Not long after he sat down, his eyebrows twitched and he saw Lu Xiaofeng in a room on the second floor.

As Lu Xiaofeng had just gone through a significant improvement in his cultivation level, his whole body exuded a fiery force. It was evident that his cultivation in isolation had worked, but Chu Li did not expect Lu Xiaofeng to have achieved so much within two days, so much that it had even surpa.s.sed his master, Zhang Junrui.

Lu Xiaofeng was indeed a genius. This could probably be due to Chu Li's aggravation, such that Lu Xiaofeng's potential was harnessed at that moment and he broke through several levels within a few day's time.

This made Chu Li curious. So, he headed to a room on the floor below and told a servant to summon Yue Ru.

Yue Ru was in Lu Xiaofeng's room. She was talking in a soft voice and the sounds of musical instruments could be heard in the background.

"Congratulations, Master Lu." Yue Ru raised a silver cup and smiled. "Your martial arts prowess has improved!"

Feeling proud of himself, the das.h.i.+ng Lu Xiaofeng smiled in return. "All thanks to the divine light which enlightened me and made me progress this quickly. I can't believe I'm now on a higher level than my master."

"The disciple has surpa.s.sed his master." Yue Ru laughed. "Elder Zhang must be very happy."

"The master was rather delighted." Lu Xiaofeng grinned. "However, he told me not to come here. I came here secretly."

Yue Ru was stunned. "Why not?"

Lu Xiaofeng snorted. "He said I can't afford to offend Zhao Dahe. Although I'm now on the same level as he is, I'm still no match for him!"

He said this with an indignant tone. Nevertheless, he would never doubt his master's judgment. Since his master stressed that he was no match for Zhao Dahe, it must be true and there was no point trying to go against his statement.

"Elder Zhang has misunderstood Master Zhao." Yue Ru laughed. "He won't cause trouble for no reason. Last time, Elder Zhang brought his men to ambush Master Zhao's subordinates. He probably did that to help you vent your anger, Master Lu."

Lu Xiaofeng nodded. "The master treats me like his own son."

Then, his expression darkened. When he thought of how Zhao Dahe had humiliated his master and the Blazing Sun Clan, an urge to kill and murderous rage welled up inside him.

"Elder Zhang nearly killed that subordinate of Master Zhao, which was why Master Zhao was furious and rushed to the Blazing Sun Clan." Yue Ru shook her head. "In fact, it's hard to tell who was right and who was wrong. Elder Zhang stood up for you, so he did nothing wrong; Master Zhao stood up for his subordinate, so he did nothing wrong either."

"Sounds like it's all my fault in the end." A grimace crossed Lu Xiaofeng's handsome face.

Yue Ru advised, "Actually, Master Lu, you don't have to compare yourself with Master Zhao. You're you. Why should you care about others?"

Lu Xiaofeng shook his head in disagreement. "Miss Yue Ru, you don't understand men. In martial arts, people only care about the champion. Naturally, every man wants to be the strongest one so that he can have a proud and fulfilling life."

Yue Ru let out a soft laugh and she stopped talking.

There was a knock on the door and Yue Ru responded, "Enter."

A servant was standing outside. He hesitated before he spoke, "Miss Yue Ru, I have something to tell you."

"Mm." Yue Ru got up and sashayed towards him.

The servant eyed Lu Xiaofeng and said in a lowered voice, "Master Zhao is here at Green Bamboo Residence."

"Mm, I understand." Yue Ru nodded and waved her arm. "Don't disturb him."

The servant retreated swiftly.

A glum expression appeared on Lu Xiaofeng's face.

Obviously, an intelligent and highly-skilled person like him would have overheard everything.

He did not expect such a coincidence, for he had b.u.mped into Zhao Dahe again. The rage within him could no longer be suppressed and he wanted to charge towards the latter.

When Yue Ru saw the change in Lu Xiaofeng's expression and knew he had overheard the conversation, she sighed. "Master Lu…"

"Will you be going there?" Lu Xiaofeng stared at her coldly.

Yue Ru was caught between both sides. "Master Zhao is my benefactor after all. I can't ignore him."

"Then I shall be the one who's ignored." Lu Xiaofeng nodded. "Fine, go then!"

"I'll go greet him and return at once," Yue Ru said hastily.

"Forget it." Lu Xiaofeng waved his arm and spoke in a disappointed manner, "You'd better accompany Master Zhao. He's now a prestigious fellow and the number one figure in Gale City, so how can you ignore him? It's better that you stay by his side."

Yue Ru looked at Lu Xiaofeng with knitted brows.

Lu Xiaofeng immediately smiled at her. "If I were in your shoes, I would accompany him first, too."

Yue Ru gasped. "Master Lu, what are you getting at?"

Lu Xiaofeng scoffed, "Did I say something wrong?"

Yue Ru retorted, "Are you telling me that I can't even greet my visitor?"

Lu Xiaofeng nodded. "Of course you must greet him. Aside from that, you must be all smiles and keep him company!"

Yue Ru's face tightened as she glared at him with annoyance.

Lu Xiaofeng cupped his fists. "Miss Yue Ru, I shall leave now to prevent you from getting caught between both sides!"

"Stay there!" Yue Ru yelled.

Lu Xiaofeng stared at her.

Yue Ru stomped her feet and cried, "I'm not going there!"

Her act had caught Lu Xiaofeng by surprise, but he was overjoyed. "Really?"

Yue Ru snorted. "I'll apologize to Master Zhao later. I won't be seeing him tonight."

Lu Xiaofeng chuckled. "That's great, Miss Yue Ru! Come, I'll pour you another cup of liquor."

Yue Ru forced a smiled and held up the silver cup.

The sound of musical instruments could still be heard, but Yue Ru thought that they were piercing to the ears and she felt restless.

Sitting in his residence, Chu Li picked up his silver cup and smiled. He thought it was amusing. Deep down, he felt relaxed and pleased to have finally severed a tie. As a result, he could do things more efficiently now.

Moreover, something struck a chord within him. Most people still cared about looks and he was no different from the rest, so he could not blame other people. If Xiao Qi was not beautiful but ugly, would he still develop feelings for her?

Surely, he would not.

However, Lu Xiaofeng knew his own place. Upon noticing that Yue Ru was not in a good mood, he had decided to leave earlier.

After that, Yue Ru rushed to Chu Li's Green Bamboo Residence but there was no one to be seen. There were only untouched dishes on the table.

She was appalled before all of a sudden, she felt gloomy and dispirited. 

…

The Small Light Peak.

Chu Li was cultivating in the thatched cottage.

Outside, the wind howled fiercely. In contrast, the interior of the cottage was warm like summer.

He was in the midst of his training when Li Ruolan called upon him. When she entered, Chu Li was already seated on his bed. She stared at him in surprise.

Chu Li opened his eyes and smiled. "Miss Ruolan."

"When did you return?" Li Ruolan was puzzled.

She was dressed in a purple gown that complemented her snow-white skin, accentuating her charm and beauty. 

Chu Li answered, "Last night."

"What trouble are you into now?"

"Nothing. I missed you and I came here to see whether I can meet you."

Li Ruolan blushed for a moment, but she then glared at him. "Cut the c.r.a.p!"

"I'm serious," Chu Li replied earnestly.

Li Ruolan asked nonchalantly, "Is Gale City able to support itself now?"

Chu Li smirked, "Gale City has no more enemies. The White Tiger Sect and the Flaming Sun Sect have been put in their places. There will be no more trouble from the Tian Luo Sect and the Radiance Clan is open now. In the future, it'll be fine even if I'm not around. Therefore, I came back here to cultivate."

"Not bad," Li Ruolan praised.

Chu Li laughed. "If I want to do something, I must do my best!"

Li Ruolan glanced at him. "However, you must be careful. After all, you haven't trained for long. This time around, many of the partic.i.p.ants of the martial arts compet.i.tion have cultivated for more than ten years and they're geniuses as well. You might not be able to defeat them."

Chu Li raised his eyebrows. "If they're geniuses, why did they have to cultivate for more than ten years?"

The martial arts compet.i.tion took place every five years. By cultivating for ten years, it meant that one had missed the compet.i.tion twice. How could someone who had failed to enter the Great Light Peak twice still be regarded as a genius?

Li Ruolan shook her head. "Some people excel at cultivation but they aren't good at doing things — they haven't worked hard enough and lacked the qualification to compete. Some do so on purpose."

"Is there anyone who is more powerful than me?" Chu Li asked.

 "Yes." Li Ruolan nodded.