Li Qiye brightly smiled after hearing Nan Huairen’s tale regarding the origin of the Heavenly Crow Peak. The name, simply put, was coined by Min Ren’s generals to commemorate him.
The Ancient Triangular School on top of the peak was not too great in size, but the whole building was pure black; it was as if it was crafted with black steel and had a heavy feeling to it. In reality, no one in the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect knew what the building was made out of.
Once Li Qiye and Nan Huairen had arrived in front of the black building, Li Qiye’s heart was shaken. Many years had passed, but this building still stood strong; its secret origin exceeded the imaginations of contemporaries.
During his moments of reminiscing, his eyes were attracted to a big shrine in front of the black building. From his memories, this shrine had not existed here during the time when the black building was established.
In front of the shrine, a man with great stature could be found sitting down in a cultivating position. One couldn’t guess his age because of his long, messy hair and untrimmed beard that covered his entire face. There were weeds and grass that had grown around his body; who knows how long the man had been sitting there?
The eyes of the man remained shut; if it wasn’t for his regular and consistent breathing, people would have thought that this was a dried up corpse.
However, the most surprising thing was that his arms and legs were constrained by huge, metal chains. Other people may not know, but Li Qiye recognized that these chains were made from Black Spider Consolidated Steel, an extremely rare metal of immortal grade.
What kind of person would be worthy of having chains made from Black Spider steel? Not only that, it seemed that the man in front of him was willing to be imprisoned instead of being forced.
Seeing Li Qiye’s interest towards the man in front of the shrine, Nan Huairen softly whispered: “This is the protector of the triangular building; no one knows his background or origin.”
“Why is he chained there?” Li Qiye questioned while staring at the man.
Nan Huairen shook his head and responded: “No one knows; I’m afraid no one in the entire sect knows the answer to that question. It is said that he had been chained there for a long time; my master doesn’t even know why. Some say that he was a disciple of the sect; however, he had committed a grave offense, and that is why he is chained there.”
Li Qiye tilted his head and stopped the conversation. He instead, went into the triangular building with Nan Huairen.
Once they were in the building, the chained man opened his eyes. The ensuing gaze possessed an extremely fearful atmosphere; it was as if he could see through the infinity and tear open the primordial cosmos. This gaze would make Royal Nobles and Enlightened Beings tremble with fear. However, he then closed his eyes; it was like nothing had happened.
From an outside view, the triangular building appeared to be small. However, once inside, there was a big, open area ranging many hundreds of acres. Three majestic pagodas were built together closely to form this triangular formation. Without a trace of doubt, this building was built and crafted with an unrivaled technique for it to have its own magical space.
“Over here is the Scripture Library, that one is the Weapon Armory, and over there is the Treasure House. These three pagodas of the triangular building are divided into three sections, each for techniques, weapons, and treasures.” After entering the building, Nan Huairen explained: "Each pagoda will have an assigned protector. Any student who wants an item would have to pass through the protector’s inspection."
Here, he asked Li Qiye: “Where does Senior want to go first?”
“Let us start at the Scripture Library.” Li Qiye quickly glanced over the three pagodas and made his decision.
There were eight inner disciples protecting the Scripture Library alongside a protector. Once Nan Huairen and Li Qiye showed them the Elder’s order, they were immediately allowed to enter.
Then, came the indescribable feeling that arose from entering the majestic library. Inside, one couldn’t see the end of the sections. The incomparable vastness of this library was tantamount to the old glory days of the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect.
There were quite a few disciples present that were searching for suitable techniques. Nan Huairen was a social person, thus he went to make conversations with each of the disciples.
Li Qiye was different; he was new, and the disciples here didn’t like him in the first place. Even though the sect had fallen, it was still of Immortal Emperor lineage; it was not normal for a mortal to be accepted into the sect, let alone becoming the Prime Disciple.
The more outrageous thing was that he was considered to be a piece of trash with a Mortal Physique, a Mortal Life Wheel, and a Mortal Fate Palace. The Prime Disciple should be the strongest of all and respected by his peers. This position was coveted by many, who had spent their time and talents contributing to the sect. However, they were not chosen by the Sect Master. This, rightfully infuriated the disciples; to see someone so undeserving to occupy the position.
Even though they didn’t dare to question the Elder’s decision, they were definitely not going to be courteous to Li Qiye.
“That person is Li Qiye.” A disciple looked at Li Qiye from top to bottom; it was as if he was looking at a monster. In reality, many people wanted to steal the Cleansing Incense Ancient Order, even within the sect, but no one had ever been successful. However, all of a sudden, that old man decided to give such a treasure to Li Qiye; no one could make heads or tails out of this.
“That’s him. I heard he invited Old Devil to the brothel for ten days and ten nights.” A disciple presumptuously added.
A disciple acted as if he knew more about this situation and shook his head: “You are incorrect; it wasn’t just ten days and ten nights. He bought the old man a pair of twins who were still virgins that had only recently joined the brothel. He bought them for the next three years to service the old man; this was why that perverted geezer agreed to give him the Order.”
Some stories slowly became more and more embellished. One person even said that Li Qiye paid the brothel to service Old Devil for the next ten years; which allowed him to do whatever deeds he wanted to do. Although there were minor differences, the main points of the topics all revolved around Li Qiye using an underhanded method to fool Old Devil for the sake of obtaining the order.