This observer was none other than Lu Daowei, the one with the antlers. He attentively came early in the morning every day during this period to watch the group.
Today, Li Qiye gestured for him to come over.
Daowei became awkward, turning slightly red while barely managing to respond: “Young Master, I, I wasn’t trying to spy on you guys and steal the merit law…”
He lowered his head, not feeling very confident because he really did observe them every day. What else could it be but trying to learn their merit law?
Remember, in the cultivation world, secretly learning merit law without permission was a serious offense.
A light punishment would be banishment. On the other side of the spectrum was death.
Since he was here every day, no one would believe his claim of innocence.
On one hand, Tortoise Fist was available to all in Divine Black. However, Li Qiye was teaching the children, not him.
Since he was watching their cultivation session, he was indeed stealing from them, strictly speaking.
Of course, Li Qiye had no intention of scolding him. He smiled and said: “Looks like you’re interested in Tortoise Fist.”
Daowei heaved a sigh of relief after seeing Li Qiye’s friendliness. He smiled wryly and said: “Your Tortoise Fist is different from what I have learned and read.”
As an avid reader, he had read enough books for entertainment including the manual for Tortoise Fist. He actually found it interesting and had theories about it. Albeit, nothing came from this endeavor.
As people have said, Tortoise Fist only contained three movements. It looked like an old man doing light aerobics in the morning. Because of this, he lost interest in actually training it.
He heard about this group and his curiosity was rekindled. Thus, he came to take a look.
In the beginning, he didn’t notice anything special. What drew him in was Li Qiye’s mysteriousness. That’s why he didn’t make fun of them like the rest.
Since Li Qiye took the instruction seriously, so did he with observing. He became the only one in Divine Black who saw the entire session outside of the group themselves, and multiple times at that.
After several days, he eventually realized that this Tortoise Fist from Li Qiye was somehow different.
“Elaborate.” Li Qiye chuckled and stared at the guy.
“I’m not sure if I’m right or not, so please don’t laugh at me.” Daowei scratched his head, thinking that he was displaying his slight knowledge before an expert.
Li Qiye encouraged him with a smile and nodded.
He mustered enough courage and contemplated for a bit before answering: “From what I’ve seen, I feel that your Tortoise Fist isn’t about the forms but rather the intent. Each breath and movement have their own dao rhythm, allowing for harmonization with heaven and earth…”
Daowei said everything that was on his mind. His eyes lit up during the exciting part.
Other disciples would definitely laugh at him, thinking that he was spewing much fuss about nothing. It was all in his imagination; there was no way Turtle Fist could be so amazing.
Li Qiye nodded approvingly after listening to him.
“That, that’s all I know. I don’t think I’ve gotten the essence of your teaching.” Daowei humbly said.
“You’ve done a decent job already.” Li Qiye said: “Your comprehension is good, the same with your concentration. What have you learned from training it?”
“…” Daowei had an awkward expression since he had really started learning Tortoise Fist after seeing Li Qiye’s instruction.
This revelation was hard on him because stealing someone else’s merit laws was rather unsavory.
Nonetheless, he could see that Li Qiye wasn’t mad and decided to tell the truth: “After starting the merit law, I feel my true chaos energy becoming purer as if tempered a thousand times. My own rhythm becomes similar to the world’s…”
“Hmm, then you’re doing it correctly.” Li Qiye nodded: “There might be some differences here and there but this is more than adequate. Do you wish to learn?”
Daowei didn’t expect this. He started reading about it out of mere curiosity. After seeing Li Qiye’s lessons, he found that this fist was completely different so he started training it.
He hesitated for a bit because actually learning it would mean suffering the jeers of others. Even his master would yell at him.
“I’ll do it as long as you teach me, Young Master.” He eventually made up his mind and took a deep breath.
Sure, others would laugh at him and his master might scold him. He still felt that this was worth the risk due to the potential benefits.
“We’ll start today, you need to fix the mistakes.” Li Qiye said and began teaching him.
Daowei carefully listened and memorized each word. He contemplated and realized that he had messed up in several places.
The fixes connected the entire merit law into one, causing it to be far better than before. He felt nothing but respect for Li Qiye and thought that the others were utterly wrong.
“Young Master, how powerful is this version?” Daowei became increasingly curious.
“Power lies with the user, not the merit law.” Li Qiye elaborated: “Everything can reach the dao as long as your grand dao is firm. Just one wave of the hand can annihilate the land. Focus on the mind and heart, less so on the techniques…”
He casually explained the profundity of the grand dao to Daowei’s benefit. The latter found Li Qiye to be a hidden master; his admiration gradually increased.
“Thank you, Young Master.” Daowei bowed deeply to show his gratitude. He started learning Tortoise Fist with the children from this point on.
As he expected, the disciples from Jade Bird started making fun of him for doing so.
“Look, another idiot here to learn Tortoise Fist.” One passerby laughed at him.
He didn’t respond since he was confident in his choice.