Parting Ways

Li Qi knew that in Baiyue, there was a way to tell whether certain women were truly ladies of great households.

That was to have the young lady strip naked before a crowd of maids and old servants.

Then, if she was entirely accustomed to it and felt no shame, she was one.

You might think everyone was human and would feel embarrassed exposing their body, but in truth, they did not regard servants as human at all. Would you feel ashamed in front of tools?

For maids, helping their masters dress was a craft in itself. A master's arms and legs would not move according to the servant's wishes; the servants had to accommodate their masters instead. The master could move their limbs however they pleased, even drink tea, while the maid still had to ensure that they felt no discomfort while dressing—not even noticing that someone was dressing them.

This, too, was a skill, one that even required assessment.

As for the masters, there was nothing awkward about it. Those around them were not people, merely several humanoid tools.

Yet Li Qi was still greatly astonished.

Ever since leaving Baiyue, whether in the Shaman Path, the Human Path, or the many worlds beyond the domain, such situations had rarely appeared in worlds above the Seventh Rank. Only a very small number of special Dao Paths would treat people as livestock like this.

Even the Human Path only regarded the "worlds without the Dao" as resources; they would not enslave their minds.

Some did so out of morality, while others did so out of pure self-interest.

Because only uncivilized worlds—worlds that suppressed the creativity of the lower classes and ignored the fundamental rules of groups—would have such things. Any world capable of reaching the Seventh Rank could understand one