Emperor’s Domination

The three followed Li Qiye back to the old temple.

"There's a temple here?" One girl stared at the temple from a distance before entering.

"Are there monks here?" The other also looked around.

After entering, the three found that it was empty without any monk around.

In the beginning, they were glad to see this because they thought that there would be monks inside.

The location was Buddha Holy Ground so there should be monks in charge of the temples. In addition, all temples were branches of Heavenly Dragon Temple.

This wasn't the case here. The temple here had a different architectural style not found in the modern era.

They actually didn't look for this detail in the beginning. It was just that the disparity was striking since they have entered many temples before.

They saw a girl younger than them cultivating inside. She was none other than Fan Bai who was repeating the same movement. They naturally found this strange but didn't say anything.

After returning, Li Qiye told the old attendant: "Prepare a place for them." He stopped paying attention to three girls afterward.

"Yes, Young Master." The old man said before looking at the three: "Please follow me."

"There are only you three living here?" One girl became curious as they followed him.

"Yes." The old attendant responded.

"But this is Myriad Beast Mountains, are you not afraid of being attacked and eaten by primal beasts?" The other said.

The three thought that he was an ordinary servant, nothing more.

"The animals here are harmless and nice." The old man smiled, not bothering to reveal the truth.

"Harmless and nice?" One of them said: "How? We met a three-headed winged serpent that immediately attacked us. We would be inside its stomach if we were a little late in reacting, not nice at all."

They were still afraid while recalling the event.

"I see." The old man shook his head and said: "Young Master said so. The beasts here don't attack people."

The three girls exchanged glances. Could these creatures really consider Li Qiye's group as neighbors?

"We've separated from our friends. If they come here, please help them too." Xiao Ling remembered something else.

"You will have to ask the young master. I do not dare to make a decision on this matter." The old man said.

"The temple is so big, I'm sure there's no problem taking in more people." One friend noticed the available rooms.

The old man didn't reply.

"We'll definitely thank you handsomely. We're from Duality Academy and will not freeload." Xiao Ling said.

"Duality Academy? I see." The old man smiled.

"You know about it?" The three girls assumed that Li Qiye's group didn't know anything about the outside world.

"Yes, I've been there during my youth." The old man said.

"What about your young master? Why is he staying here?" The girls were curious about this young master and old servant.

"Only the young master knows." The old man prepared the rooms then said: "There are many beasts outside at night, please be careful and don't go out." He left afterward.

"The servant is strange just like his master." One girl concluded. All three thought that there was something weird about the old man too.

"I wonder how our fellow students are doing." Xiao Ling became worried.

"Don't worry, so many from our academy came, I'm sure they've met others or a group with a teacher." Another consoled her.

This sounded plausible so Xiao Ling felt a little better. Tonight, the three of them stay in the temple.

"Are you making charcoal now?" They saw Li Qiye burning the wood collected during the day.

Li Qiye might not be strong but was still a cultivator. Why would he do something so mundane?

"Yes." Li Qiye said briefly, still focusing on his task.

"I don't think you can feed yourself by doing this, charcoal is only worth a few coins. You should leave and find another job outside." One girl said without any intention of offending or looking down on him.

Li Qiye only smiled without breaking his focus.

The three girls were virtually nobles so they thought little of his work. They watched for a bit before losing their interest and leaving.

The old man found this amusing and shook his head, thinking that these three girls weren't meant for it since they lacked vision.

A discerning spectator would immediately notice Li Qiye's fire control and realize that he was an extraordinary master.

Unfortunately, the three female students had decent cultivation, just not high enough to see that Li Qiye was utilizing a supreme alchemy art.

"Why is your young master playing around like this? He's still a cultivator." One of them came closer to the old man and murmured: "We can see that he's a Violet Marquis. He should be working outside."

"The young master is mysterious and beyond my ability to speculate." The old man said.

"What's mysterious about this? It's just burning wood for charcoal to make a few coins. Come to the capital, we'll find you something else to do, a hundred times, no, a thousand times better than this." One girl said.

"Yes, come to the capital and I'll find something for you to do." Xiao Ling agreed, thinking that Li Qiye was being irrational and unambitious by staying here.

"Perfect, Xiao Ling will definitely find a great job. You should try to persuade your young master." The third one nodded.

"He has his own plan." The old man chuckled.

"Do you want to stay here for the rest of your life?" The first girl said: "There's no one here, completely separated from the world. There are dangers everywhere, living in the capital is way better."

The three tried to be kind and wanted to give Li Qiye a job at the capital in order to repay him for letting them stay. Moreover, given their status, that job would be more than sufficient. Li Qiye's group would be able to live quite well.

The old man smiled and stopped responding.

***

On the second day, the girls were the last ones up. Li Qiye was already gone.

They saw Fan Bai training in the courtyard. Since they had nothing else to do, they decided to watch her.

However, they eventually grew bored because she was doing the same thing over and over.

"Are you cultivating?" One girl asked when Fan Bai was taking a break.

"Yes, the young master taught me." Fan Bai seemed to be scared of the girls.

"He only taught you this one move? You're working so hard yet you only know this?" Xiao Ling found this hard to believe.

They saw how hard Fan Bai was working yesterday. She was up early today too. In their opinion, this wasn't worth her commendable effort. It was unfair to her.

"Yes." Fan Bai nodded.

"Your young master is being ridiculous. This one move can't be considered cultivation." Another girl commented.