Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Chu Li stared back at her with a ghastly look.

She was also a lunatic, and she did not care about the safety of the disciples from the Holy Church of Light since she had let them die. It seemed like she harbored a strong hatred towards the church.

Nonetheless, he knew that that might not be true.

He could not gauge the disciples of the Holy Church of Light through logical reasoning because they saw death as a chance to live again. Their thoughts were bound to be different from an ordinary person's, so he must try to figure out their precise way of thinking.

He contemplated while staring at the direction where she had disappeared to, trying to make out the kind of thoughts that most likely went through her head.

Xia Liyan put his palms down slowly. The white steam returned to his hair roots as well, and his face regained a rosy complexion.

Murong Chun opened his eyes, and the white steam on the top of his head suddenly shriveled back and disappeared into his temple, but his face was still pale.

"Elder Murong, how do you feel?" Chu Li asked.

"The Divine Light Fist is very powerful." Murong Chun shook his head and smiled bitterly. "I've suppressed it at the moment. I'll drive it out slowly when I return."

"Let me take a look." Chu Li took a step towards him and pressed his palm on his pulse.

Murong Chun wanted to evade his hands unconsciously, but Chu Li grabbed him anyhow, and he had no way to avoid it.

An inner force flowed into his body and charged towards the ball of flames. The flames then began to diminish instantly, weakening bit by bit as if an oil lamp was running out of oil. Soon enough, the flame disappeared and transformed into a strange kind of inner energy.

That strange inner energy immediately flowed out of his body.

Murong Chun felt that his whole body was relieved right away, and the faintness he was feeling earlier disappeared at once.

Chu Li let go of his hand and said, "How is it?"

Murong Chun looked at him in astonishment, "Young Lord, you really have great skills!"

While he and Xia Liyan were helpless against the fist force of the Divine Light Fist, the young lord could easily remove it just like that, which made it seem like the both of them were weaker. It was not him nor Xia Liyan who was weak, but it was the young lord who was too powerful!

Chu Li said, "It's best to avoid the Divine Light Fist if you can. It's very troublesome!"

"Young Lord, what martial art do you practice?"

"The Cloud Slas.h.i.+ng Palm," Chu Li said. "It's just right to restrain the Divine Light Fist."

"As expected, the Cloud Slas.h.i.+ng Treasure Manual is extraordinary!" Murong Chun exclaimed.

Unfortunately, he was not fated to practice it. The young lord would never let anyone catch one glimpse of the secret manual no matter how generous he was.

Chu Li looked at him and smiled. "Let us go!"

The Cloud Slas.h.i.+ng Treasure Manual was indeed powerful, but it would not be as powerful if it was in someone else's hands.

The key to mastering the Cloud Slas.h.i.+ng Treasure Manual laid on how powerful one's spiritual force was. Only a strong spiritual force would be able to perform its powers. Inner energy would enter one's body to devour, but it would be easy for it to enter but hard to retrieve it. It could not be retrieved without an oppressive spiritual force.

The three of them turned and walked back.

"Young Lord, what is their exact objective?" Murong Chun asked with a frown.

Xia Liyan was very doubtful as well. He could not figure out what Liu Yunxin's motive was.

Chu Li said, "Let's just ask the hill master."

"If the hill master knew, he would've told us already!" Murong Chun sighed.

"Why can't the hill master tell us?" Xia Liyan said with knitted eyebrows. "Could it be that there's something going on between them?"

Murong Chun shook his head. "I'm afraid that it has nothing to do with personal feelings. What does Crouching Bull Mountain have that the Holy Church of Light wants?"

He felt that it was all rather odd. The Holy Church of Light was far superior to Crouching Bull Mountain. Their martial art was much stronger than Crouching Bull Mountain, and their Surpa.s.sing State was much better than them too. What else could they demand from them? Could it be that they wanted Crouching Bull Mountain to surrender to them?!

His heart shuddered when he arrived at the thought.

The Holy Church of Light was a sect in the Li Dynasty. If they really obeyed the orders of the Holy Church of Light, they would become traitors of the Great Ji Dynasty, which would definitely end up with them being annihilated. Nevertheless, if they did not surrender to the Holy Church of Light, they might face the same consequences anyway.

His expression was as erratic the weather. He frowned and did not say a word.

The Holy Church of Light wanted to threaten them, that was for sure. If it was not for the young lord, Crouching Bull Mountain would probably have no other choice but to perish right away or in the future.

Xia Liyan said hurriedly, "What are you thinking about? Tell us about it!"

He sighed and said, "You're not asking us to surrender, are you?"

"You've such a wild imagination!" Xia Liyan laughed out loud. "Even the Tempest Temple won't make us surrender to them. How can the Holy Church of Light be daydreaming about this? If they're thinking rationally, they wouldn't have done that!"

Murong Chun scoffed, "Do you think that they're capable of thinking logically?"

Chu Li was caught up in his own thoughts.

There was a slight chance that what Murong Chun had said was right. The Holy Church of Light had obtained the second part of Great Light Scripture, so their wild desire seemed to have grown as well.

Once it grew, the Li Dynasty might not be able to satisfy them, and they would have to expand outside.

"But we definitely had fun in killing them this time!" Xia Liyan laughed out loud and said, "This is the very first time I'm feeling so happy!"

Murong Chun's lips tugged into a smile.

They had probably caused a lot of damage to the Holy Church of Light since they had killed six of their masters. They should understand that Crouching Bull Mountain was not a soft persimmon that could be squished however they wis.h.!.+

"This is all thanks to you, young lord!" Xia Liyan exclaimed.

Chu Li said, "They won't just stop here, notify me the next time you leave the mountain. I'll come along!"

"… Alright. Thank you very much then, young lord!" Murong Chun smiled and said.

Chu Li said, "I can't just be a freeloader as the young lord. I must at least do something somehow. Please don't bother me with other matters though, I need to focus on cultivating."

"Of course, of course." Murong Chun nodded hurriedly.

It was early in the morning, and Chu Li was having breakfast with Xiao s.h.i.+ in Tian Shu Courtyard.

"What have you been up to lately?" Xiao s.h.i.+ was dressed in a spotless bluish-white gown. It was as white as snow and flawless. She picked up a piece of pastry with her delicate hand and asked casually, "I haven't seen you around."

"Something came up." Chu Li gulped down a mouthful of wine.

Xiao s.h.i.+ cast a look at him with her bright eyes.

Chu Li felt as if the water in autumn had dripped onto his face. "Private matters."

"You still have things that you can't talk about with me too?" Xiao s.h.i.+ scoffed.

Chu Li could not help but laugh. He nodded and said, "Alright, I'll tell you about it."

Hence, he told Xiao s.h.i.+ about everything that happened in Crouching Bull Mountain.

Xiao s.h.i.+ listened with great interest. "No wonder the Holy Church of Light hasn't been settling accounts with you. They're up to something else."

"They have quite a wild heart." Chu Li shook his head and sighed. "I don't know what they're trying to do too. Could it be that they're planning to invade the Great Ji Dynasty to unify the martial art world in Great Ji Dynasty?"

Xiao s.h.i.+ nodded. "That's not necessarily wrong."

"The Four Major Sects won't let them get what they're wis.h.i.+ng for."

"What if they're not afraid of the Four Major Sects?"

"How is that possible?"

"What if they've already unified the martial art world in the Li Dynasty?"

"Hmm…" Chu Li mulled over the question.

"Elder Qin, come over here for a bit," Chu Li said.

His voice was not very loud, it sounded like he was talking to himself.

Qin Jin and the other three men were at the martial arts field in the King An's Imperial Residence. Dong Qifei was there as well, whereas Yang Zongwen and the remaining five men were looking at dossiers in the Secret Guardians Hall.

When Qin Jin heard Chu Li's voice, he turned to look at the men. Their expressions looked as they always did, and it was clear that they did not hear him.

He fluttered and appeared outside of Tian Shu Courtyard.

Chu Li called out, "Elder Qin, please come in."

Qin Jin walked into Tian Shu Courtyard slowly, then he did a fist salute. "Centurion."

Chu Li said "I'd like to know what's going on with the martial art in the Li Dynasty, what's the Holy Church of Light doing, and whether they've done anything drastic. Have they gotten control over the martial art in the Li Dynasty? How long do you need to investigate this thoroughly?"

Qin Jin thought for a while. "Judging from the information network in the Secret Guardians Hall and our own, I'll need around seven days."

Chu Li nodded. "Alright, do it as soon as possible then. It doesn't have to be too detailed, and don't send people into the Holy Church of Light either."

"Yes." Qin Jin did a fist salute.

He turned and left, then called after Feng Jing and the others to return to the Secret Guardians Hall with him.

Mei Er Courtyard in the Secret Guardians Hall started their operations right away. The nine of them had their own information network, and Yang Zongwen would be collecting information from the Secret Guardians Hall. He would look for information from each of the courtyards.

After Chu Li gave those orders, he continued to have breakfast with Xiao s.h.i.+. Out of nowhere. his heart twitched, and his expression changed slightly.

He disappeared in an instant and appeared at Crystal Crescent Lake the next moment.