Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Xiao s.h.i.+ stood up and stretched her body for a moment.

 Chu Li suggested, “You should follow me back first!”

 “I have to return to Fairy's Capital with the others.” Xiao s.h.i.+ shook her head.

 Chu Li frowned.

 Through the Omniscient Mirror, he noticed that Su Ru and a few protectors from the High Duke's Public House were also in the area. They had suffered some minor injuries but were doing fine at that moment. This was proof of King An's superb light-body technique, which allowed him to s.n.a.t.c.h Xiao s.h.i.+ directly from Su Ru and the protectors without having to engage them in close combat.

 “Just let them carry on with their journey without you,” Chu Li said with a huff.

 “Forget it,” Xiao s.h.i.+ replied and shook her head. “You can hardly defend yourself over there too, right?”

 She knew King An's way of doing things quite well and was certain that he would launch multiple attacks at the same time to overwhelm and defeat Chu Li instead of making one move at a time. After all, King An desperately wanted to destroy Chu Li at one go.

 Moreover, King An also mentioned earlier that the Emperor had issued a decree for Chu Li to return to Fairy's Capital. The protectors in charge of delivering the Imperial Decree should have arrived at Adjacent Town by then.

 Chu Li said, “If you don't go there, Xiao Qi won't be able to put her mind to rest.”

 “Oh…” Xiao s.h.i.+ smiled.

 Chu Li returned the smile and said, “The two of you can keep each other company.”

 “Alright then.” Xiao s.h.i.+ nodded. “How is she doing these days?”

 “Pretty well,” Chu Li replied.

 Xiao s.h.i.+ said, “Okay, let's go back to your place.”

 Both of them disappeared in a flash and reappeared beside Su Ru. Chu Li had Su Ru pa.s.s on some instructions to the others and then brought both Xiao s.h.i.+ and Su Ru back to Adjacent Town.

 He led them into his residence.

 The two protectors from the Imperial House looked at the two women in surprise. Xiao s.h.i.+ and Su Ru had covered their faces with white veils so the protectors could not see their faces clearly. Nonetheless, judging by their graceful figures and elegant manners, one could easily tell that these two women were rare beauties, so the Imperial House protectors could not help staring at them.

 “Second Eldest Sister?” Xiao Qi was astonished.

 “What a coincidence. The second lady has decided to come and visit us too,” Chu Li said with a smile.

 Xiao Qi glanced at Chu Li and knew that he would not have left so suddenly for no reason. Clearly, her second eldest sister and the others had encountered some danger, and he had gone to rescue them earlier.

 “You guys have some tea first. I have a few things to discuss with Second Eldest Sister.” Xiao Qi led Xiao s.h.i.+ and Su Ru into the house and closed the door.

 Chu Li took a sip of tea and smiled pleasantly at the two Imperial House protectors. “It's not that I don't want to let both of you accompany me on my journey. I'm just a little worried, although I'm not sure if I should tell you this.”

 “Chief Chu, there's no harm in speaking your mind.”

 “I have way too many enemies. The moment I depart from Adjacent Town to go back to Fairy's Capital, those people won't just look on and do nothing. There are too many people who don't want me to return to Fairy's Capital,” Chu Li muttered.

 The two Imperial House protectors knitted their brows together and slowly nodded.

 Of course, they were both aware of Chu Li's great fame and knew that he had offended countless martial arts masters with his vicious and merciless ways. If it had not been for his excellent martial arts skills, Chu Li would have died countless times over. Since he no longer had any martial arts skills, those people would certainly seize this opportunity and take advantage of the situation and kill him.

 The Holy Church of Light, for one, would surely do everything they could to kill him. On top of that, the High Duke's Public House also had enemies who wanted him dead. All the people Chu Li had been provoking were martial arts masters.

 Chu Li said, “It'll be too dangerous to stay by my side. I'm afraid that you two will get dragged into trouble too. If you end up dying, I really wouldn't know how to explain the situation to the Emperor. That's why it would be better for us to travel separately.”

 “But we're supposed to protect you, Chief Chu.”

 “Hehe…” Chu Li chuckled and shook his head as he said, “Honestly speaking, your martial arts skills are excellent indeed, but you won't be able to go up against these enemies of mine. Moreover, those people have no regard for the law and have no fear of the imperial family's authority and prestige. For instance, the Holy Church of Light won't care about these things at all.”

 The two Imperial House protectors frowned deeply.

 The disciples of the Holy Church of Light were famous for having no fear of death and would not hesitate to kill the princes of the imperial family, let alone protectors like them. The two protectors realized that they were indeed not capable of dealing with such people and that they should keep as far away as possible from Chu Li. However, when they remembered the Emperor's orders, both of them did not dare to be disobedient and neglect their duties.

 Chu Li suggested, “Let's do this instead. The Emperor wants me to arrive at Fairy's Capital within thirty days, right? Well then, we can meet up in Qing Yun Town later and enter Fairy's Capital together on the last day.”

 “Will this… Will this work?” The two Imperial House protectors seemed hesitant.

 Chu Li smiled and replied, “I'm pretty confident that my protectors will be able to ensure my safety, but if they have to guard both of your safety as well… That's why we'll be better off traveling separately than together. As long as none of us mention anything about this, how will the Emperor know whether or not you've been escorting me? Even if the Emperor asks us about this, we can say that we encountered an a.s.sa.s.sination attempt and got separated during the attack!”

 “Alright then. In that case, thank you, Chief Chu!” Both of them gave a fist salute.

 Chu Li returned the fist salute with a pleasant smile. “To help others is to help yourself. We're just taking care of one another here.”

 “Indeed, indeed.” The protectors felt rather grateful and gave him a fist salute before taking their leave.

 Chu Li saw them off as they went out of the residence. Then, he returned to the main hall.

 The three women were gathered together and chatting animatedly at that moment. When Xiao s.h.i.+ told them about King An's vile behavior, Xiao Qi became visibly upset and her hand would reach for the hilt of her sword from time to time.

 At present, Chu Li was sitting on his bed and was channeling to consolidate his cultivation.

 He had benefited greatly from his time in the Inner Mausoleum and had enhanced his cultivation by two levels. Thus, his cultivation level had become more than enough for him to defeat martial arts masters who had lived for over three hundred years. Basically, he was capable of going up against all martial arts masters, except for Enlightened Masters. Although he could not be considered invincible, not many people would be able to stand against him at this point.

 Nonetheless, his soul had benefited much more compared to his cultivation level. He could circulate his inner energy much faster since his soul had grown stronger while his mind had gained more clarity. Furthermore, seeing as he had been showing great improvement in his cultivation of the four scriptures, his body had become much tougher and stronger as well. Even if he did not use his inner energy and relied only on his physical abilities, he would still be able to stand out among other Grandmasters.

 His biggest gain from this series of events was the rapid improvement he had attained in the final level of his Heavenly Demonic Power.

 If he managed to achieve perfect mastery in the Heavenly Demonic Power, he would be able to enter the Enlightened Master's Boundary. Unfortunately, he did not dare to make further progress, because he wanted to avoid becoming an Enlightened Master and ascending directly to Heaven. His true goal was to defy nature to become an Enlightened Master, so he had to cultivate the martial arts of Spirit Beasts and achieve perfect mastery in them instead.

 While he was making love to Xiao Qi, Chu Li somehow gained a deeper understanding of the Earth Matrix and Reincarnation Scripture, which enabled him to help Xiao Qi enhance her cultivation level too.

 At first, Xiao Qi was not supposed to lose her virginity since she was cultivating the Regal Sword Scripture. However, he had been aroused with a pa.s.sion back then, so he could not hold himself back and thought of letting her take the Miracle Cure Pill afterward. He never expected to suddenly acquire a greater comprehension of the Earth Matrix and Reincarnation Scripture when he was at the peak of his bliss.

 Her Regal Sword Scripture cultivation had initially flowed into his body, but when he circulated the Earth Matrix and Reincarnation Scripture in reverse, it all went back into her body. In fact, her cultivation grew to be much more refined after having been filtered inside Chu Li's body, so her cultivation level ended up becoming far more superior than before.

 The mysteries of the Earth Matrix and Reincarnation Scripture were beyond what he could ever imagine, but he needed some amount of luck to comprehend such mysteries. It was truly not possible for him to acquire further comprehension by relying on his own intelligence and interpretive powers.

 “Thud, thud, thud!” The sound of someone knocking on the door could be heard from outside.

 Chu Li raised his voice and said, “Come in.”

 Xiao Qi and Xiao s.h.i.+ entered his bedchamber one after another and each took a garden stool to sit down beside his bed.

 The two women looked like white jade statues under the bright lighting as their skin seemed to give off a warm, radiant glow.

 “Chu Li, since your martial arts skills surpa.s.sed King An, there's no need for you to risk your life and kill him. It'll be good enough if you can keep him under control so that he won't dare to fool around,” Xiao s.h.i.+ said.

 She previously thought that King An had dared to act so recklessly because he had made great progress in his martial arts cultivation and was confident that he could defeat Chu Li. Nonetheless, Chu Li had shown immense improvement in his martial arts skills as well and had managed to overpower King An once again. Therefore, King An would still have to behave himself well when they returned to the Imperial Residence anyway.

 Xiao Qi nodded.

 Chu Li replied, “In any case, I have to kill King An. There's no need for you to try and dissuade me anymore, my Lady.”

 “Why?” Xiao s.h.i.+ frowned.

 Chu Li shook his head and smiled.

 He wanted to kill King An not only because King An deserved to die, but also because he wished to avenge the deaths of Liu Xing and the other protectors. More importantly, he was doing this as an act of retaliation and defiance against the Emperor because he could no longer stand being constantly ordered around by the Emperor.