Chapter 38: I’ll Tell You Some Secrets

Chapter 38: Chapter 38: I’ll Tell You Some Secrets

Seeing Li Ye had really taken Gongsun Jie as an apprentice, Shi Xiang and the others grew restless. They all started chattering at once, "Lord Li, we want to become your apprentices too."

’One apprentice is enough. What would I do with so many?’

Now that he had Derived Skills, what he needed more were teammates.

Li Ye’s face fell. He glared at them and scolded, "Focus on playing your matches and making a name for yourselves. What’s this talk about becoming my apprentices? I’m building a club, not a sect. Stop thinking about these shady shortcuts.

"The club is permanent, but players come and go. If you can’t play well, forget becoming my apprentice. Even if you called me your father, I’d still kick you out..."

At his words, Shi Xiang and the others sheepishly backed down, not daring to say another word. However, the occasional resentful glance would drift toward Gongsun Jie.

"Don’t be resentful," Li Ye said, changing his tone and offering them a carrot. "From now on, I’ll be guiding you as your coach. If you play well, taking you on as apprentices isn’t out of the question."

Shi Xiang and the others were overjoyed, as if injected with boundless energy. They all declared, "Don’t worry, Lord Li. We’ll play our hearts out."

Li Ye grunted, then turned to Wenren Chuan. "Sect Leader Wen, the construction of the Qingcheng Sect’s field and its promotion need to keep up. If we’re going to play matches, we naturally need to maximize their impact."

"Yes," Wenren Chuan said. He looked at Li Ye, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Lord Li, will you be playing in the match against the Qingcheng Sect?"

"Of course I’ll be playing. Is there a problem?" Li Ye replied.

Wenren Chuan gave a bitter smile. "Lord Li, your strength is comparable to a Grandmaster’s. You could take on ten opponents by yourself. A match like that wouldn’t be much of a spectacle!"

"Sect Leader Wen, you needn’t worry about that. I’m severely injured, so my actual strength is about the same as yours. I was pushed to my limit by Murong Kaixin and had to use a Secret Technique that overdrafted my power," Li Ye said with a smile. "Who knows, by the time we play, I might even be weaker than you, Sect Leader Wen!"

Shi Xiang and the others frantically shot glances at Li Ye, each one of them so anxious they wished they could run over and clamp a hand over his mouth.

’Is this something he should be saying out loud?’

’There are so many people here with prying eyes and ears. What if this gets out and someone with ill intentions hears it? What if something happens?’

Wei Mingze appeared completely impassive, calmly sipping his tea as if he hadn’t heard a thing.

Having reached the position of Prefect, he was a very shrewd man. He naturally understood that anything said aloud was something others *wanted* you to hear.

’Actually believing his words and trying to assassinate him would be the height of stupidity.’

Wenren Chuan didn’t believe it either, but since Li Ye had said it, it was as good as a promise. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Since you put it that way, Lord Li, I can rest easy. Matches are only exciting when the teams are evenly matched!"

"Exactly. Evenly matched," Li Ye said with a smile, nodding as he scanned the room. "More and more sects are joining. Before long, behemoths like the Celestial Dao Alliance and the Red Flame Sect will enter the league too. It’s anyone’s guess who will take the championship, so none of you can afford to let your guard down. Show off all the fancy moves you’ve got. The faster your reputation grows, the faster your strength will increase."

Gongsun Jie wrote down the *Profound Light Heart Method* from memory. After he and Wenren Chuan consulted with Tong Yi on promotional strategies, they left one after another to return to their sects and prepare their own clubs.

Sirius Valley instantly grew quiet.

Under the guise of training, Li Ye organized a friendly match within the team.

After severely injuring a teammate, his Derived Skills didn’t activate. This put an end to Li Ye’s idea of exploiting a bug to farm his Skill Level.

’Beating up your own teammates probably has a hidden prerequisite. It likely only works when facing a common enemy.’

’Otherwise, if you could increase your Skill Level just by beating up your teammates anytime, anywhere, this Derived Skill would probably be the most powerful one in existence. With this skill alone, you could grind your own and your teammates’ Skill Levels to the heavens.’

Li Ye’s Skill Level had increased tenfold. Shi Xiang and the other teammates who had been severely injured by Li Ye also saw their Skill Levels double. Combined with the bonus from winning the match, Yu Fei and Deng Wei successfully broke through to the ranks of Innate Masters.

From then on, the Fun People Club had five Innate Masters, giving the remaining members a huge confidence boost.

That night, Sirius Valley was completely silent.

Aside from those on night watch, most of the club members were cultivating. Li Ye had given them plenty of motivation. Their opponents in the upcoming league would only get stronger, and no one wanted to fall behind. Besides, the bait of becoming Lord Li’s disciple was dangling in front of them like a carrot.

The *Profound Light Heart Method* and the *Dragon Emperor Spell* weren’t compatible. At best, it could only supplement the *Dragon Emperor Spell*. Li Ye tried cultivating it for a while before giving up on the *Profound Light Heart Method*.

Most Grandmasters in this world would constantly modify their martial arts based on their Cultivation Technique and personal condition, eventually reaching the Grandmaster realm.

But with the help of his Demon Qi and Derived Skills, Li Ye had little interest in such a simple and backward method. For all he knew, after beating up his teammates a few more times, he might naturally break into the Grandmaster realm.

With that kind of effort, he’d be better off figuring out how to develop a second Derived Skill. That would increase his Skill Level even faster.

Li Ye sat on a hillside at the entrance to Sirius Valley, gazing up at the star-filled sky and reviewing his actions over the past few days. It was a habit he had developed at a young age, inspired by the old saying about reflecting on oneself three times a day. He found it made a lot of sense. Doing so helped him identify his shortcomings and avoid making many mistakes.

Although he had defeated a Grandmaster and indirectly tamed so many sects in just twenty short days, Li Ye didn’t let his guard down. The human heart was the most complex thing of all. The moment he underestimated the people of this world, he would be the one to lose.

’There’s a reason the mortality rate for Time Travelers is so high...’

"Give me some water." A weak voice came from nearby, startling Li Ye out of his reflections. At some point, Murong Kaixin had woken up and was looking in Li Ye’s direction through swollen eyes.

Li Ye glanced back at Murong Kaixin. With a wave of his hand, the waterskin from the waist of a distant patrolling guard flew into his grasp. He opened it and used his Inner Strength to force out a stream of water, which landed in Murong Kaixin’s mouth.

Murong Kaixin pursed his lips, his tongue brushing against a wound at the corner of his mouth, and he couldn’t help but groan.

"Want more?" Li Ye asked, shaking the waterskin.

Murong Kaixin shook his head. He looked at Li Ye, his gaze rather complicated. "Why didn’t you kill me?"

"I’m keeping you alive to intimidate others," Li Ye said, tossing the waterskin back to the guard. He said no more.

Another silence fell.

After a long time.

Murong Kaixin finally asked, "Are there really Immortals in the heavens?"

"Of course there are," Li Ye said.

Murong Kaixin asked again, "Is there an Underworld?"

"Forget it. There isn’t. When a person dies, that’s the end," Li Ye said, seeing through his intentions with a scoff. "Murong Kaixin, I really don’t get you. Couldn’t we have just talked things out? Why did you have to come out swinging, trying to kill me?"

After a moment of silence, Murong Kaixin sighed and said suddenly, "That story you told about the Star Thieves... it was a lie, wasn’t it?"

"..." Li Ye froze.

"You don’t have the mindset of a true powerhouse," Murong Kaixin said, shaking his head. "You might have a ruthless streak that keeps you going, but with your current mentality, you are destined never to reach the highest peak."

’Hah!’

’Reach the highest peak? As if I have nothing better to do. I just want to live a good life. You reached the highest peak, and didn’t I still almost beat you to death?!’

Li Ye silently curled his lip, cursing inwardly.

As if he knew what Li Ye was thinking, Murong Kaixin said in a hoarse voice, "Lord Li, I know things between us can’t be reconciled. Give me a quick death, and I will tell you some secrets."

Li Ye raised an eyebrow. "Alright. You talk, and I’ll give you a quick death."

"There are more than four Grandmasters in this world. The Royal Family has a method for passing down the Grandmaster legacy, and they also have a method to restrain Grandmasters," Murong Kaixin said weakly. "Otherwise, why would my Celestial Master’s Mansion serve the Royal Family?"