Shen Xiaoshan had warmed the bath with the perfect temperature. After preparing clothes for Li Qiye, she said coldly: “It’s done, you can take your bath now.”

She was quite discontent. Even though she wasn’t a princess from a great power or country, her background wasn’t that weak as the First Disciple of Sago Palm. This was relatively prestigious enough but now, she had to a servant to a mortal?

If it wasn’t for the fact that one couldn’t disobey their master, she would have beaten the guy already, let alone serving him.

Li Qiye stood there and looked around at the bath filled with mist. He stretched out his arms and said: “Disrobe me."[1]

“You…” Xiaoshan’s expression sank. She thought that she would only be preparing the bath for him, not something like this.

“You shouldn’t push it!” She was furious since she was completely inexperienced with the opposite sex. An innocent maiden should not have any contact with men, let alone take their clothes off. 

Li Qiye coldly stared at her and spoke: “Hurry up!”

Xiaoshan quivered with rage, evident by her glare. Alas, Li Qiye stood his ground and calmly met her gaze.

In the end, she clenched her teeth and began the undressing process. Due to her inexperience, her fingers were trembling with clumsy movements.

“Looks like you got a lot to learn. Normally, I would hate such clumsiness but this will have to do for now.” Li Qiye leisurely commented.

“...” Shen Xiaoshan’s expression became unsightly with rage spewing out of her eyes while having the urge of breaking him into pieces.

Li Qiye completely ignored her angry gaze. After a while, she eventually finished undressing him completely. The entire process was very embarrassing since she didn’t dare to look straight at him and had to keep her head low. Her fingers became hot as she touched his toned body.

She quickly turned around after finishing the task. Her face was red, overwhelmed with both anger and shame. This was all because of this bastard!

Li Qiye’s calm demeanor contrasted her fury. It was a normal occurrence for him. Under normal circumstances, someone like Shen Xiaoshan wasn’t qualified to wait on him.

He entered the bath and immersed into the water before ordering: “Give me a massage.”

She almost vomited blood after thinking that she was spared from this torture, not expecting another unreasonable demand.

“Li! You’re really pushing it now!” She angrily shouted.

“Fool!” Li Qiye glanced at her and took his time responding: “You think I’m trying to curry favor with your sect? It is the opposite. Your sect prosperity and decline are up to a single thought of yours. Reflect on the difference between you and your master. He is quite discerning with great ideas. Moreover, he’s stronger than you right now but he is still very respectful towards me. If it wasn’t for his attitude, I wouldn’t want to take a single step into this sect. Come over!”

Her face kept on changing color. He was completely frank and even shattered her confidence. She felt her scalp tingling with rage but still walked closer and sat down next to him. Having never massaged anyone before, let alone a man, so understandably, it wasn’t a good job.

With a blush, she had trouble restraining her anger at having to perform what she considered a lowly task. Thus, she rubbed harder while fantasizing about crushing him to pieces. Alas, that would be going against her master’s order.

Of course, this pain was nothing to Li Qiye. He glanced at her and said: “Your master is a rare talent despite his mediocre constitution. Many Dao Saints and Dao Celestials have far inferior insight about how to deal with the world compared to him. For example, you and other cultivators, the only thing in your eyes is supreme merit laws and aptitude while taking zero consideration about customs and social interactions. Thus, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if one day, someone massacres your entire clan because of something stupid you have done.”

“Hmph, are you saying that you’re more exceptional than us?” Shen Xiaoshan scowled. This was her first time really talking to him.

“What do you think?” Li Qiye calmly elaborated: “Do you think you’re better than your master? Look at it from another perspective, will you do a better job as the sect master in the future?”

She became quiet. Her talents were indeed better but she might not do a better job than him as the sect master. Though the sect had no sign of rising up the ranks, it was peaceful under Tieshu Weng’s command. Moreover, he had a great relationship with the neighboring powers. He dealt with intersect-politics in such a skillful manner.

She was confident about surpassing him in cultivation but becoming a better sect master? That was a different matter.

“You think your master is stupid? Or is he a sycophant that would lick the boots of any man?” Li Qiye continued.

“Of course not! My master isn’t that kind of person. He is a visionary!” She shouted and wouldn’t allow anyone to insult her master.

“Right.” Li Qiye was in a rare mood to teach and continued on: “If your master isn’t stupid and kept on being respectful towards me, is there something wrong with him? If I have no value, would he act in this manner? If I am incapable, would I not care about cultivators? Do you think I am an ignorant fool that has no fear of death?”

Xiaoshan had no response because the guy was making sense. Her master was not stupid and he wouldn’t conduct himself towards a mortal like this for no reason. 

In the beginning, she was already discontent due to her own prejudice and considered him an insignificant mortal. His attitude only further exacerbated the issue and rage blinded her perception.

After thinking about it carefully, her master wouldn’t let his First Disciple wait on any random person.

“Alright, don’t just stand there. Focus.” His voice disturbed her contemplation.

She regained her wits as well as a better understanding of her master’s intent and the situation. Nevertheless, she was still annoyed at his attitude but her mood did become better as she began her message.

Why would she bother posturing towards this mortal when her own master was borderline subservient? She became more attentive and better with the task at hand.

“Mmm.” Li Qiye enjoyed it and said: “Not bad, able to change your attitude. Still a bit unhappy but at the very least, your decorum is better now. Being able to turn back from one’s mistake is the greatest virtue.”

“You always talk to people like this?” An innocent maiden was taking care of him yet he was still criticizing her. How could she not become angry?

“Do you want to hear the truth?” He smiled.

“Hmph, it’s not like you ever hold back, do you need my permission?” She scowled unhappily.

“That’s true.” Li Qiye nodded seriously and chuckled: “I don’t really pay attention to how I normally talk. However, one thing is certain, under normal circumstances, not to mention talking or waiting on me, you wouldn’t be qualified to even see me.”

1. He used a polite/formal way to ask someone to disrobe/undress you.☜