will oppose us. Thus, this Li guy is doing this foolish thing on his own accord and will slow down their growth. Eight Zhang will have fewer capable cultivators as a result. That’s good for us.” The disciple nearby hesitated.

He was right. The competition between humans and demons has always been going on in Divine Black. Eight Zhang represented the humans while Furious Tiger represented the demons.

“You fool!” Zhang Yue glared at this disciple and scolded: “Humans and demons are both members of Divine Black. They’re part of the future and need to be excellent for the sect’s well-being or decline will be inevitable. Humans don’t all join Eight Zhang. They can flourish in the other four peaks too!”

This was indeed the case. Despite the fierce competition, many humans still joined the other peaks and Eight Zhang had demon disciples as well.

He certainly stood on the side of the demons for many aspects such as resources and authority, but when it came down to it, he would throw away this racial conflict and focus on what’s truly important - the future of Divine Black.

“Yes, I understand.” The disciple got cold sweats and stopped talking.

“Tell Zhan Hu to bring the children back to their hall, the previous instructor will teach them again.” Zhang Yue uttered coldly.

The disciple immediately left to carry out the command.

***

Fog rose early this morning and the children from Liu were up already, the same with Li Qiye. The group started learning again.

Li Qiye slowly raised his hand and shifted his leg in the mist and fog; each action was slow and meticulous. The children imitated him.

This scene was quite strange. It would make more sense if they were older men. In that case, it would look like a scene of skilled practitioners at work. However, they were just too young and this style didn’t suit them.

Their moves were so slow that they wouldn’t be able to hit a mortal. One would just need to step to the side to dodge.

Nonetheless, Li Qiye took his time. Each move and breath were deliberate. The children had no idea that some people were making fun of them, completely immersed in their training.

“Look, they’re doing Tortoise Fist again.” A few disciples passed by and began talking about it.

“I can learn that crap in one go, why are they trying so hard? It’s been a while too, right?” One took a gander and shook his head in disbelief.

To put it bluntly, even the most idiotic cultivator could master these three simple actions in a single day.

“So what if they finish learning this, they can be the best masters at it and it still won’t become Black Tortoise Fist.” One demon uttered coldly.

“True, there’s a limit to this merit law regardless of the effort exerted.” The others agreed.

The disparaging comments occurred throughout the day but Li Qiye and the children were completely immersed in their session.

The observers were just too weak to see the mysteries behind it all.

Li Qiye and the children’s actions seemed simple and weak but their breathing and power were in tune with the rhythm of heaven and earth. They became one with the great entity; as they raised their tiny hands, they could move the momentum of the land. At the same time, their true chaos energy performed a full cycle across the four symbols in their fate palaces for greater purity.

These minute changes couldn’t be seen by the observers. They needed to be better at the grand dao with a greater understanding of its mystics before grasping it.

“First Brother is here.” One disciple noticed and everyone turned around.

Zhan Hu and the enforcers have arrived so they quickly made way. They were aware that trouble was coming for Li Qiye.

He still ignored Zhan Hu’s group and continued teaching the kids. They weren’t affected either.

Zhan Hu didn’t tell Li Qiye to stop right away. He posed with both hands in front of his chest while glaring at the scene.

He waited till they’re finished before speaking: “The best teacher still can’t make gold out of Tortoise Fist. You’re hindering their education, this is a serious offense!”

“Is that so?” Li Qiye didn’t bother to look at the guy.