Though many elders noticed something odd about Tortoise Fist, they couldn’t get through the essential gap.

It was separated by a thin layer, almost like watching dancers behind a silk curtain in the imperial court. They could see the faint figures, not the actual appearance.

The elders were helpless but still couldn’t throw away their pride and ask him for guidance.

Ultimately, Tortoise Fist was still only an entry-level martial art. They had no reason to go ask a junior about it.

Nonetheless, this changed their impression of him since he learned something they couldn’t.

Therefore, Chaos Mantra became the next focal point. This was one of the seven common mantras - as simple as can be.

No one in Divine Black wanted to train with it with the exception of Li Qiye.

Moreover, they were surprised to find that he was on his third law despite only being a Bronze Tendon cultivator. This was indeed irregular.

Virtually everyone waited until Silver Carapace before picking a second mantra so Li Qiye’s action was inscrutable.

“Why another one? One of the seven too.” The chief elder meticulously thought about it to no avail.

No one considered Li Qiye to be stupid at this point. They just didn’t get his logic.

In reality, not to mention the elders and protectors, even a dao lord might not be able to derive anything from these mantras. The seven pertained to the very source of the grand dao. They needed to be at a primal height in order to see clearly.

Li Qiye hasn't left his place after several days and focused on cultivating.

Deriving this new mantra engulfed him in chaos. This gestated his body. The myriad creations also harmonized with him, giving him plenty of life force.

This cultivation session was akin to him walking in the three thousand worlds, gazing at the heavens and earth, drowning in the mortal coil, and entering the origin…

This was a true dao enlightenment session, the right path for cultivation. Alas, people later on simplified this method and weakened their own comprehension.

The current Li Qiye was in the Bronze Tendon realm. His body looked tough like rocks; his bones and tendons seemingly made from bronze - powerful and enduring.

A clear difference existed between the Iron Skin and Bronze Tendon realm. To put it simply, a mortal using a weapon made from regular iron would have a hard time piercing through an Iron Skin cultivator. Bronze Tendon took the physical toughness to the next level on top of improving tenacity.

For example, an Iron Skin wouldn’t be able to grow a crushed hand back. On the other hand, a Bronze Tendon could do so. This, in turn, improved their vitality enough to also strengthen the true fate while providing better protection.

However, Li Qiye’s cultivation was different from the others.

Gong Qianyue knew this quite well since she witnessed his sessions. He became engulfed in life force born from the chaos.

She felt as if his body was the heaven and earth, the grand momentum, the original source…

She had never seen these phenomena in anyone else, not even herself. When she was a Bronze Tendon, she wasn’t different from other cultivators. It’s just that she had a faster cultivation speed and purer chaos true energy.

On the other hand, Li Qiye’s current cultivation exuded an immense aura. She felt as if his Bronze Tendon cultivation was already better than her samadhi realm.

“Young Master, do these phenomena have anything to do with training the three mantras at once?” She became curious and spoke her mind.

“That’s one way to put it, but it’s not the main reason. Dao cultivation isn’t only about obtaining remarkable powers. It’s to cultivate the self. Once the self reaches great attainment, those powers will come.” Li Qiye nodded.

Once the self reaches great attainment, those powers will come.” She murmured this last line and something seemed to be flashing in her mind. Unfortunately, it was still covered in a thin veil. She couldn’t grasp it despite being aware of its existence.

He only smiled and didn’t teach her. This level required her to realize herself. Teaching her about it wouldn’t be as effective. She would only be able to repeat and imitate, not a true comprehension.

Meanwhile, many disciples in Divine Black have begun going outside to train. They were divided into groups led by leaders.

These trips improved their knowledge and gave them opportunities to train. Their destinations were still under the jurisdiction of Divine Black, hence the low level of danger.

The leaders consisted of second-generation disciples and weren’t especially strong.

Today, trouble came knocking on Li Qiye’s door and interrupted his cultivation.

The messenger, Lu Daowei, struggled for breath as he reported: “Young Master, something bad happened. The disciples from your village have been captured.”

“Who?” Li Qiye’s eyes narrowed.

“People from Three Truths! I think their lives might be in danger!” Daowei was panicking.

“They dare to cause trouble in our territory?” Gong Qianyue became surprised.

“This happened at Falcon Stream.” Daowei elaborated: “I was collecting alchemy materials not far from there and saw a distress signal from Junior Uncle Liu. I immediately ran back… Hmm, Senior Brother Wang, First Brother Zhan Hu, and First Brother Huang Ning were going there too.”

“That’s right at the common border. This might be problematic.” Qianyue became serious.

“Let’s take a look then.” Li Qiye calmly stood up.

“I’ll take you there.” Qianyue summoned a floating ship.

Daowei was envious while staring at the flashing ship. He knew that only someone like the young master would have Gong Qianyue serving him. Others weren’t qualified in the slightest.

Li Qiye boarded with Daowei right behind him. Qianyue waved her hand and the ship shot forward like an arrow, speeding for Falcon Stream. Daowei was naturally impressed by this speed.

“So what’s going on?” Qianyue asked since she worried about the children.

“I’m not sure about the details, it seems that Junior uncle Liu’s group found a valuable medicine. A divisional leader from Three Truths saw this and stopped them so they started fighting.” Daowei revealed what he knew.

It turned out that Liu Fuyou was leading the children down the sect for a training session. They arrived at Falcon Stream by the border of Divine Black.

This place was dangerous but produced plenty of medicines. The group found one that was particularly precious. Who would have thought that a group from Three Truth also appeared and tried to stop them from leaving?

The group couldn’t deal with their opponents and asked for help. The nearby groups came running. Daowei was told to return to the sect for more reinforcement.

“We have a pact with them, it’s been peaceful for a while now.” Qianyue said.

“I don’t get it either.” Daowei responded.

Three Truths was another big sect in the northern West King, a human sect created by Three Truths Dao Lord.

They had a certain prejudice against demons and coincidentally enough, their neighbor was a demon sect.

Conflicts were common between the two. Several decades ago, a large fight broke out with heavy casualties. The two sides negotiated for a peace pact.

That’s why this skirmish surprised Qianyue and Daowei.