“Our sect ordered the world back then. We had numerous experts and resources, few can compare to us. Clouds and winds dispersed when the six halls appeared together.” Daoist Peng’s eyes lit up as he told Li Qiye the history of the sect. He wanted nothing more than to be living in the old era.

Nonetheless, pessimism took over because this was no longer the case. Their past glory and strength had nothing to do with the present.

“Unfortunately, we have lost our supreme artifacts and immortal items.” He said wistfully before tapping the sword hanging by his waist again: “But, at least we still have this heirloom.”

“If it’s the heirloom, how powerful is it?” Li Qiye smiled.

“Well…” Daoist Peng turned red and smiled wryly: “Hard to say, I’ve never been able to exert its power before. Ancient Crimson is a peaceful island, there’s no fighting.”

“But forget about that, you’re the First Disciple and will inherit everything in the future, including this sword. If you find our missing treasures and scrolls from the six halls, they’re all yours too. At that point, you won’t need to worry about anything or anyone. See, that’s our incredible and frightening potential.” He went on.

This was an empty promise since their resources have probably turned into ashes long ago. 

“The six halls during their golden age were impressive indeed.” Li Qiye sighed and said. The academy had plenty of talents in the past and now, only Everlasting Courtyard was left.

“You know about them?” Daoist Peng was surprised.

“I’ve read a few things.” Li Qiye nodded. Of course, he had personally experienced it back then.

“Since that’s the case, don’t you want to stay and be the First Disciple?” Daoist Peng didn’t give up.

It wasn’t easy tricking someone to go back with him. He needed to find a disciple in order to continue the lineage. Otherwise, he would be too ashamed to meet the ancestors and forefathers in the afterlife.

In reality, he had successfully recruited others before. Alas, the sect was too poor and had nothing outside of the heirloom. Who would want to join this sect with zero potential?

All of his recruitment plans failed because of this. Li Qiye became his next hope.

“No rush, I’ll think about it.” Li Qiye smiled while recalling the past.

People competed fiercely in order to join the academy before. Now, recruiting a single disciple required this much effort?

This sect had fallen to an unsalvageable level. Disbandment was near.

“Okay, just let me know after you think it through.” The daoist couldn’t force Li Qiye and chose to exercise patience.

“There are no rules here, you can stay wherever you want. There’s still some food in the kitchen so help yourself, don’t worry about me, I’ll be busy.” The daoist suggested.

“Going into isolated cultivation?” Li Qiye asked.

“Our sect has no training or isolated cultivation. Our merit law consists of mainly sleeping all the time, it is unique and magical. Your cultivation will soar after starting.”

“Like hibernation.” Li Qiye smiled.

“Yes, there are pros and cons to everything. Our merit law is different. Look at me, I’ve trained for more than ten thousand years and I’m still healthy. Those who were a hundred times stronger than me have returned to the earth.” The old man coughed and said.

In fact, he had no idea which merit law he was training with. However, it definitely belonged to the academy.

Whenever he recited the characters, he would become unbearably drowsy. Each sleeping session would last for a long time. Whenever he woke up, he would feel something different.

The thing troubling him was that his cultivation didn’t improve that much. Alas, each session lasted longer than the previous. If this trend persisted, he would become a sleeping god.

“That does sound impressive.”  Li Qiye chuckled.

“Come, I’ll show you some merit laws from the academy, you can pick some to train.” The daoist pulled Li Qiye into the main chamber.

Inside was a tablet filled with ancient engravings. The symbols were strange and didn’t look like present characters. There were tinier annotations on top of the symbols, clearly added by future descendants.

Merit laws were considered top secret but Everlasting Courtyard didn’t have a problem letting outsiders take a look.

The daoist wasn’t worried about people stealing the tablet either. In reality, he somewhat welcomed it because this meant that their lineage would continue.

The issue was that the characters were inscrutable. It required generations of research or it would be lost with history.

“This is the ultimate secret of our sect.” The daoist took him in front of the tablet and said: “If you can learn it, your name will go down in history. Hmm, take a look at it for now and I’ll teach you another day.”

He left after saying this, leaving Li Qiye behind to gaze at the tablet filled with merit laws.

Though the daoist was trying to flaunt his sect, he was indeed correct. The merit laws here were peerless indeed.

Li Qiye naturally knew of its origin since he couldn’t be more familiar with it. Just one glance was enough for him to derive its mysteries and profundities.

He then took note of the annotations and shook his head. Some were incorrect; others went the other direction completely.

Of course, he didn’t blame them for their mistakes. It has been too long and a new page has been turned. This gap couldn’t be made up. Thus, the ancestors of the courtyard failed to learn anything worthwhile despite their best effort.

He left the chamber and heard the daoist snoring. The latter had entered a state of hibernation. It wouldn’t be easy to wake him up.

Li Qiye decided to stay here for a bit. His daily essentials were met on top of being connected to this place by fate.

He didn’t bother learning the merit laws on the tablet since it wasn’t the right fit for the current Li Qiye.

The next morning, he was bored and decided to go on a walk. This island was only a minor stop in his journey but its peaceful nature was worth his time.

He made it to the other side of the island and climbed up the highest peak to look at the ocean ahead.

He didn’t expect to see someone else here before him - Chen Cangsheng. The youth gazed at the ocean; his eyes darting back and forth. He seemed to be looking for something.